The Switch

Chapter Eight | Who's Your Little Friend?

I sunk down in my seat, hoping Lydia wouldn't notice me. Dread creeped up my neck, causing a bottomless pit in my stomach. Of course. Of all the places to go in this giant city, she had to come to this ice cream shop. Right now.

Mermaids didn't really go on dates with their targets. Mostly, we hung out at the bars, grabbing the drunk ones, easy prey. No one was stupid enough to interact with the boys longer than they had to, as that drew suspicion to us when they went missing. If Lydia saw me here with Nick, who knew what she would do. I could be banished for good. My breath hitched in my throat and I felt the blood pump in my heart.

"Marina, is everything alright?" Nick asked, concern filling his voice.

I plastered a smile on my face, stealing glances over at Lydia and the two other mermaids that had come in with her, watching them order ice cream. "Yeah of course," I replied easily.

Dread filled my stomach as the girls finished paying for their order and made their way over to the tables. Much to my dismay, they plopped into the booth right behind us. And of course, I was facing our leader.

After a couple beats of awkward silence, Nick reached over and grabbed my hand, which was sitting idly on the table. "Are you sure you're okay, Marina? You look a little pale."

I gave him a genuine smile, thankful for his concern. I squeezed his hand. "I'm sure, Nick. Thanks." He grinned back, and my heart leaped.

Just as I finished speaking, Lydia glanced over at us. Her eyes locked with mine, and they widened ever so slightly. She smiled at me, like a shark baring its teeth at its prey. She excused herself from the other group of mermaids and made her way to our table. The other girls didn't even glance in our direction, too caught up in their own conversation, which, from what I could hear, was about which type of shell was the best bra. Gag.

"Hi, Marina. How are you?" She asked politely, her voice up about two octaves. You could tell the level of how upset Lydia was by how high her voice got. The higher her voice, the more likely you were in deep whale shit. Her eyes settled on Nick, then at our hands, intertwined on the table. 

Our leader's gaze hardened and bored into my eyes. "Who's your little friend?" She said, a smile plastered on her face. Her voice had risen even more. Yikes.

"Hi, Lydia," I squeaked. "This is Nick."

Lydia gave Nick a dazzling smile. "Nice to meet you, Nick. Do you mind if I borrow Marina real quick? It'll just be a second." Her smile looked as fake as the flowers on our table.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Nick stammered, not quite sure what was going on.

"Thanks," Lydia purred. Her hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist in a grip that Poseidon would have been proud of. "Come on, Marina."

I stumbled out of the booth, following helplessly after my leader as she dragged me behind her. I looked back at Nick and smiled apologetically. He just sat there confused, looking like a puppy who didn't know where its ball was. The door jingled again as Lydia stormed outside, almost like it was laughing mockingly at us. As soon as the door swung shut, she turned on me.

"What was that in there?" She said, her words biting and harsh. "Tell me you were not doing what I think you were doing with that boy."

I put my hands out in front of me defensively. "No, Lydia, I swear it was nothing."

The split second the words came out of my mouth, I thought about what I had just said. Was it actually nothing? Or did some part of me want to be with Nick -- and not only to get his blood? I didn't have enough time to think about it though, because Lydia wasn't done.