02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales by Derrolyn Anderson

stuff?”
    “I’m putting you in Dad’s room, Ethan in the
guest room and Megan in here.”
    “What about you?” Cruz asked with wide
eyes.
    “I’m staying in my studio,” I said, casting
him a warning look.
    Cruz didn’t quite believe that Ethan and I
had shown any restraint during the nights he had stayed with me in
my room to keep me from sleepwalking into the sea. I don’t think
Cruz fully understood how impossible it had been for me to resist
the mermaid’s summons; those nights weren’t the fun and games he
might have imagined. I wondered what would happen if they decided
to call me to them again. I think Ethan wondered about that
too.
    We stood up and I busied myself fixing up the
bed. Ethan went over to the window and looked out.
    “Wow! You never told me you could see the
Golden Gate Bridge from your bedroom.”
    I took his hand and pulled him out of the
room, “You should see it from the studio.”
    We found Megan by the enormous windows in the
studio, looking through a telescope my father had mounted there for
me. I could watch the ships come and go from here, and see families
of whales migrating past the bay. The whale’s eye from the night I
spent on the buoy flashed into my mind. I wondered if I had ever
seen that particular one pass by the city on its annual journey
south.
    “Are you spying on the neighbors?” I asked
Megan, tongue in cheek.
    She startled, “As a matter of fact, I was,”
she blushed, surprising me.
    I took a peek through the eyepiece to see
down into an apartment where a muscular shirtless man was lifting
weights. I elbowed Megan with a snort, and she tipped the telescope
away from him with a snicker. Ethan looked at us suspiciously and
we started giggling at each other.
    “This is a huge room,” Megan said, her eyes
sparkling with humor as she changed the subject.
    “I spend a lot of time here when we’re in
town… well, either here or at Evie’s,” I said.
    “I like your artwork,” Megan added.
    “You did all of these?” Ethan asked
with a trace of disbelief. I suppose there were a lot, I thought,
looking around at the crowded walls.
    “You have a lot more time when you don’t sit
around in school all day,” I said.
    “No, I mean they’re really good,” he said,
swiveling his head around.
    “Well... thanks.” I couldn’t help but notice
that all of them had either water or water symbolism in them.
Figures, I thought. Everything looked different to me now that I
knew the truth.
    “Does anyone want some coffee or tea?” I
asked, “We might have some sodas...” We walked out into the kitchen
to find Cruz rummaging around in the refrigerator.
    “All you have in here is ice,” he commented,
“and hot sauce.”
    “Nobody lives here, remember?” I said.
    “It doesn’t look like it’s ever even been
cooked in,” observed Megan with awe as she looked around at the
gleaming stainless steel and granite.
    She was right, for if we didn’t go out to eat
we usually ordered in, and Dad and I were regularly invited over to
Evie’s for dinner. In fact, I couldn’t remember one time we’d used
the oven. I opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of take-out
menus, waving them at Megan.
    “Guilty as charged. We should eat something
before we get dressed. You guys might not like Evie’s party
food.”
    I thought about the mounds of caviar served
on little mother of pearl spoons, snails in the shell, sea urchin
sushi and goose liver pate'. I wasn’t a big fan of some of the
delicacies Evie served at her gatherings, and I doubted they would
be either.
    “What are you people hungry for?” asked Cruz
as he flipped through the stack.
    I picked up a menu, “There’s a good Thai
place that delivers...”
    “I’ve been craving Thai food,” said Ethan,
with a smile aimed at me.
    “Is that okay with you two?” I asked Cruz and
Megan.
    “Anything but vegetarian!” exclaimed
Cruz.
    I ordered for everyone, taking Megan by the
arm to go and lay out our clothes