Bluehour (A Watermagic Novel) (3 page)

He smiled broader now, exposing his beautiful
white teeth, but then his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared
again. He took a step back, away from me. With a glance to the
ocean, he shook his head like he was trying to gain control of his
senses. He turned back to me and started to chuckle lightly. “When
your pop wrestled you off the board, it slipped off your finger.” I
sensed he was thoroughly amused at my expense now.

I rolled my eyes. How could he have caught
that? It hardly seemed possible. He would have had to have been
staring at me and even then how could he notice a little ring
fall?

Bewildered, I stood up. Moving closer to him,
I reached to take the blue shining stone from his hand. My fingers
grazed his palm. Again, a surge of electricity shot through my
body.

But, to my shock, he pulled back violently.
It was as if he cowered away from me. He gasped. His bronzed
colored face turned pale. His ocean blue eyes locked with mine and
I detected a streak of hatred toward me in them. “You have your
board,” he retorted coldly. And he darted away almost like a
frightened fish.

“That was weird,” Agatha gasped, putting her
hands to her cheeks. “Didn’t you think that guy acted very
strange?” she whispered to Danny.

He grimaced and jutted his chin out as he
watched Laurent almost glide, his movements were so graceful, past
the bonfire, through the crowd of dancers, and over to some large
boulders at the edge of the sand just before the boardwalk.
Aggressively he picked up a stone and chucked it hard across the
sand toward the ocean.

I must have imagined it, but it actually
looked like it hit the water making a splash. It hardly seemed
possible to throw a little rock so far and fast. Then, with such
agility, he climbed up onto one of the boulders and stood up on its
uneven surface. He gazed out at the ocean, seemingly lost in
thought.

“Is he doing something with his mouth?”
Agatha questioned, her head tilted to the side as she observed
Laurent from the distance. “It looks like his lips are puckered.
Can you see that, guys?” She looked at me and then at Danny.

“I think he’s making one of those weird
sounds they make.” Danny frowned; he seemed worried.

“Look,” I blurted out. “The other French
exchange students are coming out of the ocean with their boards.
It’s almost like he’s calling them.”

Danny shook his head anxiously. “No, no, no…”
He stretched his neck out, trying to get a clearer look. “It’s not
possible. Laurent’s friends couldn’t hear him from all the way
across the beach and in the ocean.”

“You’re right,” Agatha moaned. “Nobody could
hear a whistle or whatever sound he was making, if any, with all
this music playing so loud. And even without that, the ocean is too
far and the waves muffle out the noises on shore.”

The French kids set their boards on the sand
before the boulders and slipped out of their wetsuits. One of the
males pulled from between the rocks an attractive suitcase made of
floral fabric. It looked a little old fashioned.

They all retrieved their clothes from the
case and put them on over their bathing suits. Then they climbed up
on the boulders effortlessly where they all sat down together.

It appeared as if they were conversing
amongst themselves over an important matter. One of the two girls
climbed down and started walking across the beach toward us. Her
white sheer dress blew in the summer wind. Her movements were fluid
and graceful much like Laurent’s, but feminine.

“What do you think she’s doing?” I asked
Danny, feeling uncomfortable because it looked like she was looking
at us. I turned away from her, balling my fists in dread.

“That’s Marine Thibault,” he stated,
seemingly proud that he knew her name. “She’s the blond one, but
you can’t tell because her hair is wet.”

I turned to look at her, trying not to stare,
but I couldn’t help myself. She stepped before the bonfire, the
flames leaping in the air. I could see the silhouette of her sleek,
shapely body beneath the sheer white fabric of her dress. She was
voluptuous in all the right places. Others turned to look at her.
Her beauty was more than enchanting.

I wanted to get up and leave. My stomach
tightened into a knot. I was sure she was coming to talk to me. It
was a gut feeling. Maybe Laurent said something to her about me. I
must have offended him somehow. From his reaction, it seemed like I
did something awful.

Her last several steps after the bonfire were
surprisingly swift. Her clear blue eyes suddenly turned fierce. She
came up to me at once, without any sort of hesitation, and grabbed
my arm roughly. In a shockingly violent manner, she yanked me off
of the ground and punched me in the stomach with jarring
strength.

1. Teardrop
   

My eyes bulged almost out of the sockets. At
the impact of her punch, the wind rushed out of my lungs. I had
been in many fights in my life. I could take her on. She was strong
as hell, more powerful than any girl I had ever taken a jab from
and she was taller than me, but I was a fast and determined
fighter.

“Fight, fight, fight…” some kids over by the
bonfire yelled. Everyone crowded around us to watch.

Crouched over, I looked up at Marine who
stared at me with a startling confidence. “Hey, what the hell?” I
gasped. My mind was spinning. A million thoughts came to me at
once.

I decided to attack back, take her on. One
thing I had learned in life is you don’t wait to see what the
aggressor is going to do next; you strike back without hesitation.
In a sudden rush, I jumped on her. I started slamming my fist into
her face several times in fast repetition.

“Girl fight, girl fight…” some other kids
started chanting.

The stupid blond tried to push me off, but I
was too quick. I sensed that she was dazed from my retaliation. I
heard clicking sounds in her throat. That was unexpected and
strange.

“Stop!” she called out. Her wet hair was
partly covered in sand. “Please stop.”

Because of her pleas I got off of her, but I
kicked her once hard in the stomach as payback.

The crowd booed.

Fury had overtaken me. How dare she punch me
in the gut when I did absolutely nothing to her!

Agatha ran over to me. “Are you okay,” she
gasped as she looked at the girl on the ground.

Perspiration lined my forehead. “I’m fine,” I
reassured her and then I guided her away from us, so that she
wouldn’t get hurt if my assailant reengaged.

The girl was wiping the sand out of her hair
and off her dress with her hand. Her head wobbled slightly side to
side. Oddly, though she seemed disoriented from the blows to the
head, she looked more concerned with her appearance than with her
wellbeing. She even checked her long fingernails decorated in
rhinestones for breaks. But the way her hand rose before her face
for examination caught my attention. It moved in a fluid manner,
almost like an arm of an octopus, the way it sways in the
water.

For a moment, she just started laughing. Even
her laughter was pretty, a little like a song. But, it was out of
place and inappropriate. I think gorgeous, blond Marine was shocked
and hadn’t anticipated my fighting skills. I had overwhelmed her,
taken her by surprise.

I was a small girl, only five feet three and
a half inches as compared to her probably five feet nine inch body.
She likely figured she could take me down effortlessly. But,
apparently, she was mistaken. She had never lived in the dangerous
neighborhoods I lived in as a young kid. Her father wasn’t obsessed
with survival. And her father didn’t teach her to fight back like a
maniac like mine did.

I stepped away from her ready to take her on
again if she desired. My adrenaline was rushing. The crowd, though
still gathered around us, was quiet.

“You wanna tell me why you punched me in the
gut when I don’t even know you?” I demanded. My shoulders were
back; I was ready for her.

“Yeah, why’d you do that?” Agatha enjoined in
her high-pitched voice.

Danny was standing beside Agatha, but I don’t
think he had any idea what he should do. He probably didn’t think
it was proper to fight a beautiful blond girl himself.

The crowd was whispering amongst themselves.
Some kids were still dancing and laughing right there.

Marine stood up so gracefully, trying to act
unaffected, but a thin stream of blood dripped from her eye down
her cheek. It was hard to look at her. Her eyes were so intense and
she was so damn beautiful.

Even a beating didn’t curb her confidence.
“Stay away from Laurent,” she warned. Her voice intrigued me. It
was soft and with sultry undertones, yet it possessed the qualities
of unwavering self-assurance and command.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,”
I retorted. “I don’t even know him. So what’s your problem?”

“I was counting on scaring you with my
physical force…” she continued as she wiped her bleeding eye with
her finger tips. She looked fascinated with her own blood as she
examined it on her fingernails. “…but that didn’t work. You are
fierce.” She giggled lightly. Her voice was what I would imagine an
angel would sound like if it laughed.

Then she said a few things in French, which I
didn’t understand, and continued speaking in her mesmerizing voice
in English, “Anyway, if you are intelligent, you will stay away
from Laurent Moreau. Death awaits those who cling to him.”

Now that was just too weird. “Are you
threatening to kill me if I try to take your boyfriend?”

The other kids laughed.

I couldn’t help but chortle at her threat.
The idea was so outlandish like something out of a movie. But this
girl was psycho; maybe she
would
kill me. Everything she was
saying made no sense. And anyway, no guy would choose me over this
charismatic beauty. If that was her concern, she really was
crazy.

“That’s all I can say.” She shook her head,
sending some of the sand flying up and out. Her eyes locked with
mine. To my surprise, her expression actually softened to what I
perceived to be concern, like she was truly worried about saving my
life. How could that be? She was unfathomable. I just wanted to get
away from her.

I was surprised to see how little she seemed
to care about what others thought of her. She was frank in her
statements and her facial expressions seemed genuine, even caring
which was very different than the way most teenage girls of beauty
acted. I respected her for that.

“You heard my warning,” she reminded me and
then strode away in a fluid manner past the crowd, her sheer gown
blowing in the wind.

The crowd broke up, gossiping amongst
themselves. Some kids even patted me on the back and praised me for
being a “kick-ass-fighter.” I didn’t respond; I abhorred the
attention.

I had enough excitement for the night; I was
ready to leave. My thoughts drifted and I looked over at the
boulders where the rest of the très beaux were. They were watching
me. A chill ran through my body. I sensed that there was something
very dangerous about them that their beauty could be a disguise
that concealed qualities much more threatening than was
apparent.

There was something wrong with them. I knew
that. They were too clannish, too interconnected. It was like they
were one mind acting together. Out in the water, they had all
turned at the same times to catch the same waves. That wasn’t
normal. Usually people didn’t ride in one line the way they
did.

Laurent was peculiar. He found my sapphire
ring in the ocean. How probable was that? It was possible, but very
unlikely to retrieve such a tiny item in a vast sea.

And earlier, it seemed like he threw that
stone so far, all the way into the ocean. Maybe that was nothing; I
certainly could have imagined that.

But, moreover, his behavior toward me was so
strange. His tease with the ring in his fist held out before me
seemed so playful, like a fun game, but a moment later, when my
finger touched his palm, he reacted with such utter repulsion. I
was entirely confused.

As much as I wanted to leave, I didn’t want
to go home and face my dad. I didn’t want to be punished. I felt
his rule of keeping me out of the ocean wasn’t fair. Just because
his shipmates drowned in the waters near Catalina Island didn’t
mean I was going to drown. If he was so worried about me dying,
then why did he allow me to swim in the pool? His story didn’t make
sense. There must be more to it than he had expressed.

Agatha put her arm around my shoulders. “You
okay?” she asked in a gentle voice.

“I am, but I’m not. You know what I mean?” I
looked at her.

“Story of my life,” she said with a smile.
“Come on—let me take you home.”

We gathered our things and Danny walked us to
Agatha’s Volkswagen. As we approached, I noticed the parking lot
was dark and quiet. I could have heard a pin drop. For a moment I
stopped to gaze at the sky. The stars twinkled magnificently and
the full moon gave an ominous feel to the setting. I was glad to be
away from the crowds of kids. And now I wanted to go to bed so I
could replay the entire evening in my mind and make sense of it
somehow.

Before we left I asked Danny the names of
each of the French exchange students again. He described them all
and told me their names. I wanted to know who was who in my
mind.

This time Agatha drove. It was better that
way. I wasn’t in the mood to be my wild self on the road. Most of
the drive we were silent. I think we both had a lot on our
minds.

But, as we neared my apartment complex, I
asked her, “What did you say to my dad when you went off by
yourselves?”

She laughed uncomfortably. “I didn’t say
much.” She blushed a little. “I told him that if he made you go
home then Danny would go off with his friends and I would be all
alone. I think he knows that I’m not popular and I think he felt
sorry for me.”