Chapter 2 – Walter
\nWalter hurried home after school. He usually studied in the school library for a half hour to give Sienna a chance to get to the pool, but today he wanted to make sure that everything was ready. He arrived at his white- brick house. \u201cMom, I\u2019m home.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m upstairs.\u201d He followed her voice into the sun room. \u201cYou\u2019re home early.\u201d She was sitting in the white wicker chair bathed in sunlight from the floor to ceiling window.
\n\u201cI felt like getting my chores done.\u201d
\nShe raised her eyebrow. \u201cAre you feeling alright?\u201d
\nWalter grinned. \u201cI have a girlfriend coming over after dinner. I mean a girl, who is a friend.\u201d
\nShe smiled. \u201cThat\u2019s wonderful Wally. Who is she?\u201d
\n\u201cHer name\u2019s Sienna and\u2026\u201d He wanted to say \u2018and she\u2019s gorgeous.\u2019 But Mom might share that comment with Sienna. \u201cShe\u2019s my partner for a history report.\u201d
\nMom reached up and squeezed his hand. \u201cThat\u2019s wonderful.\u201d
\nWalter raced through his chores, then went and cleaned his room. He wasn\u2019t allowed to have girls in his room, but he didn\u2019t want her to catch a glimpse of his dirty room through an open doorway. The he went to the sunroom, he sat in a wicker chair across from his mom.
\n\u201cMom will you do me a favor?\u201d
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that Walter?\u201d
\n\u201cPlease don\u2019t tell Sienna I\u2019m adopted? I want to tell her my own way.\u201d
\n\u201cIf that\u2019s what you want, sure honey.\u201d Mom said.
\nWalter opened his book. He was reading The Hunt For Red October, but he had trouble concentrating. He kept picturing Sienna\u2019s smile, her bright blue eyes and her caramel-colored hair. His fingers stretched for a pencil.
\nThe doorbell rang. Walter put down his book and walked downstairs. Sarah, his little sister, shouted from the living room. \u201cWally! Your girlfriend is here.\u201d
\nWalter paused on the stairs and took a deep breath. Why did he even like her? She wasn\u2019t a mermaid. He felt the necklace under his shirt. He turned the last corner of the stairs. Sienna was standing in the middle of his white slip-covered living room looking at his family\u2019s portrait, they had taken it the day his adoption had become official.
\nWalter was standing in the back, right behind his adopted mother. Sarah was next to their father. And Walter\u2019s brothers were on the other side of his mother. Walter walked over to Sienna. Her caramel-colored hair was straight and loose down her back. It was still damp from pool practice. He could feel the moisture in the air increase as he walked toward her. \u201cThat\u2019s my family.\u201d
\nSienna didn\u2019t flinch. \u201cThat\u2019s a great picture, but the woman from your drawing isn\u2019t your mother, so who is she?\u201d
\nSienna turned as Walter felt his cheeks warm. She turned back to the picture. Walter didn\u2019t know what to say. He wasn\u2019t going to tell her his secrets. Sienna turned back to him. \u201cWere you adopted?\u201d She blurted out. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. You don\u2019t have to answer. Your picture, you look a different then your brothers and your sisters.\u201d
\nSienna was perceptive if she had seen that he was adopted from a picture. Walter studied the photo. His jaw line didn\u2019t match his brothers or his father. His hair color was brown like his family, but it was a darker brown and finer. His eyes were different, more shaded, and darker.
\nWhen he finally spoke his voice was almost a whisper. \u201cI was adopted.\u201d
\n\u201cWhen were you adopted?\u201d She asked.
\n\u201cI was adopted July 17th, this last summer.\u201d Walter said.
\n\u201cYou were adopted this summer?\u201d Sienna sounded surprised. \u201cWhat happened to your parents?\u201d
\n\u201cThey passed away a few years ago.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2026\u201d She was quiet.
\nWalter wanted to smooth over the awkward moment. \u201cCome on in the kitchen and we\u2019ll get started on our history report. Where\u2019s Brad?\u201d
\n\tSienna followed him into the kitchen. \u201cHe has a student government activity tonight. It\u2019s just us.\u201d
\n\tWalter felt his heart skip a beat.
\nIt was so strange to see Sienna sitting here at his kitchen table. They were reading about the Red October Revolution. At least Sienna was reading. Walter was pretending to read. He had already read the section completely before she arrived. Reading was still hard for him. He didn\u2019t want distractions like reading while she was here. He glanced at her again. She was biting her lip as she concentrated on the page, her eyes darting from side-to-side.
\nShe glanced up and saw him watching her. \u201cAre you done reading already?\u201d
\n\u201cYeah.\u201d Walter said.
\nHer eyebrows came together. \u201cYou must read really fast.\u201d She continued with her reading.
\nThe comment she had made in the living room about the drawing not being his mother had been ironic. He had drawn his mother at school. She was one of the reasons he had started drawing as soon as he had been introduced to the smooth perfection of white paper and pencils. He hadn\u2019t wanted to forget her face. He had no photographs of her. He touched his shirt where his necklace made a bump.
\n\u201cWhy do you do that?\u201d Sienna asked.
\nHis heart went faster. \u201cDo what?\u201d
\n\u201cWhy do you touch your necklace? May I see it?\u201d
\nWalter thought of bringing it out to show her, just to see her stunned reaction. He hadn\u2019t even shown his necklace to his adopted family. One didn\u2019t flash around a three-carat diamond. He turned away from her. \u201cIt\u2019s personal, it was my parents\u2019.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s shaped like an eye.\u201d She was still looking at the diamond\u2019s bump under his shirt.
\nWalter hunched forward to hide its shape. \u201cWhy do you like to swim?\u201d
\n\u201cHow do you know I\u2019m a swimmer? Is it the green in my hair?\u201d She tugged on one of her caramel-colored strands draped over her shoulder.
\nHe laughed. \u201cThere\u2019s no green in your hair, just seaweed. I see you at the pool practicing, everyday after school.\u201d
\n\u201cI love the feel of the water, the way that it flows over my skin.\u201d
\nWalter gave a shudder of revulsion.
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t agree with me.\u201d Her lower lip pushed out.
\nWalter shook his head. \u201cI don\u2019t like pools. They\u2019re disgusting.\u201d
\nSienna wrinkled her nose. \u201cDo you swim at all?\u201d
\n\u201cNot anymore.\u201d As soon as the words were out, he regretted them, now she would ask questions. \u201cI\u2019ve never swam in a pool.\u201d He clarified.
\n\u201cWhat about the ocean or a lake?\u201d
\nWalter side-stepped her question, \u201cThere\u2019s no ocean here, in Utah, and I\u2019ve never swam in a lake.\u201d
\n\u201cWould you like to learn how to swim?\u201d
\nWalter ached to say yes, especially if she would be his teacher. \u201cNot really.\u201d
\n\u201cAnytime you change your mind, come to the pool, I\u2019ll teach you for free.\u201d Sienna offered.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not interested.\u201d He was so very interested, but he didn\u2019t know how he would react to pool water. And he couldn\u2019t take off his shirt without revealing the diamond. And he couldn\u2019t take off the diamond without changing back to his true form. And his true form would\u2026 well it would be a problem.
\nShe shrugged. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine not knowing how to swim. It\u2019s your loss.\u201d
\nHe almost groaned out loud. Instead he cleared his throat. \u201cSo what do you think of the Romanovs?”
\nThey had a good start on their history report. Sienna looked at the clock. Walter saw it was nearly nine. \u201cI\u2019ve got to go, I have early morning practice.\u201d She said.
\n\u201cYou swim in the mornings too?\u201d Walter asked.
\n\u201cI swim morning, night and daytime too, during the summer.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019ll see you tomorrow then.\u201d
\n\u201cLater.\u201d<\/p>\n