Page 1 of Beyond the Hate

Chapter 1

Paisley – a woman who has no intention of being dragged into her friends’ matchmaking games

Paisley

“This is utterly ridiculous. I'm not doing it.”

“Please, please, please, please,” Chloe begs as she jumps up and down.

“I'm not the singer of the group.”

I nod to Maya who holds up her hands. “I'm not allowed to sing. Mermaid Karaoke is for single ladies.”

I hate to repeat myself but, “Mermaid Karaoke is ridiculous.”

Women dressed up as mermaids – complete with seashell bras – and singing on a stage to attract men is absurd.

“It’s a tradition,” Sophia says.

I purse my lips since she is unfortunately correct. Smuggler’s Hideaway – the island on which we live – is fond of hosting quirky and mystical based events to attract tourists. Based on how crowded theBootleggerbar is, it’s working.

“Come on,” Nova cajoles. “You’re the only single member of our group left.”

Thanks for the reminder. Merely a year ago at this very Mermaid Karaoke festival, all five of us were single.

But then Sophia got together with her brother’s best friend, the boy she’s been in love with forever. Chloe married her neighbor to save his daughter and fell in love. Nova got pregnant with the resort owner’s baby and now they’re engaged. And, finally, Maya is at long last engaged to the man she’s been obsessed with since high school.

A wave of jealousy punches me in the stomach, but I ignore it. I’m happy for Maya. I truly am. It’s not her fault the boy I liked in high school is a Grade A asshole.

“None of you sang Mermaid Karaoke when you were single. In fact, I distinctly remember us avoidingBootleggerand drinking at theRumrunnerbar instead.”

Maya holds up her hand. “I sang Mermaid Karaoke.”

“And you were marvelous.”

I’m not just saying this to give my shy friend a confidence boost. She really was marvelous. Maya can sing. Which is why Chloe dared her to join the choir in high school. Maya was afraid to join even though she loves singing. But no one can resist a dare from Chloe. She won’t let you.

Nova smiles as she motions to the stage. “Why don’t you go be marvelous?”

I snort. “Because the sound of my singing reminds Chloe of fingernails on a chalkboard.”

Chloe cringes. “I didn’t say the sound was bad.”

I hold up my hand. “There’s no reason to backpedal. I’m self aware. I know I can’t sing.”

Sophia leans close to whisper in Chloe’s ear. “Too bad she isn’t self aware about how much she wants to get into Eli’s pants.”

Eli. It always comes back to Eli with this group. This is the problem with having friends you’ve known since you were in diapers. They know all about your past – including secret crushes you’d rather everyone forgot about.

Although, they don’t know my biggest secret. I never did tell them why Eli moved from the ‘crush’ column to the ‘I want nothing to do with him’ column in high school. And I never will. I prefer to avoid humiliation when I can. Thus, my refusal to sing Mermaid Karaoke.

Fortunately for me, I have an ace up my sleeve.

“You do know mermaids aren’t real.”

Chloe gasps and Nova clutches her chest while Maya glares at me. The residents of Smuggler’s Hideaway are big believers in mermaids. There’s even a legend about a mermaid who threw herself off of the cliffs nearMermaid Mystical Gardenswhen her lover drowned.

The legends are good for tourism. They’re also a fallacy.

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