B0075M2D1U EBOK (3 page)

I finally finished my chores around 11:30 a.m. Just as I was reaching into my dresser to put on my swimsuit to go to the lake, I heard the familiar soda-pop fizzing sound behind me. I turned with a smile. There, suddenly standing in my room were Anya and Brennan. I don’t know how they could keep doing that, coming up out of thin air (well, swirling misty air) and never get caught. Since I introduced them to my family and Jeremy four years ago, they’ve never accidentally appeared in front of them. Boy. That would be a shocker – huh? Anya said it has something to do with their magic and how they can sense if I’m alone or whatever. I have no idea. It’s really over my head, so I don’t try to overanalyze it.

“
I’m glad you guys popped in,” I said, “Jeremy wants to hang out at the lake today.”

“
Yeah, cool,” answered Brennan. Anya added, “We just have to pop over to our house and get our suits.” Anya looked simply radiant, standing there in silver flip flops, white shorts, a bright yellow tank top and her shimmery beautiful black hair curled up just right. Brennan looked…eh. He looked like Brennan always looked. Kind of sloppy. He had on khaki cargo shorts, a faded blue t-shirt, and his dark hair was sticking up in every direction. He was about five or six inches taller than me and I suppose he had a decent build compared to some of the boys I knew, although I’ve never really given it much thought. He’s usually annoying me so much that I can’t get past the pain-in-the-ass part of him. Oh, and he was barefoot. I knew why I was barefoot; I was standing in my own house. But why the hell was he? Even I put shoes on when I go places.

“
Do you ever wear shoes?” I shook my head at Brennan. He looked down; seemingly unaware that he wasn’t wearing any. “Huh. Guess I forgot. No biggie. We’ve got to go back to the cottage anyway, right, Anya?” Anya nodded.

“’
Kay, hurry up then. I told Jeremy we’d meet him at the lake. Usual spot.” I said. “Now get out. I gotta change.” I shoved at Brennan’s shoulders and started to shoo them away. Suddenly, I was pushing at nothing and a huge “POP!” startled me still. Although they usually don’t surprise me when they arrive, they almost always scare the crap out of me when they leave. You see, when fairies “disappear” it isn’t a slow fizzle, like when they appear. It’s a quick POP, like a cork popping out of a champagne bottle. And then they’re gone. Just that fast. I quickly put on my red tank swim suit, pulled on my jean cutoffs and slipped on my white (well, kind of grey now) Converse. I went to the linen closet in the hallway, grabbed a beach towel and draped it around my neck. I hurried down the stairs and headed for the back door.

“
Hey! Where ya goin’ Scooby?” my brother yelled from the kitchen. Nice. Ever since my brother realized that the cartoon dog’s name rhymed with mine, he’s called me it ever since. “None of your freakin’ business Cleopatra!” I hollered back as the screen door slammed shut behind me.

I walked through the gardens in the back yard and headed down the well-worn dirt path carved through the woods at the back of our property that lead directly to the lake. I enjoyed looking at the flowers blooming while I strolled towards the water. Scattered along the path were the white trillium and little baby-blue bunches of goodness called forget-me-nots, and I even saw some of the treasured morel mushrooms that tourists came looking for. The birds and bees seemed busy today too. I noticed a couple of bright blue and crimson red dragon flies zipping around. Those were always fun to see. I spotted a few fluttering fairies and smiled as they gave me a wink. It seemed like everyone was enjoying this beautiful, summer day. It was only a three or four minute walk, so I knew I’d be early. As I got closer to the beach, I could hear the familiar sounds of seagulls squawking overhead. I emerged from the wooded path and walked down the grassy embankment that led to the beach. It seemed pretty deserted to me, which was weird because it was a Saturday. I suppose it’s still early in the season though. Not too many people were on their vacations – most of other schools weren’t out for the summer yet. I liked it when I had the beach to myself. It’s such a serene place, with the white sandy beach, the dark, blue-green water and sounds of the seagulls overhead. The best part was that there was no saltiness in the air. You only get that if you go to the ocean. But Michigan is surrounded by the five great lakes, all freshwater. It smells….clean. Like fresh, cool water coming from a garden hose. The lake behind our property wasn’t anywhere near as huge as Lake Michigan, but it’s still pretty big. I love that I can swallow water and not gag on the salty grossness, or take a swim with a huge wicked cut on my foot (which happens often since I’m always bare foot, let me tell you), and not have it sting to high heaven. The best part was that my hair and skin never felt dried out from the water.

I slipped off my shoes and carried them in my hand as I walked barefoot through the sand towards our usual spot on the beach. There was an abandoned lifeguard tower (there’s never any lifeguard there) and a huge, old fallen tree in the sand next to it.

I laid out my towel, threw my shoes on it, and sat down on the driftwood log. I propped my elbows on my knees and just stared at the calm water lapping in on the beach. That’s when I saw it.

I wasn’t sure that I saw anything at all at first. But then I saw it again.

Chapter 3

It was out towards the middle of the lake where I saw it. A large, dark hump surfaced above the water, then disappeared again. At first, I didn’t think anything of it. Probably a piece of trash, or a loose buoy, I thought. Then I saw it again. Only this time, the large hump seemed to surface for a little longer and glide along the surface for a few feet before submerging again. I squinted and put my hands up to shield my eyes from the bright sun, hoping to catch a better glimpse of the dark, moving mass out in the lake. What the hell was it? Last I heard, the Loch Ness monster was somewhere in Scotland, not hidden in some lake in northern Michigan. I stared intently at the water, searching for any sign of it again. I had heard the urban legends that Lake Erie had a lake monster. I think they called it Bessie. Maybe old Bessie decided to take a summer vacation and visit our little neck of the woods?

Jeremy’s voice startled me out of my revelry, “HEY! Whatcha lookin’ at?” he called out as he came jogging up to meet me at our driftwood on the beach. He was wearing a black swimsuit (big surprise) and a ratty, old Ramones t-shirt. Kickin’ it old school I guess. I dropped my hands and shrugged, “Nothin’ I guess. I thought I saw something out in the water, but it’s gone now. Probably just a loose buoy or some tourist’s trash thrown from their boat.” They tend to do that. The weekenders come up, speed around the lake half-drunk all day, then they throw their bags of trash and bottles over the side of their boat instead of lugging it back to shore with them. It’s so annoying.

“
Losers.” Jeremy shook his head.

“
Who are losers?” Brennan asked as he and Anya suddenly walked up behind Jeremy, surprising him. He spun around to greet them as he exclaimed, “Hey guys! I didn’t see you there!” I covered my snicker with a cough. Jeremy didn’t see them because they
weren’t
there about three seconds ago. He hadn’t noticed their soda-pop fizz appearance behind him. Brennan had on blue board shorts, just a few shades darker than his ice-blue eyes, with his faded blue t-shirt that he had on earlier, and Anya had on a bright yellow swimsuit with a long white sundress over the top of it. I’ve got to say the girl did like wearing yellow.

“
Oh, nobody,” I answered. “Just the boof-nut losers who dump their trash in the lake.” Anya crinkled up her nose in disgust. “People are just so inconsiderate sometimes,” she said with annoyance. I nodded my head in agreement, but couldn’t shake the fact that I didn’t really think it was someone’s trash. It seemed too organic and fluid in its movement. It didn’t just bob up and down, like a buoy or a bag of trash would. I looked out to the water again. Well, whatever it was, it didn’t make another appearance.

“
Cool board shorts,” Jeremy said, eyeing Brennan up and down, “They are
shagtastic
!”

I rolled my eyes.

“
Thanks,” Brennan answered while he pulled his t-shirt off over his head. “Who’s going to swim? Last one to the water has to smell Ruby’s feet for two minutes!” He was laughing and running backwards towards the water. “SHUT UP!” I retorted, “You’ve been hanging around Leo too much!” I stripped off my cutoffs while I took off towards the waves. I swear he was just as immature as my brother. Jeremy and Anya followed, with Jeremy being the last one into the surf because he was complaining it was too cold. He kept hopping around in ankle deep water, complaining, “Come on guys! How c-c-can you just run in like that?! This s-s-stupid water is f-f-freezing!”

After about an hour-and-a-half of Brennan trying to dunk Anya, myself and Jeremy and swimming around, one by one we dragged ourselves back up the beach to our towels, looking like a bunch of drowned rats.

I plopped down on my towel as Anya gracefully knelt down onto hers. “I am famished!” she declared. “We need to get something to eat before I faint.” Anya always spoke like she was ten years older than us. She had her share of giggles and fun, but she was much more reserved than most 18-year-old girls I knew. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she was a southern belle debutant, schooled in etiquette. But, really, she was just wise beyond her years. Most fairies I met seemed to be very proper. Except maybe Brennan, that is. Sometimes he spoke like he was from another time, but usually he was just a pain in the ass. I nodded in agreement as I began to lift the sides of my towel to pat myself dry wherever I could reach. Just then, the boys came running up from the water’s edge, kicking up sand on us. “Hey!” I yelped. “Quit that! We’re trying to dry off here.”

“
Oh yeah?” Brennan sneered and then began to shake his head back and forth like a dog, spraying us with the cold wet droplets from his hair. “Ugh! Brennan!” I screamed. Anya added, “Really, Brennan. Grow up. You’re 17, not 12.” Jeremy grabbed up his towel and draped it around his shoulders, shivering while he stood in the sand and whined, “I’m cold again. And hungry. Where are we gonna eat?” Brennan stood there laughing; his arms folded across his chest, dripping like a wet dog, his hair sticking out in every direction again. Just then, I noticed a group of guys messing around and walking up the beach towards us. I scanned the group quickly, and my eyes stopped when I saw
him
.

Nick Martino. He was almost six feet of pure hotness. About 5’10”, already golden tanned, broad shoulders and muscles that no boy our age should have yet, with emerald green eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair, he looked like he belonged on the beaches of California, not northern Michigan. Nick’s parents owned the pizza place in town. Every time I was near Nick, my heart started beating like crazy and I seemed to lose all ability to speak. Oh sure, I’d dated a few other guys before, but most of them turned out to be losers. Like Brad Gordon, for example, who I dated when I was in tenth grade. What a douche bag. After three dates and a few make-out sessions, he thought his old tree house, a sleeping bag, flashlight and a condom was a romantic and appropriate fourth date. Ugh. Like I said, douche bag. But nobody made me feel like Nick Martino did. Sigh. He was just gorgeous. And he made my insides feel all twisted up and nervous and jittery. Anya leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Is that him?” I nodded my head, not taking my eyes off Nick as he walked towards us. I watched as he tucked his golden locks behind his ears and sauntered up to us in his orange and white board shorts. Oh yum. He was just too beautiful.

“
Hey Ruby,” he casually said, throwing me one of his trademark smiles. I cleared my throat, looking up from my sitting position on the towel and held my hand up to block the sun as I squinted up at him and answered, “Hi Nick!” Oh my gosh. He has to be able to hear that thudding in my chest. Anya kneeled next to me, smiling brightly and exuding warmth. Jeremy just stood there drooling over Nick, looking him up and down, while Brennan stood strong with his legs apart, arms still crossed over his chest and raised up his chin in acknowledgment.

“
Hey.” Nick said, as he too raised his chin and looked past Jeremy and over at Brennan. Must be a cool-tough-guy greeting: the quick chin-raise acknowledgement. As if they couldn’t be bothered to lift any other part of their body but their chins. Nick looked back down at me and continued, “So Ruby, you wanna come up for pizza tonight? I’m workin’, but I get my dinner break at seven.”

I almost peed on my beach towel. Oh. My. Gosh. Did Nick Martino just ask me out? I sat there, dumbly looking up at him like a four-year-old seeing Santa Claus for the first time. I swear, if I was a cartoon character stars would be shooting out of my eyes. Anya quickly answered for me, “Of course she’ll meet you!” I smiled, and nodded in agreement as I tried to swallow the huge lump that seemed to be stuck in my throat.

“
Cool.” Nick flashed a smile again. “See ya later.” Then, he turned and walked off with his buddies, as they started jumping on each other and pushing each other into the water.

“
Ohmygosh!” I said, sitting there staring blankly out at the water. I looked over at Anya, “Did Nick Martino just ask me out? I mean, really, really, ask me out?”

“
I’m pretty sure he did,” she smiled. I shook my head in disbelief… What was I going to wear? What was I going to say? Oh crap. I look awful! My hair was a mess, and I was soaking wet. Crap, crap, crap. But worse yet…how was I going to get there? I couldn’t just ride up on my stupid ten-speed. Talk about looking like a dork. I curled up my knees, wrapped my arms around them and laid my head face-down in my lap. “Oh no, no, no…” I muttered quietly.