Page 1 of Shift the Tide

CHAPTER 1

Kiera

Even asleep,Kiera couldn’t stop running toward something she might never have. She was barefoot on cheap carpet, swaying to music she couldn’t quite place. Izzy was in front of her, close enough to touch, with a red Solo cup in one hand, her hand resting lightly on Kiera’s hip. The room was crowded, overheated. The music pulsed through the floorboards, but they were still, eyes locked.

When Izzy leaned in, Kiera didn’t flinch. She kissed her back like she’d been waiting for it, like nothing else mattered. It was slow and certain and just a little messy. They smiled into it.

Then the sweetness in the air shifted. The music faded. Something too bright crept in around the edges…

Kiera opened her eyes to the scent of incense curling against her nose, sweet and leathery.

She stared at the ceiling for a long moment, still half-dreaming. Then came the singing. Off-key, far too enthusiastic. Her dad, down in the kitchen, launching into “Here Comes theSun” with the kind of energy usually reserved for toddlers and Broadway auditions.

The pillow muffled her groan as she pulled it over her face.

She stayed like that for a few seconds longer before forcing herself upright. The mirror caught her as she passed: loose t-shirt, yesterday’s mascara, a smudge of dried toothpaste from someone’s small hand on her shoulder. She rubbed at it without much conviction.

Downstairs, the day was already in full swing. Her mom stirred oatmeal on the stove with quiet focus, the incense stick anchored in a mug that saidWorld’s Okayest Mom.Her dad was crouched beside the fridge, balancing on the balls of his feet like he was about to leap into a yoga pose.

“Morning, Sunshine,” he said cheerfully.

“Barely,” Kiera muttered, heading straight for the coffee maker.

Kiera’s mom, ever the devoted herbal tea drinker, gave her a look as she poured herself a generous cup of coffee. “You know, caffeine just adds to your stress levels.”

“So does existing,” Kiera said, taking a deep sip.

Eliza burst in a moment later, crayon drawing in hand, her cheeks pink with excitement. “Mama! I made you something.”

Kiera set down her mug. The paper was an explosion of marker colors, purples and golds, with two figures in the center with dark hair and a glittery crown.

“We’re fairy queens,” Eliza explained proudly.

“Of course we are,” Kiera said, pulling Eliza in for a quick forehead kiss. “And it’sbeautiful.”

Quinn arrived just behind her, dragging a blanket and clutching a scribbled mass of green and black lines.

“I’m a monster truck,” she announced.

Kiera nodded in quiet agreement, giving Quinn’s hair a ruffle. “Well, naturally. I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

They settled at the table. Her dad produced strawberries from the fridge like a magician pulling scarves from a sleeve. Her mom set bowls down with soft clinks and gave Kiera a familiar glance — the kind that meant,What’s your plan today?

Before the question came, Kiera preempted it. “Same as yesterday. Apply for jobs. Wait for the universe to respond.”

“You could call the co-op,” her mom said, not unkindly.

“I could.”

The silence that followed wasn’t hostile. Just familiar.

After breakfast, the girls migrated to the living room and began rearranging couch cushions with single-minded purpose. Their voices rose and overlapped — Eliza demanding structural integrity, Quinn arguing for more aesthetic sparkle. Kiera sipped her coffee and let them build.

She opened her laptop at the dining table, the screen lighting up to the same set of open tabs she’d left the night before: district job boards, a half-filled spreadsheet of application deadlines and dead ends.

Her inbox had two new emails. One was a coupon for a local pizza place. The other was from a charter school she didn’t remember applying to.

She opened it anyway.

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