H2O: A Mermaid Tail

31

It was a couple days later, and I went walking over to Will's. I was nearly to his place when I heard my own name called out from behind me.

"Lethia!" Said Bella, waving. I waved back and grinned at the peppy blonde. She came running up to me, followed more slowly by the not-so-peppy blonde, Rikki. Cleo walked beside her and smiled at me, chatting with Rikki.

"They're talking about final exams, isn't that just the most boring thing you've ever heard?" Bella exclaimed when she reached me, linking her arm in mine. I shrugged lightly.

"I guess so. I've not really thought about it." I replied. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Have I never asked you?" She asked.

"Asked me what?" I responded, confused.

"What you're planning to do after school is over, silly! How important are these finals to your future?"

I sighed and looked off towards Will's house as we grew closer to it, our other friends right behind us.

"I'd love to go into marine biology, but unfortunately that involves a lot of water and I don't think I could get away with it without revealing my tail."

"I believe you'll find away. We girls always do." She said cheerily. I smiled at my best friend and we walked up to Will's house, stopping on the dock to look out at the beautiful sparkling water.

"Lethia, you'll study with me, right?" Cleo asked. I watched the water glimmer up at me. Will walked out of the house and joined in on the watching of the waves.

"It's such a beautiful day." I said, not answering Cleo's question.

"We'll get to studying. Sometime." Bella told Cleo. Will grinned and nodded, then turned towards us.

"Hey, would you guys like to see something really cool?"

We all said our own version of yes and joined him in entering his boathouse. I looked around at the walls and smiled, completely at ease. We followed him to a shop table where he grabbed a leather cord off the table and held it up into the light for us to see. A blue gem shone at the bottom, reflecting gentle blue beams across our faces and his walls.

"It's beautiful." Rikki exclaimed. Will smiled.

"It's the crystal we got from the moon pool." He explained, putting it in his palm and giving us an better look at it. "I copied the design of Bella's necklace if that's alright."

"Yeh, that's fine." Bella said, nonchalant. Rikki looked at the necklace and rolled her eyes, looking at me with a knowing smile.

"So, who's the lucky girl?" She asked. Will held out the necklace to her.

"Actually, you."

Rikki looked at him in surprise.

"Why?" She asked, the usual edge in her voice marred by a happy shock.

"You've been going through a tough time, and I thought maybe it would help to have some reminder of something good in your life." He said with a shrug. Rikki took the necklace and went across the room to the mirror to put it on. I leaned over to Will.

"That was incredibly sweet." I whispered. He smiled and squeezed my shoulder.

"As soon as I get more, I'll make one for you and Cleo." He promised.

* * *

"Will's amazing." I mused as I walked down the beach with the girls after deciding that it was too beautiful of a day to spend studying indoors. Bella laughed at me.

"Well, yeah. He'd have to be to pull you."

"It's just that he's so nice." I continued dreamily.

"He's not bad to look at, either." Rikki said, poking me in the side.

"That doesn't hurt." I said with a laugh, kicking up sand as I walked. We went up a path that led away from the beach, and suddenly Zane was there, approaching us from the side. He looked at Rikki in earnest.

"I've been looking for you." He said to her, his brown eyes flicking across us quickly before settling back on Rikki. We kept walked and he had to move out of our way, but he followed along beside us.

"Yeah, and?" Rikki said.

"Well I just want to talk."

"Zane, just leave it alone, alright?" Rikki said, moving forward. "It's over."

"New necklace." He commented, still following. If he had looked at me, he would have seen the scalding glare I had sent him. Instead, all he saw was Rikki roll her eyes at him.

"Got it from a friend."

"What kind of friend?" He asked, jealousy seeping into his voice.

"You have no right to ask her that. It's none of your business." I said, finally getting him to see my murderous glare.

We all walked away from him, leaving him standing in the hot sun and sand.

* * *

I was running late for afternoon studying at Cleos, and by the time I got there the sun had already gone down. I walked in the front door and Kim ran up to me from the living room where her dad and stepmom sat watching a soccer game.

    "Please say you're here to go to a party. Please bring me with you." She begged. I held up my notebook apologetically and she sighed, slouching dramatically back to the couch. I chuckled and went upstairs, walking into Cleo's room.

    "Cleo, your sister is so— what's going on?"

    The three girls turned towards me, their faces excited. In Rikki and Bella's hands were their necklaces, and the two gems were pulling towards each other like magnets.

    "We don't know. We just found this out." Cleo said, her glasses perched on the crook of her nose as the studied the phenomenon. "What do you think will happen if we let them touch?"

    "Is that a good idea?" Bella asked apprehensively. I shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed, tossing my notebook aside. I was teetering precariously.

    "I think we owe it to ourselves to test it out." I said. The girls nodded, Rikki moves her necklace closer to Bella's. Bella quickly switched the leather cord from her own hand to mine, moving away. I held on, enraptured.

    As they grew closer, they began to glow a vibrant blue. We were awash with the color, and as I glanced around it was like being underwater. Rikki inched her necklace closer. They glowed brighter, and suddenly, they latched together.

   I couldn't look away. Every molecule in my body was locked in to watching it glow. It felt exactly like moonlight. Faintly, I can recall the power going out and Cleo's dad calling her name, but the only thing I can really remember is right off I fell off the edge of the bed, taking Bella's necklace with me. It snapped me out of my trance, and I quickly realized the other girls had all been in the same state. We moved away from the bed, looking around apprehensively. The lights were back on.

    "What was that?" Bella asked, nervous.

    "I have no clue." Cleo answered, more intrigued than anxious.

    Rikki took her necklace and held it out to me.

    "These things are dangerous. Can you give this back to Will and explain what was going on, just in case?"

    I nodded and took the necklace, storing it in my pocket. We looked between ourselves, and I smiled.

    "Girls. We have a mystery to solve."