Real Mermaids 2 - Don't Hold Their Breath by Boudreau Helene

Author:Boudreau, Helene [Boudreau, Helene]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2012-03-08T06:00:00+00:00

I sat on a large rock by the ocean, just down the hill from the construction site, waiting for Dad to pick me up. The crowd was long gone, the trucks had restarted their caravan back and forth through the chain-link gate, and the gang was catching a ride back to Main Street in Bridget’s van. I suppose I could have gone with them, but the thing I wanted most was to be alone.

Large waves crashed against the rocks where I sat. On one hand, I wished the surf would grab hold and sweep me out to sea. On the other, I wanted to run far, far inland and never see the ocean again.

I imagined the sentries blocking the mouth of the culvert underwater and the locked chain-link gate behind me. I’d failed Mom on both land and sea. Even after everything that had happened, nothing had changed.

Someone sat down beside me.

“Luke.” I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my T-shirt and sniffed louder than I had planned.

Luke leaned over, nudging my shoulder with his. “Hey.”

“I thought you guys were all gone. Didn’t you go with Trey and Cori?” I turned to see if the others were with him.

“I was going to, but then I remembered you still have my phone.” He smiled his adorable curvy-lipped smile.

“Oh.” I felt in my pocket and realized I’d gone totally klepto on him. Reese would have been proud. I stood on the rock, pulled out his phone, and handed it to him. “Sorry.”

“No.” Luke slipped his phone into the side pocket of his board shorts. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I should never have gotten your hopes up about that Environmental Assessment thing.”

“You were only trying to help.” I waved a hand back in the general direction of the mall parking lot. “In fact, everyone’s been so amazing—even if they don’t understand how this is about more than just butterflies for me. Much more.”

“For me too,” Luke said quietly. That’s when I realized this was bigger than just me and Mom. The tidal pool was important to all mers, Luke included.

“I just don’t know what to do next.” I jumped from rock to rock, trying not to slip into the crashing surf. Luke followed behind, step for step. He picked up large rocks along the way and tossed them into the water beside me, splashing my jean shorts. “Hey, are you trying to soak me?”

“Maybe.” Luke laughed. “Or if I’m lucky I’ll knock out one of those culvert guys.”

That’s when something occurred to me.

“Where is that thing anyway?” I followed the shoreline, trying to figure out where the large metal culvert could be, but the water came all the way up to the rocks making it impossible to find. I scrambled up the bank to the road.

“What are you looking for?” Luke asked.

“That spot where the road bumped up a little.” I scanned the road. “There!” I pointed.

We followed the hump back to the water. The culvert was still underwater but even deeper than the last time we’d checked.

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