Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe things are out of your control.
But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims—and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won’t tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway…and discovers that Christian’s secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm.
Seductive and compelling, Wrecked brings a contemporary, paranormal twist to a classic enchanting tale.
Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe things are out of your control.
But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims—and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won’t tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway…and discovers that Christian’s secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm.
Seductive and compelling, Wrecked brings a contemporary, paranormal twist to a classic enchanting tale.
Ever since the death of her parents, Miranda has lived on Whym Island, taking comfort in the local folklore, which claims a mysterious sea witch controls the fate of all on the island and in its surrounding waters. Sometimes it’s just easier to believe things are out of your control.
But then a terrible boating accident takes the lives of several of her friends, and Miranda is rescued by a mysterious boy who haunts her dreams. Consumed by guilt from the accident, she finds refuge in late-night swims—and meets Christian, a boy who seems eerily familiar, but who is full of mystery: He won’t tell her where he is from, or why they can only meet at the beach. But Miranda falls for him anyway…and discovers that Christian’s secrets, though meant to protect her, may bring her nothing but harm.
Seductive and compelling, Wrecked brings a contemporary, paranormal twist to a classic enchanting tale.
In many ways, Whym Island is like any of the hundreds
of tiny islands dotting the South Carolina coast. Its got year- rounders, plus an infusion of visitors that swells its population to more than fve times its off-season size. It has windswept cot- tages, sprawling resorts, and a coastline that makes visitors catch their breath and immediately do some mental math, desperate to fnd some way to live there year round. And, like all islands, it has secrets. Everyone knows that, in the 1960s, the mayor ran off with his gardeners wife, and everyone knows people can occasionally hear an otherworldly keening by the beach on Bloody Point thanks to a nineteenth-century shipwreck. During the summer, year-rounders will avoid the ferry dock, the Upper Dock bar and restaurant, Burton Park, and p r ol ogue REV INT Wrecked.indd 1 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 a n n a d a v i e s the town square commons, because they know these spots will be overrun by tourists. On the beach, the two groups, indis- tinguishable from each other to outsiders, will barely acknowl- edge each other with anything besides a chilly nod. Just like all the other islands in the Calibogue Sound. Except the one thing that Whym has that other nearby islandslike Breton or Johns or Stuart Islanddont, is an air of mystery. For one thing, Whym has unusual tides, which dont always conform to the tide chart. This is annoying to fshermen, enchanting to visitors. Called witch tides by locals, low tide can suddenly, in an instant, turn into a relentless rushing high tide. Oceanographers say its a natural phenomenon caused by unusual plate tectonic activity. The locals explain that theres a sunken island beneath the sea, ruled by a sea witch. The visitors cant get enough of that story. Which is why, during the summer, there are sea witch tours instead of whale watch tours, sea witch specials at all the seafood restaurants, and, of course, plenty of sea witch souvenirs at the postage- stamp-size Souvenir Shoppe, a weather-beaten shack that lies to the right of the Faunterloy Ferry dock. The Souvenir Shoppe, too, is just like any other souvenir shop on any other island. You know the ones: The foors are perpetually gritty with sand, theres a thin layer of dust on all the shot glasses, ashtrays, and bells that are perched on high shelves, and theres a line of cheap candy at eye-level for fve-year-olds. On Whym, the Souvenir Shoppe also contains handmade puppets of the REV INT Wrecked.indd 2 2/23/12 4:44 PM 3 mermen and mermaids believed to live beneath the sea. They all have slight smiles and hair made out of yarn and are usually only purchased by well-meaning grandmothers. Next to them is a shelf of mermaid food, which is simply multicolored fsh pellets that children enjoy throwing into the water as the ferry is departing, as well as mermaid gloss, a sparkly lip gloss popular with visitors under ten. And then, of course, theres a shaky rack of postcards. The postcards always show the most beautiful images of the islands. Theyll show the sunset, the line of gorgeous willow trees that hide the row of mansions that regulars live in, a couple walking on the shoreline, just hazy enough to be unidentifable. On all of them, the same tagline: Whym Island: Some things have to be seen to be believed. But thats not exactly correct. What it should read is: On Whym Island, some things have to be believed to be seen. REV INT Wrecked.indd 3 2/23/12 4:44 PM c ha p t e r one I have an experiment, Genevieve Clarke began as she leaned forward on the driftwood log, toward the crack- ling beach bonfre. She paused, waiting for Darcy Scott to put down her beer bottle and Gray Hartnett to glance up from her iPhone. Miranda ORourke raised her eyebrow. Genevieve always had grandiose theories, and the later it was and the more beer shed taken from the cooler, the more she tended to expound on them. But Genevieve had been Mirandas best friend since seventh grade, and even when her experiments were ridiculouslike the time she convinced Miranda to sneak into a frat party at Coastal Carolina with her and pretend they were exchange students from Estoniaher enthusiasm made up for any absurdities. c ha p t e r one REV INT Wrecked.indd 5 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 a n n a d a v i e s Ill only do it if I dont have to stand up, Miranda cracked as she opened her Sigg water bottle and took a large sip. It was already almost midnight, and she had an exhibition soc- cer tourney tomorrow afternoon, which college scouts were supposed to attend. But she didnt want the party to end. Not yet. After all, who knew how many nights like this theyd have left? School started next week, and then next summer theyd all be scattered across the country at colleges, embarking on their real lives. That was a thought that simultaneously terri- fed and excited Miranda. Sometimes, Miranda tried to close her eyes and imagine what it would be like to be surrounded by strangers, to not live steps away from the ocean, but she couldnt. And right now, she didnt want to. Okay, lazy, Genevieve said, interrupting Mirandas reverie. Yall dont need to do anything. Ill do all the work. I learned to read tarot cards this summer. And it sounds so stupid, but it works. Like, when I got it done at the beginning of the sum- mer, the cards said Id have a summer fing. And I totally did! Genevieve crowed, obviously still thrilled about the totally hot hookup shed had with a Columbia University rising sopho- more when she was enrolled in a pre-college program in New York City during the summer. Or at least the hookup shed claimed to have. That was the thing with Genevieve: It wasnt like she lied per se, but she defnitely often embellished, and more than once, Miranda had witnessed a firtatious gaze across a crowded party on a Friday night become an all-out hookup REV INT Wrecked.indd 6 2/23/12 4:44 PM 7 when she described it to everyone else on Monday morning. Miranda never called her on it, and Genevieve never seemed to feel guilty. It was as if, in her mind, she actually began to believe the things she said. Miranda wished she could be more like that. Miranda was convinced that Genevieves faux-scandalous life was pretty much designed to be one step more scandal- ous than that of Genevieves mother, Jane. Jane had been divorced three times, and Whym Islanders were still up in arms that shed been the one to inherit the sprawling seventeenth- century mansion on Witchs Knee, the most exclusive area on the island. Jane had converted half the mansion into a yoga studio and had turned the once meticulously landscaped lawn into an organic vegetable plot. And Genevieve followed in her moms footsteps, attempting to scandalize the next generation of Whym Islanders by dying her hair bright red, getting a tiny silver stud pierced into her nose and a star tattoo inked onto her wrist, and ending almost every statement with a no? at the end, as if she were daring anyone to disagree with her. Did you sleep in his bed? I heard New York is full of bed- bugs. I wouldnt hook up with anyone there, Gray drawled, wrinkling her nose and purposefully edging away from Gen- evieve. Course, Id never be in New York anyway. Too dirty. Its also full of hot guys, Genevieve smirked as she pulled the cards out of her bag. The light from the bonfre was fick- ering on Genevieves face, making her look different than REV INT Wrecked.indd 7 2/23/12 4:44 PM 8 a n n a d a v i e s usualolder, more sophisticated, like someone who had a whole different life back in New York. Right, Miranda? Genevieve asked. Yeah, the guys I remember from pre-school were really hot, Miranda joked. That was one of the things about Whym: unless you were born there, youd always be considered an out- sider on some level, no matter how many years youd lived there or how many ties you could claim to the island. Miranda was technically a sixth-generation islander, but because her mother had dared to move and have children elsewhere, shed never been fully embraced as a local, even though shed moved here full-time more than ten years ago. Yall know I havent been back since I was fve. Besides, wasnt the point the tarot-reading thing? she asked as she hugged her knees to her chest and pulled her giant Calhoun Academy soccer shirt as far as it would go down her legs. Despite the fre, she was freezing. Still, she didnt want to break up the moment and suggest they head into the pool house. After all, this was the last summer the Whym Island seniors the Ferries, as theyd been annoyingly dubbed back in frst grade, when their parents (or, in Mirandas case, grandmother) had all had to sit down and create a chaperone schedule to get them all to the mainland to school at Calhoun Academy. The Ferries were the progeny of the Whym Island elite: The kids whod never attended Whym Public, the tiny redbrick school house on the other end of the island that held kindergarten through REV INT Wrecked.indd 8 2/23/12 4:44 PM 9 twelfth grade. Whym Public was for the sons and daughters of the fshermen, housekeepers, gardeners, and clerks who worked year-round to keep the island in its postcard-perfect condition. Calhoun was a private school founded in the seventeenth cen- tury that had always catered to wealthy Carolinians. That was what made it weird to be a Ferry: They didnt really know the other Whym kids, and most of the Calhoun kids lived on the mainland, ffteen miles of ocean away. And now, none of them could imagine it any differently. Sure, some of them had awkward romantic histories with each other, some of them never quite forgave others for excluding them from seventh-grade sleepovers, and some of them hardly came to parties in favor of hanging out with mainland kids, but all of that seemed to be forgotten in summerespecially this year. So far, the routine had been perfect: Spend the day at soccer practice, at the beach, or doing SAT prep, and then at night, head down to the two-mile stretch of beach in front of the ORourke house. Sometimes, Miranda couldnt help but wonder whether her own mother would be proud or appalled. Mirandas mother, Astrid, had hated the island, and had only begrudgingly come back during the summer to allow her mother, Eleanor Ashford, to get to know her children. It was a good island for kids it had pristine beaches with fne white sand, when the tide was out. The ocean was gentle and sparkling blue, and the ride on the ferry was a guaranteed way to effortlessly entertain a REV INT Wrecked.indd 9 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 0 a n n a d a v i e s child on an otherwise sweltering day. So thats why every sum- mer, Mirandas mother Astrid and her father Hank would pack Miranda and her younger brother, Teddy, into the car and drive down from New York City to set up house in the sprawling mansion Astrid had grown up in. After a week or so, Astrid and Hank would leave, eager to enjoy a temporarily kid-free existence of downtown parties and concerts. For the next two months, Teddy and Miranda would play under the watchful eye of Mirandas grandmother, Eleanor. As a four-year-old, Miranda had felt like an outsider. Always shy, she noticed all the other toddlers on the beach at Whym had friends to build sandcastles with and chase in and out of the water. She didnt. She only had Teddy, Eleanor, and Louisa, the nanny Eleanor hired each summer. Until the night when Miranda was fve and Teddy was two. Theyd been listlessly playing with Teddys trucks on Eleanors screened-in porch one evening after dinner. Louisa was rock- ing back and forth in a rocking chair, fanning herself with her hand and reading a gossip magazine. It had been storming, and Miranda remembered watching the way bolts of lightning would illuminate the sky. A roll of thunder struck, and Teddy began sobbing. At that point, before Louisa could scoop him up to console him, Eleanor walked in, her face white. Teddy and Miranda need to go upstairs, shed said, circling her wrist with her opposite hand, as if she were holding onto a banister. REV INT Wrecked.indd 10 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 1 I was just gonna give them their bath, Louisa had said guiltily, sure she was about to be chastised for letting them stay up so late. Now, Eleanor whispered. The next morning, Mirandas whole world had changed. Now, although she remembered the moments leading up to Eleanors announcement perfectly clearly, she didnt remember the next morning: Who told her, how it was phrased, why their car possibly could have driven off the bridge on Johns Island, en route to the dock, where theyd been coming from an after- noon festival. All she knew was that she wasnt going back to New York City. Not at the end of the summer. Not ever. And her parents were dead. In her new life on Whym, she was to wear a dress at all times, call her grandmother and all her grandmothers friends maam, and play with the dolls that Eleanor bought her, even though shed repeatedly told her that she only liked stuffed animals. Shed soon learned to never, ever talk about her parents in front of Eleanor, since doing so tended to cause her grandmother to get a faraway look in her eyes, then disappear into the master suite with a headache, for hours at a time. What she hadnt known until she got older were all the rumors surrounding Astrid and Hanks deaths: That theyd been seen drinking at the festival, they may have been smoking pot, that maybe it had been something theyd meant to do, a suicide pact for a couple that had been too out there, too passionate, too much for the island. REV INT Wrecked.indd 11 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 2 a n n a d a v i e s Of course, none of that could be proved. After a cursory investigation, the police department had deemed the crash to be a accident. And yet, there were so many unanswered ques- tions that nagged at Miranda even more as she got older. Had they been drinking? Had they had some type of suicide plan? And, in those fnal moments, had they known that Miranda and Teddy would now be bound to the island forever? The questions had started only once she got to school and realized what being an ORourke meant to other Whym islanders. And shed never asked Eleanor about them. Instead, she distanced herself from her grandmother, preferring to spend time by herself or with Teddy. Shed never realized she was lonely, until she found herself being forced to sign up for a sport on her frst day at Calhoun Academy in seventh grade. Shed chosen soccer, and had actually been good at it, which had been the catalyst that had caused the Ferries to befriend her. Before, theyd been friendly enough, but wary, as if they could sense she didnt want to be on the island. But the fact that she could score a goal in the last thirty seconds of a game outweighed her outsider status. Slowly, despite any apprehen- sions, Miranda began getting invitations to sleepovers and birthday parties. Over the past fve years, the Ferries had taught her everything she needed to know about the island, from how to build a fre on the beach, to how to sneak from one end of the island to the other without ever hitting the main roads. Now, heading into senior year, she was being watched by soc- REV INT Wrecked.indd 12 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 3 cer scouts from around the country and had spent the past year dating Fletcher King, the most sought-after boy on the island. It was a Cinderella story come to life; a sign that fairy tales did come true. And yet . . . Arent tarot cards, like, dark magic? Gray asked, taking a dainty sip from her Poland Spring bottle and interrupting Mirandas thoughts. Because Gray was only a second-generation summer islander, and her grandparents still lived in a pink man- sion on Charlestons Battery, Gray had taken Mirandas posi- tion as a Whym Island newbie, even though her family had moved to Whym full time fve years ago. And even though she was always invited, she tended to treat impromptu bonfre evenings on the beach as ever so slightly beneath her, and often reminded everyone of her Charleston debutante ball coming up later in the season. Yeah, because we live in Salem in the seventeenth century and Im forming my witch coven. Genevieve rolled her eyes. No, its just a fun way to fgure out what might happen. I promise itll be fne. Way less risky than playing Never Have I Ever, Gen picked up the deck of cards and shuffed them on her lap. Now, who wants to go frst? Lydia Banay shrugged and took a big swig of the cranberry juice and vodka mixture shed concocted at home and smuggled into her water bottle. I will. What the hell do I have to lose? She asked rhetorically, as the rest of the girls murmured sympa- thetically. Lydia had just gone through a bad breakup with Brad REV INT Wrecked.indd 13 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 4 a n n a d a v i e s Carmichael, the Calhoun Academy All-State soccer star whod just started at Clemson University two weeks ago. On his frst night there, shed received a text at 2 a.m. that featured a photo of a skinny blonde girl in a halter top, along with a question from Brad: Would you hate me if I told you Im about to cheat? The next day, hed begged forgiveness, citing too much alcohol and too many temptations, but the damage had been done and Lydia had been devastated. Even tonight, Miranda could see her eyes were red and her face was puffy from crying. Okay, sugar, Genevieve said, closing her eyes and shuffing the deck. She picked out a card from the deck. The card had a photo of a skeleton on it. Ew! Gray shrieked. Am I going to die? Lydia giggled, but her face looked terrifed. Maybe it just means Brads hooking up with some Skeletor skank, Darcy said, taking another large sip of her own vodka soda as she absentmindedly tightened her auburn ponytail at the crown of her head. Darcy was the youngest of four sisters, and always seemed slightly bored when discussing boy drama, most likely because shed heard it all at home. Genevieve turned the card over in her fngers. It doesnt mean that. Its symbolic, no? It means a part of you is going to die. What the hell does that mean? Lydia asked nervously. Genevieve sighed, as if she were a kindergarten teacher REV INT Wrecked.indd 14 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 5 explaining the rules of addition to an exceptionally slow six- year-old. Its like, maybe the part of you that loves Brad will die, because youll meet someone new, she said, enunciating each word. Okay . . . , Lydia trailed off. Or maybe it means that if I do fnd out hes hooking up with a skeletor skank, Ill kill him. Do someone else. Get me out of my misery. Anyone? Genevieve glanced around the group of girls. Miranda shifted in the sand and leaned back against her elbows, trying to pay attention, even though her mind kept wandering. Maybe it was just nerves for the soccer sectionals showcase on the mainland tomorrow. And even though Coach Devlin had told her not to worry, that the Stanford coach had seen enough videos of her that all Miranda had to do was get on the feld and have fun, she knew it was only natural to be nervous. But it was more than that. It was a sense that no mat- ter what the cards said, it felt like their destinies were already becoming more and more etched in stone with each passing day. Genevieve would move to New York. Miranda would play soccer at Stanford. Darcy and Lydia would most likely stay in South Carolina and get married to cute Carolina guys. None of these paths were bad exactly, it was just . . . Guys, this is yalls future. Dont you care? Genevieve called down to the guys who were hanging close to the tide- mark. Earlier, they had been hanging out around the fre as well, but obviously, theyd gotten bored with the girls sprawling REV INT Wrecked.indd 15 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 6 a n n a d a v i e s conversations and had drifted off to do their own thing: Jeremiah Black was playing his guitar; the same four chords of Free Fallin over and over and over again, while Alexa Madden watched adoringly from the edge of the circle. Alan Osten and Fletcher King were tossing a Frisbee back and forth. Occa- sionally, Alan would overshoot and the Frisbee would land in the water. Fletcher would eagerly run in to get it, reminding Miranda of an eager golden retriever. Miranda! Genevieve snapped, and Miranda glanced away guiltily. Despite the independent vibe Genevieve projected, Miranda knew how much Gen wanted to be part of a couple, and she knew that in Genevieves mind, sharing a possibly- fctional kiss with a cute Columbia boy was nothing compared to the fact Miranda and Fletch were steadily dating. Im doing your tarot reading, in case you care, Genevieve said, slapping the cards down on the piece of driftwood in front of her. The light from the fre fickered on the overturned card. It was a man and a woman, their arms intertwined in an embrace. Genevieve rolled her eyes. Of course, this fgures, she said, scooping the cards back up and shuffing the deck. Wait, what was that? Miranda asked, genuinely curious. At least it hadnt been the skeleton. The lovers. It means that youre about to fnd the love of your life. Or youve already found it. Genevieve laughed, but the hurt look spreading across her face made it clear how much Genevieve wished she was the one in the relationship. REV INT Wrecked.indd 16 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 7 Lucky! Darcy exhaled, smiling encouragingly at Miranda. Darcy loved the idea of being in love, and had already served as the bridesmaid at two of her sisters weddings. Her two older sisters had both met their now-husbands in high school, and Darcy was sure Miranda was on the same track. Yeah, youre lucky. The question is, would Fletch agree? Gray smiled so it seemed like she was teasing, but Miranda could read the subtext. It wasnt so much that Gray liked Fletch, as that Gray liked to always have the best of everything. In her mind, Fletch was the ideal boyfriend, and Miranda sensed from the chilly way Gray had greeted her for the past few months, that Gray felt she, not Miranda, deserved him. Miranda smiled, embarrassed for her relationship to be on dis- play. Besides, it wasnt exactly accurate. Sure, she liked Fletch a lot. Maybe she even loved him, a bit. She adored his sense of humor, the way he didnt take himself too seriously, the way hed always agree to split an enormous plate of disco fries at the Sand Witch Diner with her, even though she ended up eating most of them. But was he the love of her life? She glanced dubiously at the water, where Fletcher was holding the Frisbee aloft over his head like a trophy. As soon as he spotted her staring at him, his face broke into a smile and he bounded over, throwing his wet arms around her shoulders and dripping onto her. Hey! Miranda squealed as he leaned down and planted a kiss on the top of her dark hair. Stop it! At that, Fletcher hugged her again. Maybe I will. What will REV INT Wrecked.indd 17 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 8 a n n a d a v i e s you give me if I stop? He asked, wiggling his eyebrows mani- cally. Miranda grinned despite herself. Despite his showdog-like name (full name: Fletcher Adamson King, the third) he was pure Whym royalty: A sixth-generation resident whose family owned half the island and whose dad was the former mayor. Fletch was also undeniably hot: At six feet with shaggy brown hair and a muscular swimmers build, he was the type of guy whod cause women at the Harris Teeter supermarket to poke each other and giggle as he walked by. But something else also drew people to him. It was his attitude, how he was so com- fortable in his own skin, and never seemed to be at a loss for things to say. His confdence was sometimes overwhelming to Miranda, who couldnt quite understand why Fletch had cho- sen her instead of someone like Gray or Lydiaborn and bred South Carolina girls whod no doubt be spending evenings ten years from now at dinner parties with each other, swapping tricks for how to get their kids to sleep through the night. While on the surface, Mirandawith her tall, athletic frame, long brown hair, wideset green eyes, and walk-in closet full of pastel tanks, cashmere cardigans, and Lilly Pulitzer sundresses looked every inch an island girl, she wasnt one of them. Mostly, it was her legacy. She knew her parents death had cast an aura of tragedy around her. She knew that her friends parents privately and not-so-privately wondered about her well-being. After all, they knew that although Eleanor was REV INT Wrecked.indd 18 2/23/12 4:44 PM 1 9 graceful and impeccably polite, she wasnt warm and nurtur- ing. They knew Mirandas own mother had had a wild streak. And Miranda was almost positive that Fletchs mother would have preferred if hed begun dating Lydia or Gray, girls who didnt have so much baggage. And sometimes, like now, when she forced herself to switch into full-on firt mode because she knew it made Fletch happy, she wondered if it wouldnt have been easier for him if hed never fallen for her. Well, a kiss is all youre going to get. Take it or leave it, she said as she allowed her lips to graze his. Miranda wrapped her arms around him, inhaling his familiar sunblock-and-Old Spice scent. Then she pulled away and turned toward Genevieve. What were you saying? she asked, not wanting Genevieve to think she was ignoring her. Never mind, just keep on making out with your boyfriend. I was just talking about your future, but it seems you guys are set for life, Gen said, rolling her eyes. Are we? Fletcher asked, perching on the driftwood next to Miranda. His bare leg touched hers, sending another shiver up her spine. She edged closer to the fre. I drew the lovers card for Miranda. Its obviously you, no? Gen shrugged. Yallre about to be Alexa and Jeremiah, she said, knowingly jutting her chin over to the waters edge, where Jeremiah and Alexa were standing. Jeremiahs fngers were snaking under Alexas pink-striped bikini strap, and both REV INT Wrecked.indd 19 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 0 a n n a d a v i e s were oblivious to anyone around them. Theyd been dating for fve years, and still acted like they couldnt get enough of each other, even going so far as to full-on suck face before Chapel at Calhoun. Miranda and Genevieve both agreed it was gross. Please, Miranda rolled her eyes. She had no doubt Alexa and Jeremiah would get married in the next few years. That was the way it was with island kidsif they found each other early, they felt no reason to wait or explore other options. And that was her whole problem with Fletch. Even if she did love him, a bit, was that the same as wanting to be with him forever? Aw, thats so cute for yall, Gray cooed. Miranda stiffened. Even though she knew Gray would never really do anything, she still didnt make it a secret that shed always liked Fletch, and that she didnt quite understand what Fletch saw in Miranda. One time, right after they started dating, Gray had mentioned to Miranda that she was a prime example of the ish factor in a relationship. It? Miranda had asked, thoroughly confused. It had been one of the frst days of summer, and Gray had been lying on the beach, surrounded by magazines. Not it. Ish, Gray clarifed. Apparently, guys like girls who are pretty-ish, smart-ish, athletic-ish . . . like, theyre the whole package, but they dont especially stand out. Like you! She smiled encouragingly, as if to disguise her critique as a compli- ment. Thanks, Miranda had said, smiling tightly. Gray may have REV INT Wrecked.indd 20 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 1 thought that she was passive-aggressively insulting her, but it wasnt anything that Miranda hadnt known herself. She was ish. And she liked it. It was better than standing out. Whats so wrong with being lovers? Fletch demanded as he leaned toward Miranda and kissed her hard. Fletch! She murmured, pushing away on his strong chest. Were in public. You know that talk turns me on, Fletch joked. Miranda blushed. Do your reading, Gen. I want to know what your future is, even though Im sure its full of scandal. Just the way you like it, she said, leaning over and feigning extreme interest in the cards. She didnt want to talk about whether or not they were lovers in front of all their friends. And Fletch, remember, gentlemen dont kiss and tell. Who said I was a gentleman? Fletch asked, but obediently walked over to the cooler. Okay, ready? Genevieve asked, pleased that all the atten- tion was back on her. She shuffed the cards and laid them out facedown in a cross pattern, before fipping over the center card. Miranda gasped. Gazing up at them was the same smiling, dancing skeleton Gen had drawn for Lydia. Weird, Genevieve frowned. Usually people dont get the same thing. But I guess its because were all heading into senior year, so it makes sense. Were all changing, no? REV INT Wrecked.indd 21 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 2 a n n a d a v i e s This game is stupid, Gray said, wrinkling her nose. Lets do something else. Ladies? She stood up and brushed off the back of her white linen shorts as she walked over to the alcohol-stocked cooler that Alan had brought along. Do you promise the skeleton doesnt mean death? Because it kinda looks that way from here. Lydia yanked the card from Genevieves hand and squinted at it. Yeah, its just symbolism. Not everything needs to be literal. It just means change, Genevieve said testily. But she scooped up the cards and threw them in her bag. Miranda shivered again. It was only getting colder and later. And even if Coach Devlin said her performance tomorrow didnt matter since it was so early in the season, she wanted to be at the top of her game. As she was about to tell everyone to head home, Fletcher loped up to her, a beer bottle in one hand, keys in the other. Hey, Miranda said suspiciously, eyeing his hand. Its a great night. Lets take Star Gazer out for a spin. Miranda shook her head, annoyed. Star Gazer was the meticulously kept twenty-fve-foot bowrider shed gotten for her sixteenth birthday. She hadnt even wanted it, but her grandmother had insisted. Miranda later realized it was more for Eleanor than for her; a way to prove that even though she didnt know how to connect to Miranda, she did care about her. Unlike the other island kids, though, who were more likely to drive their boat than their car, Miranda barely used hers, and REV INT Wrecked.indd 22 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 3 shed certainly never brought so many people on board. Would they even ft? I dont know, Miranda hedged. Isnt it kind of thun- dering? Miranda cocked her head. She thought she could hear rumbling in the distance, but that sound could well be a far-off boat, or freworks on the mainland. Its the sea witch, Alan hiccupped. Stop, Darcy said nervously, glancing around. Miranda fol- lowed her gaze, but of course, there was nothing except the crackling of the fre and the lapping of waves on the shore. Whym Islanders took legends seriously, especially the one about the sea witch. According to the stories, her name was Sephie, and legend had it that you were never supposed to say her name on board a ship, in case you invoked her wrath, a sort of nautical superstition in the same vein as the one that actors were never supposed to say Macbeth in a theater, in case they invoked the curse of the play. Sephie could whip up storms in an instant, cause a low tide to rush inward, or make ships collide with each other. Every accident that had ever occurred on Whym, including the carwreck that claimed Mirandas parents, was blamed on her. Before her parents accident, Eleanor would tell Miranda the sea witch would come get her if she didnt fnish her din- ner, or if she made a fuss during her bath. When she was little, Miranda had always been slightly frightened of the sea witch. And when her parents died, of course she thought the sea witch REV INT Wrecked.indd 23 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 4 a n n a d a v i e s was responsible. But then she grew up and faced the reality that sometimes bad things happen for no good reason and no one is responsible. It was something the rest of the islanders needed to learn. What? I want to see the witch. Sephie! Alan drunkenly called, stumbling down the beach. Alan, stop! Darcy said, even more frmly. Lets go. Alan, if I were you, Id be more afraid of Darcy in bitch mode than the sea witch, Gen said. Besides, the sooner we get on the boat, the sooner we can leave Miranda alone so you can get your beauty sleep before your soccer tournament. Or Genevieve grinned wickedly have Fletch warm you up. Shut up! Miranda thwacked Genevieves arm and glanced at her friends faces. Genevieve had a point. Obviously, not about the Fletch part, but if she brought them on the boat, she could do a spin around the island in less than half an hour, and she could even drop off Genevieve and Gray at the dock by Witchs Knee, on the other side of the island. She hadnt been drinking, but they had, and were in no shape to drive home. Besides, there were about two minutes in between rumbles of thunder, which meant the storm was miles away. Lets go, Miranda added, snatching the keys out of Fletchs hand. Im driving, she added. Thanks, Mom! Fletch teased. Shut up! If youre not careful, Ill throw you overboard so REV INT Wrecked.indd 24 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 5 the sea witch will eat you, Miranda joked halfheartedly. She loved her friends, but they could be exhausting. Shed drop everyone off, shed make out with Fletch on deck, and then shed get back home in plenty of time to sleep before the game. Miranda grabbed Fletchs hand, walked up the wobbly dock, and stepped on to the shaky deck of Star Gazer. It was the frst time shed been on it all summer. Between epic hangouts right on the beach and driving over to the ferry to get to the mainland, it didnt make sense. Now, she felt a tug of regret that she didnt use the boat more often, especially when it was right there. Alan, Darcy, Gray, Gen, Lydia, Alexa, and Jeremiah tumbled in behind her. Jeremiahs guitar was slung over his shoulder, and Alexa was carrying the cooler in one hand as she sipped from a beer can in the other. They all squeezed on the polished oak benches fanking the two sides of the boat as Miranda slipped behind the wheel and turned on the navigation system. Fletch slid into the seat beside her and squeezed her knee. This little lady can drive herself, as her grandmothers driver Roger had said during her frst lesson. It was true. All you needed to do was enter your coordinates on the console, then steer if the water became too choppy or if you discovered an obstacle in your path. It was easy. Miranda turned the wheel and pulled away from the dock, relaxing as she did so. She always felt at home on the water felt like everything, even Fletcher, made a little more sense to REV INT Wrecked.indd 25 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 6 a n n a d a v i e s her than on land. It made her feel closer to her parents. Even though her parents car had ended up in the ocean the night of the accident, she didnt think of the water as an enemy. Instead, the wild, untamed waves reminded her of her mother, while the almost-still times in between tides reminded her of her father. She felt like they were there, somewhere, just ever so slightly out of reach. Hate to break up the love fest, Genevieve said, glanc- ing at Fletch as the boat jolted onto the waves. She was tipsy, Miranda could tell, and when Genevieve got drunk, she often got depressed. And her creepy tarot cards couldnt have helped her mood. Miranda felt her heart go out to her friend. Nah, the more the merrier, Fletch said, leaning back and putting his Sperry topsider-clad feet on top of the dashboard. Just enjoying the night with my favorite ladies. Youre so cheesy, Genevieve wrinkled her nose, but Miranda could tell how much she was enjoying Fletchs attention. She wasnt jealous. It was kind of cute how firty Fletch could be. Please, Fletch said theatrically. Im not cheesy, Im crabby. He said, picking up a tiny crab from a red plastic bucket that Alan had inexplicably decided to bring on board. Gross, Miranda groaned and pushed his hand away. Im trying to concentrate. Its not easy driving the party boat. Miranda shook her head as she bypassed a blinking green- light channel marker, a sign that the route to Bloody Point was clear to pass. Darcy and Lydia were engaged in an intense REV INT Wrecked.indd 26 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 7 conversation in the stern of the boat, Alan was double-fsting beers, and Alexa and Jeremiah were practically having sex on top of the cooler. Fletch, listen. Your girlfriend is laying down the claw, Genevieve quipped, pressing her fnger into Fletchs bicep. Miranda giggled, despite herself. One of the things shed noticed was that whenever Genevieve and Fletch were together around her, each seemed to try to compete for her attention, getting more silly, ridiculous, and straight-up absurd by the instant. It was kind of nice to be the center of two peoples universes, especially when her grandmother barely knew she existed. Seriously, if you dont stop it, Im going to raise some shell. Miranda attempted her own lame joke. But before Genevieve and Fletch could react, the boat lurched forward. The crab few out of Fletchs hand and skittered across the foor and under- neath the wheel hatch. Miranda yelped. Miranda yanked the wheel, but it was stuck, unable to move backward or forward. Whats happening? Genevieve screamed, grabbing Mirandas shoulder. I think we hit a channel marker, Fletch said, jumping to his feet. He reached over Mirandas lap, frantically pushing the buttons on the console. The boat was rocking side to side. The thunder was rumbling closer, and bolts of lightning lit up the night sky. What happened? Miranda asked shakily. The boat seemed REV INT Wrecked.indd 27 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 8 a n n a d a v i e s fne, just stationary. The console was blinking, but the map wasnt showing up, and she had no idea where in the sound they were. Were you watching the water? Fletch asked accusingly. Yes, Miranda said, locking eyes with Genevieve. Was I? Shed been joking about the crab, but even then, shed been glancing at the console. There hadnt been any sign they were going to hit anything. Miranda felt a drop on her arm, then another. She looked up at the sky, which was covered with gray clouds. Thunder sounded again, much closer than just minutes previously. We have to go! Genevieve said urgently, as another crack of thunder sounded. A bolt of lightning lit up the night sky, illu- minating Fletch and Genevieves faces. They appeared terrifed. Mirandas heart was thumping in her chest, but she had no idea what she was supposed to do. Nothing like this had ever hap- pened before. Roger had never given any lessons for what to do if everything stopped working. She hit the console a few more times. Nothing. Suddenly, rain began pouring from the sky. What the fuck? Guys? Alan called from the back of the ship. Everythings fne! Miranda yelled. Suddenly, another clap of thunder sounded and Miranda heard a noise that sounded like fabric tearing. She whirled around to see a small plume of fames coming from the stern. Fire! she shrieked. Her fip-fopped foot slid on the foor, REV INT Wrecked.indd 28 2/23/12 4:44 PM 2 9 which was flling with water. Help! Shrieks were coming from the back of the boat, but the downpour made it impossi- ble to focus on who was screaming. Miranda knew she needed to get out, but where. And how? Weve gotta swim! Fletch yelled. Guys, weve got to get out. Jump! He yelled as he grabbed Mirandas waist and picked her up. Youve gotta go, he said roughly, trying to throw her overboard. No! Miranda protested, terrifed of the wild, churning water below. But Fletch didnt listen, and hurled her over the edge. She landed with a splash just a few feet away from the boat. She could feel the heat from the fames. She thrashed and kicked as though she was drowning, even though she knew how to swim. Swim! Fletch yelled, seeing Mirandas distress. His hands were on Genevieves waist, about to toss her in as well. Gen- evieve was sobbing and Miranda wanted more than anything to just climb on the boat and do something. Go! Fletch yelled, locking eyes with Miranda. A wave rolled up and knocked Miranda away from the boat. She kicked and stroked, then surfaced and looked back. She thought she could hear Darcy and Lydia shrieking, but the only thing she could see clearly was the fre, that only seemed to be getting larger and larger. Fletch was still on board, scrambling toward the back of the boat. Fletch! she shrieked, but her scream was muffed as an enormous wall of water hit her. REV INT Wrecked.indd 29 2/23/12 4:44 PM 3 0 a n n a d a v i e s And then water was everywhere. Underneath her, over her, inside her, drowning her from the inside out. She knew she was screaming, but knew no one could hear her. Finally, she kicked herself to the surface. She gasped for breath, inhaling a mouthful of salt water. The boat was bob- bing several body lengths away, its hull devoured in fames that seemed to dance on the oceans surface. She needed to get away. She kicked again, but this time, her foot seemed stuck, bound under the waves by an invisible force. The more she thrashed, the more her leg throbbed, and she realized that she was somehow tangling herself in the cables that anchored the channel marker below the surface of the water. She was going to die. She was going to die, and Gen was going to die, and Fletch was going to die. She bobbed under a wave, but didnt see any light at the end of the tunnel or any fashbacks of her life, or her parents waiting for her in heaven or somewhere. All she felt was panic, and sadness, and wishing more than anything that she had strong arms around her to comfort her and carry her to safety. All of a sudden, she felt hands frmly grasp her hips. She kicked helplessly, and squirmed to fnd herself face to face with a boy. A sparkly-skinned boy with dark hair and wide-set blue eyes. Miranda reached for him, her head dropping against his warm shoulder. She had to be dead. This had to be an angel, or some type of escort to heaven or maybe even some weird sign that her brain wasnt producing oxygen. REV INT Wrecked.indd 30 2/23/12 4:44 PM 3 1 Am I dead? The words sounded fuzzy in her ears. Did I die? she asked again. Shhh, he said, his voice sounding like it was coming from inside her brain and from the water all at once. Shhh, he said again, a hushed-lullaby sound that calmed Miranda. Suddenly, it didnt matter whether or not she was dying. Suddenly, she didnt feel the urge to fght her way to land. Compared to the last fve minutes, death seemed simple. Youre safe, he said. Miranda shook her head and clawed at her neck. Her mothers heart necklace, engraved with Miranda and Teddys initials, felt as if it were choking her. Then unseen hands reached around her neck and smoothed the pendant. Miranda shivered, then relaxed as the boy carried her out of the water and laid her gently on the sand. Who are you? she sputtered, expecting to hear that he was an angel, or a devil, or someone who was taking her to the world of the dead. But then, before she could say anything else, sleep enveloped her. And instead of fghting, she succumbed to it, her face turned up to the sky, wondering if her soul was already among the stars that were blinking above her. REV INT Wrecked.indd 31 2/23/12 4:44 PM c ha p t e r t wo He shouldnt have done this. He knew that, as he pulled her body across the water, noticing a pale glowing trail following her. He wasnt sure if that was a refection of the stars or simply coming from him, a reminder of the fact he wasnt of the surface, and that it was because of him that all of this had happened. Because something had changed the closer he got to the boat. It had started rocking, slowly at frst, and then faster, and then had been engulfed in a brilliant yellowish orange haze. Somehow, he knew the boat was being pulled, puppet-like by some force Down Below. He took another stroke as the girl fell back against his arm. This was wrong. He could simply release her into the ocean. And yet . . . c ha p t e r t wo REV INT Wrecked.indd 32 2/23/12 4:44 PM 3 3 Fletch, the girl murmured, her voice cutting through Christians heart and into his soul. Shhh, he repeated again, the sound reminding him of the way the waves whooshed around the coral back home. He wasnt sure what else to say, but the noises he made seemed to calm the girl. Her eyelids futtered closed, and Christian con- tinued to swim. He had to take gulps of air, which hurt his lungs. The surface wasnt an easy place to exist. The water was still, and all around, Christian could hear the watery sighs of the other victims of the shipwreck. Already, their souls were foating beneath the surface, and toward the ocean foor, where theyd join the legions of other souls savaged by the tides. And if he hadnt saved her, she would be going down as well. As if shed read his mind, the girls eyes futtered open again. The whites were bloodshot, and the irises were so dark they were almost black. Her skin was pale and her tangled brown hair was sticking to her cheeks. She was the frst human Chris- tian had ever seen up close. And she was beautiful. Christian stopped swimming for a moment to glance at the way the curve of her cheek lay against his shoulder, the way her lips parted ever so slightly to reveal small, white teeth. These were the creatures theyd been taught to loathe and pity? It was almost laughable, if it werent so tragic. The girl coughed a few times and turned her face toward the moon, her mouth opening into a surprised O. REV INT Wrecked.indd 33 2/23/12 4:44 PM 3 4 a n n a d a v i e s Who are you? she gasped, digging her nails into his chest before pushing him away. She was surprisingly strong. Shhh, he repeated, more urgently than he had before. Everything hed done so far was forbidden, but actually com- municating with the girl was fraught with peril. There were many rules for exploring Up Above, along with punishments if they were broken, but actual mingling with humans was the one rule that didnt have a punishment attached to it. It was as if even discussing the possibilityeven as a warning, and even if the punishment was banishmentmight encourage the citi- zens of Down Below to do it. Back in the time before now, Down Below and Up Above werent separated, and all beings could easily fit between land, sea, and sky. And then came the race of Gods who decided to divide the kingdoms they ruled, who determined which beings could exist in which kingdom. Now, the world of Down Below was cobbled together, made up of loosely connected tribes and kingdoms of sprites, devas, nereids, betwixtmen, and mermaids. Some were more connected to the air than others; those were the ones that cooperated with the faery kingdom and could choose where to live. Others were dark and desperate, living in treacherous waters and delighting in stirring up storms for unsuspecting humans. But all of them were under the rule of Sephie, a benevolent dictator who had only one rule: That the world of Down Below didnt interfere with the world of Up Above unless she decreed it. REV INT Wrecked.indd 34 2/23/12 4:44 PM 3 5 It was more orderly and caused fewer problems than the lawless period prior to Sephies rule, when mermaids would rise to the surface and tease sailors until they went mad with desire. Mermen would sometimes help ships in a storm, and occasionally, a Merman and a womanor a man and a mer- maid or a betwixtman and a human girlwould fnd each other. But it never went well. Not in the history books, not in the songs, not in any stories that Christians father, or fathers father, or fathers fathers father had ever heard. Christian continued to swim, clumsily pulling with one arm as he made sure the girls head was above the surface of the water. That was the thing with humans: They looked so similar to the races beneath the sea, but the similarities were deceiv- ing. They had a different language, a different way of breathing. Different hearts. Finally, Christian spotted a landmass beyond the crest of a wave. It was a craggy piece of land that used to be inhabited by devas, the spirits that could effortlessly move between the land and the sea. And then it was discovered by humans. The devas had disappeared, the humans had multiplied, and now, it was an island governed by Sephies sea, with subjects that didnt know how much their existence was owed to an unseen ruler. Christian sighed, his heart heavy. Why had he had to fnd himself in the midst of such an impossible situation on the day of his Surfacing? It was supposed to have been the best day of his life: His eighteenth birthday, the day that marked REV INT Wrecked.indd 35 2/23/12 4:44 PM 3 6 a n n a d a v i e s the change from boys to men, when all mermen were allowed to take part in the affairs of Down Below. Christian had been looking forward to his Surfacing more than most. After all, he was a betwixtman, an ancient race from before the separation between Up Above and Down Below, when creatures were free to love and live as they chose. Betwixtmen had human blood in their veins, and legs instead of fns. Some viewed betwixt- men with envy, but Sephie viewed them suspiciously, as if they might feel loyalty to Up Above rather than Down Below. At one point, according to legend, thered been talk of ban- ning betwixtmen from Surfacing, ever. It wasnt only because they could pass as humans, with two legs instead of fsh-like tails, but because Sephie was afraid that even a drop of human blood would make them somehow susceptible to falling in love with humans. The legend was, if that happened, the entire world of Down Below would be compromised. That was why the penalties for breaking the rules were severeranging from banishmentwhich, in a place like Down Below, surrounded on all sides by sharks and fearsome creatures of the deep, was akin to immediate deathto death by Sephies hand. Christian knew that. And yet, he couldnt let go of the girl. Hed already interfered. He might as well follow through. Fletch? The girl called. Her voice was hoarse and sputtery. Fletch? She clawed at her shoulder, panic in her high-pitched voice. Shhh, he said, stealing a glance behind him. Fletch must REV INT Wrecked.indd 36 2/23/12 4:44 PM 3 7 have been one of the bodies. He or she wasnt there anymore. Instead, the ocean was ghostly silent; the fash storm already much further out to sea. Hastily, he dragged her onto the white sand that enveloped the island. In the distance, a siren wailed. Christian recognized the sound meant the humans knew something was amiss. Par- ticles matted in the girls dark brown hair and she failed from side to side, reminding Christian so much of a dolphin in a net that his heart froze. He didnt want to leave her, but he couldnt be found here. There was only a matter of time before hed begin to transform, and the transformation only meant he would no longer be able to breathe on land. Already, he felt a tightening in his chest. Im sorry, he whispered roughly, allowing his lips to brush against the pinkish blush of her cheeks. While her hands and shoul- ders had been freezing, her face felt surprisingly warm underneath his hands. How could she feel so good when everything hed ever learned had taught him she was bad? He reluctantly yanked his hand away, but otherwise stayed still, watching the rise and fall of her chest. A heart-shaped engraved necklace was clasped around her neck. He leaned closer, wanting to read what it said, in case it provided any clues about who she could possibly be. He heard another round of sirens; the screech of wheels on gravel. At the far end of the island, off the dock, boats with foodlights were entering the water like a fotilla. He had to go. He knew he shouldnt, but he gently unclasped the necklace REV INT Wrecked.indd 37 2/23/12 4:44 PM 3 8 a n n a d a v i e s and cupped it in his palm. He needed something to remind him of her. I tried, he whispered again, knowing as he said it that nothing, not Sephies law, not an entire ocean, could keep him away, as he turned away from land, walked into the water and swam, deeper and deeper, past the shipwrecks, past the great coral reefs, until he got to the part of the ocean that was too dark and cold for anything but the hardiest and ugliest creatures to live. Now, in the dark in between that was neither here nor there, he felt safe. Sephie couldnt have seen, he reminded him- self. Down Below, she was all powerful. But here, how would she have known about a tiny boat capsizing? And even if she did, she wouldnt have seen him. Shed have been too distracted greedily counting her acquisitions, in the form of the souls that had futtered to the bottom of the sea. As he continued to stroke downward, he noticed tiny orbs of light falling beneath the surface. They were glowing, beautiful, doomed. He knew those were the souls from the shipwreck, and felt a deep pang in his heart. Down Below, a soul remained forever and ever, reincarnating and regenerating in different forms, so that a deva might be reincarnated as a mermaid, who might be reincarnated the next time around as a merman. But Up Above, one soul existed only in one body. Fletch? He called, the name tasting unfamiliar in his mouth. One of the orbs glimmered slightly, then continued its plunge toward the bottom before leaving his sight. REV INT Wrecked.indd 38 2/23/12 4:44 PM c ha p t e r t hr e e Miranda lay perfectly still. Through the inch of water that lay between her eyes and the air, she could only see the sky as a sheet of blackness interspersed with fuzzy halos of light. She could barely make out the Big Dipper, and the sliver of moon didnt even cast a shadow on the liquid that surrounded her. She breathed out, watching tiny bubbles make their way up to the surface of the water. She felt her lungs clench, but she closed her eyes, determined to last as long as possible. Finally, when she felt her heart beating in her stomach and heard blood pounding in her ears, she surfaced, taking a deep gulp of air, then another. Miranda! Her eyes few open as Eleanor rushed out the c ha p t e r t hr e e o x r x o x + n i : + r r REV INT Wrecked.indd 39 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 0 a n n a d a v i e s sliding French doors and onto the sandstone patio. She was wearing a silk orchid-color knee-length dress and had a lily stuck in her hair. Sorry. Just swimming, Miranda called, willing Eleanor to leave her alone. Miranda! Eleanor shrieked again, her voice piercing the air like a siren. From far off, Miranda could hear a dog bark. Dont do that. You know if you need to go swimming, you should have Louisa watching you. Eleanor shook her head. Im worried about you. This isnt normal. Dr. Dorn says that this isnt healthy. You need to get back into your routines, into your life. Miranda swam over to the side of the pool and blinked up at Eleanor. I said I was sorry, she said in a low voice. In the semi-darkness, she noticed that her fngers gripping the gutter of the pool were ghostly white. The air was chilly, even though the water was a temperature-controlled eighty degrees. Im fne, she repeated, a steely edge to her voice. Eleanor nodded curtly, her hair not moving from its shellacked French twist. She was platinum blond even at age seventy-fve. Im heading to the hospital. Can you get ready? Instead of answering, Miranda dunked her head underwater. She wished she could stay there forever, until the sound of her heart beating in her ears drowned out the noise of anything else. The only place she felt remotely okay was when she was in the water. If she concentrated on the rhythmic stroking of her arms and legs, then she could almost stop thinking. That was REV INT Wrecked.indd 40 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 1 why she spent as many of her waking hours as she could swim- ming, either in the pool, or more preferably, at Bloody Point at the other end of the island. In the shadow of a long-abandoned golf course and only accessible through a half-mile path in the woods, no one was ever there. And Miranda liked it that way. Thats why almost every night Miranda had been sneaking out the window, climbing carefully onto the fat roof of the porch, which led to the thick-trunked magnolia tree she could climb down. It was dangerous, but she didnt really care. It was more dangerous to be alone with her thoughts. It wasnt like things were better in the water, but she felt more in control. She remembered back to when she was a four-year-oldwhenever shed be upset or whiny or nervous, her mother would take her across the street to the park and tell her to outrun the bad feel- ings. Shed run in circles, around and around the metal jungle gym, until shed tired herself out. Then, shed lie on the grass or the sand by the swings, feeling her heart beat in her chest. Back then, shed always felt better. Now, it was almost the same. It was all about letting her body overtake her mind. It was like soccer, making your opponent think she had a chance to take the ball before cleanly kicking it to a teammate. Except now, she couldnt outrun her feelings. Miranda, we need to go. Visiting hours end at six, Eleanor said again, practically tapping her foot against the sandstone tiles. Will you be ready in ten minutes? Ill have Roger get the car. Of course she wasnt ready. She didnt want to see Fletch REV INT Wrecked.indd 41 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 2 a n n a d a v i e s lying unconscious in a hospital bed, his body bloated and hooked up to dozens of wires. His mom and dad were always by his side. They allowed her to come in, but Miranda knew it would be better for everyone if she didnt see Fletch. See- ing him wouldnt make him get better, it would just make his parents hate her more. Its not my fault! Miranda wanted to tell them. But so far, she never had. Because no matter how much people insisted that it wasnt, that the navigation system had failed, that the channel marker wasnt clearly identifable in the storm, that a lightning bolt had caused the fre that had led to all the destruction. She had been the one driving the boat. Maybe it was her fault. Genevieve, Lydia, Alexa, and Darcy were dead, Jeremiah had a broken arm, Alan had a dislocated shoulder, and Fletch was in a coma. Gray was miraculously uninjured, having been guided by Alan to one of the larger fberglass pieces of the boat. She and Alan had held on until the Coast Guard ship came to res- cue them. Genevieve had most likely died immediately; her head had struck the side of the boat as Fletch had tossed her overboard and she drowned. Jeremiah, Alexa, and Darcy had all fallen overboard when the ship cracked in half. And while Jeremiah had desperately clung to both girls, to try to swim them to safety, theyd both been pronounced dead of smoke inhalation as soon as they reached the hospital. And Miranda had woken up with a minor concussion and a gash from her REV INT Wrecked.indd 42 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 3 thigh to her knee where part of the boats fberglass hull had torn into her leg. Sighing, Miranda grabbed the ledge of the pool and began to hoist herself up. She grimaced as Eleanor instantly extended her fragile hand. I can do it myself, she announced in what she realized was an echo to the phrase shed said so often as a toddler. One try, two tries, and she fnally heaved her abdomen over the lip of the pool, landing like an injured seal pup. She grimaced as she pushed herself into a standing position. Think confdence. Think you can do it. Thats what Lacey, the impossibly perky physical therapist at the Mount Pleasant Rehabilitation Center, would say before forcing Miranda to walk up and down the four-stepped mini staircase in the treat- ment room over and over and over again. It was a miracle she was walking so quickly, Lacey kept reminding her, even as she kept forcing Miranda to repeat the exercises, even when it felt like white-hot pokers were searing her fesh. Of course it was going to hurt. The cut had torn into her muscle, and rebuilding strength was going to take a long time. Or at least thats what Lacey said. But what Lacey didnt know, and what Miranda wouldnt admit to anyone, was that her leg didnt really hurt. Sure, sometimes her muscles hurt, and sometimes the cut seemed like it was beating in time to her heart, but it was nothing she couldnt handle; nothing as bad as the ACL injury shed had in eighth grade after a soccer tourney. REV INT Wrecked.indd 43 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 4 a n n a d a v i e s And despite all the tests shed had in the hospital, she found that as long as she kept telling them that her leg hurt, then theyd keep running tests and ordering physical therapy appointments and keeping her from heading back to school. And the more she said it, the more she believed it herself. She just wished it could work for everything elsethat somehow, if she said the accident hadnt occurred, it hadnt. Plus, the more she focused on any twinge of pain that emanated from where the cables on the channel marker had dug into her leg, the more she could ignore her heart. Or try to until she couldnt bear it any longer. Then, shed stay up almost all night, forcing herself to listen to the Fletch and Miranda mix on her iPod, to look through the Calhoun Academy yearbook from last year, to scroll through the thousands of texts she and Fletch had sent to each other over the past year, all of which ended in oxowhich sort of looked like an infnity symbol. It had started as an offhand observation, but had become automatic. Love for infnity. Right. Miranda pulled on the sweatshirt that was slung over the patio chair. It was Fletchs Calhoun lacrosse sweatshirt and still smelled like him: woodsmoke, Old Spice deodorant, and some- thing else Miranda couldnt quite placesomething that made her feel safe and nostalgic and sad, all at once. But the scent was fading and it felt more like a costume than anything, an outward sign to the Kings that she was mourning just as much as they were. REV INT Wrecked.indd 44 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 5 Im having Roger drive us, Eleanor said, almost to herself. He brought the car around front. Okay, Ill be there in a second, Miranda said. Eleanor paused, as if she were about to protest. Then she nodded and turned away, her heels clacking against the sand- stone tiles. She moved surprisingly fast for her age, and Miranda was relieved when she heard the French doors to the kitchen click closed. She didnt know what to do or say to Eleanor. Ever since the accident, theyd behaved as if they were both polite strangers, even more distant than theyd been before. Miranda hadnt talked to Eleanor about the accident. Shed tried, once, but Eleanor got an uncomfortable look on her face and left the room. The next morning, Eleanor casually mentioned that shed thought it would be good if Miranda saw a psychiatrist a few times a week, to process the situation. It had been the same story when Mirandas parents had died. Eleanor hadnt even told her what had happened, but had simply said that her parents wouldnt be coming back, but that they loved her. Miranda had nodded, assuming they were just on a triptheyd do that sometimes. During the funeral, under the watchful eye of Louisa, Miranda had had a tea party in the garden with her collection of teddy bears in the memo- rial garden at the Cavalry Church. When the service got out, all the mourners paused en route to their cars to hug Miranda or ruffe her hair, and Miranda had been confused that they REV INT Wrecked.indd 45 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 6 a n n a d a v i e s didnt have presents for hershed assumed it was a birthday party. Later, Eleanor had taken her to a child psychiatrist, but all Miranda remembered doing at sessions were drawing pictures, playing with blocks, and hugging the extra-large stuffed polar bear in the corner of the offce. Now, Eleanor was still pretending everything was business as usual, as if willing it would somehow make it true. When Miranda had come home from the hospital, anti-slip rugs had been put down on all the marble hallways and the stack of col- lege catalogues, correspondence, and SAT prep books that had been stored in the library had been boxed and put in Mirandas closet. All the pictures of Miranda and GenevieveMiranda and Genevieve at Gens Studio 54-themed sixteenth birthday, where Miranda had worn a sparkly romper that had belonged to her mother and Gen had worn a super short silver halter dress; Gen and Miranda, dressed respectively as the sea witch and a mermaid last year for Halloween, when theyd gone to a party at Fletchs and realized as soon as theyd gotten there that they were the only two whod bothered to dress up; Miranda and Gen, lying on the beach in string bikinis and oversized sunglasses, giving their cheesiest grinshad been cleared from Mirandas room. As if Genevieve had never existed. Miranda wrapped a towel around her body, slid on her fip- fops, and grabbed the crutches propped on a nearby chair. The crutches werent entirely necessary, but they defnitely served as an emotional security blanket, especially in front of the Kings, REV INT Wrecked.indd 46 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 7 who resented her because she was alive and Fletch . . . was? wasnt? Miranda didnt know. Slowly, she made her way around the sandstone path to the front of the house. There, Roger was waiting in the drivers seat of the black BMW, while Eleanor sat in the back. Roger also did general repairs and maintenance on the sprawling house, and had also taught Miranda how to play soccer, the year she was fve. When she was little, she once called him daddy by mistake. Eleanor had heard, and the next day, the impromptu soccer lessons had stopped. It was just another thing that Eleanor and Miranda never talked about, just like Miranda had never learned what had happened to her grandfather or had been allowed to look at any of Astrids old photos or schoolwork. In the Ashford household, dead meant dead, and talking or processing feelings was simply not done. Lets go, Eleanor directed Roger crisply. Theres a fve- twenty ferry. Roger nodded silently. Roger was always taciturn, weather- beaten, and morose, as if every day was a funeral. He wore a black knit cap year-round, despite the off-the-charts humidity during the summer. When Miranda was younger, shed been half-convinced Roger was primarily on staff in order to spy on Miranda and Teddy, and ensure that they didnt fall into the wrong crowd on Whym Island. In fact, she still wondered if that was the main reason why Eleanor kept him on staff. Miranda gazed out the tinted windows at the setting sun. REV INT Wrecked.indd 47 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 8 a n n a d a v i e s The refraction of the light made it seem like the water was twinkling. Far off in the distance, the green-and-white ferry was slowly heading in toward the dock at the other end of the island. Before, Eleanor would never have deigned to take the ferry. Roger would have taken the wheel on Star Gazer, and theyd have docked at their space on the mainland and taken a car on the other side. It was just one more reminder of how every- thing was different. Look at that, Roger said, breaking the silence as he jerked his elbow toward the drivers side window. Miranda looked where he was pointing. Far in the distance, at the dock was an enormous yacht, like some of the ones docked at the harbor in Charleston. It looked like a miniature cruise ship, with Sephie written on it in script and blue and green silk fags spiraling up the mast. Nice, Miranda said, not knowing what else to say. Why should she care? The only way it affected her was that the more people lived on the island, the fewer people would know who she was. She scooted further down on the leather seat. Whym was such a small island that most year-rounders rec- ognized each other, and Miranda didnt want to see how the once friendly parishioners from the Cavalry Church, or from the Whym Flower Society, or from the Historical Preservation Board, were now shunning her and her grandmother. There had been no phone calls or sympathy cards or visits to the REV INT Wrecked.indd 48 2/23/12 4:44 PM 4 9 house, not even from the Cavalry Church minister, in a month. The windshield had been cracked in the parking lot of the supermarket when Roger had run errands a few weeks ago. And the week after the accident, when Miranda had still been in the hospital, Eleanor had been turned away from Darcys funeral, even though she and Darcys grandmother had co- chaired the Memorial Day Flower Festival ten years in a row. Thinking of that sceneEleanor, with her Sunday suit and hat, holding out a silver tray of egg-salad sandwiches, only to be sent awaymade Mirandas heart hurt. And yet Eleanor was still trying to get into the good graces of the families of the victims. Didnt she realize the best thing they could do was to leave them alone? Nice? Roger huffed. Pretty fucking gaudy, if you ask me. Excuse my French. Thats no way to sail. Now, Roger, hush, Eleanor said frmly. It is ridiculous, but who am I to judge? The longer I live here, the more this island surprises me. Maybe things do need to change, Eleanor mused. Yes, maam, Roger responded, and Miranda knew Eleanor wished she could gossip about this new person to Darcys grand- mother. For the hundredth time that day, and probably the mil- lionth time that month, Miranda wanted to apologize. Miranda, darling, Eleanor said, changing the subject, I spoke with Headmistress Wyar and she and I agree that Mon- day would work quite well for your return. REV INT Wrecked.indd 49 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 0 a n n a d a v i e s Monday? Miranda repeated, dread forming in the pit of her stomach. She knew shed have to go back to Calhoun even- tually, but she assumed it would be in January, which sounded so distant and far off it was almost unreal. But Monday as in tomorrow? Yes. You seem to be doing well in physical therapy, and Dr. Dorn and Dr. Faville have given you the all clear. I think it would be good to get back into things. It cant help to just sit around and ruminate. Its depressing, Eleanor pursed her lips, as if the word depressing was distasteful to even say. Miranda stared at the foor as the car inched along the route to the ferry dock. Depressing? Not getting into your frst choice college was depressing. Breaking up with your boyfriend was depressing. Having four friends die, a boyfriend in a coma, and three friends seriously injured because of an accident that was your fault was catastrophic. The accident couldnt be helped. You couldnt control that. What you can control is getting on with your life. Going back to school with your head held high is key to your recovery, Eleanor said frmly. I know, Miranda said. She leaned down, rooted inside her bag for her iPod, and closed her eyes. She didnt open them when they got on the parking deck for the ferry, or when the ferry started pulling away, or when they reached the other side. Shell be fne, Miranda heard Eleanor murmur to Roger. REV INT Wrecked.indd 50 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 1 Of course, maam, Roger said, as if hed agreed to pick up groceries or fx the door in the pool house. Miranda only opened her eyes when she felt the car stop. Im glad you were able to sleep, Eleanor said, pulling a large wicker basket full of jams and fowers from the trunk and hanging it over her arm, as if she were heading off on a picnic, not a visit to a comatose patient. Miranda trailed behind her into the now-familiar lobby of Westmoreland General, hating the scent of industrial-strength bleach and air freshener that accosted her. Miranda knew Eleanor insisted on accompanying Mirandaor, rather, forc- ing Miranda to accompany her to the hospital to see Fletch more to keep up appearances than anything. It certainly wasnt for Mirandas beneft. Theyd come every day for the past two weeks. Fletch was still in the same ICU unit hed been in since the accident. He hadnt gotten better. And even though the Kings werent saying it, Miranda knew he never would. People who got better had doctors and nurses checking on them several times an hour. People who got better didnt have the same amount of machines surrounding them as they did hours before the accident. People who were getting better didnt have daily closed-door meetings with social workers, who were most likely asking the Kings when they were ready to say good-bye to Fletch. Miranda had seen enough crappy television medical dramas to know this. Still, sometimes she just hoped that maybe a miracle could happen. REV INT Wrecked.indd 51 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 2 a n n a d a v i e s When Miranda had been in the hospital after the accident, shed been on the orthopedic foor, where shed shared a room with a college cheerleader who had a broken ankle and hosted what had sounded likein Mirandas hazy, painkiller-induced foga sorority social in the room. In contrast, the ICU unit was quiet, except for the hiss of ventilators and the hushed tones of family members. Miranda closed her eyes and crossed her fngers as they stepped off the elevator. It was a habit before she did anything, whether it was begin a soccer game or take a chemistry quiz. Now, it was a gesture to hope Fletchs parents werent there, and that they were taking a nap at the mainland hotel they were staying at or grabbing a cup of coffee at the hospital coffee shop or even having a closed-door meeting with his doctors, anything so she could actually say what she wanted to Fletch that she was sorry, that she wished shed said I love you when it mattered, and that shed do anything for him to get better. Miranda. Miranda whirled around as Fletchs mother, Lily, emerged from the tiny kitchen next to the nurses station clutching a Styrofoam coffee cup. Tears were drying on her high cheek- bones and instead of wearing her usual pastel sweater set or fowered Tory Burch dress, she was wearing a pair of oversize blue doctors scrubs. Her blonde hair was pulled in a low pony- tail and she wasnt wearing any makeup. Except for the dark circles under her eyes, she looked almost childlike. REV INT Wrecked.indd 52 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 3 Hi, Miranda said, shifting nervously from foot to foot. Before the accident, Lily had always been friendly to her, constantly asking Miranda to dinner with the family and invit- ing her for lunch downtown for girl talk. She was a little fighty, but mostly fne, to talk to. Now, Mrs. King was only icy. How is Fletch? Miranda asked in a small voice. As if the answer would be different than what it had been the last two weeks. Hello, Lily, Eleanor said, stepping in front of Miranda to offer the basket to Mrs. King. Weve been praying for Fletch. And of course, if theres anything we could do . . . Theres nothing you can do, Lily said coldly. Miranda stared at the dirty linoleum. The unspoken rest of the sentence was clear . . . Because youve done enough. The frst time Eleanor and Miranda had visited was right before Miranda had been discharged from the hospital. Shed been on a potent combination of pills for pain, sleeping, and anxiety, and had felt like she was in a dream. She knew she was supposed to be upsetno, devastatedbut she couldnt cry. Whenever the doctors, or the police, or her grandmother had asked her if she remembered the accident, it had felt like she was remembering a scene from a movie. It hadnt felt real. And she couldnt make sense of it. All the questions the police raised were the same that tossed in her own mind: Why had she been the only survivor whod ended up on shore? How had she got- ten disentangled from the cables? And why hadnt anyone else REV INT Wrecked.indd 53 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 4 a n n a d a v i e s followed her lead to safety? I dont know! She wanted to scream. Hes in his room, if youd like to stop in, Lily said stiffy. As if Fletch could be anywhere else. Miranda felt like she was an actress in a movie, unsure of what her next line was. On her frst visit, shed made the mistake of telling Lily how Fletch had saved her, how the last thing she remembered seeing was Fletch helping the girls get off the boat and into the water. Shed thought Lily would have liked hearing that, but later she realized that of course, that was the last thing Mrs. King wanted to hear. Because if Fletch hadnt stayed on the boat, he wouldnt have inhaled so much smoke. He wouldnt have passed out in the water. He wouldnt be brain dead. Which of course, was what he was, even if Mrs. King refused to use that term. Of course, Eleanor said somberly as she patted Lilys shoulder. Lily recoiled as if shed been slapped and Miranda felt a sliver of rage slice through her stomach. Didnt Eleanor real- ize they werent wanted here? The doctors say its good for him to hear from people he loves, Lily said stiffy, as though talking to herself. They feel that Miranda should visit, she added to herself as she pushed open the door to Fletchs room. Thank you, Miranda said as she walked into the room, steeling herself to see Fletch. Each time was harder than the last. Half his head was shaved and there were staples in his scalp from where theyd set up a pressure-relieving drainage tube in ICU. His face was puffy and there was a green bruise under REV INT Wrecked.indd 54 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 5 his eyefaint, but still visible. Fluid from two different IV bags dripped into his arm and there were several monitors beeping at the head of the bed. She walked through the entranceway of the room and stopped in her tracks when she saw Alan sitting on the far side of Fletchs bed. He turned to face her, his mouth twisting in an ugly grimace. Tears were running down his cheeks and his face was pale. Hi, Miranda said tentatively. Even though physically he was fne, having survived the accident with only a dislocated shoulder from when he jumped overboard, he looked nothing like the goofy guy who once rented alpacas from the farm on the other side of the island and set them loose in his house dur- ing a particularly epic party. Why are you here? Alan asked, his eyes glittering with tears. I . . . Miranda paused. Im sorry, she said fnally. Youre sorry? He nearly spat the words. Why? You have nothing to be sorry about. It was an accident, he said, barely making eye contact with her. Before Miranda could say anything, Alan turned toward Fletch and started speaking. Hey, bro, Im going to leave. I love you, man. Stay strong, he said, awkwardly rubbing Fletchs shoulder beneath the thin cotton blanket on the bed. Im sorry, Miranda mumbled again, the words coming out like a whimper. REV INT Wrecked.indd 55 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 6 a n n a d a v i e s Ill be back later, Alan said to Mrs. King as he stormed out, accidentally-on-purpose bumping into Mirandas shoul- der. Miranda winced and forced herself to focus on the waves and valleys displayed on one of Fletchs many monitors. That was Alan Osten, right? Eleanor asked, after a beat. He looks well, she added helplessly. Miranda cringed. Remarking on Alans healthy appearance only made it even more apparent how critical Fletchs condi- tion was. Well, Miranda? Lily asked, her voice icy underneath her Southern accent. Say whatever you have to say. Miranda grabbed Fletchs hand. It was disconcerting to touch it and not have him grab her own hand back. Hi, Miranda said. I missed you, she continued, glancing over her shoulder at Lily and Eleanor. Neither were looking at her. Lily had her arms crossed over her chest and refused to meet her gaze, while Eleanors hands were clasped, as if in prayer. Its getting dark earlier. Its defnitely fall . . . , Miranda started again, before trailing off. She was supposed to be talking to her boyfriend, who knew she had a constellation of freckles shaped vaguely like a star on the small of her back, who saved her life, and she sounded like she was giving a weather report. Worse, she felt entirely detached from herself, as if she were watching herself from across the room. She knew she seemed confused and scared and entirely at a loss for what to say. REV INT Wrecked.indd 56 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 7 I love you and I want you to get better soon. Okay? Just get better. Because if not, then Ill be mad and I wont have anyone to go to prom with, and you know thats a teenage tragedy, Miranda said, wishing that she could take it back when she saw Lily wince. If Fletch were here, really here, hed have smiled and shot back a joke. But without him, the joke fell fat, making it sound like all she cared about was having a date. You know Im kidding, babe. I just want you to come back. Ill make you cookies. Miranda winced. Ill make you cookies? She was sounding worse and worse. She squeezed Fletchs hand tighter and fxed her gaze on the watery IV bag that dangled from a pole on the other side of the bed. Im sorry, she said thickly. Im not good at this. I just wish you were here, like, here here, because youd know what to do. And I dont, Miranda said fnally, more as a message to Lily and Eleanor than anyone. I love you. I love you forever and a day, she added, brushing her lips against Fletchs forehead. It was a phrase she remembered her mother using with her, although it was never something shed said to Fletch before. But somehow, it sounded right. She turned toward Eleanor and Lily, hoping they would appreciate her performance. It wasnt that she didnt want to talk to Fletch, it was that she felt so numb inside that she felt like anything she said wouldnt be right, would be just one more way to let him down. She just wished her every move wasnt REV INT Wrecked.indd 57 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 8 a n n a d a v i e s being scrutinized. She knew it was dumb, but she somehow felt if only she had a chance to be with Fletch, alone, then maybe she could say something that would bring him back from wher- ever he was. But of course Lily would never allow that. We should go, Eleanor murmured. Mirandas head snapped up, relieved Eleanor had offered an out. I dont want to overstay our welcome. And please let us know if you need anything. Please, Eleanor said, pressing her hand on Lilys. Yup, Miranda parroted. As if she had anything else to offer. And I suppose youll come back tomorrow? Lily asked, a note of resignation in her voice. Miranda noticed that the table at the far end of the room was crammed with plates of cookies and baskets of fowers Eleanor had brought over the past few days. Everything was untouched, the fowers still wrapped in plastic. If you dont want us to . . . Of course we will, Eleanor interrupted. And hes looking much healthier than before. Itll only be a matter of time. Thank you, Eleanor, Lily said stiffy. I dont care what Dr. Ollins says. He needs to be at a real hospital, a voice boomed. Mr. King walked in the door, yelling into his phone. Miranda looked away, embarrassed to see Mr. King so helpless. Before, hed been a larger-than-life force, the type of guy who loved getting behind the grill at parties and who was always tapped to serve as emcee at island events. Now, his voice was tinged with hysteria and the oversized sweatshirt REV INT Wrecked.indd 58 2/23/12 4:44 PM 5 9 hanging from his shoulders made him look far less imposing than he had been. Now, I need to be with my son, he said loudly into the phone, hanging up and glancing around the room. Miranda ORourke, he said, his lips curling into a sneer. Miranda winced. Mr. King had never called her by her full name, usually calling her pet nicknames like baby girl. Coming from Mr. King, it had been endearing rather than creepy, and Miranda always felt like he was the type of dad she wished shed had. I just came to see Fletch. Were leaving, sir, Miranda said, shooting her grandmother a look. It was clear that Lily wanted them out, but Eleanor seemed to show no sign of leaving. Instead, she wandered over to the table and set down her basket. John! Eleanor said soberly, placing a hand on Mr. Kings arm. I was just saying to your wife how well Fletch is looking. You can see the color coming back to his cheeks, she said. Miranda couldnt take it anymore. Was Eleanor serious? Fletch looked exactly the same as he did yesterday, which was the same as he looked last week. Didnt anyone understand that Fletch wasnt there? Miranda stood up, her chair making a loud scraping sound against the foor. I have to go. I feel sick. Im sorry, Ill be back. I just . . . if Im sick, I cant get him sick, Miranda babbled, running out of the room. She got as far as the nurses desk and doubled over, nausea coursing through her stomach. As soon as she got out of the room, her stomach calmed down. It was being in the room with the Kings that made her REV INT Wrecked.indd 59 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 0 a n n a d a v i e s feel sick. She took a deep breath and was about to leave when she saw a nurse standing behind her, holding a miniature card- board box of tissues. Her nametag read Olivia. You okay? Ive seen you visiting every day. It must be hard, she said, resting her hand gently on Mirandas shoulder. Miranda nodded. It was a change to hear someone actually be nice to her. Miranda gingerly accepted one of the tissues, steadying herself on the desk. Her stomach was still rolling, and she was unsure whether or not she was going to throw up. Its important that you visit.You know, even if he doesnt seem to be there, I think it makes a difference on some level. I truly do, Olivia said, nodding to herself. Even if he doesnt seem to be there. It was what Miranda had sensed since the frst time shed seen him but that no one would say. Fletch was somewhere far, far away. And he wasnt coming back. Is he . . . hes not . . . he wont get better, will he? Miranda said fnally, stumbling through the words. Saying it out loud made it seem so real. Oh, darling, Olivia said briskly, yanking her hand away from Mirandas shoulder as if shed been burned. I cant answer that. You need to speak to his parents or doctors, she said. But even though she hadnt told her everything, the pain in Olivias green eyes told her everything she needed to know. Fletch was already gone. I have to go, Miranda said, feeling her stomach reeling all over again. REV INT Wrecked.indd 60 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 1 Wait. Youre not looking great. Ill fnd you a ginger ale or something . . . stay here, Olivia said hurriedly, turning on her heel. As soon as Olivia turned her back, Miranda rushed as fast as she could out the automatic doors and retched, repeatedly, in the bushes next to the hospital. Tears from exertion pricked her eyes, and she was almost disappointed when she stopped throwing up. She wanted to suffer, wanted to feel something instead of the always-there blankness shed felt since the acci- dent. No such luck. She straightened up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. The sky was a brilliant blue and birds were chirping in the background, which only made her feel more exhausted and out of place. She wanted darkness and rain, weather that made it that much easier to climb under the covers and try to sleep. If you have to get sick, get sick at a hospital, a low voice murmured behind her. Miranda turned to face an elegantly dressed woman. Her hair was light blond and her eyes were an odd violet color. She was wearing a black dress that hugged her curves and looked like she was going to a cocktail party instead of the hospital. Here, take this, the woman continued, rooting through her black quilted handbag. She passed Miranda a white linen handkerchief, with an elegant S monogrammed on its corner in royal blue thread. REV INT Wrecked.indd 61 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 2 a n n a d a v i e s Thanks. She staggered to the curb and sat down as her crutches fell to the ground beside her with a clatter. She dabbed the corners of her mouth with the square piece of fabric as the woman peered down at her curiously. Im fne. My boyfriends sick. Well, hes not sick, but hes in the hospital. I mean, I guess hes sick. Hes in a coma? Miranda babbled, ending the sentence like a question. That must be so devastating, the woman murmured, perching on the curb beside her, trailed by a cloud of sweet, pungent perfume. Yeah, so Im here visiting. And Id be here longer, its just that its a small room and his parents are there . . . Miranda stopped herself. What the hell was she doing? She was obvi- ously so starved for conversation shed talk with anyone. What happened to him? the woman asked. An accident, Miranda said wishing as soon as the words left her mouth that she hadnt said anything. She knew exactly where the conversation was headed. What kind? the woman pressed, her eyes widening. Great. Two more questions and this woman would know exactly who she was. And that, Miranda realized, was exactly why she shouldnt get into the habit of talking to random peoplebecause she could never be anonymous, not really. On the water. Miranda mumbled, wondering where Roger was and why her grandmother was taking so long saying good- bye to the Kings. REV INT Wrecked.indd 62 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 3 The oceans dangerous, the woman said, as if she were talking to herself. Were you in the accident as well? she asked, nodding toward Mirandas crutches. Miranda nodded, staring at the ground. The train on the womans dress contrasted to the dirty cement sidewalk. Who was she? Finally, Miranda looked up, surprised to see the woman there, still curiously gazing down at her. Wouldnt she imme- diately want to disappear like everyone else, certain that some type of curse followed Miranda? Thats what everyone else believed. Even when Miranda had been a patient in the hos- pital, shed noticed that the nurses never lingered like they did with her sorority-girl roommate. One time, shed seen one of the orderlies cross herself before walking into the room, as if to ward off any type of evil eye. It underscored what everyone had always thought about her, but what shed never believed until now. She was unlucky. Before, whenever she was reminded of that, like when she told Coach Devlin she lived with her grandmother because her parents had passed away or when she overheard an elderly gar- dening club member loudly whisper that Teddy and Miranda were doing so well, considering they were orphans, it was dis- concerting how tragic it sounded. Now, her life sounded like it was fodder for a crappy television drama. It didnt sound real. Well, youre a lucky girl, to have survived something like that, the woman murmured. REV INT Wrecked.indd 63 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 4 a n n a d a v i e s Miranda glanced up sharply. Lucky? Was she kidding? It was the opposite. As if in response, the woman placed her hand on Mirandas shoulder, and Miranda gasped in surprise. The womans fn- gers were freezing, and caused an involuntary shiver to run up Mirandas spine. How ever did you do it? the woman asked. Live, I mean, she added, as if there was any confusion. Miranda paused. It was the same question that had been asked, in various forms, by everyone from the police to her grandmother to Dr. Dorn, the psychiatrist. And shed always answered the same thingthat she didnt know. But she did. She knew that someone had helped her. I was saved, Miranda said simply. An inscrutable expression fashed across the womans face. Saved by whom? she asked. I dont know, Miranda said lamely, kicking a few pebbles on the sidewalk. After so many weeks of barely talking to anyone, she felt rusty, half a second behind when she should be speaking. Some boy, Miranda said. I dont know where he came from. An uncomfortable silence fell between them. Her shoulders and legs felt tight, and she couldnt wait to get back to the island, so she could head out and get back to swimming. The water was the only place where things began to make sense, where she could actually allow herself to think back to the accident, to try to put together the moments that had caused her survival and Fletchs death. Sometimes, in the water, she REV INT Wrecked.indd 64 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 5 felt so close to that feeling of safety shed felt in the moments before she passed out, but it always seemed somewhere just beyond her reach. But she felt like if only she swam faster or farther . . . Well, youre lucky to have been saved, the woman said stiffy, interrupting Mirandas thoughts. Miranda smiled, embar- rassed to have even said anything. And your name is . . . ? she asked curiously. Miranda, Miranda said. Maam, she added. Everyone in South Carolina automatically said maam and sir, but it was something that had never come second nature to Miranda, even after living on the island for over a decade. But the saluta- tion, along with its accompanying polite gestures, like thank yous and introductions, went far, and maybe that was what this woman was waiting for. Thankfully, Miranda spotted Eleanor exiting the automatic doors. I have to go, she added, knowing she was breaching etiquette by not asking the woman for her name. Nice to meet you, Miranda. The woman nodded and strode into the hospital, the train of her dress slithering behind her like a tail. Who was that? Eleanor asked curiously. Miranda closed her eyes and massaged her temples, a move that relieved stress according to one of the crappy magazines shed read in the waiting room at physical therapy. Didnt help. Who was that? Eleanor repeated, more sharply this time. REV INT Wrecked.indd 65 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 6 a n n a d a v i e s I dont know, she stopped to talk to me, Miranda said, walking ahead of Eleanor. Wheres Roger? Im not really feeling great. Eleanor immediately placed the back of her hand against Mirandas cool forehead before bombarding her with ques- tions. Do you need a doctor? Do you think its some sort of virus? Do you think it has something to do with Fletcher? Should we call Dr. Dorn? Eleanor asked breathlessly. She rum- maged through her purse, pulling out a silver pillbox. Do you need one? she asked urgently. No! Miranda shook her head. Eleanor was even more adamant about pushing pills than Dr. Dorn. In the hospital, Miranda had gotten prescriptions for sleeping pills and anti- anxiety medication, which Eleanor had flled immediately, and which she offered to Miranda at any opportunity, even though Miranda never said yes. She didnt want to dull her pain. If any- thing, she wanted everything to feel sharper. Lets go, she said, stalking toward the parking garage, wishing, more than anything, that she could be the one lying unconscious in a hospital bed. REV INT Wrecked.indd 66 2/23/12 4:44 PM c ha p t e r f our For the past two weeks, hed been watching her swimming. Always from the distance, from just beyond a wave. Shed come at twilight, and she never saw him. She always did the same thingdropped her crutches on the sand, shimmied out of her shorts and sweatshirt, and ran full-speed into the surf, not stopping to test the water or ease in slowly. Then shed dive under and pull herself up to the surface, kicking and strok- ing until she got toward the rocky jetty at the other end of the beach. Then shed tread water, sometimes calling the name Fletch or Gen angrily into the wind, before swimming back, heading back to shore, and leaving without looking back. He had the heart-shaped pendant with the words forever and a day etched on the back. Hed been wearing it doubled c ha p t e r f our REV INT Wrecked.indd 67 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 8 a n n a d a v i e s on his wrist and every time he looked at it, he thought of her. She was so beautiful, so sad. In that moment when she was in his arms, hed known that hed do anything to save her. He wondered who gave it to her. A parent? A boyfriend? One of the people who went down in the shipwreck? He was vaguely jealous of whoever it was, because whoever it was had gotten to speak to her, to know her. Hed give anything to have that. He wanted to know if she even remembered him. He wished that she did, but he knew that was practically impossible. Shed barely been conscious when hed saved her. And yet, sometimes, she stopped midstroke and glanced in his direction, a searching expression on her face. Hed always duck below the surface, terrifed hed been spotted. Because, what could he possibly say if she saw him? They were of differ- ent worlds. But even when he promised himself that hed spend an entire day below the surface, he always ended up going. It was as if the girl was a siren, pulling him Up Above. Until the day he couldnt. It had begun like any other afternoon. Hed swum through In Between, faster and faster, feeling the way his lungs began yearning for oxygen, feeling the Up Above winds churn the water, when his hand had hit the surface, unable to break through. Hed hit again, harder, but the surface had become impenetrable. Panicking, hed swum back Down Below, desperate to breathe. He felt dizzy and his thoughts were blurring together. REV INT Wrecked.indd 68 2/23/12 4:44 PM 6 9 It was harder and harder to stroke, and he wondered if this was how it felt when humans were drowning. It was horrible. His lungs burning and his head pounding, his frst thought was that it had been a fuke; a capricious tide that would soon right itself. Down Below, he searched for his older brother Val- entine, hoping that Valentine would agree; but he already sus- pected there was more to it than that, and that it most likely centered on his prior misdeeds. But Valentine had simply shrugged when Christian told him what had happened. So you cant Surface. So what? hed asked. It was the reaction Christian had been expecting from him. Valentine had surfaced only once, on the eve of his eighteenth birthday, two years ago. Since then, hed had no interest in exploring the world of Up Above. Prior to his Surfacing, Christian thought Valentine was small-minded. Now he thought that Valentine was smart. If only Christian could have done the samegone up to the Surface, surveyed the view, and come back down, content to live the life beft- ting a Down Below betwixtmanserving Sephie, and living in relative peace, without any suspicion or question of his loyalty. Christian had hesitated. He hadnt told Valentine about the girl. Not only would his brother not understand, but hed be angry at Christians betrayal of Sephies rule. Hed suddenly scrutinize Christians every move. Thered be a rift between the brothers. And yet . . . REV INT Wrecked.indd 69 2/23/12 4:44 PM 7 0 a n n a d a v i e s What did you do, brother? Valentine had asked, more urgently this time, his jaw clenched. There was an accident, Christian had begun. What? Where? On the Surface? Valentine had asked shakily. Not today. My Surfacing, Christian had said, glancing around. Of course nothing was there. Although it was all under Sephies rule, Down Below was so vast that merfolk kept to themselves, only occasionally interacting and meeting. It was better that way. Stop, hed said. We cant talk about this. Not here. Its not safe. Hed grabbed Christians wrist and pulled him toward the In Between, a no-mans-land that wasnt protected under Sephies rule. Being there meant that conversations werent about to be overheard, but it also meant that they were helpless against anything that crossed their path. In Between was a nec- essary evil to get to Up Above. It was dark and portentous and made Christians skin crawl. It certainly didnt feel safe. Did any of the humans see you? Valentine had asked, his jaw clenched in concern. Christian had shaken his head. Her eyes were closed, hed added, almost to himself, still thinking of how, fathoms above, the girl must be swimming. Her closeness had made his heart ache. Whose eyes? Valentine had asked urgently. Christian had paused. The girl I saved, hed said fnally. There was no going back from there. REV INT Wrecked.indd 70 2/23/12 4:44 PM 7 1 Tell me what happened, Valentine had said frmly, his eyes darting from side to side, keeping a watch for any potential enemies. So Christian had told him everything: About how shed kept crying out, about how shed struggled before falling asleep in his arms, about how he knew, even before she realized it, that her heart was breaking, about how there was something about her large eyes that had called to him. After hed said everything, Valentine had been quiet. The silence had frightened Christian. His brother always had some- thing to say. Im going to the Surface. Stay here, hed commanded in a voice Christian had never heard before. Christian had waited, watching as Valentine stroked to the surface. Minutes, or maybe hours, went by. Christian had debated whether to follow him, or whether to head back Down Below. Instead, hed stayed, suspended in time. Finally, Valentine had returned, his mouth set in a grim line. I Surfaced, hed said simply. There was no barrier. I think its you. Youre banned. Banned. The word had caused a chill to fall over Christian. I think you need to tell Sephie, Valentine had said, echo- ing Christians thought. Christian had gulped, trying to come up with excuses: His lesson had already been learned. Hed never go to the sur- face again. Hed behave. He hadnt known hed done anything wrong. But Christian had nodded. REV INT Wrecked.indd 71 2/23/12 4:44 PM 7 2 a n n a d a v i e s Ill come, Valentine had decided. Christian felt grateful and guilty, all at once. Valentine shouldnt be dragged into this. Together, the two made their way to the gilt-gold gates that surrounded Sephies kingdom. It was one of the few perma- nent structures of Down Below, a place generally made up of the destruction from Up Above. From the hulking shipwrecks that would disappear from decay after a few decades, to the coral reefs that would be reshaped and re-formed hundreds of times over, nothing Down Below was meant to be permanent. Sephie greeted them at the gates, alone, as if she were expect- ing them. She was wearing a shimmering white gown made up of hundreds of tiny orbs that almost obscured her sparkly silver tail, a sign that she was pureblooded mermaid. Her white-gold hair was pulled up at the nape of her long neck, and her violet eyes were shimmering brightly, almost a beacon in the watery darkness. Do you know what the word Christian means Up Above? Sephie asked, her eyes wide. I . . . Christian gazed helplessly at Valentine. Hed been expecting to ask to see Sephie. He certainly hadnt expected for her to seek him out. Simply put, it means a person who believes in a savior, Sephie said. Of course, thats a simple defnition, and the humans Up Above could give you all the nuances and true details. She arched her eyebrow. But its an apt name for you, because it turns out, you are, indeed, a savior for some. REV INT Wrecked.indd 72 2/23/12 4:44 PM 7 3 What do you mean? Christian croaked. Valentine shot him a look. He was supposed to confess, he knew that, but he hadnt expected this. This was worse than being punished. He felt like he was being lured into a fshermens trap, unable to fnd a way to escape. I mean you rescued that pretty little dark-haired girl. Although Im not sure if she even appreciates the favor. Shes very sad. Which is why now, its up to you to right this mistake. I didnt . . . Didnt what? Didnt save her? Didnt meddle with the storm? Didnt mean to? Which one, Christian? Sephie turned her gaze to Valentine. And you may go. I dont want you get- ting any ideas from your wayward brother. She laughed a sharp cackle as she reached out toward Christian, digging her fngernails into his arm. Christian squirmed and Sephie laughed. Sephie, my brother didnt mean to do what he did. I prom- ise that hes learned his lesson, and hell never Surface . . . , Valentine said, his voice shaking slightly. Always loyal to everyone, Sephie said. No. You go. I will speak with your brother. Valentine shot Sephie a pleading look and Christian held his breath, unsure whether he wanted Sephie to allow Valentine to come with him or not. Was he about to be executed? And if so, why wasnt he feeling anything? Go along, Sephie said, pulling Christian through the gates REV INT Wrecked.indd 73 2/23/12 4:44 PM 7 4 a n n a d a v i e s and into a small coral cavern. The gates slammed shut. Im sorry, Christian said meekly. The cavern was pitch black, except for a few brightly colored orbs foating around them. Christian gazed at them in horror. He knew what those werethe souls that had been lost below the sea. Im sorry, too, Sephie said. All Christian could see were her eyes, glittering in the darkness. The water in the cavern was so still and cold, he could hear his teeth chattering. Im sorry I didnt get the souls I aimed for. Im sorry you thought you could play God. And Im sorry that you and I seemed to have a miscommunication. There was a storm. And she was trapped, and I knew it was wrong, but I thought . . . I thought it would be all right if I saved her, Christian said in a small voice. The truth was, he hadnt been thinking at all in the moment that hed set the girl free, all he knew was that if he hadnt done something, he wouldnt have been able to live with himself. Sephie laughed, the noise sounding like a hiss and a bark. Well, thats where our miscommunication lies. Because it wasnt all right that you saved her. I wanted her soul. I wanted all their souls. But Im letting you off easy, she said, not letting go of her grip on his arm. Thank you, Christian said. I need her soul. Ill collect the rest in my own time, but her soul is on you. You have one week. Christian gulped, remembering how his lungs burned when REV INT Wrecked.indd 74 2/23/12 4:44 PM 7 5 hed been denied access to the surface. He couldnt let anyone else go through that type of pain. But of course, Im reasonable. Thats not your only option . . . , Sephie said. Ill do anything! Christian replied eagerly, hoping that somehow, she was providing one way of atoning without killing. Your death, Sephie said simply. Its only fair. Yours or hers. One or the other. Christians heart thudded. I will kill her, he said, dully. He couldnt tear his gaze away from her eyes. It was similar to when hed been entranced by the boat wreck, when the fre seemed to dance on the water. Good, Sephie said. One week. I need her soul. And thats a favor to you. Im allowing you the opportunity to see her one last time. And shell thank you. She didnt want to be saved. She wanted to die. Thank you, Christian said woodenly, turning to the gates. He looked over his shoulder, but Sephie had vanished into the darkness. The orbs surrounding him shimmered in the water, as though they were winking at him. And, Christian? Christian heard Sephies voice, coming from somewhere that was both above him and behind him. He couldnt see her anywhere. Sephie? he called, his voice shaking. Her name is Miranda, she said, before a tidal wave of water came from nowhere and pushed him out of the gates and REV INT Wrecked.indd 75 2/23/12 4:44 PM 7 6 a n n a d a v i e s threw him in the middle of the messy, vibrant, teeming Down Below, wild and terrible and refreshing after the cloying silence of Sephies cavern. Not waiting to update Valentine, he swam immediately up to the Surface, the name Miranda echoing in his head like an endless incantation. When he got to the Surface, the waters parted easily, and he made his way to the area where hed always seen her before, right by the shipwrecked boat hull. The sun was sinking low on the horizon. Maybe Sephie was right. Maybe the girl had wanted to die. The rules of the ocean werent polite, but maybe they were fair. He scanned the waves, but he didnt see anything, except sea gulls swooping in and out of the water. The girlMiranda was nowhere to be found. Christian felt relief, followed by a wave of fear. What if he couldnt fnd her? Or worsewould he be able to do what he had to do if he did? REV INT Wrecked.indd 76 2/23/12 4:44 PM