I rushed back to the hotel looking at the ground and changed into normal clothes.
"Mom I'm taking the rental to pick Cal up." I don't know why I bothered telling her because I bet she didn't even notice I left. I was just worried that she would snap and call for help and nobody would be there. I used to never leave her alone but that got old real fast when I realized I had to work for food. The rental was a pretty nice toyota which was clearly lended by this friend of hers. I never drove anything so snazzy. Cal's school was a 3 minute drive and he was waiting outside. He was frowning and his eyes puffed up.
"Cal what happened?" He just shook his head. "Cal no secrets remember?" "He dumped food on me. Said I should kill myself so nobody has to look at my face." He whispered with his eyes tearing up.
Cal was probably the most sensitive 10 year old in existence but that brought it way to far. "Which one is he?" Cal pointed to a little kid with bleached blond hair. Who lets their kid bleach their hair at 10? I got out of the car and I could hear Cal yelling at me to stop but I was angry enough because of the creepy hot dude at the park.
"Hey buddy." I said squatting so I was his height. He smiled and I think he even glanced at my ass. "Well that's not where your eyes should be is it? Now I heard you are going around telling kids bad things. Is that right?" He just gave me the 'are you serious' expression. "Well maybe now you should keep that little mouth of your shut or i'll tell your mother exactly what you have in that cute little back pack of yours." I stood up and realized his facial expression went blank. I didn't know if the kid had anything to hide but by the looks of it he had a secret he didn't want his mother to know about it. He nodded. "Alright. Have a wonderful day!" I said walking away.
Cal was hiding under the seat and when I looked at the kid he flipped me off. And sure, maybe I was being a child but I shot the finger up at him hoping no teachers witnessed this and drove away. Cal started to laugh and I couldn't help but laugh with him.
"If he says anything else to you come to me. You don't have to be scared of kids like that. They won't get anywhere in life. You will probably end up being their boss one day. In some great company making a million dollars!" He smiled at the thought. "And we will live together in a mansion!" He said. I rubbed his head ruffling his hair and parked the car.
"Now Cal I have a.... Business meeting at 7 ok? So I will be gone for an hour or two. Can you watch mom?" He nodded. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and he ran to his room. I put on a pretty basic light blue swimsuit with a criss cross at the top and pulled over jeans and a flowy shirt. Who does this guy think he is telling me not to go. He has to be FBI or something spying on me like that. But why would the FBI care about a teenage low life?
There was a knock on my door and I ran over to pick it up. Cason was standing there with a big tee and shorts with a half smile. "There isn't anything illegal at this party right?" I said when we walked down to his car. "No why?" "Because I think some kind of FBI agent is stalking me and might bust your party." "What?" He looked concerned. "Ya it's no big deal they might just be suspicious because I moved here? I don't know." He stared at the road seriously and his smile faded.
"Why are you sure there's nothing illegal? No drugs or anything like that?" "Mer
I'm not some kind of crazy crackhead." His smile was back on and we pulled onto the beach. There were about a dozen people and blasting music which shot my ears. Two guys walked up to the car, and not to stereotype or anything but they are what my mind's eye creates when I think of the word surfer. These dudes were ripped like the medieval cosplayer or FBI agent man and their hair was chopped and skin was tan. Even in the dark I could see their tanned glow.
"Look who Cason brought along!" One said leaning against the car.
"Dave met Mer. Mer this is Dave and Jax." One of the guys looked dazed while the other stared at me and said "Mer for what Merry?" "Mercury." Cason said and I think their eyes widened a little but they shook it off. I hit his arm out of annoyance and he smiled. "Well Mer you know how to surf?" Dave asked. His reddish brown hair gleamed under the post light which was a contrast to Jax's blond hair. Their eyes were a similar shade of grey.
"Just Mer and sorta?" "Well let's go!" Dave said slinging off his shirt which got me off guard. "Like what you see?" He asked and I rolled my eyes while Cason started to laugh. Then he ran straight into the ocean head first but right as he did a wave crashed into him which made me die of laughter. "Ya he's kinda crazy." Jax said which made my eyes grow. "Just an expression Mer." Cason said and took his shirt off.
"Don't be so serious!" Jaxon ran into the water on his board and yelled "Hell ya!"
This is what summer is supposed to be like. Crazy guys and crashing waves. "I don't think i have been to the beach in years." "Come on! I won't push you to surf but at least get that perfect hair wet." "It's far from perfect." I pulled off my shirt and shorts. "You know what. I need this. I need to live!" But Cason's facial expression turned a little sad.
"What's wrong? Did I say something?" "No. No, it's fine!" The smile returned. "But-" Then a wave hit into me and he started to laugh. He started to splash at me ruining my so called 'perfect hair' and I yelled splashing him back.
"Dude no fair!" He ducked under the salty water and I felt it start to sting my eyes. But it was a good sting. Made me feel like I was alive. The past 4 years of my life, I have been drowning and now I can breathe. I jumped into a wave and flipped my soaking hair to the side. "How is the water so warm? It's like a jacuzzi and its dark outside." "This is Cali Mer." Dave said with a silent obviously at the end of his sentence. "Tell me a little about yourself." Jax said, popping up from under the water scaring the crap out of me.
"Well lets just say i'm happy to be here. I love New York but I wasn't really living. It will always be home but i can actually be free here." He gave me a smile but it didn't reach his eyes. It's like my happiness was making them upset. "How about you? Cali born?" "Nah we moved here recently." "Really?" These guys looked like they were born on the beach.
Another big wave hit which knocked me to the side. People started to sing with the music on the shore. "Who are all of they?" "Oh just some old friends." Jaxon responded.
We had to be swimming for 15 minutes when a siren went off. It overpowered the music and made my ears bleed. Cason must have cursed under his breath and he grabbed my arm. "Is there a shark or something?" I yelled over the siren and started to hyperventilate. I was going to die. This was it. FBI man must have known about the sharks.
I pulled away from Cason and started to sprint out of the water as fast as I could. I was not getting eaten today. I had to live. For Cal. But then Cason started running too but instead of running forward he ran after me. But then he stopped running when he saw something behind me. I started to yell for him to keep running out of the water but he froze.
"Cason get out of the water!" I screamed over the siren. I need to get help.
"Help! Someone help get him out!" I started to run toward the people but they were sprinting away. "Someone help! He's drowning or something!" I looked around frantically trying to find someone to pull Cason out but Jaxon and Dave were gone. And I think I screamed when two big hands were on my upper arms. I was being pushed and quickly spun around. And of course it was the FBI medieval man. His grip on me was strong and I couldn't pull away.
"Let go of me." I yelled. He was concentrating on my face and pushed me behind the lifeguard shed where he let me go. But I was stuck in the corner.
"Who the hell are you? FBI? What did I do wrong? I swear I haven't done anything illegal."
"I told you not to come." He said with his slight accent. "Well you can't expect me to listen to some random ass dude in a medieval cosplay outfit. Are you under cover?" He scanned my body up and down and I realized I was still in my scandalous bikini. I folded my arms in front of my chest and he grinned.
"Oh Mercury, such a big imagination." I froze. I needed answers "How do you know my full name? Do you have my files? Are you- oh my god. You're the mafia." I started into his eyes and he gave an amused smile.
"I-I will fight you." "Like you did to that 10 year old boy? Flipping off a kid? Very mature." My jaw dropped 10 feet down. "H-How-" "Mer you don't know what you got yourself into." "I don't know what that means." "You have to stay away from Cason." "Why should I listen to you?" "Because they were going to take you today. Are you really so naive?"
The breeze picked up and my skin prickled with goosebumps. "Y-you were following me. What do you want from me?" "To not get hurt." "I dont need some random man to protect me." He let out a laugh. "I'm sorry I don't listen to complete strangers!" "Mer you are not safe and soon you will realize that you should have taken my warning sooner." He said. What the hell was that supposed to mean? I heard something crack behind me and a familiar deep voice said "Mer! There you are?" I looked back in front of me and the man was gone. The freakiest part was that he pushed me into a corner and there was possibly no place for him to go.