I flung back my comforter and sat up, checking the time. Twelve a.m. I’d been tossing and turning. I should’ve been dreaming of grand-jeté-ing across the stage in Cinderella but instead I was wrestling with a building anxiety. It had taken about a nanosecond for Tilly and Andres to find out about the “talk” Ethan and I had had, and my phone had been buzzing with texts from Tilly all night. I hadn’t responded to a single one. I wasn’t ready to hear her opinions yet.
I slid open my window, hoping an ocean breeze might lighten the humidity in my bedroom. A full moon blazed in the sky, and as I peered past palm trees toward the water, I saw a familiar ethereal glow along the horizon. My spirits lifted. Was that what I thought it was? It was the right time of year for it. I slipped out of bed and changed from my pj’s into shorts and a T-shirt. I left a note for Mom so she’d know where I was, then grabbed my cell.
My fingers hesitated over the screen. There was only one person I wanted to share this with. A week ago, even two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have thought twice about texting him, but now? Everything was more complicated. Still, I hadn’t seen him since I’d gotten the news about Cinderella and, well, I missed him. Pushing all thoughts of how distant he’d seemed lately aside, I texted Lanz:
I held my breath until a text came back a moment later.
I smiled.
I laughed, relieved to hear him sounding more like himself.
Ten minutes later, Lanz found me sitting in the sand by my kayak (last year’s birthday gift from Dad), two life jackets beside me. His hair was tousled from sleep, and his mischievous smile shone in the moonlight.
“Here I am.” He bowed playfully. “At your bidding. What are my orders, capitano?”
“Safety first.” I tossed him a life jacket. Once we both had the life jackets on, we dragged the kayak toward the water. I tried not to giggle as Lanz struggled to balance himself on the kayak’s seat.
“What? Am I not an expert sailor?” He pushed out his chest in mock-pride, and almost tipped over backward into the waves.
I shook my head between laughs, then pushed the kayak over the cresting waves and climbed in to face him. I picked up my paddle, but hesitated before handing him his. “I’m not sure I can trust you with a paddle.”
He inspected it. “If I can master the gelato paddle, I can master this one, too. Besides, I could never let anything happen to Cinderella.” He winked.
“So you know I got the part.” We paddled farther from shore into the gentle swells. He hadn’t been at Once upon a Scoop (Mom told me he’d asked for the afternoon off), and I hadn’t wanted to text him. It was the sort of great news you only wanted to share face-to-face.
He nodded. “Eve told me. I saw her after school today.”
“Oh.” So he’d spent his afternoon with Eve instead of at Once upon a Scoop. “You two seem to get along well.”
He nodded. “She’s very nice.”
“And …” I swallowed. Suddenly, I was wishing I’d never texted him to meet me here. “You—you like her?”
He shrugged. “Of course I do! What’s not to like?”
I turned my gaze to the shore, wondering if I could turn the kayak around. I could tell him I wasn’t feeling well, or that I was tired … I just didn’t want to be here, in this tiny boat, with nowhere to hide my emotions.
“Well.” Lanz scanned the water. “I don’t see any weremaids.” He leaned toward me. “Are you going to let me in on your secret?”
“What?” I startled at the question. What if he already knew? Knew how every time I was around him, he turned my world topsy-turvy?
He laughed. “Malie. Are you going to tell me why we’re out here? Rowing through the ocean in the middle of the night?”
“Oh. Right.” That was what he’d meant. I turned my attention to the water. “Give me a second.” The tide was calm, quieter than usual, and the moonlight glittered on the water. About twenty feet to our left, an ethereal blue light shimmered beneath the surface. “There!” I pointed to the spot, then motioned for him to row in that direction. Within a minute, we were directly above the glowing water.
Below us, thousands of comb jellies glowed greenish blue, floating gracefully in an underwater light show.
“This is incredible!” he whispered.
“It’s bioluminescence,” I said. “The comb jellies are only here at certain times of the year. Dad used to bring me out to see them before he moved. Last year he gave me the kayak so I could keep up the tradition. The cove’s protected by the breakers, so the current’s never strong. Otherwise Mom would never let me come out here on my own.”
“Thank you for bringing me here,” Lanz said, looking at me.
“I wanted to show you this to thank you.” I kept my eyes on the water to avoid getting lost in his eyes. “You’re the reason I’m in Cinderella.”
He shook his head. “I only introduced you to my mother. Everything that happened after that was your doing. Your talent.” He smiled, and the flickering lights from the water reflected on his face. “Mammina doesn’t believe in favoritism. Not even for my friends.”
Friends. That was all we would ever be, and I needed to be okay with it. For the sake of self-preservation, for the sake of Ethan. And Eve. For everyone.
Lanz dipped his paddle gently into the water, causing the jellies to ripple around it in unison, creating one fluttering blanket of blue.
“They
