The Mermaid's Mirror (3 page)

Sea_girl:
Lets not even talk about it, k?
PemberLoca:
K. See u tomorrow?
Sea_girl:
Yes!
PemberLoca:
Bye.

Lena logged off and went back downstairs to get something to drink. As she walked into the kitchen, her mom was saying, "...if the vertigo was caused by something else?"

"She's never had any blood work done," said her dad. "It wouldb e—"

Her parents stood close together, their heads bent. They fell silent as Lena entered the room, and Lena caught the worried expression on her dad's face before he saw her.

Glancing up, he made an effort to smile, then said with fake casualness, "What's up, Lena?"

She hesitated, then said, "Nothing. Just getting a drink."

She grabbed an energy drink and hurried from the room, because she did not want to talk about fainting anymore.

***

Kai was singing into the phone. "
Lena said knock you out ... I'm gonna knock you out...
"

Lena laughed. Even though Kai looked like the quintessential California surfer boy—whose life would revolve around "brews and bros," and who would only listen to speed metal—he was actually a drama geek who loved all music, from power ballads to punk. Lena had heard Ani accuse him once of having "ludicrously undiscriminating taste in music," to which he had replied, "Love Ludacris!" Lately he'd taken to inserting Lena's name into whatever song was on his brain radio. "I did
not
say to knock anyone out," she said. "And I think you've reached your limit on oldies for the day, haven't you?"

"Oh, Leen," he said. "There
is
no limit. Hey ... that sounds like it should be a slogan, doesn't it? And you might as well prepare yourself. Drama Club is voting on which musical to put on. It's down to three:
Brigadoon, Grease,
and
Guys and Dolls.
"

"Whoa," said Lena. "Those are all really old!"

"Don't be ageist," said Kai. "They prefer the term 'classic.'"

"Why not something like
Wicked?
"

"I dunno. Hey, how was your trip to the city?"

Lena reluctantly told him about the fainting, and he begged to come over immediately to confirm in person that she was all right.

"Nooo," she said. "I'm fine, I'm fine! No one seems to believe me. I probably just have swimmer's ear, or something."
Although I haven't been swimming in over a week,
she thought.

"Okay, I believe you," he said. "Let me come over anyway. Just to ... you know."

Lena giggled. "You know?"

"Right.
You
know."

"Um, I
don't
know. And I'm almost afraid to find out."

"I want to be alone with you. There. How's that for blunt?"

"That might be kind of tough," she said. "Seeing as both my parents are here, and they're all worried about me now, so they probably won't let me out of their sight."

Exhaling heavily, Kai said, "Man. They're such, like,
good parents.
Why can't they be all wrapped up in their own problems?"

"I know, right?" Lena laughed. "I'm practically grown. They should just leave me to my own devices."

"I got your devices right here, baby," said Kai in his sexy voice, which made her crack up some more.

"I'll just see you tomorrow," she said.

"Really?" Now he sounded hurt. "I was serious. I want to see you."

Lena paused. She was still adjusting to the concept of Kai being her boyfriend.
Friend
Kai would have said, "Yeah, catch you later."
Boyfriend
Kai wanted to see her all the time, it seemed like. "Oh," she said. "Okay. Um, why don't you come over after dinner?"

"Perfect."

"But don't blame me if you're bored once you get here."

"Unpossible," he said. "I'll see you later."

Lena dreamed she was falling, the helpless dizzy sensation jolting her out of sleep.

She lay frozen, her heart thudding in her chest, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Practically in the clouds.

She rolled over and sat up. No more sleeping today. She wasn't going to risk going back to
that
dream. Without turning on the light, Lena got out of bed and went to the window, moving aside the curtain so she could peer outside. A light fog blanketed the empty street, casting a misty halo around each streetlight. Sliding open the window, Lena felt the rush of cold air on her face. Perfect autumn beach weather.

She pulled on sweats over her pajamas, shivering a little. Stepping into the hallway, she listened for early-morning family sounds, but the house was quiet. They must still be asleep. She padded down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she turned on the light, dimming it immediately so the glare wouldn't hurt her eyes. She grabbed a marker and scrawled on the dry-erase board:

6:15 a.m.—went for walk on the beach—L.

Pulling on her jacket, she stepped outside, where the cold air smelled of the sea. Lena took a deep breath, as if inhaling perfume. Why couldn't it smell this good everywhere?

She walked two blocks to the end of the road without seeing anyone else. When the streets were silent and dark, it was easy to imagine she was the only person awake for miles. Behind the dark windows of all these houses, she pictured everyone still curled up in bed, fast asleep, while she roamed the neighborhood alone.

Lena walked across the graveled public parking area and moved down the narrow beach path, a worn stretch of earth in the middle of tall grasses. The dew-covered blades clung to her pants like wet fingers. Stashing her sandals near a fallen log, she gave a sigh of relief as her feet touched the cool sand.

The only light on the shore came from Pelican Point Lighthouse, two miles to the north, where a bright beam flashed in the darkness and winked out, just like clockwork. But the darkness didn't bother Lena; she could walk this stretch of sand with her eyes closed.
In fact,
she thought wryly,
I could walk this stretch of sand in my sleep.

Lena made her way down to the edge of the water, where the sand was rippled from having been under water a few hours ago. The tide was out, but she could feel the urgency of the sea ... soon the tide would sweep back in and cover the sand where she stood. The waves pounded as if hungry for shore.

She walked almost a mile, until she came to Shipwreck Rocks, the massive stone jetty that extended into the sea, separating Diamond Bay from Magic Crescent Cove. A weathered sign proclaimed
WARNING! DO NOT CLIMB ON ROCKS. RISK OF INJURY OR DEATH.
Ignoring the sign, Lena began to scale the rocks. The sign had been there her whole life, and she'd never heard of anyone getting hurt on the rocks, other than the occasional twisted ankle or scraped knee.

Once she reached the top, she settled down on a relatively flat boulder, resting her eyes on the horizon, where gray met darker gray. It was so early even the surfers weren't out yet.

She's never had any blood work done
...

Lena shivered. She wished she hadn't overheard her parents. She couldn't get that word out of her mind.
Blood.

I'm fine,
she told herself.
My blood is fine.
Restless, she got up and made her way carefully down the other side of the rocks. When she neared the bottom, she jumped onto the sand.

She walked farther down the beach, farther from home, as if she could leave her fears behind. Finally she stopped to catch her breath, staring out at the empty water.

As she gazed at the sea, a sleek head popped out of the water.

She smiled and waved at the sea lion. They loved this stretch of shoreline. She knew it was silly to wave at them—she wouldn't do it if other people were around—but sea lions always seemed so interested in human activity that she couldn't help greeting them. She wished she could swim out to play with them.

The sea lion disappeared beneath the surface again, popping up a few more times in different spots, finally drifting so far north that Lena couldn't see him.

"Bye," she whispered.

...
never had any blood work
...

Lena wished she could pluck the thought out of her head and throw it into the sea, where it would be borne away by the waves.

She splashed ankle-deep in the surf, letting the cold water tickle her feet. She grabbed a sandy stick, dragging it through the wet sand, making circles and hearts and stars. Then she wrote in big letters,
I AM FINE.

Lena tossed the stick onto the sand and made her way back to Shipwreck Rocks. She should probably head home. No point in worrying her parents even more by being MIA when they woke up. Lena climbed to the top of the rocks, glancing back the way she had come, and almost stumbled. A solitary figure had appeared on the beach.

Where did he come from? Was he there when I was there? Was he watching me?

She looked harder and recognized the long, loose coat, the shambling walk. It was just Denny.

Denny was a weird loner who was always wandering up and down the beach. He never bothered anyone, just muttered to himself. Sometimes he shouted at the sea. It was best to give him some space. He didn't seem to be homeless or hungry, but no one knew where he lived, or how he survived.

Lena decided to make her way home
quickly.
She didn't think he would bother her, but the idea that he had been lurking nearby without her knowledge was unsettling. Just before she descended the steep rocks, she glanced back again. Denny was standing on the spot where Lena had written
I AM FINE,
staring down at the words in the sand.

***

The mermaid felt the lure of humans.

She swam closer to shore, knowing that the sun had nearly risen and she must not be seen. It wasn't fair to the humans. Most of them went mad with the knowledge of mer-folk. They lingered by the sea, wasting away in the desire of seeing them again.

The mermaid surfaced. This stretch of beach seemed familiar, although it was far from her village. Ah, there was a human!

She watched him for a moment as he trudged through the wet sand, shoulders bent, long coat flapping around his knees. He had the look of one who had Seen.

Not wishing to cause him further unrest, the mermaid slipped beneath the surface and swam away.

After breakfast, Lena dragged her backpack over to the kitchen table and started pulling books and folders from it. She frowned down at the pile of homework. Something was missing. Spanish, Algebra II, History, English...
Where was the—?
Lena opened her backpack and peered inside at the empty space. She looked at her books again. Everything seemed to be on the table already. She'd left her Biology book at school, but that was because she didn't have any Bio homework.
Hmm.
She shrugged and tossed her backpack to the floor.

Lena's cell phone chimed with a text from Pem:

Want to go to the mall?

Lena hit Reply and texted: Yeah call u later.

She plodded through a half hour's worth of homework before Cole came into the family room—which adjoined the kitchen—and turned on the TV, locating a football game. The sound of cheering crowds and sports announcers filled the room.

I need a break, anyway,
thought Lena, and she gathered up her books and papers to put in her backpack.
Where's the—?
She shuffled through her papers a few times, then shook her head. Where was
what?!
It was driving her crazy, the feeling that something was missing.

"Is it okay if I go to the mall with Pem?" she asked her mom.

"Did you finish your homework?"

"Mostly. I have some reading to do."

"Okay. Is Kai going to be there?"

Lena tried not to roll her eyes. "Mom, Kai isn't with me twenty-four/seven."

"I'm just asking."

"He's not going to be there. Can you take us, or should I ask Dad?"

"Ask your father. He's upstairs in his office."

Her dad was tapping away on his laptop at the big oak desk. Lena went to stand behind him. She admired the Chinese dragon tattoo on his left forearm, with its intricate green scales, and the yin-yang symbol on his right shoulder. Although she couldn't see them, she knew her name and Cole's name were inked above his heart.

"Hi, hon," he said.

"Hi. Could you take Pem and me to the mall?"

"Sure. I have to go out pretty soon to run some errands, anyway."

"Thanks." Lena went to stand by the window. She stared in the direction of the ocean, even though only a tiny slice of it was visible from here.

"You've been remarkably quiet about your birthday this year. I thought the Sweet Sixteen was supposed to be a big deal."

She didn't answer for a moment.
Sweet sixteen and never been kissed,
she thought.
That was almost me.
"We don't have to do a big deal," she said.

"I take it you'll be wanting sushi from Miso on Main for your birthday dinner, as usual."

"Yes, please." Lena loved sushi anytime, but especially on her birthday.

"How many people should we order for?"

"I don't know. Eight? Ten?"

"How about
sixteen?
"

She smiled at him. "No, I don't want a big crowd."

Her dad made an expansive gesture. "You only turn sixteen once. Now, what about presents? I know you said gift cards are fine, but I want to get you something special."

She gazed at the distant glimmer of the ocean.
I couldn't ask for a better opening.
"Actually, Dad—"

"Yes?"

"There is
one
thing."

"Great! Tell me."

She hesitated, looking into his beaming face. "I was hoping—"

He waited.

"That this year—" She swallowed and said, "That you would let me take surfing lessons."

Her dad's smile disappeared.

Lena's heart bumped.
Oh, no.
She moved closer to the desk, gripping its hard wooden edge. "Or if, you know, lessons are too expensive ... maybe
you
could teach me." She heard the tremor in her voice and winced.