that summer |percabeth au| ✔︎

4.

chapter | 04
❝ Took 'em down but they're still in their frames. ❞

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Leaving early was unusual for Candy's coven, but the mayor's real estate rants had cast a shadow over their revelry. It wasn't long before they said their farewells, one by one, until only the Cove residents remained—us, the Jacksons, Kinzie, and Mr. Stoll, telling us how amazing the beach would be next summer, thanks to Prop 27.

"I don't know, Lucius," Mr. Jackson said. His tone felt both jovial and condescending. Like he could be insulting you, but you wouldn't know it until later, when you were brushing your teeth and auto-replaying the night's events, and your brain would suddenly go, Wait. "You've only been in office half a term. Already need a corporate bailout?"

"Bailout?" The mayor laughed, a throaty thing layered with the stuff he wasn't saying either. "This is prime beachfront we're sitting on. Atrophying, if you ask me. That's why I think you should sell."

"I already know what you think," Mr. Jackson said. "Everyone in this room knows what you think." He laughed, again with the condescending tone. It didn't seem to bother the mayor.

As the two went on about property values, I watched Percy and Kinzie across the table. He played with her hair absently, and she smiled, eyes at half-mast in lazy contentment. Percy's other hand was tight around a glass of soda, probably spiked with something stronger, and every time his father spoke, his jaw clenched and unclenched. It happened so fast, so automatically that I wondered whether Percy even realized he was doing it.

"That in a place like the Cove is hard to predict," Mr. Jackson said. "Risky investment, if you ask me."

Percy sighed loudly. "You can take the corporate stiff out of the office, but you can't take the office out of the stiff."

I felt my eyes go wide. I couldn't imagine me or my sisters talking like that to Fred or Grams, but his father didn't seem to notice the insult.

"Can we change the subject?" Kinzie asked. "All this expansion talk is putting me to sleep." Her tone was playful, but her eyes told a different story. I followed her gaze to Mr. Jackson, who belatedly shot Percy a venomous look. Percy stiffened, alternately chugging the drink and clenching his jaw.

Mrs. Jackson said nothing.

With five sisters, a single dad, and a grandmother living under one roof, along with all the field workers constantly on the property and an endless, rotating crop of resort guests, my family had its sticky webs too. I'd learned to navigate them, to find joy in those flickering moments of closeness even when they felt suffocating.

But walking into someone else's family issues? One false step, and even without speaking, I could end up tangled.

When the mayor resumed the conversation with more praise for Parrish and Dey's plan, I left the table, undetected and unstopped, and made myself busy in the kitchen. I was filling the sink with soapy water when I felt a tug on the hem of my sweatshirt.

From the height of my hip, a pair of warm brown eyes peered up at me. I turned off the tap and smiled at Tyson.

"I like your hair," he said, twirling a lock of his own. He looked around to ensure we were alone. Satisfied, he waved me closer, cupping his hands around my ear as I leaned in.

"Can you please give me another piece of cake?" he whispered.

It was the best idea I'd heard all night, so I cut one for each of us from the leftovers on the range top, and together we sat at the counter. Through a mouthful of chocolate cake, he said, "Did you know that Amatheia Cove is named for the very first mermaid? I'm going to look for her this summer."