prologue
FOURTEEN YEARS AGO
INDIGO
I’m goingto be pecked to death by a flock of flying rats.
“Get away from me, you disgusting creatures,” I shriek, waving the hand not holding the sandwich I just paid for. That hand is clutched close to my chest, trying to protect my lunch from the screaming birds. There must be at least ten of the things dive-bombing me.
I had to argue with my parents for almost an hour to get them to agree to let me wander the beach alone. If I come home with injuries, they’ll never let me do it again. But I’m fourteen. I’m old enough to walk a beach alone. Especially in a little tourist town like Bar Harbor, Maine.
A shriek tears from my lungs as one of the birds gets a beak-full of my hair and tugs it.
“Hey!” someone shouts, his voice cracking slightly. “Shoo! Leave her alone.”
I risk looking up just in time to see a boy who looks about my age come running down the beach, arms flailing, his dark hair flopping against his forehead. He’s a little taller than me, with dark golden skin that hints at time spent outside and warm, brown eyes. He’s wearing swim trunks, but no shirt, and he’s way more muscular than most of the boys my age.
My face heats. He’s really cute.
“Are you okay?” he asks, panting, once the last seagull flies away with an indignantsquawk. “Those things are relentless.”
Tucking a strand of my dark blonde hair behind my ear, I nod. “Yeah. Thanks.”
“No problem. There’s a spot a little way down the beach that’s safer to eat. There are some trees that line the beach, so you can’t be dive-bombed from all sides.” When he smiles at me, my heart does a little flip. “I can show you, if you want.”
“Oh, uh, sure. That would be nice.”
“I’m Sebastian,” he says, grinning widely at me. The left side of his mouth tips up a little higher than the right.
“Indie.”
“That’s a pretty name.” Sebastian starts walking and I fall in beside him.
“Thanks. It’s actually Indigo, but no one really calls me that.”
“Indigo? That’s different.” He glances over at me and I blush harder.
“Yeah, well, my parents are weird. Theyhadto give me an artsy name. Indigo Rose Bloom.” Such a movie star thing to do. Give your kid a name that is out there enough that they’ll never be able to truly fly under the radar. Which is all I want, really.
Sebastian studies me for a moment before saying, “I think it suits you. A unique name for a unique girl.”
“I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or not.”
He smiles. “It is.”
The sand is warm under my feet as we walk. Almost as warm as my cheeks. I’m walking down a beach alone with a cute boy.
“So, are you here on vacation?”
“The whole summer,” I tell him. “My parents rented a house on the beach. They wanted to get away from the craziness of their jobs for a while. Give me some time to have fun.”
“Really? That’s cool. I live over the bridge in Trenton. My dad is a chef on the island, and I got a summer job this year.”
He looks my age and has a summer job? I can’t imagine spending my summer break working. “Did you want a summer job?”
The cute boy shrugs. “Kinda. I wouldn’t mindnothaving one, but I want to help pay for my hockey gear and the camps my parents signed me up for. It’s pretty expensive.”
I’ve never met a hockey player. I guess it explains the muscles. “You play hockey?”
