The movement sent shivers down her spine, and the feel of his lips against her skin made her entire body go on fire. That one little gesture made Isa want to rip her clothes off andjumphim.
Adrian gently put her hand back down. “See you around.” He turned on his heel. His legs wobbled strangely as he walked out of the room, like an infant learningtowalk.
He needs to see a doctor more than I do,Isa thought. She mused on the kiss. It almost seemed like something a prince would do. But that was stupid. She wasn't Kate Middleton, and Adrian was noWilliam.
Isa rummaged through the backpack and texted Harbor and Shelly to let them know where she was. No more than fifteen minutes later, her girlfriendsstormed in like they were charging the gates of hell to berate Isa on not calling themsooner.
“We thought you'ddied,”Shellywept.
“I don't understand how you could do this to us. We told you not to go out there!” Harbor shouted. “And we missed brunch. You're such abitch.”
Harbor's favorite word was bitch. Not that Isa didn't deserve it. She'd driven her friends mad with worry after she’d sunk underthatwave.
“I'm sorry you guys didn't hear from me sooner. I was just busy dealing with Adrian,”Isasaid.
“Adrian?” Shelly’s eyeswidened.
“Yeah. He was a guy who pulled me out of the water,” she said. “He carried me to thehospital.”
“Oooh,” Shelly wagged her eyebrows. “LikeHercules.”
“Oh, okay, false alarm, Shelly,” Harbor said with her hands on her hips. “It’s okay we thought Isa was dead, because she was playing damsel in distress in order togetsome.”
“If you had seen how hot this dude was, you would understand,” Isajoked.
But Shelly took her seriously, and stopped crying. She pulled up a chair to the bedside and leaned forward. “Tell us everydetail.”
Isa confessed to her friends the conversation with Adrian, and how he’d kissed her hand. Isa kept the part about how Adrian had pulled her out of the water quiet. That seemed too privatetotell.
“Have you heard of him before?” Isa askedhopefully.
“Us? No, don't know him.” Harbor looked to Shelly, and she shook her head. “You sure this guyisreal?”
“Positive. I'm not making it up,” Isa said. Her friends were looking at her like she had swallowed too much seawater— like she wascrazy.
Maybe she was. What if Adrian was just a product of her imagination? But then, how had she gotten to thehospital?
Harbor drove her back home. Her pushy friend insisted on staying longer, but Isa was able to chase her out after she said for the thousandth time she was goingtobed.
“My dad is seriously gonna kill me,” she muttered as she walked in the door. She opened it slowly, waiting for the impendingimplosion.
But it was silent. Only Lupe was there, sweeping the floor and humming along toSelena.
“Oh, hello, chica,” Lupe said casually. “Are you hungry? I'm makinglunch.”
Lupe didn't know, because she’d never been informed. Her father hasn't realized she’d snuck out, nor had he noticed her absence that morning. He hadn't even known she'dbeengone.
It hit her hard that if Adrian hadn't come by when he did, she could’ve been missing for days and her father would’ve never even startedlooking.
Isa shook the tears out of her eyes. “No, Lupe. I'm nothungry.”
She darted past the bewildered maid and to her room. She slammed the door shut and jumped onthebed.
A short time later, Isa looked around. Her room was various shades of blue. Scattered all around it was her mermaid collection: there were mermaid plastic dolls, mermaid pillows, posters and paintings of mermaids, stuffed mermaids, even a mermaid bedspread. The current explosion of mermaid items at the mall had done nothing to curb her obsession. She was seriously running out of room to putitall.
She hadn't changed it since she was twelve. When she was little, she dreamed of being in the ocean, of having a tail and swimming far away. Maybe, if she was a beautiful mermaid, her mother would’vestayed.
It seemedstupidnow.
