SEAMONSTER: An Aquarathi Novella (The Aquarathi) Read Online Free PDF Page A

glittery vampires. This time I can’t hold back my snort. If she thinks I’m a vampire, a shimmering underwater sea dragon is probably way out of the realm of possibility. My humor disappears as I recall her drawing. Mermen and sea monsters are practically distant cousins.
    She stares at me with mock consternation as if I’ve missed out on a crucial life milestone. “Honestly, where have you been living? Everyone knows Edward Cullen.”
    “I’m obviously not in the know,” I joke, responding to the slight teasing note in her voice and the barest hint of a smile. “So go on,” I tell her. “You thought I was a shiny vampire?”
    “Never mind, I think I must have hit the water pretty ha rd,” she says, laughing at herself and the turn of the conversation. The sudden grin transforms her entire face. A dimple appears in her left cheek as her lips part, exposing a gap between her front teeth. It surprises me, and not because Anya isn’t someone you’d call drop-dead gorgeous. She’s more of the quiet, pretty type. With the exception of those startling eyes, her features are too fine for her to stand out. But when she smiles, her entire face lights up from the inside, making her eyes pop like aquamarines. My guess is that she doesn’t do it very often because the smile is gone as fast as it appears. “I must have passed out … or something.”
    “You were unconscious for a few seconds,” I interject helpfully. “Before we got to Sunny Jim’s.”
    “Where I imagined that I got saved by a water sprite or some fantastic water creature.”
    “Nope,” I say, despite the tug in my belly. “Just me.”
    “Just you,” she agrees, her eyes burning into mine. Our gazes part, hers returning to the sand at her feet and mine falling to the notebook beneath her palms.
    “Thank you, by the way,” she says after a few moments. “I didn’t get a chance to say it yesterday.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    We stare at the people walking by without talking, watching the wind swirl eddies in the sand at our feet. It’s odd, the silence. I haven’t felt this comfortable since being land bound, and certainly never with a human girl. Normally, I can’t wait to get away from them. Their very presence is irritating, making the waters in my body anxious and uneasy. But my waters are calm now, unruffled. If anything, they’re pressing on the inside of my skin, curiously pushing toward her.
    I clear my throat , surprised at the odd sensation. “So, you’re not from around here, are you?”
    “Why do you ask that?”
    “I don’t know. I guess I’ve never seen you here … on this beach. And I’m here a lot,” I say. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a beach bum stalker. I work at the Marine Center and I live a couple miles down that way. So I’m local, I mean. That’s what I was trying to say,” I finish lamely.
    Anya smiles and then bites her lip. “And you would have noticed me of all the people who live here in La Jolla .”
    “No. I mean, yes,” I say, wondering what the hell is wrong with my tongue and my sudden inability to string two words together. “That’s not what I meant.” I take a breath. “It’s just that not a lot of locals jump from The Clam because the fines are insane. The jumpers are mostly tourists who do it for the t-shirt rights. And you … seem different, I guess.”
    “T-shirt rights?”
    “Bragging rights,” I say.
    “How do yo u know I didn’t do it for the brag rights since you seem to notice so many little details about people?”
    I flush, sensing her sarcasm. “I don’t know. Did you?”
    “No.” She sees my look and her lips curl in a half smile. “I’m only teasing about you noticing me. You know, I worked out that if you try just hard enough to be invisible, it’s something you can actually do. Like, I could sit here for hours and not talk to a single person. It’s like being part of something, and yet not part of it at the same time.”
    I stare at her. “I