The Mermaid's Mirror (11 page)

She picked her way along the path cautiously, occasionally pausing to lift her eyes to the sea. Without admitting it, she was hoping to see a head out there in the waves. And not the head of a dolphin or a sea lion.

This obsession must be another symptom,
she thought.
Whatever my particular mental illness is, it makes me hallucinate fairy-tale creatures and look for things without knowing what they are. Oh, and sleepwalk. Can't forget that. At least I didn't sleepwalk my way out here this time.

Lena's jacket was wet now—she hadn't thought to bring an umbrella. She stood uncertainly for a moment, trying to decide whether or not to return home. She would have to hang her coat somewhere to dry where her parents wouldn't see it. She frowned down the path and kept walking. She would just go as far as the edge of Magic's.

Shivering, Lena came to the park bench viewpoint on the walking path and sank down to rest. She gazed out at the sea. The blackness of the ocean met the blackness of the sky. The regular sweep of light from the Pelican Point Lighthouse whirled in the distance.

Shoulders hunched against the rain, she thought,
So this is what craziness feels like. Wandering around outside in the middle of the night, in the rain, looking for something that doesn't exist, and even if it did ... I can't see it now, because of the rain and the dark!

Lena stood up, giving one final look at the sea, then turned her face up to the sky. She closed her eyes as the rain slid down her face like tears, and whispered, "I just wish I knew for sure."

She remained standing, emptying her mind, visualizing the smooth interior of a conch shell. And like a conch shell, her mind filled with the sound of the ocean.

As she stood in stillness, her soul opening like a night-blooming flower, words floated into her mind: "I beheld you, child."

Lena opened her eyes.
Where did that come from?
She looked around, although she knew that the words were only in her head. "Beheld" was not a word she had ever used in her life. But the sentence had formed in her mind as fully as if it had been spoken in her ear. Heart beating faster, she looked out at the black ocean again. It was as if she had asked for a sign and been given one.

I will look for you again,
she thought.
I will never give up.

Tears of relief filling her eyes, she turned to walk home.

Before she had gone very far, however, someone stepped out on the dark path, barring her way.

Lena gave a stifled cry.

The figure did not move, just stood immobile. It was a man—she could tell by the size and shape of him.

With a fear that was utterly primal, Lena backed up.
I'm so stupid,
she thought.
I should never have left the house. I'm so, so stupid.
Her heart slamming against her ribs, she looked behind her, trying to estimate how far she could run before the man caught her.

"You saw her," came a rough, low voice.

Lena's heart gave an even harder jar.

"I saw her, too," said the man. "A long time ago." He took a step toward her, and Lena could finally see him. He was wearing a long coat, and she realized it was Denny.

Lena didn't know whether to feel relieved or even more terrified. Everyone thought he was harmless. But maybe they just didn't know. Maybe he had attacked girls before, and no one knew. If he was harmless, why was he here on this unlit path in the middle of the night, blocking her way?

Lena's muscles tensed as she prepared to turn and run back the way she had come. If she could outrun him, she would scream as soon as she got close to someone's house.

But at that moment, Denny turned and gazed out at the sea. "I want to see her again," he said.

Without stopping to think, Lena rushed forward, closing the distance between them in a few strides. Before he could move, she was pushing past Denny and racing to safety.

It wasn't until Lena stood panting at the door of her house—safe, alive, far away from Denny—that she registered his words:
You saw her. I saw her, too.

Saw who?

But there was only one possible answer.

Denny had seen the mermaid.

Lena leaned against the back door, nearly faint with relief.
She's real.
Denny saw her. She laughed a little, then sobered.
Either that, or I'm as crazy as he is.

But she was glad he hadn't been planning to hurt her. He just wanted to talk to someone else who had seen the mermaid.

***

"I need to borrow your surfboard," Lena told Pem.

"You do? Why? I thought you were using the soft-top from Kai's house."

"I have been. But that's only when I go out with Ani and Kai."

They were sitting in Max's car, waiting for Max to finish a conversation outside with another Mustang owner.

"So you're going to go surfing without Ani?"

"Yes."

"Already?"

"Well, not right away. I'll have one more lesson with her, but once I'm finished, I won't have access to their board. I need to borrow someone else's for a little while, so I can—" Lena didn't finish the sentence. She could not tell Pem that she wanted to get in the water at Magic's.

"So you can what?"

"So I can ... uh, go out and surf when I feel like it."

"Huh. Well, what will I do when I want to go surfing?"

"You haven't surfed in, like, over a month. You've been kind of busy." Lena raised her eyebrows, looking out the window at Max.

Pem didn't answer, just looked back at her without smiling. She twiddled the braid around her ankle and turned away, looking out the front windshield. "How are you going to hide a surfboard from your parents?"

"I'll put it behind some stuff in the garden shed, and cover it with a tarp."

"Won't your mom see it? Isn't she always digging in the garden?"

"No, she's been too busy to garden lately. She hardly ever goes out there anymore. And she already harvested the stuff she grew this summer."

Pem continued to look out the front window. "I'm just afraid they're going to find it. Then I'm in trouble, too."

"No, you're not," said Lena. She made an impatient sound. "You know what? Just forget it. Never mind."

"No, I'm just saying—"

"No, seriously. Forget it."

There was a dense silence.

"You could borrow my brother's board," said Henry.

Lena and Pem both turned to look at him. They were so used to his silence that hearing him speak was like hearing the steering wheel talk.

"What?" said Lena.

"Max has two boards, a long one and a short one."

"He does?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think he'd let me borrow the long one?"

"Sure."

"Henry," said Pem. "I don't think your brother would like you promising his stuff to people."

Henry gave Pem a cool look. "We'll ask him when he gets in."

Lena waited until Pem had turned away, then made an exaggeratedly shocked face at Henry. He smiled.

A moment later, Max got into the driver's seat, grinning and saying, "That guy has a 1972 Mach One."

"Max," said Henry.

"Yeah?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"What." Max's tone was flat, his famously pouty lips pressed into a thin line.

"Actually, it would be a favor for Lena."

"Yeah?"

"She needs to borrow your long board."

Max whipped his head around to peer at them in the back seat. "What?"

"She needs. To borrow. Your long board."

"Why?!"

"She just does. She doesn't have a board of her own yet, and she needs one. For, uh, a few weeks?" He glanced at Lena, and she shrugged, nodding.

Max cursed quietly and added, "Uh, sorry, Lena, but there's no way. Even if I wanted to loan you my board, you're a total beginner, aren't you?"

"Yes. But Ani says I'm really good."

He shook his head. "Yeah, sure, sorry, but—"

"Let her borrow the long board, Max, or I'll tell Mom and Dad that you've been dumping me at the mall so you can go make out with your fifteen-year-old girlfriend."

Everyone else in the car drew in shocked breaths. No one spoke for a long minute.

Finally Max said, "You little—"

"Who knows? They might even decide to take your car away."

After another stunned pause, Max said, "I'm an adult! They can't take away my car, you f—"

"You're right," said Henry. "You are an adult. Which reminds me of the word
statutory.
Do you know that word?"

"What the—shut up! I'll deal with you later. All right ... your little girlfriend can borrow my board," he sneered. "For two weeks. That's it. I'm not going to just hand over my board for the rest of the season. The waves are biggest in winter."

Lena waited for Pem to say something in her defense, like "She's not his girlfriend," but Pem remained silent.

"And if you damage my board, Lena..."

"I won't! I'll be really careful. I swear."

He drove her home, blasting Pone on his stereo. He stopped in front of Lena's house and parked. "Bye," he said.

"Um, so when can I have it?" she asked.

"Gee, why don't I rush home and bring it back right now? If it's convenient for
you?
"

"That would be awesome," she said, giving him a big smile.

His eyes bugged out, then he threw up his hands. "Fine. Whatever. I'll get it now, and your two weeks starts this minute."

Lena got out of the car, looking back at Henry. She put her hands together in a gesture of appreciation.

Henry smiled at her. "See you in a few minutes," he said.

Max squealed the tires as he pulled away.

Fifteen minutes later he roared up in front of the house again, his surfboard strapped to the roof of his car. He flung himself out of the Mustang and began unlatching his board from the rack.

Lena hurried out, glancing at the neighbors' houses.

"Not cool," he was muttering. "Extortion is not cool."

Once the surfboard was stowed safely in the garden shed, behind empty planters and bags of organic fertilizer, covered by a blue tarp, Lena breathed easier. When her mom came home with Cole, she was so deeply involved in her homework that she had almost put the surfboard out of her mind. Almost.

The next Friday at lunchtime, Lena sat with Pem and Kai. She was adding a fresh coat of white nail polish to her nails, while Pem and Kai played chess.

"Kai, you hamster, that's the third game you've opened that way. Can't you play something besides the Queen's Gambit?" Pem shook her head, setting in motion the
I Dream of Jeannie-like
ponytail sprouting from the top of her head.

"Just play, Pemberley."

Lena watched but did not comment. Her conversations with Pem had been strained ever since the incident in Max's car.

"Are you going surfing today?" asked Pem, glancing over at her.

"No. Ani's not coming home this weekend. She has midterms, and she wanted to stay on campus to study. Besides, we're finished with the lessons."

"You are?"

"Yes."

"When did you finish?"

"Last Friday."

"How come you didn't call?"

Lena shrugged. "I figured you were busy."

There was a fraught silence.

Lena blew on her nails, hoping she'd stung Pem just a little with her remark.

Maybe she had, because Pem asked, "So, um, today ... do you want to hang out at my house?"

"What about...?"

"Max is working."

"Oh." Lena tried to ignore the implication that she was Pem's second choice. "Sure. That would be fun."

"Um, hi. I'm right here," said Kai, waving his hand around. "Official boyfriend and everything?"

"What?" said Pem.

"What if
I
want to hang out with Lena? You know...
alone?
"

A silence as awkward as an armload of beach balls rolled around their table.

Lena glared at Kai. He lifted his palms, as if to say,
What?

Pem glanced at each of them, then stared down at the chessboard. "Oh. I didn't think about that."

"Pem!" said Lena. "I do want to come over. I didn't have plans with Kai. He's just being—"

"Boyfriendly?" said Kai. "Come on, Lena. I'm glad my sister taught you to surf, but we haven't been alone in ages. What with rehearsals, I never—"

"It's cool," said Pem. "We'll do it another day."

"No, it is
not
cool," said Lena, a flush rising on her face. "Kai, this is totally embarrassing."

A shade of blotchy red crept up Kai's neck. "Oh, really? How is it embarrassing that I want to spend time with my girlfriend? You didn't even ask me before you said yes to Pem."

Lena's eyes widened. "
Ask
you! You think I should have to
ask
you before I make plans?"

"No," said Kai. "I just meant—"

"Stop it," said Pem. She stood up. "I knew this would happen. You guys said nothing would change, that the three of us would still be best friends, even though you were
together.
But I knew it would never work." She walked away.

Kai gathered up the chess pieces while Lena struggled to keep her temper. She felt like knocking the chessboard to the floor. Finally she said, "Why did you do that? We swore we wouldn't be one of those horrible couples who make other people feel like they're in the way."

He reached across the table and took her hand. "I'm sorry. I just want to be with you."

"You're with me all the time!"

He shook his head. "I want to be
alone
with you, Leen." His thumb traced feather-light circles inside the palm of her hand. "Don't you want to be alone with me?"

She melted a little. Her hands were sensitive, and easily won over. "Of course. But why did you have to make Pem feel bad?"

"Leen. Come on. I said I was sorry. Don't make me beg." He lowered his voice. "Although I will if you want me to."

She laughed. There was that voice. "Uh, no. That won't be necessary."

"Please." He moved his hand up her arm. "Baby, please."

"Shh! Don't call me baby," she said.