Siren's Storm

Jason didn’t even glance in Gretchen’s direction before stalking out of Bella’s.

For a moment everyone was silent. Then the chatter resumed at twice the usual volume. Asia turned and locked eyes with Gretchen for a moment. That was when Gretchen realized that she was trembling.

“Oh, Lord, honey!” Lisette hurried over to Gretchen. “Are you okay?”

“I’m-” Gretchen didn’t know what to say. Fine? Freaked out?

Lisette didn’t seem to need a full answer. She squeezed Gretchen’s shoulder as Angel leaned across the counter and looked into her face. “That guy is never setting foot in here again,” he announced.

“I’m sorry,” Gretchen mumbled.

Angel narrowed his eyes. “For what? Living in a world filled with assholes?” He picked up Jason’s still-full coffee mug and handed it to Lisette. She dumped the coffee down the drain, then tossed the cup into the other sink, the one Gretchen had been leaning against. The sink was half filled with soapy water, and when Lisette dropped the cup in, a few drops flew up and splashed her hand. She sucked in her breath, her face contorting in pain.

“You okay?” Angel asked.

“Yeah-that water is boiling hot.” Lisette shook her fingers.

Angel scowled at her. “No more injuries today, okay? No more fights, no nothing. I want it nice and quiet.” He turned to Asia, who was still standing nearby. “That goes for you, too.”

Asia nodded, then turned quietly toward a table of customers.

“You take a fifteen-minute break,” Angel commanded Gretchen. Then he stormed back toward his grill.

“My hand is feeling much better, thanks!” Lisette called after him. She rolled her eyes. “That guy could make you crazy.”

She went back to her tables as Gretchen made her way to the bathroom. She flicked on the fluorescent light and splashed water onto her face. Once she had dried her face with a few scratchy brown paper towels, she looked at herself in the mirror, trying to understand what had just happened. She’d grabbed Jason’s wrist. She hadn’t meant to grab it so hard, but that angry red blister proved she had hurt him. And then, when he’d started toward her, Asia had stopped him somehow.

It’s amazing how quickly things can get out of control, Gretchen thought. How fast they can change.

Things with Jason were over. She was shocked at how relieved she felt.

After a few minutes, someone knocked at the door. “Just a moment,” Gretchen called. She arranged her hair and straightened her uniform.

And just like that, she thought as she reached for the doorknob, life goes on.

He felt like the world’s worst spy, waiting for her to come out of the diner. Darkness had stolen silently over the town, but the restaurants were lit up. Even though it was only Thursday, they were packed with the rich and the beautiful. Will watched them as they sat at small cafe tables, lifting heavy silver forks to eat tiny portions of fresh bay scallops or salmon in a balsamic reduction. He was amazed at how clean they were, how fresh they seemed. Their clothes were perfectly pressed. Their skin was bronzed and smooth, their hair soft-looking and sweet- smelling. They ate slowly. They drank Coke or iced tea or sparkling water from green bottles.

Whenever Will’s family went out, everyone drank tap water. His father considered anything else “money for nothing.” Appetizers fell under the same category, as did desserts. He would pay for the main meal, and that, grudgingly. Will’s father often complained that nothing was half as good as what Evelyn could make at home. Will usually agreed with him. He hated going out to eat-especially at nice restaurants. He hated being surrounded by all of those clean, clean people.

Around Will, the light from the restaurants fell soft and yellow onto the redbrick walkway. But across the street, the diner’s neon sign glowed garishly pink and green, and the wide windows beamed bluish fluorescent light into the night air. The patrons, older and overfed, were backlit, and every feature was as visible as if Will had just pulled into a drive-in. But Will’s eyes were trained on Asia.

The more he watched, the more amazed he was at her grace. Her movements were liquid, more beautiful than a dance. She balanced a white plate on her delicate hand. She turned her head, her neck arching gracefully. She maneuvered deftly around another waitress, as if she could sense others’ quick change of direction. Beside her, the other waitresses looked clunky and awkward. As if they lived in different elements. Or different times. Like dinosaurs and birds-distantly related, bearing little family resemblance.

The dinner rush was over, and one by one the diners finished meals, wiped mouths, asked for checks. Will watched Asia clear tables, refill sugar shakers, sort silverware. He saw her chat with the cook and the other waitress-Gretchen had said her name was Lisette-as she swept the floor. Will saw her strawberry lips forming words, and hungered to know what they were. Will didn’t care what she was saying. He wished he could catch each word from her mouth and preserve them in a jar, like fireflies.

Finally, finally, she pulled off her apron. She waved good-bye to the others. She headed out the door.

Will stood up, his legs stiff from sitting so long. He waited until she reached the end of the block, then hurried after her. “Hey,” Will called when he saw her. “Hey!”

She didn’t turn, so he jogged after her. He’d been waiting for her to finish her shift at the diner for the past forty-five minutes, and he wasn’t about to miss his chance to talk to her.

She wove through the tourists, reminding Will of the many minnows he had tried to catch when he was young. They always darted through his fingers and disappeared into the murk of the creek that wound beside his house and fed into the bay.

Will increased his speed to a trot. “Hey!” he called as she rounded a corner.

This street wasn’t so crowded. Leafy trees reached overhead in front of redbrick and wooden houses with overplanted window boxes. Toward the end of the street was a tiny restaurant, closed until the next day.

Will was running now. He was gaining on her-he was so close, he could almost touch her. He reached out-

And she turned to face him.

Momentum carried him forward; he almost ran into her. He planted his feet, but his body kept moving. He made a jerky little movement, like a puppet on a string or a dog yanked back by its owner.

Will planted his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “Hey,” he said, looking up at her.

Asia just watched him with her cool green stare.

Finally Will straightened up. “So-” he began.

Asia lifted an eyebrow.

“So-what was that all about?” Will blurted out.

Asia blinked. Other than that, she was motionless.

“Last night? Hello?” He waved his hand in front of her face, as if to break her out of a trance. “I wake up and you’re looking down at me. And I’m, like, fifty feet from where I’m supposed to be. Which is on some rocks, dead.”

“Are you trying to say thank you?”

“So you were there!” He hadn’t expected her to admit it so easily.

“Where, exactly?”

“Don’t play dumb. You-you did something. You appeared from out of nowhere.”

“How would that be humanly possible?”

“You tell me.”

“It isn’t.” And she turned away.

“No,” Will said, reaching for her arm. “Ouch!” He shook his hand-his fingers were numb.

She turned on him, fury in her eyes. “Be careful,” she said in a low voice. There was something-a tone, a quality. Will didn’t know. All he knew was that the world shifted suddenly. The anger that had been pulsing through his body like a piston drained away, leaving him loose-limbed and rubbery. He released his grip.

“I don’t owe you anything,” Asia told him in the same quiet voice. It was almost a song, but Will couldn’t catch the melody.

He tried to repeat it. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“That’s right.”

She started away.

Will felt as if he had been submerged into water, warm as blood. He wanted to float away. He stumbled like a