Free Seaweed by Elle Strauss Page B

I swam after him, but he was so fast, and before I knew it, I couldn’t see him. I was alone.
    I woke with a start. Then I realized my cell phone was buzzing.
    “Hello?” My voice was thick and groggy.
    “Hi, it’s me. Tor.”
    I already knew it was him by the call display. I was just surprised he was calling at all.
    “I’m clean.” Not what’s up? Not how are you? Just, I’m clean. Would I forever be defending myself on this?
    There was silence for a moment. Then Tor said, “Can we talk?”
    “Okay.” Might as well get this over with.
    “Meet me at the beach in thirty minutes.”
    I had half an hour to get myself together. Thirty minutes to stew about what Tor wanted to talk about. I was pretty sure I knew. His uncle had gotten to him after yesterday’s fiasco, and he wanted to end our friendship. Our relationship. Whatever it was that we were.
    I washed my face with cold water and slathered cream on my legs. After last night’s flare up, I was thinking stress might have something to do with it. I slipped on black fitted athletic pants, a tank top and hoodie. I brushed my hair until it was smooth and pulled it back.
    The last thing I could do was eat breakfast. My stomach was twisted up in a ball so tight, I couldn’t fit a peanut in there. But I also didn’t want to faint in front of Tor because of low blood sugar. I’d already suffered enough personal humiliation to last a lifetime. I drank a glass of orange juice and then brushed my teeth. Twenty minutes passed. I took a deep breath and headed out.
    Tor was there when I arrived. He leaned against the rock, staring out at the bay. The sight of him took my breath away, and thinking about losing him so soon after I’d finally got him, felt like a slap in the face. I was still trying to shake off the emotional residue from my dreams. I swallowed hard and wrapped my arms around my stomach. Hold it together, Dori.
    “Hey,” he said when he saw me.
    Instead of keeping his distance, he surprised me by rushing over and wrapping his arms around me. “You look like you could use a hug,” he said.
    That was all it took. I started sobbing like a baby. “I don’t know what is wrong with me, Tor. I’m some kind of freak.”
    “Well, if you’re a freak, I don’t know what that makes me.”
    He kissed my forehead and I melted into him. Relief washed over me. This was not how a guy acted just before he was about to break up with you.
    “I wanted to do this last night, but with your family all over you, I didn’t want to intrude.”
    Oh, please, intrude away!
    He took my hand and we climbed up on the rocks together. The sun peeked through the morning fog and I let the warmth of it calm me.
    “I think I know what’s going on with you.”
    “Really?” I was dying to know. “What?”
    “You’re going to think it’s crazy.”
    “I already think I’m crazy.”
    “Remember when you asked me if a merperson has ever fallen in love with a human before?”
    “Um, yes.”
    “I did some genealogy research of my kind last night. Apparently, it happened a couple generations ago. Here in Eastcove.”
    I shook my head. “I don’t get it. What’s that got to do with me?”
    “I think you’re one of us.”
    What? Stop the train. Did he just say what I thought he said? “Come again?”
    “I think you are a descendant of that coupling. That’s why you can swim beyond normal human abilities and hold your breath for so long.”
    “As much as I’d love to be a mermaid,” I said without facetiousness. I’d been fantasizing about that ever since my awkward talk with Dex. “There seems to be one obvious flaw.” I pointed to my legs. “No tail.”
    “Yet,” he said softly. Then he reached up to my face. I thought he was about to pull me into a kiss when, instead he rubbed his hands behind my ears. Over the bumps!
    I jerked away, mortified. I couldn’t believe he’d just felt the acne behind my ears!
    “I’m sorry, Dori,” he said, noting my