When Life Gives You Fins - Elaina H (romance book recommendations .txt) 📗

a chair at her!” Destin insists.

            “Well,” Zak answers, “she’s not.”

            Destin laughs and gives a reply, “Zak and Celia sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, next comes the baby in the baby carriage!” Destin cracks himself up.

            Zak moans and I hear him grab Destin and throw him on his bed, “You’re a dork!”

            “Guess what a little birdie told me?” Destin asks.

            “What?” you can tell Zak is done with this conversation.

            “You told Celia you love her!”

            “You little slime ball!” I hear him lunge for Destin, but he screams and runs off.

            The door flies open and there is someone else in the room, “Zak you owe me, like, big time for taking Celia to the club,” Adrianne complains.

            “Guess what I know,” Destin screams.

            I hear Zak try to chase after him, “Zak loves Celia!” he shouts to Adrianne.

            Adrianne falls on the floor and laughs, “You have got to be kidding me! Priceless!”

            “You guys can’t tell anyone!”

            “Why not?! It’s love!” Adrianne cries.

            “Because she didn’t say it back. And she probably doesn’t want the whole palace knowing, nor does she want you guys knowing.”             “Ohhh,” I hear Adrianne swim over to Zak, “you poor thing. She doesn’t love you?”

            “Not yet. But she said she really liked me!”

            Adrianne sighs, very loud, “Is that not what she told Haden? She told him she liked him a lot, and then she dumped him.”

            “Yeah, well, that was different?” The statement is more of a question.

            “Is it? Is it really?” Adrianne antagonizes.

            “You’re lying. She likes me, for real. I mean she’s going to the ball with me. On a date.”

            “Whatever. Just saying!” then the door opens and closes.

            “That was intense,” Destin says.

            “Well, it’s not true. Right?” Zak sounds worried.

            “Who cares?! Girls are gross anyways!” Destin gets up and I hear him walk out the door.

            Of course, I turn around to leave and I run into the wall, face first.

            “Who’s there!” Zak calls. Definitely not scared one bit.

            I swim up the stairs as fast as I can, and I hear Zak throw something.

            I make it to the roof. Definitely not that stair case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Party In The USA…Did I Ever Tell You I Hate That Song?

 

            I walk down another stair case and this one actually leads me to the hallway I was in. I head back to the nursery. It is 3:56. First day of work is going great.

            I walk back into the nursery. “Wow! That took you forever! I was about to call and file a missing persons report.”

            “Took the wrong stair case,” she smiles at me like she knows which stair case I took.

            “Oh, well, get back to work!”

            “That’s what I was planning on doing,” I complain.

            I go around and clean up, change diapers, calm crying babies, and ignore Blondie.

            At 5:00, I am so glad that I only have half an hour left. I am in the very back of the room cleaning up a huge toy mess when someone comes in the door.

            I listen, I automatically hear Blondie turn on the charm. She starts giggling and probably shaking her butt. Whatever!

            “Celia here?”

            “Zak?” I ask as I peek over the corner.

            “Hey, sorry, I figured you still had some work left.” He looks everywhere but my eyes.

            “Okay, what do you need?”             “Can I talk to you? Alone?” He asks.

            “I guess.” I follow Zak out the door and into the hallway. He starts ‘pacing’ around.

            “I thought you needed to talk, not exercise?”

            “Yeah, right, sorry. How do I say this? I figured you probably didn’t want anyone knowing about what happened,” he pauses gesturing to where we are standing, “before you went to work. But I was in my room talking to my siblings and someone over heard out conversation. We were talking about you,” he points at me, “I’m sorry.”

            I guess I’m going to have to play it off like I don’t really care, “No biggie! You didn’t know that was going to happen,” I push him in the shoulder, lightly.

            “Are you sure?”

            “Yeah!” my voice is high. I’m the worst liar.

            “Well, here’s what I know: it’s a woman because I saw her hand-tiny-, She either has a black or purple tail, and she’s fast.”

            “Okay so how many people do you know with black or purple tails?” a second later I add, “besides me or Destin, I mean?”             “No, I can’t think of any females with purple and or black tails.”             “Well, it’s not that important.”

            “Unless,” he says getting really close to me, “it was you?” he raises his eyebrows, and throws me over his shoulder. He spins me around and I shriek.

            “Put me down,” I yell as I get over the initial shock, and realizing he’s not actually accusing me of snooping.

            He sets me on the ground and laughs, “You’re light as a feather under water!”

            “Are you insinuating that I’m not on land?” I joke, keeping the mood light.

            “I’m sure you’re perfect.” I stare into his deep, sapphire eyes and I sigh. I lean slightly forward, only inches from his lip when someone comes down the hallway.

            I pull back and that someone isn’t just a someone. It’s Haden.                

 

            “Haden!”

            “Celia,” I can tell he’s choosing to ignore what he saw or blame it on Zak, “I’m so sorry! You have no idea. What I said wasn’t right. It was so wrong, and the words shouldn’t have left my mouth.”

            I don’t answer as two women walk past and enter the day care, “You should be. I really don’t want to talk to you today. It has been a lot.” I glance away embarrassed that I have to tell him I don’t except his apology.

            “I understand,” he nods his head and continues down the hallway.

            I keep my head down and choose to just work, “I’m going to go back to work.” I turn around to go, but Blondie is walking out the door.

            “Rosa and Jane just took over ten minutes early. Tomorrow I expect you to do way more work.” She turns to Zak and flirts before she walks away.

            “I loath her.”

            “Who doesn’t?” Zak replies.

            “Want to grab a bite to eat?” I ask him.

            “With you? Who wouldn’t!” he wraps his arm around my waist and we swim through the castle until we reach the main entrance.

            “Hey! Maybe Destin and Adrianne want to come to dinner with us?” I look at Zak for a response.

            “I could ask if you want.” I give him this look that says please.

            Zak rolls his eyes and turns to a mercenary. “Will you go and fetch my brother, Destin, and my sister, Adrianne, for dinner?” the solider nods, “Thank you!”

            As he walks past I add, “Thank you.”

            We wait by the entrance for five minutes before they come. Adrianne gives us an eyebrow raise and glances at his arm around my waist.

            “I’m starved,” Destin chirps.

            Zak leans down and whispers in my ear, “I can take my arm off when we leave the palace if you want?”

            “I’m fine.” I don’t know what, but something changed between me and Zak in the hall way. Maybe it was the fact that I heard the conversation or maybe that I knew how Haden really felt. But I like Zak, a lot.

 

            Fifteen minutes later, we reach a restaurant called Shelly’s. It seemed to common for the royal children to each at, but what did I know?

            All four of us walked into Shelly’s and waited for a table. “Hello…” the waitress stopped talking when she realized it was half the Royal Family.

            “Oh my gosh! Let me get the three of you a seat!” she squealed.

            I looked at Zak, “Apparently I go unnoticed.”

            “Not to everybody,” he murmurs.

            The waitress gives us a table and we sit. I take a seat next to Adrianne and Zak sits next to Destin. I’m across from Destin.

            I decide to start the conversation, “So, Adrianne, where’s this club we’re going to?”

            “Shut up you flounder! Only a few people know about it, it’s not allowed,” she whispers.

            “Sorry.” She rolls her eyes. Okay, I decide, someone else’s turn to try and start the conversation.

            “Think fast!” Destin yells as a salt packet hits me in the forehead.

            “Ouch! What was that for?!” I rub the spot where it hit me.

            “Either you have really sloe reflexes or you have no idea what think fast means!”

            “Such a disappointment,” Zak jokes.

            “Destin,” Adrianne whines, “if we were going to throw things at Celia, you should have told me!” she gives me a shy smile.

            Someone walks up to our table as we are all laughing. Jennifer –aka Blondie- squishes herself into the same seat as Zak. “Hey, what’s up?!” her blonde hair floats around her head like a undeserved-halo.

            “Actually,” I say, “we were just getting ready to eat. So if you would be so kind as to leave we’d be forever grateful.

            “You know Celia, you’re only a jerk because you have nothing else going for you. You have to stand up for yourself somehow!”

            At that precise moment Zak give Jennifer a push off the booth seat.

            “Uhh!” she yells.

            “Like I said Jennifer, you will get everything you deserve.”

            She swims away with an angry swish to her tail. Adrianne laughs. “So there has got to be a story on how you told her that one the first time!”                                                                            

            “Yes, but, really this was the third time I had to tell her. The first two times were Haden and Zak’s faults,” I swallow hard on Haden’s name, but I tell her the story.                                       

 

            A couple hours later, it 7:00. So Adrianne lets the boys know we’re going to the club, where ever it may be.

            We set off and I can tell Adrianne doesn’t want me to come, but, I decide, I’ll just stay out of her way.

            When we come to a street at the back of town, I’m officially weirded out.

            “Adrianne, what kind of club is this?!” I swallow hard.

            “A secret one,” she whispers, “Why? Scared?” she gives me a wicked smile.

            “No! Just, I’ve never been to a bar before.” I wait for her response.

            “Well, lucky for you, I’m not going to run you into a bar. I’m taking you to a club!”

            “Bar means cl….!” I just leave it there, she doesn’t really care. When we come to a cave hidden in the cliffs, Adrianne waves me through. We swim through for what seem like thirty minutes. The space becomes really cramped as we swim along, and I start to freak out just a bit.

            “How much further?”

            “A minute.” We come out at the other end and it opens up into a huge room. One of those shell radios sits in the corner, but instead of classical music, it plays rock. All different colored coral and rocks line the walls and light from the ceiling bounces off if them creating a disco affect. There is a ‘DJ’ in the corner singing along to all the songs, and introducing them.

            “Well, I brought you here,” she complains, “I’m not going to have you attached to my hip all night!”

            She swims off and leaves my by myself at the door. Great. I swim over to a snack table and eat a few shrimp. I see Adrianne dancing with a group of girls, her friends?

            I continue standing by the snack counter thinking to myself, ‘if I stand here any longer I’m not going to be able to fit back out.’

            I look around and I see a brown haired boy coming toward me. “Hey!” he grabs a shrimp and eats along with me, staring at the crowd of people here. “To loud