Between the Land and the Sea - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,53

over each new garment he retrieved. He assigned himself the job of stylist and busied himself laying out my outfits for the week.

“You’re like the Barbie I never had!” he joked.

The next day Cruz drove me to school in the Porsche. Every head in the parking lot turned as we pulled in. Ethan walked over as if he had been waiting for us.

“Nice ride,” he said, walking around the car, “Lemme guess– the rich Aunt?” he smiled, shaking his head.

“Yes, but it’s just on loan,” I was on the defensive, “So I can learn to drive.” He chuckled, “Only you would learn to drive in a car like this.” The rest of the week went by quickly, with driving lessons every day after school. Cruz took me out to an empty lot and I practiced shifting gears, parallel parking and backing up straight. I think I scared him a few times, but I was getting the hang of it. I suspected Cruz was using the lessons to keep me away from the pier, because whenever I started to venture out he insisted it was driving time. I was still determined to meet with Lorelei and began to devise a plan.

Saturday morning finally came, and along with it my first surfing lesson. Ethan arrived early to do yard work and I went outside with him, insisting on helping him rake and pick up clippings. Everyone else thought I was a spoiled rich brat, but for some reason I couldn’t bear the thought of Ethan thinking badly of me. We looked at the surfboards leaning against the side of the house. Ethan explained that the short board was harder to surf, and I’d be better off starting out with a longer one.

“Take both of them and you can keep the short one,” I said.

“I’ll try it,” he said as we loaded them into his truck, “But it’s your board.” We drove out to the same beach as before and parked.

He turned to look at me with serious eyes.

“I’ve spent all week worrying about you getting yourself beaten up. Have you always had such a bad temper?” I laughed until I realized he was serious.

“I’ve never been in a fight in my life!” I protested.

“Then why did you get so fired up?” he asked. I thought about it for a moment, but there was no way to explain it that didn’t sound weird. I felt different, more ferocious somehow, especially where my loved ones were concerned.

“Have you heard the things they say... about Cruz, about Megan... and Abby?” I asked intensely. “I know I’m not... normal, and people think I’m a stupid freak, but I refuse to just sit and ignore it when they talk to my friends like that.”

“You should just let it slide and walk away,” he chided me.

“I can’t just walk away.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I love them,” I said simply.

He was quiet for a moment, then he looked down and away. I remembered what Abby had said about his mom and felt horrible.

I put my hand on his back. “Come on, teach me how to surf,” I said gently.

We hauled the surfboards down to the beach and laid them out on the sand. Ethan started out with a lecture about safety again, stressing that I must never go out alone. He was deadly serious, with none of the lighthearted joking I was used to with him. I agreed to be cautious and tried to be a good student.

I felt a twinge of guilt, because even as I promised to follow all of his safety rules my latest plan was to paddle my board out far enough out so that I could talk to Lorelei in privacy. I felt it would be safe enough on top of a surfboard in a wetsuit. I decided that I could contact her on the ship, change into my suit and swim out to meet with her. I smiled to myself, thinking I’d have some answers soon.

“Are you listening?” Ethan waved a hand in front of my face and I snapped to attention.

“Yes sir!” I said with mock seriousness, satisfied with my plan.

He explained how I needed to find the center of gravity on the board to avoid dipping either the nose or tail down in the water, and showed me how to attach a leash from the board to my ankle to keep it from getting away from me after a fall. He had me practice lying on the board, and showed me how