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dusk.” She tapped her hand on mine in a reassuring way.
    We both jumped. The zing that passed through us was short, but strong. It was like a static shock, and the tingling that had been flickering through my arm before was gone. I looked at her now pale face.
    “Was that static?” I asked, looking from her hand to mine.
    “Yeah, ouch. I gotta go… I’m not feeling too well.” She turned to the teacher. “Miss, I feel sick. Can I be excused?”
    “Of course, Áine,” she replied, and Áine fled the room.
    She hadn’t sat next to me in art since then, but Caitlin told me not to worry about it, that Áine was, after all, a DeRís, and oddness was to be expected.
    My Adam drought came to an abrupt end the first day of our sailing course. While most students were excited that they would be getting out of gym for five weeks, I was dreading it. Boats, water—ugh! The only thing keeping me from dropping out of the whole charade was the thought of seeing Adam, being close to him.
    When school broke for lunch, people who were signed up for the sailing course were allowed to go home to get their gear. Once home, I changed, grabbed the bag containing my new wet suit (yeah, attractive! But a must with the freezing Irish waters), and set off to the marina. Now that I was so close to seeing Adam, my body was fizzing with excitement. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves, but it didn’t really work.
    Caitlin and Jennifer were waiting for me at the club.
    “Hurry, Meg. Dump your bag,” Caitlin said, pointing at the clubhouse.
    Jennifer looked at her nails, oozing a lack of interest. “Yeah, Meg, come on; let’s get this over with.” She flicked her blond hair over her shoulder. The appeal of the hair flick was lost with the very unflattering gray-and-pink wet suit. I suppressed a smile.
    “I’ll be right there,” I called, running up the steps. I glanced back at them and ran slap into Adam’s hard chest at the door. Winded by the collision and teetering on the edge of the step, I grasped in vain at the handrail. He put out his arms behind me and caught me before I fell, pressing me against his solid body. He looked down at me with an inquisitive glance, and I tilted my head toward his face, then jumped back from him, realizing I had paused a second too long, giving away far too much. Get out of here quick , I thought to myself, and ran for the locker room. I poured myself into the wet suit, then dashed back down to Caitlin and Jennifer. They were chatting in excited voices with Darren and Killian. Nausea washed over me. I wasn’t sure whether it was the impending sailing or my run-in with Adam, but I could feel the bile stir in my stomach.
    Caitlin and I paired up and we were assigned a tiny two-person boat. We were instructed to drag the boats, which were on little wheels, down the slipway and into the water.
    I can’t believe I signed up for this . What was I thinking? We started walking down the concrete slipway. The water lapped up at us halfway down. Green slime and seaweed swirled around my feet. My stomach churned uneasily. I needed to get out of here. I was looking around for a private place to puke when Killian came up to me and put his hand under my elbow.
    “Jeez, Megan, you okay? You look like you’re about to hurl.”
    Caitlin turned from the front of the boat at the sound of Killian’s voice. “You do look awful. Do you need to sit this out?”
    Killian put his arm around me. “Come on; I’ll help you back up to the club.”
    At that moment Adam walked down among us all and stopped at the end of the slipway. I shook my head back and forth; I had to snap out of it.
    “No, Killian, thanks. I’ll be fine.” I felt myself cool almost instantly. Then the prickling started working its way through my body. The sensation no longer startled me. In fact, I found it soothing today. I could feel my stomach settling and my color returning to normal.
    “Only if you’re sure,” Killian said in a