Beyond the Sea (14 page)

“Somebody looks happy,” Charles commented when he saw the wet merrow.

“Yea.” Melia blushed. She handed the horse figurine to Jamie. “I thought you’d like this.”

Jamie examined the small figure. “This looks old, like artifact old.” She looked up at Melia excitedly. “Is-is this
real
gold?”

“Probably,” Melia answered. “Merrows do have a taste for precious metals.”

“Thanks!” Jamie beamed. “This is so cool!”

Melia joined her friend on the floor, sitting cross-legged.

“So,” Charles began. “What did you find out?”

“Nothing,” Melia told them, not sounding despondent at all. “There was no one there.”

That startled Jamie. A chill ran through her, though she couldn’t explain why. “Where did they go?”

Melia shrugged. “Merrows move a lot. And I’ve lived in that dwelling for a long time. I guess it was inevitable that everyone would move. I should have thought about it before.”

“Why do merrows move?”

“Mostly to stay away from humans.”

“Interesting,” Charles said, sounding disappointed.

*

Peter checked his phone for the fifth time. He wanted to call Melia. She and Jamie were volunteering at the animal shelter this morning, and she promised to call when they were done. Maybe it would be best to not talk to her for a while-for the rest of the day at least. He shouldn’t feel this strongly about her this soon. Connor gave him shit for checking his phone all yesterday.
I think you’ll hear if she calls
, he teased.

Peter closed his math book and sighed. This was the most he had accomplished this early on a Sunday in a long time. He half-assed his chores and finished his homework all before eleven o’clock. His parents had said they ‘didn’t mind’ if Peter slept in and didn’t go to church. As soon as church let out, Peter’s mother called to tell him that they were going to San Diego for lunch; they would be there all day shopping and sightseeing.

It wasn’t that Peter was dying to go to the city. It’s not like he hadn’t been there before. It was the fact that this had all seemed planned.

“Let Peter sleep in and we won’t have to deal with him,” he imagined his mother whispering to his father, laughing as Peter slept and they snuck out. He didn’t want to admit that it hurt a little that his family could so easily not include him. Refusing to think about it anymore, Peter stripped his bed and threw the sheets in the washer. He had just grabbed his surfboard when Melia called.

“Hello Peter,” she said, her voice smooth and alluring.

“Hey! How was the animal shelter?”

“Fun. We gave all the dogs baths. I’m all wet and smell like dog now.”

Peter laughed. “Do you want to come over?” he asked, feeling almost nervous.

“Yes. I’m going to go home and shower first. Where do you live?”

“Are you good with directions?”

“Not on land, but I have one of those talking things that tells me where to turn.”

“You mean a GPS?”

“Probably,” Melia said with a slight giggle.

“Ok, I’ll give you my address.”

After he hung up, Peter frantically straightened up his room. He grabbed clean sheets and actually made his bed for the first time in well over a year before jumping in the shower. He figured it would take Melia over an hour to get ready to come over. He was wrong and was surprised when the doorbell rang a mere forty minutes after telling her ‘goodbye’.

Peter’s house was in a nice neighborhood. The lawns were neat and tidy and everyone waved as Melia drove past.
This is like something from TV,
she thought. Peter’s house was a white colonial style house with a big front porch, tons of pink flowers and a white picket fence. Peter’s Mustang was parked in the driveway. A dog barked when Melia stepped onto the front porch.

She heard Peter race down the stairs before he tore open the door. A little brown dog jumped up by his feet, barking at Melia.

“Shut up, Mocha,” Peter said to the little dog, pushing him away with his foot. “Sorry, he’s annoying.”

“It’s ok,” Melia knelt down and extended her hand. Before Peter could warn her that Mocha bites strangers, the Cockapoo stopped barking and licked her hand.

Shaking the shock from his face, Peter invited Melia inside. “What do you want to do?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t care as long as I’m with you.” She smiled at Peter. His heart sped up. He smiled back, took her hand and kissed her.

“Are you hungry? We could get something to eat if you want,” he suggested.

“Sure.”

“Ok.” He patted his pocket. “My keys are upstairs.” He turned and jogged up the stairs. Melia looked around the house. To the right was a living room. The color scheme was neutral and the entire room was clean, as was the rest of the house. Too clean, Melia thought, for a house that had two children. Through the living room was a formal dining room that attached to a kitchen. To the left, French doors lead into a study. Pictures hung on the wall in the stairwell. Melia climbed the stairs slowly, looking at each frame. There were dozens of Adam and Ava; she only counted three of Peter.

Peter’s room was the first door on the left. She paused in the door frame, looking around. Two walls were painted navy blue and two were gray. A black and gray comforter was neatly spread out on his full sized bed. On the wall across from the bed sat a large TV, a Playstation and a messy stack of DVDs and games. A computer desk was pushed up against the wall that housed a large window. Immediately to Melia’s right was an attached bathroom.

Peter grabbed his keys off his nightstand and caught Melia staring.

“Can you play?” she asked as she strode over to the guitar.

“Yea, though I haven’t in a while.”

“Can you teach me?” Her eyes were wide with excitement.

“I can try.” Peter smiled at her and picked up the guitar. He handed it to her and sat on the bed to her left. “Here,” he began, carefully moving her fingers. “Put them here. Now strum.” Melia did what she was told. Peter moved her fingers again, asked Melia to strum again and then repeated it with a new chord.

“What are you making me play?”

“Try and figure it out,” he told her, moving closer.

“Ok.” Melia smiled, glancing up at Peter every now and then. She asked Peter to repeat the song to her, and, to Peter’s surprise, she remembered it. He hadn’t bothered to teach her the strumming pattern. “I don’t know what song it is.”

“Here,” Peter said and took the guitar from her. “I’m not singing though.” He felt a flutter of nerves as he struck the first chord. Melia’s eyes glazed over as she watched him play. She had no idea of what the song could be, but it had a nice beat. “Recognize it?” he asked when he was finished.

Melia shook her head, her brown hair falling into her face. Peter set the guitar on the bed. Gingerly, he tucked Melia’s hair behind her ear. She put her hand on his arm and leaned forward. Peter slid his hand down to her cheek, tipped her head up and kissed her.

“
Breathless
,” he whispered. “That’s what the song is called. It’s by Better than Ezra.”

“I’ve never heard of them.”

Peter wasn’t surprised. “The song’s a bit old I guess. Hang on,” he started, jumping up and opening his laptop. Quickly, he scrolled through his iTunes until he found the song. “This is it. It sounds a lot better than I can play it.”

He settled back down on his bed, wrapping an arm around Melia and laying her back into the pillows. Melia rested her head on Peter’s chest. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. They stayed like that until the song ended.

“It’s a beautiful song,” Melia said quietly, looking up into Peter’s blue eyes. Feeling slightly embarrassed, Peter looked away. “Is this the same band?” Melia asked when
Hollow
started playing.

“Yea,” Peter said, stealing a glance at Melia’s beautiful face. Melia’s eyes danced and sparkled; he couldn’t look away. Then she kissed him. “Can you play more?”

“More songs? Yea. But I’m not very good.”

“I think you are. Can you play another?” She smiled coyly. “For me?”

Peter couldn’t resist her charm. “For you.” He sat up and grabbed the guitar. “More Better than Ezra?” Melia nodded. “Ok, this one is called
Our Last Night
. I’m still not singing,” he added defiantly. Melia smiled as Peter strummed the first note. She could tell he was getting slightly embarrassed the further he got into the song. When the song ended, Melia asked if he could teach her more. For the next hour, Peter gave Melia a very informal guitar lesson.

“Ok, now I am really hungry,” Peter said after he put the guitar back. He grabbed his keys and extended a hand to help Melia up. “Where do you want to go to eat?”

“I don’t care,” she said with a smile. “You can choose.”

Peter thought for a few seconds before he spoke. “There’s a new restaurant along the shore a few miles north. I’ve never been there, so I don’t know if it’s any good.”

Melia’s face lit up. “Oh! Let’s go there. It will be fun to have a new experience!”

Peter couldn’t help but smile. “It’s a bit of a drive, do you mind?”

“Of course not.”

*

“You’ve really never been to a zoo?” Peter asked, glancing at Melia as he sped along the highway.

She shook her head. “No. I would love to go, though. I really want to see lions!”

“You used to live in New York City but you never want to Central Park Zoo?”

“Nope,” Melia said. Though she was being honest, she felt like she was lying. She wanted to change the subject; she knew very little about the actual city of New York. She could tell you all about the water that surrounded it (it was dirty and she didn’t like it), but knew extremely little about the land.

“Why aren’t you in football anymore?” she asked suddenly.

“Uh, it’s over,” Peter responded, slightly confused by her question.

“So you don’t like it anymore?”

“No, I still do.”

“Then why is it over?”

“Well, the season’s over.”

“Why?”

Peter looked at Melia again. “Because you can’t, uh, play all year.”

“Why not? If you like it then I would think you’d play as much as you can.” Melia pushed her eyebrows together as she thought; it didn’t make sense. Why would you make ‘seasons’ for things you love?

“I still play, just for fun now.” Peter didn’t understand Melia sometimes. He knew she was far from stupid. She picked things up right away, always grasping the concept and understanding the first time something was shown or explained. But she asked odd questions, just like that one.

It just didn’t add up.

After eating a late lunch, Peter and Melia walked along the shore, hand in hand.

“I think it’s awful how they treat you,” Melia told Peter. “I mean, you are their son. They shouldn’t go on little family trips like that without even telling you.”

“It doesn’t bother me anymore.”

“That’s even worse!” Melia stopped walking. “You’re used to it.”

Peter shook his hand from hers and ran it through his hair. “You don’t need to feel bad for me; I don’t want that.” He picked up a rock and tossed it into the waves. “But whenever I have kids, I’m
never
treating them like that. I will be the exact opposite.”

Melia’s heart sped up. “You want to have kids?”

“Someday.”

“And you think about it?”

“Sometimes,” he said, turning so she wouldn’t see him blushing. He never admitted that to anyone.

“Me too,” she said quietly. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, smiling and looking up into the sun. “It feels wonderful, doesn’t it?”

“Uh, yea,” Peter told her, not knowing exactly what she was talking about at first. He looked up at the sun, squinting. “It’s hot.”

“Then we should go into the water!” she exclaimed. She eagerly dropped her sandals she had been holding and stepped into the refreshing ocean. The tide came in and soaked the hem of her pale yellow dress.

It still shocked Peter that he was lucky enough to be the boyfriend of someone as beautiful as Melia.
 
He was, in fact, so enthralled with watching her that he didn’t notice the group of young men also watching Melia. Begrudgingly, she left the water, slowly dragging her toes in the sand. There was something runic about the way she looked in the water. Seeing Melia in the water reminded Peter of something ancient and regal. Of course, that made no sense.

“Do you want ice cream?” Peter asked, feeling the sweltering sun even more.

“Of course!” Melia replied.

“I’ll go get it; you can stay by the water.”

She kissed him. “Thanks!”

Melia watched Peter walk toward the small refreshment stand. She walked back into the water, her skin itching from resisting the urge to transform. “Tonight,” she whispered, already anticipating the change.

“Beautiful day today, isn’t it?” a voice said from behind Melia.

She half turned, not thinking the question was directed at her. A twenty something man inched closer, flashing white teeth as he smiled a pretentious smile.