Waves of Destiny (Twisted Wonderland)

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Even though it ended up unneeded, we still brought back the photo," I said with a triumphant smile.

"Let me see," said Leona, snatching the photo from Jack. "What's this? It's just some picture of a buncha mermen fingerlings huddled in front of a camera."

Ruggie leaned in to look. "Is it some kinda group photo of an elementary school class? What'd you want it for, anyway?"

Floyd walked around behind them to peer at the photo. "Aha ha, that takes me back! This is a picture from our school field trip."

"Really?" I said. Curious, I moved closer.

"Me 'n Jade are right here."

I spotted the two little eels and could not help but smile. "Aw, how cute."

"Aaand... See the kid sulking way off in the corner? That's baby Azul!"

"What?!" my friends and I cried.

"AAAH!!! No!" Azul shouted. He frantically waved his arms in the air. "Don't look! Please don't look!"

"Well well, Azul," said Jade. "You sure are spirited all of a sudden. Shouldn't you get a little more sleep? Considering how far things have already gone, it would be easier for you to let this one go."

"Let's see here," said Ace. He and everyone else crowed around the photo.

"What's in the corner...?" said Leona.

"Are you talkin' about the octopus who's more rounded than any of the mer-kids, even holding the pic at an angle?" said Ruggie.

"Whoa, Azul!" said Grim. "I never knew you used to look like that!"

"Aw. He's so cute and round," I said. I did not understand the problem. Then I remembered what I had learned when I was inside his mind. How could the other kids have bullied him like that? Children really could be cruel.

"AAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaah!" Azul wailed.

"I... I get it," said Deuce. "I totally get what you're feeling. Everybody's got a past they wish they could erase!" Suddenly, he had a fierce expression. "I saw nothing! Neither did the rest of you, okay?! Never speak of this again!"

Jack looked at him in surprise. "Never pegged you as this, uh... passionate."

"There's more to him than meets the eye," I said.

"Aaargh..." said Azul. "I was going to expand the Mostro Lounge with a branch cafe and simultaneously erase the shame of my boyhood... It was supposed to be the perfect plan! Two birds with one stone!"

"Hey, you know what they say: a rabbit in hand is worth two in the bush," Ruggie said with a shrug.

"I got my schoolmates' yearbooks and the negatives from the photographer... I succeeded in laying claim to every single old photo of me through a whole web of deals... But there just wasn't any legal way to dispose of that one last photo."

"That doesn't mean it's cool to make other people do your dirty work for you!" Grim said, hands on his hips.

"I don't see the big deal, really," said Floyd. "I like the old Azul. He'd make a better meal than the one we've got now." I could not help the laugh that escaped my lips. He said the most random, absurd things.

Azul glared at Floyd. "That's not the point at all!"

"You don't have to be that hung up on hiding it," I said after I regained my composure.