The Equinox (8 page)

He
whips his head up from the water and stares at me with those eyes—dark
and angry. He hisses again. I glare back, but his attention is on the mermaid who
swims directly in front of him, unaware of the danger that lurks above her. He
moves toward her slowly, stealthily.

With
all of the power I can muster in a short amount of time, I stand and throw my
hands out, causing the snake to create a heavy splash in the water. It’s enough
time for the mermaid to get by without him attacking but I continue to watch for
his next move.

He
could easily go after her and strike, only this time he lifts his head and
stares at me with a silent threat. The boat continues to move downriver and I
can feel a hole as the snake’s eyes burn into the back of my head.

There
is laughter behind me and I flip around to see where it’s coming from. Alec,
Brent, Trisha, and Matt are all laughing—at me.

“What
were you doing?” Ava looks disgusted.

Alec
wraps an arm around me but he’s laughing too. “What
were
you doing?”

“I-I
thought the mermaid was going to get attacked by that snake. Didn’t you see it?
It was huge.”

Ava
glares at me now. “Interesting. What were you going to do about it?” Her
challenging eyes look as venomous as that snake probably was.

I
just shake my head, unsure of how to answer that question. “I was trying to
warn the mer—the girl. That’s why I was waving my arms.”

A
feeling of relief washes over me as I’ve figured out how to cover up my
actions, but Brent, who sits directly behind us is still laughing hysterically.
Alec smacks his arm and puts his arms back around me. “Okay, okay, you guys,”
he says pointedly at Brent. “It’s not that funny.”

Although
Alec is being sweet and standing up for me, I’m embarrassed. I’m sure I looked
ridiculous using my magic to control that snake—like a lunatic waving her
hands around and accomplishing nothing. They don’t know that I potentially
saved that mermaid’s life.

I
can’t wait for the riverboat ride to be over. I tune out everything the guide
is saying. At least the rest of my group is having a good time.

They
point out colorful birds and animated turtles. A smaller snake appears on the
shore and Brent doesn’t miss a beat. Every few minutes he’s got a snake or
mermaid joke for me and I sink even further into myself.

“So
what do you guys think?” Alec asks as we wait for the riverboat to park. “Canoe
ride or tube ride?”

“Tube
ride!” Everyone agrees. My humiliation is finally beginning to wear off, thank
goodness. I want to enjoy this day as much as possible.

Trisha
hops onto the platform next to me and grins, her small dimples popping through
her round cheeks. I can’t help but wonder again how she’ll do as an Enchanter. I
don’t picture how she’ll react to the threat of the Equinox. She’s just too
sweet.

“Ignore
Brent. Reactions only fuel his antics.” She hooks arms with me as we march the
rest of the way to the store to rent our tubes.

Alec
insists on purchasing my tube, so I let him, but as I wait my thoughts are on
the thick black snake and his threatening hisses. Why did it seem like he
wanted
me to see what he was planning to
do to that mermaid? Why was he looking at me?

“Hey,
shake it off, Summer Girl. We’ve got some tubing to do.” Alec hands me my tube with
a grin. He’s right.

The
moment we’re in the water, safely planted in our tubes, Brent decides to crack
a joke. “Kat, help! A snake!” And he bursts into laughter. Everyone else giggles
and chuckles around him, and I want to dump him into the water. If he isn’t
careful, I just might. I begin to laugh too, an admission that what happened on
the riverboat was ridiculous.

“Okay,
okay. So I thought she was going to get attacked by a snake.” I shake my head.
Shouldn’t they be impressed that I was trying to save that mermaid’s life?

Alec’s
eyes connect with mine and when he smiles I forget that I’m the butt of every
joke. Instead, I wonder when Alec and I will get a real chance to talk, and
this time, I wonder if I’ll be able to come up with anything interesting to
talk about.

When
I arrived in Apollo Beach and met Alec, he was someone I wanted to get to know.
I found him attractive, sweet, and refreshing. He was like a light in a day I’d
never seen. Living so many years alone with my mother, with no one to really
call my friend, Alec gave me something I’d never had before—friendship.

We
bonded even more during our runs. I miss our runs.

Perhaps
for him I was a dose of something different too. After spending most of his
early summer with Ava and Iris, he probably liked having a new female around,
one who didn’t beckon for attention at every moment.

Now
that some time has passed since the wildfire and we’ve gotten over the initial awkward
encounters, I can see more friendships blossoming, and not just with Alec, but
with everyone. I sneak a glance at Ava. Well, almost everyone.

This
time, it’s almost as if I’m blending in with the crowd. Once that happens, is
Alec still going to be interested in me? Is being the new girl just a passing
trend? Or are his feelings for me something deeper than that?

Ava is
grinning at something Brent is saying and I can see that she really is
beautiful. She should smile more often.

Alec
floats next to me, his gaze distracted as he faces the sky. His skin has
already darkened from just a few hours of sun. I reach over and press my
pointer finger onto his shoulder and pull away. A white spot remains and slowly
fades back to its regular color.

Alec
laughs. “What are you doing?”

“Checking
to see if you burned,” I grin.

He
swipes my hand away with his left and catches it. For someone who says he
doesn’t date often, he certainly is smooth. He squeezes my hand and then lets
it go. I blush and face front.

“So,
was that your first time protecting someone from a snake?” Alec’s question
sounds nonchalant, casual, as if he’s just asked me if I like peanut butter. I
love peanut butter.

I groan
but roll with it. “Nope, but it
was
my first time rescuing a mermaid from a snake. Usually it’s the sharks that go
after them and
they
can be feisty.”

Alec
throws his head back and laughs. “That was good.”

I
laugh too, happy that he’s able to find humor under such awkward circumstances.

“Good,
but you shouldn’t make a habit of that, you know? Many heroes have died by the
venom of a snake. I hear their poison is unforgiving.”

I’m
still laughing. “Okay, okay, no more snakes.”

* *
*

Once
we’ve reached the first bend in the river, the guys compete to see who can get
down the river the fastest. They use their strong arms to push the water away
as they move far from us. Brent is in the lead first but then Alec pulls
forward. Poor Matt doesn’t quite keep up but he’s laughing.

The
girls and I stretch out as far as we can, letting the sun pour down on us. Ava even
starts to lighten up a bit—kind of. “This beats a day in Apollo Beach,
that’s for sure. Don’t you two get sick of our small town?”

I
shrug. “Not really, but I haven’t been in town long.”

“I
like Apollo Beach. I think we have a fun town. Summer Island has tons to do so
I’m never bored, but this is definitely nice too.” Trisha wriggles her body to
adjust herself in her tube.

Ava grunts.
“Well, I’ve been in Apollo Beach way too long.”

Images
of my first encounter with Ava and Iris come to mind. Ava seems to always have
something to complain about. I assumed it was something her and Iris did
together, but now that Iris isn’t around, I find it strange that Ava still acts
this way. Everyone else seems positive and happy. You’d think she’d catch a
dose of that and smile more.

But
then again, there are sixteen of Ava’s years that I don’t know about. Surely
something in her life has made her this way—ungrateful, negative,
critical.

I’m
reminded of a conversation that I had with Rose upon moving here and meeting
Ava. The whole political struggle with Ava and Iris’s parents against Rose is
one that certainly affects Ava negatively. If her parents only care about how
they can overthrow Rose as community leader and take her place, then that is
sad. According to Rose, Ava and Iris’s parents’ want to turn Apollo Beach into
a tourist attraction. Does everything have to be about money?

A
splash and a squeal get my attention just as Trisha’s tube overturns and she’s
submerged by Matt. Matt is laughing as Trisha comes up for air and swats him
before giggling hysterically. Ava sends her tube faster downriver to get out of
their way.

I
rest my eyes, silently noting that the black rubber tube makes for a plush
pillow. I’ve never been a sun worshiper but it feels good right about now.

A
jerk of my tube alerts me to open my eyes and I lift my head. Alec is pulling
my tube close to his using the rope that rings it.

“Hey,”
he says simply. His smile is contagious and I’m smiling back.

We
glide down the river in silence at first. I have trouble finding words. Nerves
have gotten the better of me again. Everything on my mind is something I’m
forbidden to share with him. I desperately want to let him in on what’s going
on in Apollo Beach, with the Equinox—that there’s a threat that awaits us
back home that I don’t want to face. I also want to tell him the real reason
I’ve been distant—about what really happened the night of the wild
bonfire.

“I
bet Ava would have had more fun if Iris was here,” I say because it’s the only
thing that comes to mind that isn’t forbidden.

Alec
makes a face as he adjusts his shorts. “I doubt that.”

He
looks up and I make a face, letting him know that I don’t understand. “Well,
Iris is mad at Ava—something about her not doing her part while she
almost died. I don’t know. There was so much going on, I’m not really sure what
happened there. Ava doesn’t really care to apologize.”

The
thought of Iris and Ava’s fight gives me an uncomfortable chill through my
warmed bones. “At least Ava’s not calling me a witch today.”

Alec
chuckles. “Yeah, that whole thing was strange. Iris won’t talk about it though.
She just chalks it up to them drinking. She swears she’s never drinking again.”

“Drinking,
bonfires, and fireworks don’t mix. Didn’t anyone ever tell them that?”