"Did you suddenly go deaf, Kayla?" Brianna says as I continue to cook to the sweet sounds of sizzling bacon, eggs, and sausage. I use the spatula to turn the food over and eventually, I dish it out onto a plate for Aiden to eat.
"I'll explain later. For now, Aiden is our guest. He's been through a trauma and needed a place to hang out for a while until he figures out where to stay."
Aiden looks at me and I look back at him. It isn't a lie, but it isn't the truth either. Maybe he isn't in shock that he was banished, it sounded to me like he knew what the risks would be. Perhaps hearing me give permission to stay here is a relief. He doesn't have anywhere to stay as far as I can tell, and judging from his outward appearance he's going to need to go shopping.
"What happened to the blonde friend of yours you were walking with on the beach earlier," Brianna turns and asks Aiden. A question I wish I had thought of myself, but a good one nonetheless.
"He isn't exactly a friend. I was asking him about the beach and was trying to get a job as a lifeguard. I'm a pretty good swimmer and figured I could use the extra income. He told me to come in for an interview in the next few days. But right now, I don't exactly have a lot of money. But I am willing to pay rent if you'll have me."
Brianna's eyebrows raise toward the heavens as an angry expression settles in. She hooks her arm in mine and begins to whisper in a panic.
"So he's living here now? You didn't think to ask me first, Kayla? I wake up to a man in our kitchen and you expect me to just go along with this. I want answers, how long have you been seeing each other? You just had a breakup for Christ's sake. What is wrong with you? You can't even let yourself heal," Brianna says as she begins tugging at my shirt in a half-forceful and half-playful manner.
"No...well... I haven't exactly invited him to live here officially. But he's in a bit of a bind. He's having family issues. We can't just turn him away," I insist as I look back at Aiden. Bri didn't hear his sob story, but I did. Why would he have a reason to lie about being banished?
"Sure we can. Do you want to die? Do you want to get raped in the middle of the night? You know literally nothing about this guy other than his good looks. If he stays, he's staying in the shed out in the back or we can get him a tent," Brianna says as she pushes me with her hand. Our arms are no longer locked, a symbolic gesture of my imagined betrayal.
"But we have a guest bedroom, Bri. He's willing to pay. I don't see what the big deal is. You really are a worry wart, just like your mother before you."
It's true Brianna's mother was a worry wart. She read about all the superstitions and believed every single one of them. She avoided stepping on any cracks in case it would destroy her mother's back. Brianna's mother was known to go to fortune tellers for all the answers. Crystal balls, tarot cards, and witchcraft all had their part to play in her life.
"I know my mother was a little strange. But she had her reasons. And besides her behaviors have nothing to do with our current predicament. You made a decision without me in the middle of the night, to have a man you just met live with us. Can you not wrap your daft head around why am pissed off? Do I have to spill it out for you?"
Aiden turns to leave. He's observed our quarrel for some time now and has probably had enough for one day. I can't say I'd blame him. Brianna is a bit much to handle sometimes. Her reactions aren't always the best and have often hurt someone or another. Her social skills are a bit lacking, especially during our youth. I blame that on the isolation that her parents kept her under. A deep paranoia that the world would mold her into something she wasn't supposed to be. Regardless of who Brianna is, she will always be my friend and I should take her superstitions into consideration if we are ever to move past this.
"No, you don't. I understand. It's a bit much. But the truth is last night, I was awakened by the voice again. It called to me and I followed it toward the ocean."
"You followed the voice again? Jesus, Kayla take some melatonin and get a good night's rest for once in your damn life. Your parents aren't out there. Your grandfather isn't out there. The only family you have left now is me."
Brianna and I recently found out that we are third cousins on my father's side through some distant relationship named Uncle Bobbin. Allegedly he was an infamous lobster fisherman. She might be right, she might be the only living cousin or relative I have. The fact that we are able to afford this shack of a house on the seaside is testimony to the will my parent's left behind.
The will kicked in six months ago when my parents were declared dead by the coast guard. They searched for Grandpa Jerry and my parents and their bodies were never found. Perhaps Poseidon really did steal their souls and force them to live out their days as sea maids.
"I know, Bri. It's not that simple. I followed the voice and this time it wasn't singing nonsense. It was singing actually words. It wanted me to follow it into the sea, but Aiden convinced me otherwise. He told me the sea maids are dangerous. So I listened and he told me about his banishment."
I instantly cover my face. I wasn't supposed to reveal Aiden's banishment to Bri. However, it might win Aiden brownie points and might be the pivotal reason that she lets him stay in our seaside shack of a house.
"You're banished?" Brianna asks finally addressing Aiden as if he hasn't been here this whole time. Her lack of social skills today is completely mind-blowing.
"Yes, we can talk about that later. So am I allowed to stay?" Aiden asks while getting to the point. He takes three more slices of bacon and flashes a flirtatious grin in our direction. The type of grin that cheesy movie stars flash before the camera to show off their glory.
"Yes, Aiden you can stay. After you get the lifeguarding position. Until then have fun sleeping in the shed out in the back," Brianna yells and tosses a hammock in his direction. Brianna can be a softy when she wants to, but that cheesy smile wasn't meant for Brianna. She's as tough as nails on the outside, but at her core, a peach plum exists with an ambition to do the right thing if need be.
Brianna picks up a broom and begins sweeping the front porch. As for me, I continue cooking and start a pot of coffee. It's clear that after this morning, I am going to need an entire pot myself to make up for not sleeping and compromising with Brianna. Aiden's smile convinces me though, that I've made the right choice regardless of what my cranky third cousin has to say about it.
The evening returns to the shoreline. The stars appear above the remaining line of pink and purple, remnants of an amazing sunset that would have made for a fantastic date night if I do say so myself. But I don't have the luxury of date nights anymore, now that I am still healing from what he did to me. Jaxson Miles did a lot of things to me, he became my world and wrote songs for me on his guitar under the stars on nights like this. But all that's left now is my broken heart and the memory of his arms wrapped around another woman burning into my skull. The tide interrupts my tears, and my eyelashes catch tear drops the way leaves in the canopies collect rain. When I blink my eyelashes stick together and when I open them they are hard to pull apart like a pair of coupled hands. Hands are meant for holding, holding someone else's as an assurance that the world is safe and that all the darkness in the world isn't real. I sit on the rock with my sundress covering my knees. My legs are i
The middle of the night is stirring, stirring like a thousand hurricanes lost at sea. Aiden hasn't returned to the shed in our backyard. He needed to be alone and I know that. The focus of his frustration stems from his banishment which is an ever-present issue. Brianna and I pass the time by watching corny crime shows about cougar mothers who murder their young lovers. Nothing gives me the creeps more than that. The rain picks up and falls in a slanted pattern. Worrying about Aiden Atkinson is foolhardy at best, but I am not in my right head space at the moment. I am not myself right now. Everything about Aiden is mysterious and makes me wonder if he knows where my parents are. Something about his eyes changing color is off-putting and alarming. Like a nightmare consuming a soul for its victim. "Are you tired of watching the movie?" Brianna asks as she tosses a few stale popcorn pieces at my head. "No, I'm worried about Aiden. This storm is getting worse." "So what..he isn't our
"I'm a werewolf," he repeats like I didn't hear him clearly the first time. It's not every day a young man walks into your life, has his eyes change color, and proceeds to tell you he's a werewolf. Flashbacks of last night's cave rescue make their way back into my mind. He was bloody and had scratches everywhere. The blood from his sheets this morning proves that something indeed happened to him in the cave. Was it all self-inflicted? Did he do this to himself? Or is his tall tale true? Are there really men who walk among us and howl to the moon on a full night? I can hardly believe I am having this internal conversation. "A werewolf? Like the ones, I hear about in the movies? So do I need to buy a silver bullet then?" All jokes aside, he was afraid of one the moon the night be last before he went galavanting toward the cave. The moon was at its fullest last night, and his eyes turned with it. Could his story really be true? I am having a hard time believing it myself. But if he rea
Our lips are still touching as Aiden puts his arms around me. But for some reason, I pull away. It's not Aiden Atkinson's fault that he is sexy as hell and that I had to stop the spell from forming on his lips. No none of those things are his fault. When I try to pull away, however, Aiden won't let me. He's enjoying himself too much, and I relent and give him one more make-out sesh on the kitchen table. I can't believe how reckless I am being right now, it's simply ridiculous. It's ridiculous how quickly two kissing friends, (I refuse to say lovers because I don't love Aiden) can get wrapped up in each other. This time Aiden lets me go, but his eyes still stare at my mouth. I don't feel pretty, but I do feel sexy when he looks at my body up and down. There's nothing special about what I am wearing, I look like a farmer's helper heading off to collect chicken eggs for the morning breakfast, in my green plaid top. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have pulled you in like that. You kissed me t
It's the middle of the night and I can still hear Aiden's voice echoing in my mind. He called me a gorgeous woman. It didn't occur to me at the time but it was a very endearing compliment. I'm not used to compliments from men. When Jaxson dated me he would compliment other women except for me. It's not that I need the approval of a man but it's nice to have affirmation from someone who I haven't dated before. I have a feeling that my affection for Aiden will get deeper and deeper as time moves forward. The water is calm as I look out onto the beach. So calm in fact, that I can't help but think of nothing else but the sand between my toes. Aiden would give me a hard time if you wandered out onto the beach again in the middle of the night. But there's something about the beach at night that's more lovely than the daytime. Perhaps it's the night sky that makes the water calmer. Just the moon reflecting in the ocean as it rises from the horizon. Or maybe it's that it's quiet on the beach
The morning sunrise appears and the mermaids return me to land, like spirits returning a soul to the land of the living. My journey among the mysterious has ended and it's time to face the truth that, whatever lies beneath the surface has a desire to win me over. I am still in shock that they called me a mermaid. Deep down in my bones, I know it to be true. I didn't explore the city like King Caspian wanted me to do. It was too hard for me to wrap my mind around. The colors of the fish, the smell of the city, and the fact that I had a fishtail distracted me from my mission. He wanted me to explore the city and decide if I want to return to them. Would it really be returning if I have no memory of that place? Being human is more comfortable, it's more familiar. Perhaps if I lie on the shore for a while the bad dream will end and the one where Aiden isn't a werewolf and I'm not a siren can start. Aiden called out to me when the sirens took me below the waters. I never did get a clear
It's been a few weeks since I was turned into a mermaid. I haven't heard their voices on the water. I haven't heard the eerie harmonizing of the family of three who escorted me to and from that place. I've concluded that it was a dream and never took place, to begin with. Aiden doesn't strike me as the sort to ridicule. But there are times when I have to ask myself, why I ever dated Jaxson in the first place when men like Aiden exist. In the last few weeks, Brianna, Aiden, and I have become very close. I've kept Aiden away. I've kept him at arm's length and have promised myself that I won't kiss him or touch him again. Kissing him would be hard because the moment our lips would touch again the butterflies would pick up and I'd give in. I don't want to give in. Not really. Giving in to Aiden would be giving up on our friendship. We could be friends. We could be best friends if we could put all of our physical touching behind us. I hardly know him and yet the way he has cared for me h
Dreaming is something I don't enjoy. Within my dreams, images appear images of things that scare me. My brain itches when I'm in my deep REM cycle. Rapid Eye Movement is what it's called when the eyes twitch endlessly back and forth behind closed eyelids, as though they are reading the pages of an imaged manuscript. I've watched eyes flutter behind closed lids. The movement is rapid and unpredictable like ocean waves. When I dream the joys of my life disappear behind a sea of lifeless darkness. The things I am scared of flood in, and haunt me at night. I remember the last time werewolves and sirens had a battle in my presence. The land sirens came and took my mother out of her bed by her long hair. We were in our human forms in those days, living peacefully amongst the shadows. The sirens burned our village to the ground. They forced the vampires to retreat to Europe. But the werewolves stood and fought for the land we've come to love. I was ten when my mother died in that house. And