Enchanted by a Siren

Chapter 5: Orphan

Thankfully, Zen wasn’t in any of Calum's other classes that day, though he still couldn’t get her off his mind. Was this what people talked about when they say it was love at first sight? 

He sent his Mother a text to say he was going to go surfing with Toby. She still insisted on picking them up and driving them to the beach. Which he decided would actually be nice, because he had to go home to get his swim trunks and surfboard anyway.

At swim practice, when he finally got to see Zen again, he felt almost relieved at the sight of her. He decided that he would ask her if she wanted to join Toby and himself at the beach afterwards. 

She swam circles around everyone in the team again and even though he couldn't keep his eyes off of her, she was doing an excellent job of ignoring him. When practice was finally over he walked straight up to her and asked. “Do you surf?”

“No, I don’t really… do… the whole ocean thing.” She said with a worried smile.

He couldn’t believe his ears. Someone who loved to swim, yet didn’t like the ocean. How was that even possible? “Are you kidding me? There is nothing better in the world.” He insisted.

“Yeah, I know.” She said apologetically. “Why were you asking though?”

“Well, Toby and I are going surfing after school and I was just wondering if maybe you’d like to come with.” Calum offered with a smile.

“Is it a… private beach?” She asked in hesitation. She needed to find a place that would be safe enough for her to release her magic since the school was clearly not going to work.

He raised his brows at question. Could it be true that she didn’t like the beach because of the amount of people that tended to be on it? It wouldn't really be an issue, since they didn’t frequent the most popular beaches in San Diego, those were for the tourists. No, they liked to keep to the local spots. 

They were going to a little hidden gem that had the perfect surfing waves but it wasn’t really a tan-and-swim kind of beach. “In a way, yeah. Why? Don’t really… do… crowds either?” He teased, mimicking her earlier emphasis of the word ‘do’.

“Something like that…” She said uncertainly. “I would actually like to see where it is.”

“Okay, my Mom is going to pick me up now and just quickly drive me to the house to go get my surfing stuff and then I'm meeting Toby there. You can come with? We can even stop at Ryan’s house if you’d like to change.” Calum offered, hoping she would say yes.

“How about you just pick me up at the Patterson’s place on the way to the beach?” Zen suggested, not too sure that it was a good idea for her to go to Calum’s house.

“Okay, but how are you getting home?” Calum asked with a worried look.

“Don’t stress about it. See you in a bit.” Zen said and she pushed past him before he could protest.

Zen walked back to the Patterson’s house, being very careful to be out of view by the time Calum got in his Mom’s car. She really wasn’t in the mood to argue with him. At least he seemed a bit more back to normal than he had been earlier. 

She couldn’t help but feel that it was her own fault. She had screwed up the commands very badly, but she felt somewhat confident he was ‘unchanted’ now, if you could even call it that.

Thinking about it though… He did still invite her to go surfing with them and she wasn’t sure that the Calum she'd met yesterday would have done that. Toby might have, if he managed to pluck up enough courage, but would Calum have? She couldn't be certain, because the truth was he was still a stranger to her. Maybe she was just overthinking it way too much. He was probably just being nice, because she was the new girl who was living in his friend’s house.

When Calum got home he ran inside and pulled on his swim trunks before his Mom could change her mind about taking him. He ran his fingers through his unruly hair attempting to tame it, but after a few failed attempts he just accepted that today’s style was going to be boho surfer dude. 

He grabbed his surfboard from the garage and made his way to the SUV where his Mom was browsing through her phone waiting for him. Their SUV had a roof rack with adjustable straps, so he could easily slide his surfboard onto the roof rack and secure it with the straps.

He hopped into the SUV. “Can we quickly stop by Ryan’s house to pick someone up?” He didn’t think she’d say no since Ryan’s house was just a stone throw away.

She looked at him quizzically. “Okay, but Ryan’s not there. You do know that, right?” She said with honest concern laced in her words.

“Yeah, Mom. Obviously I know Ryan's not there.” He protested in exasperation.

“Okay, okay, just had to check after last night’s mysterious visit.” She said, starting the SUV. “Did you forget something there that we need to go pick up?”

“No, I just thought I would try to be nice by inviting the new girl who’s staying with Ryan’s family to join us.” He looked ahead as he said it hoping she wouldn’t badger him about it.

“I see, okay, and did last night’s midnight stroll perchance have anything to do with this new girl?” His Mother teased.

“Maybe… But honestly, I don’t know why I did that. I remember meeting her yesterday and I didn’t really think much of her, but last night something changed. Now, she’s all I can think about.” He said, frowning at his own confusion. 

She certainly impressed him at swim practice yesterday, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t why he felt this way about her now. It just kind of happened. One minute nothing and the next… everything.

“I think someone has a little crush.” His Mother said with a wink.

“Mom, please. It’s not like that.” He said, his cheeks turning bright red. “Besides, Toby sort of called dibs. So, he gets to make the first move anyways. I was just trying to be nice.”

“I’m sorry, dibs? Being a woman myself I do not think she will appreciate the idea of someone calling dibs on her affection. You should go for it, if she ends up liking Toby better it would be her own choice. It would be a bad one, but if she returns your feelings then at least you’ll know it was her choice.” She said, gesturing all over the road as if Toby and Zen were standing right in front of her.

She had a good point. Would it really be fair to Zen if he backed off just because Toby decided on some weird medieval rule? He wouldn’t out right go for her in front of Toby, but he certainly didn’t need to back off. “Thanks Mom, maybe you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right!” She said too loudly for the small space. “But Hun, just remember that she is still leaving again in six months so don’t go getting your heart broken, okay?” She smiled affectionately at him. “I don’t think I could survive seeing my baby boy hurt like that.”

“Mom!” He protested in disgust. “I’m not a baby anymore.”

“I know, I know.” She corrected as they turned onto Ryan’s street. “You’ll always be my baby though.”

He rolled his eyes at the window so she wouldn’t see. They pulled into the Patterson’s driveway and Zen was rushing out to meet them before the SUV even came to a stop.

She was wearing an adorable pink beach dress and a strand of her blue hair was clipped up in the front. She got into the backseat and greeted them with a smile. “Zen, this is my Mom, Jenny. Mom, this is Zen.” Calum said, introducing them.

“Hi, Mrs. Gregory. It's nice to meet you.” Zen said politely.

“Oh, please. Call me Jenny, Mrs. Gregory makes me feel so old.” His Mom insisted. “Zen, huh? Were your parents one of those hippy people?” She said with a teasing smile.

“Mom!” Calum said in shock at his Mother’s callousness.

“Sorry, Hun. Blue hair with a name like that? I had to ask.” She insisted.

“It’s okay, Calum.” Zen said with a laugh. “I don’t actually know what my parents were like. I was orphaned at a young age."

This took both Calum and his Mother by surprise and she gave him a look before starting the SUV. 

“Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that.” Calum replied, shocked at his own ignorance of her situation.

“Please, don’t be. I've never known anything else.” She said forcing a smile. Hoping they'd just drop it. Why did people always act so weird when she brought it up.

“Who are you living with now then?” His Mother asked, looking at Zen in the rear-view mirror.

“I’m at an orphanage for teenage girls back home.” Zen replied, returning her look in the mirror.

“Isn't there a relative you could go live with?” His Mother asked, clearly bothered by the truth of it all.

“None that I know of.” Zen said matter-of-factly.

“Where do you see yourself going after High School?” Calum asked, trying to change the subject. His Mom just did not know when to stop.

“I don’t know, honestly. I want to take a road trip around the U.S., maybe I’ll do that.” Zen answered with a sigh. The truth was she knew exactly what she wanted to do. A small part of her wished she could be honest about it, but she knew she couldn't trust anyone.

“You know, you should do that. I’ve always wanted to and once you get a job and a family you can’t really do stuff like that anymore.” Calum’s Mother added with a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah. So, what do you do Mrs… I’m sorry, I mean, Jenny?” Zen asked, hoping to get the attention off of herself.

“I volunteer down at the Marine Life Rescue Center. You should come check us out. We never have enough hands around there.” His Mother said in answer. “Calum helps me out sometimes too. Maybe you should bring her sometime, Hun.” She said, touching Calum's shoulder.

“Yeah, I love it there. I just adore the animals. I'd be happy to bring you along next time I go, if you'd like.” Calum chimed in.

“Maybe.” Zen said, knowing full well what happens when she comes within a hundred yards of any marine life. She had to figure that out the hard way when she went on a field trip to an aquarium and the animals went berserk.