Beyond the Sea (25 page)

“Yea, and tell her that the spell is making me sick.”

“You can lie,” Jamie suggested. “And if you did mention a spell, I think she’d send you to see Mrs. Rogalin, the school counselor.”

“You’re right,” Melia agreed. Slowly, the girls made their way to the lunchroom. “Oh no,” Melia said suddenly, holding her stomach. “It-it’s gonna come up.” Jamie rushed her to the bathroom just in time. She held Melia’s hair out of the way as Melia threw up. “This is awful,” Melia said through chattering teeth.

“It is.” Jamie tried to soothe her by rubbing her back but stopped after only a second, remembering that touching Melia strengthened the spell. “You’ll feel better when it’s all out,” she told Melia, but felt like she was lying. Would Melia feel better? Probably not until the spell was lifted. Her mind drifted to how odd it was merrows never threw up. Why?

She shook her head; it didn’t matter right now. “Want me to bring you some water?”

“Yes, but don’t leave me.”

“I won’t.”

Melia leaned over the toilet and heaved again. “You’re brilliant, Jamie.”

“Huh?” It sounded like a genuine compliment, well, as close to one coming from someone who had their head in a toilet.

“Your blood on the charm. It’s really powerful.”

“Oh.” Jamie stopped herself from touching the sapphire. “Thanks.”

“I knew you could do it.” Melia wiped her mouth and slumped against the stall. It pained Jamie to see such a beautiful creature in a state like this.

“I couldn’t do it without you.” A toilet flushed a few stalls down. “But let’s talk about it later.”

“Ok.”

“I think you should go home.”

Melia nodded. “That house isn’t my home.” She looked at Jamie with tears in her eyes. “I want to go home. To my real home.”

Jamie frowned and impulsively hugged her best friend, causing Melia to get sick again.

*

“Looking for Melia?” Janet asked Peter as she sat down at the lunch table. Peter only shrugged. He was, in fact, looking for his girlfriend. He assumed she was with Jamie, since he hadn’t seen her yet either. “I think a ‘congrats’ are in order, Peter,” she scoffed. “You must be so excited to be a father!”

“What are you talking about, Janet?” Peter reluctantly questioned.

“Melia’s in the bathroom puking her guts out. Obviously she’s pregnant.”

Sensing Peter’s anger, Connor stepped in. “Janet, that’s bullshit. Haven’t you ever puked before? Melia’s not pregnant. Besides, it’s not possible because that would mean that Pete finally…” he trailed off, seeing the horror of possibility on Peter’s face. “No way!” He punched Peter in the arm the way guys do. “And you didn’t tell me!”

Peter shrugged again. “She’s not pregnant,” he said aloud, mostly to convince himself.
 
“She’s sick.” He put his food down, suddenly not hungry.

He smiled curtly at his male friends’ jealous expressions and looked through the doors, trying to will Melia to appear.

“I’ll go check on her,” Amanda offered. Peter thanked her and forced himself to eat and listen to Connor complain about his parents until she came back. “She’s in the hall. Jamie’s trying to convince her to go to the nurse. She wants you.”

“Thanks, again,” Peter told her and quickly got up. Melia was slumped on a bench outside the lunchroom. She looked completely worn and exhausted. She brightened slightly when she saw Peter. Jamie sighed in relief. She knew that moving away from Melia would help. She nodded at Peter and slinked off. Peter put an arm around Melia.

“Can I take you to the nurse?” He kissed her forehead. “I really think you should go home. I hate seeing you like this.”

“Sorry,” Melia groggily apologized.

Peter laughed softly. “Don’t be sorry. I want you to get better.”

“Ok.” Melia let Peter help her up. The school nurse, a plump platinum blonde named Jordan Kinston, was notorious for never sending anyone home. Going to her was pretty much useless unless you were on your deathbed. Her gray eyes softened as soon as she saw the pathetic sight of Melia.

“Oh, dear,” she cooed and ushered Peter to help Melia onto a hard, foam-filled vinyl bed. Melia heavily sunk down, pulling Peter with her. “Oh, my poor darling. You look horrible!” Though Melia never once came into the nurses’ station, Mrs. Kinston knew who she was. She knew that Melia usually looked radiant; today Melia was definitely sick. She asked the standard set of questions and determined that Melia must have contracted the flu. She stuck a thermometer in Melia’s mouth and told Peter to go back to class. When he told her he was missing lunch, she said he could stay until the end of the lunch hour.

“Well, that can’t be right,” Mrs. Kinston muttered to herself when the thermometer beeped. Melia was too sick to care that her normal temp was way lower than 98.6 degrees. Melia moaned and attempted to stand. Lucky Peter was still there, for he grabbed the garbage can just in time for Melia to throw up in it. Mrs. Kinston noticed the gentle way in which Peter held Melia’s hair back and rubbed her back. She met her husband when she was in high school. While the sight of a young girl tossing her cookies was anything but romantic, the gesture brought back a wave of memories.

“What’s your phone number, dear? I’ll have your parents come get you right away.”

“They’re out of town—out of the country, really,” Peter answered for Melia who retched again. Mrs. Kinston brought Melia a paper cup of water and a napkin. Melia sipped the water and rested her head against Peter.

“Is there anyone who can come get you?” Mrs. Kinston sat down at her desk. Melia weakly shook her head.

“Did you drive today?” Peter asked. Melia shook her head again, then groaned at the way the movement made it hurt. “You can take my car,” he offered.

“I can’t do the shifty,” Melia mumbled.

Mrs. Kinston spoke up. “I don’t think you should be driving, dear. You seem awfully weak.”

“Can I take her home?” Peter inquired. Mrs. Kinston pursed her lips. “I’ll come right back,” Peter added. He gingerly tucked Melia’s hair behind her ear and gave her a gentle hug.

The nurse rose. Melia was obviously very ill. There were still four hours of school left. She didn’t want to make her lay on the uncomfortable foam bed until the end of the day. And she didn’t want the smell of vomit stinking up the nurses’ station. Her eyes darted out the door, making sure the coast was clear.

“Since you two are a couple, Peter, you probably have what she has. You both need to go home before you spread it around.”

“Right,” Peter said, catching the glint in her eye. “Now that you mention it, I’m starting to feel pretty queasy.”

“I’ll call your parents.”

Peter left Melia in the nurses’ station, told Jamie he was taking Melia home and gathered his and Melia’s belongings. He even pulled the Mustang to the front doors so Melia wouldn’t have to walk as far. She stopped shaking as soon as they pulled out of the school parking lot. She rested her head on the window and fell asleep.

“Melia?” Peter spoke softly. He cut the engine and walked around, carefully opening the passenger side door. Taking the keys from Melia’s purse, he unlocked and opened the door to her house, let Wolfy out and jogged back to the car. Melia was still fast asleep. He unbuckled her and very carefully lifted her out and carried her inside.

When Melia woke three hours later, she was nestled in her bed. Confused about how she got there, she attempted to sit up. The claws of the spell no longer sank into her soul, but the aftermath still took its toll. Her head hurt; the sunlight was so bright it was painful. Her energy was gone, drained completely from resisting the call.

Peter was asleep next to her. After walking on wobbly legs to the bathroom, Melia got back under the covers and snuggled next to him. Even in his sleep, Peter put his arm around her.

“Peter,” she whispered. He didn’t wake. “Peter,” she said a little louder. His eyes flew open.

“Are you ok?” He started to sit up.

“Yea, I feel a lot better. I wanted to thank you.”

“Oh, you’re welcome.” He kissed her, despite the fact that she had been puking. “Are you thirsty?”

Melia nodded. The thought of going into the kitchen was daunting. Her eyelids were so heavy. She sighed and closed them.

“I’ll get you something.” Peter untucked his legs. “What do you want?”

“Just water,” she said so quietly it was barely audible. Removing her jacket and pants was so much of a feat right now that it took every ounce of energy she had just to grip the glass, which felt so heavy, and drink the water Peter brought her. Peter climbed back in bed with Melia, who snuggled up next to him. He kissed her forehead and rubbed her back until she fell back asleep.

Melia stayed home from school Tuesday. She and Jamie agreed that after how sick she seemed Monday, it would be more believable if she took another day off to recover. The distance from Jamie brought Melia back to her old self. She slept for fifteen straight hours yesterday. Peter stayed with her the entire time, not wanting to leave and have Melia wake up alone.

*

Jamie walked to her Jeep Tuesday after school. She was still jumpy. After seeing Melia’s reaction to the amulet, she was confident the gwyrrd wouldn’t be making an attempt to attack any time soon. She pulled her cell phone from her bag, eager to text Melia and see how she was doing.

“Jamie!” a friendly voice called. A voice Jamie knew. She pocketed her phone and looked up. Standing next to her Jeep was Lacey.

“Lacey!” she called back. Was she excited to see her? Jamie wasn’t sure. She should be. Instead she felt betrayed. She wanted to shout, “You moved away and forgot about me!” but didn’t.

“You look surprised. Didn’t you get my message?”

“Message?” Jamie questioned as she hugged her old friend.

“On Facebook.”

“Oh, no, I guess I didn’t.”Jamie hoisted her backpack in place. It was heavy with her and Melia’s books.

“Well, it said I was coming in for a visit. Dad’s meeting with friends or something. I’ll be here until Saturday!”

“Awesome!” Jamie said, forcing a smile.

“So, let’s hit the town! Do you want ice cream? We should get some and talk. I want to hear all about your life!”

“Sure. I have one thing to do first. You can come with, if you’d like.” Lacey shrugged. She glanced around the parking lot. Jamie could sense her fear of having to relive the teasing. “I have to drop homework off at my friend’s house. She’s sick. I won’t stay long, I promise.” She couldn’t stay long. Melia couldn’t take being around the amulet. Jamie unlocked the Jeep and they both got in.

“Is your friend the girl in your Facebook pictures?”

“Uh, yea. Her name is Melia.” Jamie swallowed. Lacey didn’t know anything about her new life. And she felt it wasn’t right to tell her.

“She’s really pretty,” Lacey commented.

“Yea, she is gorgeous.” Jamie wasn’t sure what Lacey was getting at. Was she jealous Jamie had made new friends? The thought made Jamie frown. Lacey had tons of new friends.

“Holy crap!” Lacey said as they pulled into The Ridge. “I remember this being built before we moved. Your friend lives here?”

“Yea. Have you heard of Edward VanBurren?”

“Yea, he’s been in the news before, right? He’s from New York.”

Jamie nodded. “Melia is his daughter.” Well, kind of. Stepfather was more accurate. Melia’s mother was an Oceanid from Greece and her biological father was a merrow from the Pacific Ocean. Jamie had to stifle a laugh. She remembered to take off the amulet, which she carefully hung around her rearview mirror. She quickly texted Melia to tell her that she was here and that she had company.

Melia, who had been stuck inside being bored all day, busied herself by doing her hair and makeup. She looked stunning, to say the least. She opened the door and welcomed Jamie and Lacey inside. Jamie quickly introduced the two. Melia’s eyes fell on Jamie’s neck. Jamie smiled guiltily.

“It’s in the car,” she told Melia, ignoring the confused look Lacey gave her. Jamie set her bag down and retrieved several notebooks. “Here, most of it’s done. Ya know, since I felt bad about…about you being so sick and all.”

“Thanks,” Melia said with a genuine smile.

“You’re too pretty,” Lacey told Melia.

“Oh, thanks!” Melia beamed. Her dress was, like always, short. It was a pale purple with tiny jewels along the bust.
 
She had on heels and Lana’s shell necklace. Her hair was half up, half down, with the up part in a system of intricate braids and curls.

“Are you going somewhere fancy?” Lacey asked. Jamie couldn’t tell if her tone was mocking.

“Nope. My boyfriend’s coming over for dinner though.”

“Oh, lucky him.” Lacey smiled a pressed smile. “Who is he? Anyone I might remember.”

Just as Melia said ‘Peter’, Jamie blurted out ‘Parker.’ She was not ready to explain how she became friends with Peter Anderson just yet. Lacey had especially despised him for dating Janet.

“Peter Parker,” Jamie covered up. Melia pressed her eyebrows together but was able to get the hint to go with it.

“Peter Parker?” Lacey repeated, with one eye brow raised.