Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings (12 page)

“So, he probably knows all about the mers in Talisman Lake. It
must
have been him who pulled the hoodie over
me that day I passed out next to the creek. And he must have seen us in the canal and figured out what we were doing.” It’s then that I realized, he didn’t fall; he jumped!

“I’m sure Eddie has seen it all in his day, especially working at the boat lock. Once things settle down, maybe we can pay him a bit of a visit.”

Would Eddie know how long it would take for Mom to become human again so she could come home? I wondered.

We drove in silence for a while longer. Dad concentrated on the road ahead as his yellow fog lights swept back and forth with every bend in the road.

His phone rang.

“I can get it.” I reached my hand out for the phone.

“Probably just work. I told John I’d call him once I got back in town.” He pulled the phone from his pocket and flipped it open. “John…”

But it wasn’t John. From the way Dad’s whole body straightened and he drew in a sharp breath, it could only be one person.

“Micci. How…”

…was she able to call him?

“Why…”

…wouldn’t she see him?

“Where…”

…was she right now?

“Really?” Dad’s voice rose to an excited pitch. “How long will that take? How will I know when to come get you?”

“Will the Council show her where the tidal pool is?” I asked.

He turned and nodded, sporting the biggest grin I’d seen in a long while.

The fog lights danced across the yellow line, onto the oncoming car, against the guardrail.

“Dad. Dad!”

He glanced my way.

“What?”

I braced my hand against the dashboard and pointed to the side of the road.

“Just a second, Micci, don’t go anywhere.”

Dad tucked the phone between his ear and his shoulder and braced his hands on the steering wheel to guide the car to the side of the road. He put the car in park.

“Sorry about that…” His voice went quiet as he brought his hands to the phone and tucked his chin to his chest. “Our daughter is in the car with me. I thought it would be a good idea to pull over to keep her safe…How are you, sweetheart?”

Y
OU CAME
!” C
ORI YANKED
me inside. Her house was cool and airy, a great relief from the late June heat accumulating outside.

It was pool party day, the first day of summer vacation, the day I decided to make things right.

“I got your messages so I figured I’d better.”

She’d left them on my home phone after my cell apparently went unanswered. Three messages, to be exact: one giving me the low down on the Lainey situation; the second asking if I’d forgive her for ever being Lainey’s friend in the first place; and the third promising to fireman-carry me to her party if I wasn’t there by eleven. I thought it would be a good idea to avoid giving Cori a hernia, so there I was, standing at her front door, wondering if it was too late to make up for all the lies I’d told her.

Cori’s mother breezed into the entry from the kitchen and wrapped me in a hug.

“Jade, honey. It’s been too long. How’s your dad?” I
dissolved into her arms and breathed in the sweet scent of vanilla frosting from her apron.

When would Mom ever be able to stand in the front entry like this and greet my friends?

Soon. I had to keep believing it would be soon.

“Dad’s good.” Better than good, especially after talking to Mom until the battery on my cell ran out the night before.

“Well, tell him we say hi. We’d love to have you both over for a barbecue.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Blake. He’d like that a lot.” I smiled.

“Don’t hog her, Mom,” Cori joked and hustled me up the stairs.

We reached her bedroom, a haven of draping fabrics, beads, and scarves.

I dumped my backpack on her bed. “I wasn’t sure you’d want me to come. I’ve been such a jerk lately.”

Cori shut the door with a soft whoosh, then led me to her window seat and sat me down.

“So you’re not mad at me?” Cori asked. “About the Lainey thing?”

“Of course not.” I rubbed her arm and remembered how she’d stood up for me. “I’m the one who hasn’t been much of a friend lately. Things have just been a bit nuts.”

“This is about your mom, isn’t it?” She stared, searching my face.

My mind raced. How could she know? Was Cori some kind of telepathic unicorn-girl or something? Given
my
secret identity, it was definitely within the realm of possibility. Or, maybe this was just the right time for me to spill.

“Well…yeah…it’s about my mom…”

“I knew it! It was that Michaela bathing suit at Hyde’s that started this, wasn’t it? Darn it! I thought planning a pool party for you would be a good idea after the cruddy summer you had last year, but all it did was freak you out. I’m so sorry.”

“You planned this for me?” I asked.

“Stupid, right?” Cori’s mouth twisted into a hopeless expression.

“No, no! Not stupid at all. It’s just…” I thought of the chain events that followed from that one simple bathing suit purchase, bringing us to here…

“What?” Cori asked.

How could I be honest about everything when I’d made that promise to Dad? But Cori deserved the truth. If we were going to stay best friends, I had to be one hundred percent completely honest. At least, as much as I
could
be.

“It’s just that I found out something about the way my mom drowned, but I made a promise to my dad to keep the news within the family.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie. And it felt good. “That’s why I’ve been acting so weird.”

“Ohmigod!” Cori brought a hand to her mouth. “Did your mom commit suicide?” She pulled her hand away and whispered. “Was she…murdered?”

I laughed. “No, nothing like that. And I know it’s not fair to you, but that’s all I can say for now.”

Cori seemed to process what I’d just said. “Okay. If you’re asking me to chill, I will. But you know I’m going to be obsessing over this until I figure it out.”

“Trust me. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” The words left my mouth and stirred a memory in me that I couldn’t quite place.

“So, we’re okay?” Cori asked.

“Definitely okay.” I sighed and collapsed onto the big overstuffed cushions leaning against Cori’s window seat. “As long as you’re cool with me not swimming at your first-ever pool party.”

“Why?” Cori asked.

“Well, if you do the math, the Super Sonic Slurpee Napkin Fiasco was about 28 days ago.”

Cori understood. She took me by the shoulders and marched me to her en suite bathroom.

“Don’t worry. We have the technology for that.”

“It says Toxic Shock Syndrome can result in serious injury or death. Should I be worried about that?” I stuffed the instructions back into the tampon box.

Cori yelled through the closed door, “Come on, Jade! If you’re done, get out here. Everyone’s gonna be here soon!”

I got myself into my tankini, (after a quick side trip to the mall that morning to replace the bottoms), slathered
on some SPF 40, and finished off the ensemble with the cutest thongs.

Flip-flops that is, not the butt cracking kind.

“Voilà!” I emerged from the bathroom. Cori nodded her head in approval.

“Looking good!”

“You look awesome too!” Cori was a knockout in her two-piece halter suit.

Slamming car doors sounded from outside, marking the arrival of guests. We kneeled over the window seat to get a peek outside. Kids were already streaming through the gate to the backyard.

“Looks like the party is about to start.” Cori took me by the arm and giggled. “We shouldn’t keep our guests waiting.”

We hurried down the spiral staircase and crossed the main floor to the back of the house.

I stepped out onto the pool deck, welcoming the warm sun against my skin. My hair fell in waves against my bare shoulders, tickling them with stray tendrils. The heat from the sun brought out the scent of coconut from my sunscreen.

Ah…summer…

Everything about that moment made me almost believe that this might be my best summer, ever. And judging by the streamers and balloons, Cori was doing her best to kick it off to a good start.

“You really went all out, didn’t you?” I whispered to Cori.

“Well you
are
a whole year older, after all.”

“Wha…?”

Cori raised her hands like a cheerleader riling up a crowd.

“Happy Birthday!!!” everyone said at once.

Someone should have shot me with a clue gun, because it took a full minute before I registered what was going on.

“
My
birthday?” I stammered.

Cori laughed out loud. “You didn’t think we were going to let your fourteenth birthday pass without celebrating?”

Then I remembered. So much had happened in the past month, I’d forgotten about my birthday in a few days.

“I got you a prezzie.” Cori turned me around. When I looked up, there he was.

Luke closed the gate and rubbed his hands up and down the sides of his jeans, looking shy and adorable.

“Luke is my present?” I turned to Cori and hid my face. Why would he even want to be here after I ditched him the day before? I peeked long enough to see one of his friends nab him in conversation, buying me some time. “How did you get him to come?”

“I just called him. You like?” Cori whispered in my ear. “I finally clued in to why you’d developed such a habit of crashing into him. Plus, it wasn’t totally selfless on my part.” Cori looked past my shoulder and waved to Trey.

“Aw, Cori. You’re the best.” I smiled and gave her a huge bear hug.

“Well, don’t just stand here. Go play with your present.” Cori pushed me toward Luke and joined Trey by the pool.

“Luke,” I called out. “Hey.”

Luke’s curls fell over his eyes when he turned. I thought I noticed him sigh as he made his way over. A horrible thought crossed my mind. Was he just doing Cori a favor?

“Hey, Jade. I hope it’s okay that I’m here.”

I tried to stay cool, but my whole body hummed at the sound of his voice.

“It’s more than okay,” I said, hoping that sigh meant nothing. Maybe it was just gas. Even gas would be better than a sigh. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it to your boat cruise.”

Luke seemed to choose his words. “I’m sure you were there in spirit.”

Well, to be fair, I
was
there, just not exactly the way he might have imagined.

“Oh.” Luke presented me with a brown paper bag. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks!” I took the bag from him.

“Sorry it’s not much. I didn’t have a lot of time with my cousin visiting and all. I didn’t even get a chance to get my bathing suit.”

“That’s okay. I probably won’t swim either.” I wasn’t quite ready to test the tampon theory, but Luke didn’t have to know that. “But, really, you didn’t have to get me anything.”

He laughed. “Don’t get your hopes up too much.”

I peered into the crumpled paper bag. Wigwags. I smiled.

“Grandpa said you might like them.” He winced. “Did I get it all wrong?”

“No, no. They’re perfect. You really know the way to a
girl’s heart.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I inserted my foot. “Well, not my heart, my stomach, I mean.” Then I thought of my muffin top and how I didn’t particularly want a cute boy thinking about my stomach. “You know what I mean.”

“They’re my favorite too.” Luke fished a Wigwag out of the bag and popped it in his mouth.

“Hey, those are
mine
now!” I slapped his hand away and laughed. We sat on the pool deck and I sloshed my feet in the water.

Cori strolled by with Trey on the way to the snack table.

“Aren’t salt water pools great?” Cori asked. “Mom says her skin’s never felt so soft.”

I snatched my feet away. “Ah, um. A salt water pool, huh? That’s, er, great!” I knew nothing would happen unless I actually dove in, but I pulled a towel over my legs and feet anyway and smiled.

Luke turned to me. “What’s the matter?”

I plastered a smile on my face. “Oh, it’s this weird foot thing. Just a little paranoid about the freaky toe structure I inherited from my mom.”

“I’ve seen your toes before.” Luke nudged me with his elbow.

I looked at him, trying to sort out what he’d just said.

“You have?”

“That day at Bridget’s, when I crushed your foot with my skateboard.”

Luke had seen my toes. What did that mean?

He looked at me for a long moment. “You were wearing a blue hoodie.”

Cue increased heart rate, dilating pupils, sweaty palms… “How do you remember that?” I gasped.

“You’re kind of hard to forget, Jade.” Luke looked down at his hands.

My brain clicked through our conversation like one of those plastic number games you get from the dollar store.

The hoodie.

My toes.

Bridget’s.

“You went back to Bridget’s to get your cell phone that day, didn’t you?” I asked.

You push the little squares up, over and down, trying to get the numbers to line up from one to ten.

“Yeah.” Luke stared into the pool.

“But you didn’t go back to the skate park right away, did you?”

Luke stayed silent.

I tried to arrange my thoughts like the numbers in the game. Did Bridget tell Luke I was eating my lunch by the lake? Had he gone looking for me? Did he find me by the creek and cover me with the hoodie? I remembered the warning look Trey had given him when they returned to Bridget’s later that afternoon. Had Luke told Trey what he’d seen? Was Trey in on it too?

“Luke.” I worked to figure out a way to phrase my question without giving anything away. What if it really
was
Eddie who covered me up and not Luke? What if I was about to make a total idiot of myself? “Did something happen that day that changed the way you feel about me?”

“Listen, Jade…” Luke seemed to weigh his words. Maybe he thought I was trying to get him to say that he liked me. If I was way off and he knew nothing about me being a mermaid, he was probably trying to find a way to let me down easy.

But I’d said too much to go back now. “Did you see anything that day? Something you’d like to talk about?”

Luke took a deep breath, pulled off a shoe and held his foot in his hand. He leaned over.

You mean like this?
The ring of his voice in my ear robbed my breath.

I blinked. My mouth hung open. He had the same webbed toes as I did.

It
was
him.

He pulled the hoodie over me that day, next to the creek. He’d seen me in my half-mermaid phase and knew exactly what it meant. Because…he was a mer too.

Yes,
I rang back,
exactly like that.

“What’s that ringing sound?” Cori squinted and glanced around as she pulled Trey toward us. “Is that someone’s cell phone?”

I’m not sure what came over me, call it temporary insanity or any of Dr. Becker’s other diagnoses, but I was so stunned by what had just happened and so surprised when
Cori broke into our conversation that I grabbed Luke around the neck and kissed him.

On the lips.

“Ohh-kay…” Cori giggled. “We’ll just be over
there
if you need us.”

Finally, long after Cori left, purely to make sure it was safe to talk again, I let the poor boy go.

“Sorry about that,” I said breathlessly.

Luke smiled his adorable curvy smile. “I thought we were going to stop apologizing to each other.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“You’re doing it again.” He laughed.

My hand flew to my mouth to stifle one of my signature snorts. Then, I pulled it away and stared at him, trying to make sense of what was happening.

So you’re a…
I switched back to my mermaid voice but could barely form the words.

Luke nodded.

But how? Is Eddy…is the rest of your family?

Luke laughed and shook his head
. No. I’m, um…I guess you would call it adopted.
He brought his hand up to the side of my face and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Oh…” I think I muttered. Though, I couldn’t think. Not with his hand so close to my cheek and his eyes holding my gaze.

The earth seemed to tilt back on its axis and set itself right again. Mom was back in the ocean on her way to becoming human, Cori was the best friend a girl could
ever have, and I was sitting next to a boy who knew all my deepest, darkest secrets and didn’t seem to mind. He was a merman or a Pesco-boy or whatever, and I could almost imagine what that all meant and in the same second, I couldn’t wrap my head around it at all.