H20: Our Story Season 1 1955 {COMPLETE}

Science and scales Episode 2

Julia's p.o.v
I opened Louise's window. The note will have a tiny fish on it, symbolizing me going for a swim. I'm not the best artist, but she and Gracie will get the hint, being that they walk to school together. I close the window and head to Mako Island. I explore the reefs of Mako, touching different corals as I go. I lose track of time and have to run to school.
Louise's p.o.v
Gracie and I arrive at school, textbooks in hand. Julia comes toward us, panting.
"Hey." She looks flushed.
"Where were you?" I ask.
"Out." I give a look of confusion, but she raises her eyebrow, indicating she had been out to Mako yet again. "You should come sometime."
"I would, if I thought my parents weren't watching my every move."
"You're just paranoid."
"I have every right to be. Right, Gracie?"
"I get where you're coming from, but I think you should let you're guard down a little." Gracie says, leaving out the fact she hasn't been to Mako since our... incident. I go when I'm sure my parents are away, which unfortunately, isn't very often. When I point this out to them, they both agree I'm making excuses. "Well, I'm not." I say in response to them. "It'll be just my luck that I go out when they're home and when I come back I'll never hear the end of it. What do I say, as my excuse for being out?"
"I was helping an orphan, I was stopping a fight, I was helping an elderly person with their groceries..." Julia's voice trails off as she lists excuses.
"As much as I want those excuses to work, my parents aren't as gullible as yours."
"Why are you assuming my parents are gullible?"
"They must be, to believe those excuses." My science teacher approaches us.
"Are you excited for the lab experiment today, girls?" She's referring to Gracie and I.
"Remind me what we're doing again."
"Don't tell me you've forgotten. We're seeing the effect water has on a certain amount of materials overtime." All three of us exchange a look. I do my best to respond before it looks like I really have forgotten.
"I'm looking forward to it. We both are, Mrs. Gill." She smiles, turns around to walk down the hallway a little ways before coming back to us.
"And Julia will be joining you as a classmate, though it looks like the three of you are aquatinted." She went down the hallway for good this time.
"At least we'll be together."
"That's not necessarily a good thing." Gracie leans closer. "We could pop tails all at once."
"We're stuck together and there's nothing we can do about it. I didn't even know I had a schedule change until today. I don't even know where my new class is. If I'm not worried, you shouldn't be." We go through our day, and I keep having visions of being splashed and being exposed to my entire class, and then the world. I hoped Gracie was holding up well.
Gracie's p.o.v
I wish Louise were here. She's such a problem solver. I bet she's making an escape plan for us. Though if I'm being honest, she probably hasn't come up with anything because she doesn't want to ruin her perfect attendance.
We're doomed.
Julia's p.o.v
I was as nervous as the both of them. I'd never say it out loud, but I was. Instead I chose to think about the fact that they have powers and I don't. Why don't I get one? What did I do to not get one? Will I ever get one?
The questions race through my mind, and I ask to go to the bathroom to clear my thoughts. I look at myself in the mirror. Me, a mermaid. I close my eyes and listen to the sound of a sink draining.
It's not fair. The remaining water in the sink starts to bubble. I open my eyes. It continues to bubble and steam, and I realize I had clenched my fists in anger. I unclench my fist, and the bubbling and steaming stops.
I turn on the water to fill it again. The water boils with success as I slowly clench my fist, until all the water is gone again. I smile.
Louise's p.o.v
I find Julia in the hallway before class. "It's time."
"Were you asked to walk the plank?" I must have a grave look on my face, because Gracie's look mirrors my worries. "Everything will be fine." She wraps her arms around us and walks us to our doom.
We enter the classroom with a variety of materials on the table, including but not limited to: a paper towel, a sponge, nail polish, and some card stock. All of us are given beakers of water to experiment with the materials. When it's Gracie's turn to pour, her hand started shaking before she barely even lifted the beaker.
"Relax." I tell her. "Breathe. Slow and steady." She inhales and exhales slowly. She then proceeds to pour the water onto the sponge. Two down, ten to go. We finish the last subject, nail polish, with ease. A beaker spills onto Gracie, and she runs. I run after her.
I feel good knowing that she made it to the bathroom safe. I know this because her fin is poking out in the open space. I come in and am about to close it when Julia comes running in.
"Stay back, Louise." She clenches her fist and steam appears. Her legs come back.
"You found your power."
"Yeah, I did. But never mind that now. We need to figure out an excuse for why you were in the bathroom." Suddenly, Gracie starts crying. Her eyes turn red and puffy.
"What's the matter?" I ask.
"I didn't take crying lessons for nothing. I knew they would come in handy someday." We chuckle. She stands, continuing to cry. We enter the classroom.
"Where were you three?"Gracie starts to sniffle, and Mrs. Gills' harsh tone softens. "What's happened, Gracie?" Still, she hasn't stopped crying, so I say, "Susan got water on Gracie's favorite shirt."
"I hadn't meant it!" Says Susan. "I'm sorry."
"It's ok." Gracie says through panting breaths.
The bell rings, and the three of us walk to my house together.
"Gracie, great acting on your part!" She bows. "And Julia, you saved the day! You're a hero!"
"Yeah. I know. This is so cool. What else are we capable of?"
"I'm sure we have plenty of time to figure it out."
"What if we can talk to dolphins? What if we can command them to come to us, like Aquaman!"
I laugh. "I doubt it."
"If we can turn into mermaids overnight, anything's possible."
"I suppose."
"If anything was really possible, we'd be able to turn into mermaids at will."
"Don't you like being a mermaid?" I ask.
"I don't know. I'd like it a lot more if I didn't have to be cautious of every drop of water I see."
"You," Julia points to Gracie, "are such a scaredy-cat. And you," Julia's pointing to me now, "are too scared to leap before you look."
"I agree that's true, but you don't think things through. Face it, we need each other." I look through the window of my house. "My parents aren't home! They won't be home for another thirty minutes, I'd forgotten. Come on!" I dive. We speed swim to Mako.