resurface

9

Ivy caught them by surprise.

Not just because it was dark and they didn't see her coming, although that certainly worked to her advantage. It was what she did when she got to them. She punched the first guy right in the face, so hard that he lost his balance and went down on one knee. Then she launched herself at the next guy, tackling him to the ground, pushing his face into the dirt and taking shots at his kidneys.

The third guy moved for her and I was still too far away to help. I screamed her name.

She didn't react, but he froze, black mask swiveling in my direction.

Ivy took advantage, swung her foot around and kicked him hard in the shin. He stumbled back a few steps and then turned and ran.

The first guy, back on his feet, pushed Ivy. She landed on her side in the dirt, and he grabbed his friend and the two of them followed.

I reached her as she was pulling herself up. She had dirt on the side of her face and she'd bitten her lip as she went down, but otherwise she was the same.

"I hadn't realized Seaside was so dangerous," she said. She was smiling though, like it wasn't an unwelcome discovery.

I looked back at the beach, the direction they had gone. The truth was, I hadn't either.

Grady groaned and rolled over onto his back. "The hoodlums must be new," he said.

"What'd they take?" Ivy said, moving to his side.

"Wallet, phone, watch, and..." he wiggled his feet. His shoes were gone.

Ivy offered him a hand, he took it and she pulled him up. "Smart hoodlums. That would keep you from chasing them."

"I thought my surrender was pretty obvious." Grady started to laugh, but then winced and touched his jaw.

"How is it?" Ivy asked, and I took a step closer. The left side looked bigger and more square than the right. Definitely swollen. He also had a cut under his right eye, and that side of his face was going to bruise.

I stood still, trying to make sense of what I'd seen. Three of them, all in black, with masks. It was clearly planned. They could have even been laying in wait for Grady specifically. I knew where his house was and could have guessed the route he'd take to go home. Only Ivy's name that stopped them. Even with her surprise and clear skill when it came to fighting, they could have taken us. I suppressed a shiver.

They had to be locals. Summer kids didn't need to steal from one of their own.

"You're going to need to learn some basic self defense," Ivy added. Her lip was red, maybe from the slap she'd taken. "So you can defend yourself next time."

"You going to teach me?" he asked. It looked like he might start laughing again, but he stopped himself.

"Know anyone else feeling charitable?"

"I suppose I deserve that," he said, brushing himself off. Then he smiled. It looked lopsided on his swollen face. "I'll have to take that like a man. I have a feeling an excuse about it being three on one won't be very convincing."

"Yeah, don't even try." She looked at me. "I'll teach you too, Emma."

"No one's going to beat me up for my wallet," I said. "I'm a local."

"What does that mean?"

I looked at Grady. He didn't sound happy. He sounded almost annoyed, and at me. My chest felt tight as a pang of guilt moved through it, but I squared my shoulders. "My wallet doesn't have anything worth stealing."

"Who cares?" Ivy said as she started walking back to the road. Both Grady and I followed. "It's about being prepared. We can't just prowl around at night unprepared."

"Why are we prowling?" I asked.

"We have to avenge Grady's manhood," she said, shooting me a grin.

Grady's eyes got wide and his smile was back. He even looked upbeat. "We can wear costumes and have code names!"

"Like superheroes?" I asked, not really meaning it.

"Exactly!" Grady said. "We'll have to think about our next steps carefully though, this is our origin story. I want to be Galahad!"

I gave him a sideways look.

"No? Oh come on, Emma, it stands for justice and chivalry." I didn't think any knight from King Arthur's round table would be caught dead in Seaside. "Okay, maybe something a little less literary," Grady added when I didn't respond.

Ivy was quiet, and I had an image of the three of us sneaking around in the dark, wearing all black and moving from shadow to shadow. It would be more age appropriate than reviving the games of manhunt we had played with Macon and Dan when we were kids.

I wondered if it would happen and shivered in anticipation from a mix of excitement and nerves. Ivy must have noticed because she handed me her jacket. I slid into it, the cotton soft with wear, smelling faintly of cigarettes and expensive perfume.

"Emma is The Lone Blond, you're Sir Smilesalot, and I'm Dead Girl," she said, breaking the silence.

I almost swallowed my tongue and then had a coughing fit.

Ivy slapped me on the back. "Relax, it's a joke."

"I like the direction," Grady said without missing a beat. "But those code names might be too easy for people to figure out are true identities. Not really too many girls who were presumed dead running around."

Ivy shrugged. "It's a work in progress. Emma is the brains, I'm the muscle, and you're the looks."

"I'm supposed to be the brains!" he said. "Conspiracy theories are my forte, and clearly Emma has to be the looks."

Before I could ask what that meant, Ivy waved her hand and said. "Whatever you want, Sir Smilesalot."

Grady clapped. "Excellent!"

"Don't get too excited," she added. "Too many people here know Emma so you'll still have to be the bait."

"Well, then. Let the lessons start tonight!"

I started to protest.

"Tomorrow," Ivy corrected. "Tonight we're going to a party and you're coming too."

I pulled the jacket around me tighter. Grady wasn't hard to convince, even without shoes. Probably because he was already planning on that before he got beat up. He and Jamie were in the same crowd.

As we kept walking, I had a feeling that between the two of them I'd bitten off more than I could handle. There was an underlying sense of humor to this conversation, but the way it was headed made it sound like they really did want to prowl around and look for three guys in black masks.

I had no interest in that. Especially when I had a good idea of who we'd find.

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Thank you for reading! I'd love to hear what you think. Can you guess who Emma will find?