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That night, Scarlett texted me to ask if I would meet her at Scoops. I had three hours before I was supposed to meet Tyler, so I agreed to go.
When I arrived at Scoops, I saw them—the four of them—sitting in a booth, and I realized that I wasn’t only meeting my sister. I was meeting Angelica, Gabby, and Jasmine, too.
“I still wonder why we can eat ice cream,” I heard Jasmine say as I sat down in the booth next to Scarlett and Gabby. She shoveled a pile of mint chocolate chip into her mouth. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Just one of life’s little mysteries, I guess,” Angelica replied with a shrug. She flashed a tight smile at me. “It’s nice of you to join us, Felicia. I have something I need to talk to you about.”
“Okay,” I replied, guessing that it had something to do with the person who had drowned. She probably thought that I was responsible for the death and wanted to lecture me about being honest with her.
“I need you to bring a date to my wedding,” Angelica said. When I stared back at her, confusedly, she explained, “Scarlett and Jasmine both refuse to bring a date, since, well, they refuse to go out with anyone. They don’t want to put lives at risk. Gabby doesn’t really have anyone to invite. It’s going to look strange to our many guests if none of my family or friends bring a date, so you’ll have to be the one to do it.”
“Okay, I’ll bring someone,” I replied with a smile.
“Oh, my God,” Jasmine said from across the table, her light brown eyes narrowing at me. “You like this guy.”
“I—I didn’t say I liked anyone,” I stammered over my words.
“You didn’t have to. It’s written all over your face,” Jasmine replied, shaking her head. “You’re falling in love with this Tyler guy.”
“For starters, I’m bringing Jackson to the wedding,” I began, gritting my teeth. “And it’s really none of your business. If I want to be with someone, it’s my priority. It’s none of your concern.”
“No, but it is my concern,” Angelica said from her place next to Jasmine. “Felicia, we talked about this already. No dating.”
“I’m not dating,” I replied.
“No falling in love,” she rephrased her statement. “It’s just not healthy.”
“And like what you’re doing is?” I scoffed at her. “This wedding is such a joke. You don’t even love him.”
Angelica stared back at me, a hurt expression in her eyes. “Felicia, we already talked about this. It’s about security.”
“I don’t care. It’s your fault that I’m like this. You can’t tell me how to live my life, too,” I replied, glaring at her. “I’ll bring someone to the wedding as a favor to you, but don’t you tell me what I can and can’t do. If you do, I can easily just cut you out of my life.”
Angelica started to say something when I stood up and flounced out of the ice cream parlor. Once I was outside, I began walking to the lighthouse. I had to dip my toes in the water to release some tension before I saw Tyler. Otherwise, I knew I would have stayed stressed.
When I got there, a light was already on in the lighthouse. I decided that maybe that was why Tyler had wanted to meet me here; it was a convenient place because he was already here for some reason.
I took off my shoes and laid my things down on a rock so that they wouldn’t get wet, but before I could leap into the water like I’d been planning to, a whispery voice called out to me. Felicia. Sing for me.
The song that escaped from my throat drifted all around me; I was entranced by the water, and I sang my heart out for it.
Everything started to go foggy as I leapt off the cliff that overlooked the water; it was like a cloud was covering my eyes. The only thing I could see was the light that shone from the lighthouse.
Once I was in the water, allowing the salt to soak into my skin, I began to sing louder and clearer. Any thoughts that I may have had were pushed to the back of my mind as I fell victim to the trance that held me hostage.
Sing louder, Felicia. It is your place to sing, the voice encouraged me. My voice adjusted itself so that the beautiful melody grew louder. As I dove under the water, I could hear my own voice echoing from all around me.
When I rose to the surface, I looked up at the sky, singing at the top of my lungs. As I looked back at the lighthouse, I thought I noticed a figure standing at the edge, but my eyes were too foggy. I couldn’t see who it was.
I tried to stop singing, but I knew that it was impossible. The harder I fought it, the louder the song came out. I began shaking in every direction, trying to kick free from whatever it was that was forcing me to sing.
I could have sworn that I heard someone call my name, just as I heard the whispery voice say again, Felicia, you mustn’t stop singing. It is your purpose.
And that’s when I felt the water breaking as someone leapt into it. I panicked, but it didn’t stop the song from drifting out of me and echoing throughout the water. I sang clearly, my voice never faltering, as I felt the person moving closer to me. I dove under the water, and the fog covered my eyes.
*
When I woke up on the rocks lying next to Tyler, I felt my eyes immediately fill up with tears. I remembered luring someone, but everything had gone black after I’d gone under water.
Unsure of what to do, I panicked. I knelt on the ground next to him, shaking him. “Tyler? Tyler, wake up.”
When he didn’t budge, I felt the tears stream down my cheeks more quickly. “Tyler,” I whimpered, wrapping my arm around his waist. He was soaking wet. The worst thing that ever could have happened did; my worst nightmare had come true. I’d killed someone I cared about.
And then I reached for his wrist and felt for a pulse. There was one. He was still alive.
I pulled my cell phone out of my bag and dialed 911. I went through the motions of reporting that someone was hurt and telling the operator where we were, but the whole time, my mind was focused on one thing; a mortal had crossed my path without being affected by my song.