Coach blows his whistle. “Chop, chop, Hart! Meet is tomorrow.
Gotta be ready!”
I nod, scanning the team one more time for Maddy to come strolling
in with her white T-shirt over her bathing suit. She doesn’t. She
wasn’t in school all day either.
I dive when the whistle blows again, the water being my only
comfort against the dark thought looming in the back of my mind-the
thought that it’s only my first day as a champion and I’m already
failing.
•••
The hot dog is cold and the bread is stale in my mouth, even after
I drown it in ketchup. Bertie and Angelo have found a reclining chair
with wheels and are taking turns pushing each other across the room,
because there are only two lunch monitors and they keep disappearing.
I lower my head to whisper to Layla. “Have you talked to Maddy?
She’s not in school today. I need to talk to her.”
Layla shakes her head sadly. “I bet she’s just cutting class, her
and her new bad-girl self.”
I hesitate, breaking my hot-dog bun into crumbs. “Do you remember
that necklace I gave her?”
“Yeah, that little pink pearl. She loves it.”
“It belongs to one of the oracles. I need it back.”
She exhales loudly. “You know, just when I didn’t think you could
sink any lower with her.”
“Me?” I yell indignantly. “You’ve seen what I’ve seen. I wouldn’t
do it unless this was serious.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know if she still has it. Knowing
her, she hasn’t thrown it out. Did you try her phone?”
“I tried. It goes to voice mail, and she doesn’t text back.” Layla
pushes her tray of food away from her in disgust, and my heart darkens
like the clouds that are no longer clinging to the sky.
We sit in silence and watch our friends decide to hang out on the
field after class, because Principal Quinn is supposed to be in
meetings all day and Ryan has keys to the sports equipment. Kurt
avoids looking in my direction, feeling a little guilty that he’s
having so much fun.
•••
The target rings are lined up in the middle of the field. Each one
has a different teacher’s picture taped at the bull’s-eye. Most of the
arrows are horribly off, if they make it to the rings at all. There
are only seven guys on the archery team, and they take great pride in
teaching everyone else. I’m okay at it, but I’ve never gotten a
bull’s-eye. Ryan, having taken archery since he was in junior high, is
the captain of the team.
I take a seat near the bin of arrows.
Thalia giddily unzips the oversized purple backpack my mom gave
her this morning. She pulls out a finely crafted bow and a set of
arrows. I know this is a terrible idea. I would never, ever bring
weapons to school. But Kurt insisted we have to always be prepared.
“That is a beauty,” Ryan says. His blue eyes are practically
sticking out of his head when he sees the arrows. “You guys are
certified, right?” And I quickly say yes before it becomes an issue.
“Our father was an expert archer,” Kurt says. He holds the brass
bow, which looks light as a feather as he weighs it against his palms.
“He made this for me.”
Thalia doesn’t join them and instead stays sitting between me and
Layla. “You’re not going to try?” I ask.
“I find that it might hurt Ryan’s human ego if I were to best
him.” She leans back on her palms. Even knowing what she is, she is a
wondrous sight. Her hair is free and flowing around her face with a
life of its own. She crosses her legs and wiggles her ankles so that
the glitter of her slippers catches the stadium lights. I wonder if
she misses her fins. I’ve only changed a few times, and already
something deep inside me is urging me to find a river, or even a
bathtub, and sink in.
“I very much miss Atticus,” Thalia sighs. “But I like it here.
Don’t tell Kurt.”
“He looks like he’s having more fun than he’d like to admit,”
Layla says. I follow her eyes to where Kurt is taking aim.
“Kurtomathetis wouldn’t know how to have fun if it were pulling on
his fishtails.”
I laugh hard at that. I bet Kurt can hear what we’ve said, because
when he lets his arrow go, it misses Principal Quinn’s picture and
hits the outer ring.
Ryan gets a bull’s-eye on the picture of Mr. Van Oppen. Thalia
shrieks and claps her hands. The other guys go, one by one. Some of
them get close, but none of them are as accurate.
Jerry throws his arms up, letting the school’s bow and arrow fall
to the ground. “This is whack! I’m going to check on the freshman
lunch period, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, all your little boyfriends are waiting,” Angelo calls out
after him, and is answered by Jerry’s middle finger. Bertie isn’t too
far behind Jerry after he fails for the umpteenth time at getting his
arrow to go anywhere other than the grass.
“Know what?” Layla goes, pushing herself up, her arm brushing
against mine and sending pinpricks down my spine. “I’m gonna go play
with sharp objects too.” She runs up to Kurt, who shows her how to
stand, his hand carefully guiding her hands into position. He whispers
something to her, and she smiles. She lets go and hits Ms. Pippen
right at the center of her third eye. Layla jumps up and down and
throws her arms around Kurt’s neck.
“She’s lovely, you know.” Thalia nods at her.
“Who?”
“You know who. Layla. Duh? ”
“Yeah, well.” I grab a handful of the fake grass and pull hard on
it. “This whole Maddy thing isn’t going to make me look like Champion
of the Year in her eyes.”
“If I’ve learned anything by watching human interaction, it’s that
they’re always angry at the person they feel they love. It’s easier to
feel anger than love. Love makes people sick. Anger just consumes you
so you think you’re not feeling anything.”
“What about mermaid love?”
“Mer-kin, maybe all immortals, don’t necessarily fall in love.
Forever is awfully long, and the oceans are vast. You never know who
will, how do you say, rock your boat?”
“Maybe that’s why I have the reputation of being a man-slut.”
“Surely, it has nothing to do with the fact that you’re also a
sixteen-year-old foot-fin.”
She cups her hands around her mouth and hollers when Ryan gets
another bull’s-eye. He drops his bow and arrow. He runs over to us,
gets down on his knees, and kisses Thalia on her sweet full mouth. At
first she’s surprised. Hell, I’m surprised. So is everyone who’s
looking at them from the bleachers. A camera flash goes off somewhere.
Layla giggles behind her hands, and some of the guys whistle with
their fingers. All except for Kurt, who shakes his head
disapprovingly.
Thalia rests her hands around Ryan’s face, bringing him in, and
neither of them seems to notice the crowds. I want to look away, but
it’s not like anyone’s been kissing me lately. I glance at Layla to
see if maybe she’s looking at me, but her face is tilted to the sky,
where a gray patch of clouds is floating over us. When I relax my
eyes, the clouds look like grizzly bears. I shut my eyes to get
Elias’s face out of my head.
Just then Ryan stumbles out of their kiss. “Cool. Okay. Good.” He
jogs back to the targets with a new strut.
“Tristan.” Thalia bites her bottom lip. “Will you make me a
promise?”
“What is it?”
“Will you let me stay? If you’re king? Would you let me stay here