Rising Tide: Dark Innocence (The Maura DeLuca Trilogy Book 1) by Claudette Melanson

couple
again instead of an unbalanced threesome.  Not that I would have really
minded.  Shane was too much fun to be around.  I’d really only been
worried about the fact that Ron might not have wanted me to think of today as a
date…which I realized I’d already been doing.  
    “Of course, Shane,” I perked right
up, smiling at both of them, “it wouldn’t be the same without you!”
    He grinned back at me, his eyes
alight, but Ron still looked a bit troubled.  I couldn’t explain my former
reluctance without revealing just how terrified I was of him rejecting
me.  I’d dealt with ridicule and avoidance for so long that I came to
expect it as an unavoidable eventuality.
    But would he think I was being a
snob to his friend?  “I was just afraid you’d sit with Ron on the big
coasters and leave me to be terrified all alone.” I added, hopeful it would be
explanation enough.  Realization dawned in Ron’s eyes then, and it filled
me with a strange happiness to know he understood me so easily.
    “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we get
plenty of alone time,” he promised, making my heart race at the
implications.  He captured one of my hands, his own hand felt almost too
warm around my own.
    “Wow! Maura, your skin is like ice
today!”  I tried to reclaim my hand then, but he refused to let it
go.  “It’s okay,” he picked up the other one.  “It feels good. 
It’s already getting hot this morning.”
    His words reminded me of what would
happen today if I stood out in the sun too much.  I glanced up at the sky,
hoping for even a trace of cloud, but my gaze came up empty.  The sky was
nothing but blue and yellow today.  Nothing to hide the glare floated
there at all.  I hadn’t thought about this possible complication until
this moment. 
    This time, I kept the worry to
myself, burying it beneath a smile borne of looking at the softness emanating
from Ron’s stare.  Somehow I would avoid getting sick.  I couldn’t
let any of them find out about that facet of my weirdness.
    As I ran to get my tiny black
purse—today lighter was definitely better—I thought of all the shady places
that existed at Kennywood.  I’d been there nearly every summer of my
existence, and Caelyn was a master at keeping me out of the sun. 
    As we walked to his car, he noted,
“I love that sweater on you, but don’t you think it’s a bit too hot for that?”
    I was used to covering up.  “Oh,
it’s thin, really.  And I’ll just make sure to keep out of the sun.” 
Perfect.
     
    Merina was a quiet girl.  Her
heart-shaped, pixyish face was pale and framed by shoulder-length, straight,
black-brown hair.  Her eyes were a peculiar shade of hazel-green with a
depth that seemed impenetrable.  They were wide and round, giving her a
look of exaggerated innocence.  I noticed in the rear view mirror that
they flicked often to the boy in the back seat beside her.  She was
obviously enamored with Shane completely.
    Her shyness had him teasing and
joking the whole ride to the park, trying to draw her out of her shell. 
Clearly, he liked her very much, too.
    Ron and Shane got the tickets, so
strongly against me or Merina paying, that they wouldn’t even let us accompany
them to the ticket booths—like they thought we would try something sneaky.
    Once inside Ron and I asked at the
same time, “So what do you guys wanna do first?”  We looked at each other
and smiled.
    “Two words…Roller.  Coaster,”
Shane replied, his eyes shining in anticipation.
    I was hoping he would say
that.  “Which one?” I asked.
    “Well…that depends…wooden or
steel?  Indoor or outdoor?  Single coaster or racing coasters?”
    “Too many choices,” Ron shot back
at him, “let’s just ride the one we get to first.”
    Shane shrugged, “Works for
me.”  He took off at an animated pace, dragging Merina behind.  He
started to sing, “ Roller coaster…of love…roller coaster… ”  He swung
her hand in rhythm