Undercurrents (Tyler Gossard)

four: testing the waters

EVEN THOUGH IT was time for work to officially start, I found myself hovering by the edge of the railing and staring out at all the happy families walking through HQ, laughing and joking together. It was Family Day here at HQ, and Layla made me flyers (it's always flyers!) specifically for this day since she knew there was going to be a lot more people here. Yet I couldn't push myself to walk over to the stairs and begin my quest to convert all those families to help rescue the turtles.

It was so daunting to approach this many people, especially if they knew my history. Then, when I approach them, I would get all those sympathetic glances and soft words about how I was such a strong girl for continuing Sage's message and continuing her work for her. And after that, they would pity me and take all my papers to learn more, but they wouldn't actually do anything about it. 

I glanced back up and saw Dylan heading in my direction. A small smile appeared on my face as she waved at me. "Hey," I said, giving her a hug. "Is your mom here today?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. She kept one arm locked around my shoulders, pulling me away from my perch in the shadows. I was forced to follow her. "She's busy at work. You know, cooking and catering and stuff."

"Ugh, I think I could use one of her fajitas right now," I said to her. 

She grinned at me. "What about your parents, Camilla? Are they here?"

"Did you really think they would come to this thing?" I asked her. A sour feeling spread through my chest at the sight of all these happy families. Dylan turned me so I wouldn't be able to face any of them anymore, almost as if she knew what was going through my mind. "No, they didn't come. I have to spread the news about saving the sea turtles to everyone else, though."

"Hey, that's still good, right?"

"Sure."

"Speaking of the sea turtles, I was thinking about something," Dylan said with a nod. "What if you and Layla put on a little class for the lifeguards about protecting the sea turtles? That way, they can also spread the news to the public and help protect the sea turtles. I'll talk to Garvin about it, if you want me to."

"That sounds like a great idea," I said even though it absolutely terrified me to speak in front of all of the lifeguards. I prayed that if this idea went through that Layla would do all of the talking for the two of us. "Thank you so much for helping me with this stuff. It's been . . . hard to say the least."

Her grip on my shoulders got a little tighter. "I know," she said softly. "But I'm proud of how far you've come."

Tears burned my throat and eyes, but I didn't dare cry right now, not with all the people milling about. Besides, the dark-haired girl that was on Dylan's team -- Gina, I think, the same girl that was with Tyler on the beach outside my little cove the other day -- approached us now. Dylan dropped her arm off of my shoulders and smiled at Gina. 

"Hey, Gina," she said brightly. "Sorry your parents couldn't make it to Family Day."

"It's all good," Gina said, and it looked like she meant it. "They had to go to my sister's prep school for a swim meet."

I wondered if she actually was okay with all of that because it sounded like her parents prioritized her sister over her. But I didn't know her well enough to ask her about any of that, so I just kept quiet, wishing I could leave this conversation. So far, Gina wasn't including me in it at all, and I just felt like I was encroaching on something that I wasn't supposed to be.

As I turned on my heel, I heard Dylan say, "Yeah. My mom had to work. You know what that means? We get to be Family Day ambassadors! And maybe Camilla could help us out, too! Or we could help her out!"