H2O: A Mermaid Tail

26

"Why are we using the fancy silverware?" Kim asked, looking at a fork before placing it on the table.

"Our guest is a colleague of mine, so I want him to have a good impression of us." Sam said, bustling around and putting the food on the table.

"If you think I'm going to wait hands and foot on some wrinkly old guy, you're so wrong." Kim said, wrinkling her nose. The doorbell rings, and Cleo's dad went over to open it, leading the guy in. I was in the kitchen, so I couldn't see him, only Kim and Cleo. Apparently he was drop dead gorgeous though, because when he introduced himself to Kim, she said nothing. Nothing! Love struck much?

He came into the living room and Cleo saw him. I had to turn away to help Sam with the food, but when I turned back I almost dropped it. Cleo had taken off her glasses and was smiling at him, and him back, but thats not what concerned me. I quickly set the food on the table and turned towards him, peering at his face.

"Do you know Zachary Tate?" I asked, everyone looking at me like I'm crazy. He smiled widely and walked over, sticking out his hand for me to shake.

"Yeah, that's my older brother. I'm Ryan. How do you know him?" I grinned, shaking his soft hand.

"We met in Michigan, he was good friends with me and my brother. I'm Lethia. I usually have red hair, but Luke had an odd day so...." I trailed off and his eyes lit up with recognition.

"Lethia? Wow! I haven't seen you since my brother asked you out at that party." I cringed, thinking about that horribly awkward question that ended with both of us being drenched in water by Lucy, and me running away without even answering. Ryan cringed as well, shuddering slightly.

"Sorry, shouldn't have brought that up. Though, she's actually in jail now, if you want to know." I smiled devilishly, making him laugh. Finally Sam intervened, smiling kindly.

"This is quite the coincidence! Come on, let's eat." We get food and sit on the couches, Kim making googly eyes at Ryan the whole way, and Cleo just barely avoiding doing the same. I do admit, Zach's little brother grew up to be hot. His dark brown hair curled just the right way, and when he smiled I could spot just a trace of a dimple. Plus, young and employed? Yikes, this guy's the whole package, and I think Kim knows it. She smiles and flirts, but his attention is mostly focused on the rest of us, me especially, being an old friend and all.

Well, I say friend. Zach (Ryan's brother) was one of the only people who would talk to me back home, so I ended up spending quite a bit of time with him and Ryan. He was always more of a potential boyfriend than a best friend, since he was in the same grade as me. Ryan and I were close as well, but always in the friend direction. He would always listen to me, and give advice when I needed it. That was in sixth grade, and he was in eighth. Enough reminiscing, this dinner is delicious!

    "So, archeologist then?" I ask, continuing the flow of conversation.

    "Yeah, I love rocks, I've been interested in them for ages." He replied, giving me a brilliant smile. Brilliant? Yikes, my Americanness is slipping away from me. It must stop.

    "Cleo and Lethia have a pretty interesting one for a school project, why don't you take a look at it?" Said Sam. My heart skipped a beat. Crap. I looked at Cleo, who seemed as worried as me.

    "I don't know, it's not that interesting." Cleo said, saving us from disaster.

    "All rocks are interesting. Can I take a look?" Alright, maybe she didn't save us. I went up to get it and brought it down, sitting next to Ryan. He examined it with a look of interest.

    "Sam said it has magnetic properties?" I picked out a pen from the table and tossed it at the rock. It stuck fast, leaving Ryan intrigued. I bet I would have stayed there for another hour or so if my phone hasn't buzzed. I checked my texts and groaned inwardly.

From Luke: I need your help again. Meet home, pronto, and get some hair dye remover for later.

I sigh and get up begrudgingly.

    "Sorry, duty calls. Luke needs help. See you around?" I say to Ryan, and he looks at me hopefully.

    "Yeah." He thinks for a second, then pulls out a card and hands it to me. "It's my number, so we can catch up." I nod and take the card, waving goodbye to the rest of the household. Kim looked at the card jealously, then went back to flirting shamelessly with Ryan.

    I walked out the front door and walked to the nearest store. I buy the hair dye remover and stuff it in my pocket, then swim the rest of the way home.

    My head pops up out of the pool, and Luke is already there, tapping his foot and holding two sets of clothes for me.

    "They wanted to see pictures of the model, and they want to meet you. Like, my sister you. We're going full out quick change act here." I hoist myself out of the water, gratefully accepting the towel he offers.

    "So, how much time do I have for pictures before they get here?" He gives me an apologetic smile.

    "15 minutes." I stand up, dry and tailless.

    "Then let's hurry!" He grins, tossing me the clothes. I yank them on, short shorts and a tight belly top, with lots of gold bracelets and super high heels. I posed in front of green screens, pouting until my face ached. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Crap." I mutter, then run upstairs to un-dye my hair. Luke called to me from downstairs, knowing full well I wasn't ready.

"Lethia! Come meet the guys!" I frantically searched my mind for an excuse.

"Uh, just a moment!" I call, dumping dye remover on to my hair, scrubbing it in. Great excuse, I know. I run to the shower and hop in, scrubbing the stuff into my scalp. My tail appears, and I fall to the floor of the shower with a thump.

    "Ow!" I yelp, my tail bent awkwardly in the small tub.

    I crawl out and dry off, hurrying to my room to change. I pull on a blue dress with a poofy skirt, then check the mirror.

I'm back to being a redhead! Yes! My fiery hair is perfectly dry and straight, falling over my shoulders like a waterfall. I smirk into the mirror, hearing Luke call again.

    "Lethia! Hurry up!" I don't answer, instead I just run to the stairwell and lean over, to give the guys a dramatic first look at my awesomeness.

    "Stop getting your boxers in a twist, I'm here Luke." Standing by the front door, they all turn. The guys mouths drop, and Luke barely contains a grin, flashing me a thumbs up. I go down the stairs, standing in front of them with a hand on my hip.

    "I'm Lethia, if you hadn't already guessed. And you are?"

    "Chris Wells."

    "Fred Humphrey."

    "George Apaldi." I give them all flirty smiles, making them melt in their shoes.

    "Well, nice to meet you all, but I've got to dash. Fred, George, it's a shame you aren't twins, that would have been absolutely awesome. Bye!" I wiggle my fingers and sashay off to the basement. One of the guys wolf whistles, and I flip my hair over my shoulder before closing the basement door. Shuddering in disgust at the forced flirting with them, I run to the pool and dive in, swimming off to Mako to relax for the rest of the day and enjoy my newly returned red hair.

    Boys are nasty sometimes.

    Nuff said.