I Shouldn't Love You

Chapter 1: Amity

Luz Noceda stands in front of the glass tank, staring at the beautiful purple tail that lay underneath piles of coral, blades of grass and seaweed. Her hands were pressed up against the glass, leaving fingerprints when she pulls them away.

The water in the glass tank moves the tail around, causing it to gently bump into the things around it, whether it be the coral or a sea horse. Though it never hit anything hard enough to hurt it.

Inside the tank the mermaid lay resting, her eyes closed while her head rests on her hands. She could feel her tail hitting things, even in her sleep. She could hear the conversations going on around her, too. Though she didn't understand anything they were saying. If only she spoke human.

"Fine, fine. I'll keep her for a bit. Just not to long, so hurry with your experiments, will you?" Justin Noceda snaps, turning heel and walking away with large strides.

The scientists mumble among themselves before leaving the room and going upstairs, entering the room places above the glass tank, a loud clanking heard from above.

The mermaids eyes shoot open and she quickly gets up, forgetting she buried herself in the corral. She hits her head, cursing as she swims out of her cave, coming face to face to a new human.

She had short, brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes. She was fairly tall, certainly not short. She was wearing a black suit, finished off with a black tie that matched perfectly with the white undershirt. She was beautiful.

"Eres hermosa..." The girl on the other side mumbles, taking a step closer to the tank, but stops as the mermaid swims backwards, away from her.

"Sorry, sorry." The mermaid swims forward while the human girl takes a step back. Both of them stay a few feet away from the glass tank, but close enough to hear each other.

"What's your name?" The human asks, tilting her head to the side. The mermaid doesn't respond, instead she looks at Luz with curious eyes.

"What?" The mermaid swims closer to the glass, placing her webbed fingers against the cool tank. 

Luz asks, keeping her distance from the mermaid as to not scare her. She'd allow the curious creature to choose their distance herself.

Again, the mermaid doesn't respond, but instead she slowly floats backwards, to her original position.

"Luz, stop talking to the creature. The scientists are performing tests on it now," Justin says, holding his arms out, motioning for Luz to come over to him.

Luz gives the mermaid a small wave and walks over to her father, following him to the door. Justin continues outside, but Luz stops in the doorway, her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Goodbye." Luz's waves again and smiles before closing the door behind herself, leaving the mermaid alone once again.

The mermaid smiles to herself, copying the thing the human did with her hand, waving it back and forth in the water, her smile growing.

'That's so cool!' She exclaims in her head, waving her hand quicker, making a joyful squeak sound as she looks back at the door.

'Human girl. What's your name?'

~

"Father, can I go see the mermaid?" Luz asks, looking at her father pleadingly, a small smile on her face. He sighs and waves her off. "You get 5 minutes."

Luz thanks him and runs off, slowing down as she approaches the glass tank that held the mermaid.

"Hello?" She calls out, peering around the tank with slow steps, looking for the mermaids tail or any sign of her.

"Where are you?" Luz asks, stopping and looking around the room. Had the scientists taken her somewhere else?

Inside the tank the mermaid carefully watches the human, hiding behind the coral and seaweed. What in the Titan was the human saying?

The mermaid swims out of her hiding spot, her arms by her sides until she stops in front of the human on the opposite side of the glass.

"Oh, there you are!" Luz says, waving to the mermaid who excitedly waves back, stopping only when the human does.

"Sorry I was gone for so long, I didn't mean it." Luz says quickly, trying not to make to many hand movements.

She didn't want to scare the mermaid back into hiding, she actually wanted to talk to her and learn more about her.

The mermaid hums and tilts her head to the side, not understanding a word she said.

"Oh. You don't talk much, huh?" Luz sits down in front of the glass, the mermaid quickly swimming away and hiding behind something before realizing Luz isn't a threat.

Luz smiles at her, putting her hand against the glass. The mermaid glances between the two, but eventually does the same, smiling.

"Hm. What should I call you?" Luz uses her other hand to put a finger on her chin, thinking. "Oh! How about Amity?" Luz suggests, moving her hand and looking through the glass once again.

The mermaid tilts her head to the side again, her eyebrows furrowed. "Amity means friendship. If you'd like, that is?" 

'Amity' nods her head, the smile from earlier returning to her face.

Luz stands up and uses her breath to fog up the glass before writing 5 bold letters, sounding them out as she writes them so Amity knows how they sound.

A - M - I - T - Y