The Mermaid's Mirror

Chapter 12

Lena sent a text to Pem: Surfing rulez!

After a moment, a message came back from Pem: Yayyyyy! Woo-hoo!!!

Lena: Ani is a super great teacher.

Pem: I wish I could have gone w/ u but wait til u hear what happened!

Lena: ??

Pem: U will never believe it.

Lena: Do I rly hafta guess?

Pem: Hee! I will tell u when u get here.

Lena: OMG ur evil!

Pem: See u soon. Xoxo

Lena made an impatient sound.

Ani glanced over at her. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Lena closed her cell phone. "Pem has some news, but she won't tell me until I get to her house. Thanks for dropping me off there." Lena had asked Ani to take her to Pem's house so she could change clothes and dry her hair before she went home.

"No problem. Do you want to get together next Friday for another lesson?"

"Yes! I already can't wait!"

Ani smiled. "It won't be long before you're surfing on your own. You've got a really good grasp of the basics already. Although I don't mean you should surf alone. You should always take someone with you." She cocked her thumb at Kai in the back seat, who was listening to his iPod. "Like Pig-Dog there. He's ready to get in the water anytime."

"Pig-Dog?"

"Kai keeps trying to get me to call him Kaiborg or Flea or Skeleton or something like that. He's dying for a cool surf name." She flipped on her left blinker, then turned down Pem's street. "So of course I torture him with bad nicknames." She pulled up in front of Pem's house and put the Jeep in park. "Okay, Lena, see you next Friday. Same time?"

"Yes, that would be great. Thank you sooo much, Ani. Please let me pay you?"

Ani shook her head. "No, I already told you. I'm not doing this for the money. I love surfing, so it feels like a rite of passage, you know? Sharing the surf-love. Helping a new surfer learn the ropes. Or the rails, I should say. Someday you'll help someone and pass on the good karma."

"I will," said Lena. She climbed out of the Jeep, and Kai leaped out of the back seat.

"Call me later," he said, enfolding Lena in his arms again. He was deep in the middle of a goodbye kiss when Ani honked, making them both jump.

Lena laughed. "Bye."

Ani drove away, Kai waving from the front seat.

Lena knocked, and Pem threw open the door.

"I am a surfer now," said Lena.

Pem squealed and hugged her. "I know! I can't wait to surf with you. Come on in. Mama Mia's fixing dinner. You can stay, right?" One of Pem's moms was named Mia, so Pem had grown up calling her Mama Mia. Her other mom was just "Mom."

"Sure," said Lena. "Can I take a shower first, though? I'm all salty."

"Yeah, yeah."

"But first I want to hear your big news!"

"Come to my room," said Pem. From the glow on her face, Lena knew it had to be about Max. Once they were inside, Pem burst out, "Guess who called me?"

"Hmm, let me see," said Lena. "The president?"

"Stop!" said Pem, pushing her shoulder. "You know it was Max."

"I'm stunned."

"I was so nervous I could hardly breathe! We talked for, like, half an hour."

"Really? What did you talk about?"

"Oh, you know. We were just talking. Nothing special. About school, and music, and surfing. He said we should hang out sometime."

"Hang out? He actually said 'hang out'? He's in college! Shouldn't he be a little smoother with the ladies by now?"

Pem cracked up. "Probably. But I like that he's not smooth. He even said that college is totally intense, and he kind of misses high school."

Lena reached for a comb, trying not to feel annoyed that they were talking about Max, as usual. She had wanted to tell Pem all about her first time surfing, but clearly Pem's conversation with Max was far more thrilling to her than anything else. "So ... are you going out with him?" She worked the comb through her salt- sticky hair.

"I don't know. It was just a phone call."

"Today it's a phone call, tomorrow you're cruising around in that muscle car of his."

Pem giggled. "Can you just see my moms' faces when he drives up in that thing, all loud and kicking out blue exhaust?" Pem made engine-revving sounds. "'Uh, yeah, see you later, Mrs. Er ... Pem's mom and Mrs. Pem's other mom. I'll have your daughter home early.'" She imitated the sound of tires peeling out.

"Yes," continued Lena, imitating Max. "I'm here to take out your fifteen-year-old daughter in my luuuuv machine."

"I think having two moms is going to make it even harder to date than having the usual parent-combo," said Pem. She fiddled with the braided anklet on her leg. She and Lena had made yarn anklets a couple of years ago. Pem's was three different colors of pink, in keeping with her penchant for all things Jeannie- esque.

Lena didn't answer for a minute, just combed her hair, then she said, "Maybe. They don't want you to date until you're sixteen, I know, but that's pretty standard."

Pem frowned. "I don't want to wait that long, though! I won't be sixteen for four more months. You're lucky."

"I am?"

"That your parents let you start going out with Kai."

"Well, that was different. Kai was already there. They knew him. In fact, they didn't even know we were together until my mom saw us kissing on the beach one day, and the cat was out of the bag. Now they're always trying to make us hang out with them in the family room, instead of in my room."

"Still," said Pem. "How can I make my moms let me go out with Max?" She blushed. "If he asks, of course."

"Pem. He's going to ask. He's just too lame to come right out and do it."

"He's not lame!" Pem gave Lena a playful punch on the shoulder. "He's reticent."

"Reticent?" Lena laughed. "Vocabulary much?"

"Dude, you know I can't even help it. With a mom who teaches English, I'm doomed."

"Or fated."

"Preordained."

"Destined."

They giggled.

"I smell garlic," said Pem. "Let's see what Mama Mia is making for dinner."

"Okay, but first I need to get the salt water off me," said Lena, heading for the bathroom. "Do you have an extra towel?"

"They're in the cupboard," called Pem through the door. "You can wash off the sand, Leen, but you can't wash off that smile. You'd better cheer down before you see your parents."

***

The next day Max was waiting for Pem after school.

Lena saw him leaning against his car in his trademark Hawaiian shirt, glancing around casually, as if to say, "I just happened to end up parked here in front of my old high school. No reason."

But Lena knew instantly he was here for Pem, and turned to tell her.

Pem, of course, had already seen him, since she had super-strength Max Radar. Her face was alight. "Oh, my God," she whispered.

"I know!" Lena whispered back.

Just then Henry, Max's brother, walked up to the car.

"Oh," said Pem. "Maybe he's just here to take Henry home."

"No way," said Lena. "He's here for you."

They kept walking, and sure enough, when Max saw them, he smiled and waved.

Pem waved back.

"Hi," he called.

Pem and Lena approached the car.

"Need a ride?" called Max. "I was just here to pick up Henry"—Right, thought Lena—"but I'd be happy to take you and your friend home." He nodded at Lena.

"Sure," said Pem, affecting the same casual air.

Everyone stared as Henry flipped down the front seat, indicating that Pem and Lena should get in back. Max frowned, but Henry didn't seem to notice.

The girls glanced at each other, then climbed into the back seat of the Mustang.

That was the last day Pem rode in the back seat.

The next day Max was there again, to "pick up Henry," and he offered them a ride home again. This time when Pem accepted, Max relegated Henry to the back seat with a cock of his head. There was a split second of awkwardness before Lena joined him, then Pem slid gracefully into the front seat as if she owned it.

Lena actually rolled her eyes the third day Max was waiting outside school. Why didn't he just ask Pem out, instead of going through this whole Oh-hi-I-just-ran-into-you-here scenario?

When he offered them a ride home, Lena declined, much to Pem's consternation.

"Come on, Lena!" she whispered.

"Why?" asked Lena. "Why can't you just go without me? Why do I have to be there?"

"Just ... it seems like it's more natural if you're there."

"What's the big deal? Henry is there."

"Yeah, but you know my parents would get all horrified if they saw me riding around in a car with a college guy! At least if you're with us, it doesn't seem so ... like, private."

"It's not private! You're riding around in broad daylight with Henry in the back seat. You don't need me. Your parents probably wouldn't mind at all."

"Lena, come on. I'd do it for you."

Lena sighed. It was true. Pem would do anything for her, including letting Lena stop off at her house and shower before going home from her surfing lessons. "Okay," she said.

"Thanks," said Pem, squeezing Lena's elbow. Then she opened the door of the Mustang with an air of possession, and pushed down the front seat so that Lena could get in back.

Making a face at her, Lena climbed in. "Hey, Max," she said.

"Hey, Lena."

"Hi, Henry."

Henry glanced over at her, then quickly looked away, his face reddening. "Hi," he said.

They drove without speaking, the hip-hop music of Friendly Frenzy booming from the car's speakers.

Max took Lena home first.

"Thanks, Max," she said. "Talk to you later, Pem."

"See ya."

"Bye, Henry."

Henry lifted his hand briefly.

Relieved to be out of the car, away from the loud thumping bass and the silent slumping brother, Lena went into her house.