OCEAN EYES (ENG)

CHAPTER V

- Hey, what's up? Did the aquarium call?

I run into Jonah in the living room, who's been quietly assembling a puzzle. I throw my bag on the couch and let out a small smirk while looking at my little brother.

- I don't know. - he shrugs.

- Oh crap.

I see him through the window. The damn raccoon. I shoot off to the beach, waving my arms in the air and running as fast as possible. That little bastard! The raccoon runs away and I put my legs on my thighs, panting from the sudden run. I look at the kart, the stuff placed around the nest, and I can't help but proudly smile to myself. I somehow feel responsible for them; I just can't let them die.

So, keeping my promise, I decide to spend the night on patrol, just in case the annoying raccoon shows up again. I gathered a beach chair, a torchlight and a baseball bat and then assembled my camping spot for the night.

. . .

- Hey.

I feel a hand on my arm, shaking me up lightly, but I'm not ready to wake up. I move around in the chair a little bit and prepare myself for the imminent flash. And there it is, leaving me completely blind for a couple seconds. When a silhouette finally starts making its way through my sight, I jump, scared.

- What are you doing here? - I ask, lazily rubbing my eyes.

- What are you, doing here. - Matthías looks at me.

- I asked you first.

- I'm here to mark a turtle nest. - he explains. I then see he's wearing a blue polo with the aquarium logo.

- You work for the aquarium too? - I frown while he looks at me smiling, entertained- I thought you were a mechanic.

- Well I don't work there- he says- I volunteer.

- I called yesterday! - I yell, standing up.

- Wow, is everything okay? - he laughs, backing off.

- No, everything's not okay. - I raise my voice at him- There were raccoons out here all night.

- Really? And where are they now!

- I scared them away.

- Yeah I'm... not surprised. - he says, laying some building materials on the ground- Cause I am a little scared.

- Ha! - I fake a laugh- That's really funny! You know what? I'd actually like to see you sleep out here all night long while it's freezing cold, with a baseball bat in your hand and raccoons terrorizing you.

- You really slept out here all night? - he laughs, kind of surprised.

- No, my hair looks like this all by itself.

- I wasn't gonna mention the hair but-

I harshly look at him, picking up my baseball bat from the sand. He lets out a small whistle and looks away, kneeling on the floor. The morning breeze makes his light brown hair dance slightly.

- Is this all your creation? - Matthías starts picking up some of the stuff I gathered to protect the nest.

- Do you have a problem with it?

- Not really- he keeps looking at my invention- other than the fact that when the eggs hatch, turtles won't be able to get back to the sea so... they'll starve and die.

I look at him with a poker face, which rapidly turns into an angry stare, but he just smiles, so I head back home, barefoot and sticky because of the all-nighter I tried to pull off. When I finally shower and change into some new clothes, I decide on going for a walk.

I'm just trying to spend as much time as possible out of this house, so that I can avoid running into dad all of the time. This time, I decided to check out the music store. Well, kind of, it also sells cheap jewelry, postcards... more like a souvenir shop merge with a record store.

When I look up from a rock CD from some pretty much unknown band, I come across Sólbjört and her piercing icy eyes. Short blonde hair, pale skin, see-through black jacket and leather boots.

- Hey. - I smile at her, but she ignores me- Sólbjört? Sólbjört what's wrong?

- I saw how you looked at him- she finally says- At Einar. I saw you.

- What are you talking about? - I frown.

- I love him, okay? So stay, away. - she warns me.

- I'm not interested. - I sigh. I thought it was pretty obvious I wasn't.

- You're lying! - she yells at me- I watched you flirt with him.

- Sólbjört, that guy's a creep. He was the one who was coming onto me! Why would you wanna be with someone like that anyway? - I ramble, following her outside the store.

But when I run through the anti-theft detection panels, the alarm goes off. An employer calls me, but I just stand there, frozen, What the hell's going on? I didn't steal anything, I'm completely sure, I didn't take anything with me!

- What? - I tell the guy from the store, confused.

- I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to check your purse.

- Fine. - I say, handing it to him.

I just want to get this over with as soon as possible. I'm one hundred percent sure he'll find nothing there. Or I was. When he shows me a silver bracelet my heart stops. How? How the hell did that end up in my bag?

- I did not take that. - I stutter. He looks at me, holding the bracelet up- I didn't take it!

- You'll have to come with me. - he says,

When he grabs me by the arm I look outside. That's when I see her, standing on the other side of the road, smiling at me, triumphant. Sólbjört.