LURE

by Stephanie Jenkins

  He winked. “I’m a bowling connoisseur.”

  I couldn’t resist watching him as he bowled his first turn. And unfortunately, I couldn’t help but continue comparing him to Wyatt. He wasn’t as serious. After he knocked over seven pins with the first ball, then two more, he danced. Of course, I had no idea that Matt’s moves were actually a sequence from a movie about bowling until Sophie pointed it out.

  She rolled a strike, and he sulked as she bragged about it. The corners of his lips twitched until he smiled. “Next time, Chase,” he warned.

  Matt was nice to Sophie; something that Golden Boy failed to do the one time he was around my friends. I blinked and saw Wyatt’s blue eyes in my mind. Great. Why was I torturing myself by thinking about him?

  “Stay out of my head,” I murmured.

  He didn’t. Not even after I silently told myself how awesome Matt was in comparison. When a few of his friends came by our lane to talk to us—friends who knew all about what Kyle accused Mom of—Matt didn’t treat me like a social disaster. He didn’t say he couldn’t see me again.

  Wyatt disappeared from my thoughts after one of Matt’s friends mentioned poker. Based on the way the guy waggled his eyebrows and stared cautiously at me, I knew money was involved. As Matt told him he was in, I bit my lip, remembering the fear in his eyes the day he mentioned debt. Was he in trouble over a card game? He was so willing to bet on winning the bowling game that I wondered if he was a compulsive gambler.

  Every horrible scenario played in my head as I sat there. I tried to convince myself that I watched far too many mob and gambling movies with Dad and Cam. Soul-guiding was slowly making me schizophrenic.

  “What are you thinking about?” Andy asked, sliding onto a stool beside me and waving his hand in front of my face. He and I stopped playing a half an hour before because Sophie and Matt were having a bowl-off. She was winning, and we had to put up with her ridiculous dance after every strike. Tonight it was some ode to disco music.

  “School,” I lied. “You and Sophie, huh?”

  He laughed uneasily and stretched his arms out in front of his chest. “I’m surprised myself.”

  I smiled and lay my head on his shoulder. “I’m not. I think I like this development. But if you two break-up, I don’t want to hear you bitch.”

  Tea spurted out of his nose. “Now you’re acting like yourself again. For a minute there, I was nervous about you.”

  Isn’t everyone?

  By the time we left the bowling alley, right after it closed, Sophie beat Matt several times. She danced and teased and finally, she performed an off-key rendition of “We Are the Champions.”

  Matt shrugged it off, snickering as he drove. “She is pretty good,” he admitted.

  I arched my back and rested my hands on the dashboard. His shoulders shook even harder at the face I made. “Don’t ever tell her that. She likes to brag.”

  “I had fun tonight. Seriously, Thanks for inviting me.” An odd look flitted through his brown eyes, and I found myself curious about how he kissed, and whether or not he'd touch my neck and my hair like Wyatt always did? Most importantly, if Matt kissed me, would sparkling blue eyes haunt me instead of brown ones?

  Golden Boy shouldn’t have the ability to influence me when it came to other guys, but he did. I wouldn’t kiss Matt. The thought alone felt wrong, especially with Wyatt flitting around in my mind like a gnat that wouldn’t go away.

  Matt didn’t drive me back to Lorelei’s cottage immediately. Instead, he sped past The Lighthouse gate, steering the Camaro north until we reached Plum Cove. He parked close to the statue of Neptune. Swinging his door open, he motioned for me to follow him.

  Confused, I caught up with him as he strode toward the harbor. Our feet made identical noises on the wooden dock as we walked to the edge. I didn’t like the silence. Or the way he stared at me. Every few seconds, he lowered his eyes and cast an unreadable look.

  A strange yet familiar impression made the flesh on my arms prickle. I rubbed my wrists, glancing at a lone boat waiting in the water. The mask on his face broke and he laughed. “What’s so funny?” I asked, refusing to relax my shoulders.

  He furrowed his brow. “You look serious.”

  “I don’t like to be stared at. Especially like that,” I hissed. Still, my discomfort wasn’t enough to make me bolt, and I took off my shoes and sat beside him, my hand shaky as I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “Why are we here?” My tone sounded harsh, but he grinned.

  “I hoped we’d catch the sunset.” He leaned back on his elbows and tilted his face up. Shrugging, he added, “The stars are just as nice.”

  I mimicked his actions. My eyes darted between his face and the night sky. “Pretty.”

  Matt shifted. I pretended not to notice that his movements brought him so close that our legs brushed. “I come out here to think.” No more words followed. Was he thinking now? Better question: were his thoughts on me or any trouble he might be in?

  “Are you in debt?”

  His head whipped around. “Huh?”

  “Your friend Josh mentioned poker. And I guess you can say I’m worried.”

  He could have called me an idiot. Or gotten up and left me sitting on the dock. But the blank look returned to his face. “Money is the last thing on my mind. Besides, I’m lucky. Makes me good at gambling.”

  “What’s the first thing on your mind?” I blurted.

  He stretched his face back toward the sky, but I was positive he smiled. Lifting an arm, he pointed to a section of stars. “Ursa Major.”

  He was thinking about stars? “That’s nice,” I said.

  “You know why it looks like a bear, right?” When I didn’t answer, he continued, “One of the Greek gods, Zeus, hooked up with a nymph. His wife found out and turned her into a bear. Zeus eventually sent the nymph into the sky, as a constellation.” He nodded to the brightest stars. “That’s the big dipper. Seven of them: Alpha, Beta . . .” Grinning, he shrugged. “Sorry. Boring, huh?”

  No. It was eerie. “So you’re into mythology?” My mind raced. He stood, dusting sand from his jeans, and I struggled to my feet and looked him directly in the eye.

  “Yeah, I like it. All the players had so many layers. You have the gods who manipulated everyone around them and the pawns, like the nymph. They were stuck between the gods and the humans. And then there were mortals.” Winking, he shrugged. “Lucky it’s all just fantasy or we’d be screwed.”

  He slid by me and shoved his hands in his pockets. I stared after him for a long time with my mouth hanging open, conflicted over whether I should be creeped out or impressed with his knowledge. My heart pounded in my ears and my throat tightened. I walked a few paces behind him, my eyes closed as I listened to the sound of his heart. When I climbed into his car, I sighed in relief and admonished myself for even assuming he could be the hunter.

  “You’re right,” I said. “It would suck if it were real.”

  On the drive to Lorelei’s place, I listened as he sang old rock songs. It was impossible not to smile, especially at his awful attempt to hit high notes. He swerved his Camaro next to Lorelei’s Shelby, staring at it longingly just as he’d done when he picked me up.

  My own stare was fixated on Hermes’s BMW parked beside my Jeep. He was becoming a nuisance and I knew Lorelei agreed. I slipped into the cottage. They were sitting on the couch, in deep conversation, so I trudged to the kitchen to get water. I was in the middle of sending Sophie a text message when I heard a third voice in the house, one that was too recognizable to ignore.

  Nervously, I peeked around the corner to see Cam standing at the door, red-faced and Hermes lounged on the couch looking like the cat that ate the canary. I already knew how the conclusion of my great night would play out.

  ***

  Hermes left shortly thereafter because Lorelei kicked him out, and Cam ordered me to go home while he talked to her. Like a total tool, I bobbed my head. She glanced at me before closing the door. I cou
ldn’t look her in the eye. I refused to.

  Instead of completely honoring his request, I skulked to the rocks. I was a good distance from the cottage, but their conversation was so loud, everything they said was clear. Cam called her a liar, and then asked her if she was ever interested in him. I couldn’t hear her response. She must have said something because he started arguing again after several seconds.

  I wished he would shut up. My hands groped the stone beneath me, and I struggled to tune out the one-sided argument. I wanted to hear a soul—anything, really—to take my mind off the yelling that reminded me so much of the last weeks between my parents. They spent those last days confused and scared, alternating between dazed to screaming at each other.

  I hummed until a feeling of security swept over me and forced my body to stop shaking. When I added lyrics, the music took away the noise of the argument. My song stopped the battle that raged inside of my head—took away thoughts of Golden Boy and the crazy fertility goddess.

  Cam’s voice, yelling for me to go home before he called Dad, pulled me from my trance. My eyes fluttered open. Instead of the eternal sea that was in front of me when I sat down, I faced a fishing boat. The sea quaked and rumbled, swaying the boat closer to the rocks, and four men poked their heads out. Their faces were calm as they tried to find out where the music was coming from. They didn’t panic. Didn’t scream. They were so dazed by the song, by what I was, that they didn’t seem to care about death.

  Just the Lure.

  I fought to control the music rippling through me. I’m not a monster. This isn’t me. “Stop,” I cried before clamping my shaky fingers over my mouth.

  Despite the crashing waves, the boat stilled.

  My anger—my voice—almost caused destruction.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Cam was heart-broken, though I thought it was his own fault. He never gave Lorelei a chance to explain why Hermes was kissing her when he showed up at her cottage unannounced. After talking to him, I discovered that he never knocked, just barged in on her. I wish he knew Hermes like I did. Then he’d realize that it was all a misunderstanding.

  Before, Lorelei used her abilities on him, but this time she refused, swearing that it was just too shady, even for a siren.

  He claimed that because she deceived him, he didn't have a reason to see her.

  When I was in middle school, Sophie and I swiped her mom’s fashion magazines and read them in study hall. Not only did the pages ooze celebrity gossip, birth control ads, and sex tips, they also taught an important lesson: Guys would blow any situation out of proportion to ruin a ‘good thing.’

  Cam said I was too young to understand, and I had to remind him that I was seventeen, not seven. That I wasn’t just some idiot with no clue on how relationships—good and bad—functioned. Besides, he was only a year and a half older than I was.

  He threw himself into his new job at a bike rental shop, but when he was at home, he moped. ‘Depressed Cam’ made every other person who annoyed me, including Rob and Mrs. Dalton, seem saintly.

  I had to admit I was only semi-happy to be finished with summer school. Escaping Dalton’s funky glare would be awesome, but I would miss my conversations with Matt.

  “One step closer to being fit for good society, huh?” Matt asked as we walked out to the school parking lot. I bounced on the balls of my feet in front of him and poked my tongue out.

  “Whatever, I’ve always been fit for society.”

  He cupped his hand over his dark eyes, creating a visor from the sun. A stormy haze had drifted over Gloucester since Wednesday morning, and I welcomed the light. Bad weather made the sea a vicious bitch and soul-guiding was a pain in the butt when the water churned. The good souls hid and the ones in limbo always made an appearance whenever the ocean was angry.

  Great. Now I’m personifying water. This job is messing with my head.

  “So now that you’re finished studying trigonometry, what are you going to do?” He sounded like a sports announcer. I placed my hands on my hips, trying to decide whether or not I should laugh.

  “Dude, you’re so corny.” But I sighed, rolled my eyes dramatically, and said, “I’m going to Disneyland.”

  I wondered if he would miss making fun of me or if he’d swiftly replace me with a college girl in the fall.

  “So you’ll keep in touch, right?” he asked.

  “Hmm, I don’t know,” I teased, slipping into my Jeep. I drummed my fingers on the frayed leather of the steering wheel and sighed. “That depends on whether or not you can beat Sophie at bowling. You kind of suck compared to her.”

  “So says the girl who can only knock over three pins.”

  I clutched my heart—a prickle dashed across my chest—and pretended to be wounded. “That hurts, Robbins. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help your game.”

  His lips twisted into a wide smile as I shut the door. I lowered my window and leaned against the door, facing him. When wind swept through the car and ruffled my hair, he captured a strand with the tips of his fingers. He stared down at it, rubbing his thumbs over the dark lock.

  Matt lifted his eyes to my face and immediately let my hair go after he saw my expression. I hoped I didn’t look too weirded out. His reaction was just so similar to what Golden Boy would have done.

  “Any plans on Friday night?” he asked.

  I cleared my throat then flicked my tongue over dry lips. “I’m probably working. For some reason, Rob won’t fire me.”

  “If you can take off, want to go to that music festival? My friends band is performing, remember?”

  I pretended not to notice that his voice shook a little. My head felt fuzzy, and I could clearly hear Wyatt’s voice nudging through my thoughts to ask if I wanted to go to his family’s barbecue. I pictured his face, hovering close to mine, under the muted front porch light.

  Shoving my fingers under my legs, I forced my brain to enter reality—begged it to just forget about Golden Boy—and I managed a smile. “That would be awesome.”

  ***

  I didn’t go to the sea to clear my head. Instead, I called Sophie. I wasn’t surprised when she informed me that she was at Andy’s house. He must have driven her over because her car wasn’t parked in his driveway as I pulled in.

  They sat on the asphalt in front of Andy’s SUV playing cards. Sophie grinned as soon as she saw me. “Thought you were grounded,” she said, popping a piece of gum. She shifted, flipping a few of her cards over, then scowled and pushed them back toward Andy so he could deal again.

  “For such a good bowler, your luck reeks.” I leaned back against his car and tapped my foot against the hard ground anxiously.

  Andy stopped mid-shuffle and cast me a sympathetic look. Seeing the same pitying expression on everyone’s face made me want to scream. Or rip my hair out. Maybe they all just thought I was a charity case or pathetic. “Sad summer school is over?”

  I shook my head and slouched. “No, why would I be? I just don’t want to go home.”

  Sophie wiggled her eyebrows. “Barbie and Cam?”

  Once I glared at her, her expression turned serious. “Nasty. Besides, it’s not what you’re thinking. He broke up with her.”

  For a moment, both of my friends seemed interested by my news, and Andy even scratched his head, opening his mouth to say something that was probably perverse and smart-assed. “Why?”

  “He thinks she cheated on him.”

  They mouthed silent “Os” then he shrugged and started to distribute the cards between them. “I thought you hated her.”

  “I don’t hate her.” My teeth clenched, and I picked with the waistband of my jeans.

  Sophie pursed her lips together and twirled a curl around her finger. She twisted her head to one side, resembling a confused poodle. “So you like her then?”

  Did I say that?

  “It’s complicated.”

  And it was. Because as my friends probed me about the fall-out between Cam and Lorelei, I realized
I genuinely liked being around her. Sure, she smiled a lot and constantly talked about love, but it was nice knowing someone besides my best friends and immediate family gave a shit about me.

  And it was nice to be able to tell the truth to at least one person.

  I wasn’t too sure if I was prepared to let Cam just throw that away.

  “You’re zoning out.” Sophie’s widened her eyes. She hummed the theme from Twilight Zone but stopped after I groaned. “I just asked if you could give me a ride to work.”

  Romano’s was definitely out of my way, but Sophie’s stare burned a hole in my cotton tank top, and I realized she had something to tell me. For the first half of the drive, she sang and stared out the window. Finally—after I cleared my throat several times—she turned toward me, took a deep breath, and leaned against the center console.

  The sheepish expression on her face never meant good news. “What did you do?” I demanded.

  “Do you think Andy is too good for me?”

  I burst out laughing so hard, so ridiculously loud, that I almost swerved off the road. She didn’t like my reaction because she crossed her arms over her chest and poked her bottom lip out. I wanted to thank her for making me laugh, but I focused on not wrecking the Jeep. I didn’t want another fiery crash to make people talk.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “He’s practically a virgin.”

  This time, the Jeep veered off the pavement because I was disgusted. With the collection of balled-up phone numbers Andy had, her comment astonished me. “I did not need to know that.”

  She fiddled with the buttons on my prehistoric cassette player. “He’s really worried that I’ll start back up with the pills, you know?” At least she changed the subject to one that I could attempt to talk about.

  “Are you?” My tone was so accusing, even I cringed.

  Her hair swung as she shook her head fast. “No. At least, I don’t think so.”

  Sophie’s response was so honest, I couldn’t argue with her. And if her habit started again, I would call her out. If there was a next time, I would do the right thing by her. I would interfere like I should have done when Mom’s depression began.