Chapter 17

"This is the best. Night. Ever!"

Shea was practically bouncing to the pumping music as she dragged me to the counter to grab some drinks. But the smile on her face and the spring in her step had more to do with the good vibes she was getting from the crowd than the beat.

She'd spent the previous hour mingling, performing interesting fire tricks, and telling jokes that had everyone roaring with laughter. She was the life of the party. My plan was working out perfectly so far.

Well, one of my plans at least.

When Tobias had invited me to this party, I hoped it would be a turning point in our hot-and-cold relationship. He had seemed almost desperate for me to come with him tonight. It had been really cute, actually.

But now that we were here, he was treating me like a cootie-covered kid sister he was forced to drag around with him. He was polite enough to keep my drink full, like a gentleman, but he rejected every opportunity for us to get close.

And I was getting tired of it. What the hell was his deal? He kept pushing me away, only to pull me back in when I got tired of his shit.

I took a swig from my red plastic cup as Shea skipped back to her adoring public. Tobias was standing against the wall, looking all dark and broody in his perfectly fitting jeans and just-snug-enough black t-shirt.

Smoking hot.

After seeing his fight with Caesar yesterday, that was the phrase that would now always come to mind whenever I saw him. Why did he have to be so appealing and yet so distant?

Maybe I just wasn't being obvious enough. Clearly, he hadn't intended this outing to be a date, as he had invited his guy friends, and really, nothing romantic had ever been discussed between us. I needed to take a note from Shea's playbook and go for what I wanted, lest I end up like poor Ashlyn, pining silently over a guy who might never know how she felt about him.

Emptying my cup and slamming it down on the counter with purpose, I sauntered up to Tobias, swaying my hips in time with the hip-hop beat, and took his hands.

"Dance with me," I purred enticingly, giving him my best lash flutter.

"Oh no, I don't dance," he objected, shaking his head and pulling his hands back.

"Sure you do," I said, tugging him gently and playfully toward the dance floor. "Come on, I'll teach you."

"Seriously, Arya, I'm not the dancing type," he said, removing his hands from my grasp completely.

His rejection burned. It was as if one of those fireballs had found its way right to my chest. And it really pissed me off. I opened my mouth to slur some alcohol-fueled come back at him but was interrupted.

"Not a very noble thing to do, Dracul," Kendall said as he appeared at my side. "Refusing a lady's invitation to dance. I, for one, would be honored if you would dance with me."

Kendall's handsome smile and unabashed attention were like cool water over my singed ego. Not to mention that grinding on the hottest mer guy in school might show Tobias what he's missing.

"Yeah, let's dance," I said, glaring at Tobias as I spoke.

I let Kendall take my hand and guide me to the middle of the living room, where people were dancing. We fell into step with everyone around us.

"What are you doing with the Prince anyway?" Kendall asked as he swerved around me.

"The Prince?" What was he talking about?

Kendall nodded his chin in Tobias's direction, a look of disdain on his face. "All the girls at this school fawn over him because he's descended from dragon royalty. Nevermind if he's a different species from them. I thought you were different."

I frowned at that and jerked my head. "I had no idea Tobias was royalty. And I wasn't fawning over him. He invited me to this party. He was actually the first student to acknowledge my existence. We're… friends, I guess."

"Ha! No girl is friends with Tobias Dracul," Kendall snorted. "I wouldn't say he's a player, exactly, but he's burned more than one girl at this school."

My heart hardened. That was two people now who told me what a womanizer Tobias was. I was all for the two of us mutually using each other, but I was not about to be strung along and toyed with by him.

"And what about you?" I asked, eager to take the subject off Tobias, to forget about him entirely. "I've heard that you and Letti have a thing."

"Had is the correct word," Kendall said. "Trust me, that whole nightmare is one hundred percent over. I kinda have my eyes on someone new."

He winked at me, and dammit, my angry, crestfallen heart fluttered like a butterfly getting back up after a harsh wind knocked it to the ground. I liked Kendall. I could picture myself ending up with him. He was funny and sweet, and he had abs that could cut diamonds.

And yet, as I pressed myself against him with every sexy trick in my dance book, I knew that I wasn't dancing for Kendall but for Tobias, trying to make him jealous. I knew he was watching. I could feel his hot gaze on me, like the heat of an old light bulb, and it was getting more and more heated with every twist of my hips.

After a while, my body gave in to the dance, and the music took over. Soon, I was dancing just for the sheer joy of it. Music had always been my escape, and tonight, it whisked me away from my conflicted feelings over Tobias.

"Ready for a drink?" Kendall asked when one of the songs ended.

I nodded, and we went to the kitchen to scrounge for something—preferably non-alcoholic. Now that I knew I was a mermaid, I was much more aware of the fact that I needed to drink three times as much water as a normal person, and it really showed when I exerted myself. And though I really wanted to drown my frustrations in booze, I desperately needed to rehydrate first.

Kendall found some bottles of water in one of the many ice chests and tossed one to me. We both unscrewed the tops and chugged down the chilled liquid.

"So, I know you're having some trouble fitting in with the other mermaids," Kendall said as he tossed his empty bottle in the trash. "Most of that is from Cora just being a nasty bitch. But if they got to know you, they'd see that you really are one of us. You've just been missing."

His words sparked a desire in me that was as old as time—the desire to fit in. In all honesty, I had never put in too much effort before. With every new school, I knew it would be just a matter of time before I had to leave again and forfeit any progress.

But this was different. Mom wasn't going to uproot my life and drag me somewhere else. This school was where I was going to stay for a long time, and I had no one else. Fitting in was now a necessity, otherwise I didn't know how long I'd survive.

Befriending dragons and phoenixes was nice, but why shouldn't I want to be liked and welcomed by my own kind, too?

"I would really love that," I admitted, screwing the cap back onto my bottle. "But I can't even get them to acknowledge I exist. How can I show them who I am if they won't see me?"

"Because I'm going to help you." He held out his hand. "Let's go reintroduce you to some merpeople."

With a giddy bubble in my stomach, I took his hand and practically skipped after him toward a group of mermaids that were currently laughing at one of Shea's jokes.

"Lenore, Trevor, Helena," Kendall greeted the trio as we approached, and he and Trevor fist-bumped. "You might have seen her shyly gracing the halls of our common room, but I don't think any of you have formally met Arya."

Their smiles slowly fell as they took me in and looked down their noses at me.

"Come on, guys. She's a mermaid, just like the rest of us," he said.

The girl with the bob-cut dark brown hair shot him a narrowed glance. "She's an outsider," she stage-whispered to him like I wasn't even here.

"Lenore, just because she didn't grow up in our tribe doesn't mean she doesn't belong in it," Kendall argued, putting his arm around Lenore's shoulders. "All our ancestors were once outsiders to each other, but they learned to come together for the sake of the species. Honor their memory by doing the same."

"But Cora said—" the curly-headed blond, who must be Helena, started to say.

"Screw Cora!" Kendall cut her off. "Why the hell would you believe a word Cora says, anyway? You remember that nasty rumor she spread about you two summers ago."

Helena looked down and shrunk with shame. I wondered what the rumor had been, and more to the point, what rumors Cora was spreading about me.

"You brought Shea, didn't you?" Trevor asked, tipping his cup toward Shea, who was attempting to form flames into a bird. Or a butterfly?

I nodded.

Trevor shrugged. "Well, mermaid or not, Shea's pretty cool, so anyone who's friends with her must be cool, too."

I felt a smile spreading across my lips.

"And by the way, I never believed a word Cora said," he intimated with a smile.

"Alright," Lenore said. "I guess we can give this stray a chance."

"You can start by calling her by her real name," Kendall said.

"Oh, right," she said with a fake smile. "Arya, right?"

I nodded, fighting the temptation to verbally snap at her for the insult.

"Why did your parents give you a Mer name?" Helena asked.

"What?" I was totally stumped.

"Your name. It's a Mer name. Mermaids don't use the old language much anymore, especially not for names. When we surfaced, we started using colloquial names to blend in with the humans. I just think it's weird that you have a Mer name." Helena looked slightly irritated as she explained, like I was stupid for not knowing any of this.

I always knew that my name was weird, but even after coming to this school, I never imagined it was from another language, much less the language of my people. I didn't even know they had their own language, although it made sense that they would now that I thought about it.

"Sorry, but what does it mean in…Mer?" I didn't want to seem as ignorant as they already thought I was, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to learn this suddenly vital fact.

"Treasure," Helena answered, rolling her eyes, and Lenore giggled. "Honestly, with a pretentious name like that, can you blame any of us for hating you just a little bit?"

I knew that this was Helena's attempt at a joke, but I couldn't laugh with them. For all the ways my mom had kept the shifter world from me, she had blessed me with the most precious thing of all—a Mer name. And not just any Mer name, but one that really meant something.

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I refused to let the mermaid girls see me cry.

"Would you all excuse me for a minute?" I was able to say with a stable voice before turning around and rushing to the backyard.

My vision was blurry as I stepped onto the back porch, but I could see that anyone who was outside was preoccupied—apparently, this was the make-out section of the party. At least none of them would witness my struggle not to fall apart. I didn't want to be known as the emo chick who cried at parties.

"Arya?" Kendall's shadow fell over me from the open kitchen door. "Are you alright? Don't mind Lenore and Helena. They can be bitchy sometimes."

"No, it's not that." I shook my head and looked up in an attempt to pull the tears back in.

Kendall came around to face me, his brows pinched.

"Then what is it?" His entire focus was trained on me like he genuinely cared.

"You wouldn't understand," I said, my breathing tripping over itself.

"Try me." He put a hand softly on my shoulder.

I inhaled deeply to try to stabilize my breathing.

"I didn't know anything about mermaids before I came to this school a few days ago. My mom had hidden it from me my whole life. The night Caesar brought me here, he rescued me just after vampires killed her. So now I'm learning all these amazing and terrifying things about myself, and I can't even ask her about any of it. And to know that she named me a Mer word… I don't know anything about who she really was, and now she's gone, and I'll never get to hear her side and…"

I tried so hard to keep the tears at bay, to lock my emotions deep inside, but they spilled over the mental dam I had built and forced their way out the only way they knew how. Miniature rivers poured down my face, and all I could feel in that moment was the crippling regret surrounding my mother.

Kendall's other hand landed on my other shoulder, his thumbs gently kneading into both of them. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea. You're right, I don't understand. I don't understand why a mermaid would keep their child from finding their tail. It seems almost cruel."

I cried even harder, my shoulders rocking under Kendall's hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to imply—I just meant—I can't imagine what you're going through, but I'll do everything in my power to make this transition easier for you. I promise. I'll tutor you myself every day if that's what it takes."

I nodded, unable to actually say thanks just yet.

Suddenly, Kendall's hands were wrenched off my shoulders, and strong hands shoved Kendall backward.

"What did you do to her?" Tobias barked, clenching his fists as he closed in on Kendall.

"What are you talking about?" Kendall rebuked, smoothing his hands down his shirt.

"She's crying!" Tobias snapped. "What did he do to you?" he demanded, turning on me.

"Wh—uh," I stammered.

"I didn't do anything to her," Kendall retorted. "What do you care, anyway? You brought her here and then practically pretended she didn't exist."

"That's none of your business." Tobias's jaw stiffened as he turned glowing blue eyes back on Kendall.

I had only seen shifters' eyes glow when they were about to use their powers, and that realization made my heart jump in my chest. As much as the slighted teenage girl part of me was silently reveling in the fact that Tobias at least believed he was coming to my rescue, I didn't want to see either of these boys hurt each other, especially not over me.

"Tobias, it's fine, really." I put my hands on his chest, keenly watching his eyes in hopes that the glow would fade away. "I was just having a moment about my mom, and Kendall was talking me through it."

Looking frightening as he towered at least half a foot over me, he looked down at me, his calculating eyes scanning me, I assumed for marks of abuse. When he found none, the tension slowly eased all over his body, and the glow dissipated, leaving only those warm amber eyes that were finally giving me their full focus.

"So, he didn't... hurt you?"

I shook my head, incredibly relieved.

"What right do you think you have accusing me of hurting a girl?" Kendall asked, stalking toward Tobias.

Maybe I hadn't prevented the fight after all.

"I'm not the one who treats them like garbage before throwing them away," Kendall continued. "Who makes out with them behind the greenhouses then never calls them again. Cora is the hardest girl I know, and yet she cried for days after you used her."

I gasped. Tobias messed around with Cora? My stomach twisted with disgust, and I thought I was about to be sick.

"Shut up!" Tobias yelled, his pride clearly wounded.

"Why don't you dragons just stay away from our mermaids," Kendall said, puffing up like a blowfish.

The two guys were practically chest-to-chest, and though I was admittedly a little turned on by this whole episode, I needed to find some way to stop it from escalating.

I slipped between them and put a hand on both of their chests to push them away from each other. But as my vision passed through the open back door, I caught a glimpse of Cora and her squad circling Shea, whose hands were balled into fists, her chin jutting stubbornly forward.

"Oh no, this can't be good." I pushed past the two testosterone-filled guys and rushed to the aid of my friend before the vultures could descend. Shea was more important.

"I knew there was something off about you as soon as I saw you walk in with that bottom-feeder," I heard Cora say as I came into the living room. "You're no phoenix. You're a witch." Cora said the word like it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Shea stood tall, looking ready to pound this bitch into the dirt.

"What's your problem, Cora?" I stomped into their circle to stand beside Shea. "Why do you have to try so hard to tear everyone else down? Do you really think it makes you look better?"

Cora narrowed her eyes on me. "I am better. I'm Mer nobility, not that you would know anything about that."

"Big fucking deal!" I snapped. "You think the status of your blood gives you the right to treat others like crap? If that's the case, I suspect quite a bit of inbreeding."

A round of "ohs" went up as I climbed onto the couch and stood on it so that everyone at the party could see me.

"Shea may not be a shifter, but she has just as much right to study her craft as we do. I think she belongs at our school. Every single one of you enjoyed her company tonight. Clearly she fits into our world. If we rally together, I'm sure we can get her accepted into The Dome."

While a scattered few were nodding their heads, most of the partiers were averting their eyes—or rolling them. Shea was looking at them all, probably tallying the response, her jaw twitching, the hope draining from her eyes.

Helena stepped forward. "Witches can't be trusted."

"You told us you were a phoenix," Lenore added, staring daggers at Shea. "You lied to everyone."

"I never said I was a phoenix," Shea argued, crossing her arms. "Someone assumed and I neglected to correct them."

"But you let us believe it, and omission is the same as a lie," Helena said.

"Mark my words, witch, you will never be a student at The Dome," Cora hissed, looking more snake than mermaid. Then she turned her venomous gaze on me. "And you're a traitor for just being with her, but telling her about The Dome? Our kind's most protected secret? Some mermaid you are."

The mermaids all glared at me.

"You will never be one of us," Lenore said, hammering the final nail in my outsider coffin.

The sting of rejection on such a large scale was almost more than I could bear, but my failure on Shea's part hurt even more. I stepped down off the couch and looked at Shea.

"Shea…" I began, unsure of what else to say.

"This was a mistake." Shea shook her head, her fingers running through her hair. "I shouldn't have come here tonight."

Then she turned around and rushed to the front door.

I ran after her, grabbing her arm as we came outside. "This isn't the end."

"No," Shea stopped me, looking down at the ground. "I don't belong here, and nobody in my world will teach me anything. Maybe I'm just not meant for this. Maybe I'm not meant for anything."

I had never seen her so down. Shea had a never-say-die attitude, a fire inside of her that couldn't be put out. But tonight, that fire's light was barely visible. And I knew I was at fault. How had this night gone so horribly wrong?

"Shea, you can't believe that," I said.

"Sorry. I'm going home," she said with finality. "I'll talk to you later."

She pulled her arm out of my gentle hold and walked off into the night.

That's just great, Arya. In one night, not only did I pit my only two guy friends against each other, but I humiliated my best friend and got myself completely alienated from the mermaids. How was I possibly going to fix any of this?