As Perceived by Crystellen Treasure 7

I shook my head and looked at the guys who conversed across the dance floor with Robert.  “I’m sure they’d love to dance with you.  Think about it, Em.  They’re all taller than you, so they can more easily look down your dress.”

My ever-prudish sister gave me a shocked expression, though I didn’t know why.  Em was sixteen and rather cute and Robert, who himself looked okay, did have several handsome male friends here.

“Crissy, how dare you say such a thing?  I’m telling mother what you just said.”

Before she could leave, I stuck out my tongue.  “If you don’t want to be an old maid,” I replied, “then you need to be a little more friendly with guys.  For starters, sis, the neck line on your dress is way too high.  You need it to be several inches lower if you want to get their attention.”

Emerys gave me a horrified look.  “Where on Earth did you get such ideas?”

I cocked my head to the side and put my hands on my hips.  “The library.  Mom dropped me off a few weeks ago and I read the latest issue of Cosmo.  You’d be surprised what you can learn about the world, Em.  I mean, do you know the twenty-five moves to please a man?”

My sister turned around and went in search of our mother.  Oh well, I knew I’d be grounded, but at least I got out of dancing.  I looked around.  I hated dancing in front of people, and would do anything to get out of it, even if it meant that Mom would lecture me tonight about the behavior of a young lady.

I wandered over to the punch bowl.  There really were a lot of people here.  Robert must have a lot of friends.

I looked over at where he and Cat chatted with several guys.  Robert must really love my sister.  After all, once you marry a slow-aging mermaid, you end up losing your friends.  You have to.  You can’t have them notice when your wife doesn’t age as fast as you do.

I walked over to where Dad conversed with Robert’s father.  I was bored.  Why did my sister have to go off and get married, I had wondered.  Why couldn’t she just have stayed home and lived with us?

I looked down at the carpet in our living room floor and then at Emerys’ boyfriend, who still slept on the couch. 

Great, I thought.  I wonder how long it’ll be before these two get married.  I could see the look in her eyes.  Emerys was many things, and she was usually subtle, but her interest in Losten had been anything but that.

So, why couldn’t he see it?  For being so smart, why was he so slow?  Was she going to have to ask him on a date?  Actually, she was the one who insisted he come here this evening, so I guess this sort of counted as a date.  Not that lying unconscious on a girl’s couch was what most guys would call a fun evening.

I glanced down at my watch.  I’d been sitting her for fifteen minutes.  How long would I have to wait?

As Perceived by Crystellen Treasure 6

I smiled.  “I felt a lot of warmth for you.”  In retrospect, I should have added that he seemed very insecure, but instead I said, “Confusion too, but a close personal-”

Always the angel, my sister protested that she didn’t want to know more.  But, I knew she really did, so once I saw that Losten was asleep, I continued.  “To be honest, Em, I think he’s just shy.  I think that’s the reason he didn’t ask you out sooner.”

My sister glared at me.

I turned around to head back to my room when our mother stopped me.  “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.

I’m going to continue my nap,” I replied.  “He’s asleep and my shift starts in a few hours.”

“You’re staying right here, young lady,” my mother replied.  “One of your cousins can cover your shift for you.”

Oh, great, I thought.  Just what I wanted to do, sit around in awkward silence while we see how Emerys’ boyfriend feels.  I stared at my sister.  Why had we grown apart so much?  It was all Cat’s fault; she’s the one who left us.

“So, shall I call you sister?” Robert had asked.  He looked down at me from where he stood at the wedding reception beside Cat.

My only response was to give him a frosty stare.

“All right,” he continued, “Crystellen it is then.”  He bent down and smiled at me.  “I’m happy to have you as my sister-in-law.”

Like right, I thought.  Ever since he’d proposed to Cat, I’d done my part to make his life as unpleasant as possible.  I mean, why did my sister need to go off and get married?  Our family was fine as it was.  Not that I knew her well.  I was twelve, or maybe twelve-ish, now that my aging had slowed.  Cat was, well, somewhere in her mid-twenties.

But, why’d she have to bring him into our world?  Robert was okay, but he complicated things.  Once Cat told him about her tail, and he reconciled the existence of mermaids with his world view, my mother felt like we could just discuss anything around him.  Anything.  Like he was part of the family.

Okay, so technically he was part of the family.  But, that’s beside the point.

“Come on, Crissy,” Emerys said.

I turned around.  Somehow, she had wondered up to where I stood beside a bouquet of flowers without me noticing.

“Will you come dance with me?” she asked.

I leaned back.  Unlike Em, the last thing I wanted to do was go dance at a wedding in front of people.  I glanced around.  There were all these people here we didn’t know.

“Why don’t you get one of the guys here to dance with you?” I replied.

She shook her head.  “Come on, it’ll be fun.”  She leaned towards me.  “Besides, all the guys here are a lot older than I am.  I don’t want to dance with some guy twice my age.”

Re-launch

Announcement!

The re-launch of the Treasure Hunters Book Club.  After letting this blog become inactive, our book club is having new life breathed into it.  Or maybe I should say our mermaid finally showed up to save us (since that is what mermaids do, afterall).  :) 

My original goal had been to post once a day, but that proved a greater pace than I always had time, so our favorite teenage mermaid will endeavor to make her way to a computer on land and post once every week or two.

And now, the return of one Crystellen Treasure...