Fish Out of Water~Short Story

Fish Out of Water

Standing in front of the class and introducing yourself as the new kid had to be a form of torture.
"I'm Dakota, I'm from New Jersey in the US and I like to swim, I guess." stupid I took the empty seat near the back of the class. My gills itched to the point of pain as they opened more. I shifted upright to ease some of the pain in my sides. My shirt hung loosely around me, already two sizes too big but it was still too constricting. I was supposed to be mostly human. I didn't grow gills until six months ago. My skin was always dry but nothing a bit of lotion didn't fix. I prod at the water pouches stuck to my ribs. I had six in my backpack to get me through the day and these were already halfway done for.
"Psst, Dakota." A guy tapped my shoulder from the desk behind me. I glanced at him, his eyes crystal blue in a way that reminded me of my mom's. "he/him." he pointed to himself and then to me "you?"
"They/them." I watched him but he just nodded and gestured to my shirt
"Got enough?"
I twisted around, careful not to lean my side against the chair. "Selkie or mermaid?" I asked.
"Selkie," He chuckled keeping his voice low. "More than half the kids at this school have selkie blood."
"For real?" I glanced at the front to make sure Mr. Doyle wasn't going to call on me but he was still writing out equations.
"Yeah, this is a small town steeped in the old tales." he grinned and watched me for a second
I rolled my eyes tails. "So is it an open thing or more like everyone knows but we don't talk about it thing?"
"The second one." He offered his hand. "I'm Sean by the way." I shook his hand.
"Welcome to our tiny town, are you here to stay or to meet the aquatic side of the family?"
My hands reached for my side. Every single plan I had ruined because my body decided to sprout gills senior year. I could still get a skin.

My gills sucked at the last bit of the water in my last water sack as I walked the five minutes to my house.
"Dakota!" Sean jogged to catch up to me. "What's up?"
"What's up." I dipped my head trying to keep from gasping as I slowed my pace.
"So, you get a skin?" he asked. "I never got one. I'm fast in the water but my gills never came in. I always feel a call though, you know?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I get it."
"Right, you're more selkie than me, huh?" he slapped a hand onto my back.
"I'm only one-third selkie," I admitted.
"No shit?" he asked. "Same. My mom is only half, her mom was a selkie but she found her skin and returned it to her so I don't know my grandma." he pointed to my side. "She doesn't need those though, she got a skin, she locks it up when she's on land and spends a lot of the summer months in the ocean with my brother. He was born as half and half, seal tail and human body but he's fully aquatic."
"You're sharing a lot," I noted.
He shrugged. "I figured if I told you what I knew first you'd be more comfortable telling me stuff."
"Oh..." you dick. "Sorry, that makes sense I'm just not used to talking about it, I guess."
"Late bloomers?" he dropped his eyes to my side again. "Gills just come in?" he asked.
I lift the hem of my shirt so he can see the slits through the clear patch. His eyes widened, his hand already reaching for it. I dropped my shirt to cover them again.
"You got full gills? Both sides, huh?"
"Yeah." I nodded.
He ran a hand up my arm and laughed. "Woah."
"Please don't do that."
"Sorry," he stares at my arm. "Your skin feels kind of like an eel."
"Thanks?" I walked ahead of him.
He quickened his step to catch up to me. My phone rang after a minute and my best friend's name flashed across the screen thank god.
"Emory." I couldn't conceal my smile as her familiar hazel eyes filled my screen, the camera zoomed right up to her face.
"Dakota!" she smiled and moved the phone back so I could see her whole face. "How was it?"
"Um..." I glanced at Sean and turned the phone so she could see. "Met someone new and–"
"You a selkie too?" Sean asked.
Emory went dead silent, I glanced back at the screen to make sure my phone didn't die. "You blew your secret already?" she demanded "It's only been one day. How did you even–"
"I didn't blow anything." I snapped.
"So you told someone you knew for all of five seconds your secret but didn't tell me until a year ago?" she demanded."
"I didn't tell him either,"
"So he just guessed, huh?" She puffed her cheeks out,
Sean snatched my phone. "Hey, Emory, right?"
"Yeah"
"They didn't tell me, it's just pretty common here. I saw the outline of their gill patches through their shirt."
"It's common out there?" Emory asked.
"Selkies live mostly around these waters so there's a lot of kids with selkie blood. Most of them don't develop full gills, especially only being one-third but looks like Dakota is the exception."
"Oh well..." Emory might have tried to look at me but Sean held the phone so it was only at him. "I told them it's probably because of the mermaid in them." Sean's mouth dropped, his eyes going straight to my legs.
"You're part mermaid?" he asked.
I snatched my phone and glared at Emory. "He didn't know that part."
"Oh..." her eyes flicked down then back to mine. "Sorry."
Sean pressed closer to me so that he could see Emory too. "So part Mermaid, part selkie." he shook his head. "What are you doing on land?"
"I was mostly human before–"
"Wait, you're Selkie, Mermaid, and human?"
"My dad is human, my mom is half and half," I explained because why have any secrets. My gills pulled at the water the bag deflating as my skin absorbed it faster and faster with every use.
"I've got to go." I hurry the last few yards to my house and pulled on a locked door. I banged on the door, the pouches pulling against my skin.
"Dakota?" Sean ran up behind me, resting a hand on my back.
"I'm empty." It had never been that bad before. I had always been able to use my lungs but my lungs didn't feel like they were working anymore.
"Empty?" he lifted my shirt and prodded at the pouches. "Crap... um..." he glanced around. "Where are your parents?"
"Does it look like I know!" I snapped gasping for breath or water or anything. My lung shrinking in my chest. My gills scrambled to take in something. I sank to my knees.
"Okay... okay..." he pulled my arm over his shoulders and pulled me away from the door.
"What are you doing?" I grabbed at his arm.
"The ocean is like seven minutes walk, you need seawater, right?" he hauls me down the path as my legs turned to jelly. I held tight to his neck and tried to make my lungs open but I only managed a breath every few steps. My head swam. I reached under my shirt and pulled my pouches off.
"How you doin'?" Sean asked.
"I–"
he stopped and stepped hi front of me. "Get on, this'll be faster." he pulled my arms around him and ran toward the shoreline the beach so close I could already taste the water. Why wasn't that enough? Why did I even need the water all of a sudden? Why couldn't I just be human? Tears pricked my eyes as my gills opened and closed and my lungs gasped at the sporadic breath. My chest burned.
Mom
Tears slipped down as if I could afford to lose more saltwater mom it's happening I was going through the final part of the transition. I would lose my lungs, I'd have to stay in the water.
"Hold on." Sean sprinted full-tilt across the sand and crashed into the ocean. I peeled my shirt away and crawled into the water, the ocean cradling me, the saltwater seeping into my skin. I gasped for breath but not from my lungs, my gills took the water in, and water filtered what I needed and what I didn't I dragged myself deeper into the waves as they lapped over me, beckoning me in, and kicked off my pants. My thighs stuck together as I fully submerged. A cramp dug at my sides as my body became something else. Dragging myself deeper into the water, pain shot through me, a layer of thick skin growing over mine with a flick of my small tail I dove deeper into the water, the feeling of wholeness made my chest ache. I didn't want this. I wanted to go home, I wanted to go to college with Emory and travel and be human.
"Dakota!" Sean's voice reached me and I glanced back. I was already so far from shore I could barely make him out. I turned and flicked my tail soaring back to the shoreline. I stopped just a few feet from the shore and took a breath. The moment of truth. If I could take my skin off. If my gills would close on land and open in water. I inched up the shore. Willing my skin away, calling my legs back. My skin morphed back to its eel-like texture, my skin fell away from me but left a deep purple tail behind.
Sean stared open mouth at me, his eyes glassing over. "You're both..." he panted. "You got both."
I dragged myself back onto the shore, my tail melting back to my legs. I clutched my skin in my hand and took a deep breath filling my lungs with air. It worked.
"I saved you," Sean said. "I saved you you know?"
"Yeah." I flop onto my back my gills sealed tight leaving only faint slits behind. "Thanks, man."
"If you save a selkie you get a wish, I saved you." he dropped to his knees beside me.
"A wish?" I asked letting my head drop to the side.
"Yeah, that's what the legends say. Mermaid ones too. So give me my wish." he grabbed my hand.
"I don't know–"
"I wish to have my own skin." he gripped my hands his eyes resting on my own skin still clutched in my hand. "Yours, a new one, I don't care. I want a skin. please. " tears trickled down his face. "That's my wish, that's what I want, please, Dakota... I just want to see my brother."
Blue light sprouted out of the hand that clutched my skin.
"You're both, you don't need the skin, you don't even want it."
The light traveled throughout my body and I passed the skin to Sean without realizing I was doing it. The same blue light encased him as he pulled the skin on, the light suctioning it to him, he laughed as the skin sealed around him and left a medium-sized seal sitting beside me. Its wide beady eyes seemed to smile at me and every anxiety that had weighed me down lifted as I dropped back onto the sand.
"Dakota!" mom's voice rang out, the sea stilling for her. I glanced up the same hill Sean carried me down and waved. "Dakota!" she knelt beside me, dad right behind her.
"Emory called, she said it was time." her eyes scanned the area around me. "Where's your skin?"
"Not my problem." I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. "I'm not trapped." tears pricked my eyes as she cradled me.
Dad rested a hand on my shoulder. "So... I should get ready to cough up that tuition money huh?" he smiled down at me and laughed. My future opening back up to me. Anything. I could do anything.

Thank you fo reading my story. Since the Becoming You contest I have decided to expand this story releasing on May 22nd that will be posted 3x/week and the first three chapters as well as prologue and mood boards are up now. Chapter 4will be posted on May 23rd beginning the posting schedule of this story. I hope you check out the extended version and enjoy it just as much.
Thanks so much for reading!