Undertow by K.R. Conway (1st book in trilogy)

Chapter 9

I had gotten settled into school and Cape life, and before I knew it, mid-October had arrived. The shadow stalker never reappeared, Raef's eyes stayed blue, and the vial? I gave up on the vial. It had to contain just some nasty-smelling herb and I was just being a freak. Not to mention, life had been perfectly normal and I was with friends who I really enjoyed.

It was a good thing too – the normal part – since Mae had left on her trip a few hours earlier at the crack of dawn, heading to London and beyond.  While I would miss her, I was thrilled for the freedom. I fully intended to keep an eye out for Marsh and invite him for a sleepover when I saw his furry frame.

Mae had been flip-flopping on whether or not to go for weeks. Getting her to not cancel took some fast-talking and perhaps ten promises founded on certain house arrest if they were broken. In the end, however, my non-existent social life and perpetual lack of boyfriend seemed to assure her that I would be having an outstandingly dull and chaste fortnight.

Mae, for the most part, was right. With the exception of MJ, Ana and, to my delight, Raef, I really had no set social network here. But it didn't matter to me - I had made three good friends and they made all the difference. And, bless the Fates, Nikki and I had not had any further confrontations.

I had come to actually look forward to BHS. I started every morning by parking my very cool Wrangler next to MJ's equally uncool hunk of sputtering junk. Ana would park somewhere near us, and we would all walk into school together. We had plans to hang out at my home that night, maybe get pizza and watch a movie.  It was the first time that they would actually be in my home and I was excited to have visitors to entertain, including Raef.

As I walked through the parking lot alongside Ana and MJ, arguing once again about musical preferences, I couldn't help but be lost in my own thoughts. In a few hours I would be enjoying a movie night with my friends and the one boy who set my soul ablaze. The thought of him sent an odd flurry of emotions rippling through my skin. 

One part of me knew he was a strong, faithful friend to have - the boy you wanted in the foxhole when all hell broke loose. Yet there were still fleeting moments when I would look at him and could not be sure whether I was in the right foxhole to begin with. My inner voice would question the sanity of being near him, but it was a voice that shrank day by day and now was barely a whisper.

It was easy to imagine kissing him, but thus far he only seemed to be in a "friendship" mode. I reminded myself that I was lucky to have him as a friend and tried to push aside any further desire. The problem was, it wasn't just a desire. It was a magnetic pull cranked to a thousand and impossible to turn off. 

Since my brain seemed to continuously dwell on Raef, I utilized my occupied mind to devise three possible explanations for his behavior towards me: a) he was interested in me, but shy, b) he was not interested romantically, but a good friend or c) he saw himself as a big brother. Gag.

Option "c" I buried in the back of my mind because it would eliminate all hope of him becoming more than a friend. Of course, there could be an option "d" that I had not thought of yet, but option "a" kept me preoccupied with hope for the future. 

When the last bell finally rang for the day, my head was already calculating what I needed to buy at the grocery store for the four of us. I was making a mental list as I navigated my way to my locker when Jesse caught up to me, calling my name and waving a bright yellow paper in his hand. I stopped in the hall, trying to dodge the masses fleeing academia.

"Eila! Wait up!" he yelled, finally reaching me. He handed me the flier for a beach bonfire scheduled for the evening. "This is the first party of the fall and it's always a blast. You, as a washashore, must come! We have music and bonfires. Perhaps a few brewskies," he said with a knowing smile.