Seaweed (9 page)

“Oh, give the boy a break, Ann,” Nana said, surprising us all. “You’re chewing his ear off.”

“No I’m not.”

Mom turned her attention back to Tor. “It’s so nice of you to come along to watch Dori swim.” She flashed Nana a warning look.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Tor said. “I know that Dori’s an excellent swimmer.”

“Tor’s not too bad himself,” I said, grinning.

“Really?” Mom said. “Maybe you should join the swim team?”

“Mom, he already has things he likes to do.” I was siding with Nana now. I threw Mom a look that said enough with the hundred questions. She didn’t get the hint.

“Like what?”

“Just stuff. Jeez, Mom.”

“What’s the matter with you two? I’m just trying to get to know your friend better.” She turned her eyes back to the road, settling back in her seat with a thump.

Ugg.

“Hey, Dad?” Her behavior embarrassed me, and the stony silence that followed didn’t help. “Can you turn up the radio?”

There was a buzz of energy and excitement at the pool. Each team had a designated area to sit and I shoved in close to my teammates. Colby was at the other end of the bench, mastering his Ignore Dori skills. I looked up at the observation deck and waved to Tor who was leaning up against the glass. He flashed me a wide grin and I melted a little bit. I wished I didn’t have to put on my stupid swim cap. Along with the goggles I looked like a Martian. Vanity had to go out the window, though, if I wanted to win my heat.

The guys raced first. Colby lined up at his mark. My stomach clenched. I felt nervous for him. Despite all the weirdness between us, I still wanted the best for him.

The whistle blew and water splashed as the swimmers dove in. It was the butterfly heat, one of Colby’s strongest swims. He easily took the lead. They headed back for the second lap, then a third and once the fourth and final lap was on, the noise of cheering in the pool area echoed to a deafening level. Our whole team was on its feet and I shouted the loudest.

Colby won by two arms lengths. Our team jumped and cheered and when Colby came back to our bench he gave me a big hug. (Huh!) He quickly moved on to high five the others. I glanced up at Tor. He raised his eyebrows in question with an amused look on his face. I shrugged and grinned back at him.

Everyone was buzzing about Colby’s time. He’d broken the regional record.

“Awesome, Colby,” I said. We managed to forget our differences for that brief happy moment.

My stomach flip-flopped when it was my turn to race. My heart beat in nervous anticipation—I depended on the adrenaline rush this produced to thrust me forward. I waited for the gun blast as I bent over the block.

Idove in and swam the butterfly hard. I didn’t think of anything else except moving my arms and legs in a smooth rhythm. I wanted to win more than ever, just because Tor was here. I flipped at the end and moved onto my second length. Then my third. I could hear the din of the crowd through the water. One more lap. Knowing Tor was watching propelled me like never before. I knew I was making good time. I was sure I’d won.

I reached the end and tapped it with my hand. I was half a pool length ahead of any of the other girls. I waited for the cheer the winners got, but instead all I got was a dull murmur.

Something was wrong.

People’s heads were turned to the clock.

Not only had I beat my female competitors. I’d beat Colby’s time.
I’d beat his time
. How did I beat his time?

Guys raced against guys because they were bigger, stronger and faster. It was nature. Men and women were built differently. I shouldn’t have beaten a guy at this level of competition. And Colby had just broken a regional record.

I hopped out of the water. I looked up at Tor. What was he thinking? His arms were crossed and his eyes—worried? Perplexed? Or worse:
Disappointed?

Colby was shouting at me when I got to the bench. “Cheater!”

“I’m not,” I said, shocked. How quickly our camaraderie had deteriorated.

He yelled at Coach. “She’s doing drugs. She has to be.”

His eyes were a blaze of anger and humiliation.

I didn’t think he meant to do what happened next. Maybe in his mind he wanted to, but he’d never really do it—I knew Colby, and I knew this. His arms were flailing wildly as he made his accusations. He meant to just point at me (I was sure of it), but instead he accidentally knocked me into the pool.

Of course I wasn’t physically hurt, but it was just so shocking. To others it looked like I had just been attacked by my own teammate and Colby specifically. I pulled myself out wondering what all the sports columnists were going to write about us in the local papers now.

I felt shame and anger—I didn’t do anything wrong. I snuck a sideways glance at Tor. His mouth was in a straight terse line. He pounded the glass with his fist. I’d bet he wished he could be down here to knock Colby’s lights out, but the humidity forced him to stay away.

For once I was glad of it.

Mom’s eyes were wide, her hand over her mouth. Dad had his arm around her shoulders, his brows furrowed.

Nana was gnawing on her lip, deep in thought. I didn’t know what else she could be thinking about now. Maybe she really was losing her mind.

The swim meet officials conferred with Coach. He came back looking grim.

“They want to disqualify you, Dori. They say your time was impossible without enhancements. I convinced them to let your time stand until they can prove otherwise with drug testing.”

“I’m clean,” I whimpered.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to prove it.”

The girls in the dressing room glared at me like I had leprosy, which with my red, itchy legs, wasn’t too far off. Even Ally, who usually always smiled and accepted the fact that I was a stronger swimmer, didn’t offer me a comforting glance.

I quickly rinsed off under the open stalled showers, swimsuit on, then wrapped my towel around myself.

Mom found me and threw her arms around me, no matter that I was wet and spotted her jacket. “We’ll get to the bottom of this,” she whispered.

A female judge walked in and called my name,
Elizabeth Seward
. Her voice resounded through the space like an echo chamber, and my first inclination was to run into a stall and hide.

Everyone else seemed confused—
Who’s Elizabeth?
they whispered. They only knew me by my nickname. I stepped forward.

After asking my mother for permission she said to me, “First let me take a blood sample, then you can pee in the cup.” She handed me a plastic container, and I grew even redder with embarrassment. Would she like to strip-search me, too? I didn’t think the female swim community was getting enough of a show here.

I sat on the bench as she took my hand and pricked my finger. Mom offered me her motherly comforting smiles. Then I trudged off to the toilets to fulfill the rest of my duties.

When we were finally able to leave I met up with the rest of my group in the foyer. My eyes were glossy and my face blotchy from holding back tears.

Dad patted me on the back and made soothing clucking noises. “It’s not true,” I pouted.

Nana reached for me next.

“This too shall pass,” she said.

I stole a glimpse of Tor. He stood quietly to the side. I didn’t know what to do. Go to him? Ignore him? I felt so embarrassed and humiliated; I just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Tor didn’t know what to say either, apparently. The ride home was almost unbearable.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I didn’t sleep well. In my dreams I was at the pool, everyone’s fingers pointing and jabbing my face. Then the scene changed and I was swimming with Tor, in the ocean. He kissed me, and then left. I swam after him, but he was so fast, and before I knew it, I couldn’t see him. I was alone.

I woke with a start. Then I realized my cell phone was buzzing.

“Hello?” My voice was thick and groggy.

“Hi, it’s me. Tor.”

I already knew it was him by the call display. I was just surprised he was calling at all.

“I’m clean.” Not what’s up? Not how are you? Just, I’m clean. Would I forever be defending myself on this?

There was silence for a moment. Then Tor said, “Can we talk?”

“Okay.” Might as well get this over with.

“Meet me at the beach in thirty minutes.”

I had half an hour to get myself together. Thirty minutes to stew about what Tor wanted to talk about. I was pretty sure I knew. His uncle had gotten to him after yesterday’s fiasco, and he wanted to end our friendship. Our relationship. Whatever it was that we were.

I washed my face with cold water and slathered cream on my legs. After last night’s flare up, I was thinking stress might have something to do with it. I slipped on black fitted athletic pants, a tank top and hoodie. I brushed my hair until it was smooth and pulled it back.

The last thing I could do was eat breakfast. My stomach was twisted up in a ball so tight, I couldn’t fit a peanut in there. But I also didn’t want to faint in front of Tor because of low blood sugar. I’d already suffered enough personal humiliation to last a lifetime. I drank a glass of orange juice and then brushed my teeth. Twenty minutes passed. I took a deep breath and headed out.

Tor was there when I arrived. He leaned against the rock, staring out at the bay. The sight of him took my breath away, and thinking about losing him so soon after I’d finally got him, felt like a slap in the face. I was still trying to shake off the emotional residue from my dreams. I swallowed hard and wrapped my arms around my stomach.
Hold it together, Dori.

“Hey,” he said when he saw me.

Instead of keeping his distance, he surprised me by rushing over and wrapping his arms around me. “You look like you could use a hug,” he said.

That was all it took. I started sobbing like a baby. “I don’t know what is wrong with me, Tor. I’m some kind of freak.”

“Well, if you’re a freak, I don’t know what that makes me.”

He kissed my forehead and I melted into him. Relief washed over me. This was not how a guy acted just before he was about to break up with you.

“I wanted to do this last night, but with your family all over you, I didn’t want to intrude.”

Oh, please, intrude away!

He took my hand and we climbed up on the rocks together. The sun peeked through the morning fog and I let the warmth of it calm me.

“I think I know what’s going on with you.”

“Really?” I was dying to know. “What?”

“You’re going to think it’s crazy.”

“I already think I’m crazy.”

“Remember when you asked me if a merperson has ever fallen in love with a human before?”

“Um, yes.”

“I did some genealogy research of my kind last night. Apparently, it happened a couple generations ago. Here in Eastcove.”

I shook my head. “I don’t get it. What’s that got to do with me?”

“I think you’re one of us.”

What? Stop the train. Did he just say what I thought he said? “Come again?”

“I think you are a descendant of that coupling. That’s why you can swim beyond normal human abilities and hold your breath for so long.”

“As much as I’d love to be a mermaid,” I said without facetiousness. I’d been fantasizing about that ever since my awkward talk with Dex. “There seems to be one obvious flaw.” I pointed to my legs. “No tail.”

“Yet,” he said softly. Then he reached up to my face. I thought he was about to pull me into a kiss when, instead he rubbed his hands behind my ears. Over the bumps!

I jerked away, mortified. I couldn’t believe he’d just felt the acne behind my ears!

“I’m sorry, Dori,” he said, noting my discomfiture. “I just had to check.”

“Check for what?”

“Gill buds.”

“What?”

“I’ve been suspicious for a while. Not that it makes any difference to how I feel about you. I was crazy about you when I thought you were fully human and now, with this, I’m ecstatic.”

I was stuck for a moment on the “crazy about you” part, but then I got to the “with this” part.

“With what?”

“I noticed a while ago that your legs…”

Oh, my God. Was he going to pick out every physical flaw?

He continued, “…it’s part of the process. I wasn’t sure, because I’ve only witnessed it the other way around.”

“Please, Tor. Speak English. I don’t understand anything you’re saying.”

“You’re fifteen. Not that that’s a magic number, but it’s around fifteen or sixteen that it happens.”

“What happens?”

“Puberty. For merboys and mergirls.”

I burst out laughing.

“It’s true. I couldn’t hop on a rock and form legs before puberty. Otherwise you’d see a lot of adventurous merchildren lying on rocks trying to get legs.”