Blue and Gold Eyes

Part 10 - Ursa

By the time it was noon I was hyper. Running around the house checking my hair, my clothes. It's not like this a date! Agni, is this a date?

"Ursa, calm down," Mum instructs. "Leave your hair loose and wear your swimsuit under that red dress. Stop fussing and for La's sake, put some shoes on!"

I'm so glad Mum's here to help. It's like she was born to be a mother, she's so good.

"Now, what's the matter?" she coos.

"Well, yesterday Kai and I were having a water fight when this boy, he thought Kai was beating me up, came to my rescue but started fighting Kai with two younger teens. Kai and I beat them but we all worked out it was a big misunderstanding and made friends. The boy who came to my rescue is called Shen, he's 19, we got to talking a bit and now I'm meeting up with him today." I blurt out.

Mum nods.

"This... Shen, he's the boy from the cove yesterday, wasn't he?"

I nod.

"And you're meeting him alone?"

I nod again.

"So what does he look like close up?" she asks.

"He's tall, more tanned than the average person from the capital, dark hair that curls slightly at the tips and these fiery amber-coloured eyes," I can picture him vividly.

"Well, it seems you're hooked." Mum shrugs. "Be back by sunset or else I'm sending your brother after him."

She stares at me with a stern expression before we both burst into laughter. Kai squeals at the sight of jellyfish and spends way too much time admiring himself in the mirror. He is the type of boy that is always laughing and causing trouble. Kai doesn't cause fear.

We stand up and she walks me to the door still grinning. She taps me on my shoulder and send me on my way.

The sun is nearly at its peak so I run to the cove where I am supposed to be meeting Shen. He's already there waiting so I sit next to him on the sand.

He smiles in greeting and for a while we just watch the people on the far beach. After a while he pretends to yawn and tries to put his arm around my shoulder. I laugh and push him off.

"So..." I stop watching the waves and turn to him. "What are our plans for today?" he asks.

I smirk.

"How well can you swim?"

Without listening for his reply I start running up to the edge of the cliff, yanking off my dress as I go.

Once I reach the top, I turn and grin at him once more before jumping off. The last thing I see is his startled face face before I scream in exhilaration.

The wind whips past me and the rushing air steals the scream from my throat. With an almighty splash I cannonball into the ocean.

I stay under the surface once I hit the water. There's something so innately soothing about being completely surrounded by water. When you can't see the top or the bottom and you're isolated from any other living thing there's something just otherworldly about it. Surreal. But then I run out of breath.

When I resurface I look up to see Shen's no longer on the cliff. Just as I'm about to shout for him I'm dragged back under the water causing me to splutter and gasp for air when I come back up. Turning around I see Shen grinning down at me.

He laughs and drags me back under.

Kai

I'm wandering around the beach when the man taps on my shoulder. He interrupts my debate on following Ursa or not.