Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Kenan holds my stare. Warm brown against pale lifeless blue. “What was it about?”
“Nothing,” I shake my head, leaning down to pick up my bag and throwing it over my shoulder. “Nothing at all.”
I make my way toward the pool, where Perse is already doing laps. After my shake up with Kenan, I don’t feel like being in a pool of water and vulnerable, so I zip up my Abercrombie hoodie and slide my sandals back onto my feet. I’m almost certain the LED neon lights from the pool are only intensifying the white of my linen short shorts too, making my skin appear darker.
“You not coming in?” Perse asks, brushing her wet long red hair away from her face.
I shake my head.
“Come on…” she teases. “Then we can go for a drink and chill out for the rest of the night.” Perse is tenacious with her friendships.
I groan. She’s right. I do need to release some stress, especially after that encounter with Killian.
I start undressing, tossing my clothes onto one of the sunbeds and kicking off my sandals.
“Atta girl.” Perse chuckles.
I slip into the water, flinching at the coldness. Tying my hair into a topknot, I keep my attention on Perse.
“What’s the matter?” she asks, obviously sensing something is off.
I lick my lips. “I’ve just, I guess been thinking about my parents a lot on this trip. It was something that we had spoken about doing one day.”
Perse nods. “I know that I don’t know much about you.” She swims closer and takes a seat beside me on the inside edge of the pool. “But I’m here if you ever need to talk. I know that you have Callan and Kenan—”
I snort. “I don’t know about Callan, but I know I can sort of trust Kenan.”
Perse ties her hair into a low messy bun. “Well, I’m glad you’re smart.”
The neon lights that line the inside of the pool light up our bodies underneath, and just as I open my mouth, Callan starts laughing loudly from the other side of the deck.
“I might put her on the hoops with Maya.”
My eyes pop open. “Really?” I’m shocked that Perse is wanting to put Callan with the others.
Perse gauges my reaction, kicking up onto the side of the pool. “Would you prefer that?”
I look at her, shocked. “She doesn’t bother me.”
“Oh, I know.” Perse glances out to Callan, where she’s sitting beside Killian, King, and Kyrin. Without trying, I find Killian, who is already watching me from beneath hooded eyelids. My chest flutters when I catch him staring. “I just know that she feels a certain way about you, and if that makes you uncomfortable being around her, I can move her. She’s a great dancer, but you’re better.”
I shrug, snatching my eyes away from Killian before he sucks me into the vortex of whatever it is that he’s trying to get me into. “I’m sure. All the shade that she throws my way doesn’t touch me.”
“Good.” Perse taps my leg. “Forget the laps. Let’s go eat.”
“Zaika, come down here, please. Stop climbing that tree!” my father bellowed from across the perfectly manicured grass. I liked climbing trees. At seven years old, I already knew that when I finally own my own house, without bossy parents, I will be planting one gigantic tree that branches off purely for my pleasure. I love to climb.
I giggled, turning around to face Mama and Papa. Mama looked worse today. Worse than she did last week. My smile fell. I knew she was sick. Papa had said that she didn’t have long to go. She got the cancer bug and apparently, that was a bad bug to catch because doctors didn’t know how to cure it yet. I cried every night and prayed that it turned into a normal bug. One that made her cough and sniffle instead of wither.
I climbed down the tree and skipped to where Papa and Mama were standing.
“We made some lemonade, Zaika,” Mama had said, gesturing into the house. I trolley’d through, passing the kitchen and going straight for the sitting room. I kicked off my shoes and started twirling my hair around my finger.
“Zaika,” Papa said, kneeling down in front of me. His eyes were like mine. Bright blue. Papa said that we were descendants of mermaids, which is why our eyes were the color of the Atlantic ice. “After this lemonade, I am going to need you to pack a bag. You won’t need it yet, but I need you to pack one for an emergency. Can you do that, Zai? For Papa? For Mama?”
My eyebrows creased in confusion, but I raised the glass to my lips and took a sip. Nodding my head. “Yes, I can. But why?”
Papa’s wrinkles around his eyes crinkled. “That’s not important right now, princess. Right now what is important is that you pack your bag.”