Bluehour (A Watermagic Novel) by Brighton Hill

voice was musical.
He turned his pointer finger over and held it out to me. There was
still a considerable amount of space between us, but I saw his nose
flare.
    Even though my hands were sweating from
nerves, I took his finger into mine to examine it. Electricity shot
through my body at the touch. His fingers spread and then tensed as
I held to him. He looked like he was in pain.
    “See there.” Sure enough, with his other hand
he pointed at a tiny brown freckle on the underside of his pointer
finger. “It’s your angel kiss.”
    I laughed as I tried to wipe it off to no
success. “It’s stuck,” I exhaled.
    He scoffed. “It’s mine now.” His eyes
smoldered at me. I liked how he was acting. Then he got up off the
bench and dove into the pool.
    I didn’t know what to think. I was
breathless. My mind was racing and it took all I had to make it
through practice. I just kept thinking about Laurent. But, as
before, he swam on the far side of the pool and didn’t even so much
as look at me the rest of the day.
    I made the decision right then. I had to know
everything about him. There were so many unanswered questions and
now that my restriction was over, I didn’t have to return to the
apartment right away. After practice, instead of taking a ride with
Ashton, I tried to follow Laurent home.
    For awhile now, I had been contemplating
this. I knew he walked home every day, so I figured he must live
close by. Desperately, I wanted clues. I had to know how he made
those magical things happen. I had to know if I just imagined it
all or if my perceptions were based on any sort of reality.
    After practice, I dressed in a hurry so I
could get a head start. For the past few days, I had been watching
to see the direction that Laurent walked home. And when I was in
Ashton’s car, we passed him on the road two of the times. So, today
I rushed out of school and to the area I had seen him walking in
the past.
    I headed down busy Pico Boulevard toward the
beach past all sorts of storefronts, auto shops, and business
buildings. Once I got to the farthest place I had seen Laurent, I
waited behind some trees between a hamburger shop and a shoe
store.
    Maybe ten minutes later, I spotted Laurent
walking down the sidewalk. Once he passed me and was a considerable
distance ahead, I started to follow him.
    The boulevard was loud with city noise and
crowded with cars, so there was no way he would hear me behind him.
Even if the street had been quiet, he wouldn’t have detected me
simply because of the sheer distance between us. And if he happened
to turn around, he couldn’t recognize me from this far behind
him.
    I kept a sharp eye on him and followed along.
There was a slight rhythm to his movement. I wondered if he was
singing a song to himself and keeping time with his body. He
stopped for a moment before a beauty shop parking lot and handed a
homeless man some money before continuing on and turning onto Ocean
Avenue.
    Nervous that I might lose him, I hurried
ahead. But, to my dismay, once I turned onto Ocean, he was nowhere
in sight. Anxiously, I looked around in the various yards and store
parking lots that lined the avenue. In disappointment, I gave up.
He must have turned down another street or maybe he lived in one of
the houses and had already gone inside. I reassured myself though.
Tomorrow, I would wait for him on Ocean Avenue this time and,
hopefully, I would discover where he lived.
    I decided that because I was so close to the
beach, I would go surfing. There were rental shops with pristine
boards at the peer, so I got on the next city bus in pursuit of my
destination. At least, I could lose myself in the water.
    Once on the bus, I didn’t even take a seat
because the peer was close. In no time I was at the rental store. I
noticed that while I was trying to pick out a board, the clerk kept
staring at me.
    Finally, I turned to him and said, “Do you
want something?”
    He didn’t respond.
    “You keep staring at me,” I