I laughed and shook my head. “I’ll look stupid.”
“Please, Liv? You’re always studying those little fishies out there. Now’s your chance to become one.”
“I study marine life, not fairy tales. And the last time you made me be a subject in one of your photoshoots, I got glitter in my eye and ended up with conjunctivitis for a week.”
“Okay, no glitter this time. Come on, please? Think of it as a challenge: Can I make a passable mermaid?” She asked the question with her hand raised in front of her, as if it were a dramatic headline in a newspaper.
“Okay, fine. But only if we’re the only ones out there. I don’t want a bunch of weird beach bums ogling me.”
“Yay!” She clapped and squealed, then took the fish tail and walked out. “Oh, I forgot to ask,” she called from down the hall. “How were the tide pools?”
I rubbed my face. I couldn’t tell her. It would freak her out. “Um…fine, I guess. I accidentally dropped my phone in the ocean. That’s why I didn’t answer your second call.”
She ran back. Her face reflected a level of horror equal to reporting the death of a loved one. Wow, if she freaked out this much over a phone, then I was definitely not telling her everything that happened at the tide pools.
“Can you get another one?”
“Not right away. I don’t have the money—wait, are you crying?” I asked with an incredulous laugh. She shut her misting eyes and shook her head.
“Losing a phone is like losing your arm! Or part of your brain!”
“I’ll be fine. You do enough social media for the both of us, and the only people who are going to call me are my parents and Aunt Shannon. They can use her landline. It just sucks that I can’t use a phone for research until I get a new one.”
She lunged a few steps forward, grabbed my hand and pulled me to sit up. “Come on, mermaid girl. We’re going to the beach. Sunnies and hunnies. Dr. Sammie Ka-blammie’s orders.”
I sighed and moved my feet to the floor. Out the window, the sun shone on a cloudless day. It made it hard to believe anything weird happened just a few hours ago or that any danger could still be waiting. Had those men ever gone to La Jolla Beach? Had anything happened? A burning curiosity sprang inside me. I wanted to know. And in the light of day, with loads of people on the beach and my bold best friend at my side, nothing bad could happen. The thirst to see for myself surged all the more. I stood and went to get my suitcase.
Fifteen minutes later, we headed toward the front door. On the entryway table sat the landline. A red blinking light on the phone’s dock caught my eye. I pushed the button next to the light.
“You have one unheard message,” said the electronic female voice. Sam paused and waited. The phone beeped and my Aunt Shannon’s perky voice came over the speaker.
“Hi Olivia! I tried to call your cell, but there must have been a bad connection. It wouldn’t go through. Anyway, I just landed here in Amsterdam. It’s probably the middle of the night back home. I just wanted to let you know I got here safely. It’s gorgeous here. You wouldn’t believe it. Anyway, I gotta get going. My group’s about to leave. I hope you and Samantha are settled in okay. And don’t forget, no wild parties. Or if you do have wild parties, at least clean up and make sure I never find out.” She laughed. “Love you, sweetie. Thanks again for keeping an eye on things for me!” The line clicked. I smiled.
“She’s so cool,” said Samantha as she opened the front door. “I want to travel the world when I’m an adult.”
“Technically, you are an adult.”
She tilted her head in thought. “True. Next summer, then. We’re backpacking Europe like Shannon.”
I laughed again, my fear from last night gone. Whatever had occurred at the tide pools, or even on the beach last night, I was so ready to get out there and forget about it all—or if I was lucky, find out if anything crazy happened.
Crowds of families scattered in little multicolored umbrella camps across La Jolla Beach. People walked, swam, and played Frisbee as I scanned the coastline for unusual activity. The normality of it all left me strangely disappointed. I should be glad for normal, shouldn’t I? No men in suits or Padres sweatshirts. No police sirens or caution tape. Before me lay an ocean—fishy-salty air in my lungs, sand at my feet, and the crash of waves in my ears. Paradise. Sanctuary. A break from the crap of the last few months.
“You’re thinking about plankton, aren’t you?” Samantha said next to me. I turned. She lifted her camera to her eye and snapped a couple pictures of the ocean.
“No.” I laughed a little, not admitting to her that my thoughts had crept back to the divorce for a moment. “Why?”
She lowered the camera. “Because we’re standing in front of an ocean. And you have a look on your face that says”—she swooned—“ah, plankton. Or whatever stuff is in there.”
Smiling, I brushed windswept strands of hair from my face. “Well, plankton is an important part of the ocean’s ecosystem.”
Sam snorted and took a few more pictures. “You’re such a geek.”
“Takes one to know one.”
She shrugged and took off running with a great, wild, “Wahoo!”
My smile grew as I followed. My feet sank into deep, warm sand. I bent to take off my sandals and walked toward Samantha, who kicked her feet in the shallow tide.
“This is going to be the best summer ever!” she proclaimed to the sky and danced in a circle. The best summer ever. Part of my heart—the part that still
