Bluehour (A Watermagic Novel) (2 page)

“That’s so strange,” Agatha said with a
contorted smile on her face.

Nodding, he continued as he sat up on his
knees in a similar position to Agatha. “And their voices are
different.” For a second, he looked up at the stars as if he was
trying to figure out how to explain. His lower lip quivered a
little like he was nervous.

“How are their voices different?” I asked as
I repositioned myself on my towel away from him. I tried to not let
it bother me, but I felt slightly uncomfortable that he was sharing
my space so intimately with me.

My question seemed to agitate him. “It’s
subtle, but there’s something off about the sounds they make and I
can’t quite figure out what it is.” It seemed as if he was
frustrated because he didn’t know how to describe their vocal
qualities. “I guess their voices are sort of musical.” He shook his
head. “Yes, I think that’s it...” he paused, “…though not exactly.
Maybe that’s what all French people sound like.” From his irritated
expression, he didn’t seem satisfied with his depiction. Then he
looked at me with dreamy eyes and that bothered me.

Even though I had more questions, I got up
abruptly. “Can I use your board?” I asked Agatha. I loved to surf
at night.

“Yeah, sure…okay.” She turned back to Danny.
“You want to go with me to get a snow cone? They sell them on the
dock at that snack bar by the rollercoaster.”

He looked hurt that I was ditching him for
the water, but he agreed to go with Agatha.

“I won’t be long,” I said to her looking out
at the frothy waves rolling on the shore.

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t feel like
surfing anyway.” She smiled her goofy smile and pulled Danny by the
sleeve toward the snack bar. He kept looking back at me as she
pulled him along through the warm night.

Once I got out into the ocean and onto the
board, I felt at home. I loved being on the water and I loved
breaking rules. It felt good knowing that I wasn’t succumbing to my
dad’s unreasonable fears. It was such a peaceful feeling paddling
out in the cool dark water.

The full moon was lighting up the black sky
in the most glorious way. When I glanced back at the shore, the
bonfire looked big and raging as the dancing grew more wild and
hypnotic in the flickering firelight.

But, while I was still paddling out,
anticipating the great rush I feel when I ride a killer wave back
to shore, someone on a surfboard paddled up alongside me just a
short distance away. I thought it was a girl belly down on her
board just as I was.

She was in a wetsuit, so I couldn’t make out
the shape of her body. But, her hair looked light brown with sun
streaks, long and wild. Under the moonlight, her face was the same
beautiful color—golden bronze; yes, that was it. And maybe it was
my imagination, but her eyes seemed to sparkle a clear blue like
the Caribbean Sea. She was unbelievably stunning. I felt a tingling
sensation rush through my body that made me very uncomfortable.

We both turned our boards around and stood up
at the same time to take the same impressive wave back to shore. It
was like our minds were connected. But when I was in position,
balancing myself, I glanced over at her. Now I could see her body.
She wasn’t a girl at all. She was a he! This beauty was a teenage
boy with strong shoulder muscles and a sleek masculine body. And he
was looking at me!

Now, I noticed that alongside the boy were
four other teenagers, two girls and two boys, all riding the same
wave as us. The moonlight lit up their long wild hair that blew in
the summer wind. And from a distance, my first impression was that
they were extraordinarily gorgeous, like magical apparitions in a
dream.

But, before I made it back to shore,
something violently pulled me off the surfboard and into the
water.

1. Blue Sapphire
   

I struggled like mad to get away. Was it a
shark that had pulled me off the board? There was yelling. My heart
was beating extraordinarily fast. It felt like someone’s arms were
wrapped around me. My appendages were flailing in frenzy, desperate
to break free. In my craze, I must have kicked the surfboard. It
wacked me hard on the side of my torso.

Everything was occurring so fast. I could
hardly think straight. I heard my name, “Grace… Now… Get…” The
words were broken up in my mind.

What was happening? I was gasping for air as
I was dragged through the water. I tried to gain focus, to figure
out what was taking place.

“Oh, my!” It was my father! He was pulling me
through the waves. The leash of the surfboard had been pulled free
from my leg.

I couldn’t believe what was happening.
Somehow my dad found me in the ocean and was set on getting me out.
He was a lunatic.

He got me to shallow water where the waves
were rolling onto shore. At once, he stood me upright on the sandy
ocean floor. The water was at my knees.

“You’re in big trouble, young lady,” he
growled through clenched teeth.

Everybody was staring at me from the bonfire.
I didn’t care what they thought. I knew my dad was crazy about
keeping me out of the ocean and I flat out disobeyed him. I was
more concerned with how he was going to discipline me. More than
anything, I knew I was in for a huge punishment.

He held me by the arm and pulled me along
past the onlookers at the fire. “Where are your things?” he
demanded. He was fully dressed, in soaked clothes. He must have
seen me from shore and not even bothered to undress before swimming
out to retrieve me.

“My stuff is over there.” I pointed to my
backpack and towel. Agatha and Danny must have still been at the
snack bar on the peer.

His dark eyes burned into me as he released
my arm. “Go gather it up.”

I didn’t hesitate. He was a huge, hulking man
with a grand, charismatic presence—not the kind of guy you can say
no to. All he had to do was look at me harshly and I trembled.

I collected my things, shaking the sand
lightly from my towel and stuffing it into my backpack. As we
walked to the parking lot toward his car, I saw Agatha and Danny
returning to the beach.

Agatha’s eyes widened as we came closer. She
looked terrified. “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Waters,” she stammered from a
short distance in her loud, high pitched voice.

My father grunted and his grip tightened on
my arm.

“I begged Grace to rinse my surfboard in the
water for me because some drunk guy threw up on it. I’m on my
period and I didn’t want to go in.” She looked at Danny in
embarrassment.

My father stopped and Agatha and Danny
approached him. Danny seemed frightened as he looked up at my
fuming dad, his nostrils a flare. “Go on,” he commanded.

“She would never have gone in the ocean if I
didn’t start crying. You should punish me—not Grace. It’s my
fault.”

“If that’s so,” my father said, his shoulders
relaxing the slightest bit, “…then why did you head off to the
rollercoaster while she was washing your board?”

“Grace told me she’d take care of it and some
of the throw up got on my arms. I wanted to rinse it off in the
bathroom. Saltwater leaves me itchy.” She crossed her legs one over
the other awkwardly.

“Okay.” His voice calmed. He always liked
Agatha and I think he trusted her. His attention shifted to me.
“You should know better, Grace. No matter what, you are never
allowed in the ocean. You hear me?” His voice was stern, but, to my
relief, calm. “You should have taken the board to the showers and
rinsed it there.”

“You’re right,” I replied. My body was
shivering slightly from all the excitement and because I hadn’t
taken the time to dry myself off after getting out of the water. “I
didn’t think of that. That was really stupid of me.” I was hoping
if I pretended to see things from his point of view—that the ocean
was a horrible, dangerous monster—then he might lessen my
punishment.

My father looked back at Agatha. “I’m taking
Grace home now. You can see her on Monday at school.”

“Okay, Mr. Waters. That’s fine.” She smiled
weakly.

“Are you okay by yourself?” he asked, His
tone was laced with the slightest concern.

“Uh…” She looked uncomfortable. “Well, uh…”
Her voice was a little shaky. “Can I talk to you privately, Mr.
Waters?”

He blinked. His expression was unreadable,
but I sensed that Agatha surprised him with her request. “Sure,” he
said, clearing his throat. “Let’s just step over here.” He motioned
her over to the side.

They walked several feet away from us and
conversed.

I wondered what the heck they could be
talking about. Agatha was an amazing friend. I just beamed with
gratitude. She had saved me maybe a year of restriction and endless
chores.

Danny shook his head. “What was your dad so
mad about?” he whispered.

“I can’t explain now. It’s complicated.” I
was glancing over at my father and Agatha. They seemed deep in
conversation.

“Sounds like Agatha saved your butt for
whatever he was so angry about.”

The last thing I wanted to do was talk to
Danny Williams about my father’s neurosis. “Looks that way—doesn’t
it?”

Agatha and my dad finished talking and walked
over to us.

“You can stay at the party,” my dad said to
my utter shock. “Be home by ten. I’ll give you your punishment
tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” I responded, my eyes widening as my
chin involuntarily jutted back.

“I love you,” he whispered and then kissed me
on the forehead as he left.

I stood there, dumbfounded.

He looked back over his massive shoulder.
“Don’t go in the water.” His voice was commanding, but I detected
the slightest wry grin on his rugged fisherman’s face.

Agatha, Danny, and I walked back to our spot
on the beach. People were running around wild and dancing crazy
before the bonfire. Nobody seemed to notice us as we returned. I
laid my towel back down.

“You are amazing, Agatha.” I shook my head in
awe. “I owe you big time.”

“You’re welcome!” she laughed a little too
loud. She even released a couple of snorts from her nose which
caused Danny and me to laugh too.

“You are my one and only b.f.f.!”

“You better believe it,” She laid back on her
towel.

And of course, Danny was sitting on my towel
with me.

I looked at her and thought how wonderful she
was. She was the best frizzy haired friend anyone could have. I
loved her inside and out. “What did you say to my dad when you were
off by yourselves?”

Her face turned red. “I’ll tell you about
that later.” She looked at Danny and giggled.

“Whatever it was, he was mush in your
hands—frickin’ amazing!”

I gazed out at the ocean and guessed that the
same people I was beside before were still surfing. It appeared as
if they were paddling out on their boards. I saw them moving out on
their bellies under the full moon. They turned and caught a big
wave all at once. Again, they were all together in one line riding
in. I noticed a lot of people were staring at them from shore.

They looked like heavenly creatures in the
moonlight with their long, wild hair in disarray. But, this time I
only counted four. It was difficult to discern between them at a
distance in the night. Their bodies looked silvery, like
silhouettes. I was completely mesmerized.

“You see those surfers out there?” Danny
asked Agatha and me. He was squinting to look at them.

“Yeah, I see them,” Agatha said. “They look
so graceful on their boards.”

He nodded. “I think that’s the French
exchange students we were talking about.”

Just then, the gorgeous long haired boy who I
surfed beside strutted up to us. He moved rhythmically as he
carried Agatha’s surfboard. Now I knew I was right that they were
missing one of their clan. The pit of my stomach tightened.

“You are correct, Danny,” the boy’s beautiful
full lips lifted into a crooked grin. “They are the French exchange
students.”

Danny blushed, likely embarrassed that the
boy had overheard him talking about his group. “Oh, hi,
Laurent.”

Laurent chuckled lightly. “Hi.” His voice was
slightly edged with sarcasm. He set the surfboard down beside me.
“Thought you might be missing this.” He shook his head like he was
amused with the scene my father had created in the water.

I noticed that some of the girls from my
school were looking over at this incredibly handsome boy as he
talked to me. “Thank you,” I muttered under my breath. I wasn’t
ashamed that my classmates had seen my father’s production in the
water, but I was embarrassed that this boy had seen it. I felt my
cheeks burning and I hoped that he didn’t notice.

His long hair was wet now and away from his
perfect golden bronze face. He definitely wasn’t a girl. He was the
best looking guy I had ever seen in my life.

There was a knot in my throat. I swallowed
hard.

I noticed that now that he was closer to me
his nostrils started to flare. It seemed like he was suddenly
agitated. “You lost this,” he said in a musical voice that sent
electricity through my body. His hand was in a fist held out before
me as he looked me in the eyes holding a stare.

I didn’t know what to do. Did he want me to
pry open his fist?

He lifted an eyebrow and I guessed that he
was teasing me, like he was playing a little game. I wondered what
he could possibly have in his hand.

His gaze never wavered, but his teeth
clenched. I almost got the feeling like he was trying to control
himself. A half smile lifted on his face momentarily as he turned
his hand over and opened it. It was my sapphire ring that my mother
had given me on my sixteenth birthday. It must have fallen off in
the ocean.

My eyes widened. I was shocked. How did he
find it? “Where did you get this?”