Atlantis Academy: The First Element

CHAPTER SEVEN

All my anxiety from before has been swept away along with the broken dishes. I think tonight went okay. Okay enough for me to keep my job for another day. And that's gonna have to be enough.

I save the broken picture frames for last, carrying them to the counter because I don't know what else to do with them. Deb and Keith can figure it out in the morning.

The photo on top catches my eye, and I pause. It's an old black and white picture of a group of fishermen down by the dock. Someone with fancy handwriting wrote 1939 in ink along the bottom edge.

I set it aside. The second photo is a grainy, blurred image of two couples standing on the beach. Mayor George Kelly and Margaret Kelly with Michael and Ethel Logan. 1927. Kelly and Logan. What a surprise. Shannon's last name is Kelly, and Amanda's last name is Logan. Shannon's dad also served as mayor for a while. Guess being rich and popular goes back a long way in this town.

The third frame contains some very old ink drawings. And by old, I mean old. Goosebumps pop up on my arms as I hold the frame up to the light. Impossible sea creatures dance across cracked parchment paper, drawn in black ink and faded by time. A looping scrawl appears below each creature, naming them, but I can't read it.

There's an odd-shaped whale swimming with fish. All of them have sharp teeth and big eyes. Next to them, an enormous squid swims, but something about it is not quite right. A few mermaid-type creatures with animal heads frolic in the bottom corner, and a long snake-like creature winds around the page. Spikes line its back, leading to a head that resembles a horse's.

I frown, carefully placing the frame on top of the others. Then I rub away the goosebumps on my arms.

"Never go down to that beach at night. Ya hear me? Never! It is not safe, no matter what the stupid kids around here think. There are things. Things that like the night. Do not go near that ocean."

"Shut. Up." I whisper.

I'm sick of my mom's voice in my head tonight.

And why am I even thinking about this? I am not going down to that beach.

"Ready to go?" Mateo calls from the kitchen.

"Yep!"

Mateo has the job of closing the cash register and depositing the money in Keith's office, so while he's doing that, I grab my jacket and quickly count up my tip money.

We leave out the side entrance, and I shiver beside him in the dark as he locks up.

"Hey, thanks for helping so much tonight," I say. "The front's my job... you didn't have to clean."

As Mateo drops the keys in his pocket, I shove half my tip money at him. "Here. You deserve this as much as I do."

"Nah. I don't want that." He raises a brow at me. "Really."

"Are you sure?" I know he makes more than I do, but I highly doubt it's all that much. "Please... I want to share it."

"And I wanted to help you. Besides, now we both get to go home early. It's all good."

He gently pushes my outstretched hand away, so I do as he says. I pull out my frayed canvas wallet and shove the money inside next to the only other thing in it—my useless driver's license. Then I zip it away in my jacket again.

"Have a good night," he says.

"You too."

We go our separate ways. He heads to the right, toward the edge of town and the trailer park where he once told me he lives. I go left, taking the 101 along the beach.