Seaweed (3 page)

She put her fork down, reached across Mom’s lap, grabbed my hand and squeezed. “You really should stay out of the ocean, Dori.”

The way she said it kind of freaked me out, all earnest and foreboding-like. I wondered if maybe Nana was starting to lose some of her marbles. She was getting kind of ancient. I gave her a reassuring smile.

“I’ll be fine, Nana.”

I spent the rest of the afternoon studying for exams. My cat Crosby lounged on my bed, his amber eyes languidly following my movements with mild curiosity.

“Hey, Crosby.” I couldn’t resist running my fingers through his fur. I pressed my face into his forehead. Ah, fuzz therapy.

By Monday I was almost forgiving Tor, and I found myself looking for him at school, in the yard and in the halls, but he was a no show. Just as well. Everyone was buzzing about how the new guy, Tor Riley, had fallen into the ocean.

Only I knew the truth.

The day was a blur of exams and I wondered if Tor was about to fail grade ten. Or did it matter, since he was starting school two weeks before it ended, which was weird if you thought about it. Maybe he just wanted to make friends.

I told myself not to think about him, but still I thought about him. What was the matter with me?

Luke dropped me home after school before he headed to work at Joe’s Garage. Mom had left a note saying she had taken Nana sailing so I was alone in the house with Sidney, our golden lab, and Crosby. I took turns scratching behind their ears as I snacked on milk and cookies.

I wasn’t often home alone, and it felt strange. I’d never noticed how loud the fridge motor was before, or how the kitchen clock had a soft tick.

I almost turned on the TV for company when I heard a knock at the door. I waited, but no one opened it with an accompanying “hello.” That was the usual unspoken arrangement in this town.

Sidney beat me to the door and started barking. I turned the knob and opened it.

Tor.

My jaw dropped in surprise and then promptly clamped.

“What do you want?”

“I want to explain what happened the other night.”

“Oh, the night when you ran away from me and dove into the ocean and never resurfaced? That night?”

He looked me straight in the eye. “Yeah, that night.”

I shook my head. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to know anymore.

Tor leveled his deep greens on me and I was suddenly curious. What could he possibly say?

I relented and was about to ask him to come in, but Sidney was squirming like mad, and I wasn’t sure how long I had before Mom got home. I grabbed my jacket. “Let’s walk.”

We automatically ended up at the beach, and continued padding through the rough sand until we came to a grouping of ragged black rocks. Tor climbed up on an enormous one and I followed, making sure there was a good distance between us. The wind whipped my loose hair against my face. Sidney settled in on the beach beside us.

Seagulls soared and squawked overhead. Crabs crept across the sand then dug and buried themselves in safe little holes. The tide in the Bay of Fundy was rising and out on the horizon I saw a blast of water shoot into the sky.

“Did you see that?” Tor said.

“Yeah. Probably a humpback.”

We waited and it jumped—its heavy gray pleated body defying gravity and crashing back into the sea.

“Wow,” I said. “It doesn’t matter how many times I see something like that, I’m always blown away. It’s so amazing.”

“Yeah, she’s amazing.”

I looked at him. “How do you know it’s a she?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said quickly. “Just a guess.”

I let the salty air massage my face and took a deep breath. The air revived me and calmed me at the same time. I was soothed by the rhythmic music of the waves, and found it hard to keep my anger level up.

“Dori, I’m sorry about the other night.”

I stared at him. His face was kind and gentle, but his eyes were sad.

“I don’t understand what happened. I know I shouldn’t have thrown my water at you, but I was just trying to have fun. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“I know, and I wasn’t mad about that. I can’t explain why I had to run. I’m just hoping that you can accept my apology.”

Looking away, I mouthed, “You frightened me.” I didn’t think he would hear me, but he did.

“I know. And for that I’m truly sorry.”

“But you dove into the water and it was absolutely freezing cold. I went in after you.”

“I know you did. I wish you hadn’t and I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“So, tell me why you did it. Why did you dive in? What happened to you?”

Tor sighed heavily and searched the beach with his eyes, as if the answer would peek out like a turtle’s head.

“I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

“Fine.” I climbed off the rock and stormed away. Tor jumped down, running after me, and grabbed my arm.

“Please, Dori. Don’t be mad. I’m really sorry and I want to be friends.”

“You want to be friends?” I shook my head. I didn’t know if I could do
friends
with this guy. Despite my anger, I still found him incredibly cute and alluring. I surprised myself by thinking that I might want more than friends.

“Me, too.”

Me too, what? Did he just read my mind? “Excuse me?”

“I mean, yes, I want to be friends. And maybe more, someday. When you’re no longer angry with me.”

I felt breathless, kind of faint. I dropped to my butt on the sand.

“You want to be more than friends?” I squeaked out. “Someday?”

Tor grinned crookedly and nodded.

Wow, I hadn’t seen this coming. This mysterious boy had a lot of secrets, but maybe there really was a reason he couldn’t tell me them right now. He was like a present wrapped in a big bow, waiting to be opened. I didn’t know all of Tor’s favorite things or what he looked like in preschool, where he grew up or what his family was like. But the discovery could be exciting. Anticipation was half the fun.

There was something different about Tor Riley, and I liked that.

CHAPTER FIVE

I opened my locker and grabbed my books for the last class before lunch. Earth science.

Part way down the hall, I ran into Tor exiting Mr. Grimer’s history class. He moved with a movie star quality that made my knees feel like elastic bands. Of course, I never for one moment forgot that Tor had said he wanted to be more than friends one day. For some reason, this thought made me overjoyed.

“Hi!” I said, realizing belatedly that I sounded way too enthusiastic. I tried to calm my voice down. “How was history?”

“Fine,” Tor said with a very pleasant smile. “I like to know what went on in the world before now. Helps to figure out what’s going to happen next.”

Wow, deep. “Yeah, I like that too. So, what’s your next class?”

He paused to check his schedule. “Earth science.”

Yes! Finally a class we had together. But I kept it cool. “Oh, I have Earth science too, so we’re in the same class.” Our school was so small there was only one class for each subject per grade.

Tor nodded. “Lead the way.”

I was almost giddy walking down the hall, side by side with Tor. All the girls glanced at me with envy. Tor was new. He survived an ocean mishap. He was mysterious.

This was what it would be like to be a couple. Yes, Tor and Dori, the cutest couple at Eastcove. Sounded good to me.

Tor smelled terrific, too, musky and fresh, like he’d slept in the forest. I was so pre-occupied with him, I almost missed the door to the class.

“Oh, here. This is it.” I stumbled over his feet as we back-tracked a couple steps, grabbing onto his arm to keep from face-planting.

“Oh, sorry.” I flushed with embarrassment and something else that had to do with the fact that I was hanging on to his arm.

“No, problem.” A grin tugged on his lips as he set me aright.

Once inside the classroom, I wasn’t sure what to do. I made a quick calculation. I wanted to sit beside Tor, but that would’ve meant changing seats from my usual spot, something everyone, including Mr. Teaworthy, would’ve noticed and mocked. I moved slowly to my desk, still undecided when Mr. Teaworthy spoke.

“You must be Tor Riley,” he said, his belly jiggling with the effort. “Just in time for the end of the year and final exams. There’s an empty chair at the back.”

Great, just great. Not only could I not sit with Tor, I couldn’t see him either, since he was behind me in the same row. Everyone would notice if I tried to steal glances at him.

To make matters infinitely worse, Tiffany MacMillan sat right across the aisle from him. I had time to see her flick her chocolate (crap) colored hair, bat her (fake) eyelashes and spring her starlet (horsy) smile on him before Mr. Teaworthy called us to order.

My body stiffened with frustration. I felt my jaw tighten as I ground my teeth.

Mike and Sawyer took their seats on either side of me. Mike looked at Tor and Tiffany and shook his head. “Sorry, Dori,” he said, laughing. I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Class, today I’m showing a video on the Pacific Garbage Patch. Then you will write a five hundred-word essay on what you learned and how you feel about the social responsibility citizens of planet Earth have toward it. Sawyer, you can kill the lights.”

We watched as a blob of plastic and garbage twice the size of Texas bobbed about in the Pacific Ocean. The narrator went on about how pollution was endangering sea life and bird life and basically every other kind of life.

I glanced back at Tor when the bell rang. He stared out the window, and his face flashed with emotion—anger? Sadness? Who wouldn’t be ticked off by a video like that? We were screwing up our planet.

Tiffany scooped her arm through his before I had a chance to make it to the back of the room.

Whatever. I left them and went straight to my locker where I plucked out my bag lunch. Then I headed for the vending machines.

And bought dulse. Two bags. Dulse was dried edible seaweed grown in the Bay of Fundy. And yes, they sold it at our school. I didn’t even wait until I’d met with Becca and Samara outside, before ripping the first one open. I couldn’t seem to get enough. I must’ve been lacking in some kind of vitamin or mineral. I tossed the empty bag and started in on the next one before making my way outside.

“Are you eating dulse?” Samara said as I approached.

“Yeah, I know. It’s weird. I have this super-strong craving.”

“My mom had that when she was pregnant with my little brother,” Becca said, then paused with this horrified look in her eyes.

I sat down beside her and punched her in the arm. “As if.” I’d never had a real boyfriend and they knew it. I pushed more dulse chips in my mouth.

I scanned the area looking for Tor and inadvertently locked eyes with Colby. He took this as an invitation to join our table. He mumbled something to his jocks and strolled over.

Samara and Becca both raised an eyebrow. They often employed their misguided Cupid skills on me and Colby, and it had wrecked our friendship. Or at least, seriously altered it.

In February, after months of Becca and Samara’s subliminal signals they’d sent to him causing him to falsely believe I was interested, Colby had given me a Valentine’s Day card with chocolates. I
knew
when I opened the box of candy at school that he’d just ruined everything. It took a nanosecond for the rumor mill to start. Colby loved Dori. Aw, it was so cute. Until Dori rejected Colby. Bad Dori.

Around that same time my hair had turned green. After years of chlorine abuse, my light blond hair had become the color of my nana’s old copper pot. It took a dose of hair magic by the most expensive hair salon in Saint John to fix that mess.

That was when I started wearing the ugly swim cap. It was also when Colby started calling me
Seaweed
instead of his usual Seward. I chose to believe that it had turned into a term of endearment since. It annoyed me, but if I let him know that, he’d never stop.

Someone tossed a Frisbee around and Colby jumped up to play. To my surprise I spotted Tor in the group. Athletics was another obvious gift the boy had.

And I admitted, watching him play didn’t hurt my eyes. At all.

Tor glanced our way, but I couldn’t tell if he was looking at me specifically. I didn’t want to chance a wave, but I offered a smile just in case.

The guys took a break and ended up at our table. Point for Dori! So sorry Tiffany—I couldn’t help but throw a pretend apologetic look her way. Tor didn’t sit next to me, though. He sat at one end, closer to Sawyer who was blatantly staring at Tor’s arms. His shirt had ridden up from the sweat, and I could see blue marks peeking out on his biceps. Bruises? Was his uncle a beater?

Sawyer saw them too. “Hey dude, are those tats?”

Yeah, maybe they were sexy tattoos, not bruises.

Tor adjusted his shirt. “Kind of.”