Siren's Storm

Ansell surprised her with a friendly hug. “God, I’m glad you came.” He looked her in the eye. “I just want you to know that Jason isn’t coming.”

The words were meant kindly, but to Gretchen, they held the sting of a slap that had caught her off guard. It had somehow never occurred to her that Jason might be here. Maybe because Ansell had existed in her Walfang universe so much longer than Jason had. Gretchen had known Ansell since they were small. He belonged to the Walfang that held Will and Tim and Angus. Jason was a rocky satellite that existed at the edge of her orbit-she thought of him as her own moon, not as a planet with orbits of his own.

“After I heard about what happened at Bella’s, I called him and told him not to show his face here.” Ansell shook his head. “He tried to play it off like he was some victim, but I was like, ‘Hey, I know Gretchen, okay?’ ”

Gretchen nodded, her head swimming. “Thank you.”

“Don’t sweat it. Hey, Angus is around here somewhere… Oh! Hey, here’s Trina. You guys know each other, right?”

Trina detached herself from a pair of preppy worshippers and made her way over to join Gretchen. “Hello, Gretchen,” Trina said. Her mouth smiled, but her eyes stayed cold.

“Hi.” Gretchen squirmed uncomfortably, cursing herself for coming to this party without backup. She hadn’t returned Trina’s texts in days.

“Ansell!” someone shouted. Ansell gave Gretchen a friendly pat on the arm and plunged back into the crowd of partygoers.

“So, I guess you’ve been busy.” Trina didn’t smile.

“Yeah.” Gretchen didn’t feel like inventing excuses, but she was more than happy to take the one Trina offered.

“So… I talked to Jason.”

“Oh?” Gretchen was surprised, even though she knew she shouldn’t be. He sure moved on fast.

Trina’s lips curled into a smug smile of ownership. “Someone trashed his car-did you hear that?”

“What?”

“Yeah-he’s stuck driving his parents’ car-the Lexus is slashed up. Jason thought you might know something about it.”

Gretchen couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. She felt welded into place. Jason suspects me? The news had shocked her; the accusation shocked her more. “No,” she finally managed to strangle out. “I didn’t even-I had no idea.”

“Really?” Trina sounded dubious. Her eyes flicked over Gretchen’s shoulder.

Gretchen turned. Asia was standing several feet away, near a railing wrapped in cords of tiny white lights. She was watching them.

Trina gave Gretchen one last up-and-down glance and walked off to rejoin her group of admirers. She said something to the preppy boys, and one of them turned to look at Gretchen. She felt herself blush with embarrassment and anger.

Asia put a hand on Gretchen’s shoulder. “Their thoughts can’t touch you.”

The words washed over Gretchen like a cool wave. She turned to face her friend. “You know, my mother used to always say, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.’ ” Gretchen sighed. “But that isn’t true.”

“They only hurt when you care,” Asia said.

Gretchen walked over to where Asia had been standing. “I guess that’s my problem.” She leaned against the railing, looking down at the dark water. Clusters of silver stars-the reflection of the tiny white lights-shone up at her, shimmering in the liquid blackness. A breeze blew up against her, cooling the sweat on her arms. It was a sultry night, and the bodies pressed close together on the pier created enough heat to make Gretchen’s red cotton sundress stick to her back. She lifted her thick hair off her neck, feeling a trickle creep down her spine. She turned toward Asia. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

Asia looked down at the water. She seemed as if she was considering how to respond. “I’m keeping an eye on someone,” she confessed.

Gretchen laughed. “Thanks.”

Asia cocked her head, a quizzical smile playing at her lips. “You think it’s you?”

“Isn’t it?”

Asia shrugged. “Perhaps,” she said. Her eyes sparkled, as if Gretchen amused her.

No wonder Will was asking about her. Gretchen was starting to have questions of her own. “You’re so…” Gretchen searched for the right word. “Strange.”

Asia laughed, and Gretchen blushed.

“I don’t mean that you’re strange,” Gretchen said quickly. “I just mean you’re-you know-kind of mysterious.”

“I’m not offended,” Asia said.

Silence settled between them. The party grew around them, the hot press of bodies encroaching on their space. “It’s hot here,” Asia said after a few moments. “How can you breathe?”

An arm brushed against Gretchen as a short, squat guy pressed past, fighting his way toward the beer. “It’s better here at the edge.”

“There’s no room.”

Gretchen shoved out an elbow, and someone retreated. A few inches appeared, and Asia slipped into the space. “It makes you want to dive in,” she said, looking down at the water.

“In that dress?” Gretchen joked.

Asia looked down at her white dress. It was goddess-style-halter at the top, gathers of white fabric down almost to her ankles.

“Not the best for a swim,” Gretchen pointed out.

“Hm.” Asia looked down at the water again, seeming to barely hear her. She narrowed her eyes suddenly, as if she saw something, and pulled back.

“What is it?”

Asia looked at her with cool green eyes. “Do you see anything?”

Gretchen studied the water. “No.”

“No,” Asia repeated.

Gretchen studied her friend’s face but couldn’t read anything there. Over Asia’s shoulder, Gretchen noticed a handsome dark-skinned guy checking Asia out. Her exotic looks had been attracting quite a bit of attention, and Gretchen had to check a pang of jealousy. The other reason Will was asking about her.

“I have to step away from here,” Asia said suddenly. “This heat…”

“Really?” Even in the press of people, Asia seemed cool and unmussed.

But Asia was already moving away, gliding past bodies and moving steadily toward the end of the pier. Gretchen watched her move. It was as if there were a force field around her. She collided with no one, and no one touched her.

“Someone’s looking at you.” Angus appeared at Gretchen’s side, holding a plastic cup half full of foam. He slipped into the space that Asia had left.

“Who?”

Angus nodded, and Gretchen spotted a pale boy in a black T-shirt and jeans. His huge eyes met hers for a moment, then flicked away.

“Oh, that guy,” Gretchen said vaguely. “Kirk the crazy screaming sophomore.” She watched as he picked up an empty beer cup and tossed it into the water. Then another. He reached for a third, but a girl snatched it away. She wasn’t finished with it, apparently. Kirk cringed and skulked away, octopus-like, reaching out his arms and legs along the railing and feeling his way backward.

“Crazy is right.”

“Local celebrity.”

“Hey, he gets his picture in the paper more than Lindsay Lohan.”

Gretchen laughed. A stray lock of hair blew across her face, and Angus reached for it, then drew his hand