Evermore (4 page)

Pushing another stuffed animal into the garbage bag from the shrine outside my parents’ house, I deleted yet another voice message from Georgia. I couldn’t believe she’d actually filled my voicemail; I wanted to scream.

“Ugh,” I cried out as I spilled hot wax from a recently lit candle on my arm. Why did people light candles for me?

A guy next to a work truck labeled Sierra Cable eyed me suspiciously, giving me the creeps. I cinched up the bag and walked over to the alcove next to the garage to toss everything away in the garbage, then stayed hidden while I dialed Georgia’s number.

“This better be you,” Georgia said, voice quivering.

“It is me.”

“Holy mother of Jehoshaphat!” The phone jostled as if she’d dropped it.

“Georgia?” I asked.

“Where have you been?”

I held the phone out from my ear, prepared for her piercing outcry, my left eye squinting. “On a mission trip.”

“To Africa? Try again.”

“No… Arivca.”

Silence.

“Georgia?”

“You’ve been in a town called Arivca? I could have sworn — even your parents said Africa!”

“I know,” I said softly.

“You disappeared!”

“Not really… there just wasn’t any cell service, or Internet, or TV. That’s the point of a mission… total O.T.G.”

“O.T.G. What the heck does that mean?”

“Off the grid.”

“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! Ashlyn!” she seethed. “You were totally the talk of the town. Talk of the nation.”

I let out a long sigh, questioning why I was doing all of this.
Talk of the nation
was quite an exaggeration. Maybe I should have let Fin sing to her like he’d wanted.

“Off the grid. It’s all part of the experience.”

“What’s it called?”

I crinkled my brow and walked out from the garbage can alcove, watching for the weird guy. He wasn’t by his truck any longer. “What’s what called?”

“The place off the grid?”

I swallowed, then pinched my eyes shut. “Why do you care?”

“‘Cause I don’t believe you anymore, that’s why.”

“Come on, George.”

“Come on nothing. What’s it called?”

I licked my lips. “I forget.”

“You forget? You were there for three weeks.”

“Okay… you caught me. I ran away with Fin and got married.”

Georgia began to choke. “Seriously?”

“I’m kidding.”

“You better stop doing that, because you worried the CRAP out of me and everyone! I thought for sure you were kidnapped and sold into slavery by that guy… Fin. I scoured the Internet for hours looking for you.”

My stomach twisted. “I’m sorry. It’s… really just a misunderstanding. I’m home now.”

I contemplated telling her that I was secretly engaged, but then I didn’t want her to step on Tatchi’s fins as wedding planner.

“Did you run off and get married?”

“No.” I let out a sigh.

“But you lost your scholarship.”

“I… put it on hold, remember?”

“Hold?”

“I’m sure that can be fixed after I talk to the coach, considering I was volunteering for a charity.”

Again. Silence.

“Georgia?”

There was a sniffle. “Just don’t do that again. I… I didn’t know how to survive without you.”

My eyes lost focus. I’d almost done to her what Tatchi and Fin had done to me when they’d left. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re sorry.” She sounded half-hurt half-sarcastic. “I’m just glad you’re home and you’re okay.”

“Me, too.” My stomach was still in knots, though for the most part, things were fixed between us. But tomorrow would be a totally different scenario, most likely needing Fin’s mojo. Good thing he was coming with me. I sucked air between my teeth, not looking forward to it.

The crunch of gravel grabbed my attention. I turned, expecting the weirdo, only to see Fin stroll up, wearing his favorite black baseball hat.

“Georgia, I need to go.”

“What?”

“I need to go. Can we talk later?”

“But… I want to come see you. You’re still not
forgiven
.”

I laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“At school,” I said.

“Oh. School. Right.” She let out a huff. “I’m still coming over.”

“Bye, Georgia.”

I hung up just as Fin approached. His blue eyes zinged into me, making my stomach do flips.

“You found your hat.”

“The only thing that survived the inferno.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Hey, sexy. Wanna give me a ride?”

I stepped forward, trying not to grin. “You trying to mer-mojo me?”

“Always.”

I looked upward, my lips pressed out like a duck’s bill. “I don’t know.”

He grabbed me, then leaned me over, hungrily kissing my lips. “Stop! People are watching?”

Fin looked left then right, all spy-like. “Who’s watching?”

I busted up laughing and he covered my lips again. My toes curled in my flip-flops, and I knew we’d done the right thing being together, until my phone rang in my pocket.

“I think I like being shellphoneless,” Fin joked as he set me upright.

“Oh, geez,” I moaned, looking at the screen. “It’s Georgia.”

“Let me mojo her.”

I sighed, then shook my head. “Can you do it over the phone?”

He shrugged. “Never tried.”

I handed him the phone. “Hello?”

“Who’s this?” I heard her say.

“Stop calling,” he sang over the phone.

“Stop calling? Who is this?”

I flapped my hands. “Hang up. Hang up!” I whisper-yelled.

He pressed the button and handed it back to me. “I guess it doesn’t work.”

The phone started to ring again.

“Don’t answer it,” he said.

“I have to. If I don’t, she’s going to poke more holes through my story. I need a name of a mission or a charity… something in Arivca. Where I was.”

He pressed out a sigh. “Fine. Let’s go inside.”

But the more I thought of it, the more I didn’t trust that Georgia would actually call to corroborate my story. And after learning Fin couldn’t mind-mojo someone over the phone to say I’d actually been there, I was screwed.

“We have to tell Georgia the truth.”

“What?”

“It’s just better… then when I spring the wedding on her, she’ll cooperate. It’ll work,”
I hope.

Fin looked at me apprehensively. “Are all your friends this difficult?”

I laughed. “No, just Georgia.”

After the second time she called, I picked up. “Georgia?”

She started to yell, so I pulled back the phone, then I told her I’d run away to be with my boyfriend to once again leave her speechless.

I parked Ash’s car, if you could call it a car, and eyed the building before us. “This is your school?”

“Yup. You nervous?” she asked as she slipped out of the passenger seat.

I wiggled my toes in my shoes, wanting to take them off already, and slammed the car door a little too forcefully. “No. You?”

“Hey, be nice.” She gave me the stink eye.

I lifted my hands in mock surrender.

Her lip turned up in a smile. “It’s only four weeks.”

Four weeks of boredom. Kill me now.

She came around the car and wove her tiny fingers into mine, peering up at me, her long lashes causing me to think of other things I’d rather be doing right now.

“Just be good,” she warned.

Oh, I’ll be good.

My winning smile returned, and I put my arm around her shoulder. “I’ve got this, Ginger Girl.”

Her apprising look was met with a quick kiss, but I knew where this stemmed. The evening prior, after she’d snuck out of her window so we could stay in the lake, she’d begged me not to mer-mojo everyone today. I’d promised I wouldn’t. Dinner with her parents was proof. Little did Ash know it took all my strength not to mind-slap Lucy about a million times, the little brat.

“Ash!” A girl with dark hair ran toward us and tackle-hugged her before I could stop it. The girl then pulled away and eyed me curiously. “Who’s this?”

“Oh.” Ash smiled. “This is Fin.”

Her dark eyes turned cold. “Fin, huh?”

“Come on, Georgia. He’s not the enemy.”

Oh, the infamous Georgia. I held out my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Her expression still suspicious, she waited for a second before shaking. “So you’re the sweet talker—”

My jaw tightened.

You can do it, Fin. Self-control, man…

“Ash?” another girl said behind them.

Another hug led to more people swarming in, girls and guys pelting her with questions. I stood at the ready, my vocal cords taut to sing away anything, my patience tried to the point of exhaustion. But once Ash explained, the group handled the mix up pretty well, much better than I would have expected.

The bell rang and Ash looked up at the clock. “Oh, crap. We need to see the principal first.”

“After you.” I gestured she lead the way.

After I had dazzled Principal Wright with a little song and dance, I was officially a Lake Tahoe High student, headed to English Literature in room 203.

“Lanski?” a woman said behind us.

Ash turned around. “Oh, hey, Coach Madsen.”

The coach’s eyes narrowed. “You’re back?”

“Yeah,” she said with a chuckle. “Big misunderstanding about
where
I was, actually, if you haven’t heard.”

“Oh?” She appraised Ash with a suspicious expression, then eyed me quizzically. “Well, that’s good to hear. We were all very concerned.”

Ash gestured to me. “Have you met Fin yet?”

I stuck out my hand.

Coach Madsen’s eyes flashed with recognition for a moment like everyone else’s had, and she paused before she took my hand. “No, not yet. New student?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Where from?”

“Florida. He just moved,” Ash said quickly. “Big adjustment.”

“At the end of the year?”

I let out a sigh, then sang. “Don’t worry about that.”

The coach’s eyes glazed over momentarily, and I hated myself for deceiving her, but it had to be done.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Ash said tersely. “I was handling it.”

Yes. I did.

“Whoa, sorry about that.” She pressed her palm to her temple. “Must have been something I ate. What was I saying?”

“Uh…” Ash started.

“Oh, yeah.” Coach dropped her hand. “So I have good news and bad…”

Ash stiffened. “You do?”

“Yeah, your blood samples got lost on their way to the lab somehow.”

“Blood samples?” A faint memory of Ash telling me that the school had requested her blood for some reason came back to me.

Ash nudged me in the side, a signal to be quiet.

“That’s okay. If the Hamusek’s are still upset, I don’t need to keep the record,” Ash said quickly. “I disqualify myself.”

“You get to keep the record. And—”

“What blood samples?” I sang, impatient.

Coach’s eyes glazed over again. “I took blood, suspecting Ash did performance enhancing drugs before the swim meet because she broke the NCAA record.”

Ash glared at me. “Stop doing that.”

Coach blinked, then shook her head. “What was I saying?”

“You were talking about the lab results,” Ash said while giving me a sideways glare.

“Oh, right. So the good news is the hair test came back clean. There was a weird protein they noticed, but for the most part, it looked good. You’re cleared.”

“Oh.” Ash blew out a breath. “That’s great news.”

But I couldn’t believe my ears. She let them take her blood and hair sample to check for performance enhancing drugs. When?

Coach’s eyes narrowed. “So, what are your plans for the Olympic trials? I’m sure once people realize the… mix up, I’ll be getting calls again.”

“I—I don’t know.”

I opened my mouth to sing, but Ash zinged me with a hard look.

“It’s a big decision, but I know a few coaches who would love to train you… and anything you need, just ask. I’m here for you. You’ll be swimming the last meet on the 28
th
, right?”

“Yeah.” Ash shifted her weight, leaning away from me.

I couldn’t believe what she was saying. School was one thing, sure, but I didn’t think she’d still be swimming, too, especially now that she had one fluke up on everyone.

“Great.” Coach’s face lit up. “We’ve got a lot to plan. College wise and everything. It’s all very exciting.”

“Yeah.” Ash fake laughed. “Well, we’re late for class.”

“Oh, right. Nice to meet you Fin.”

“Likewise,” I said.

Coach went on her way but kept her eye on me. Once we were alone, Ash turned.

“What are you doing?” she said through her teeth.

“What am
I
doing?” I asked sarcastically. “I think I should ask what the heck you’re doing. Swimming? You can’t swim.”

“I’m living my life like a normal person, that’s what I’m doing.”

“You gave blood and hair? When?”

“I don’t remember… after you left. But you shouldn’t have sang to her.”

“What if they had found something?”

She pushed out a breath. “You said there’d be nothing in my blood. Remember?”

“When?”

“When you were driving to Florida!”

I scrubbed my hand over my face, trying to remember beyond the insanity of our road trip. “Even still, you can’t take chances like that.”

“Well, after you left, I had to make do,” she said between clenched teeth. “And you don’t have to mind-mojo everyone who’s questioning me.”

“I’m not… she just kept
looking
at me like that.”

“Like how?”

“Like she knows our secret.”

Ash blew out a breath. “That’s crazy. I’m sure she recognized you from the news reports.”

“Maybe.” I looked down the hall to see if Coach was listening. “Wait! There are news reports about me?”

“You’re missing the point,” she said, storming off.

I followed after her. “But I can’t believe you’re going to swim in the meet.”

“I have to. It’s part of the deal.”

“Ash,” I grabbed onto her arm to stop her, “you think you swam fast before? Wait until you swim as a mer.”

“I’ll purposefully lose… then these coaches will leave me alone.” She pulled away from me. “Look, if we’re going to assimilate, you need to use your song as a last-ditch resort, okay?”

The need to defend myself rolled through me, but I clamped my mouth shut. Demanding she listen wasn’t going to change her mind. I was here to make her happy and keep the secret safe. “You’re right.”

She yanked her head backward. “I’m right?”

“I don’t want to argue.”

Her expression radiated confusion. “So every time we get in a disagreement, you’re not going to argue with me so we won’t fight?”

“No.” My jaw tensed. Clearly, no matter what I did, I couldn’t please her. “I’m going to stop singing. I don’t like it anyway.”

She looked at me, a mixture of anger and bewilderment.

“Aren’t we going to be late?” I gestured to the door.

“Yeah.” Ash opened the door and stepped inside. I followed. Thirty pairs of eyes landed on us, and I questioned everything.

What the heck was I doing here?

“Why, hello,” the teacher, whom I assumed to be Mrs. Keifer, said.

“This is Fin.” Ash handed her the paperwork and marched to a seat in the middle of the room.

The only other empty chair was in the front row.

“Nice of you to join us, Finley. Have a seat.” Mrs. Keifer gestured to the empty seat in front.

I opened my mouth to mojo myself a spot next to Ash, when I caught the warning in her eye, and stopped.

Taking the seat in front, I stared straight ahead at the board. High school was nothing like TV shows depicted.

“Okay class, let’s open our books to page 215.”

The girl next to me nudged my elbow and held out a small paperback,
To Kill a Mockingbird
.

“Here. I already read it.” She smiled at me, eyes twinkling.

I took it from her. “Thanks.”

“I’m Brooke, by the way.”

“Oh.” I straightened, and held out my hand. “Fin.”

She took it, then giggled.

The teacher cleared her throat, eyeing us. “Now, who wants to tell us about the symbolism of…?”

I glanced over my shoulder at Ash. She pinned me with a heated glare.

Slinking down in my seat, I flipped through the book. We hadn’t even gotten through first period and I’d already managed to piss her off — twice.

At least I liked the story we were reading.