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My eyes open to a white popcorn ceiling. My head has an awe-inspiring hangover. I haven't had a hangover in a year—not since I stopped drinking. I squint. I don't remember getting in bed last night. I don't even remember leaving that mansion. The last thing I recall is pulling up to it last night.

    After dressing and showering for school, I enter the kitchen and plop down on the nearest seat at the table.

    "Morning, sunshine." Tongs in hand, Mom pulls a waffle from the toaster. She drops it down onto a plate with two others.

    I mumble something unintelligible in response while massaging my head.

    "How was the class?" She adds syrup to the side of plate and sets it in front of me. Some of it runs off the side of the plate, dripping onto the table.

    "Good." I bite off a piece of waffle. I don't want to tell her I can't remember, or she'll think I actually do have a hangover. That or think I was drugged. She for sure couldn't stand the thought of me drinking—not after Dad was killed by a drunk driver; the reason I quit drinking. "Do you remember what time it was when I got home?"

    Mom pulls down a blue and pink tinted glass and fills it with orange juice. She wrinkles up her face. "I stayed up waiting for you, but I can't remember. You didn't go out with your friends after class, right?"

    "No, of course not."

    She takes a long sip of her juice, staring me down. "Good."

    Great. I've unleashed the one thing no one should ever set free—a mom's suspicions.

******

    I miss the football for the fifth time. As I jog across the field to retrieve it, Reed runs to catch up with me.

    "What's up with you today?" he asks and shakes his head, sweat flying off his hair. Some of the drops land on me. I flick them off.

    "I don't know. It's just...forget it. You don't feel weird? Nothing feels off?"

    He snorts. "Yeah, but I always feel weird."

    Coach Matson blows his whistle. "Five minute water break."

    Chugging back my water bottle, I spot Rose at the top of the bleachers. She lifts her hand to say hi. She can explain how I got home last night, at least what time I left. I climb up the steps and take a seat two rows below her.

    She runs a hand through her hair. "You did good last night."

    I open and close the stopper on my bottle. "I can't remember."

    Her smile seems almost forced. "That's probably because you were half asleep. My sisters and I had to drive you boys home. Apparently we worked you boys too hard. I hope you don't mind us using your cars."

    "No, thank you actually. I'm sure that was an inconvenience, huh?"

    Shaking her head, she scratches her cheek. "Not at all. You are coming tonight though?"

    "Yeah. Coach said he'd make us do two hundred burpees every night for the rest of the season. Not that we didn't enjoy the class." I can't even remember if I enjoyed it.

    "You don't have to lie."

    "I'm not."

    She tilts her head to the side, her bright red hair dislodging from behind her ear. She must dye it that unnatural color. Though I have to confess it looks good on her. "You told me two minutes ago that you can't remember doing a good job last night."

    "Right..."

    She stands. "I've got to meet my sisters. I'll see you tonight, Cal."

******

    When the eight of us show up at their front door, we smell pizza.

    The sister at the door grins. "Come on into the kitchen."

    My little sis would die for this kitchen. I don't know what each of the contraptions do, or are called, that line the granite countertops. I do know those are two ovens and two microwaves.     Their coffee machine doesn't look like a coffee machine. Buttons and levers cover it. Looks more like a robot from a sci-fi movie on TV. What happened to having a pot and filter?

On the island are three boxes of pepperoni pizza. Four of the sisters stand around the edges of the kitchen, staring at us. A better word may be glaring. I eat one piece but it takes me a while to consume it. Having four girls conveying the impression that they're judging the way we eat is a little bit intimidating.

    Pulling out my phone to pretend I'm making a call, I step out into the foyer and head upstairs, wondering if I can find Rose.

    "You better do better."

    I freeze thinking it's one of the sisters addressing me.

    "We only have two more nights after this."

    The voices come from behind a door.

    "I didn't know how hard it would be so I didn't put enough effort into the song. Don't worry. I won't make that mistake again."

    "Cal?" Rose.

    I turn feeling like a burglar with a stolen laptop. "I was looking for the bathroom."

    "There are plenty downstairs."

    I scratch the back of my head. "I got caught up in admiring your home."

    She tilts her head to the side. "Thanks." She points behind her. "There's a bathroom in my room."

    The best way to describe her room is dull. Sure it looks expensive but there's nothing to say it isn't a guest bedroom. Even the bathroom isn't personal. I guess I was expecting pink or purple or even light blue. She's my age, idiot. Not two. But there are no photos taped to the walls. No backpack tossed onto a wrinkled bed. Everything is tidy and cold.

    The toilet paper roll only has one square left. I sniff, feeling snot in my nose. Usually I'd just blow it on my sleeve, but Mom would kill me. Since she's the one who does my laundry, I decide to search for another roll. I open up the cabinet expecting it to be a mess. I've seen Mom's. Hers is filled with lotion and...other stuff. But Rose's is empty except for a few dark green towels and on the other end a small tower of toilet paper.

    Poking out from underneath the bottom towel is a black frame. I pull it out, careful not to disturb the towels. Inside the frame a Chinese family of four, smiles at me. Definitely not Rose's family. It's in all likelihood that it's the generic photo that always comes in frames. Though there are no labels on the photo declaring a company. I unlatch the back and find the photo is an actual photograph, not just a thin piece of paper inserted inside. The date on the back indicates it was taken five months ago. The photo could be of the last family that lived here, and they simply forgot to pack it.

    I hurry up and finish in here. Walking out, I find Rose seated on her bed, her legs curled underneath her. She pats the spot beside her.

    As I'm sitting down I say, "Sorry, I was looking for toilet paper."

    "I didn't realize—"

    "I was taking a dump." What on this sad earth did I just say to a pretty girl?

    Her mouth falls open and her face reddens. That should be how I look and most definitely is.

    Technically, what I told her is a lie, and it just came out. I didn't want her to think I was taking so much time because I was snooping, but couldn't I have gone with something else other than pooping? I rub the back of my head.

    "I will never understand you boys." She reaches her hand out toward me, her fingers brushing my collarbone as she lifts the metal cross around my neck. "What's this?"

    "My mom gave it to me when I was baptized."

    She smiles, letting the necklace fall back against me softly. "Ahh... the Waters of Life. That's always sounded appealing to me. Tell me, have you heard of the Waters of Death?"

    "You mean like the Devil?"

    Her hand brushes the comforter between us, smoothing it out. "Not exactly. Some say it's the Bermuda Triangle. I say it's anywhere there's an open body of water."

    "I'm not following."

    Her smile appears and vanishes within a second. "You aren't supposed to." She glances out her window that has the curtains pulled back. "We should head down. We'll start class soon."

    I stand, the mattress creaking. "I honestly can't remember anything."

    She laughs, walking to her dresser. "Do you need me to show you?" Using the dresser for balance, she turns out her feet and bends her knees, her hand and arm following her down. "Plié, remember?" She rises and bends her back so she touches her toes, her knees remaining stiff as a barre. "Port de bras. Any of this rings a bell?"

    The moves definitely look familiar, and I know I've heard plié before but not pore the bras. "Right, I remember now. Long day."

    She nods, raising her eyebrows. "Let's go then."

    I follow her outside where her sisters and my team already wait. Each of the boys stands in front one of the girls. Four of the sisters stand off to the side. Did they not join us last night?

    A hand grasps mine, and I look down at Rose holding my hand. "I guess we're late," she says as she pulls me into line and takes my other hand.

    The girls begin to hum. I guess they don't have a sound system out here.

    Rose steps forward and steps back.

    I don't budge. "This isn't ballet."

    She smiles. "Isn't it?"

    She and her sisters begin singing, their voices so...so calming. "Maybe a deal was struck long ago between the song fish and the celestial body. A deal that allowed the moon to listen without endangerment."

    She runs her hand up my arm, her fingernails grazing my skin.

    "Has not the moon controlled the sea and its creatures since that long ago time when they both were born? Perhaps the moon turns saffron when it's weak."

    Her eyes shine blue in the darkness, drawing in my attention.

    "Maybe the song gives life to the moon. Maybe the moon needs life to go on."

    I faintly hear grass crunching. I step toward her as she steps toward me. I twirl her.

    "Singing blew on the wind that night, sweeping into the town and into homes. The people came and the people left. Not a tear was shed that night. Not a tear raised the ocean by a drop."

    Screaming.

    I jerk away from Rose, my head darting about. She reaches for me, but I avoid her touch. I count three of my team members. Four are missing. In the ocean water splashes. An arm shoots out of the water before disappearing.

    "Rose?" I look at her, my heart pounding.

    She tries to grasp my hands, but I yank them away, backing toward the fence.

    The sisters off to the side yell at the four that are still with us.

    "Why can't we just kill them now?" the sister next to Rose shouts back to the ones off to the side.

    Rose takes a single step toward me. "It won't count. We have to fix the mistake we made." Her eyes lock with mine and her mouth opens.