Shifting (Swans Landing) (9 page)

“So you think if you mess around with me, I can convince Lake to do what? Let your daddy have all the good fishing spots?”

Elizabeth shot me a withering look. “Don’t flatter yourself, Dylan. You’re not that important in my daddy’s eyes.”

“Then what part do I play in this?” I asked.

Her eyes looked red, but I couldn’t tell for sure if that was from tears or the salt water. “I’m sick of being afraid. I’ve grown up hearing my daddy tell me how bad all of you are. But Mara saved his life, and then that day at the dock, with Kyle, you stood up to him. For me.” She swallowed, blinking quickly. “I thought maybe I could find a way to stay if we weren’t all so afraid of each other.”

I shook my head. “You have a chance I don’t have. You can leave this island and find something better.”

Elizabeth’s jaw twitched. “I see all of you people swimming and fishing and living your lives as if the rest of us don’t even exist. It doesn’t matter if we’re here or not, all of you will still manage to survive. You’re tied to this island in a way we aren’t. It’s not fair. This is
my
home too.”

I hated the way she said “you people,” as if we were completely separate from her.

“So how do I fit into all of this?” I asked through clenched teeth.

Elizabeth’s lips looked bluer than before. The water was too cold for her, and she’d need to go back to shore soon.

“I thought if I could get close to you, get to know you, then maybe you could help me fix the people on this island,” she said. “Maybe we could convince Lake and my daddy to work together instead of fighting each other.”

She spoke with that same Elizabeth Connors confidence I had always known. Beneath the girl who kissed me and looked at me as if she wanted nothing except me, she was still the same scheming, lying, manipulative person she’d always been.

And I was still just a pawn in her game. Something to help her get what she wanted.

“You need to get back to shore,” I told her. I turned toward the beach, pulling her along beside me.

“Dylan,” Elizabeth started, but a wave splashed water into her mouth and she coughed.

I changed back to my human form as we drew close to shore, rising up on my legs to walk through the crashing surf. I let my arm drop from Elizabeth’s waist. She struggled through the current next to me, but I didn’t look her way.

“Dylan, listen to me—”

I grabbed my clothes from the beach and pulled them on, ignoring the sand that clung to them. “I’m done playing your game, Elizabeth. If that was all you ever wanted, all you had to do was talk to me. Not...” I gestured between us. “You didn’t have to do all this.”

“How else was I supposed to get close to you?”

“I’m a pretty reasonable guy, once you get to know me.” I glanced at her. “If you ever bother getting to know me.”

My feet slipped across the sand as I marched toward the tree line.

“Dylan, wait. It’s not like that.”

I didn’t want to hear her lies. “You don’t have to pretend anymore,” I told her. “Go back to your friends and forget any of this happened.”

She stopped, looking at me with glassy eyes. I resisted the urge to go to her and press my lips to hers one last time.

“What am I supposed to do now?” she asked. “My daddy is serious about leaving. This is my home.”

“I don’t care what you do. It’s not my problem, is it?”

Elizabeth flinched, taking a step back.

“You don’t even realize how lucky you are,” I said, spitting the words with as much venom in my tone as I could. “You think I would choose a life stuck on a dying island? Do you think it’s fun always choosing between the land and the water? Do you think I enjoy beatings from your boyfriends because of who I am?” I stalked away, putting distance between us. “Do us both a favor and get out of here. Don’t be forgotten. Be human.”

I left her as I slipped into the trees, my body aching from the effects of the water and her touch.

Chapter Twelve

My mom freaked out when she saw the aftermath of Kyle’s fists on my face. She demanded to know who had done it, but I wouldn’t tell. What was the point? She would either call his parents and cause even more problems, or she’d ignore it because of the strained human-finfolk relationship.

But this was Swans Landing, and nothing stayed secret for long. By the next morning, everyone knew. They stared as I walked across the lawn of the school. They whispered behind my back when I passed in the hall. I wasn’t invisible anymore and I could feel all the stares burning holes into my skin. I sat in the back of all my classes, ignoring everyone else around me. At lunch, I went to the library so I wouldn’t have to deal with them.

“Hey.”

I looked up from the calculus homework I was working on to find Mara standing at the end of the table.

“Hey,” I said.

“You look terrible,” she told me.

I gave her a half-smile.

“Can I sit down?” she asked.

I shrugged. “If you want.”

She slid into the seat across from me, dropping her backpack at her feet. “I’m really sorry about yesterday.”

“It’s fine,” I told her, looking down at my paper. The numbers weren’t making much sense and I hadn’t been able to focus.

“No, it’s not,” Mara said. “I think we’re both really stressed and worried, and we’re taking it out on each other. Which isn’t a good thing. I like you, Dylan, and I want to be friends.”

Friends. I would always be the friend.

“I want to be friends too. I really didn’t mean anything by suggesting we share the bed. It was supposed to be a joke.”

Mara sighed. “I guess I’m not in a joking mood these days. Sorry.”

“I’m sorry for what I said.” I rolled my pencil back and forth on the table. “I don’t want Josh dead, you know.”

Mara nodded. “I know.”

A laugh nearby caught my attention. Beyond Mara’s shoulder, Elizabeth and Jackie walked through the library door. Elizabeth’s gaze caught mine for a moment, but then she looked away quickly as she headed toward the computers.

Mara looked over her shoulder, then turned back to me, rolling her eyes. “The Swans Landing Witch is in full-force today. In gym class, she kept calling me Tuna.”

Elizabeth sat down at the end of the row of computers. She leaned over to say something to Jackie and then laughed again.

“Maybe she’s under a lot of stress too,” I said.

Mara wrinkled her nose. “What has gotten into you lately?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“That’s the second time in two weeks you’ve defended Elizabeth Connors.”

If I wasn’t careful, Mara would figure out something had happened between Elizabeth and me. And on an island as small as Swans Landing, secrets were hard to keep. If one person could figure it out, eventually everyone would.

But did it matter anymore?

“Maybe I’m tired of fighting with humans,” I said.

“We’re not talking about humans,” Mara told me. “We’re talking about Elizabeth Connors. She’s an entirely different species of her own.”

As if on cue, Elizabeth and Jackie got up from the computers. They turned our way, Elizabeth leading the path toward our table, a smirk etched on her face.

“Hello, Tuna,” she said to Mara. She barely glanced at me. “Fish Boy. I thought I smelled something rotten over here.”

Mara sighed. “Your jokes are getting old, Elizabeth. Call me when you have some new material.”

Elizabeth’s smirk deepened as she glared down at Mara. “What’s the matter? Upset your boyfriend ran off with a whale?”

“I guess you’re still jealous that he chose me over you, huh?” Mara asked.

Jackie sucked in a gasp, her eyes wide as she looked at Mara. “Don’t flatter yourself, Westray,” she said. “Elizabeth could have had Josh if she really wanted him.”

Elizabeth tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I have better things to do than play around with fish.”

My hand clenched around my pencil, but I bit my lip to keep from speaking.

“Besides,” Elizabeth snarled, “it doesn’t matter anyway. He’s probably dead now. I always knew you people were shark bait.”

Mara leaped from her chair, her nose an inch from Elizabeth’s. “One more word,” she growled in a low voice. “And you’ll get my foot up your—”

“Girls,” Ms. Perez, the school librarian, hissed from her desk. “If you don’t break it up right now, you’ll all get a trip to the principal’s office.”

Elizabeth stepped back, giving Mara one last smirk. “See you later, Tuna.”

She turned, ignoring me as if I didn’t exist. I clenched my fist tighter, the pencil in my hand cracking.
Don’t say anything.

But I didn’t listen to my own advice.

“Elizabeth,” I said.

She stopped, her shoulders tensed. Jackie looked back at me, her eyebrows raised. Even Mara studied me with confusion etched on her face.

It was several long moments before Elizabeth turned around to face me. Her expression was neutral, but her eyes held a hint of fear.

“What do you want, Fish Boy?” Her voice dripped with contempt, as it always had whenever she spoke to me. She really was two entirely different people.

“Tell your idiot boyfriend I hope he enjoys the broken nose I gave him,” I said.

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose, casting a disgusted look at me. “Tell him yourself.” Then she spun on her heel and walked away, never once looking back at me.

Mara sat down again, tapping her fingers on the table. Seconds ticked by, but she didn’t say anything. I couldn’t meet her gaze. I kept my eyes focused on the jumble of numbers scratched across the page in front of me.

“Dylan?” Mara finally asked.

I forced myself to look up and meet her golden brown eyes. I could see the question there, on the tip of her tongue. I clenched my teeth, waiting for her to ask.

But instead, she said, “I think you killed your pencil.”

I opened my hand, releasing the two pieces of broken pencil.

* * *

“Mutant freak.”

“I can’t believe he showed up today.”

I buried my hands deep in my pockets, trying to block out the sounds of the voices around me, none of which were being quiet. They didn’t care if I heard. They wanted me to hear. They wanted me to know I was not like them. I could walk the same halls they did and act as human as I wanted to, but I would never be the same as them.

I missed Sailor so much my chest felt hollow.

“Where do you think you’re going, freak?”

Kyle and his friends stood in my way, fanned out in a line to block my path. They all had their arms crossed, matching scowls on their faces.

I tried to push between them, but Kyle and one of his friends pushed me backward. “I’m trying to get to class, dumbass,” I told him.

Kyle stepped forward, sneering down at me. “My handiwork looks good on you, Fish Boy. Maybe I should do it again real soon.”

I became aware of the audience around us. Movement in the hall had come to a complete stop and everyone watched the exchange between Kyle and me. I spotted Elizabeth standing with Jackie behind the line of guys. She stared at me, her green eyes wide and nervous.

I wanted to see the smile fall off Kyle’s face when he heard what I’d been doing with Elizabeth these last few days. I wanted him to know that she had chosen me, the invisible Fish Boy, over him.

I could see it in her face, in the rigid way she stood. She was waiting for me to tell Kyle, to tell everyone what she had done. All I had to do was open my mouth, and I’d tear down the facade Elizabeth had carefully built around her. Maybe we really could change the way finfolk and humans in this school acted toward each other. We could break through the barriers.

Do you trust me?
I had asked her.

Yes,
she had said.

But she didn’t really. Not fully. Maybe she had never really trusted anyone.

“What are you staring at?” Kyle asked. He pushed at my shoulder, breaking my lock on Elizabeth’s gaze.

I focused on him, meeting his snarling glare with a calm, restrained smile. “I’m staring at the biggest jackass on the island,” I told him.

There was a pause, a moment when everyone seemed to hold their breath after I had spoken, waiting to see what would happen next.

Then Kyle swung one fist, aiming at my head. I ducked and slammed my shoulder into his gut, knocking him into his friends, who all scrambled to leap on me in his defense. The punches came from every direction, slamming into my back, sides, head.

“Break it up!” a voice shouted over the noise. “Break it up now!”

Teachers ripped us apart, dragging each of us to different parts of the hall. Mr. Richter had hold of my left arm, his fingers digging painfully into my bicep. My lip pulsed, probably even more swollen than it had been before.