My dad was already flipping through the channels on the TV. "Give it time," he repeated Mom's words, seemingly unaware of what he was saying. It appeared as if he lost interest after my a.s.surance that Ashton didn't get fresh. Once he knew I was okay, a.s.suaged, he tuned out.

"I signed that permission slip for your school trip to Catalina Island," Mom called out from the kitchen. "I put it on the refrigerator."

At that, my dad looked up from the TV suddenly. "Catalina? What the h.e.l.l are you going to do there?"

"It's just a field trip to the Catalina Historical Museum." I rolled my eyes.

My mom walked over to my dad and put her hand on his shoulder. "The school is taking the students over to the island on a ferry. Nothing's going to happen."

He got up off the couch. "They think they can just take a bunch of kids out to sea?" His hands were waving in the air from anger.

"Dad!" I looked at him astounded. "It's just an innocent day trip."

"I forbid it."His face was red. "Absolutely not."

I sighed. "Okay. Just calm down. I won't go."

He looked relieved. "Good," he grunted and then walked out of the living room into his bedroom.

Now I turned to my mother looking at her in frustration. "Why'd you have to tell me about the permission slip in front of him?"

"I know. I know. It was stupid." She shook her head and shrugged. "I wasn't thinking. But, you can go anyway," she whispered. "He's going to be out fishing that day and the next. He won't even know."

I nodded, relieved and frustrated at once.

After all that, I needed to be alone. On the way to my bedroom, I stopped off in Lucy's room and kissed her forehead while she slept. She looked like a little angel with brown curls around her face.

But when I got into bed, all I could do was think about Laurent. I fell asleep dreaming about him.

He and his friends were these beautiful beings, almost ghost like. They swam in the depths of a deep blue sea. The underwater scenery sparkled and was a colorful array of sea weeds and coral reefs.

There were people around them drowning in the ocean. It was a shipwrecked crew. The tres beaux were attacking the people in frenzy, the way sharks attack their prey. Flesh was torn and floating in the water. There was blood everywhere.

Lost in the dream, I watched and I watched. And I couldn't leave even though I knew I should. Even though I knew they were killers.

The weekend was relatively uneventful. Mostly, I studied the whole time. My only relief was on Sat.u.r.day night when Agatha and I watched movies at her house. I spent the night and we went for a night swim under the crescent moon that drifted behind gray and white storm clouds. She was so excited about Danny and couldn't stop talking about him.

The week days became more eventful. The sky cleared mostly and I was excited about the trip to Catalina Island. After arriving at school on Monday, we took busses to the nearby Fisherman's Village in Marina Del Rey and from there we took ferry boats over to the island.

The ferry ride was about an hour and a half of endless blue ocean. Because the boats weren't big enough to hold the entire junior cla.s.s, we were divided up into groups. And before the trip, we picked partners. Of course Agatha and I chose each other, so we hung out together on the deck sipping sweet drinks through twisty straws while we watched for whales. We actually saw a few of the gigantic creatures and even some dolphins and sea lions too. The sky was a pristine blue with big white puffy clouds.

The princ.i.p.al must have allowed the French exchange students to ride together because they were all on another ferry. As usual, Danny accompanied them. And I'm not sure what boat Ashton took, but it wasn't ours.

Once I saw the island in the distance, I began to hear the call of seals and it almost sounded like beautiful music. Chills ran through my body. The sounds were alluring. Somehow, it reminded me of my dream of the tres beaux this past weekend.

But as we arrived in Catalina's town of Avalon, the music faded and I was surprised to see how charming it was. Open storefront shops, cafes, and quaint hotels lined the cobble stone promenade before the harbor. It was a dreamy setting. The sun was bright and cheerful. There was a light breeze with the scent of eucalyptus trees and wild fennel.

We had most of the day to shop around and sight see, but at 3:00 we were all to meet at the museum for a tour before returning home. I thought it was strange that I didn't see the tres beaux all day. They got off the ferry and then went away by themselves to the beach. I watched them go into the ocean for a swim, but I never saw them after that.

Danny and Ashton joined Agatha and I for the day. Ashton took charge and showed us around the town. He knew the island well because his parents owned a condo there and he had spent many summers there.

I tried to have fun, but my mind was still preoccupied with Laurent and his miraculous abilities. Since the tres beaux came to Santa Monica, everything seemed surreal. Laurent seemed like a magical being and I got the feeling that his friends were of the like. I wanted to confront him again about how he saved me in what seemed like a superhuman way, but he had vanished.

Even if I had approached him with my questions, it would not have mattered anyway. With his friends around, I intuited that my implorations would be futile. By now, with all their confusing stares and curious behaviors, I a.s.sumed that they didn't like me interacting with their friend. I supposed they didn't like me period.

Agatha was combing her hair that had frizzed more than usual in the damp sea breeze as she looked out at the harbor. "I want to go on one of those semi-submersible subs I heard about," Agatha exclaimed excitedly to Danny, Ashton, and me. She was pointing at a tourist boat.

Danny's face lit up. "Those are so cool-gla.s.s bottom boats! You can see the underwater animals and stuff."

"Let's do it," Ashton said as he placed his baseball cap backwards on his head.

"h.e.l.l yeah!" I joined in. My mind lit with excitement.

"All right then." Ashton motioned us ahead cheerfully.

The boat was beautiful. There were only a few other pa.s.sengers aboard which was nice. There was a lot of room to move around and enjoy the ambiance. After boarding, we looked around before we set out. It was relatively large in size with a nice deck. The gla.s.s bottom cabin was a lounge area with a mini-bar, sofas and big submarine windows that stretched across the walls. The room dropped down low in the water like a half submerged submarine. It was a fantastic sight to see the underwater beauty.

At first we leaned against the rails on deck and enjoyed the sunshine and sea breeze as the boat set in motion. But shortly thereafter we headed down below. The captain navigated the boat out to a coral reef with stunning scenery. He cut the engine. We took seats on the plush furniture in the cabin and gazed in awe at the magnificent underwater views.

I enjoyed relaxing and talking on the sofas as we watched the fish swim around and through the kelp. Some colorful sea anemones rested on the impressive coral reef. I noticed that the prettiest fish were a bright golden yellow. The gold contrast with the pristine blue water was breathtaking.

The captain called us on deck for drinks and snacks. Everybody headed up, but I had to run back down because I forgot my sungla.s.ses downstairs. "I'll be right back," I said to the others.

Agatha wasn't paying attention to me. She and Danny were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors and laughing up a storm, but Ashton nodded and said, "Hurry up." He winked playfully. "I'll be waiting."

When I got downstairs, I had to stop and look at the beauty beneath once again. I marveled at the varying types of seaweed and underwater life. I saw a baby shark swim by.

But, then the most surprising thing happened. I saw a boy swimming. His hair was flowing wild in the water. He came alongside the window of the boat and looked at me. I was in shock. It was Laurent.

Out of Control I gasped. And then I touched the window with my hand and Laurent touched the same spot. He was gorgeous, a stunning figure. Our hands were pressed together with only the window pane separating us. He smiled sweetly at me. My heart raced. And then he swam away.

I nearly hyperventilated. I couldn't believe what had just occurred. He was so amazing. While we were doing all the touristy commercial stuff everybody else does, he and probably the other French exchange students were swimming in the bay, exploring the beauty without the confines of a boat. I so longed to be with them, diving in the ocean blue.

"Hey, Grace," Agatha called down the stairs. "Aren't you coming? We're almost at the dock."

"Yeah, I'll be right up," I called back. My mind was spinning. I was so shocked at what I had just seen. It surprised me that he would swim so close to the boat. I would be afraid of being drawn under by the propeller.

I rushed up the stairs feeling so excited by the interaction. I couldn't say anything to my friends. Maybe Laurent wouldn't like it if they knew his business.

When we got to the museum, I was still smiling, but I didn't see Laurent or his friends inside. A tour guide led us around and showed us different historical exhibits of Catalina Island. He talked about the plant life, animal life, land marks, geological finds, etc... But what fascinated me the most was when he spoke of shipwrecks near the island and the legends surrounding them.

He showed us an exhibit of findings from a French ship that wrecked in the 1700's off the coast of the island. According to legend, merfolk lured the captain, crew, and pa.s.sengers with their beautiful singing voices into the cove and caused their ship to crash into a reef where it overturned. The mers were known to be a deadly bunch. According to legend, they killed nearly everyone on board saving only selected individuals of extreme beauty for conversion to their kind.

The tour guide spoke of recovered artifacts from the shipwreck and pointed them out in the display cases and on the wall. My cla.s.smates took quick looks and moved on to the next exhibits, but I stayed behind.

I walked over to the display case that contained a part of a painting that was recovered from a chest found in the wreckage. It was a torn picture of a teenage boy and girl in eighteenth century attire. As I looked closer I was surprised to see that the boy looked similar to Pascal and the girl whose face was partly torn away looked like Marina.

The only differences were that they seemed happier, more innocent people than the tres beaux I knew and though they were certainly attractive, they weren't quite as striking as the Pascal and Marina that went to my school. The people in the painting looked like a beautiful couple with normal facial flaws where the tres beaux looked like retouched images in a magazine.

To make the coincidence even stranger, I shifted my gaze to the bottom of the painting and saw the name "Beaudoin" which was Pascal's last name. My heartbeat sped up. I didn't know what to think of that. Maybe he was somehow related to the boy in the painting.

I moved to another display case about old sailors' legends of the merfolk. The tour guide said people don't really take the myths seriously, but the stories are still talked about today.

According to the lore, a fishlike people of extreme beauty and power inhabit the rocky areas and under water inlays near the island. These beautiful singers were believed to possess powers to move objects with their minds. They could resonate sound to collapse structures with the very vibrations that resonate the objects themselves. They can swim at very fast speeds. And they have hypnotic powers capable of bending humans' wills to their own.

The mers, as they call them, are vain creatures of great beauty, elegance, and charm with long flowing hair and stunning physiques. Throughout the years they have been spotted sun bathing in nearby lagoons. Most often they are adorned in sparkly jewels and sh.e.l.ls. They gaze at their reflections in intricately carved hand mirrors that they can turn at will on their enemies causing them to burn up into flames.

As I read on, goose b.u.mps raised on my arms. Mers are deadly seducers. Deceptively dark and mysterious, people fall powerless under their hypnotic voices and stares. The mers eat human beings as vital sustenance. They are entirely driven by their l.u.s.t for the spiritual light force that distinguishes them from the sons of Adam. Demonic, evil. Both land and water creatures, guised as beautiful, refined beings, they are the most terrible, dangerous species in all existence.

Chills ran through my body and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I swung around. It was Laurent. The rest of the cla.s.s had turned down a hall and were out of sight now.

"Are you going to tell me now how you saved me in the ocean?" I knew I shouldn't put him on the spot, but it just came out of my mouth.

His face paled as he smirked. "You should stay away from me, Grace." He took his hand off my shoulder.

Already I was lost in the musical qualities of his rapturous voice. "Why do you say that?"

He clenched his jaw. "I'm not a good friend for you." His electric blue eyes bored into mine. His hair was still damp from the ocean.

"Why not?" I wanted to touch his soft lips with my finger.

"I've tried to stay away from you, but I can't do it anymore." He looked away and continued. "Run away, sweet mystery. I am powerless."

Sweet mystery. Who talks like that? "I don't understand you? You confuse me." My head shook slightly; my emotions were all mixed up.

"You saw what I did with the pencil and with your teardrop-didn't you?" His tone was serious.

"Didn't you want me to see?" My eyes widened in a mocking expression. "That's why you did it right?"

"You're not like other people, Grace. Very few are like you. I am powerless over you." He closed his eyes and turned his head downward. "You weren't supposed to see that."

I was starting to get angry. "You don't make any sense, Laurent. I can't figure you out. I just want you to stop torturing me."

"I will." He nodded his head lightly. "I will."

I don't know what came over me. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to fall into his arms and never let go.

But then he walked away. He turned back for a moment. "I will, Grace. I will leave you alone." And then he was gone.

I didn't see him board the ferry with the other tres beaux and I didn't see him at swim team that day.

I felt out of control. My emotions were overtaking me. After practice, I went to the school office and broke the window pane in the door with a rock. I removed the protruding shards of gla.s.s, reached my hand over and unlocked the door. Immediately, I went to the file cabinets and searched for Laurent's address. I found the card with his information, but the address section was blank. My heart tightened. Then I checked all of the other tres beaux' cards and they're addresses were also not filled in. With that, I left in despair.

The next morning when I woke up, I didn't want to get out of bed. I was afraid I had lost Laurent forever. If only I could take back what I said to him the day before. I didn't really want him out of my life.

Though a part of me feared that the mythological folklore about mers that I read at the museum was true, it was still more likely that the stories were only fict.i.tious legends. It was strange though that some of the powers that mers supposedly possessed were the same powers that Laurent seemed to have. The museum log said that they could move objects with their minds, swim at super speeds, and hypnotize human beings.

Could Laurent be a merman? It couldn't be possible. Merfolk are just fantasy legends. And Laurent didn't grow a tail when he went in water. I saw him swimming in the pool during swim practice. I even saw him swimming in the ocean when I was in the gla.s.s bottom boat. But, as much as I wanted to deny it, I feared that he really was a mer. Everything else fit perfectly: his musical voice, his extreme beauty, the way his body smelled like the ocean.

Just then Lucy barged into my bedroom. "What are you still doing in bed!" she complained. "Get up lazy head." With her reprimands, she climbed up on the bed and started jumping on it.

"All right!" I moved over. "Don't jump on me." Though I was a little annoyed, I got up and grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt out of my dresser drawer.

She was still jumping rambunctiously.

"You can get out of my room now, wild one." I held the door open.

"Ahhhh. I was having fun." She climbed down. "Last one to breakfast is a smashed potato." As she spoke, she was already running out of the room and down the hall.

As I opened my blinds, I saw that it was raining out. I wasn't in the mood for rain boots and umbrellas, but I grabbed mine anyway.

When I got into the kitchen, Lucy was making her school lunch while Mom chattered on the phone to one of her friends from work. Dad had already left for the dock. I just took a nutrition bar and guzzled down some orange juice.

The doorbell rang. It was Agatha in a big polka dot rain coat. She was picking me up for school today. "What's wrong?" she immediately asked as I opened the door.

"Nothing." I lifted my eyes. "Bye," I yelled out to my mom and Lucy. "See you tonight."

Mom waved goodbye and Lucy blew a kiss.

"Something's wrong," Agatha insisted as we got in her VW. She started the car. "You have to tell me."

I sort of frowned as I folded up my drenched umbrella the rest of the way. I wasn't sure how much I should tell her, if anything, about what I was going through in regards to Laurent. "You know that guy Laurent Moreau?"

"Yeah," she jutted her chin back in response. Her voice had a surprised inflection to it.

My tone was hesitant, but I continued anyway, "Do you remember how he acted toward me at the beach?"

She turned to me even though she was driving and the windshield wipers were working like mad. "Of course I remember. Did he do something else?"

"In general his behavior toward me have been perplexing."

"Go on." She nodded as her eyes widened, but luckily her attention went back to the road and the big water puddles alongside it.

"Oh, it's nothing specific. I just can't figure him out." I looked out the pa.s.senger window at the drenched business buildings and fast food restaurants. "I'm afraid I might have upset him at the museum in Catalina."

The car rolled to a stop at the light and she turned to me again. "I didn't know you talked to him at the museum. What did you talk about?"

"It was just kind of weird. I said something stupid and then he said he was going to leave me alone from now on." Even though it shouldn't have, my heart sank at the thought of it.

She gripped the steering wheel harder. "He probably just reacted and didn't really mean it. You're not interested in him are you?"

"No." My voice was emphatic. "Well, no...maybe..."

She smiled and bounced in her seat a little.

"I don't know what I feel. He just gets under my skin. You know what I mean?"