Delving Beneath the Surface

Chapter 5

"Smile."

Verona looked up just as the flash went off on Haley's camera. She blinked rapidly readjusting to the dim light. Wrinkling her nose, she said, "There's no way that'll turn out."

"But I think I'll call it Deer in the Headlights if it does."

She flipped her off and Haley laughed. It was a sweet sound that floated on her upper register, near identical to her sister's though Verona would never admit that out loud. Haley adjusted the settings on her camera to suit the low light of the beach. The sun had set hours ago, but the beach bustled with life as the entire town congregated on its shore. They sat on the dock, opposite Willy's fish shop. Salty water lapped around their ankles, still warm despite the early autumn air.

Verona still had a lot of work to do before the turn of the season, but Haley insisted that she join her for the festival. She promised the moonlight jellies were the prettiest thing on this side of the valley, but she disagreed. The view from the McCarthy kitchen still ranked at the top for her.

Haley set her camera in her lap and continued, "You were staring again."

She nodded across the way to the trio seated at the end of the docks. Sam and Abigail sat locked in a heated discussion beside Sebastian, who stared out across the water. He rolled a lit cigarette between his fingers. The smoke curled up around his head, dissipating on the sea breeze. "You know, instead of staring like a creep, you could just go talk to him."

"I could go talk to him, but I don't know what I'd say."

"Well, what do you two normally talk about? It seems you've had several conversations before now and you chat just fine when get together to play Solarian Chronicles." She picked idly at her nail polish. The blush pink matched her off the shoulder blouse. "Honestly, I would have never imagined a nerdy goth who reeks of cigarettes and rides a motorcycle would be your type."

Verona did a double take. "He rides a motorcycle?"

"That's one of the few remotely interesting things about him." She paused. "If you didn't know that, then what the hell did you see in him?"

"It's not like I see anything in him. It's just—" She stopped herself. "I mean, it's not like I..." She found herself unable to finish that thought either. No matter what she said, Haley would draw her own conclusions.

She watched the water ripple around her ankles, nibbling at the skin from her lower lip. "He uses the other two as a buffer when he's around town," Verona admitted, "I like Sam and Abigail well enough, but when they're always around it's harder to get him to talk to me." In general, getting Sebastian to talk about himself was like pulling teeth, but it was easier when it was just the two of them.

Haley considered that. "Oh my god, you're so lucky you have me as your friend." She stood and wiped the sand from the back of her pale blue shorts. "Come on," she offered her a hand, "Let's go hang out down there instead."

She stared at her, horrified. "What? No. Why would we do that?"

"Because watching you pine makes me want to vomit." She grabbed her by the straps of her overalls and dragged her to her feet. "You can have your heart to heart with Sebastian while I..." She bounced on the balls of her feet. "...distract the other two by talking about music or whatever. I talk to Sam often enough these days. It shouldn't be weird."

Verona felt like the world had stopped turning. She found it hard to believe that Haley would do that. For her? She struggled to keep the smile off her face. "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"