Current Impressions by Kelly Risser

sweet.”
    I held up my glass. “What should I do with
this?”
    “Set it on that tray. Someone will clean it
up.”
    I sipped the pink punch. It tasted like
vanilla and strawberries. “Mmmm. This is good.”
    “It’s the best one,” he said, holding out
his hand. “I’m Arren, by the way.”
    “Meara.” I shook his hand.
    “Oh, I know who you are,” he said. “We all
do. My friends want to meet you. Unlike me, they’re too shy to come
over.”
    “Where are they?” I looked around. A group
of teenagers sat at a corner table. Arren waved in their direction,
confirming they were his friends. “Well, let’s go over so I can
meet them.”
    “Really?” He seemed surprised that I offered
to meet them.
    “Why not?” I didn’t have anything else to do
at the moment. It wouldn’t hurt to make friends my own age, well,
at least, friends that appeared to be my age.
    “Follow me.” He turned and strode away.
    Mouths dropped open as we approached the
table. Arren ran through their names. They recovered quickly,
nodding or raising a hand as he introduced them.
    “Nice to meet you,” I said. “Mind if I
sit?”
    “Please.” The girl closest to me with the
short, blond hair scooted over to make room. She was the first
blonde I met at Ronac. Most of the Selkies had dark or red hair. I
sat and removed my heels. They were beautiful, but they were
killing my feet. As I rubbed my sore toes, I skimmed from one face
to the next. No one said anything. It was so awkward. I was about
to excuse myself when Arren elbowed the boy next to him. I thought
his name was Lyle.
    “What was it like?” Lyle asked. They looked
at me expectantly.
    “What was what like?” I had no idea what he
was asking me.
    “Being human,” Lyle clarified. “What was it
like?”
    “Did you go to the mole?” The blonde asked.
I must have looked bewildered because she added, “You know, to buy
things.”
    “You mean the mall. The shopping mall. Yes,
I went there.”
    “What kind of music did you listen to?”
Arren asked. He leaned on his elbows toward me. They all watched me
intently.
    “Rock music, I guess.”
    “Rocks make music?” The pretty brunette
wrinkled her brows in confusion.
    “Um, no.” Were they serious? “Don’t you ever
leave the island? Haven’t you been around humans?”
    The blonde’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Leave the island? You’re joking, right?”
    The brunette shivered. “It’s so dangerous
out there. Humans have weapons that can kill us. Then there’s the
merpeople, kelpies, sirens—”
    “They’re real?” I couldn’t believe the world
could hold so many creatures. Ones I never knew existed.
    “Of course, they’re real. As real as you and
me,” she huffed. I didn’t mean to offend her, but apparently, I
had. We lapsed back into silence again.
    “Well, this is a lively party.”
    I didn’t have to turn around to know it was
Kieran. I hated that my pulse raced at the sound of his voice. I
wasn’t the only one affected. The girls primped and preened next to
me. Arren scowled at Kieran before glancing back at the blonde
girl. They didn’t seem to be together, but Arren obviously had
feelings.
    Kieran’s eyes drifted over me. His mouth
rose in approval. “Nice dress.” He extended his hand. “Would you
like to dance?”
    I hesitated. The last time we danced, it
went further than it should have. Sure, it was just a kiss, but I
wouldn’t like it if Evan kissed another girl. One time, forgivable.
Two times, not so much.
    “It’s just a dance.” Kieran noticed my
hesitation. “I promise I won’t try anything. You clearly love your
human boy toy.”
    “You have a human boyfriend?” the girls
squealed at the same time. Their reaction made me wince, although I
tried to hide it.
    “I’m human too, you know.”
    “But you aren’t,” Arren sputtered. “You’re
one of us.”
    I caught Kieran’s smirk. He enjoyed this
exchange a bit too much. “Told you,” he said.
    I stuck out my