Friday night, Hazel sat with Maddy at White Beach to watch the sky turn from blue to gray. The sunset was behind them, but after work sometimes it was nice to get fast food and head to the beach. White Beach had been closed for longer than any other coastal spot in town. Even after the algae cleared, extra water samples were taken and cleanup continued. It wasn’t clear why, but with the debris discovered there being hidden away area 51-style, there was plenty of talk.
“Man did I miss this when everything was poisonous and gross…” Maddy stretched and dropped to her back in the sand.
Hazel looked up at the moon in the darkening sky. It was pretty, predictable, shining like a beacon to the people of sleepy towns, bustling cities and run-down slums around the world. It had nothing on the stars, which weren’t quite out yet- Hazel knew every constellation she could see, the North Star and how to find the planets with a telescope.
After an hour or so, the two got back on Maddy’s bike. Warm goodbyes were exchanged at Hazel’s door, a quick shower washed away the smells and sensations of the ocean and the day ended. Of course, there’d be sandy laundry to do in the morning. And there was a shortage of snacks in the house. Not to mention the lingering smell of spilled coffee, still unlocated. She tried not to think about it as she dozed off.
Dark waves. A waning moon. Something smelled smoky, like an electrical fire. Wind blew with enough force to send a person flying as the floor beneath her feet tipped. No longer balanced, Hazel hit the surface of the water. All light faded. A pair of glowing, fish-like eyes seemed to mock her as she sank deeper and deeper. “Stay out…” an enticing voice sang. “Stay out. Stay out. Stay…” When she was too far from the eyes to see their shine, the voice faded. It was replaced by a loud crash- something heavy hitting the sea floor nearby. Despite all that was happening, Hazel could feel no emotions in this terrible dream.
A small, glowing orb appeared at the site of the crash. “Hide,” it whispered, illuminating the side of a sunken ship before darting inside. More eyes came to surround her in the darkness. “Give.” “Hide.” “Out.” “Leave.” “Stay.” “Stop.” Each pair had a different voice and a different command. They circled her, repeating their orders until it dawned on her- she could wake up. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them to find light. The eyes were gone. It was almost as if the dream had ended, except…
She was still underwater. A shark swam by, an oceanic white tip with something in its mouth. The voices, now distant and quieter, began to echo. In all directions, there was nothing but blue emptiness and the shark. She could follow it if she wanted, but was there a point? She closed her eyes again and found herself in a dark void. No longer in the dream, she could tell, but in just another moment…
“You lost your velociraptor!” An anime character leaned in to shout in her face. From lacking control of a bad dream, to lacking control of a normal dream.
“Noo…” she whined.
“Jaws.” “Zombie Cows In Space.” Tristan’s voice and Iggy’s alternated while Rhea played a phone game. She’d done almost nothing in the interest of keeping her cute, floral sundress from pulling on anything in the roughly finished basement. As hard as Iggy had tried to fix it up when he moved downstairs, there were only so many old nails one person could really pull out of the walls. She’d heard the entire drama while school was still in session.
“’Jaws’ is normal! Hazel is normal. It’s better that way.” Iggy held up a dusty DVD case with the iconic shark on the cover.
Tristan folded his arms and sat by Rhea, pouting. “Fine. Be normal. It’s still a bad movie.”
Rhea put a hand on his face and pushed him away. “You can be less dramatic. We’re not gonna watch half of it anyway.”
Iggy loaded the DVD into a prehistoric-looking box near the small, dated TV in the corner of his basement room. An error message displayed on the screen.
“Ig- you sure that thing still works?” Rhea put her phone down and went to check the wires.
“It worked a few weeks ago.”
Rhea pulled one of the cords out of the back of the TV and pointed a finger at a melted hole in the insulation. “What happened here?” Iggy shrugged. “Just like lab then…”
While Rhea fiddled with the DVD player, Tristan set up “Zombie Cows In Space” to play on his laptop. No harm in being prepared. As it turned out, Rhea had been lab partners with Iggy all year. She knew his quirks, that he was also a mer, that he was addicted to chocolate ice cream and what he said his type was. To say the least, he was jealous.
It wasn’t as if Rhea would snipe a cute boy right under his nose- she was decidedly not interested. There was just a part of him that never knew for sure if guys were interested in him or his best friend. Iggy reacted so casually to all of her questions, accusations and even dirty looks. It was possible he was only invited to the event as a courtesy to her.
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