Cerulean Found

Chapter 61 - Awake

"Mila, what are you doing?" a female voice asks.

I open my eyes in a flash and begin to rapidly blink as my eyes grow accustomed to the bright sunlight. I start to look around to see who is there and instantly spot Amber and Justin standing on the pool deck.

"Nothing," I mumble, as I stand up.

"You've been laying there for almost an hour," Gram shouts. I turn and see her sitting at the table on the patio outside of the living room.

I can't believe it has been that long. I have never been able to meditate for such a lengthy period before. I feel something on my face. I rub it with my hand and notice that a fine black powder falls out of my palm. My cheek is wet, as if I'd been crying.

I am so confused. Where did the black dust come from? And why is my cheek wet? The powder and the tears were impossible because it was all a dream, wasn't it?

I obviously had fallen asleep while meditating, but how could I have those tiny particles in my hand? It doesn't make any sense at all, yet at the same time it makes absolute sense.

Deep down, I know what it is. I am almost positive that Audrey has something to do with this. That much I am sure of. But hadn't she been in my vision at all? It was a lifeless Mermaid, whose tail and skin were all shriveled up. Based on appearances, she seemed to be at least twice Audrey's age.

I try to connect the dots in my head. Every vision had seemed to serve a purpose. Shedding light on some facts that otherwise was overlooked. I know that someone, somehow, wants me to learn something so that I will know the truth about what really happened on this island. It has to be Audrey who is trying to reach me.

The thing that really has me puzzled is my last vision. It didn't follow the same pattern. I can't understand why a Mermaid would be in my happy place in the desert, where there is no water in sight (the main reason I chose a dry location as my place of peace and solitude). I get up from the deck and walk to my room.

I replay every dream I have dreamt since arriving on Jalukka, making sure to fast-forward over the Max and Amanda parts, even though he is super cute. I just am not in the mood to recap their love affair on the high seas.

I decide to take a shower, thinking that maybe that will help ease the tension I feel in my head. I emerge from the bathroom 45 minutes later feeling clean, refreshed, and overall in good spirits. The shower had proved to be a great escape to my earlier mental dilemma. As soon as I saw the white claw-foot tub, I had completely forgotten about my little meditation session and the allusive meaning to my dreams. All I could think about was Josh and our magical kiss the night before. As the memories flowed, I instantly felt on top of the world once again.

I walk to the kitchen and grab a light snack. I don't know what it is about Jalukka, but I always seem to be hungry. I settle on some freshly cut mango slices and plop myself down at the table. Abbo comes in a few minutes later to make the usual afternoon Cuban coffee.

"Don't you look nice, Mila! Going anywhere special with Josh this afternoon?" he asks, with a smile.

"This old thing?" I ask, playfully as I gesture toward my fairly new white eyelet dress I had gotten just a few weeks before the trip. I had decided to pair the dress with my cherry red sandals for a splash of color.

"We're just going to a bonfire at a beach."

"Oh, you're going?" Justin asks, as he walks into the kitchen.

"Yeah. Why?" I answer.

"I guess I should have figured you would. Do you think you and Josh could give me a ride? I'm supposed to meet Amber there later, this way I won't have to bum a ride from Abbo."

"Yeah, sure, no problem. Where is Amber, I could have sworn I saw her earlier?" I ask.

"Yeah, she had to go get her hair and make-up done," he states, matter of factly.

"For what?" I inquire, somewhat confused.

"The bonfire," he replies, simply.

"You're joking, right?" I quip.

"No, why?" Justin retorts, in a completely serious tone. Like it was normal for girls to get all dolled up by professionals for a casual beach party.

"She sure cares about her looks, that one. What do you call that nowadays? High-fire?" Abbo asks.

"High-maintenance," I correct him.

"Yes, that's right...high-maintenance."

"She's not that high-maintenance," Justin protests.

"Didn't she change her bathing suit twice while she was here earlier?" Abbo asks, with a smirk.

"Yes," Justin replies, sheepishly. "She says she doesn't like tan lines."

"Who wouldn't want tan lines? Not me," Gram proclaims, as she walks in from the deck. "I told her, the best cure for tan lines is to go topless. Of course, she agreed with me. I said I do it all the time when I'm here alone," Gram laughs to herself.

Justin and I share a horrified look of disgust as we try and erase the image of our Gram sun soaking topless from our minds.

I know Gram likes Amber. Everyone likes Amber, including my little brother.

Gram thinks Amber is gorgeous with a killer body and the best sense of fashion. I agree with Gram on the looks and body, but Amber's fashion is not my style at all. Her clothes all seem way too barely there, and are all extremely eye-catching in the brightly colored hues and bold patterns she tends to favor (her fashion was definitely more my grandmother's cup of tea)!

But gram did agree with me on one thing, that Amber isn't that smart. Besides having a great exterior (clothes, hair, body, make-up) Amber completely lacked in the brains and personality department. Gram could tell she was superficial. Nice to those who mattered, but fake nonetheless. Gram has little patience for people who are not genuine. She doesn't mind the boob jobs and globs of make-up. No, what Gram doesn't like is fakeness when it comes to personality. People who act one way and then will say something completely different behind your back. Gram says that when people act fake around you, it's basically like they're saying you're dumb and that you can't figure out who they really are. Gram may love clothes and material things, but one cannot deny the fact that she is really smart when it comes to people.