Mer Tales 01 - Everblue

call, just when I was about to hit delete if I heard her voice again. Caller ID said it was none other than Georgia.
    Great.
    If I let it ring, she’d just keep calling and eventually fill up my voice mailbox. And, just in case Tatchi called, I didn’t want to shut my phone off.
    “ You rang?” I said in a monotone voice.
    “ Ashlyn! Where have you been? I’ve like called a million times—” I held the receiver away from my ear at a more comfortable decibel. “—are you there?”
    “ Yes. What’s up?”
    “ Oh my gosh. I have news. Big news. Are you ready?” She took a huge breath, then giggled. “After you left practice, Callahan came over and asked me for—”
    “— my phone number, I know.”
    I smiled at her sudden silence.
    “ You know already? Did he call? What did he want?”
    I felt bad for stealing her thunder, but after knowing she’d left ten messages, I wasn’t in the mood for her usual chirpy chatter.
    “ He called to ask me to Senior Ball,” I said, my stomach rolling around like a cement mixer.
    “ He did?” Georgia squealed. I pinched my eyelids shut as a dull headache formed in my temple. “And what did you say?”
    Telling Georgia the news before I told Tatchi felt like a cardinal sin against our friendship but her sudden absence left me no choice. “I told him I’d go.”
    She squealed again, but her excitement was more grating than thrilling. All I wanted to hear was Tatchi’s more mature enthusiasm on the other line. Drained and suddenly worried about Tatchi, I just wanted to get off the phone.
    “ Georgia, I hate to do this, but I’m really tired. Can we talk about this in the morning?”
    “ Are you kidding me? The cutest guy in school asks you out and you’re tired?”
    “ I know—it’s just been a super long day. Tomorrow, I promise.”
    She pushed out a gust of air, her voice filled with disappointment. “Okay. I guess. Talk to you tomorrow.”
    I hung up and slid onto my floor in a heap, tempted to turn off my phone entirely. My gut quivered in excitement and my heart hurt with worry. The biggest news of my life and the one person I wanted to tell wasn’t home. Where did Tatchi’s family go in such a hurry anyway?
    : : :
    In the morning, I managed to sneak downstairs, snag a piece of toast, and escape before anyone converged in the kitchen. With my swim bag in hand, I pulled on my thick coat and trudged down the street through a dusting of new snow. I’d already decided to take a little detour and walk past Tatchi’s house on the way to the bus stop.
    I stopped and stared at the wood siding for a second, my heart pounding. But no matter what I told myself, it was as far as my feet would could go. Disgusted I couldn’t even knock on the door, I turned to leave when someone tall and blonde walked around the corner, cursing something under his breath.
    I gasped. His electric blue eyes met mine.
    “ Why hello ,” Handsome Boy said, flashing a crooked smile and sauntering towards me. “Can I help you?”
    “ Tatiana,” was all I could mutter, my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth.
    His eyes, deep and cool, sucked me into a watery vortex I wanted to sink into and look at forever. My mind and muscles went numb, like the time I’d secretly drunk Uncle Roger’s beer in the cellar on a bet at the annual family reunion six years ago.
    “ Well, aren’t you fun?” He walked closer and I couldn’t stop staring. “Actually, my loathsome cousin isn’t here and honestly, I hope she never returns.”
    I wanted to be concerned and ask how he could talk about her like that, but his lips, so soft and luscious, called to me to kiss them. I took a step forward. He reached out, about to touch my face when a gruff voice echoed from within Tatchi’s house.
    “ Colin! Did you find those darn keys yet?”
    Handsome Boy turned his face away from me and frowned—breaking the spell. “No. I’ll be there in a second!”
    I tore my eyes away and looked at the ground. The fuzziness began to melt away, drawing me back to clarity. I rubbed my forehead.
    “ Um,” I garbled, “tell her to call Ashlyn when she gets back or whatever—”
    As my senses returned, danger warnings screamed for me to get out of there—now! I stumbled backwards and high tailed it up the hill towards the road without looking back.
    “ Don’t be a stranger, Ashlyn,” Handsome Boy (I could only assume to be named Colin) called after me with a voice rich like chocolate.
    My throat