Chapter 8: Chapter 7

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I did forget something. My sketchbook was still in aquarium.

Along with a drawing of Tristen.

The one I drew of him sleeping.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. How could I forget?! I internally screamed at myself.

Desperately, I tugged the main entrance door of the aquarium but it remained locked. I peeked in and it was empty of workers.

"HIIII!"

I jumped and turned to a girl's voice behind me. It was the same girl I saw yesterday on the bench who witnessed my breakdown. The girl wore a ripped pair of shorts with boots and a grungy loose tee with her long black hair loose.

She was smiling and waving, she walked from the sun to the shade of the aquarium's building. She pointed at the glass door. "They close on Thursday."

I awkwardly shuffled away from the door. "Oh." I looked at the door, defeated.

"You were here yesterday." The strange girl said. I turned to her. She narrowed her eyes.

I nodded. "Uh... I was. I remembered you too." I waved my hand to the bench she sat yesterday that was on the other side of the parking lot.

Her eyebrows rosed. "You remembered?" She clapped her hands like a cheerleader. "That's fantastic!"

I stepped back cautiously away from her. She didn't even say that sarcastically. She seemed genuinely happy that I remembered her or something. Must be lonely or crazy. Or both. I nodded and answered slowly, maybe she was demented. "Yeah, I remembered I was here. I left something here as well." I looked through the glass door in forlorn for my sketchbook.

Maybe Tristen won't see the drawing? I sighed. Who am I kidding?

The stranger suddenly grabbed my shoulders - or tried to- she grasped my upper arms with her small frame and stared at my neck. "I was right." She said to herself. Then she stared at me in curiosity. "Where did you get that necklace?"

I stilled. "What?"

She let go of me and pointed at my neck like she was accusing me of stealing. "The necklace around your neck?"

I blinked.

She continued when I didn't answer. "Necklace? Known as a jewelry to be worn around neck? A chain of steel? An amulet-"

I raised my hand to stop her. "I got it." I said dryly. "Thanks."

She grinned and bounced on her toes. "Welcome." She leaned forward. "This is the part where you answer my question."

"Uhh..." Her energy was too much for me to handle so early in the morning. "It was a gift."

She sighed. "Did a blonde man give it to you?"

I shook my head. "A girl gave it to me."

She blinked. "Oh I see." She muttered to herself. I looked around me, hoping someone would rescue me from this stranger who seem unstable.

The stranger ran her both of hands through her long, dark lock and tugged. "Ugh! This is so frustrating."  She looks insane. Crazy girl nodded to herself. "Ok. I'll tell you." She looked to me and pointed at my necklace once more. "That necklace is mine."

I paused. "What?" Maybe I heard wrong...

"Mine? Like I owned it? Mine as in it was in my possession. Mine as in -"

I interrupted her. "I got it." I continued. "But that's not poss-"

"Great!" She interrupted then beamed. She bounced closer. "Then you understand that you are going to help me free my boyfriend."

I blinked. "And who is your boyfriend?"

Maybe she was crazy.

"Gale." She stared at me. When I didn't say anything, she continued. "Gale as in the cutest but most annoying man in seven seas. Tall and blonde, has a face to swoon for and a body that you can li-"

"I got it!" I yelled in exasperation.

She clapped her hands once, unfazed by my frustration. "Excellent." Then she rubbed her tummy. "All this talking is making me hungry." She looked around. "Where is your car?"

My eyebrows raised. "Wait, wait, wait." I grabbed her shoulder when she begun walking to my pickup. "You can't just tell me that Gale is your boyfriend and leave it at that!"

"Why?" She narrowed her eyes. "He's taken. So hands off of him, you giant human. That's my man."

I snorted. "You can have hi-" I stopped. She called me human. And in seven seas? I grabbed her hand and brought it to my eye level.

"Ow!" She frowned. "Unhand me, giant woman."

Her hands were not webbed. I let go of her and stepped back. Legs, she was walking on legs. I stared at her in shock. "Y-You're a mermaid." I stammered.

Her eyes shifted nervously, as if looking for an escape. "Uhh..." She grinned hugely and threw her arms in the air. "SURPRISE!"

"H-How?" I asked.

I rapidly blinked in shock.

She's a mermaid.

A mermaid.

A mermaid on land, breathing and standing.

A mermaid with legs. She is able to stand in front me, bounce on her toes. Now she is walking towards me.

A sharp sting flashed across my cheek.

I gasped and grabbed my cheek. I stared at her in shock.

She just slapped me.

I breathed. "What the f-"

"Oh goodie." She clapped her hands once - she really likes to clap - and seemed proud of herself that she just slapped me. "I fixed you right up. You looked a little out of it."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I still couldn't believe that this mermaid just slapped me.

She sighed. "It's what I asked myself everyday." Then she smiled at me. "Well come'on now. I'm sure you have a lot of questions and I'm hungry." Her smile died and she cautiously looked around before she leaned close to me. "There are eyes. It's not safe here."

Goosebumps flashed across my skin under the burning sun. I searched around, there was no one here but I could feel the unease. I nodded as I grabbed my keys out of my pocket.

The stranger gasped with excitement. "Can I drive?"

I scoffed. "Over my dead body."

"Pooh. You're no fun." She pouted.

I stopped the car at a red light while she hummed out of tune to a song that's blasting from the radio. I turned it down and turned to her.

"So how are you human?"

She scoffed. "I'm not human."

I rolled my eyes and clarified. "How do you have legs?" I pointed. "How are you walking?"

She sighed in defeat. "How much do you know?"

"About mers?"

"Yeah."

"I found out that you guys can talk a few days ago and that you cry pearls."

The street light turned green and I proceeded to another red light. I braked.

She nodded. " You're right about the pearls and yep, we can talk. Gale said I am really good at it. Like really good."

I chortled. "I'm beginning to see that."

"But we can walk on land too." She said in a low tone.

"How?"

She leaned forward and looked around. "Come closer."

I leaned forward with my eyes wide.

She whispered. "By giving our souls to the sea witch."

My eyes bugged. "Really?"

She looked at me dead serious.

Wow, I can't believe the movie got it ri-

"Pfffftttt." The stranger laughed. "Your face- Oh, I couldn't resist." She clenched her stomach. I sighed as I continued to drive once the light turned green.

Once she calmed down. The music from the radio played in the background. Just when I thought she wasn't going to answer, I gave up. I braked at yet, another red light.

"We get legs by drying ourselves and mentally shifting ourselves." She answered. "It's really a mental thing and It's not easy. The process can be quite painful and long. Since the shift drains all of our energy, it takes days for us to recover since we fall into a deep sleep - like a coma state."

I think of their bones having to readjust and literally having to grow a pair of legs. I recalled the anatomy poster from the aquarium, their spine is elongated into their tail and their legs is less than one foot from the hip bones - acting as fins. I shivered at the possible pain that they must go through.

Then I think of all the mers at the aquarium. I understand why they couldn't just up and leave their prison. And there's the fact that there's security and humans around the clock. Also, they would be vulnerable if they fell into a coma state, exposing mer with very humans legs. That's a secret they wouldn't want humans to know, thus aquarium was not a good place to shift. So it wasn't simple.

"Green!"

I jumped at her voice and hit the gas, then braked at another red light. I sighed in frustration at all the red lights I was getting. Might as well use this opportunity to ask another question. "So, you gonna tell me your name?"

She fluttered her eyes flirtatiously. "What do you want it to be?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't Pretty Woman me." I smirked, "Or I'll just call you Crazy."

She sighed. "That's what my mother calls me anyway."

I laughed. "I don't find that surprising."

She grinned. "Good, I made you laugh."

I looked over her, startled. I guess have been in a foul mood since yesterday's panic attack. Leaving my sketchbook behind and my initial shock of the strange girl being a mermaid didn't help.

Seems like nothing is going right for me nor the same.

Honk!

I jumped and turned to see the light had turned to green. I stepped on the gas. The girl turned to look at the car behind us and yelled, "Hey! That's rude!"

I hissed. "Hey."  I pulled her back to her seat.

She sat back down and crossed her arms, like a petulant child.

I patted her head. She is so smol. "Now, now." I laughed when she scowled at me. I turned into the parking lot of a diner that was very retro like. "How do you feel about burgers and fries?"

Her face wrinkled. "What are those?"

I stilled. She probably never had them. I think that shocked me more than the fact that she was a mermaid. Just how long has she been on land?

The stranger looked around and then she wiggled in her seat when she realized where we were. "Food?"

"Yep."

With that, she was out the car, slamming the door behind her and I trailed after her.

Yep, we're gonna get along just fine.

The stranger slammed her her empty glass – her fifth chocolate milkshake, I think – down on the table of the booth we're sitting in. "More of your fine beverage, Jeanette!" The girl yelled at the waitress over the counter.

The waitress winked. "Coming right up, hon."

I stared at her third, almost done - burger as she guzzled down the fries. I looked at her small frame.

Jesus, where did she put it? She was like a shark, devouring everything.

"Bodhi."

I shook my head. "What?"

"My name is Bodhi." She pronounced it as Boh-dee.

"Oh, I'm Meredith."

"Meredith?" She laughed. "How fiting."

"How so?"

"Don't you know know what it means?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Protector of the sea."

"Really?" I laughed at the oddity. Seriously? My name means protector of the sea? The sea of which I'm deathly afraid of? "My parents has twisted humor then."

She tilted her head. "How so?"

I shifted nervously, not wanting to dredge up my nightmare – my past. Her dark eyes stared at me with patience. I sighed, looking down at my hands gripping my mug of coffee. "I'm afraid of the ocean."

"Oh." She said quietly "I see."

Silence followed.

"Well, I'm afraid of butterflies."

I barked with laughter. "What?"

"Hey!" She scowled. "It's a serious fear." She lowered her voice. "After I shifted, I woke up near the beach. I found a big fat butterfly on my nose." She widened her arms, indicating that the butterfly is five feet wide. She grimaced. "Staring at me with it's beady eyes and rubbing its hairy body on my nose." She shivered with disgust. "It was rubbing its legs together, like it was preparing to devour me."

I was wheezing.

"Here go, hon." The waitress appeared, setting god knows how many milkshake in front of Bodhi.

Bodhi gasped with excitement. "You are a queen." She slurped the shake through the straw. "Thanks, Jeanette."

Jeanette beamed. "You guys come back anytime and I'll treat you, girls with a free shake." She winked in farewell and walked off to take care of another customer.

Bodhi turned to me, grinning. "Hear that, Meredith?" She cleans her nails on the front her grungy tee, proudly. "I just scored us free milkshakes."

"You sure did." I giggled. "Too bad it's not fries as well." I looked around the partially empty diner. "You're probably their best customer they've had in a long time."

"As long as I get my chocolate shakes." She finishes her shake in record time and cleaned her plate. "Beggars can't be choosers." She sighed and rubbed her tummy happily. "Ah, I think I'm done."

I raise a brow. "You think?"

She gets up and dropped a wad of cash on the table and walked out of the booth.

I stammered at the cash, not expecting her to pay.

And how the heck is a mermaid be packing in human money?

Before I could say anything, she announced. "Let's go to my place." She walked out the dinner and I followed after the crazed milkshake loving mermaid.

I closed the car door behind me as I settled behind the wheel. "Where are we going?"

Bodhi gave me a name of a resort.

My eyes bugged at the resort, famous for being expensive and luxurious. And expensive.

Did I mentioned expensive?

"You're staying there?" My voice raised.

"I know! It's so fancy!" She wriggled with glee, "They restock my mini fridge all the time and have a never ending buffet!"

She is my spirit animal.

I laughed, "I bet you do, you shark."

She playfully stuck her tongue at me. "I'm still a growing girl!"

I snorted. "How old are you anyway?"

"I'm twenty-sexy-one." She blew me a smooch.

I laughed. "Goodness, you're older than I expected."

She gasped with her hand raised on her chest, "I've never been insulted in all my life." She threw the back of her hand to her forehead. "I'm feeling faint."

"Don't frown, Shark. It'll give you wrinkles." I teased.

She poked my ribs.

I yelled. "Hey! I'm driving!" I laughed as I tried to poke her back.

She laughed as she deflect my attack with her hands, her laugh sounding like bells. "How old are you, you big giant?"

I mumbled, "I'm not a giant." I answered her question. "I'm eighteen going on nineteen in a few weeks." I continued. "For your information, I'm not that tall." I patted her hand in condolences. "I don't know if anyone ever told you, but it's just you that is smol."

"Hey!" She raised her nose to sniff proudly. "Expensive things comes in small sizes."

I laughed. "Whatever floats your boat, Shark."

"Giant."

"Shark."

We looked at each other and laughed.

We sombered up and the music continue to thrum distantly. The resort loomed before us.

Bodhi turned to me with a grin as I drove up to the valet. "Now, we have to plan on how to free them from the aquarium." She got out for the valet to park my car.

My eyes bugged after her.

Say what now?

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Model: Satomi Ishihara

Designed by me (Added filter with photoshop and typography with Illustrator)

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