Free Deep Blue (The Mermaid Chronicles Book 1) by J Turbett

bit of warmth from her. He knew she wouldn’t be used to their ways, how sometimes they used their electrical field to communicate, but he had expected some kind of immediate reaction. 
                  Alice stared at his unmoving hand. She had been too slow, hadn’t pulled away, and now here he was, touching her. Was it so hard to just be left alone? Alice bristled, the boy jerked his hand away, and the lights in the diner flickered. The boy glanced up worriedly, but no one in the diner really noticed the sudden power surge.
                  “I didn’t mean to o-offend you,” he said, stumbling over words he wasn’t used to saying aloud. “You can’t use that much current. It’s dangerous among humans.” Alice stared at him sideways. What was this guy doing here, anyway?
                  “I-I-I wanted to bid you w-welcome. I-I thought you might…enjoy…company…a guide, maybe?” Alice just stared at him. Yes, this must be what anger felt like. It had been so long that she had felt anything, let alone anger. “Maybe we could g-go for a s-swim sometime?” he said hopefully. She shook her head slowly from one side to the other, trying once again to shake away the dream from the night before. Anger lead nowhere. In the beginning there had been more anger and sadness then her body could handle. Alice had learned to cope and replaced all emotion with a state of persistent apathy. She receded back into it now, trying to keep the breaking glass and the smell of the sea out of her head.
    Kendall watched her, waiting for her to respond. He sat awkwardly for a minute, "Uh...I guess you know where to find me," he said as the silence stretched on, then stood and stumbled to the door. Alice watched him go. Finally, when she knew the mer were gone, she let out a sigh and returned to her meal. The anger faded once more and she was Alice again, or at least what passed for Alice these days. She was alone again.
    Alice was almost finished when the diner bell rang again. A young man swaggered into the diner. Somehow he moved in a manner as sarcastic as the expression that seemed to permanently stain his face. He nodded toward the owner behind the bar, who looked completely shocked to see him. Several other patrons watched him, curiously whispering as he walked by. The entire diner was alive with an air of surprise. All eyes followed the teenager.
    The whispering of the patrons was so obvious that even Alice turned to look. At least there was one thing today that people seemed more interested in than her. The boy walking in wasn't much older than David. His hair was short but stuck almost straight up. Though he certainly resembled Finn, his features were softer and his eyes darker. He had a permanent look of amusement on his face and it didn't change as the people around him whispered. Alice heard an old fisherman behind her whispering to his wife.
                  "Both Caraway boys back at the same time?"
                  "It's not normal," his wife replied.
                  "Something fishy's going on," he agreed. All the whispers in the room couldn't stop Tommy from moving forward. Of course, whose booth did he come to but Alice’s? Now the room was completely abuzz, wondering aloud about the long-lost teenage millionaire and the new girl from the States.
                  “Where could she have met him?” “Why would he be interested in her?” “Tommy’s been gone for months.”
    It went on and on, and her headache returned as quickly as her temper.
                  "So you're the new girl," the boy said. She stared at him with narrowed eyes.
                  “What do you want?”
                  “Your hand, of course.” He smirked, putting an open hand up on the table, offering it to her. She jerked away like it was a poisonous snake. “No? Well, now that that’s done.” He pulled his hand back.