Chapter Text
Maria POV
I wake up and do my daily routine. Get up, brush my teeth in the bathtub, take a shower, dress, and make my lunch. If you find it weird that I brush my teeth in the bathtub, then you're not keeping the secret of being a mermaid. Unfortunately, I turn into a mermaid any time I touch water. I was a human full-time at some point, but that all changed during our freshman year. Adrienne, Julie, Megan, and I were best friends, and one day during the summer of 2019, we went to Devil's Den because I dared everyone to swim in it for 30 minutes. Everything was fine until the full moon rose over us, and bubbles started in the water. We thought we were fine until the morning afterward. That's when every single one of us woke up to the nightmare of a tail and powers. I can still hear them screaming at me, telling me how it's my fault we're this way. I can still our 14-year-old selves ending our 9-year friendship.
Life had gone to shit for me. Living with the guilt of changing our bodies had racked my brain for months on end. During my sophomore year, on the last day before winter break, I skipped my last period and went to some random river. I tied rocks to my feet and jumped into the water hoping to never come out alive. But, unfortunately, my mermaid transformation broke the rope and I slept in the river till the current carried my body to Brady's house. His dog dragged my body to the grass, and that's where I stayed until Brady woke me up. He noticed the rope marks on the feet, called the hospital, and I spent three months in the psychiatric ward in the hospital.
"Miss Venus, I understand that it's the first day of school, but that's no excuse for sleeping through my class," Ms. Pagan says, tapping Maria's desk with a ruler.
"How lucky you are not to be me," I respond, looking at her directly in the eyes.
Everyone knows what I did. Everyone in this stupid town knows I tried to drown myself. Everyone knows I'm a depressed bitch who hates herself more than a person hates bugs in their home.
"Why don't you take a quick bathroom break?" Ms. Pagan rushes, handing me the bathroom pass.
I grab the pass and silently walk out of class. When I get into the bathroom, the three people I never wanted to see again are inside. Adrienne, Julie, and Megan.
"Hi," Adrienne greets, waving hi to me. "How are you doing?"