Page 59 of Waves
“But I don’t live there. I live here and visit there,” I said as calmly as possible.
Ezra set his utensils down and looked at me, his lips curling into a smile. He never heard me voice how I feel about our living situation, but I felt sure this was the sort of reassurance he wanted yesterday.
“Don’t you smile at him,” Mary scolded. “That’s not cute, that’s bullshit.”
Ezra scowled back at her, quick to come to my defense. “It’s not.”
“Ezra, do you not see how insane this is?” Mary said, her hands becoming animated while she drew a picture for him. “I can overlook you not knowing his astrological sign, but you wouldn’t even tell me his last name.”
“To be fair, I don’t know the answer to either,” I said with a shrug.
Mary’s jaw dropped and stayed that way while she looked from me to Ezra.
Ezra emitted a nervous chuckle, and he took my hand. “You see what I have to deal with? I can’t very well take him to the emergency room when he can’t even fill out the paperwork.”
“Oh, Ezra.” Mary groaned, sinking her head into her hand. “This isn’t right. He could have someone looking for him.”
“But I don’t,” I chimed in.
“And how would you know?” Mary snapped.
I let out a long sigh and turned to Ezra. He was much better at these things than me.
“Should I just tell them?” Ezra’s eyes widened, reminding me of the position I put him in weeks ago. He kept so much from his closest friends just to ensure my safety.
“Tell them what you want, love. They’re your friends.” I picked up my fork while my waffles were still warm. Talking in circles quickly became bothersome when I could be eating.
Ezra shifted in his chair once he met Mary’s gaze. “Okay, so Kai and I—mostly myself, actually—have looked into who he is.”
“Or you could’ve done what any rational person would do and reported him as a missing person,” Mary said.
“He’s not missing,” Ezra argued. “He doesn’t have fugue, or amnesia, either. His memory is fine. He’s just been alone for a really long time.”
Mary rolled her eyes and looked at Eric, who appeared equally unimpressed.
“Hear me out on this.” Ezra tapped his fingers on the tabletop and scrunched his mouth while he thought. “How do you know your name is Mary?”
“Because it is,” she scoffed.
“No, because someone told you that was your name. If your mother and father called you something else, that would be your name now. Not to mention, you have a birth certificate and a license and all kinds of paperwork to verify your identity.”
“And your point, Ezra?” Eric finally asked.
“No one did that for him,” Ezra said while he waved a hand in my direction. “His entire identity is based on what he’s decided for himself, and he’s had almost no contact with anyone before me.”
Mary frowned. “As sad as that is, that’s not normal in the slightest.”
“I know! Nothing about this is normal,” Ezra said with sudden enthusiasm. “Mar, I know he looks normal, but he’s not. He’s a real, live, genuine selkie.”
“Not this again.” Mary lowered her eyes and shook her head while she stabbed at her plate.
Eric squinted at me while his fork hovered above his plate. “You’re a what?”
“A selkie, according to Ezra,” I said.
Mary groaned before she dropped her fork and rubbed her brow. “I don’t know what kind of folie à deux bullshit is going on here, but you are not a selkie, Kai.”
“He is,” Ezra argued more earnestly. “He didn’t know that’s what he’s called until I told him. There aren’t any other selkies in the bay.”