The Next Generation

Chapter 14 - Zara

The ride on the hippocampi wasn't that bad. Well, um, being on one with Ethan was a little awkward. Being shorter than him meant that I was in the front and he had to be in the back, holding on to...wait for it...me! I honestly felt bad for the guy. My curls were in his face the whole way there. He had fallen asleep halfway through the ride. His head had been slumped over my shoulder. Although, he was kind of cute while he was sleeping. Well, it was cute until he started drooling on me.

I had heard that Percy, Ethan's dad, drooled in his sleep as well. Ahh, father traits. They are always the worst.

Until I saw the lights, I thought we were lost. Ethan had woken with a start.

"Waa was tha?" The moaned sleepily, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. I giggled and then pointed at the beautiful flashes of light in the sky. Purple, to red, to green, to white. I sighed as Ethan sits back up, and grabs my waist to steady himself. I took a deep breath and held it. It was the first time through the ride that Ethan actually held on to me that way. I was not ready for it.

It's okay Zara. He is just your friend. Nothing else. I kept reminding myself. I wondered what the others were doing right now. Kas and Sammy looked like little flies on the horizon. Just buzzing around. What were they doing? Did they see the fireworks?

Thinking about that made me think about how fireworks were supposed to be romantic. Oh man. My head started to feel hot. Ethan leaned in and gave me a smile.

"You know, fireworks-"

"Hey," I started, "Want to go for a morning swim?" At that moment, I jumped into the water.

Early morning swim? Not a good idea. The water was freezing. My teeth chattered as I floated there. I looked at the hippocampi to find it humanless. I felt my face pale as Ethan swam up behind me and started laughing when he pulled me into an awkward hug. I look at his face. His purple, swollen eye had gone away completely, and now he looked even more handsome than ever.

"Hey," He said softly, "Want to take another kind of water animal to D.L.?"

"Okay, wait, first of all, what is D.L.? And second of all," I smile, "I would love to."

He shrugged, "D.L., DisneyLand."

I nodded, "Oh, that's what it is."

"And, I was hoping you'd say yes, because I already planned out the date." I felt my cheeks redden even in this ice water. A date. A...real one. He must have noticed, because his face reddened to, "If you don't want to call it that, it's...it's okay."

I raised my brow and smiled, "No. It is perfect." Just as I said it, two sleek gray dolphins came over, jumping as they went. At that second I felt all warm inside, like nothing else mattered more than a romantic dolphin ride.

For a while we rode side by side, talking and laughing about silly little things in life. About a half mile away from where the fireworks went off, we raced. Of course being the son of not one, but two of the strongest demigods that's ever lived, and the only one in the crew of us nine that can talk to dolphins, Ethan won. Although, I was on his tail almost the whole time. Ha! Mostly because the dolphin I was riding (Or Cari, by Ethan) sensed death and wanted me off as quickly as possible, which happens with most animals I go on.

Ethan turns and faces me when we get to the dock.

"I, um, had a fun day with you today. Do you want to do it again some other time? If not that's ok-"

"I would love to!" I pushed off my dolphin and jumped inches away from Ethan. After coming up for air, I hug-slammed right into Ethan. A kind hug that only a girlfriend would do to her boyfriend. Thinking about that, I blushed. I heard Ethan mutter something that sounded like I...love...very...must. Must? Hmm. Maybe not that. Could it be...never mind. It couldn't. But-no. Nope. For all I know, he could be saying how much he loves this ice cold water.

We had treaded water while holding each other for a few minutes before our legs got tired and we started sinking. Luckily, being the grandson of Poseidon, Ethan could make air bubbles so I could still breath underwater. He had made a giant bubble like the ones you only see on a fake commercial or cartoon. That was the first time I told anyone my secret.

"Woah. Are you sure,"

"Yep," I said miserably.

Before Ethan could say anymore, Charlie stood over the edge of the dock and summoned water to push us up.

"Hey you two lovebirds. Ready to meet some princesses?" She laughed. I frowned when Ethan raised an eyebrow as Charlie said lovebirds. I kicked upward so I could see over the top of the dock. All of the others were sitting on benches eating cotton candy and popcorn.

Really. It is like ten o'clock AM! I wanted to say.

I pull myself out of the water and jog over to them, dripping wet. I was about to tell them about what I saw when I shadow traveled earlier that morning, but when I saw Sammy's face while he was eating his cotton candy and how everyone was so happy around him, I knew I could wait to tell them.

"Hey," Lacy called to me, "Want some?" She held out a bag of popcorn. Her wavy brown hair was a bit curlier than usual from the humidity of Florida.

"Sure," I smiled, tucking my own frizzy hair behind my ears, "Why not."

WC: 995