The Fate of the Muse - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,15
a finger at me, “You’ll be in a load of trouble if your gang sees you coming out of the water!”
“What?” I snatched my bag and followed after her. She walked up the sand to a bench at the foot of the stairs and plunked down.
“Stella, you saw her, didn’t you? A girl in the water… A mermaid.”
Her eyes flew open wide and she put her finger to her lips, “Sssh! Mums the word!”
I watched as her eyes glazed over, and she sat there humming an old-fashioned song to herself. I changed out of my wetsuit and into my street clothes, sitting down next to her to slip on my sneakers.
“She came out of the water to see you, didn’t she?” I asked gently.
“Oh yesiree,” she giggled, “She wasn’t supposed to… but she couldn’t resist the music. I took her to the dance and she had two left feet! Oh, but I could sure cut a rug in those days…”
I remembered how awkward Lorelei was when she was forced to transform. I could scarcely imagine her trying to swing dance. Stella’s face clouded over, and she started singing under her breath again.
“What was she like?” I asked. I patted her arm, but her moment of lucidity was gone, visibly slipping away, just like the sun sinking below the horizon.
“Who?” she asked irritably, getting up from the bench and shuffling away, humming the rest of the long forgotten tune. I picked up my board and started climbing the steps, looking up to see Ethan coming down.
“So… You’re back at it,” he observed tersely, taking my surfboard for me.
“Looks like it,” I said lamely, “I’m sorry… I forgot about our plans. It’s just that–”
“I heard. I knew you’d think it was your fault. It’s not.”
I looked at him with tortured eyes, “How can you know that?”
He held out his hand, “C’mon, let’s go.”
We climbed the stairs slowly, neither of us sure of what to say.
“So… how was she doing?” he finally asked.
“Stella?”
“No, Lorelei,” he said, “She didn’t look too good before.”
I was surprised he wanted to know. He usually seemed to wish she didn’t exist. I remembered the fragile state he’d last seen her in; she was an entirely different creature now.
“It’s like it never even happened… She’s completely back to normal.”
“That’s good,” he said, “What about the other one?”
“I don’t know,” I frowned, “Lorelei wanted to take me to see her, but I had to get back.”
He didn’t say anything until we got to the landing midway up the stairs. He set my surfboard down purposefully and turned to me, “Marina?”
Here it comes, I thought. He’s going to tell me to stop going out alone, or ask me to stay away from Lorelei. I knew how much he hated the thought of us surfing together.
His voice was thick with emotion, and I could see the conflict on his face, “Please be careful.”
I went to him with my arms open wide, snuggling into his warm chest. I didn’t think it was possible to love him any more than I already did, but I was wrong. He brushed the damp hair away from my face and kissed the words right off of my lips, making me forget everything but the two of us.
“I can’t wait until we’re married,” he whispered in my ear.
“What if it’s all my fault?” I asked. He just kissed me again.
“Let’s go,” he said, “Abby’s worried about you.”
It was fully dark when we walked in the house, and we were greeted by the delicious smell of Dutch’s cooking, along with a frantic Abby.
“Marina!” she cried with relief as she threw her arms around me, “Nobody knew where you were! We were all so worried!”
“I’m sorry,” I said sheepishly, “I lost track of time.”
“Did you hear the news? I mean, it’s terrible about the congressman, but it stops everything until they hold a special election. We can really get the word out now!”
I swallowed hard, and looked at Ethan. Abby pulled back to study me, taking note of my wet hair suspiciously.
“I went surfing,” I explained, turning to go, “I’m going to jump in the shower now.”
“Make it quick,” she said, “Dinner’s almost ready.”
When we sat down to eat Abby looked around at all of us, her beautiful face rounded by pregnancy, eyes soft with sentiment, “I can’t believe the three of you will be graduating high school tomorrow! And Cruz… Moving to the city the very next morning…” Her voice caught in her throat as her eyes started welling