Read Online The Summer of Lost Wishes by Jessa Gabrielle - Free Book Online Page A

girl in a
white long-sleeve shirt with a black leather vest over it. A white
bandana is wrapped over her hair. A black treasure chest logo with
the white words ‘The Dragon’s Jewel’ are scrawled over it in
cursive writing. A red diamond serves as the apostrophe in
Dragon’s.
    “Tickets, please,” she says.
    The man behind her catches my gaze. He’s
about ten feet back, toward the edge of the pier, with a mop and
bucket full of sudsy water. His hair is receding in the front,
drawing out a long but wrinkled forehead. However, he has long
scraggly hair in the back that looks as though it hasn’t been
washed in months. He wears an apron, but I can’t make out the logo
from here, and I don’t want to stare any longer than I already
have.
    I hand the girl the paper stub in my hand.
She rips off the edge of it and hands it back. I drop it into my
bag and keep close to Rooks as we step onto the boat. As promised,
he leads us back to a bench further away from the crowd.
    “Ladies first,” Rooks says, holding out his
arm toward the seat.
    I ease in between the seats and walk down
toward the far end, closest to the railing. I drop my bag onto the
flooring, right between my feet, so my flip-flops can be the
guardians of the lost love letters.
    “Did you see that man on the docks?” I ask,
trying to make sure no one else around us hears me when I
speak.
    Rooks nods. “He’s a local guy. I think he’s
a fisherman, but I don’t know anything about him. Why?” he
asks.
    I shrug, but a chill sweeps over me, and I’m
pretty sure it’s not a breeze off of the water. “No reason,” I lie.
“Just sort of creeped me out.”
    I wonder if I’ll always feel out of place
and a bit paranoid about Coral Sands. I think, in time, I could get
used to this place. I could adapt, since I don’t really have a
choice anyway. I could be in a lot worse places than a town on the
beach. I just wish Mom had maybe chosen another house. I don’t want
the Shark Island stigma to follow me around for the rest of my
life.
    “Don’t let people get to you,” Rooks says.
“The novelty will wear off. Once you’ve been here a year, people
will begin to associate your house with you, not the
Calloways.”
    I like how I don’t have to explain myself,
but he instantly knows where my mind is. Does this make us soul
mates or something? I mean, yeah, we’re young and we just met and
I’m naïve for even going there in my mind, but I like to believe
there’s something about this town that influences young love and
fate. Like Seth and Hanna. But without the death part.
    “Ahoy mateys!” A man’s voice echoes over the
loud speakers.
    A brief overview of the ship’s rules is
given, along with a quick itinerary as to where we’ll be sailing
today. We’ll leave out of Moonlight Harbor, sail through the East
Passageway, and into the Coral Sands Bay, which takes us past
Hollow Cavern and Lighthouse Rock, better known to tourists as
Shark Island.
    I avoid eye contact upon hearing those
words. The ship can’t sail too closely to Shark Island because of
the rocks and its past reputation. Shark nets apparently don’t
change people’s minds about the actual location. It has history,
and that’s all that’s required to scare people away.
    The crew makes their way to the deck, each
dressed in ruffled shirts, leather vests, and cropped pants. They
wear large pirate hats and bandanas. Hector strolls into the crowd,
the feather in his hat swaying in the wind. He stands next to a
‘treasure chest’ filled with prizes for the kids. He looks less
than thrilled to be here.
    Rooks cracks up and looks down at the
flooring of the boat. “I came out here and took this tour three
different times last summer, all by myself, just to get under his
skin,” he says. “Hector hates dressing the part, but this tour pays
a dollar more an hour than the regular glass-bottom boat tour
does.”
    “He’s not going to be weird about me too, is
he?” I ask.
    Rooks