The Golden Mermaid

𝒕𝒆𝒏

I spent the next three days watching the necklace like my life depended on it. I only moved from my bed, the couch, or the kitchen. After the stale stench became too much to bare, I finally cleaned up the throw up that had imbedded into my carpet. Even with almost half a bottle of Febreeze, it still left an odor. I'd have to ask Claire if I could borrow her mom's carpet cleaner.

But of course Claire hasn't messaged me since what went down at the restaurant, and I have no intentions of calling her and causing anymore drama in my life.

Hummingbirds zoom past the kitchen window, perching on the feeder for a few seconds before flying off. Dad usually fills it up with sugar water every few days, but since he's been gone the birds have been frantically circling around the house waiting.

For most of the day I sit on the couch, the tv droning on in the background as I stare at the necklace dangling around my neck. I wish I could will it to light and take me to my parents, but I know I can't. If I could I would have saved my dad already. I reach into the cushions to check his phone. I texted his boss yesterday to say there was a family emergency and he would be back to work once everything was settled.

I guess it's half true.

A knock on the door startles me. Who could it be? Maybe one of Dad's coworkers checking on him. If so, I'm totally screwed.

I make my way to the door, my guard up as I try to come up with a believable lie. When it creeks opened I'm surprised to see a mound of black hair. "...Rue?"

I'd thought about her a lot since the incident with her and Ollie. It all made sense now—how I'd never seen her in the water, and the fact that her father was never in the picture. Looking into her eyes now and seeing the slight difference—the way one is brighter than the other and sparkles with something somewhat magical.

She pulls her hair out of her face, little beams of sweat on her forehead glistening in the sun. "I just walked the whole way here. Let me in,"

"Uh, yeah, okay come in." I say in bewilderment. She kicks off her shoes and makes her way to the kitchen bar, making herself completely at home. "Do you want some water?" I ask, following behind her.

"Yeah, yeah, I think I might just to pass out. It's hot as balls out there." She huffs, sitting now on one of the stools and spinning slightly. "Oh, a spinny chair." Her hair moves like a tornado as she works around.

I grab a cup from the sink, washing it out before filling it with ice and water from the fridge. "Here,"

She gulps it down in a heart beat before looking up at me seriously. "Ollie is real messed up. Things people can't understand really wig them out, especially things like... us. That's why my mom offed herself. She couldn't handle it."

It takes me a moment to digest all that she's said so nonchalantly.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not gonna sit here and tip toe around it like Ollie and his parents do."

"Look, I'm so sorry... about everything. I had no idea that I could do anything like that. I—"

"Do you know who you are?" She interrupts me, her piercing eyes digging into my own.

"Um," I look around the room frantically searching for an answer.

She clicks her fingernails on the table. "Look, I'm just trying to help. This is wildly out of character for me, I know, but this is serious. Let's just cut to the chase here—I know what you are and you know what I am. But do you who you are?"

I think back to the how the witch, my mother, and Rue had reacted to my tail, freaking out at the fact that it was gold. The witch had called me the savior of the seas before. "I think I might have a gist, but that's not me. I can't—"