2 Deja Blue by Julie Cassar

seemed okay, even though just moments ago they were most likely bruised, cut , scraped , and probably worse. I had a feeling there were a few broken bones that I didn’t really feel because of my shock, and Brennan’s quick healing. I still felt the residue of the Fairy magic he used to heal me. The warm tingly sensation still tickled on the surface of my skin. I waved and tried to smile brightly as I heard Anya speaking in my head, “ I’m so glad you’re okay , Ruby! I knew you would be. Nick doesn’t know a thing. Just tell him you were swimming by the Jetty. ” Anya sat next to Nick, daintily eating her french fries, glancing up at me and waving nonchalantly. Even though the voice in my head was full of concern, the air about her was blasé. Nobody would’ve guessed she was actually having a conversation with me. Boy, she was good at concealing her emotions and thoughts. I tried to mimic her and keep a smooth look of calm on my face, with my fake-smile glued in place. I hoped Nick wouldn’t notice I was still shaking and recovering from my near-drowning experience.
    “Hey Ru b e s! I wondered if you were gonna get back in time to eat this before it melted!” Nick called out as he held up a large Styrofoam cup filled with two scoops of ice cream. Well, at least I could stuff my face with my favorite indulgence as I mulled over my Mermaid encounter. “ Thanks, Nick! Yeah, I lost track of time out there…I didn’t realize how long it would take me to swim back ! Guess I’m not as fast as I thought,” I shyly smiled and shrugged, taking the cup of ice cream from him.
    “Where’s Brennan?” He asked, looking out towards the water and the jetty. I followed his gaze and saw Brennan talking to Celestine. They were sitting on the edge of the jetty, feet dangling above the water .  F rom where we were sitting the Mermaid looked like she had legs! What the hell happened to her tail? Oh. It probably went away when she got out of the water …Guess they got one thing right in the movies, huh? But , was she sitting up there naked? It was too hard to tell from where we were. I shook my head. So many questions, not enough answers. “Oh, he met some girl he knew, I think,” I kind of mumbled, as I shoveled a spoonful of strawberry ice cream into my mouth. I would definitely have to work on the lying thing if I was going to keep this Fairy stuff from Nick. Even I didn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth.
    “Cool,” Nick smiled, nodding. Huh. Guess I’m better at it than I thought. I took another spoonful of strawberry ice cream and wished it was chocolate. Chocolate is my favorite. Don’t get me wrong…I love ice cream in any flavor (except coffee – yuck) , but , for some reason, every time Nick order s ice cream for me , he gets strawberry. I guess I felt too self-conscious to tell him that I prefer chocolate. I didn’t want to sound ungrateful, and I certainly didn’t want to make him feel bad , thinking he ordered me the wrong flavor. Because really, it was fine. Wasn’t it? I loved eating ice cream. I kept shoveling it in my mouth to give me an excuse not to talk for a few minutes while I tried to figure out what else to say. I mean, what does a person say when they’ve just been being nearly crushed and killed by huge boulders under water and rescued by a Fairy and Mermaid ?  I knew exactly what I could say. Nothing. I couldn’t say a word of any of it to Nick. So I kept my mouth full of strawberry ice cream and tried to look “normal.” Whatever that looks like.
    A few minutes later, Brennan came walking up the beach towards us. “Hey guys, sorry about that.” Brennan said as he gestured back towards the jetty. “I met a chick,” he said as he made this cool-guy “I rock” face, and put his fist up to Nick to bump it.
    Nick bumped his fist to Brennan’s and replied, “Cool, dude! She hot?”
    “Definitely,” Brennan smirked.
    “Did ya get her digits?”
    “ Ohhhh yeah.”