“I was just exploring … looking around when I stumbled across it.”
“Hm.” She nods, eyeing me. “Nice hair.”
Of course, she means the opposite. I see it in her eyes, as sharp as cut emeralds. The boys don’t pick up on it, but I do. The pride is full of its own cliques. A definite social hierarchy exists based on talents, on family position. I’m not at the bottom of the social ladder back home, but neither am I at the top. I know the veiled insult well.
“Thanks,” I reply, fingering a blue strand and pretending I don’t pick up on what she’s doing.
“Where are you from?”
“Wyoming,” I lie, starting to feel like this is an interview. It’s the answer I’m supposed to give. In this small town, it’s doubtful anyone has been there or knows enough about the place to contradict me.
She nods slowly, a smile forming on her face. “Here on vacation?” she asks.
“What’s with the third degree, Hailey?” Troy asks, smiling, but there’s annoyance in his expression.
“Yes,” I answer.
“For how long?”
“A month.”
Her gaze slides to Tate. “Such a shame. That’s not long.” It’s like she wants him to realize that.
Then I get it. She likes Tate. I look back and forth between them. I don’t think they’re together. The body language isn’t there for that. He stands too far apart from her. And he’s hardly glanced at her since she walked up. A good boyfriend wouldn’t do that. And for some totally unsubstantiated reason, I think he would be a good boyfriend. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking.
Tate frowns at her. “We’ll just have to make sure she has fun while she’s here.”
Hailey looks at him with a mild expression. “Is that our job now? To make sure the tourists have fun?”
Growing uncomfortable with the rising tension in the air, I exhale and ask Tate, “Is your sister all right?”
“Yeah. She got a concussion from hitting her head on the dock. No parties for her.” He gestures to our surroundings. “For a while anyway.”
I nod. “I’m glad she’s okay.”
“It’s a bummer, though!” Troy pinches his fingers together. “I almost had her. She was this close to going out with me. She practically said yes.”
“Practically.” Tate snorted. “You’ve been hounding her to go out with you since third grade.”
Troy shrugs. “That’s right. Why stop now? When you know you know, man. And I’ve always known your sister is the only one for me.”
An awkward moment of silence falls between the four of us. Troy looks at each of us in turn, relaxed, like he’s enjoying himself. Hailey looks like she just swallowed something bitter. And Tate … he just stares at me.
Then, as if reaching a sudden decision, he takes my hand and tugs me toward a cooler.
Following, I can’t resist looking over my shoulder. Troy watches us with a bemused expression. Hailey watches us, too—or me, rather—those sharp eyes of hers almost feral. She reminds me of the wild animals in the mountains back home. Except they always seemed less threatening.
I move my attention back to Tate. Not such a surprise. All my senses center on him … especially the feel of his hand clasping mine.
He lifts the cooler lid and gestures inside. “Drink?”
“Sure.” I inspect the contents for a moment.
“I think Troy’s got some stronger stuff in his cooler, if you prefer—”
“No. This is fine,” I say, grabbing an orange soda. I already feel slightly drunk in his presence.
He takes a can for himself and leads us toward the shoreline. We stand there for a moment, staring out at the water. Distant swimmers whoop as they vault off the dock. The voices behind us are low, small murmurings on the air. The music, too, just fades to dull background noise.
His head turns and he stares down at me. His eyes glitter in the night. The shadow of a smile curves his mouth.
And I can’t help it. I relish this moment with him. Then I feel guilty for that. For reveling in the way I feel around him. I should have butterflies in my stomach for a draki boy. Not for him.
His gaze dips, and it’s clear he’s staring down at our hands. Almost as though he didn’t realize he was holding on to me until this very moment.
My face heats. Five minutes ago I told him my name. Now we’re acting like a couple.
He drops my hand and lowers himself to a towel. I pause. And then join him, leaving a good foot between us. Even not touching, the warmth of his skin radiates toward me.
The dark water moves gently, lapping at the gravelly shore. I feel his gaze on my face again.
He clears his throat. “I don’t know how you came to be there like that yesterday.” He waves at the water. “I’m just glad you were. My sister is all I’ve got. Since our mom died, it’s just been the two of us. My dad is around, but not really. Not like our mom was for us.” He pauses, then adds in a quieter voice, “You’ll never know what you did....”
I fidget and look down at my hands.
“I’m making you uncomfortable.”
“No,” I say quickly, looking back up at him.
“It’s okay.” He rises, waving me up. “C’mon. Let’s go for a swim.”
5
A swim with this boy might be the craziest, riskiest thing I ever do. The thought doesn’t scare me, though. My pulse leaps as I watch him step into the water. I hesitate a moment before pulling my tank top over my head and shimmying out of my shorts.
Looking back, he grins at me. Then he dives in.
I ease in, letting the water lick up my calves, thighs, waist. Instantly my pores contract and shiver. I float the rest of the way into the water, my hands fanning out in front of me, loving how the water makes way for me, opens for me like it’s been waiting for my return.
Beneath the fabric of my one-piece, my gills appear, safely hidden. It’s not something I can control, but I don’t worry about their appearance. Even if I was wearing a two-piece, he wouldn’t notice in the dark.
He swims in place in front of me. The water hardly moves around him. Again, I’m struck with how at home he is here. In the water. I can’t help being impressed.
“You come here a lot.”
“The lake is packed with the summer crowd. This pond is off the radar. It’s ours.”
“And I found it.”
He circles me, water lightly slapping his shoulders. “I’m glad you did. How’d you manage that anyway? There aren’t exactly signs pointing to this place.”
“I’ve got a nose for water,” I admit, knowing he won’t believe that.
“Are you staying on the lake?”
“We rented a house.” I glance at the dock at a sudden female squeal. His voice draws me back.
“So. Az. Did you see Anna hit her head and fall in? Is that how you knew where to search for her?”
“Uh, just luck, I guess,” I hedge.
“No. It wasn’t luck. I think something higher was working … making sure you were here. That you could find her.”
He inches closer, and his knee bumps mine under the water. I gasp at the contact. My skin tightens, quivers. My gills work a little faster, dragging water in and out of me. “I didn’t even know you were in the water with us. What are you, a mermaid?”
I laugh weakly. “No. Not a mermaid.”
“Well, I know Anna is going to want to meet you and thank you herself.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“Maybe you could come over tomorrow?”
I shake my head. “Oh, I don’t think—”
“C’mon. I meant what I said. Let me make sure you have a good time while you’re here.” He waves a hand above the water. “Show you all the splendors of my town. It’s the least I can do.”
I frown, not liking the idea that he thinks he owes me something. Is the attention he’s showering on me out of gratitude? For saving his sister? He did explain how much she meant to him, after all.
“You don’t have to do that. Really.” I start to swim back toward the shore in smooth strokes, the water caressing my body.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
I swim faster, for some reason eager to get away.
Suddenly a body pops up before me with a spray of water.
I jerk back with a yelp.
“Hey!” The boy sloshes the hair from his face like a dog shaking water from his fur. “We haven’t met.”
I curse under my breath. I’m usually more aware of what’s around me. Especially in the water.
He holds his hand out like it’s not odd at all to shake hands in the middle of a pond. “I’m Brett.” Even in the dark, I can tell he’s blond and blue-eyed. The all-American boy. He’s probably the star quarterback.
“Az.” I take his hand to shake it, and he actually pulls me closer until our bodies are flush. I can smell the beer on his breath. My blood rushes hotter in my veins, annoyed at the unwelcome contact. The water surrounding me grows warmer, the current stirring faster, reacting to my displeasure. It would take only a wish, the slightest force of my will, and I could send him flying with a tidal surge of water.
“Nice to meet you, Az. So you decided to party it up with the locals, huh? Having fun so far?”
“Back off, Weaver.” Tate’s hand circles my wrist and tugs me free. I tumble toward him, weightless in the water.
Brett laughs. “Didn’t know it was like that, Tate. Man, you work fast. What? She’s been in town for like five minutes? That’s hardly fair.”
The girls at the dock begin calling Brett’s name in a singsong voice, urging him over to them.
“You’re being paged.”
“Yeah.” Brett winks at me. “Nice to meet you, Az. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
I watch as he swims away.
“Sorry about that. Brett and I kind of have this … thing.”
I c**k my head. “Thing?”
“Yeah. It’s dumb. Long-standing rivalry, that’s all. Swim team versus football.”
I glance back at Brett, observing his less-than-graceful strokes. “Let me guess. You’re swim team?”
He nods.
And suddenly it makes sense why he’s so comfortable in the water. “I can tell you’re good.”
He smiles. “Last year’s state champion. Freestyle and butterfly.”
“Impressive.”
“Hope so. It’s my ticket out of here.”
“College?”
Water laps at his chin. “Yeah. I’m looking for a full ride next year.”
I smile, genuinely happy that he’ll get to live his dreams. I understand about the importance of dreams, after all. “Good for you.”
“What about you?”
“Me?”
“You going to college?”
College. Because that’s what normal teenagers do.
I gaze back toward the shoreline. “Let’s race,” I suggest, changing the subject. “To the dock and then back to shore.” I take off before he can agree one way or another.
He’s fast. I can see why he’s counting on a scholarship, but no one can outswim me. Jacinda and Cassian might fly circles around me in the air, but I own the water.
I slap the dock and then turn back around, passing him. I lift my head only once to check my lead. I fake like I’m drawing a breath. I don’t need to raise the suspicion of anyone watching, after all.
Reaching shore, I drop down on the towel, turning to face him just as he emerges. Water sluices down his face and body.
He stares at me in shock. “You beat me.”
I can’t stop from grinning.