Chapter Text
Cassie always wanted her bachelorette party to be an experience like no other, and something she would never forget. As her childhood best friend and maid of honor, of course I had to deliver.
The five of us - Cassie, her three other bridesmaids Chloe, Anna, and Katie, and I - flew out to Las Vegas, a classic destination for these kinds of parties. After all, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I had planned a weekend full of strippers, self care, and gambling, in usual bachelorette party style.
The crown jewel of the party that I planned, however, was the surprise I had planned for the last day. Cassie was absolutely obsessed with mermaids as a kid, and I had found that there was a place on the Strip that offered something called “Mermaid for a Day,” a two hour experience where you probably got to put on a mermaid tail, swim around in an aquarium with some fish, and learn about marine life. It may have seemed childish to some, but I thought it was something she would really like.
And like it Cassie did. I announced our last experience, and she and the other girls were absolutely thrilled as we walked up to the large building.
I went to the front desk to talk to the receptionist, “Hi! I have a reservation for today under Emma?”
The man sitting at the desk smiled, “Party of 5? You’re right on time. I have a few waivers for everyone to fill out, then we can head on back and get you started.”
I nodded as I took the clipboards from him, distributing them to everyone in the party. I skimmed though the waiver, it was fairly simple stuff about how the place was not liable for injuries, though it also mentioned lasting effects from the experience, which I thought was a bit odd. I signed it anyways, after all “lasting effects” probably was just a fun way of saying you’d want to come back, or something.
We all handed in our waivers, and the man took us to a well decorated locker room, reminiscent to something we would see at a spa.
“Oh this is so exciting!” Katie spoke as she put her purse in a locker, “I’ve always wanted to try one of these mermaid things!”
Cassie smiled, “I know, right? Me too! Can someone help me unzip my dress?”
I nodded and went to help her unzip, “I hoped you’d like it, I could never forget how much you wanted to play mermaids when we went to the pool as kids. You were obsessed!”
Cassie laughed, pulling her dress off and reaching for a robe, “Of course. Mermaids are the coolest, duh.”
I grinned and went to change into a robe myself, much like the other girls had already done. When we were all decent again, I poked my head out of the room, waving to the receptionist who was waiting outside, “Hey! We’re ready for what’s next.”
The receptionist nodded, once again smiling, “Just sit tight, then. I’ll have someone come in for y’all soon.” And with that, he walked back to his desk.
After a few minutes of excited waiting, a cheerful looking woman in a wetsuit walked in carrying five tablets, “Well! Hello everyone, welcome to Mermaid for a Day! I’m Dawn and I’ll be your guide.” She started handing out one tablet to each of us, “We’re going to start your journey with what I always think is the most fun part: picking out your tails! As you’ll see, we have a wide variety, so just pick what stands out most to you and we’ll get it ready for ya!”
With her cheeriness, she almost reminded me of a dolphin trainer, like what you would see somewhere like sea world. I turned my attention to the screen, where in fact there were quite a few choices in tails, spanning from some mimicking real fish to others that were far more fantastical. I chose one with an orange hue and fancy, flowy looking fins that almost resembled a goldfish. I could almost guess what the other girls would pick- Cassie would want something pink and sparkly and traditionally feminine, while Chloe would probably go with something simple and blue. Anna probably went with a real but obscure fish like a leafy sea dragon, and I would bet money that Katie went with something like an orca, which was a mammal and not a fish.
When we all handed in our tablets, Dawn grinned, “Nice choices, everyone! Just follow me to the next room, and we’ll get those prepared for you in the meantime!”
The woman started out of the room, and we all followed. She took us down a hallway and up a flight of stairs before pushing open a door for us. We were in another room which reminded me somewhat of a rec center, there were tinted windows along the walls a pool took up part of the room, though it looked like the pool expanded under the walls and into the rest of the building. This was probably the tank we would be swimming in.
“It smells like fish.” Chloe scrunched up her nose, “Are we really going to be swimming in that?”
“Oh, calm down Chloe!” Cassie laughed, “There are fish in there, after all. Of course it’s going to smell like fish!”
“What if one of the sharks eats us?” Chloe continued, “I don’t want to lose a limb from this!”
Anna laughed, “Sharks are just like big ol’ puppies. They’re just curious about you. There’s a tiny chance that they’ll actually attack you. Plus, this place is safe, I doubt they’d keep man eating sharks around us.”
I nodded, “Yeah! It’ll be fine. This place had great reviews, Chloe. Plus, you can take a nice long shower afterwards, right?”
Our conversation was interrupted by a young man walking in, carrying a tray of water bottles and labelled pills on plates. He started to hand them out to us.
Dawn clapped her hands together, “Oh, there you are, Ray! Everyone meet Ray, he’s one of our interns here, and he’s going to be helping make sure everything goes perfectly for your experience today!”
Ray gave a small smile and wave.
Dawn cleared her throat, “Now! You’ll see that he has given each of you a pill and a water bottle. I’m sure you all know what comes next. Of course, to make this effective as possible, I would suggest you chug the whole bottle! And of course, sit on the towels we provided, because the changes can come quick! Ray, could you give us ladies some privacy while we get changed?”
Ray nodded and bowed out of the room. He didn’t seem like the most talkative type, but that was okay.
“I thought this was just like, dressing up as mermaids, but you’re going to make us real mermaids?” Katie sounded incredulous.
Dawn chuckled, “Yep! For two hours, at least! Don’t worry, the magic’s completely safe and harmless, otherwise we wouldn’t be in business!”
Weird, but okay. I went to sit on one of the beach towels, and the other girls followed suit, each taking their own towel.
“Cheers?” I cracked open my water bottle and held it out to the other girls.
“Cheers!” The rest of the party spoke in unison, then downed their pills, obediently chugging the full bottle. I did the same, leaning the empty bottle by my side.
“Great! Now that everyone’s down that, I’ll take my leave as well! Just go ahead and get in the tank when you’re ready. See you all on the other side of the wall!” Dawn left as well, leaving the five of us alone.
As soon as Dawn was gone, Cassie undid her robe and let it drop to the ground around her. She then took her hair out of its bun, letting it fall. It looked longer than it did that morning, almost having a shine to it already, “I think I’m feeling something already!”
I could feel it myself, a small pit in my stomach, my legs squeezing together and starting to merge.
The other girls and I followed Cassie’s lead and dropped our robes as well, after all, we were in complete privacy, and it wasn’t like we could take the robes with us into the water.
“I have gills!” I saw Chloe’s hand reach up to her neck, “This feels so weird!”
Katie laughed, “Oh, I’m betting it’s about to get a lot weirder, Chlo.” I could see that Katie’s once blond hair had taken on a new coloration, jet black with a bone white underneath as contrast. I was right, she definitely chose to be an orca.
Anna seemed absolutely taken by herself, fascinated as she stared at her hands, which were slowly becoming webbed.
I looked down at my own hands, and saw that they were following suit. I could feel protrusions down my back and along my forearms, and upon further inspection it looked like I was rapidly developing fins in the area. My legs had fully fused together by then, becoming covered in glimmering orange scales.
I looked to the others once again, and it looked my predictions were correct. I saw Cassie was now sporting the beginnings of a glittering pink tail and hair to match, while Katie’s legs had fused to become something reminiscent of an orca’s body. Chloe had a blue tail that almost echoed an evening gown, her hair had straightened out and become a deep blue to match. Anna was the most odd looking of us all, with her hair having turned green and leaflike protrusions having grown from every part of her, almost making her look like a plant.
As I looked at the four of them, I noticed their breasts had grown larger, or at least appeared to do so. As Cassie moved her hair, I saw that a pink seashell bra had grown from her breasts, looking as if it I was fused to them. I looked at the other girls, and saw a similar bra on Chloe, yet it looked like Anna and Katie’s tails had extended in their own ways to cover their breasts, almost like one of those designer dresses that only covers what’s necessary.
I didn’t feel anything like that develop on myself, though I looked down to check. Even after brushing my now fiery orange and hip length hair off of my chest, I saw nothing but a flattened plane down to my abs, which were oddly well-defined as compared to the others. Something was wrong here.
The other girls didn’t seem to notice, they were just excitedly chattering and showing off their new scales and tails. Cassie was the first to slide herself into the water, followed by the other girls, who dove down without a second thought.
Cassie noticed that I had yet to enter, and swam to the edge, “Hey, Emma. It feels really nice in here. Why don’t you come in? You look gorgeous! I could only imagine you’ll look more gorgeous in the water.”
Emma. I don’t know why, but my name sounded like nails on a chalkboard in that moment. I met Cassie’s eyes, and she frowned. As if she could sense something was wrong.
I started to scoot myself off the edge, “I’m coming, I’m coming.” I froze. My voice was far deeper than it was before. It was incredibly masculine.
Cassie’s frown deepened, “I- think something went wrong with yours, Em. We should go see if Dawn is on the other side, and talk to her-“
I quickly nodded, letting myself fall fully into the water. It felt nice, it was where this new body of mine was meant to be, after all. I could see much better in the water, where deeper in the tank the rest of the party was preoccupied swimming with some of the fish.
Cassie took my by the hand and dragged me deeper in, it seemed my body automatically knew what to do, because soon enough I was able to outpace Cassie, now pulling her along. The two of us surfaced and looked around. I spotted Dawn and pointed, grinning, “Hey, race you over to her.”
“Oh, you’re on!” Cassie laughed and dove down into the water again.
I followed suit, using my powerful tail to propel myself through the water. I surfaced at the edge of the tank, just in time to see Cassie surface behind me. I stuck my tongue out, and she splashed me.
Dawn grinned and said something I couldn’t quite understand, but it sounded nice.
Cassie grinned, “Oh Dawn, this is like a dream come true! This is so cool! But, that’s not what we’re over here about. I think there was a problem with Emma’s transformation.”
Emma. My name again. Had I always hated it like this? I turned to face Dawn and nodded, laying back to show my masculinized body, “I don’t think I’m exactly a mermaid.”
Dawn furrowed her brow, saying something else. Her tone sounded worried, though I once again couldn’t quite make out any of her words. She looked across the room and waved someone over, and I saw Ray come into view, he was starting to walk towards us.
“Can you understand a thing she’s saying, Em?”
I shook my head, “No- I thought I was the only one.”
“Weird…” Cassie frowned.
I turned to Cassie, “Hey- you don’t have to stay with me while they figure this out. Go have fun with the others!”
Cassie frowned, “Are you sure? I don’t want to just abandon you.”
I nodded, “Of course. This is your big day, I don’t want you to waste a moment of it on me.”
Cassie stared for a moment as if making up her mind, then nodded. She swam off further into the tank.
I turned my attention back to Ray, who was just about at Dawn’s side. The two had a short conversation that I couldn’t make out. Ray then crouched down by the water, speaking in a way I could once again understand, “I see you’ve been turned male. That must be distressing, I must have messed something up.”
I frowned. I wouldn’t use the word distressing. In fact, I rather liked it, if I did say so myself, “Well… yes. Why can I understand you but not her?”
Ray tilted his head, “It’s a merfolk thing. We’re programmed to understand our own language, not English.”
“But we’re speaking English right now-“
Ray shook his head, “It only seems like English to you, that’s just how the transformation makes it.”
“Well, how can you understand me, then?”
Ray just smiled, “Meet me in the waters of that other room your group was just in. We can assess what’s happened in private.”
“But-“
Ray didn’t leave much room for a response as he stood and walked away, leaving through a door. Gee, that was helpful. I sighed and sank under the water. At least the girls were having a good time, I could hear them deeper in the water, excitedly playing as if they were kids again.
I turned and swam back to the offshoot of the tank that was in the other room, only to see the figure of another mermaid waiting for me. The closer I got, the more mermaid seemed like an incorrect description, though, because I could see that this creature was Ray, his name appearing rather literal because his appearance mimicked a manta ray.
“Good, you made it here. Now, let’s take a look at you.” Ray stared at me, his eyes trailing down my body and to the deep ‘V’ shape that my abs formed leading to my tail. I saw his eyes quickly snap up to meet mine again, and he tilted his head, “Was the change uncomfortable? Did it feel wrong? We’ve never seen something like this happen before.” He started to slowly circle around me.
I spoke, still somewhat getting used to my new voice, “No- it felt fine. Kinda good, actually. I wouldn’t say I’m distressed by this. It’s just different from my normal.”
Ray stopped in front of me, “Well, it’s good that you’re not distressed. And, as all the advertising and such said, it is all just temporary. Only lasts two hours. Are you okay with that? We could also try and get a new pill brought up for you, though that could take time and I’m not sure if it would even work, we haven’t tried giving someone a second pill before…”
“No- no, it’s fine. I really don’t mind being a man for a couple of hours. Especially like this…” I looked down to my body, “Its not bad.”
“Not too hard on the eyes, mm?” Ray gave a smile.
I chuckled, “No, not too hard on the eyes.”
“Well, I could leave you alone now, if you want. Let you go off with your friends?”
I started to nod, then paused, “Can you stay? I don’t know if I really want to go back and be with them just yet. I feel like this will just weird them out, I don’t want to ruin their fun.”
Ray’s eyes went to the group of girls deeper in the water, then he nodded, “Yeah, I get that. I’ll stay with you, just for a bit. Can show you all the secret spots, how about that?”
I grinned, “Yeah! That would be nice.”
Ray started off deeper into the water, and I followed. He looked so graceful as he glided through the water, almost like a bird flapping its wings. I stayed somewhat behind him the whole time, mostly so I could watch. He stopped and dove into a small cave built in to the wall, and I followed.
It was deep enough to hide a large shark just out of sight. I gasped and stopped, preparing to book it out of there.
Ray grinned as the shark swam up to him, and he kissed it on the tip of its nose just as you would a cat or a dog, “Hey, buddy.” He looked to me, “No need to worry, this is Spot. He’s friendly.”
The shark swam up to me and I felt my heart rate quicken, every instinct told me to swim away as fast as I could, though for some reason I didn’t. I decided to trust Ray and reached my hand out towards Spot, who pushed his nose up against it. I grinned, starting to pet the shark, “Awe, he’s so cute!”
Ray grinned, “Yeah he is! People are always so afraid of sharks, honestly I blame Jaws.”
I kept petting Spot, “He just looks scary! You’d probably like my friend Anna, the one over in the group with all the leaves. She has the same opinion.”
“Does she really?” Ray smiled, watching me pet the shark.
“Yeah! She’s a marine biologist, so she’s really into all this sort of stuff. So is Cassie, the one we’re here for. It’s her bachelorette party, I’m kinda her maid of honor.”
“I see, I see.” He frowned, “Why don’t you join the group, then? Even if you’re male I’m sure they’re not going to treat you any different. They’d understand it’s an accident.”
I paused, looking up to Ray, “Well- yeah. But I don’t want to take my chances. Just in case, y’know? Plus… I don’t know. They’ll call me by name, and my name just feels like nails on a chalkboard, I don’t really feel like hearing it right now.”
Ray tilted his head, “Nails on a chalkboard, huh...? Weird.”
I shrugged, “Guess it’s a mermaid thing? They probably think their names are the same right now. I’m sure you’re probably used to it though, as you work here and probably get to take those pills whenever, huh?”
Ray blinked, “No- no a lot of that’s, wrong.”
“How so?”
“Well, my name, for example. Ray. It sounds perfectly normal, to me. Always has. And the other girls, they seem to be referring to each other by name just fine.”
“Well- yeah.” I frowned. I did hear them all calling each other by name, after all.
“So maybe it’s just, you? I know the transformation can bring up a lot of buried feelings in some people. Maybe you just actually hate your name?”
I stared at Ray, then pressed my lips together in a frown. I hated to admit it, but he was right. My name didn’t feel like it truly fit me for a long time.
“Hey, I know I’m just some random guy that works here, but I promise I won’t breathe a word of this to your friends, okay? You can trust me.”
I nodded, going to turn my attention back towards Spot. I chose to change the subject, “You said a lot of what I said was wrong. What else was wrong?”
Ray sighed, deciding not to push me, “Mermaid. The term doesn’t fit me, and it doesn’t exactly fit you at the moment. Merfolk is a much better term. Or, when talking about the two of us, merman.”
Merman. Man. That sounded nice. I nodded, “I see. Sorry.”
“It’s a common mistake. I don’t blame you for it.” He shrugged.
“You seem to know a lot about being a merman. How long have you been working here?”
Ray laughed, “Well, that’s the other thing you had wrong. I’ve only been here a couple of months. And I don’t need to take one of the pills to look like this.”
I looked to him, frowning, “What do you mean?”
“I could understand and talk to you when I had two legs. And I took a much shorter time to change in to this form than you did. You put it together.”
I thought a moment, “So you’re… actually like this? All the time? Like, a real merman?”
He nodded, “Yup. Since the day I was born.”
“Huh… that’s, cool. Why work here, though? Why not just go to the ocean? Isn’t it weird to see people just be like you for a day, as a novelty?”
Ray shrugged, “I think it’s cool. I like seeing the smiles on people’s faces, I guess. Plus, the ocean isn’t as protected. Lots of people fishing, or full on hunting for merfolk.”
“Oh- that must suck. I’m sorry.”
Ray shrugged again, “It is what it is. I’m at least safe here. And it’s good to have a staff member that can actually understand the clients during their experience.”
I let out a short laugh, “Yeah, I guess so.” I hesitated before speaking again, “I really like this. Being like this.”
“A merfolk?”
“Merman, in particular.” I avoided Ray’s eyes, “If I’m being fully and completely honest, I’m relieved that the this whole thing gave me a male body.”
Ray nodded slowly, “I see…” he chose his words carefully, “Is there another name you’d maybe like for me to refer to you by when it’s just the two of us?”
“Graham.” I didn’t even have to think, “It’s what my parents were going to name me if I were born a boy.”
“Graham.” Ray smiled, “That’s a nice name, I’d say.”
My heart skipped a beat at hearing myself being referred to by that name, “Thank you.”
“Of course.” He thought a moment, “You want to go see another place, Graham?”
I nodded quickly, unable to stop myself from grinning.
“Cmon.” He took my hand and started swimming. I kept up this time as he swam down into the tank, to another alcove. This one was a bit more decorated, with a coral reef built into the shelf its floor created.
I gasped, it was gorgeous. There were a lot more fish here, milling about the reef.
“This is one of my favorite places, down here. Not a lot of our patrons manage to make it down here, hence why there are a lot more fish than in other places. They don’t always like being bothered.”
I nodded, “It’s cool, that you get to see this kinda thing every day.”
“It gets old after a bit. Another reason I like working here, the people that pay for the experience are always different.”
“Do you ever get to talk to people like this?”
“Not very often, no.” Ray chuckled, “They’re usually busy with the friends they came in with. Like your friends, right now.”
“Yeah, that makes sense, it’s probably weird to talk to an employee after all. Not that I think it’s weird, us talking. It’s actually really nice, I feel like I can tell you everything for some weird reason.”
“Strangers, I guess? If you’re never going to see someone again it doesn’t really matter.” Ray offered a smile.
“Is it weird to say I don’t want you to be a stranger?” I reached out to grab his hand.
He stared down at our hands, “I mean- I’m sure a lot of it’s the euphoria of being yourself for the first-“
He wasn’t getting it. I interrupted him, pressing my lips against his. It felt natural, kissing another man.
Ray surprisedly put his hands up against my chest for a moment as if thinking about shoving me away, then slowly let his hands run down my body. He kissed back.
I wrapped my tail around the end of his, then put my hands around him, holding him tight to me.
Ray followed suit, his arms going around my hips.
I pulled away from the kiss, letting out a sigh and putting my forehead into the crook of his neck, “Sorry. That was weird. I couldn’t help myself.”
Ray put one hand on the back of my head, “No, no it’s okay. I haven’t kissed someone like that in a long time.”
“Neither have I.” I laughed quietly, “Honestly I don’t think I’ve ever kissed someone like we just kissed.”
“Shame. It was a really nice kiss.”
I smiled.
I heard a gasp from the entrance of the small cave, and my attention snapped over there. I quickly pulled away from Ray as I saw Cassie.
She was grinning, “Oh, I see what’s going on! Was going to see if you wanted to join us even though you’re, y’know, accidentally a man, but I see now! I’ll leave you two alone.”
I could feel my cheeks starting to burn, “No- ah. I mean- Ray and I were-“ I didn’t know what to say. I knew it wasn’t wrong, it just felt embarrassing.
Cassie giggled, “Yeah, I’ll leave you alone. Feel free to join later, though. The other girls agreed it wouldn’t be weird at all!” She then mouthed, ‘Get it girl!’ to me and swam off just as quickly as she appeared.
I wheezed, “Sorry about her. Best friends never stop being best friends, I guess?”
Ray grinned, “I mean, she was just checking on you to make sure you’re okay. She seems like a good friend.” He swam up to me, putting his arms around my waist again, “Now, where were we?”
I put my head against his chest, “Right about here, I think.”
He ran his fingers through my hair, “Feels about right to me.”
I stayed in his arms like that for a while, blissful. It was nice, feeling liked for who I always wished I was, even if it took being a merfolk to get to this point. I gently pulled away, looking up to meet Ray’s eyes, “I should probably go be with my friends for the rest of the time. That’s what I booked this for, anyways.”
Ray pulled me into another kiss, then hugged me to his chest again, “I should get back to work, too. Things to do, and all. I’ll see you on the surface, Graham?”
I nodded, smiling, “Yeah, I’ll see you on the surface.” I pulled away from him again, then swam off to join the rest of the party.
I spent the second hour of the experience with the girls, mostly chasing around fish and petting sharks. The girls were surprisingly good at not really mentioning my change in gender, though there were comments here and there about having “washboard abs.” Honestly, I didn’t mind the comments even near as much as I minded being referred to by my name. It irked me, though I didn’t feel all that comfortable asking them to change how they referred to me. After all, what if this feeling really was just the transformation?
When the time came to return to being regular humans again, my heart ached. I pulled myself up on to the side of the tank, then shuffled back to the beach towel that all of this started on. I quickly wrapped the robe around myself again, sighing.
“Hey, are you okay? You look upset, Em!” Cassie looked over to me, worried.
I forced a smile, “Yeah! I’m just fine. Just sad this is over, being a mermaid was really fun, yeah?”
Cassie grinned, “Oh it was absolutely great! We’ll have to come back here sometime after I’m married, I’m sure Matt would love it! And if he becomes anything like you look right now… well! I wouldn’t be complaining.” She put her robe back on.
“Guess I can’t complain about the cards I was dealt, honestly. I make a handsome man, don’t I?” I smiled.
The other three girls giggled in agreement, wrapping their robes around themselves as well.
I waited out the regrowth of my legs in relative quiet, unable to pay much attention to the conversation, though I nodded along and contributed the occasional, “Uh-huh.”
Dawn walked into the room, with her usual smile, “Well! I see everyone is back without incident.”
I snapped out of my haze, looking to the others. They looked about the same as when they came in, though Katie’s hair retained its color pattern, and Cassie seemed to ever so slightly ethereally shimmer in the light. Though, to my disappointment, none of my physical changes remained.
Dawn grinned, “Ladies, I hope you enjoyed your experience. I’ll lead you back to the locker rooms, and after that you’re all free to leave!”
We all stood and started leaving the room, following Dawn. I stared around, looking for signs of Ray, though I didn’t see any. It stayed that way until we had arrived back at the locker room, and everyone had file in except for me.
I felt a hand on my arm, pulling me back. I turned to see Ray, and quickly wrapped my arms around him.
He spoke softly, resting his chin on the top of my head, “I’ll miss you, Graham.”
I looked up to him, frowning slightly. He hadn’t been speaking English, yet I could still understand him. I responded in his language, “I’ll miss you too, Ray.”
Ray stared at me, taken aback by my response, though he didn’t pause for too long. He leaned down to kiss my forehead and hug me tighter to him.
We stayed there for a few moments before I spoke again, “I’ll come visit you. I don’t think I could afford the whole merfolk for a day thing again, but- we could maybe do something normal? Get lunch, or something like that.”
“I would like that, Graham. Very much so.” He smiled slightly, “We could even do the whole merfolk thing again, if you wanted to. Being an employee here does have some perks.”
“Yes-“ he didn’t have to suggest that twice, “Yes, I would want to. Please. I’m missing that body already.”
Ray laughed, “How much longer are you in town for? Maybe we can sneak in another session.”
“Only until tomorrow morning. So probably not..”
“We could do tonight? If you wanted, that is.”
I frowned. It was a tempting offer, but one I just couldn’t take, “I can’t, I have to stick with the party. I’m sorry.”
Ray looked disappointed, though he nodded, “I see. Well, maybe we could exchange phone numbers? To keep in touch.” He took a phone from his pocket, unlocking it and handing it to me.
I nodded quickly, taking his phone and putting my number in. I hesitated for a moment before putting the contact name as ‘Graham,’ then smiled slightly as I handed the phone back to him, “Text me any time. I’ll probably answer.”
He smiled, “I will. Now, go join your friends, don’t want you to miss out.”
I nodded and turned to walk into the room with my friends. I opened the door, then turned to look back at Ray. He waved me off, and I turned to go in.
I returned to the party, to my normal life. Though, as we left the building, I couldn’t help but feel like a part of me was missing. And it would stay missing until I came back.