Beyond the Sea (18 page)

Melia’s eyes were wide. By some miracle she remembered to turn off the burner. Peter had told her about the way his parents yelled at him, but witnessing it actually happen made her mad.

“Peter,” his father boomed, standing at his mother’s side.

“We are gone for twelve hours and we come home to this-this copulation! You are the most disrespectful person I’ve ever met. And you!” she pointed at Melia. “Should be ashamed of yourself! What would your mother and father say?”

Melia set the spatula down. “I’m sure my parents—Mr. and Mrs. VanBurren—would be pleased and thankful for someone as wonderful as Peter.” Though she felt like she was playing dirty, Melia emphasized her last name. She had learned that many people in this town revered her parents with a mixture of awe, fear and respect. She stepped forward. “First of all, it’s presumptuous to assume that I had sex with your son. You don’t know me, and you obviously don’t know Peter. Second, you should be proud of him for helping me get through such a horrible night.”

Sue balked. No one talked back to her, especially a snotty little rich girl who gave it up easily. “You’re in his clothes,” she said with a smile, as if she had presented the jury with an incriminating piece of evidence.

“Yes. And if you would have asked Peter why, instead of yelling at him before you even said ‘hello’, then he would have been able to tell you that he saved me from practically drowning last night. He was kind enough to give me fresh, dry clothes to put on.”

Sue opened her mouth to talk but Melia held up her hand.

“And he cares about me enough that he brought me back here, seeing I was in no condition to be alone when I was that distraught.”

Peter nodded. The tale seemed too chivalric to be true.
 

“And,” Melia continued. “I am not
easy
.” She was proud of her correct usage of the word. “My mother raised me better than that.”

Sue opened and closed her mouth, several times, reminding Melia of a fish out of water, at a loss for words. Finally, Peter’s dad spoke.

“Where are your parents? Why didn’t you take her home, Peter?”

“They are out of town on business,” Peter answered without missing a beat. No one could argue that.

Peter’s parents exchanged looks. The story had changed, but Sue was still dead set on being angry at Peter. “Who are you?” she asked Melia shortly.

Melia put on her charming smile. “Melia.”

“And how do you know Peter?”

“Uh,” Peter spoke. “She’s my girlfriend.” He took Melia’s hand. “Has been for a few weeks.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” his father asked.

“Because I didn’t want you involved,” he confessed. Might as well put everything on the table, right?

“Are you embarrassed of us?” his mother demanded.

“Uh, yea,” Peter said with the tone of ‘duh’ apparent in his voice.

“I should go,” Melia said. “I’ll call Jamie to come get me.”

“No, I’ll take you home,” Peter said definitely. Still holding her hand, he led her past his parents.

“It was nice meeting you,” she said with a sweet smile. “Though I’d hoped for a better first impression of you.”

Peter stomped up the stairs. Ava was peering out of her room and ran inside when she saw Peter. Melia retrieved her purse and Peter’s keys while Peter went to talk to his little sister.

“Sorry you had to hear mom yell like that,” he said to his little sister. She shrugged, tugging on her hair. It wasn’t the first time she had to hide upstairs while her parents ripped Peter a new one. “Why are you home early?”

“Adam’s sick,” she said quietly, pointing to his closed door. “He barfed the whole way home.”

“Oh.” Peter nodded. He smiled weakly and turned to go.

“Are you not allowed to see Melia again?” she asked before her big brother could make his exit.

“I can still see her,” Peter assured her.

“Good. I like Melia.”

“Me too,” Peter said, unable to keep the stupid smile off his face.

“Do you love her?” Ava’s blue eyes widened with hope.

“It’s…it’s too soon to know.”

“Do you think you will?”

“Maybe.”

*

“Peter,” a voice called from behind him. Peter turned to see Jamie a few paces behind. He stopped and waited for her to catch up. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you yesterday,” she said, tugging the straps of her backpack up around her shoulders. “Melia told me about Friday night. And I have to say that if I had any doubt in the way you felt about Melia, it’s gone. It-it means a lot to me to know you really do care about her.”

Peter’s heart skipped a beat when he remembered that night. And then he felt embarrassed that Jamie Forester knew something so personal. What else had Melia told her?

As if she could read his mind, Jamie asked, “Oh, gosh! I shouldn’t have said that. Please don’t be mad at Melia for telling me! And trust me; I made her spare the details. She-it…-she was happy you took her feelings into consideration.” Her cheeks turned red. Jamie cast her eyes to the ground.

She sounded so horrified and looked so pathetic, Peter put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m not mad. Girls talk, I know.” He was glad to see Jamie smile at that. “And I’m glad you approve,” he added with a toothy grin. “It’s always nice to have your girlfriend’s best friend like you.”

“I’m sure,” she said, rolling a piece of gravel back and forth under her black Converse shoe. Peter’s eyes flicked to the keys in Jamie’s hand. He recognized the Lion King key chain right away as Melia’s. “Don’t worry, she’s here.” Jamie waved to the back parking lot. “She, uh, left something in the car and had to go back.” In truth, Melia saw ‘a sparkle’ and wanted to see if a faery was lurking nearby.

The school parking lot was starting to get full. Peter looked away when Janet’s Beetle pulled into a spot a few yards back. “So, are you ready for the chem test today?” he asked, wanting to make small talk while he waited for Melia.

“I think so. Melia and I studied for two hours on Sunday. She has interesting ways of remembering stuff, but I think it’ll help. I keep forgetting the formulas.”

“Me too. I wish we could use a cheat sheet on this test.”

“I agree. Then I wouldn’t be worried at all.”

Janet and Kaitlin strutted near. Kaitlin pointed to Jamie, turned to Janet and moved her finger in little circles next to her temple. Though her back was to her, Jamie winced as if she could see the gesture. Peter clenched his teeth. Why pick on Jamie? She was so helpless and never did anything to anyone.

“Oh no, Peter,” Janet sneered as she walked by. “Better not let Fish Girl know you are cheating on her with the witch.” She and Kaitlin burst into laughter. Janet flipped her short hair and glared at Jamie.

“I’m not a witch,” Jamie blurted, though the insult was almost a compliment. What she wouldn’t give to be an actual witch with powers…

Peter laughed. “I never thought you were. Please, don’t judge me for dating her. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Jamie shrugged. “We all make mistakes,” she offered. The rest of Monday passed without much excitement. Melia and Jamie had plans to hang out, which enabled Peter to spend some time with his own friends, who he’d been neglecting since he’d rather spend time with Melia.

Jamie was glad to have a normal Monday night with Melia. She didn’t mind Melia spending so much time with Peter.
 
In all actuality, it was a relief to not be asked or reminded about Lana. Lately, the visions had been getting stronger. Jamie even had nightmares about Lana’s murder. Everything was ambiguous and nothing made sense. There were definite things she could piece together: darkness, sand, sneaking along a rocky surface. Then a flash of a light and a glimpse of an egg would often appear. It just didn’t make sense. Each time she had the dream, the feelings got stronger. She woke up shaking and scared. She felt like she was being watched. After last night’s rerun, she was tempted to ask Jill if she could camp out on her floor.

-Chapter 7-

“Can you believe our first two months together have already passed?” Melia asked Peter as they walked up and down the rocky shore.

“It has gone fast,” Peter agreed with a smile and threw the tennis ball for Wolfy again.

The breeze was stronger tonight. The air had a chill and…something else in it. Melia couldn’t place it, but the energy it carried was unnerving. She shivered and stepped closer to Peter.

“Cold?” he asked.

“Just a little,” she said to cover up her anxiety. He put his arms around her and Melia instantly relaxed a bit. Wolfy splashed in the water, running up and down the beach. “He’ll sleep well tonight.” Melia sensed it first.

Eyes on her. Probably a hundred feet out in the ocean. She whirled around, breaking free of Peter’s embrace. A dark shadow plunged under the water. If Peter hadn’t been there, she would have marched into water, transformed into her true self and found whatever it was. Right? Wolfy barked and she jumped. Everything felt so
negative
. It just wasn’t right.

“Wolfy!” she called, feeling almost frantic that her dog was in the water. It had been a while since she had felt the eyes on her, and even longer since she’d thought about darklings.
No, it’s just not possible
, she told herself. The huge dog bounded over, shaking water and sand all over her and Peter. Melia grabbed hold of his collar. “Let’s go inside, big boy. I’m cold.”

The feeling came back. Wolfy lunged forward, pulling Melia over. Peter reached out to help and ended up leading Wolfy back to the yard. Melia shut and locked the gate. “Wolfy can stay outside this way,” she told Peter, though she didn’t know if she was just letting him know or trying to rationalize why she shut the gate that led the way down to the ocean.

The house seemed too quiet. Melia didn’t want to be alone tonight. “Do you want to stay over?” she asked Peter.

“Yea,” Peter answered. “I’ll have to think of something to tell my parents.”

“Ok,” she said with a smile.

He took her hands in his. “I’m gonna go home and pretend to go to Connor’s. I’ll be back in an hour.”

“I’ll be here.” She smiled and squeezed his hands. Peter let her hands go and walked toward the door. He opened it and froze.

“You don’t have plans tomorrow, right?”

“For the third time, no,” Melia said with a laugh.

“Ok, good.” He kissed Melia. “I’ll be back soon.” Before he closed the door he called. “Lock the doors, Melia. I don’t like the way Wolfy was barking. It was like he could see something we couldn’t.”

The door shut. “That’s because he could see something. And I did too,” she spoke to the darkness. She wanted to call Jamie. She wanted to tell her about the feelings and about the darkling. No, she didn’t need to. Because it was nothing.

She called Wolfy in, quickly wiped the sand from his fur and jogged upstairs to take a shower. She showered quickly, feeling oddly vulnerable. After dressing in shorts and a tank top and braiding her hair, Melia attempted to use the popcorn machine. Oil splashed out and burned her skin, but the popcorn at least turned out all right. She filled two bowls and retreated back to her room.

Peter texted her to say he was on his way. Melia didn’t like how relieved she felt. She didn’t want to rely on a boy to make her feel safe.

“And if I saw what I think I saw,” she told no one, “a human can’t protect me.” She shook her head. “It’s just being alone. I don’t like it.”

She turned the TV on, flipping to a documentary about lions she had saved on the DVR.