Enchanted by a Siren

Chapter 6: Jealousy

They finally arrived at the beach and Zen was so happy when she saw that it really was a quiet beach. Joy filled her at the sight of the ocean that stretched for as far as the eye could see. She had to dig her nails into her palms to keep herself from running straight into it.

Toby was already there, but his face grew distant at the sight of her getting out of the car with Calum by her side. She really wished he’d just ask her out so she could tell him straight to his face that she wasn’t interested in dating anybody, especially not Calum. 

Just as the thought passed through her mind Calum walked past her to get his surfboard from the roof rack and flashed her a gorgeous smile. She was surprised to find herself blushing. Boys usually didn’t look at her like that, because of her blue hair they normally thought she was interesting for about two point five seconds before finding a more traditionally attractive girl to dote over. It was only because he was enchanted, she reminded herself.

He came up next to her with his board and held his hand out for her to take. “Shall we?” 

She stared down at it, she had never held a boy’s hand before. She wasn’t sure she wanted to start with this one, but on the other hand pissing off Toby might get him off of her tail faster than she had hoped.

She took his hand and was surprised at how soft and warm it felt, almost comforting, not that she would ever admit it to herself. They walked to where Toby was and the residue of salt water on the sand burned her skin, making her magic leap within her.

“Hey Dude, I thought I’d ask Zen along since she doesn’t really know anyone yet. Hope that’s cool?” Calum explained as they reached his friend. Toby's face was still sullen.

“Is she going to be surfing?” He inquired with a dirty look at Calum.

“No, I’m just going to watch, if that’s okay?” Zen interjected, annoyed with Toby for acting like he had some kind of claim on her.

“Yeah, that's fine. Then you can watch me kick Calum's a*s.” Toby said with a smirk.

“Oh, you wish.” Calum laughed throwing his beach towel open. “For you, Milady.” Calum gestured towards the towel.

“Well, mine is bigger. It would be way more comfortable.” Toby protested, laying his own towel out on the sand, making sure to put it a few feet away from Calum's. Zen's eyes darted between the two boys who were exchanging looks.

“Thanks guys, but I actually wanted to just walk a bit and look around.” She said, cringing at having them be so territorial over her. Why couldn’t she ever just be friends with boys?

“Of course, they will be here if you need them.” Calum offered before making his way into the waves and leaving her in an awkward silence with Toby. He opened his mouth to speak, but after a moment’s hesitation just followed Calum into the water instead.

Zen watched as they made their way into the onslaught of waves, jumping over and diving under when necessary. She couldn’t help but notice how Calum’s back muscles moved as he made his way into the ocean. She had to admit, he was good looking by anyone's standards. It was clear from his broad shoulders and toned back that he was a swimmer. He was surprisingly well built for someone his age and the whole surfer look didn't hurt either.

She broke her eyes away from Calum as he disappeared underneath another wave and looked around, scanning the beach on either side of her. To her right she could see people dotting the sand a few miles away. There was some kind of structure that looked like it could be a type of tiki bar, just off the sand, that was garnering all the attention from pedestrians.

To her left the beach seemed to stretch on forever and ever, about a mile away there were some rocks and boulders that made a path straight out into the ocean. It was the perfect place to go looking for small fish and hermit crabs like she knew many humans enjoyed doing. For the moment there was no one in sight and for that reason, she decided to start towards the left, searching for any traces of what she was looking for.

Little did she know eyes were scanning the beach from the darkness where they were hidden. Careful not to look at her long enough that she would realize someone was watching, but keeping her within peripheral vision at all times. Careful not to lose track of her, which wasn't all that hard since her blue hair did nothing to hide her among the humans.

Toby caught up to Calum, who was already on his surfboard, waiting for a good wave to come by. “Why didn’t you ask me to invite her?” Toby demanded as he got to Calum’s side.

“Come on, Man. It just kind of happened.” Calum replied defensively, annoyed that Toby was making this into something it wasn't.

“Look, I told you I like her and you didn’t say you had any interest.” Toby argued, clearly not willing to drop it.

“Why should I? Besides, I didn’t have any interest in that at that exact moment, but things can change.” Calum defended himself, trying to steady his weight on his surfboard.

“What do you mean? Did something happen between you two?” Toby asked with raised brows, making no effort to keep the accusation out of his voice.

“No, okay. I don’t know how to explain it. I just can’t stop thinking about her.” Calum replied, he couldn't believe Toby was being like this. He was acting like Calum made out with his girl, which Zen definitely wasn't.

“Look, I'd just like a fair chance to ask her out.” Toby chided, looking away from Calum at an oncoming wave.

“Then ask her out.” Calum dared.

“Maybe I will.” Toby spat.

“Good, maybe I will too.” Calum challenged, turning his surfboard around and paddling hard to take the next wave.

“What?” Toby said in disbelief, forgetting about the wave as Calum paddled off.

Zen was walking down the beach, stopping every few yards to dig in the sand. She kept an eye on the boys and watched as Calum took wave after wave, while Toby was struggling to get one to stick.

She stooped down again and thrust her hands into the sand, observing the particles between her fingers. The sand on her hands and feet were causing them to go slightly red, as if she was having a mild allergic reaction. It didn't bother her at all since she knew exactly what it was, she also knew that it would go away as soon as her skin fully dried. 

All the same, she was careful not to let any other part of her body touch the sand, otherwise she ran the risk of someone noticing the unusual reaction it caused. She supposed it wasn't that big a deal, she could just say it was allergies, but then they would try to give her medication and that never ended well. 

She longed to just throw her cares into the wind and run straight into the water. Body surfing with Calum and Toby, but she didn't think they would take it well, her popping up next to them looking... Different.

Everywhere around her were traces of her kind, so small that no human would ever notice it if they didn't know what they were looking for. It was present on every beach she had ever been on. In the sand, hidden in plain sight, extremely tiny pieces of skin that looked like holographic dust. 

Scientists who study the composition of sand never thought much of it since sand is mostly just ground up shells and many shells posses a holographic quality. It is the kind of thing you have to have seen for yourself to recognize and it made her sad to know that the answers she wanted were so close, yet so impossibly far away.

They say that mankind are more likely to find the end of the universe than see into the depths of the ocean and thinking about it Zen couldn't help but marvel at the irony of it all. So much unknown here on earth, yet they were determined to find life on Mars. 

She looked back to where the boys were still playing in the waves. Both Calum and Toby were riding waves across the water’s surface. She scanned the beach and the surrounding area. It was a quiet beach, the sand ran from the ocean to the road and across the road houses were lined up in blissful suburbia. 

She couldn’t see the end of the beach in either direction. She'd hoped this might be a safe place for her to release her magic, but though the beach was quiet, it was still way too close to civilization to be safe.

She decided to just start walking in hopes of finding a more secluded area. In any case, she figured the boys wouldn’t notice her absence for a while. She wandered down the beach, getting lost in the beauty of it all, and when she finally stopped she had walked so far that she could no longer make out their small shapes in the water. There was still housing much too close to the beach. So, she just kept going.

Calum came up for air after riding an insane wave almost all the way to the beach. He stood up and the water came up to his hips. His eyes immediately scanned the stretch of sand for Zen, but she wasn’t where they had left her. 

He'd noticed she was walking around on the beach, but he figured she wouldn’t go far and would turn around if she lost sight of them. This didn’t seem to be the case since she was nowhere in sight. He swam out and dried off, grabbing his phone before realizing he didn’t even have Zen’s number to call her. 

Toby came up behind him, throwing his surfboard on the sand and shaking the water out of his hair before asking. “Where’d she go?”