The Mermaid's Mirror - L. K. Madigan [5]
Her dad drove out of the city and headed south on Highway l.
They passed a big green highway sign:
MOSS BEACH 17 MILES
DIAMOND BAY 28 MILES
SANTA CRUZ 73 MILES
Santa Cruz, thought Lena. There's a bunch of surf schools there. It's only forty-five minutes away. Dad's been asking what I want for my birthday...
She looked at him hunched over the steering wheel, his expression taut, and decided that now was not the time to bring up surfing.
***
Her mom did her best to act calm and unworried when Lena got home, but her being home in the middle of the day was proof enough that things were not normal.
"What did Dr. Feldman say?" asked Lena.
Mom kissed her forehead, and Lena knew she was checking for fever. "Her nurse said to make sure you ate something, and to call back if it happened again. Apparently fainting can happen sometimes during puberty. We might want to take you in for a blood test to make sure you're not anemic."
"I'm fine," said Lena, for what felt like the twentieth time. "I just got dizzy. It was so embarrassing!" She cringed all over again at the memory of waking up surrounded by strangers. "At least I didn't puke in front of Dad's new boss."
"Oh, honey!" said her mom. "No one cared about that. They were just worried about you fainting."
Lena's father said, "Yeah, well, you should have seen the Oriental rug in that corner office. I was glad she didn't puke, too!"
"Brian!"
Her dad put his arm around Mom's shoulder. "Kidding, honey."
Cole came crashing down the stairs into the living room. When he saw their parents hugging, he threw his arms around both of them. "Group hug!" he yelled.
Mom held out an arm to Lena. "Come on, you know the drill."
Lena moved into the family circle, putting one arm around her mom, and reaching out with the other to rumple Cole's hair.
He ducked out from under her hand. At six years old, he was starting to resist rumpling. He turned his bright blue eyes—so much like Dad's—up to Lena and asked, "Want to play catch with me?"
"Maybe later, Coley," she said. She heard that question from her brother at least once a day—she and her parents rotated shifts of playing catch with him.
"Okay," he said. "Tell me when you're ready?"
"Sure."
He bounded out of the room and headed back upstairs.
"Have you had lunch?" asked her mom. "Yes," said Lena. "Dad and I stopped at Pink Cottage on our way home."
"You stopped at the Pink Cottage and didn't get me scones?" said her mom, mock-aghast.
Lena left her parents to discuss the lack of scones, calling over her shoulder, "I'll be in my room."
She climbed the stairs and went into her room, closing her door. She logged in to her IM. Pem was online.
Sea_girl: Hey.
PemberLoca: Lena! Ur home early.
Sea_girl: Yeah.
PemberLoca: How come back so soon?
Sea_girl: Umm...
PemberLoca: ??
Sea_girl: This weird fainting thing happened.
PemberLoca: Wha??!!
Sea_girl: Yeah. Felt rly weird, then I fell over.
PemberLoca: OMG scary! Were u with ur dad?
Sea_girl: Yeah, his new work. We were by this huge window way up high n I guess I got dizzy.
PemberLoca: Going to doctor?
Sea_girl: Prolly.
PemberLoca: Too freaky! U ok, bff?
Sea_girl: Yes! Just a one-time thing.
Lena lifted her hands from the keyboard, suddenly chilled. Just a one-time thing. That's what she'd told herself about the sleepwalking.
Sea_girl: Lets not even talk about it, k?
PemberLoca: K. See u tomorrow?
Sea_girl: Yes!
PemberLoca: Bye.
Lena logged off and went back downstairs to get something to drink. As she walked into the kitchen, her mom was saying, "...if the vertigo was caused by something else?"
"She's never had any blood work done," said her dad. "It wouldb e—"
Her parents stood close together, their heads bent. They fell silent as Lena entered the room, and Lena caught the worried expression on her dad's face before he saw her.
Glancing up, he made an effort to smile,