A Merman's Tail

Chapter 14

Could I just go and knock on the front door and say, 'Surprise!'?  I really didn't think I could.  Scott and I hadn't seen each other in quite some time.  OK yes I'll admit to keeping tabs on him, but bird cries and garbled messages from crustaceans aside, they hadn't prepared me for an up close and personal view of the boy I had been dreaming about and idolizing from afar.  He was so tall.  He had filled out in all the right places and those shoulders... yum.

I looked down at myself in the growing light and thought that even if he remembered me, would the memory be better than the disappointment that the 'me with legs' would be?  Should I just go back in the water and go home?  I sighed before Fizz shoved me in the shoulder.  "Go!" he said with a smile.  "You'll never know if you don't try." 

So I gathered my courage and the too big clothes that Fizz had provided me into my chest with my shaky hands and walked up to the door.  I stood there for a minute, looking at the wood, wondering what I would say to him.  My first thought was 'long time no see' which while accurate for him, definitely had different connotations for me now that I had seen him walking around the living room without the benefit of clothing.  I swallowed past the lump in my throat and knocked.

Immediately I began to breathe really quickly and turned to run, when the door opened behind me.

"Yes?" He said behind me.

I turned to look up at that face that had changed so much since our last summer together.  I shoved my bangs out of my eyes and smiled up at him.

"Mitch?" Came the stunned query.

"Still haven't grown any eyebrows I see!" I said with a grin. 

He burst out laughing and pulled me in towards his chest, wrapping those long arms around me and spinning me around on the stoop.  His eyes lit up and his face broke into an all-out smile.  His arms tightened around me and he buried his face in my neck as he came to a stop, before slowly letting me slide to reach the ground with my toes.  He shook his head at me and answered with a breathy "No." Before pulling me inside and beginning a question barrage.

"How did you find me?"

"Where have you been all this time?"

"You got taller!  Damn you're gorgeous!"

"Do your parents know where you are?"

"How long can you stay?"

Then the realization kicked in and he took a step back before truly taking all of me in.

"How... wait, you're walking... how do you have legs Mitch?"

I stood in front of him and twirled.  "What do you think?" I asked with a serious expression.  "Do I look human?"

"Human... you're gorgeous.  How can you think otherwise?  You're absolutely stunning.  I'm not even kidding." He said passionately and stood in front of me again.  He clasped my hands in his and made me look at him.  "What aren't you telling me?" He asked.

He always was too intuitive. 

"I only have 6 months.  Dad took part of my year with my education into ruling the Community.  I didn't realise until now that he was grooming me for leadership.  I guess Rip and Reef don't want to rule.  But he also said he thought I was the one he least expected to return."  I shook my head; at that point in time I thought I would miss my family but not much of the rest of the underwater world.  Not when there was so much to see and do on land.

"So, six months to decide if you're going to stay human or return to the sea as a mermaid, um boy?" Scott asked.

At my nod, he grabbed a cup with a lid that was steaming, some metal things on a ring (keys I think Fizz had called them) and something that looked like a bowl with an extra wide lip and dragged me out of the house to the car.

I laughed and said, "Where are we going?"

"Playing hookey." Scott said laughing.  "Let's go get you something decent to wear and then I'm taking you for waffles."

Hookey?  Waffles?  Ooh new clothes.  Yes please!