The Power Within (4 page)

“I'm really sorry,” he said, his voice strangely flat. “You have to know that was a complete accident.”

“Of course I know that,” Fiona replied at once.

“And I ruined your Changers class, too,” he continued, his head in his hands. “I'm ruining everything.”

“No,” Fiona said. “Don't say that. It was just one mistake.”

“I don't want to hurt anyone,” Darren said. “I just want . . .”

Darren's voice trailed off as his phone started to
buzz. He rummaged around in his backpack until he found it. Fiona glanced over her shoulder nervously at Ms. Therian, who was coaching Mack and Gabriella through their last drill. If Darren was caught on his phone—even at the end of class—he'd be in more trouble.

“My brother texted me,” he said.

Fiona watched his face as Darren read the text. Somehow, he looked even more upset when he finished it. “What happened? What's wrong?” she asked. “Is Ray okay?”

Darren shook his head. “I—I have to go,” he said, standing so abruptly that he knocked his backpack off the bench. At the same moment the lights in the ancillary gym blazed brighter than the sun. There was a sudden, earsplitting pop—

And every bulb burned out.

“Darren—” Fiona called.

But her voice was drowned out by the final bell, and Darren was already gone.

When Fiona got home from school that afternoon, she grabbed her journal and went straight to her favorite
spot on the beach, Broad Rock. Her father, who had no clue that Fiona was really a
selkie
, had forbidden her from swimming alone, claiming it was too dangerous. That was true for a human, of course. But a
selkie
was safest in the ocean, Fiona was sure about that.

Fiona didn't like to break the rules, though, so instead of putting on her
selkie
cloak for a quick swim in the churning ocean, she simply perched on Broad Rock, her backpack on her lap and her journal in her hands. Fiona didn't even bother opening her journal. While she loved writing in it before going to bed every night, when she brought it to the beach, it was nothing more than a prop. Because the real reason Fiona came to the shore every day, rain or shine, was to find the coppercolored seal.

She'd only seen the seal twice before—once when she'd found her
selkie
cloak, buried in the damp sand below Broad Rock, and once during the battle against Auden Ironbound—but Fiona was as sure as she could be that it was no ordinary animal. The unusual sheen to its coat and its brightly inquisitive eyes told Fiona there was something more there. Fiona was too rational to
jump to conclusions, though; she wanted proof before she told anyone else.

But when she was very quiet, and listened to her heart, Fiona knew that the copper-colored seal was a
selkie
.

And if Fiona was right, then this was the
selkie
she'd been searching for. The one who could teach her the songs and tell her their secrets. The one who could help Fiona unlock all the powers that she didn't even know she had.

I'm here,
Fiona sent a message across the wide expanse of the ocean, somehow wishing that her thoughts could carry through the waves and reach the
selkie
; call her to shore.
Please come. I need you.

The only response, though, was the gentle lapping of waves as they washed onto the sand. Fiona didn't mind—not really, anyway. She was patient. Besides, next to being in the water, this little spot was Fiona's favorite place in the whole world.

As the sun began to set, making the ocean glitter like it was made of sapphires and diamonds, Fiona suddenly felt a hand on her back. She was so startled that
she jumped and spun around, accidentally knocking her backpack from her lap. But it was only her father.

“Dad,” Fiona said as a relieved smile filled her face.

“I thought I'd find you here,” Dad replied, smiling back. “Sometimes it seems like you spend all your free time down at the shore.”

“Can you blame me?” Fiona asked as she stared at the sunset. The golden sun shimmered as it dipped beyond the horizon, bathing the sky with shades of crimson and violet.

“You've always been my water baby, Fee,” Dad said, using her special nickname. “Even during a cold rain I couldn't stop you from jumping into puddles.”

They both smiled. Fiona barely remembered her mother, who had died when she was a toddler. Sometimes Fiona could reach down deep to recall snippets of the songs she sung or the way her mother's cotton dresses smelled, but her father had always been there for her. His students at New Brighton University didn't think he was very warm or friendly, but Fiona knew the truth: Dad had a soft side, and he loved her as much as she loved him.

“Come on, let's go make dinner,” Dad said as he bent
over to pick up Fiona's backpack. “This got all sandy,” he continued, brushing it off. “I'll wash it for you tonight so it will be dry by morning.”

“No!” Fiona cried, grabbing her backpack away from him.

She knew at once that she'd messed up. A look of concern—with just a touch of suspicion—crossed her dad's face.
I have to fix this,
Fiona thought.

“You already do, like,
everything
,” she said. “I can wash my own backpack. Seriously. I want to help more.”

There was a pause before Dad spoke. Then he wrapped his arm across Fiona's shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. “You're such a great kid,” he said. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“What did I do to deserve
you
?” Fiona countered as she stood on tiptoe to kiss her dad's cheek. But inside, she felt . . . well . . . like a liar.
If he only knew,
she thought.

But of course, that was impossible.

If Dad ever found out that she was a
selkie
 . . .

It would be disastrous.

Sure enough, when Darren got home from school, Ray was waiting in the living room—just like he'd texted. Darren dropped his stuff and got right to the point. “I thought you said you couldn't come home until next weekend,” he said. What was wrong with his voice? Why did it sound so accusatory? Ray, of all people, hadn't done anything wrong. Darren tried to take a deep breath, tried to steady himself, but that jumpy, jittery feeling was still going strong.

Luckily, Ray didn't seem to take offense as he crossed the room and pulled Darren into a bear hug. “That was my plan,” he said. “But Mom showed up after
my midterm and said we needed to have a family meeting. So here I am.”

“This is weird,” Darren said anxiously. “Very weird.”

Even the happiness of seeing Ray wasn't enough to eliminate the feeling of dread that weighed on Darren's heart. But Ray was here, at least. Whatever was about to happen, Darren knew that he wouldn't be facing it alone.

Just then, Mom came in from the kitchen. “Darren!” she said. “I didn't hear you come in.”

“What's going on?” Darren asked.

“Let's all sit,” Mom said carefully, avoiding his question. She called over her shoulder, “Alan? He's home.”

Dad's back,
Darren realized with a sudden rush of relief. He hadn't seen or even heard from his father since Saturday morning. But now, here they were, the whole family together again. That was a start. A good start.

“Hey, buddy,” Dad said as he crossed the room and gave Darren a quick hug. Dad smiled, but it didn't completely reach his eyes.

“Dad,” Darren said. “Where have you been? I haven't seen you in—”

Dad patted Darren's back. “We're going to talk about that,” he said. “We're going to talk about everything.”

“Come on, D,” Ray said from the love seat by the picture window. “Sit with me.”

Darren crossed the room and sat next to Ray. His legs were jumping—it was like his knees were rattling in their sockets—so he pressed his palms on them, hard, to make them stop.

Mom and Dad sat too at opposite ends of the couch. Mom's shoulders were so tense, so high. That feeling of dread surged through Darren again, but he tried to quash it.
You don't know anything,
he told himself.
Stop freaking out.

For a long moment no one spoke. Mom and Dad exchanged a glance, but what they were communicating between themselves, Darren couldn't tell. Then Mom took a deep breath.

“This isn't a conversation we ever wanted to have with you,” Mom began. “It's— I—”

As her voice faltered, Dad sighed. “What your mother is trying to say,” he began, “is . . .”

“We've decided to get a divorce,” Mom finished.

No one moved.

That's it,
Darren thought numbly, staring into the great empty space between his parents. His worst fear—the worry that had been gnawing at him for months—was actually happening. It hadn't sank in yet, that big, awful word. “Divorce.”

But it was real, and it was happening—like it or not.

“Why?” Darren asked, and his voice sounded all thin and small, like he was still a little kid. Darren cleared his throat and tried again. “Why?”

“Oh, baby,” Mom said, dabbing her eyes. She held her arms open wide. “Come here.”

But Darren didn't budge.

“There isn't one specific reason,” Dad said. “We've just grown apart. We've been married for twenty-three years, you know. That's a long time.”

“Yeah,” Ray said, a hard edge to his voice. “A
really
long time. It sure seems like a shame to throw away a marriage like that. A family like this.”

“We're not throwing away our family,” Mom protested. “But we can't go on like we have. All this fighting and discord—it's not healthy for anyone.”

“Well, maybe if
you
were here more,” Ray snapped, turning to Dad. “I mean, come on—you didn't even come home for two nights?”

“Ray. Calm down. I asked Dad to leave,” Mom said evenly.

“What about all the times he missed dinner to work late? Or hang out with his buddies instead of putting his
family
first?” Ray demanded.

Dad took a deep breath; Darren could tell he was trying to stay calm. “Son, I'm not a perfect person,” Dad told him. “I've made mistakes—I'll be the first one to admit that. But to be honest with you, your mother and I have not been happy together for a while. Sometimes the best thing for me to do was clear out. To give us both a little space.”

“And that's when we realized that we're actually happier apart,” Mom spoke up. “This isn't some spur-of-the-moment decision, you know. We've been thinking and talking about it for a long time. And we can't keep denying it—Dad and I aren't in love with each other anymore, and we don't want to stay married.”

“So what now?” asked Ray. “I mean, what happens
next? Exactly what does it look like when the Smiths Get Divorced?”

Mom ignored Ray's sarcasm, even though she'd never tolerated one word of back talk before. “We filed for divorce last week,” she explained. “The process will take several months to finalize.”

“What does that mean for Darren?” said Ray. “Where's he going to live?”

“With me,” said Mom, glancing at Dad out of the corner of her eye. “At least, until custody decisions are finalized.”

Custody.

The word made Darren feel like throwing up.

“And where's Dad going to go, now that you're throwing him out?” Ray asked.

“Okay, son, that's enough,” Dad said, a hint of warning in his voice. “That's your mother you're talking to. She deserves your respect.”

“Sorry,” Ray mumbled. “But this is a lot to take in.”

“To answer your question, Mom's not ‘throwing me out,' ” Dad said. “I found an apartment right here in Willow Cove—it's a pretty good place—and I'll be
moving out next weekend. But, Darren, don't worry, buddy, you'll still see me all the time . . . every other weekend, and sometimes longer for holidays and school breaks.”