The Mermaid's Mirror - L. K. Madigan [20]
Hundreds of waves beckoned from her walls. Lena reached up and trailed her fingers over the collage of oceans.
If I want to see the mermaid again, she thought, I have to go to Magic's. And the only way to get in the water at Magic's is on a surfboard.
She texted a message to Kai: Plz tell ani I'm ready for lessons.
***
Lena's birthday party that night was three hours of dedicated fun with friends. As she lay in bed that night, she tried to decide what her favorite part had been.
Was it Martha—who'd had a crush on her dad since fourth grade—belting out U2's "With or Without You" on karaoke, or was it Leslie and her boyfriend competing to see who could eat the most spicy tuna rolls? (Leslie, with fifteen.)
Pem's gift of an entire set of hardbound Jane Austen novels was pretty sweet, too. "What the heck," she had said. "I can't exactly ignore the fact that my name comes from Pride and Prejudice."
No ... the best part was Kai's present—a plush toy otter holding a tiny pink box. When Lena opened the box, a pair of pearl earrings glimmered against a bed of pink satin.
"Pearls for my pearl," Kai had said, then turned dark red.
Lena lay in bed, thinking of that moment. She had kissed him then, right in front of her parents. Because a guy who would do that for you ... well, that must be love. She fingered the earnings already on her lobes and vowed never to take them off.
I'm so lucky, she thought, and closed her eyes. But as sleep began to wash over the memories of her Sweet Sixteen party, the last sharp image in her mind was of a white-shouldered woman in the sea, staring right at her.
CHAPTER 11
Lena's birthday present to herself was scheduled for Friday afternoon.
The school week seemed to creep and crawl and sometimes lie down for a nap. Lena knew she was driving Pem and Kai crazy with her thrilled nervous energy, but she couldn't help it.
The sight of the city bus chugging to the curb that Friday after school almost made her weep with joy. Lena's stop was before Pem's; as the bus came to her street, she hugged her. "See you after."
"Can't wait," said Pem, and waggled a "hang loose" hand-sign at her.
Lena was so wound up she ran all the way home, backpack slapping against the middle of her back. When she got in the house, she threw it off with a grunt.
No one was home yet; her mom was working on a charity golf tournament today, but she was due home at four, and Lena wanted to be long gone by then.
She took the stairs two at a time and went to her room. She put on her swimsuit, then shorts and a T-shirt. She grabbed her sandals and bounced back downstairs, heading for the garage.
Her wetsuit was hanging on the drying rack, as always. Wetsuits were a part of life for swimmers on the northern California coast—even if you didn't surf, you still had to wear a wetsuit in the frigid water. Lena could still remember her first one, when she was nine years old—it was the traditional black and gray, but her mom had used fabric paint to draw on bright silver stars.
Good thing Mom's not afraid of the ocean, thought Lena. She'd been the one to teach Lena how to swim, and all about safety in the water.
Lena folded the suit into her duffel bag and zipped it up. She grabbed a banana from the kitchen, thinking, Fuel. My body is going to be working hard. Then she filled up a water bottle, stashed it in her duffel, and stood waiting impatiently for her phone to ring.
Finally, it did—the Kai ringtone. "We're almost there," he said.
"Okay, I'll meet you outside."
Lena stepped out on the front porch and locked the door. She headed down the driveway just as Ani's red Jeep rounded the corner.
Kai jumped out and put his arms around her. "You ready?" he murmured.
She hugged him back. "Very."
He kissed her gently once. Twice. When he went for a third time, Lena pulled away. "Surf now, kiss later," she said with a smile.
Two surfboards protruded from the back of the Jeep. Kai climbed into the back seat, and Lena climbed in the front. "Hi."
"Hi," said Ani. "Ready to score some surf?"