Free Beyond the Sea by Emily Goodwin

him.” She knew Barbies were some sort of dolls. Having a big merfamily used to be a dream of hers… “What about Adam, is he a good brother too?”
    “Sometimes. He picks on me, but he doesn’t let anyone else.”
    “So he’s the only one who gets to pick on you.”
    “Right!” She involuntarily moved her head. “Oops!”
    “It’s ok, just pick something straight ahead and look at it.” It worked; Ava stayed completely still the rest of the time Melia braided her hair. She walked Ava inside.
    “Have fun!” Peter told the twins. “Thanks for doing that,” he said to Melia, wondering if he should hold her hand while they walked back to the car.
    “You’re welcome. I used to do…all the little girls’ hair at the, uh, school I used to volunteer at.”
    “You do volunteer work?”
    “Yea, with Jamie. There’s a lot of sadness in this world.” That was the hardest part of living on land. Under the sea, no one was homeless, no one did drugs and no one went hungry. Land dwellers were selfish, not wanting to share with anyone, only out for themselves. Melia shook her head. “I enjoy helping others, but helping out at the animal shelter is my favorite.”
    He opened the door for her again. Once the car hit the road, Melia flipped through radio stations. She settled on a local hip-hop channel.
    “Really? Everything else about you is perfect, and you listen to this awful music?” Peter joked.
    Melia didn’t get the joke at first until she saw his smile. She laughed. “Guilty. Why, what do you like?”
    “This,” he responded, pressing a button and turning up the volume. “Alternative or rock, mostly.”
    “I don’t think I’ve heard this.”
    “You’ve never heard Awolnation?”
    “Who?”
    Peter laughed. “This is a good song, just listen. I think you’ll like it.”
    Melia nodded and looked at Peter. She liked the way the wind moved his hair, the way he tapped the steering wheel in tempo with the music, the way his eyes danced when he looked at her. As if he could read her mind, he glanced over and smiled, causing the butterflies to become active again. Feels more like tiny fish , Melia thought. She wondered what his skin felt like, if it was hot like Jamie’s.
    “Are your parents home yet?” Peter asked, and then realized it sounded like he was trying to get Melia alone.
    “No,” she sighed. “My mom called and said they won’t be back until Thursday now.”
    “You sound disappointed. I would be happy if my parents went away.”
    “I get lonely in that big house. Charles is there, but only until after dinner.”
    “Who’s Charles?”   Wait, was that a spark of jealousy Peter had felt? He knew Melia had no surviving siblings , so who was this Charles? Yes, he had to admit, it was jealousy.
    “He’s our cook. But he’s more like my friend.”
    “Sweet. Is that who made us breakfast yesterday?”
    “Yea. Isn’t he good?”
    Peter nodded, wishing he had a personal chef. He stole another glance at Melia. She had her head tilted back, enjoying the wind in her hair. Janet always complained about her hair getting messed up when the top was down. The smile returned to his face, staying there the rest of the night.

    *

    “Who did your hair, Ava, it’s pretty,” Sue asked during a late dinner.
    Peter’s hand froze, his fork hovering over his plate, the precariously balanced heap of rice threatening to tumble off. He had a similar talk with Ava as he did Adam.
    “Melia,” she said, grinning at what she thought was her wit.
    “Who’s Melia?”
    “A really pretty girl I met after school.” She looked right at Peter as she spoke, proud of her non-lying lie.
    “Oh. And Peter, why were you letting your sister talk to strangers?”
    “She’s not a stranger, Mom. She goes to my school. It’s Edward VanBurren’s daughter. I have a few classes with her.”
    “Hm.” Sue looked at Peter’s father, wanting him to take over the questioning.
    “And why was she hanging around a