OVERFALLS (The Merworld Water Wars, Book 2) (13 page)

Shaking my head, I muttered, “Great.”

“But I am sorry about what happened this morning at school,” she said, still maintaining firm eye contact with her order pad. “I didn’t participate in any of it, just so you know. I thought it was awful what they were saying.”

“That’s nice and all, but by not doing anything to stop them, you were just as bad because you let it go on.” At this, Ula quickly met my hurt, angry eyes with a look of shame. “Ophelia literally cried all day long. Bullies stay bullies so long as they’re allowed to. Did any of you stop to think that the so-called enemy hasn’t been the instigator in anything? All we’ve done is respond and defend ourselves from attacks.” I tossed my hands up. “Let’s just forget it and order. Two cheeseburgers cooked medium-well, two curly-q fry baskets, and two root beer floats.” Handing her my menu, I turned my gaze to the sea until she left. “Amazing,” I sighed once she disappeared into the kitchen.

“She’s a perfect example of what I was saying earlier about them being afraid,” said Airianna.

“So, maybe I was too harsh?”

“Oh, heaven’s rain, no! She needed it stuck to her. She needs to find her marbles.”

I laughed. “You mean balls?”

“Oh…yes, those.”

“You’re such a saint, Airi.” The fun, must-laugh feeling quickly faded when Mom’s reaction to Mr. Gibbs’s message consumed my thoughts. “Why do you think Mom acted so perturbed about Mr. Gibbs?”

Airianna raised her eyebrows. “Maybe he’s being a little too smothering with his concern, and your mom wants him to see she’s tougher than he thinks. Plus, she has the Savior, so she probably thinks his extreme worry isn’t necessary.”

My stomach twisted like the garlic twisty bread sticks Mom makes with her spicy stew. “Airi, what if I can’t protect her? I mean…what if the Fairhairs and, well, Katrina, are right about me? You, Mom, Troy, Meeks…all of you have such unwavering faith in me being able to be this Siren Savior person, but I don’t even know what it means, really. I don’t know how to be the Savior or even what I’m supposed to do. What if I can’t save you or Mom or…anyone?”

“Oh, Marina,” said Airianna, reaching over to grab my hand. “No one knows what the Siren Savior is. No one knows what you’ll have to do, so you can’t be expected to know those things.”

“But, I couldn’t save you last night when the Imperia tried to kill you. I tried, but I couldn’t free myself in time. It was Trey who saved you, not me. And if I’m the Savior, shouldn’t it have been me?”

“And it’s because of you that Trey was able to save me. Without your touch, he never would have found his transformative power when he did last year. So, you really did save me. Don’t you see? You’ve already saved us.”

“Underwater on July Fourth in Zale’s castle, I know, but—”

“Well, yes, but that’s not what I mean, silly. You saved Troy from the demon inside and taught him how to love. You saved Benji from his own prejudices, and you saved me…from myself.” She lowered her head and fiddled with her napkin. “I was so lost before you arrived. I was scared all the time. One day, I hope to repay you.”

Tears stinging my eyes, I choked out the words, “Thank you.”

“Don’t you dare!” she said, fanning her watery eyes with her hands. “I want to be able to taste my food!”

“Airi, did you really push Troy into dating me?”

“Yep. I’d never seen Troy so thoroughly captivated by anyone before. I impressed myself with my nagging abilities. I suppose I wanted to live vicariously through both of you. You know it's been my dream to find love with a Normal.”

“Here y’all go,” said Ula, vastly friendlier than earlier. “And, um, the meals are on the house.”

Airianna and I shared a surprised look. “Ula,” said Airianna, “I really don’t think the owners would allow a defector and a Normal to eat on the house.”

“Well, what they don’t know won’t drown them,” she said, prancing away. “Oh, and when you’re done, there are two chocolate mousses waiting for you…on the house.”

“She’s paying for our meals,” said Airianna, smiling.

“Well, then, we’ll just tip her extra-extra,” I said. Maybe Troy was right. Maybe there was hope to be had in this town after all…in very small quantities, mind you.

After our meal and mousse, Airianna looked nervously at her watch.

“We still have hours,” I groaned.

“Huh? Oh, yes, yes…hours,” she replied, clearly distracted.

“Where are you?”

“Oh, I’m here, trying to figure out how to say what I need to say.”

“I’m best with blurt.”

Taking a deep breath, Airianna said in one, exceedingly quick, run-on sentence, “I like Trey, he likes me, we haven’t kissed or anything because I didn’t think it would be right until I talked to you, got your approval, but Troy’s already given us his blessing—something that was important to me, but, really what could he say, since he’s in love with you, right? Um…so…are you okay with this? Oh, God, did I just lose my best friend?”

Staring at her blankly, I started laughing hysterically. “So, all of this was about you and Trey?” She nodded so fast I thought her head might pop off. “Trey is my best friend. You are my best friend. I can’t imagine in a thousand lifetimes anything better than the two of you being together.”

Airianna literally knocked nearly everything over on the table to give me a debilitating hug. “I’m so happy!”

“Can’t—breathe,” I wheezed, patting her back.

“Sorry,” she said, letting go and sitting back in her chair. “You’re really okay? I know you dated him and all.”

“Yeah, and that didn’t work out. I love him in a purely plutonic sense.”

“Thank goodness, because I seriously cannot wait to kiss him!” Her body melted against her chair. “He’ll be my first kiss, you know. Is that pathetic?”

“My first kiss was with a fire breather who moonlighted as a lightning rod during storms. That, my friend, is pathetic,” I said, gulping the last of my root beer float.

Giggling, Airianna glanced again at her watch. “Oh, I’ve got to go!”

I grabbed her hand and looked at her watch. “Airi, it’s only five-thirty! We have forever! I was thinking we could go shopping or something.”

“Oh, uh, that would be wonderful, and I wish I could, but…”

“Wait. Are you meeting up with Trey somewhere?”

“What? Oh, Trey? Yes, yes, I am.”

“Well, you two have fun, and tell him I’m cool with everything, okay?”

“Oh…right…I mean, sure.”

“What are you two almost-lovebirds going to do for three and a half hours?” I teased.

“Um, not much. We’ve just got to go grab some things before tonight. See you there later!” She hugged me before dashing out of Harbor Heat.

Hmm.
Got to go grab some things before tonight
, huh? I’ll try not to let her obvious—and weak—avoidance tactics bother me, just like I’ll try not to dwell on the fact that Troy said the exact same thing to me this afternoon.

Chapter Seven

Mer-Nor Games

Once Airianna unknowingly left me dwelling on what she, Troy, and Trey were up to before tonight’s announcement, I trundled back to The Bay Shop, where I mindlessly watched Mom paint and Mrs. Waterberry set up a display for a new line of sand gnomes. I wasn’t trying to be a sullen teen—I offered to help, but Mom was straight-jacket-picky about how she wanted her sign to look, and Mrs. Waterberry said if I liked my thumbs, I should stay away from the sand gnomes. Yeah, I don’t get it either.

Announcement time
. By nine o’clock, Mom was exhausted, and I just wanted to get this boring nonsense done and dusted. However, it seems I should be used to the part-fish crowd unabashedly flirting with my curiosity and stirring my stomach to the point of chunks. Upon entering the cafeteria, my disinterest instantly vanished. The room was much darker, and I quickly saw why. The light from the tanks was all but erased as every fish—small to shark—had their little fish lips pressed against the glass, eagerly watching us. Suddenly, I felt like we were the ones behind glass. If the scaly, beady-eyed audience was unnerving, then the presence of Luxton Vipor, Madame Helena, and Mr. Anderson shuffling papers at our new lunch table was enough to make me turn inside out.

Mom tapped my shoulder and pointed to Meikle and Ophelia, standing alone. Meikle, flipping her bag around her hand, glared across the room where all the Fairhairs and Ravenflames gathered. Perched on the head table, smack in the middle of the group, was Katrina, clearly the leader of them
all
.

“What’s an Imperia suit and Madame Hell-ena doing here?” I asked Meikle.

“Got me. Whatever it is, the fin fleet looks far too happy,” she said, not breaking her stare down.

Surveying the group of merps, I couldn’t find Troy…or Airianna…or Benji, for that matter.

When I started to point out the obvious to Meikle, she said, “Trey’s M.I.A., too.”

“And Fletcher,” added Mom, concerned.

“Doc—I mean, Principal Jeepers isn’t here yet either. Something’s going on,” I said.

“Well, we can’t wait any longer,” said Mr. Anderson. “Miss Scroonz, note the names of those not yet here. I’ll have to deal with them later.” A small, mousy Ravenflame wearing a hideous poop-brown suit diligently jotted down the names. “Madame Helena, will you do the honors?”

Decked out in a bright aqua and yellow dress, Madame Helena rounded the table to address the students. “Every five years, representatives of The Hoodoo Council and the Imperia visit Saxet Shores in the vein hope that we will finally have the esteemed honor of unfurling this ancient scroll.” She held an old, weathered silver scroll high in the air, the tips of which were shaped like tridents. “Before we can even contemplate opening this scroll, we need six Normals present. I see we have three currently in attendance.” She stared at Meikle, Ophelia, and me like we were flies in desperate need of a swat. Turning to a dark corner of the cafeteria, Madame Helena gestured to two shadowed figures. “Come forward, children.”

Two female students stepped to the forefront, stopping alongside Madame Helena; one looked to be guiding the other.

“These are your new Normals, Maile Lahela and Gullivere Pensmackden. There is one other Normal coming, but we have yet to find him.” At this, the girl named Gullivere began giggling uncontrollably. “That’s quite enough, Gullivere. Both have been informed about this town and the existence of Merpeople. They were given the choice between remaining in the institution’s dark wing for the Maliciously Malfunctioned and being banished here. They chose Saxet Shores, despite its origins and inhabitants. Now, girls, go meet your fellow Normals while I confer with my colleagues.”

For Normals, Gullivere and Maile could have easily blended into the Fairhairs and Ravenflames, respectively. Gullivere had honeysuckle-blond hair tied into a side ponytail, creamy skin, and caramel eyes, while Maile had super long, silky jet-black hair with two magenta streaks framing her face.

I smiled as Gullivere approached, but was soon distracted by Maile, who inexplicably veered off towards the wall.

“Oh Dear Lord!” yelped Gullivere, inching away. “Maile’s a little vision impaired.”

“She’s blind?” asked Meikle, who could’ve sounded a bit more sensitive.

“Uh, not exactly,” said Gullivere, hurrying to grab Maile before she slammed into the wall. Guiding Maile to stand beside me, Gullivere nervously touched her hair. “Does my hair look like it’s still tight in its ponytail? I mean…
tight
?”

“Uh, sure, yeah,” I said. Hair conscious? Really?

“Phew, okay, good. I’m Gullivere Pensmackden, but please call me Gully. My parents, God rest their souls, were hippies and obsessed with medieval times, hence the name. Anyway, this is my best friend, Maile.”

Both of them had the kind of faces that could melt a guy’s heart with a single smile and awaken that inexplicable need in older folks to pinch cheeks, but that was about all they had in common, at least on the surface. While Gully favored the bohemian-chic look, with her white gauze tunic, extremely worn, wide leg jeans, and vintage floral tote, Maile seemed to prefer futuristic fashion, as evidenced by her asymmetrical bubble dress, cropped, blue leather jacket, and tall boots that looked completely compatible with a walk on Mars.

“Marina Valentine. Nice to meet you both. This is Meikle Martinez and Ophelia Fountains. Oh, and this is my mom,” I said.

“Good to meet all of you,” said Gully.

“Both of your parents are gone, sweetheart?” asked my mom.

“Yes. It happened when I was a baby. Maile’s family is gone, too.”

“How awful! Who are your guardians?” asked Mom.

“We don’t have any. I imagine that’s why Madame Helena is conferring with Mr. Anderson and Mr. Vipor.” Gully waved her hands as if to move away from this topic. “Can’t believe I laughed while Madame Helena was jabbering away. It’s just…the boy Madame Helena was talking about is my twin brother, Guston.”

“I’m a twin, too!” said Ophelia.

“Really? I’ve never known another pair of twins. Where’s your twin?” asked Gully.

Ophelia dropped her head. “Odette’s not here.”

“Oh. Will she be getting here soon?” asked Gully, tightening her ponytail.

“I don’t think so,” said Ophelia.

“Um, I think you’ll learn a lot of things in the next couple of days,” I said quickly. “So, um, what happened to your brother, Guston?”

Gully giggled. “He’s on the lam. See, Guston’s a hider.”

“A hider? They’re really rare,” said Ophelia. “Can’t they, like, cloak themselves or something, sort of like chameleons?”

“Sure can! Unfortunately, he couldn’t help me or Maile for the long haul, but it was a fun journey while it lasted. We all ran away last winter,” said Gully.

“It’s nearly impossible to run away from any of the institutions,” said Ophelia.

“One of the perks of having a hider for a brother and an owl for a friend, right Maile?”

“Uh-huh,” she said, looking just past Gully.

“If she can’t see, how could she have been helpful in escaping whatever institution you were trapped in?” asked Meikle crustily.

“I just can’t see very well in light,” said Maile, staring off into the distance, but totally thinking she was looking right at us. “I’m what you’d call a human set of night vision goggles.”