The Destiny: A YA Paranormal Academy Romance (Deep Cove Academy Book 1)

by Madison Becker

  “Maybe, maybe not…” I counter. “But I guess we’ll find out when I go surfing with him.”

  That shuts her up pretty quickly. She storms off and Casey slides a hand out for a high five. The victory feels shallow, though. Kendra asked Reef to the dance and I wish I knew what his answer was. I still haven’t got up the courage to ask him whether they’re going together.

  “What is happening with you and Fenner, anyway?” Casey asks her favorite question, yet again.

  I flush and shrug, scrambling for an answer. “Uh…”

  “Hmm, gotcha.” Casey winks and I remain silent.

  So far, I’ve managed to avoid giving her a straight answer to this question by not responding. In turn, she’s assuming that I’m meeting Reef for midnight make-out sessions. But at least she’s no longer upset about me sneaking out after last Night Sky class. It breaks my heart to keep her in the dark, but I can’t even imagine how I would begin to explain the truth.

  Casey and I throw sweatshirts and shorts on top of our bathing suits to stifle the fall breeze. We walk to the beach and the surf crew has already arrived.

  My heart skips in anticipation. Learning to surf with Reef is infinitely better than I ever could’ve imagined. Every time we paddle out, I feel him watching me as I move through the water, slowly learning to balance and find my feet. He always finds a reason to be next to me, to use his hands to guide me. His attention makes me blush. It’s at the point where I’m sure it’s glaringly obvious just out of control my crush is.

  I have to constantly remind myself that we’re friends. He’s never mentioned or insinuated otherwise. Sometimes, though, I let myself imagine that he could see me — plain, ordinary Maya — in that way.

  I’m so lost in thought that I trip over a board near the shore. Dean is crouched in the sand, waxing the board.

  “Oh, sorry!” I laugh, embarrassed. I’m not even in the water yet.

  He looks at me and his baby blue eyes sparkle. “No worries, Landwalker.”

  I grin back and, all of a sudden, Reef is at my side. “Hey, Maya.”

  Was he… jealous? Surely not. But my heart accelerates at the thought.

  “Let’s do this,” I say, sounding a lot more confident than I feel.

  Reef’s emerald eyes meet mine and my legs feel weak. Dean might be cute, but I am 110% head over heels for Reef Fenner. I just wish he felt the same for me.

  I turn towards the freezing water and my breath quickens. We paddle out and I wince — the water gets colder every day. TJ, Casey and the rest of the crew don’t seem bothered by the cold and my heart sinks. It’s likely because they’re further along on their transformations. During transformation, our body temperatures rise and we’re immune to the winter waters.

  That is, if I ever transform.

  I sit on my board and watch the others catch waves before it’s my turn. My knuckles turn white as I grasp my board. Reef stares at me so intently that I can’t concentrate. The second I stand up, I wobble violently and crash below the waves. He dives down and wraps his arms around me, swimming me to the surface.

  In the shallows, he puts a hand on each of my hips so he holds me inches away. My skin buzzes at his touch. He’s so close to me.

  “Almost.” He gazes into my eyes. “You gotta keep your hips square.”

  He straightens my torso. His tone is casual and he’s smiling, but his eyes are burning intensely. For a second, I think he might kiss me, here and now, in front of all of our friends. My body tenses in anticipation and butterflies rise in my stomach.

  But instead, he lets me go. I exhale shakily. You could cut the tension with a knife.

  “Reef!” A voice calls in the distance. The spell is broken.

  It’s Kendra. She’s waving from the shoreline. Ugh. She looks beautiful in her white bikini, her long hair loose and blowing in the breeze.

  Reef smiles and waves back. I look at the two of them and my stomach drops. They must’ve had some intimate moments together in the past. The thought of him kissing her makes me nauseous. Does he still think about her? Think about kissing her?

  He faces me and I immediately look down, fiddling with something on the board. As always with Reef, it’s impossible to know if I’m reading him right. We may be friends, but he’s still an enigma — an enigma I would love to figure out.

  “Maya—”

  “Oh, I don’t think I said this earlier,” I interrupt, not wanting to hear what I’m sure will be pity in his voice. “But, it’s awesome that Kendra asked you to the Halloween dance.”

  His forehead crinkles. “It is?”

  “Of course.” I force a smile. “You guys seem great together. Maybe I’ll ask Dean or something.”

  He stares at me for a long moment, his green eyes piercing.

  I blush and change the subject. “So. I’ve been thinking about what we should do next in our mission.”

  Reef stares at me for a beat longer. He almost looks… upset? But then, his face relaxes. I must’ve imagined it. “Yeah? Got a master plan?”

  “I think we should look at shipwrecks in the area.” My voice is firm. “It seems like too much of a coincidence that a shipwreck features in both my dreams and what happened to your mom. If the necklace is somehow related to a shipwreck, we need to find out exactly where the wreck is before Halloran does.”

  Reef raises his eyebrows. “If that’s what Halloran was talking about.”

  “Sneaking to the lighthouse to use the phone in the middle of the night and whispering about a shipwreck? It’s too bizarre, Reef.”

  Reef sighs deeply. “We haven’t transformed yet, how are we going to find a shipwreck? We’d need diving gear.”

  “What if we can find what we need online?” My voice drops low. “What if we break into the computer lab after hours and do some research?”

  Reef launches himself backwards in mock-disbelief, effortlessly toppling off his board and into the water.

  I grimace. Show off. If only I was that graceful.

  “Maya Murphy.” Reef surfaces and sprays a mouthful of saltwater in my direction. “Are you suggesting that we break a rule?”

  “Yes I am, Reef Fenner.” I flash him a wicked smile. “And I say we do it this weekend.”

  39

  When the weekend finally rolls around, I’m filled with nervous anticipation. Normally, I would never dream of breaking into a locked room at school — especially the computer lab — but over the last few days, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Could finding this shipwreck be the solution to my dreams?

  In truth, I’m hopeful that discovering that the shipwreck is real — or that it never existed — will cause the nightmares to cease. A good night’s sleep feels like a luxury I can’t remember experiencing.

  Reef and I pick Saturday night as the time to execute our plan. Mr. Seaver will be on patrol that evening so it should be easy enough to move around campus undetected. The only other person I let in on our plan is Casey, but she believes I’m sneaking out with Reef for entirely different reasons.

  When the clock strikes midnight, I jump out of bed, fully clothed and ready to go. Casey shoots me a thumbs up and I grab my shoes and slip into the night. Flo, Kendra, Brooke and Rayne don’t move an inch. I’m getting better and better at this sneaking around thing.

  I make my way to the boys’ dorm and wait by Reef’s door. I can’t see or hear anything.

  “Reef?” I whisper into the darkness.

  A twig snaps to my left.

  Strong arms encircle me and I open my mouth to scream.

  “Shhh.” A familiar voice chuckles.

  Relief floods my body and I relax, sinking into his arms.

  “Come on.” Reef gently tugs my elbow. “Seaver just walked by. We should be able to make it to the castle.”

  We scurry in the shadows, keeping an eye out for Seaver’s flashlight. I let Reef lead — he’s more practiced at sneaking around than I am. We make our way along the castle walls and eventuall
y slip into the main hall.

  We walk through the castle. The dimly-lit hallways illuminate our way, but also make the task exceptionally dangerous. Anyone could turn a corner and see us. My heart beats a thousand miles a minute and I scramble to think of potential excuses — Yes, Reef and I are taking a midnight stroll to help Mr. Seaver patrol the campus. In black outfits. Together.

  Our last hurdle is the teacher’s wing. I recognize the hallway as the one with Professor Nerida’s office. The computer lab is just on the other side, so we need to sneak by carefully in case any of the professors are still working.

  Reef tiptoes to the corner of the main corridor and looks down the wing. He listens intently for a moment and then steps towards me. He gestures down the hall.

  I shrug, making it clear that I have no clue what he’s trying to say.

  He waves his hands, exasperated, while I try to translate what I can only assume are plane landing signals.

  I shrug again and mouth, “no idea, dude.”

  He rolls his eyes and pulls me close. He puts his mouth to my ear. “Halloran. In. Office. Run.”

  I would happily remain in his arms for much longer, but he lets me go and signals for me to bolt across the hallway. I do what I’m told. Halloran’s office door is, in fact, open and the light is on.

  I hide in a small alcove next to the computer lab and Reef squeezes in with me. Adrenaline courses through my body and I’m lightheaded being this close to him. We wait for footsteps indicating that Halloran heard us.

  Once satisfied that no one is after us, Reef moves towards the computer lab. He takes a key from his pocket and quietly unlocks the door. We slip into the room and close the door behind us.

  “I can’t believe we did it!” I smile, my cheeks flushed. “Where did you get the key from anyway?”

  Reef laughs and moves towards a computer at the far end of the room. “TJ, of course.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” I laugh.

  “We don’t have much time.” Reef boots up an old computer. “I’m not sure how long Halloran is planning on working, but we need to get out of here before he leaves.”

  After about an age, the Start screen appears. No wonder sirens don’t like to use technology — If you can call this technology. Reef positions himself over the keyboard, waiting. Finally, he loads a Search page and begins slowly typing, letter by letter.

  “Wow,” I chuckle. “Have you never done this before, grandpa?”

  Reef laughs. “You think you can do better because you grew up human? Give it a try!”

  I fake rolling up my sleeves and approach the keyboard. The computer is a boxy, ancient thing. I get to work, typing effortlessly. I press “enter” and casually glance over my shoulder.

  Reef is watching me, his jaw dropped.

  “And that’s how it’s done.” I blow on my fingertips like it was nothing at all. “You siren-borns may get the seas, but we human-borns get technology.”

  Reef leans in close to look at the screen. The page loads results of shipwrecks along the Oregon coast. We take our time looking through the links and images, trying to find anything that might resemble the shipwreck from my dream.

  I hover over one of the search results when Reef turns his face away.

  “Ah.” He stands straight and looks at the far wall. “That was my mom... That’s where she was...”

  He trails off, unable to finish the sentence. I squint at the screen and my hands go clammy. That’s the wreck where his mom disappeared.

  “I’m so sorry, Reef.” I sputter, remorseful for having this idea in the first place. “I wasn’t thinking. I should’ve been more careful.”

  “No. No, it’s fine,” he says quietly. He takes a deep breath and leans in once again. “You can click on it. I’ve read this article before anyway.”

  “Are you sure?” My eyes meet his. I don’t want to do something that makes him uncomfortable.

  He nods.

  I open the article long enough to see a photo of the wreck, but it isn’t the one from my dream. I immediately close the screen and turn towards him. He smiles his cute half-smile, but his eyes are clouded over.

  He looks at the blank screen. “I guess this was a dead end.”

  I bite my lip. He’s right, I didn’t recognize any of the ships. I lean back and close my eyes “Yeah. The one in my nightmare is so clear. I always see it right before I see the necklace.”

  “Maybe we should sleep on it.” Reef stands and stretches. “Hopefully you’ll be able to dream about something else tonight. Same person is fine, though.”

  He smirks and I laugh, blushing furiously.

  I power down the computer and stand, ready to call it a night. Then, Reef puts his hand on my arm.

  “Maya...” His voice is low. “Didn’t we close the door?”

  I look at the doorway and chills run up and down my spine.

  The door is wide open into the dimly-lit hallway.

  40

  “Halloran. It’s got to be Halloran.”

  A week later, Reef and I are sitting in the empty common room. It’s Halloween and most of the campus population is getting ready for tonight’s big event. Reef and I are taking advantage of the deserted space to recap on what happened on the night we snuck into the computer lab.

  “We can’t know that.” Reef frowns and plays with a pencil.

  “Let’s look at the facts,” I say. “His office light was on when we arrived, and off when we left. We closed the computer lab door when we got there, and we found it ajar. It has to be him. He was listening to our conversation.”

  Reef nods reluctantly. “It definitely looks that way.”

  We’ve had no time to progress with our search this week, and even if we did, I can’t fathom what our next step would be. I was so sure that the computer lab would hold answers for us — find the shipwreck, find the necklace, find my Destiny. The disappointment is overwhelming.

  It’s made worse by the fact that my nightmares have not stopped. In fact, they’re becoming clearer and more vivid — the hands more skeletal, the fingernails sharper. It’s like every day that approaches November 20th, the dreams become more sinister, more real.

  Reef fiddles with the pencil, his expression dark. The circles under his eyes are becoming more pronounced by the day. He may seem cavalier and easygoing about this whole thing, but it’s getting to him too.

  I sigh and force a smile. I can’t bear to see him looking so upset. “We can’t do anything about it right now. Besides, it’s almost time for the dance.”

  The tactic works. Reef’s face brightens and he gives me a half-smile, his green eyes piercing. My heart breaks — I know who he’s going to the dance with. But it’s worth the pain to see him smile.

  I give him a fist bump and head to my dorm before he can say anything. I close the door behind me and glare at the costumes lying in full view. The tiny cheerleading uniforms have been on display for days. They’re actually really cute — custom-made in the baby blue, silver and white Deep Cove colors, with the school crest on the front.

  For Kendra and her minions, Halloween is an opportunity to go full-on Mean Girls, apparently. They’re in the bathroom, hogging the mirrors to do their make-up. Casey and Flo are getting ready in the main room. I grab the tie-dye dress I borrowed from Casey and get changed.

  “You know what would look even cuter?” Casey asks sweetly, loud enough for the unholy trinity to hear. “If they threw out those cheer uniforms and went as their true calling — the Powerpuff Girls.”

  “Well, at least we aren’t going as something stupid, like a bumblebee.” Kendra steps out of the bathroom and assesses Casey’s yellow presence coldly. “Oh… That’s a real shame for your costume then.”

  Casey glares at Kendra and pats her bumblebee costume self-consciously. In my eyes, she looks completely adorable. Kendra shoots her a false smile and then returns to her makeup.

  Casey rolls her eyes and mouths, “Powerpuff Girl.” I hold back a chuckle
, but my mind is elsewhere. I’m haunted by the idea of seeing Reef and Kendra tonight. And, with Kendra dressed in that little cheer uniform. Ugh.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Flo smiles serenely. She looks perfectly angelic dressed as a woodland fairy.

  I nod and add the final pieces to my costume — a peace sign necklace and a daisy chain headband. After a last look in the mirror, Casey, Flo and I leave the dorm with our arms linked.

  It's impossible for my mood not to improve looking at the incredible scene in the courtyard. The sky swirls with hazy blues and grays as twilight fades. Thousands of sparkling twinkle lights are hung around the courtyard, and carved pumpkins radiating candlelight surround a huge tent at the center.

  I’m speechless when we enter the tent. Fake cobwebs and spiders hang from the ceiling between glittering ropes of lights. A DJ dressed as a rainbow trout plays a set on-stage in front of a flashing dance floor. Around the perimeter of the tent, groups of students mingle and laugh. My mouth waters at the smell of caramel apples and warm pumpkin bread.

  Headmaster Muir waltzes past with Matron Dixon in his arms. The headmaster is dressed as Hagrid from Harry Potter, sporting a massive fake beard. The Matron, on the other hand, is dressed as a bleeding, hollow-eyed zombie. The image is so ridiculous that I’m able to forget about the shipwreck, and the necklace, and Reef, and Kendra for a moment.

  TJ struts up to us and I explode with laughter. He’s dressed as a schoolgirl Britney Spears, wearing a pleated miniskirt and a knotted-up white shirt that shows off his tanned abs. His blonde hair is fastened in tufty little pigtails with ribbons.

  He immediately launches into a terrible, off-key rendition of “Hit Me Casey One More Time,” and wiggles his butt in front of her. It’s the first time I’ve seen Casey blush. Marlowe is dressed as Buzz Lightyear, and Beau as a punk rocker, complete with spiky hair, sunglasses and a leather jacket full of safety pins.

  I wave shyly at Dean, dressed as the clown from IT. I never ended up asking him to the dance, and he never asked me. I couldn’t build up the nerve. In truth, my heart belongs to someone else — someone who is currently wearing a unicorn onesie.