Everblue (8 page)

14

FIN

I paced the length of our small living room, checking the sun clock yet again. If Tatch didn’t hurry, I’d be late to the practice field. “Come on, Tatch. It’s all going to wash off when you get in the water anyway.”

“Shut-up, Fin. I’m almost finished,” Tatch yelled from her bedroom.

I blew out a gust of air and sat on the couch. For me to get ready took all of two minutes. There was no need to get dressed or take a shower and the bathroom was technically outside, which grossed me out at times.

After ten more minutes passed, she finally walked into the room, looking no different than she had at breakfast. “Finally.” I shook my head.

She glowered and stuck out her tongue. “Stop being such a stickleback.” 

I ignored her and marched over to the new privacy curtain mom just hung up that partially obscured the porthole entry. As I took off my shorts, pulled back the rock door, and dunked my legs into the water, little bells tinkled from a string that fed through a pipe in the floor I’d never seen before.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“The door bell,” Mom called from the kitchen.

“Sea stars, it’s Azor!” Tatch gasped. Her feet slapped the smooth rock floor as she retreated back to her room. “Tell him I’m not home.”

I sat on the rim of the porthole and pulled back the curtain, unsure if I should phase back into my legs or not.

Mom walked around the corner, looking as angelic as ever with a beaded skirt and tasseled fringe top. “Invite him in,” she said, her voice filled with posture—the tone that said she meant business.

I quizzically studied her confident demeanor, confused at the change from her normal insecure manner in the presence of the pure-born, then shrugged and dove underwater to find Azor waiting outside.

“Azor,” I said with a nod.

“Finley, I was hoping to escort your sister today. Is she at home?”

Conflict erupted inside me, unsure what to tell him. I could lie like Tatch wanted and protect my mom from the confrontation, or follow her orders and invite him in. I glanced up at the one-way window, knowing Mom probably watched us from the other side.

“Yeah, come on in. I hope you’ve brought something to cover yourself. We’ve had the air interior installed.”

“Oh, really?” He looked upward and noted the bubbles escaping from our rooftop. “I do,” he said smugly, placing his hand on a small rectangular box attached to his utility belt. My leather waterproof one was much cooler.

“You’re welcome inside then.” I held out my hand to lead the way.

Azor swam up through the porthole and disappeared into the house. When I surfaced behind him, he’d already phased into legs and wore a black man-skirt and matching sock-like boots. I tried not to snicker. He didn’t pull off the kilt look like Badger did.

“Why hello, Magdelene,” Azor said, his voice laced with charm.

Mom smiled sweetly but gave him a stern look. “Azor, I’d like to be called Mrs. Helton, if you don’t mind. And while you are here, please—” she motioned towards our moss covered couch. “Have a seat.”

Azor grimaced slightly before following her instructions. I guessed it wasn’t often that someone corrected him.

Again, I chuckled on the inside, but sat on the porthole rim, still finned up, uncertain what Mom wanted me to do. She gave me the “stay put” look as she took a seat in a chair on Azor’s left hand side.

“Tatiana, please come here,” Mom called over her shoulder.

A smile spread on Azor’s lips. I squinted, unsure what Mom was up to, but I knew it wouldn’t be in Azor’s favor.

“Yes, Mom?” Tatiana said timidly as she came around the corner, but didn’t make eye contact with Azor—pretending he wasn’t there.

“Your brother has offered to escort you today and Azor has conveniently stopped by. I need to discuss a few things with him before I join you at the palace. Is that all right?”

“Oh . . . okay, I guess.” She gave Mom a kiss on the cheek, then turned towards Azor with a fake look of disappointment. “I didn’t see you there. Hello,” she said curtly, then pivoted towards me with a huge grin on her face and plunged into the porthole feet first.

As soon as I was underwater, all I could hear were peals of laughter in my head.

“Did you see his face? Sweet urchins! Mom is going to let him have it.”

I laughed back.
“I know. He thought Mom was calling you out to see him, not to get a lecture. And she is on a roll today.”

“This day has totally turned around,”
she said, sounding jovial for the first time since arriving.
“I’m going to be laughing about this for days.”

“Me, too.”

With a hard flick of our tails, we sped off towards the palace, laughing like we used to in Tahoe.

15

ASH

I spun around in front of the mirror, wearing my new emerald-green gown. A solitary sequined strap crossed over my collar bone and looped around my neck, hugging my shoulder like a big hook. Never did I imagine a sleeveless dress would complement my overly muscular shoulders, but it did. The soft silk against my skin and the elegant way it hung to the floor made me feel like royalty. For a moment, I wished Senior Ball could have been tonight—not in two weeks.

The girls waited noisily downstairs for the fashion show as I slipped on my shoes. With small steps, my ankles wobbled as I traversed down the stairs. When I came into view, Mom brought her hand to her mouth and Lucy gasped.

“Aye, aye, aye,” Gran said with a golden gleam. “Aren’t you a picture?”

I smiled—just the reaction I’d hoped for.

“So who’s your beau?” Gran asked after I came into the room and twirled a few times.

I twisted my lips and looked at Mom. “Bow?”

“Beau is another word for your date, or guy
friend
,” Mom said, as she walked over and tugged on the seam under my armpit. “Is that comfortable?”

I nodded and she inserted a straight pin from her pincushion.

“His name is Callahan. He’s the pitcher on our baseball team and a really good snowboarder.” Joy burst from my heart as my feelings flowed freely from my mouth. For once the conversation revolved around me and not Lucy, who was still mute at the moment. “He’s got brown hair and big brown eyes—” I daydreamed for a second, imagining us dancing together in the center of a dimly lit room.

 “Well, in my day,” Gran said with a sparkle in her eye, “things were very different. My parents were strict. In high school, they wouldn’t let me go to a dance alone with a boy, but I could tag along with my older brothers.”

I looked at Lucy and smiled evilly. She’d die if Mom and Dad did that to her when it was her turn.

Gran put her hand on Lucy’s knee and squeezed. “So, I’d go with my brothers and meet up with your grandpa at the dance. We didn’t do the wild moves you kids do now, more like dancing cheek-to-cheek or jitterbug. I was pretty good, but your Grandpa . . . he wasn’t coordinated. Maybe it was his big feet, but we’d have a good time anyway.”

“I’ve never heard this story,” Mom said, pausing from pinning up my hem.

“Oh, I’m sure I’ve told it before.” Gran laughed.

And this is how her stories surfaced. Out of nowhere Gran would pop out a story none of us had heard before, as if she kept them for special moments such as these. I’d resorted to studying the pictures scattered around the house to fill in some gaps of what their life was like together. The sparkle in their eyes told me they loved each other very much back in the day.

“Did you ever wear any pretty gowns like in the movies, Gran?” I asked while eyeing a particular picture where Gran pushed Mom in a baby stroller while Grandpa walked next to her, arm draped over her shoulder.

“Oh, no,” she said with a chuckle. “We wore our everyday dresses and saddle shoes, not those—” she waved her hand at my strappy ones. “But I would have loved to. Boy, are you stunning.”

I felt my cheeks grow hot. “Thanks, Gran.”

“Oh, that reminds me. I have something for you.” She rose from the couch and headed toward her room.

I looked at Mom who smiled knowingly. She returned with a brown garment bag. From inside she pulled out a faux white fox stole. “It was my mothers. I’d like you to wear it on Saturday.”

My mouth dropped open as she draped the soft silky side over my shoulders and fastened the jeweled clasp front. I rubbed my cheek against the luscious fur, instantly enveloped in warmth. “Really?”

“Of course. The weather is supposed to be dreadfully cold, so it’s perfect.”

“Can I wear it?” Lucy asked, standing up and dragging her hand across the front of the stole.

“When you have a special occasion, darling, I’ll let you borrow it as well.” Gran took her arm and guided her back to the couch. They sat and she pulled Lucy into her shoulder. “Isn’t your sister lovely?”

Lucy’s sallow skin matched her sour expression as her eyes raked over the fur. She reluctantly nodded. I held my shoulders up and smiled, enjoying every second of the attention.

“I’m done,” Mom said. “Go ahead and carefully take off your dress so I can sew it before the weekend.”

I gingerly pulled the edge of my dress off the floor and did a Miss America wave. “Thank you everyone for voting for me.”

Mom chuckled and looked to me with pride. “I can’t wait for your father to see you.”

“Me, too.”
And Callahan.
I bit my lip and grabbed the garment bag before floating upstairs on a cloud of glee. Would I really be doing that the night of the dance? Did I have a chance to win?

In front of the mirror, I held up my hair to simulate an up-do. Georgia had offered to practice hairstyles on me Friday night since my little stash of cash was all gone. “Tiara hair” she called it.

What would Fin think of me now? No longer the plain girl next door. I smirked, wishing he’d be home when the limo pulled up and I walked out, drop dead gorgeous on another guy’s arm. I peered out the window towards his house, plotting my evil deed and spotted Colin pacing back and forth in front of Fin’s Jeep, tapping something on the palm of his other hand. I gasped as he shoved the tool down into the window slot and pulled upward, a Slim Jim. With a flip of the handle, he opened the door.

“Don’t you dare mess with Fin’s Jeep,” I said and positioned my index finger and thumb so I could pretend to squish his head.

He turned, looking down the street toward my two-story window as if he heard me. The hair prickled on my neck as I moved out of view. Through my chiffon curtains I watched him stare with a peculiar smile. He proceeded to crawl inside and dig around for something on the floor boards before he slammed the door and walked back into the house.

My breath came out choppy for a moment, feeling caught. How could he have heard me? I stayed rooted in my spot, wondering why he was breaking into Fin’s Jeep. What was he looking for? If Fin knew he’d touched his Jeep, let alone broken into it, Colin would be dead.

I bit my lip, remembering how beautiful his eyes were—clear and blue like Fin’s. And that an overwhelming desire to kiss him had flooded me. How could that have slipped my mind so easily? But did he actually say he hoped Tatchi didn’t come back?

Suddenly, my blood boiled and I wanted to smack his sassy smirk right off his face. He knew where the family was and if I didn’t hear anything from Tatchi tonight, I’d be paying him a visit tomorrow.