Merfolk on Mars

Chapter 10

Isla walked beside me as we followed the dark brown tiles. Faint perfumes scented the air, drifting in from other hallways with lighter tiles.

The quiet would have normally been relaxing, but not now. I had finally kind of flirted with a guy – and it had been right in front of his girlfriend, who I counted as a casual friend.

Today was clearly not my day.

I cleared my throat nervously. "Uh, do you think we will beat them to the door?"

She was silent for a few moments before replying, "Possibly, but there isn't any real sense in worrying unless we hear the roar of chainsaws."

"I thought those chainsaws were supposed to be silent? Sound travels so well underwater that most machines run silently."

"True. But they get louder if they start cutting anything hard, like a wall or door."

"I forgot about that."

She was quiet once more. The silence grated on me in a fashion that it never had before. Unsaid words hovered in the air, almost as thick as water. I was almost ready to try another lame conversation when she spoke quietly.

"I noticed your eyes linger on Corvus a lot. Now that I think of it, you often went out of your way to watch him, even back in high school. You were always on the attending cheerleading team or cheering on the bleachers."

Oh, dolphin turds, this was going to be a painful discussion. I silently vowed to try and keep it peaceful and avoid hurting her feelings. She had always been so nice to me.

My shoulders slumped as I walked. "Sorry, I'm not sure why I keep staring at him like that. Honest, I won't get between you two."

She looked thoughtful. "Actually, it's pretty normal. Most women want to move up in life, so they pick whatever they see as being successful. He was the lead player on the football team. Kind of like how many books have the girl fall in love with a millionaire, a successful CEO, or even someone like that quadrillionaire who terraformed Mars."

"Is that even a word?"

"I have no idea, but it sounds cool."

She seemed far too chill about this. It was worrying me.

"If you don't mind me saying, you don't seem very upset..." I tentatively ventured.

She shrugged. "He may be my brother, but who he chooses to date is up to him."

I stopped in my tracks and stared at her. "Woah, wait. Sister? You mean, you aren't his girlfriend?"

I had never been so shocked in my life. Even back in school, all the students thought these two were dating. They had never mentioned their parents much, but I never even imagined that they were related.

She grinned at me, clearly delighted by my reaction. "I'm his sister. We just pretended to be together."

"Bu- why?" My tongue tripped over itself, unable to even decided what it wanted to say or ask.

She started walking again. "Because some guys kept trying to flirt with me, and a few of the girls were after Corvus just because he was popular. This way, no one would bother either of us."

"You could have just told those people 'no'."

"True, although that route didn't work so well with a number of the persistent ones. One guy refused to leave me alone and even tried to corner me one day. Corvus had to beat him up to get him to stay away from me. Then we came up with this plan. We still occasionally went on dates with other people on the quiet side. I never found a guy I liked enough for a second date. Neither did he, although the two he did like didn't want to go out with him afterwards."

That startled me. "Why not?"

She laughed quietly before replying, "He is forever asking silly questions or making strange observations. One girl didn't like that. The other one went back to the boyfriend she had broken up with six months before. Besides, most high school relationships never last."

"I can see that, but we have been on Sealantis for almost a year. Why did you keep doing it?"

"Habit, I suppose. Our parents think we are just close siblings, and they encourage that after seeing other peoples' kids fighting like wild animals with their blood kin."

"Wow."

"Yeah. So, feel free to flirt with Corvus or date him. I just ask one thing."

"What is that?" I asked cautiously.

"The next time your cousin comes from Earth to visit, invite me over. I know he doesn't have a girlfriend, but I've never had a good excuse to say hi without looking like a stalker."

A smile spread across my face. "Sure!"

I couldn't believe how well this had turned out! My cousin had just told my mom last week that the last two women he dated had been too self-entitled to settle for his lack of extreme wealth. I was positive that these two would get along great. Isla wouldn't care if he couldn't afford a triple rope necklace and matching bracelet of perfectly round White South Sea pearls.

Even if she seemed pleased that her brother might like me, I still didn't plan on mentioning that I may or may not have stared at Corvus while he napped on the bleachers once. Or maybe a dozen times. Perhaps more. I lost count sometime during junior high.

Isla smiled happily, and I grinned like an idiot, finally able to think about dating Corvus.

A woman entered the hallway ahead. She spotted us and came over. "Are you Lucy and Isla?"

"Yes," I replied cautiously. "Why?"

"Your two friends are by the front desk and worried because you haven't shown up yet."

I blinked in confusion. We may have stopped in the hallway, but it had only been for a few minutes. How had they beat us and had time to worry?

"Oh, sorry about that. I'm not sure how they got there so fast."

"This way, please."

She led us down the same dark brown tiles. As we rounded the next corner, the front lobby desk came into sight. Arai stood beside it, watching on in confusion as Corvus paced back and forth.

When Corvus saw us, he spun towards us and came forward. His eyes went to his sister, almost hopefully. "Did you tell her?"

Isla nodded serenely. "Yes."

Relief flooded his face, and he beamed at his sister. "Thank you!"

I was beginning to suspect my new daydream of dating him was much more likely than I had previously thought.

"How did you get here so fast?" Isla asked. "We weren't gone that long."

Arai glared at Corvus. "I blame him. He made us practically run down the hallway like we were being chased by an invisible enemy intent on strangling us." He blinked and looked between Isla and me before asking her, "What is he talking about? What did you tell Lucy?"

"That Corvus and I are actually siblings," Isla said, like it was common knowledge, "so she can date him if she likes."

He practically dropped his chainsaw. "What? But- How- Wait-" He looked between Corvus and Isla in astonishment.

Corvus ignored him, gazing at me with a smile. I smiled back at him, suddenly somewhat shy now that he had finally noticed me. I hadn't thought I was capable of acting shy, but apparently, I was.

Isla smirked at the two of us before walking over to the rather confused lady behind the counter. "We were told there were masks? I would hate for my family to recognize me while I'm wearing this borrowed set of clothing instead of proper ones."

The woman nodded and passed four pale brown leather masks over the counter. I really hoped no one thought we were trying to rob a bank.

Isla handed one to each of us. "Well, let's get going. The sooner we get home, the better."