Sparkling Water - 1. Chapter 1

I was hiding from my bodyguard.

I had a few hours before I needed to be at the arena for costuming. In my opinion, it was far too much effort for a guest performance. But I'd found a parking lot near the arena that turned out to be food truck heaven. Several different street vendors were gathered in a circle around wooden bench tables. As much as I wanted to try something from each of the stalls, I opted for the shortest line and ordered myself a box of loaded nachos.

Without any of my performance ensemble and makeup, I knew I was unrecognizable. A plain gray hoodie and faded blue cargos covered my lithe self from top to bottom. My silver hair was in disarray, and the bags beneath my eyes were haggard, so I was partially relieved that the hood kept all of that under wraps. When my nachos were ready, I rushed over to one of the empty bench tables and dove right in.

"This is the absolute best!" I exclaimed, the words followed by the unmistakable crunch of the tortilla chips.

"Nilus."

Though the tone of the voice was calm and even, I immediately tensed up, whipping my head around until my brown eyes met with blue. "Max, mah man!" I greeted him with a shaky grin.

"You could have sent anyone on an errand to do this," my bodyguard admonished, his pale blue eyes focused so intently on me that I felt my genetic instincts rising. I had my contractual responsibility as a guest performer to fulfill, but damn if a part of me didn't want to give Max a primal chase.

"Sure, and have Dione judge me with her big-ass eyeballs for not sticking to my diet? So much easier to grab some grub on my own."

"Without even me?"

I sent him a guilty glance. "Yeah, but only due to indigestion seeing you so tense guarding my behind all the time," I admitted while opening my arms wide, my voice drifting into sing-song. "Just look at how chill everyone is."

I saw Max tensing up immediately, having spotted something behind me that put him on edge. "Time to go," he warned before lifting me into his arms bridal style and rushing back to his tinted car.

"God damn it, Max," I hissed, feeling embarrassed at being carried off. "Doing these kinds of dramatic things is what'll get us more attention, not my singing a little line or two in public—" I trailed off when I peered over Max's shoulder and saw a few young ladies dragging one another by their elbows while pointing at his back with mouths agape. Crap! Had I accidentally enchanted them?

"You were saying?"

"I got it, I got it," I grumbled as he shoved me into the passenger side, the door closing me in. "Time to head back. What a waste of nachos."

I kept my arms crossed and a surly expression formed on my face as we drove back. I'd only had three bites of those amazing loaded nachos before they were left behind, completely wasted. One of the many things I highly disliked was wasting food. I usually went out of my way to only order what I could handle, leaving nothing behind except whenever we toured in China.

The sudden sound of loud ringing coming from the speakers of the car startled me. When I glanced at the screen, I realized that Max was calling his flipping understudy. Had that guy been following me, too?

"Lei, you shadowed us well," Max said aloud. "Nilus left a box of nachos behind at the southwest table. Please bring that back with you."

After a moment of silence, the man on the other end of the line finally responded. "Will there be anything else?"

"That is all."

"On it, sir," Lei said before ending the call.

The smile that formed on my face was both smug and spoiled. But I couldn't help it. "Thanks," I told Max. "I knew you cared more about me than that jerk."

"You might want to keep those delusions to yourself," he refuted, though the smile that tugged at the edge of his lips spoke otherwise.

"Nope," I countered. "Can't dampen my mood. Actions speak louder than words."

"Oh?" Max taunted. "If only you applied some of those idioms yourself."

"Did you just call me a loud-ass?" I gasped.

"No, but it's nice to know you're self-aware enough to wonder about that."

"If I didn't have a song to perform right now, I'd prove you wrong."

"You mean you can't prove me wrong by doing both?"

As soon as we parked, I stormed right out of the car. "The nerve," I muttered to myself as I walked through the backlot of the arena towards my dressing room.

I opened a bottle of sparkling water and downed it. Within seconds, my white hair and eyebrows became a dark green with bright blue tips. All that aquatic kin needed to amplify their gifts was humidity. But I was too flustered to worry about going a bit over-the-top in my performance by drinking twenty-four ounces of carbonated water.

I wondered if Max had been defending that Lei guy the whole time as I sat down in my makeup chair. I was immediately attacked by Dione with foundation and powder. I had already gotten used to the tall woman rushing over out of seemingly nowhere, fussing over me. She was what I described as a "Managerial Maniac," booking my appearances and taking over my nutrition and costuming. But she was also my cousin, and she could handle all of those roles and more. No mere human could.

"Di, he practically said my words speak louder than my actions!"

"Mm-hmm. Don't talk when I'm doing your lips," Dione scolded as she painted half of my upper lip with a dark teal color and used white on the bottom. She flicked my forehead when I began to pout and took advantage of my indignant face to add a touch of highlighter powder to the edges of my lower eyelids. "It's always the ones we can't enchant that we want to chase the most."

My expression fell to confusion, and Dione shook her head.

"Nil, don't tell me you don't even realize how badly you want Max." When my mouth fell open, she let out a snort of amusement while dusting the tip of my nose with a brush. "Had I known that shocking you was the key to keeping your face still, I'd have done so from the beginning."

"I can't enchant Max?" I questioned aloud. "Of course, I can't." I slapped my forehead, transferring glitter and powder onto my fingertips, prompting Dione to complain about having to cover up my freckles again. "That club-bouncer pose he always does off-stage instead of dancing makes so much sense now."

Dione nodded indulgently. "Yes, and the fact that you want to enchant him means…" she urged while spraying my white hair with water to keep the colors vibrant.

"That means I want him to…" I stammered, trying to sort through my thoughts and feelings. Max had kept me safe for the last five years. He humored me and teased me. Sometimes, he riled me up for no reason. "I want him to…" The image of Max's face came to mind. Despite his large size, the massive guy looked like a mixed human—medium-toned skin, dark hair, and pale blue eyes. I had never bothered asking Max what his lineage was. Did his hair change when exposed to his family's element like mine did? "Does this mean I want him to be a fan of my music—OW!?"

Dione had tugged my hair hard before continuing the style she'd been perfecting. "Nil, you better figure your feelings out before someone else snatches Max from right under your nose."

"Damn, Di," I whined, holding my stinging head, my fingertips tracing a side braid. I understood where she was coming from. In her own way, she was worried about me. But I wasn't ready to face whatever feelings I may or may not have hidden away. Not when I knew Max couldn't even be enchanted.

"Let's get this show started, then."

When I was dressed in my full dramatically-themed performance gear, I stood on the side of the stage until I was announced. The band was made up of handpicked kin, and they were already waiting for me. On the other side of the stage, also hidden behind the curtains, stood Max in his intimidating club-bouncer pose. The sight brought a goofy grin to my face, breaking my persona. For a moment, I saw concern flicker on Max's face, but then it was time. When I walked onto the stage with a dancer's grace, I allowed myself to drift into the zone.

"Upper right. Center left. Not alone, and not bereft."

A mist licked the bottom of the stage as I danced. The musicians behind me and the crowd repeated my chant as I urged them with hand signals. Then, the guitarists began playing the music I composed half a year ago, guided by the rhythm set by the drummer. As the sounds blasted through the speakers, the audience roared. I waited until everyone settled down a bit before I continued to sing.

"The rising heat has the coral beat, makes me feel unhinged right down to my feet," my voice rolled over the crowd like waves. "Creatures far and wide, lost from tide to tide. Will we still abide; will we let them die?"

By that point, I knew that I had the attentive ears of everyone in attendance. Everyone except Dione, my musician kin, and Max. While the audience members swayed and sang along, my bodyguard remained as still as stone. That irked me to my core. Determined to make Max feel something with my music, I poured everything into my singing. My brown eyes began to glow an iridescent green-purple.

"This ain't a new paradigm! Where do they get off fucking with someone else's time?" I saw Max twitch when I sent him a sideways glance. "Why ain't it declared a crime to make them all extinct just to pocket one more dime?"

I held my microphone out to the crowd, and they didn't hesitate to sing back to me. A rueful smile formed on my face at the sound.

"Just look at how chill everyone is!" I exclaimed.

"Just look at how riled everyone is!" I joined them, all our voices singing in unison. "If we're more than one, we can fight this! Deep in an oceanic abyss!"

I gave a dance step as I moved aside for one of my guitarist kin to rock his solo. My gaze met Max's for a moment, and I sent him a wink on impulse, trying to stifle a laugh when I noticed him pointedly looking out at the crowd instead.

"Won't you join me?" I sang while looking directly at Max with my iridescent eyes. "And swim in my sea?"

For a moment, it seemed like he might walk right onto the stage before he caught himself and shook his head. This pleased me to no end. My enchantment had never been strong enough to persuade the massive man to do anything. I could hardly believe what I'd just seen. When the guitar solo was over, I continued to sing, urging the audience to join me every now and then. Max's reactions were small but significant to me, fueling me up and spurring me into giving my best performance yet.

I instilled a sadness into my voice, letting a hint of my real feelings seep through as I sang the closing lines. "...a new paradigm," I breathed out, followed by a small gasp. "Is that a crime?"

A beat of silence was followed by raucous applause. I took a bow, gave my musicians their accolades, and walked right over to my stiff bodyguard. My eyes were still iridescent, my voice charged with enchantment.

"Are my words still bigger than my actions?" I asked him.

Max stomped onto a cable on the ground, and I thought I heard a spark pop somewhere as his eyes began to glow, a startling lightning blue. I wondered if he felt threatened; I'd never seen that variation of his eyes before.

"I don't particularly enjoy being taunted," he responded, his voice charged as well, his dark hair shifting into a shimmering silver hue. "So, settle down."

I felt myself recede so fast that it surprised me. My eyes shifted back to brown, and I didn't even have to look to know that my hair had gone white again. While there was enchantment in Max's voice, the sensation felt different, more compelling than persuading. Was Max part aquatic kin? I couldn't help but imagine what kind of enchantment he would wield if he ever decided to sing for a living.

"Wh-what kin are you?" I questioned, my turmoil bleeding into my voice.

A smug expression formed on Max's face as he placed his hands on his hips and leaned down to whisper into my ear. "Electric."

No wonder I couldn't so much as persuade him to dance! Electric kin were all but immune to aquatic enchantments. If I had been born a terrestrial kin, it would have been a different outcome.

"Guess I'll never be able to make you a fan of my music, then," I mumbled.

"I never said I wasn't one," he replied.

"Are you?" I asked. "I've never seen you singing or playing any of my songs."

"Why listen to recordings when I'm privy to all the live performances?"

I felt something filling me up from deep in my gut, a quivering that reminded me of a bubbling stream. "I've been trying to enchant you for months!" I confessed.

Max nodded, amusement dancing on his face. "I'm aware."

"I don't care if I never get you to dance to my music," I continued. "If you'll just agree to go out with me!"

"How brave of you," he responded. "If I agree, dare I ask where you'd like to go on this first outing?"

The biggest smile formed on my face. "Food truck heaven!"

END