Stuck (On Hiatus)

Chapter 32

As the sunlight streams into the windows, I open my eyes experimentally.
The first thing I see are beautiful russet brown eyes looking back at me.
I smile and snuggle a little closer into Jason's side, enjoying the warmth.
"Good morning." He kisses me the nape of my neck, igniting butterflies in my stomach.
"Did we–?"
"Yep." He seems perfectly at ease with that fact. Then his eyes meet mine.
"You ok? Did I hurt you?"
His tone is rushed as though he's suddenly worried about nothing else in the world but me.
And my heart swells.
"No, you didn't." I kiss him, shifting my position so I can get closer.
"I love you." He says.
And then he looks away, blushing.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Sorry, that was sudden."
"No, it wasn't, it–"
Sighing, I give up on trying to explain with words and instead press my lips to his.
"I love you too. I shouldn't, but–"
He frowns, prepping for the worst.
"I do." I finish.
His face lights up.
He presses me to him and flashes of last night come back. My skin against his, the taste of him still stuck on my lips, his–
"C'mon. We should head downstairs before your sister catches us."
I shake myself out of my trance.
"Keeping us a secret, now huh?" He teases.
I blush bright red.
"No.....yes....just.....god you are so frustrating!"
He laughs.
"You do realize that your sister will have a heart attack if she finds us?"
Jason frowns but he nods.
I open the door cautiously to see if anyone is in the hallway. With the hallway clear, I immediately dash into my bedroom and grab a clean change of clothes.
The smell of something cooking drove me downstairs, and I sat down next to a freshly showered Derek.
"Good morning!" He energetically takes a bite of his pancakes.
Lily turns bright red as she sets the orange juice on the table. She sits down slowly, and pops two green pills into her mouth.
Sipping water, she sighs and smiles at my watching eyes.
"You look better." I say.
"I feel better." She replies.
Then she pauses.
"Were either of you up in the middle of the night?"
Both Derek and I freeze.
"Why would you ask?" Derek says.
"I found broken glass on the floor this morning.
I lower my head in shame.
"Yes, I apologize. That was me. I–sort of had a panic attack last night."
"From what?" Jason is suddenly sitting next to me, concern lacing his tone.
I do notice that he takes my hand in his, under the table to prevent anyone from seeing.
"It is a common myth among our people."
I begin to say.
"The call of the sea." Derek finishes, quietly.
"A innate genetic pull that originates from the olden times. When our ancestors left land for the sea, they created a pull that was thus distributed into all of their descendants. It's–a.....kind of song. That plays over and over. Until our kind return to the sea. It's......been known to drive some merpeople to madness."
I finish with sideways glance at Derek.
"It's probably what drove Mrs. A to poison you, Lily."
Lily grimaces and takes another swig of orange juice.
"And there's no cure?" Jason eyes Derek carefully.
"As long that merperson returns to the ocean." Derek's voice trails off, as if he is considering the implications of such a myth.
"But it's only a fairy tale."
"What I heard last night was not a fairy tale." A muscle in Derek's jaw feathers.
I take his hand and squeeze it, afraid that he'll break something from the painful memory if I don't.
"Today is your last day." Jason looks as though the realization has just set in.
"Yes it is."
The jovial mood that automatically filled the air before the conversation even started now dissipates with each lingering moment.
"So what should we do to make your last day here memorable before you go?"
Lily tries for a smile.
I shrug.
Derek does too.
Then a loud knock on the door startled us all and Lily instantly pops up from her seat.
"I'll get it."
We hear the door being opened and then someone loudly proclaims "LILY!!! HII!!"
I sheepishly turn in my seat, apologetic for eavesdropping.
"Jason! Guys, this is my friend Marissa."
Marissa, a tall, beautiful dark-skinned woman with long dark curls waves at us from behind Lily.
"She's.....ummm....helping me move."
"Wait, what?!?"
Lily flinches at Jason's tone.
"You're leaving?"
"Today is my last day of break. Tomorrow is first semester!"
I have no idea what that means but from what it sounds like, it isn't good.
"When were you going to tell me?"
Jason leaps up from his seat at the table.
Lily sighs.
"I didn't want you to think I was abandoning you. But Jase, I have to go. Mom and Dad will be home soon."
"Cuz they're home all the time."
Jason grumbles.
Lily sighs again.
"That's fine, Jase. Be mad at me. But you're going to have to leave for college someday anyway."
She and Marissa ascend the steps to Lily's room, their voices growing more faint with each step.
Jason storms out in a huff.
"Geez." Derek says after a few seconds.
"Yeah." I heave a sigh and help Derek in cleaning up the breakfast leftovers.
Just as we finish, the phone rings.
"I got it!" I say, and press the talk button.
"Hello?"
"Oh Tali! How are you? We were just thinking of you guys!"
Mrs. Baxter's joyful tone sounds through the phone.
"I'm well. And you?" I say, as politely as I can. "Jason is downstairs, I will go grab him for you."
"Thank you so much dear."
I find Jason and Derek watching TV downstairs in the basement and I hand the phone to Jason.
"It's your parents." I mouth to him.
He nods, takes the phone, and gets up from the couch to find quiet somewhere else.
"Move over."
Derek shifts over and I plop down next to him.
"We need to do something, love."
"Oh yeah, what's that?"
"We have today left, let's go out and–"
"Now in town for only two days, the annual Clearwater Carnival!! Come right on down and enjoy the festivities while you still can!"
The tv blares, interrupting Derek.,
Both of our mouths drop open.
We turn to look at each other.
"That's what we should do." A smile begins to tug at Derek's lips.
"I don't know–"
"C'mon, Tali! It'll be fun! Please?"
Derek pulls a pleading look.
After a moment of decision, I make up my mind.
"Oh, alright. But we only have–"
I glance at the clock on the wall.
"Four hours left!"
"We'll be back before anyone notices we're gone! I promise."
He stands up and offers his hand.
I take it.
"Let's go!"

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Your friend,
Jewels