Fathom by L. Standage (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

go tell Eamon we’re not leaving until everyone else has to.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Eamon’s voice called from the kitchen. “And technically, I don’t have to follow orders from him. He’s the prince of Zydrunas, not the prince of California.”

Samantha hurried to the stairs. “Come on, Eamon. We like hanging out with you guys.”

“Hey, if you want, you can wait until tonight, but the rest of us are leaving early tomorrow morning.”

“Why can’t we wait?”

Walter emerged from his room, holding a folded towel and a toothbrush. “We have to make sure you two get away safely,” he said. He turned to the bathroom. “Seidon, you better clean up all this mess. And there better be some hot water left.”

“I didn’t use any,” he said, still dripping water all over the carpet.

“Eamon, Seidon’s taking all the cold water,” Natasha cried in a tattling tone of voice from downstairs. I laughed yet again.

I went back to my room to finish with my hair while Samantha argued her case with Eamon and Cordelia. Though I didn’t say it out loud, I didn’t want to go home either. I almost wished Linnaeus himself paced the front sidewalk, so everyone had to stay for a lot longer. Like, the rest of the summer.

But Samantha came in a few minutes later, looking smug.

“We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

The rest of the day passed like the last day of summer vacation. Samantha stayed out on the back porch with Seidon, snapping pictures and refusing to pack her bags “until she had to.” Though I wanted to stay as much as she did, I had my bags packed by lunch time. My form of protest was putting off the call to Aunt Shannon to tell her I had to go home early.

I passed the afternoon helping Calder load the car in the garage with supplies and gear. It was a depressing sight.

“Where do you want this?” I asked, holding a black duffel bag full of some of Uther’s computer equipment.

“I’ve got room for it over here,” said Calder. He stretched out his hand. I held out the straps of the duffel bag for him to take it. My fingers brushed his in the exchange. I pretended it didn’t free another butterfly or two in my stomach.

“I wish we didn’t have to leave so soon,” I said as I picked up another duffel bag. “I never finished my scholarship project.”

“What scholarship project?” He held his hand out for the bag.

“The National Oceanic Associate awards a scholarship every year to a student with a really great project based on a theory they have to come up with themselves.”

“So, it’s like a giant science fair project?”

“Pretty much, yeah. But I haven’t had a chance to work on it. I lost my phone, so there went a lot of my initial research, then with all this—you know, finding out mermaids actually exist—I’m not going to get it done.”

“What was your theory?”

“Oh, I don’t want to bore you with all that.”

“No, I’m interested.”

I had to pause from reaching for more luggage. That was the nicest thing he had ever said to me. After Samantha’s lukewarm support and my parents’ preoccupation with dissolving their marriage, I had an actual listening ear. Warmth bloomed in my chest.

“Really?”

“Yeah, maybe I can help.”

I banged into the wall trying to pick up the luggage.

“Hey, did the wall jump out at you?” he asked. I gave a nervous laugh, massaged my head where it had hit the wall, and tried again to reach for the luggage.

“I’ve just never had anyone show support for my career choice before.” I handed him the bag.

“Really? Why not? It’s cool.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. While we finished loading the van, I told him about some of the ideas I had for my project. We kept talking long after everything had been loaded.

“I won’t be able to finish though,” I said with a sigh, leaning against the side of the van, “since we have to leave tomorrow morning.”

“You don’t have to live here to finish a project about the ocean. You’ve bested Doran Linnaeus and survived a couple car chases.” He nudged me. “Pretty sure you’re capable of putting together a marine biology report.”

I looked down, blushing and biting my lower lip. Did he mean it, or was he just trying to make up for being a pain?

The door to the garage opened and Natasha poked her head in.

“We’ve got dinner, you two,” she said, then shut the door. I stayed where I was.

“Come on,” said Calder. “I smell pizza.”

Still smiling, I followed him through the garage door and into the kitchen, where Eamon pulled a steaming, bubbling pepperoni pizza out of the oven.

“Hey Olivia, would you go find Samantha and Seidon and tell them dinner’s ready?” he asked.

“Sure. Are they still outside?”

“Well, they better not be anywhere else,” said Cordelia from where she stood on the other side of the kitchen counter. “Our enemies know who she is just about as well as they know you.”

I walked out the back door. Sam and Seidon sat on the porch, looking absorbed in close conversation. They looked up at me and leaned away from each other, but I wasn’t fooled.

“Hey,” I said. “Dinner is ready.”

“Thanks,” said Seidon with a nod. He stayed sitting. With the look he had on his face, he might as well have held up a big sign flashing the words: Now go away, you nosy human. Samantha, on the other hand, stood. Seidon frowned a little, but also stood and went inside before us.

I shook my head. We were both making it a lot harder on ourselves to leave.

“Breathing through your mouth is so weird!” said Seidon. “I keep forgetting I can’t breathe and eat at the same time.”

“Well, don’t make us show you firsthand what the Heimlich maneuver is,” said Eamon.

“The what?”

“Heimlich Maneuver.”

“What’s that?”

“Humans use it when they’re choking,” I said. Seidon grinned as though I’d told him the Heimlich was a magic trick.

“Show me!”

“Seidon…” said Cordelia