everyone together.”
“What happened?” Phoebe’s face turned white.
“When the hurricane hit, as each girl drowned, she weighed down the others, and the nuns couldn’t keep everyone above water. When they dug through the ruins of the school looking for survivors, they found all the girls and nuns still tied to each other. All of them had died.”
“That’s awful….” Willow looked up from her toes, her face grave.
“I know. I can’t even imagine how scary that would be, which leads me to my next question.
Why are we not running for the nearest mountain town?” I scratched my head.
Carmen came out of her bedroom, “Duh, our ancestors came from the sea.” She tossed some silver nail polish to Willow and picked up a magazine, flipping through it. “So don’t get your panties in a wad. They placed a protective shield around the campus. We’re golden. Plus, we used all the extra death-by-drowning rope tying Phoebe to the balcony last year. Now that was fun to watch.” She blew a kiss to Phoebe who caught it and pretended to shove it in her mouth, chew it up, and finally spit it out on the floor.
“Don’t ask.” Phoebe squelched the question already on the tip of my tongue. I decided on another one.
“So, why can’t we make the hurricanes veer off course and stay out to sea or make them fall apart before they reach land?” I thought of all the lives that could be saved and the millions of dollars in damages that could be prevented.
“Messing with the balance of nature is a risky business. Especially something as powerful as hurricanes.” Willow blew on her shiny metallic silver toenails to dry them, “It’s forbidden by the Sanctions.”
“What are the ‘Sanctions’?” I needed a dictionary for all these new words.
“Basically the rules we have to follow. There aren’t many, but they definitely enforce them.”
Willow explained.
“Most of us aren’t powerful enough to do much harm anyway,” Phoebe shrugged, “I mean, what kind of damage could my little sand tornado cause?”
“It could devastate an ant farm,” I said in all seriousness. “Mass chaos would erupt and the death toll could rise to as much as a twenty. I wouldn’t want that on my conscience if I were you.”
Carmen laughed in her orange juice.
“The complete and total annihilation of an entire sand castle, that’s what,” Willow added.
“I foresee some serious chafing if it got in your bathing suit,” Carmen looked up from her magazine, “and you thought razor burn was painful…”
“And don’t get me started on how it feels in your eyes. We could all go blind in a matter of minutes,” Willow threw out. We all erupted into a fit of giggles, except Phoebe.
“Laugh it up now, but a gigantic sandstorm is next on my list and you three,” she narrowed her eyes at each of us, “will be my next victims, so you better sleep with one eye open.”
Carmen stood up suddenly, “Logan and his friends are going down to the beach in a little while. The hurricane’s already kicking up some huge waves so they’re going surfing. Which means you guys are coming out there with me,” she looked at us expectantly. “So get your bathing suits on.”
She didn’t wait for an answer; instead she disappeared into her bedroom.
“Anybody want to go to the beach? I heard Carmen’s going…” Phoebe yelled sarcastically at Carmen’s closed door. We stifled our laughter.
“I heard that!” Carmen said through her closed door. “I want bathing suits on ASAP! I’d hate to drag ya’ll down there butt naked!”
A couple of minutes later I had my bikini on and my thoughts inevitably drifted back to Finn.
Would he be down there today? Did I want him to be there? Yes. Definitely, yes. I took out my phone and started to write him a text. Then deleted it. What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, was hoping to talk to you and find out if you’re a murderer. Meet me at the beach in ten.’ Yea right. I’m sure he’d run down right away, welcoming me with open arms. Right before he strangled me to death for being a complete moron.
Chapter 18
By the time we got down to the beach, it was already teeming with activity. The sun was shining and the temperature was over ninety degrees. The smell of suntan lotion and salt, mixed with sea grass greeted us. The breeze off the ocean made the heat bearable, but I could tell it was stronger than usual as my hair whipped around my head. I pulled out a pony tail holder and threw it up out of the way, as my eyes scanned the ocean. Carmen was right; the waves had doubled in size overnight.
They formed farther out, gathering speed and height as they raced towards shore. Long barrels, ideal for surfing rolled continuously over the length of the beach, crashing and then regrouping as they ate away at the sand. The rhythmic pulse became hypnotic and I found myself staring at them with a sense of wonder and… something else. Pride. A part of me belonged to that vast expanse of blue water circling the horizon as far as the eye could see. An entire world hidden beneath the surface; it harbored undiscovered secrets and its power could ravage entire continents. Its immense strength commanded respect and humbled the strongest of creatures.
“So, you gonna stand there all day like a statue or join the rest of us soaking up the sunshine?”
I looked down at my roommates who were all laying on the blanket squinting up at me. I laughed and found a spot on the blanket to stretch out on. I scanned the water for any surfers resembling Finn but they were all too far away to tell.
“Phoebe, isn’t that Ian?” Carmen lowered her sunglasses and pointed.
“Well, don’t point at him!” Phoebe smacked her hand down, but kept her eyes down the beach on the dark haired guy walking toward us. As he got closer, I noticed just how good-looking he was.
His dark hair was cut short; he had a diamond stud in each ear, and wore a necklace of black onyx around his neck. He walked with a slight lean, making him look a little ghetto, but in a badass sort of way. I looked over at Phoebe and noticed she was fidgeting with her hair, watching him nervously as he approached. A slow, crooked smile spread across his face and for an instant he reminded me of Finn.
“Girls,” he nodded at the rest of us smoothly and extended a hand to Phoebe, “Want to walk?”
Obviously not a man of many words. She glanced at us anxiously and I could see the unease in her eyes. I smiled encouragingly at her as she took his hand. They would make a cute couple; Phoebe with her pink and gray camouflage bikini, and Ian in his black trunks and laid-back style. As they walked away, Carmen put her sunglasses back on, laid back down and sighed, “Ah, young love.
Makes me want to hurl.”
“Do you think he’ll ask her to the Ball?” I silently hoped he would. It would be great to have Phoebe there with me in the event I got asked.
“He definitely will,” Carmen sat up and mimicked Ian’s head nod and smooth voice, “Me.
You. Ball. Saturday.” I died laughing at her bad imitation. I closed my eyes to ward off the blinding sun. I took off my sunglasses so I wouldn’t have raccoon eyes, but it made it hard to see anything.
“Anybody up for some beach volleyball?” I looked up at Logan and Noah resembling Greek gods, standing in front of us. Bronzed and muscular, they were the picture of perfection. Almost too perfect. The kind of perfect that makes you question if you’re seeing who they really are. And what they’re trying to hide. Or maybe I was just paranoid. “You girls look like you could use some exercise…” Logan pulled down his Ray Ban sunglasses and looked at us, raising a light brown eyebrow.
“You can’t handle this,” Carmen told him as she rubbed more lotion on her legs, un-phased by his fighting words. Unlike Phoebe, she had the ability to hide all nervousness and insecurities. She had an air of confidence that made guys fall all over themselves. I probably should have taken some notes.
“Prove it,” Noah answered Carmen and reached out his hand to me. Instead of taking it, I stood on my own. He looked momentarily hurt, but then smiled down at Willow. “You in?”
