Pretty in Pearls: A Forgive My Fins Novella (HarperTeen Impulse) (9 page)

“You know what?” Riatus shakes out his hand. “I don’t think I will.”

The crowd parts and a pair of royal guards swim into the circle. I recognize them from the palace.

“What’s the trouble here?” one asks.

Prax points at Riatus. “That jackfish just assaulted me.” He holds both hands up in the air, like he is blameless in this situation. “Arrest him.”

The guards start for Riatus. I move into their path.

“No, that’s not what happened,” I insist. “Prax swung first. Riatus was just defending himself.”

One of the guards, Barney, looks sympathetic, like he wants to believe me but it’s my word against Prax’s. “I’m sorry, Miss Peri, but with an accusation like that we really need to take them both in.”

“She’s right,” Lily says, swimming to my side. “I saw the whole thing.”

Barney looks from Lily to Prax and then back to Lily. “Yes, Princess. But I’m afraid we’ll still have to escort both young mermen from the dance.”

She looks at me and I nod. That’s better than them arresting either of them.

They head for Riatus, but as they reach him he shrugs them off. “I was leaving anyway.”

I watch, helpless and confused, as he swims off over the crowd, motions to his sister, and they head for the palace gates.

I’m still shaking my head when Lily says, “What are you waiting for? Go after him.”

I’m kicking away before she finishes.

    
9

W
hat the clamshell is going on?”

Riatus stops moving but doesn’t turn back to face me. “Nothing.”

He starts to move again, his sister at his side.

“No,” I say, speeding up to swim around them and plant myself in their path. “Not nothing. I’m tired of whatever game we’re playing. I’m tired of you stepping in to warn me or protect me or perform whatever misplaced act of chivalry you think you need to do, and then telling me to go take a swim.”

“Peri, this isn’t the—”

“Oh yes it is.” I swim close enough so that we’re practically nose to nose. “This is exactly the time. This is exactly the place. You’ve ruined my evening and I want to know why.”

His eyes look unfocused, like he’s trying not to see me.

Next to him, his sister shifts. “Ri, tell her.”

“No,” he insists.

“Fine,” she says, transferring her attention to me. “I’ll tell her.”

I shake my head. “If he can’t tell me himself, then I don’t want to hear it.”

She wraps her arms around his arm. “Tell her.”

We’re far enough away from the palace that we can’t hear the music. The streets of Thalassinia are deserted because everyone is at the dance.

He floats, frozen for several seconds. I’m holding my breath because this feels like a turning point. Either he gets over his problem and tells me what’s going on or . . . he doesn’t. If it’s the former, then we have a chance. Otherwise, this is the end of the road.

If he can’t even trust me enough to share whatever is keeping us apart, then there’s no hope.

He’s silent too long. He’s not going to tell me, and I’m going to have to be strong and swim away with my head held high. I’ll have to finally give up this ridiculous fantasy that maybe, one day, if the stars align and the currents cooperate, we can actually be together.

My shoulders slump. This is it. I never really thought I’d give up on him, but I won’t be like Lily, convincing myself I’m in love for three years with nothing in return. I won’t play the fool.

He turns and starts swimming away. Coral looks back at me over her shoulder, the look on her face a clear indication that she doesn’t agree with her brother’s actions.

Her and me both.

The distance is growing and I’m either too stunned or too tired of chasing to go after him.

It’s over.

Lily serves giant globs of plumaria pudding into two bowls and sets them on my kitchen counter. I pull one toward me and dig a spoon into the blobby goodness.

“Boys,” I say before shoving a huge bite into my mouth.

Lily nods. “Boys.”

But she doesn’t mean it. She and Quince are perfect—like made-for-each-other perfect. Her boy troubles are behind her.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” I announce. “I’m swearing off boys. For good.”

Lily giggles and I know she doesn’t believe me. But I swear, after the Riatus roller coaster I’ve been on the last few weeks, I’m pretty sure I’ve had enough boy drama to last a lifetime. I will just dedicate myself to a life of service to the crown. After all, when she becomes queen, Lily will need me more than ever. I have to be ready.

The doorbell rings. Mom is upstairs passed out in her bedroom. She never goes to the Sea Harvest Dance because she’s too exhausted after making all the dresses for it. I don’t have the energy to drag myself to the door.

“I’ll get it,” Lily says, sounding way too chipper for my grumpy taste.

I keep eating my pudding and trying not to let thoughts of that boy whose name I don’t want to think enter my mind.

A moment later, Lily calls out, “Peri, I think you want to come see this.”

I slump. I probably don’t. Judging by the way my luck has been going, it’s bad news. Definitely not worth the effort of swimming through the house.

But as I swim into the front hall, I have to agree with Lily.

Floating there in my front door is Riatus’s sister. I definitely want to see this.

I lean through the doorway and follow her gaze. Only to find Riatus floating a few feet away.

I scowl.

“After what happened,” Coral says, “I didn’t think you’d open the door for him.”

“You’re right.”

I start to float back inside, but she grabs my wrist.

“Please. I know you’ve given him lots of chances.”

I snort at the ridiculous understatement.

“But give him just one more.” She smiles a huge, hopeful smile. “For me?”

I sigh. She is very convincing. I throw another scowl his way.

“Fine.” I narrow my eyes at her. “One more.”

She claps and waves him closer. “I’ll just wait inside,” she says, swimming past me and pulling Lily in with her. “With the princess.”

An instant later, they’re shut inside and Riatus is swimming to my side.

I bite my lips to keep from saying anything. I’ve said enough for ten conversations already. It’s his turn. If he wants to say something, he’ll have to say it.

“I’m sorry.”

For the first words out of his mouth, they’re pretty good ones. I release the bite on my lips.

“Coral pointed out that I might have been acting like a jackfish.”

“You have,” I blurt, then quickly bite my lips.

Finally, he looks up and meets my eyes.

“Prax is a bottom-feeder.”

“Yeah, I figured that out,” I say, “when he tried to grope me on the dance floor and have you arrested.”

Riatus twists his head to crack his neck. “We used to be friends, for years. Before I . . . left. At least I
thought
we were friends.”

“What happened?”

Riatus runs a hand back over his hair. He looks frustrated, like he’s still struggling with the idea of telling me what’s going on.

“Whatever it is,” I say, “you can trust me.”

He looks up, his eyes intense. “I know.”

“Then tell me.”

He closes his eyes, and when he opens them I can see he’s ready.

“He’s always been one of those guys who likes skirting trouble,” Riatus begins. “Being just outside the problem when the wave hits the shore. At first, I was amazed he wanted to be my friend. He is a couple years older and, I thought, so much cooler.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell Riatus that’s ridiculous—I can’t imagine anyone cooler than
him
—but I don’t. This is not the right moment.

“At first I just wanted to please him. I did whatever he asked. Little things, like covering for him at school or lending him lunch money. Graffiti on the palace walls. Staying out all night, swimming the streets.” He looks pained at the memory. “The older we got, the more serious . . .” He trails off, shaking his head. “One day, a little over a year ago, he decided to escalate to robbery. He told me the house was abandoned.”

Even though the answer is obvious, I ask, “It wasn’t?”

He shakes his head. “The police came. Prax slipped out the back.”

“And you got in trouble?”

Dark hair swirls around him as he nods.

“Sounds like a real starfish,” I mutter.

“Getting arrested was a wakeup call.” He rolls his shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tension.

“You—” I begin, but as the words form, the puzzle pieces fall into place. “You didn’t spend the last year on some grand adventure, did you?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I was a guest of the Thalassinian Juvenile Detention Facility.”

I suck in a deep draw of breath. Now it all makes sense. Why he disappeared so suddenly. Why he seemed so much more mature—more serious—when he came back.

“Since I got out, I’m doing everything I can to avoid getting in trouble. I can’t make my mom and Coral go through that again.” His gaze lifts and there is so much pain in his eyes, I want to hug him. “That included avoiding Prax.”

“Bet he didn’t love that plan,” I say. “Guys like that don’t like being rejected—as I learned on the dance floor tonight. If you hadn’t stepped in . . .”

“It was nothing,” he says with a shrug.

I swim a little closer. “It wasn’t.”

He looks uncomfortable.

“Just say you’re welcome,” I tell him.

His mouth lifts up in a half smile. “You’re welcome.”

I beam. “Now, please continue.”

Some of the tension leaves his shoulders.

“A few weeks ago, right after that first day I saw you in the market, Prax started flirting with my sister.” His fists clench. “She’s too young to see him for the trouble he is.”

I imagine the worst. “He didn’t hurt her?”

He shakes his head. “He’s not interested in her. Not in that way. He only used her to get to me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Ever since I got back and refused to hang out with him, refused to be his easy get-out-of-jail-free card, he’s been trying to get back at me.” He takes a deep breath. “He finally found a way with Coral. He threatened to bond with her, just to spite me. To blackmail me.”

“She’s such a sweet girl,” I say. How could anyone try to take advantage of her?

“She is,” Riatus continues. “When I found a note asking her to meet him at the edge of the Kelpforest, I was ready to kill him.”

Oh no! “That night I followed you?”

Riatus nods. “I was on my way to stop them.”

And I stopped him. “They didn’t. Did they?”

“Turns out Coral isn’t as naïve as I thought,” he says, shaking his head. “She knew it was bad news to meet a boy she didn’t know in the most dangerous part of Thalassinia. She never planned to meet him.”

“Smart girl.” I swim forward and place my palms on his shoulders.

I look at Riatus—really, for the first time,
look
at him. I see the boy he was and the man he is working hard to become. He’s full of guilt over his past mistakes and trying not to repeat them. His dad has been gone since forever, and he’s shouldering the responsibility for his mom and sister. Protecting them.

Protecting me, too.

“So, tell me something,” I say, letting my hands slide down his arms. “When you told me you
couldn’t
like me . . . ?”

He looks down as I entwine my fingers through his.

“You thought you were shielding me? From Prax?”

Riatus doesn’t look up, but his fingers tighten around mine. “He tried to use Coral against me. If he thought I even
might
have feelings for you, he would have tried to use you, too.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me the truth?” I dip down so I can meet his lowered gaze. “Why just give me vague warnings about Prax?”

“I
told
him to tell you,” a voice calls out from inside the house. “You should have listened to me!”

“I know that
now
,” he shouts back to his sister. He shares a conspiratorial look with me. “She has ears like sonar, I swear.”

“I heard that!” she yells.

I grab him by the wrist and swim away from the house, out of even sonar earshot. I don’t want any company for the rest of this conversation.

“She’s right,” I say softly when we’re far enough away to be safe. “You should have told me.”

“I didn’t want you drawn into the situation.” He tries to release my hands, but I don’t let go. “Thanks to Prax—thanks to my own stupid mistakes—I’ve already hurt too many people I care about. I didn’t want to hurt you, too.”

“News flash,” I say without sarcasm, “pushing me away hurts way more than anything Prax could do.”

This time he manages to pull his hands away. I float closer, but he drifts back. As the space between us grows, I feel the progress we’ve made tonight slipping away.

“You’re giving him all the power,” I insist. “You’re letting him and your past ruin whatever we might have together.”

Riatus shakes his head, like he can’t let go of this idea that he’s protecting me by keeping me at a distance. If there’s anything I’ve learned from seeing Lily and Quince, it’s that two people are stronger together than they are individually.