Mermaids

The Shells?

NO WAY. I SWORE I WAS ALONE. This meant that I didn't have to live in total secrecy. This was incredible!

Before I'd really had time to process what was going on, I was enveloped in a warm hug. I felt his bony frame, but I was taken aback. He abruptly ended the hug, and gestured to meet back in the cave.

Oh well, my parents could wait. I swam back to the cave shore, and scooted myself onto the sand. I dried off, and Ryan had too. I didn't even know what to say. A good question, really. What do you say when you discover that someone else was half-fish?

I looked over at him. He looked like a different person, his mood totally changed. He looked beyond relieved, in fact.

"So.." I said, an attempt to break the awkwardness.

"I absolutely can't believe it! How is this even possible?" He asked me.

"I don't know, I just..." I started, but the story would have made zero ounces of sense. "What about you?"

"That's for a different time." There was a hint of coldness in his tone, a glimpse of the Ryan that I had previously talked to. An odd mood shift, once again. Then he gave a small smile. "I'll make sure I tell you sometime."

I nodded and looked down at the beige sand.

"Hey, now that we both know, do you wanna come on land and have dinner with my family?" I asked.

"I... can't..." He flicked a few granules of dry sand from hand to hand.

"Why not?" I asked, puzzled.

"I... can't go on land. This is the closest I can get."

Why would that be? I wondered.

"You spend a lot of time thinking to yourself," he commented mildly.

I grinned at him.

"But why can't you go on land?" I brought the subject back to the previous topic.

"I just don't change into a human il there." It was hard for him to say the words.

Did he actually want to be a merman?

Whoa, Holly, whoa. You're getting a little ahead of yourself. There was a strange boy in a strange cave that had the same strange hallucinations. I should have been wary, but I... couldn't. Ryan seemed too innocent and just plain sad to try to pull anything.

If we were in a different situation, I'm sure I'd act differently. But to my thirteen year old brain, I figured I was fine.


I snapped myself back into the conversation. "Why can't you?" I took note of the surrounding area, to see if I could determine the difference between the cave and the land above.

That's it! I ran to the wall and touched one of the smooth, glowing pink shells.

In one motion, I pulled it off of the wall, and handed it to Ryan excitedly. "This should work!" I was practically beaming.

He looked skeptical. "How are we going to try it on land?"

I pursed my lips. "There's a cove I know of that's always empty. We'll try it."

He sat down on a rock. "What if it doesn't work? What if I'm stuck like this? Or what if I suffocate from the air and can't become human?"

I understood his point of view. I was afraid of anything, speaking up, trying new things. "We have to try. You're obviously afraid of staying underwater more." My eyes widened. I didn't mean to say that!

He shrugged. "Let's go."

I pumped my fist in the air in excitement, then ran to the water and dived in. He followed. After we transformed, I led the way to the cove on shore. I was bursting with excitement!

I sped through the water, the gorgeous scenery around me. I looked back at Ryan. The dark-haired boy looked at me, almost beaming with excitement.

When we arrived at the cove, Ryan grabbed hold of the shell hard, and I surfaced.

Ah. Almost forgot, the air was too thin to breathe. Nobody was at the cove, though, so that was good. I submerged again and took a breath. Then I swam and shot out of the water, onto the dry sand.

I transformed, and to my relief, I was wearing my bikini. I scouted the sand for something for Ryan to wear, and luckily I found a towel. Oh thank you, towel gods.

I gestured Ryan to follow. He leapt out of the water, too, and I ran over o give him the towel. He clutched the shell so hard, I was surprised that his knuckles didn't break. Nothing happened for a few minutes. I was worried that he would suffocate. Should I put him back in the water? Just then, the shell glowed an even brighter shade of pink.

And it worked!! He quickly grabbed hold of the towel and wrapped it around his waist.

By the way he was smiling, I could tell that I had practically made his life. He stood up and hugged me really tight.

This time, I hugged back.



It was barely dark when we arrived home. We snuck in, and I dug through my closet in hopes of finding some suitable clothing. I found a plain t-shirt and some khaki pants. My parents were still out, luckily enough.

It was hilarious to see Ryan up here, gawking at all the stuff that couldn't have been brought underwater: bed sheets, wood, glasses, and most of all, bread. I gave him some, and he looked at me expectantly, while meanwhile squishing the bread.

"Eat it!" I said, laughing at the wonder in his eyes. Now that we weren't underwater, he was like a different person, so much happier. He actually reminded me of a thirteen year old kid!

Speaking of which, I checked my phone. A couple unread messages were there that I quickly clicked on. The first one was from my parents, asking if I wanted to eat out for dinner. I said yeah, and asked if I could bring a friend.

The other was from Carly, asking if I wanted to go to a movie the next day. 'Sure!' I typed. 'Can I bring my friend along?'

Just then, the door opened. Ryan jumped, looking terrified. "Relax," I laughed. "It's just my parents."

"Hello?" My mom called.

"Hi!" I shouted, then ran out to greet them. Ryan followed, standing awkwardly in the corner. I saw Kayla first and hugged her. "How was camp?" I asked and she grinned her little toothless smile.

"Oh, this must be Ryan!" My dad said, reaching his hand out to shake it. Ryan was perplexed, so he just stared at it.

"Dad, Ryan's from... Canada..." I hoped he wouldn't discover my terrible lie. "They don't shake hands there."

"Yup." Ryan agreed gratefully.

"Okay!" My dad said stepping back and clapping his hands. Which reminded me that I still needed to have a discussion with him. But that could wait. "How about burgers!"

I agreed enthusiastically, and motioned Ryan to do the same. We all loaded up in the car. I made him sit next to me, so I could show him how to use the seat belt. It scared him when he realized he could see out the window. However, he was more surprised when we started to move. He gave me an I-don't-want-to-die-why-are-we-doing-this? look.

I whispered to him, "it's called a car, it how we get places."

When we finally arrived at Burgers Plus, I showed Ryan how to unbuckle and we hopped out. Mom, Dad, and Kayla led the way, and we followed. The line was short and the place was empty, so I used the little time to tell Ryan what to do and order. He couldn't read, which didn't suprise me very much. I saw though, when he was unsure, he gripped his pink shell tighter.

We got our food then sat down at a table, Ryan's eyes watched my hands to see what I'd do. I unwrapped the burger and took a steaming bite.

He copied me, but recoiled when he tasted it. "It's hot!" He whisper-said to me. I laughed.

"So, Ryan, where did you and holly meet?"

He looked and me and grabbed the shell harder. "Uh... We had a project together."

"He's an exchange student," I interjected.

We spent the rest of the meal talking about random things. I thought Ryan was pretty good at absorbing new knowledge, and could lie decently.


Right before we got in the car, my dad pulled me aside. "Doesn't he remind you of someone?"

I nodded. "Crazy, right?"

Kayla hopped out of the car. "Is something wrong?"

"No, sweetie, we'll be in in a second." He smiled as she hopped back in the car.

"Is something going on?" He asked suspiciously. One look, and I knew he knew.

Everything.

**

Hey people! Bad chapter :/

But... Is anyone excited to hear Ryan's story in the next chappie?

So I know there are some people reading this? If possible, may I pretty please have 3 votes before the next chapter? :) sorry guys.

Please vote, comment or even fan? :D

I really really really REALLY appreciate anyone who has taken even ten seconds out of their life to read my story. Thank you very, very much!

Rae <3