Mer Tales 01 - Everblue

tempted to stretch up and kiss his neck. Instead I ran my hand over his muscled chest on top of his jersey as he held me close. “Of course.”
    He released me, was down the hall, and around the corner before I knew it. I leaned up against my locker to regain my composure. Maybe I could break plans with Georgia, beg Mom for a ride, and catch the tail end of the game.
    Tardy for practice, I ran across the pool deck and took a spot next to Georgia in the sea of bodies laying, eyes closed, on the cement wearing their street clothes. They were listening to coach run through a visualization exercise. Normally we had practice the day before a meet, but today, for some reason, Coach cancelled it.
    “ Where were you?” Georgia whispered, jabbing me with her big toe.
    “ Sh-h-h.” I pushed her away and checked to make sure Coach didn’t see us talking.
    I closed my eyes, already versed in the routine. We were supposed to be timing our race, but no matter how hard I tried, my thoughts reverted back to Saturday night. Twirling on the dimly lit dance floor and gazing up into the eyes of the one I adored, hoping to coax a kiss. Instead of brown eyes, blue ones, clear as a sunny day in Tahoe, looked back at me. Fin’s as he held me close.
    A pang of dread hit my stomach. His family still hadn’t returned—each day making me crazy with worry. What could possibly have happened that they’d abandon their business? Another man with white hair and beard who frequented the building, told my mom Captain Jack’s was closed indefinitely. Was Tatchi and Fin never coming home?
    I felt sick. And Colin, though breathtakingly gorgeous, the vibe I’d gotten from our two interactions made my internal warning bells sound off. I didn’t entirely trust myself around him to ask what happened.
    Without them in my life I felt empty.
    Startled at the sudden rustling of feet and backpacks scuffing across the pavement, I opened my eyes. I’d missed Coach Madsen’s dismissal.
    “ Good work, everyone,” she barked out. “I want each of you to eat a dinner loaded with carbs tonight and practice the visualization before you go to bed, early! I’ll see you all at eight o’clock sharp. Eat breakfast!”
    Georgia stood over me with one hand clutching her gym bag and the other on her hip. “Come on, let’s go.”
    I rose to my feet and grabbed my things in the process. She looped her arm within mine, pulling me toward the gym doors faster than I wanted to walk.
    : : :
    We arrived at her house and Georgia promptly whisked me upstairs to her room. The attached bathroom (that I totally drooled over) resembled a hair salon with oodles of products strewn across the counter. In her room, hair magazines were scattered across her bed and she plopped me down in front of them.
    “ Pick a style you like.”
    I thumbed through a few pages, but the busyness of her room distracted me. Every inch of her walls contained a pin-up of either a hot movie star or boy band, half of which I’d never heard of. The rest of her childhood collections were stored on shelves that hung a foot below the ceiling: dusty birthday figurines, ballerinas in boxes and teddy bears galore.
    I focused back on the pages and finally found a girl with hair similar to mine. Loose ringlets fell gracefully around the model’s shoulders with a few tendrils pulled up and piled on her head. “What about this one?”
    Georgia turned from the mirror with a lipstick tube in hand. Her bright red lips parted into a smile. “That’s awesome. Let’s try it.”
    She coaxed me into the bathroom, forcing me to sit on the porcelain throne.
    “ So,” she said while sucking on a lollypop, curling iron in hand, “have you kissed him yet?”
    “ What?” I bit my lip as my cheeks heated up. Not only had I never been kissed, but the thought of finding some dark corner at school to make-out in made me nauseous. The last thing I wanted was Georgia to know the embarrassing truth about my lack of experience. “We haven’t really had the opportunity.”
    “ Seriously? Well, I’d be making the opportunity, girlfriend,” she said sexily. “And quick ’cause you don’t want to lose this fish. Besides, I hear he’s an ah-maz-ing kisser.”
    The thought of him kissing other girls and knowing they’d bragged about it made my chest hurt. “Really? Who said that?” I asked, shifting in my seat.
    “ Just the talk. Hold still.”
    I looked down at the magazine in my hands, desperate for something