Chapter Text
There he was: Zane Bennett. That stupid face, that smug little grin he always wore like he owned the place.
I couldn’t stand him. I didn’t even know him personally, just saw him around school, strutting through the hallways, picking on anyone he thought was beneath him. Like he wasn’t the biggest loser of all.
So I decided to pull a prank on him. Bullies aren’t really my thing, and someone had to knock him down a peg. I took one small but very important part from the engine of his inflatable boat. Nothing dramatic. Just enough to make sure his precious canal cruises with his mates were over.
The problem? He noticed. The engine wouldn’t start, and instead of fixing it like a normal person, he decided to mess with some random girl nearby. She looked totally clueless, definitely not the type who spent her weekends on boats.
He tricked her into getting on, then shoved her away from the dock, leaving her floating out there on her own.
I could’ve stayed back and laughed. Zane without his boat was already karma enough. But dragging an innocent girl into it? Not my style. I sprinted down the dock and jumped onto the boat, nearly giving the girl a heart attack.
Brown hair, green eyes, cute clothes, and the face of someone absolutely terrified: Cleo Sertori. I recognized her: she went to school with me. She was sweet, kind, and way too nice for her own good.
“Is this supposed to be some sort of rescue?” she snapped. “Because there’s a fatal flaw here. I don’t mean to state the obvious, but we’re just floating out to sea.”
I didn’t answer. I just held up the spark plug I’d taken from the engine and smiled. Her eyes widened. “You took that?”
“Zane Bennett’s a pig,” I said, glancing at him pacing the dock like an idiot. “Anything I can do to get under his skin can’t be a bad thing, can it?”
Cleo grinned. “Cool. Thanks, Rikki.”
I blinked. “You know my name?”
She panicked a little. “Yeah. Well, I’ve seen you around school, since you arrived… Oh, I mean, I’ve meant to say ‘hello’ and everything.”
I didn’t reply. I just turned the key.
The engine roared to life. I’ve driven boats before, with my dad. I knew what I was doing. Mostly. And honestly? I couldn’t resist rubbing it in.
I steered close to the dock and swung the boat at the last second, sending a huge wave straight at Zane. Worth it.
Cruising through the canals with Cleo felt… fun. Real fun. The kind I hadn’t had since moving to this stupid town.
Then Cleo suddenly shouted, “Hey, Emma! Want a ride?”
I looked up. Blonde hair perfectly tied back, blue eyes, posture so straight she looked carved out of stone. She was pretty, for being as stiff as a pole of ice. Emma Gilbert: one of the athletes at school. One of the best, as I heard.
“Are you licensed?” she asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Are you my mother?”
I didn’t like her tone. Sure, maybe I was being reckless, but she didn’t need to say it out loud like that. Like a little know-it-all.
She shook her head, then smiled like she’d already decided I was hopeless. Somehow, Cleo convinced her to come along.
“Wanna go out to sea?” I asked, buzzing with adrenaline.
“Isn’t it dangerous in a craft this size?” Emma asked calmly.
“Chill out”.
I probably should’ve listened. But the way she said it, like she always knew better, just made me push harder.
Not even ten minutes later, the engine died. We were stranded.
“Are we ‘chilled out’ yet?” Emma asked with sarcasm in her voice.
“So? We’re floating. It’s not like we’re sinking” I snapped.
“Not yet” she muttered.
I clenched my jaw. Oh, how I hated that attitude, like she didn’t accept to come with us and didn’t even try to stop me. She tried to warn me, yeah, but it’s very different from trying to stop me.
“We’re out of fuel. Feel like paddling to that island?” I suggested, trying to keep it together.
“Mako Island?” Emma laughed. “Forget it.”
“No one goes there. It’s very dangerous,” Cleo whispered, frightened.
From a distance, the island looked wild and untouched. And for some reason, I couldn’t stop staring at it.
“Well, it’s all we’ve got.”
Rowing to Mako Island took forever. By the time we dragged the boat onto the beach, my arms were sore and my patience was gone.
“How are we ever going to get back home?” Cleo asked, clearly on the verge of panic.
“Good question, Cleo.” Emma said coolly, shooting me a look sharp enough to cut glass. “Ask your friend.”
“My name’s Rikki” I shot back. “And don’t put this on me.”
“Oh? It was someone else’s fault? Someone else took this thing miles off shore?” she snapped. “You two are lucky I’ve got this.”
She took out her phone proudly, while Cleo took a sigh of relief.
“So lucky,” I muttered.
What else was I supposed to say? I didn’t like Emma. She believed she was always right, and better than anyone else. If she really was, she would’ve stopped me from going out to sea.
“I’m not getting any signal,” Emma said. “We should try and get to higher ground.”
Neither Cleo nor I looked thrilled. Cleo was terrified of the mangroves, and I was already sick of Miss Perfect telling us what to do. Still, I didn’t feel like being left alone on the beach, so I followed them.
“Do you have any idea where you’re going?” I asked.
“Just up,” Emma replied. “I’m still not getting a signal.”
“Maybe we won’t get a signal. What then?” Cleo started panicking. “What if we can’t call anyone? What if nobody finds us?”
I rolled my eyes. “We’ll have to draw straws and decide which one of us the others will eat”.
Emma glared at me. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m relieving the tension”.
“You’re making it worse,” Cleo added.
Great. Silent treatment it was.
Emma guided us into the jungle. I wanted to crack some jokes, but I was afraid that Miss Perfect would lecture me, and that Miss Miss Perfect’s Best Friend would start crying or something.
We reached a rocky area where the only way forward was jumping between massive boulders. Emma went first, testing each step carefully. I followed. Cleo froze.
“I can’t do this. It’s too slippery. There’s got to be another way,” she cried.
She wobbled a bit, trying to reach us somehow. And suddenly the ground disappeared beneath her. She screamed as she slid into a hidden tunnel.
Emma called for Cleo with pain in her voice.
We jumped back over and looked down the hole. It was pitch black, we couldn’t see anything.
“I’m okay, I’m fine,” Cleo’s voice echoed from below. Emma took a sigh of relief.
“Can you climb up?” she asked.
“No,” Cleo answered.
“At least try!” I shouted.
I’ve met Cleo, like, a bunch of hours ago. But I already knew her enough: she always gave up easily on things. That’s why I tried to encourage her.
“I can’t! There’s no way. It’s too steep.”
Emma looked at me. “I’ve got to go down and get her,” she said with no hesitation.
“Are you crazy?” I shouted. “I can’t let you go.”
“What?” she asked. “Cleo’s in danger.”
“You could get in danger too,” I said, as I gripped her arm. “Please, don’t go.”
She shook her head and removed my hand. Then slid down the hole.
She looked so brave, ready to sacrifice anything to save her friend Cleo. But I didn’t want her to go down there. I couldn’t stand her a bit, but what if the cave was dangerous?
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, then followed them.
“What are you doing here?” Emma snapped at me.
“What was I supposed to do?”
“You were meant to stay up on top and throw down a rope or something!”
“What rope?” I shouted angrily.
We looked each other in the eyes, both furious. Neither of us wanted to apologize, or admit we were wrong.
“Shouldn’t we concentrate on getting out of here?” Cleo interrupted.
Emma stood up and started exploring. She didn’t say sorry or anything, she just shouted at me some nonsense and then walked away like I was the one owning her an apology.
Well, there was nothing else I could do. Just roll my eyes and follow her and Cleo.
We found a tunnel, not too far away from the hole we fell into. We walked into it and emerged into what seemed to be a cave.
“Wow. This is like the cone of a volcano,” I said.
Moonlight poured in from above, and in the center of the cave was a glowing natural pool, the water an intense shade of blue.
“It’s, um, not going to erupt, is it?” Cleo asked nervously.
“It’s been dormant for 20,000 years,” Emma replied. “I think we’re safe.”
Of course we were: Miss Perfect Encyclopedia was with us. Of course, I didn’t say anything. No need to add fuel to the fire.
Emma knelt near the water, studying it.
“Look. Tidal rings. The level of the pool rises and falls,” she said, as she started getting her shoes off.
“So?” I asked.
“So it’s connected to the ocean. There might be a way out.”
Before either of us could stop her, Emma jumped in and started swimming away. I hated to admit that she was a really good swimmer: wide shoulders, muscles on her arms and legs, and a lot of self control. She was not just clever, but also athletic. Perfect in everything. It made me want to vomit.
“I’m not going to like this,” Cleo said while she sat on the sand. She seemed terrified of water.
I sat near her and we waited for Emma to come back. We waited a lot. I just hoped Emma wasn’t in danger. It’s not that I cared about her, she was just the only one that could get me and Cleo out of there. That’s all.
“So… How long have you two known each other?” I asked. We had to wait, so why not talk a bit.
“Oh, since primary school,” she replied with a big smile on her face. “We’ve been best friends for almost ten years now. She’s like a sister to me.”
“That’s nice,” I said. I didn’t really understand that feeling: I’m an only child and I never had friends. I was always the weird one at school, and the angry teenage daughter to my dad. I wasn’t easy.
“You don’t have friends here yet?” Cleo asked me.
“Yeah, no, I like to be by myself most of the time.”
“Well, after this adventure, you can consider me your friend. Even Emma, why not.”
“Emma?” I laughed. Miss Perfect? “I don’t think she likes me much.”
“Oh, I know her. When she’s around someone she wants to impress, she always acts clever and superior. It’s not like she wants to show off, she just wants to earn your trust.”
Oh. Well, that was a different point of view, for sure. I never thought of her like that, so insecure that she needed to act superior to show me that I could trust her. Things started getting interesting.
“Oh, where is she now?” Cleo cried. “Emma? Emma?!”
“Relax. Just give her a minute,” I said, but it was hard hiding the fear in my voice. I hated how worried I was.
Finally, Emma resurfaced. Not even a hair out of place.
“I was right. It’s about a 20-second swim to the reef outside. Straight through. Plenty of room. We can all fit,” she said. She seemed very proud of herself, she probably was thinking that she was the best. Was she trying to impress me?
I kicked off my shoes and got in the water. It was cold. I turned around, but Cleo was still sitting on the sand, petrified.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“I can’t swim.”
Oh, that was the cherry on top. We were stuck on a dangerous island in the middle of nowhere, the only way out was swimming through shark-infested waters, and she didn’t know how to swim. Great. I breathed and tried to stay calm.
“Everything will be fine,” Emma said, trying to help Cleo.
“How can you be so sure?” she asked.
“What alternative do we have? Stay stuck down here forever?” I insisted.
I held out my hand. Cleo hesitated, but took it. We were all in the water now, trying to keep Cleo afloat.
Then the water began to bubble. It shimmered under the moonlight, glowing brighter and brighter. A strange warmth spread through me, like electricity under my skin.
We didn’t have time to stop and question what just happened. We needed to get out of there. Emma dove, leading us to the other side. We followed her. Cleo panicked underwater, kicking wildly instead of swimming, but somehow we made it.
When we emerged near the rocks, Cleo gasped for air.
“That was more than 20 seconds,” she complained.
I smiled. “Oh, relax. We made it, didn’t we?”
I looked at Emma. She was smiling too. I think it was the second time I saw her do that.
“I’m proud of you, Cleo. I knew you could do it.”
Before we could even celebrate, a bright light blinded us.
“This is the Water Police,” a voice called out. “Please make your way to the boarding ladder at the rear of the vessel.”
“C’mon,” Emma said, sprinting away.
We left Mako behind, convincing ourselves it was over.
We were wrong.
The next day, I was walking through a neighborhood, exploring the city. That was my favourite thing to do since I moved here. I was minding my business, when a sprinkler went off and soaked me. Great.
I felt a chill, then I collapsed. I thought I fainted, or something, but I was still conscious. I just couldn’t feel my legs. I looked back and, in their place, an orange-gold tail, shimmering with scales. I stared at it, frozen.
I thought I was dreaming, or maybe I was just crazy.
The tail was heavy, but I managed to move it, I could feel it. That was weird. Why did I suddenly become a fish?
As soon as I dried off, it disappeared. Thank God nobody saw me laying on the grass with a fish tail. How could you even react seeing something like that?
At the same time, Cleo texted both me and Emma. ‘Emergency meeting’. I ran to her house: maybe the same thing happened to them. I had to talk to somebody.
Cleo opened the door, took me by the arm and dragged me into the living room. Emma was already there, of course.
None of us spoke at first. Then everything came out at once.
“It was orange and covered with scales.”
“The minute I hit water, I…”
“I was water for a second.”
“I was a fish!”
“What’s going on? That’s what I wanna know,” Emma said.
“About ten seconds after we touch water, we… we grow these…” I tried to explain.
“And it vanishes when we’re dry. And that’s the same with you two, right?” Cleo asked.
Both Emma and I nodded.
“We look like… mermaids”.
I finally said it. I’ve been thinking about it all the way to Cleo’s house. It felt so empowering. We were literally rare mythological creatures, how cool was that?
“You’re not funny. Mermaids don’t exist,” Emma shouted at me angrily like it was my fault. I was just stating the obvious. “That’s just… too weird.”
A knock on the door interrupted us.
“Oh no. It’s Lewis. I forgot. He’s helping me with biology today,” Cleo said, as she got up and opened the door.
There he was, the school nerd: a questionable haircut, the fashion sense of a retired fisherman… Lewis McCartney. He looked at me and Emma like we were aliens, then he made his way to the dining table.
He checked his watch, confused. “Uh, did I get the time wrong?”.
“No, we said nine… But sorry Lewis, something has come up” Cleo said.
She glanced back at us, we shook our heads. She couldn’t tell him. It was a big deal, not just some silly secret. And I didn’t even know who this guy was, actually.
She led him back to the door.
“Oh. Maybe some other time?” he asked, confused.
“Lewis…” Cleo stopped him before he could go. “You’re smart. Do you know anything about mermaids?”
I couldn’t believe that. She was about to share our secret with this random boy! What was she thinking?
“No, not really,” he replied.
“Okay. Sorry. Bye,” she said, pushing him out of the door.
Emma and I stood up like two angry mums ready to lecture their daughter. Emma was made for that role: she had that serious gaze that only parents have. Cleo, instead, was so naïve that she didn’t understand what she did wrong at first.
“What?” she asked.
“Are you crazy?” I shouted.
“Cleo, this is really serious. If anyone found out, we could be in big trouble,” Emma explained in a calmer voice. “Look, something very strange has happened to us. We don’t know how and we certainly don’t know why.”
She was not mad, but calm, almost smiling. Her eyes were shining, like she was excited she became a mermaid. Or maybe she was just relieved she had to share a secret with us, who knows. Personally, I was crazy happy, for both reasons.
“There is a way to find out more,” I said.
“How?” Cleo asked.
“Go back in the water.”
I wanted to swim in the ocean so bad. I wanted to test my new tail, see if I could, I don’t know, breathe underwater like a fish or something. I didn’t really have a plan, I just wanted to swim.
“No way. Not me,” Cleo said, sitting on the armchair with a sad look on her face.
“I’m going,” I said, determined. “I just don’t think I should go alone. Any volunteers?”
I couldn’t move Cleo from that armchair. Instead, Emma was looking at me with dreamy eyes. She was a swimmer, after all.
We went to the beach together. Emma knew a hidden place where we could practice, she said she used to go there before a swimming competition to train. It was the perfect spot for concentrating, far from screaming children, surfers and people in general.
“I’m not sure about this,” Emma confessed to me, while we were standing in front of the sea.
“It’s all right. I am.”
“That gives me no confidence whatsoever.”
Emma was a difficult girl to understand, but she was funny sometimes. The way she used to joke, once she was comfortable enough around you, was subtle but sharp enough. She was amazing, and I couldn’t wait to see her swim.
I held out my hand to her. She was cold like ice. We walked into the surf.
“About ten seconds, right?” I asked.
She nodded, and I could see she was scared. We started counting together, but as soon as we got to five, we transformed and fell over.
I looked at her: she was a real mermaid. She had a tail and everything. That was weird. She looked at me and laughed.
We started swimming, next to each other, and it was beautiful. We were completely surrounded by water, the fishes, the dolphins and colorful corals. I’ve never felt so free in my life. And it turned out that Emma was actually a great swimming mate.
We eventually got tired and decided to get back to our normal girl lives: our fish tail was replaced by legs and our clothes appeared on us when we dried up, like magic. I thought I was going crazy, but those feelings were too real to be fake.
Emma invited me to her house, to talk about what we just did.
“It’s gotta be the best experience of my life,” I confessed to her. “I mean, are there even words for that?”
“I don’t think so,” she replied, as she looked at me smiling.
Seeing her smile was fantastic. She was mad or angry most of the time, but when we talked about swimming, she seemed like another person. I liked both her versions… But this one was way better.
We were about to get in her house, a giant villa that confirmed the fact that she is the classic perfect girl from a perfect family, when Cleo came running to us, screaming: “Wait! You’ll never believe what just happened!”
We went to Emma’s room, upstairs. Cleo told us that her and Lewis got in a sort of fight with Zane while on a walk. She was so angry, she said she felt something, like energy running through her veins, that made her sprinkle water out of a hydrant all over Zane’s face. Cool.
Then she showed us her new powers: she moved her hand towards a glass full of water and she started moving it, controlling it… It was amazing.
“And it grows even more,” she said.
“Where’s the extra water coming from?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, and let go of her powers.
In that moment, the water she made rising from the glass fell, almost hitting Emma. She held out her hand, ready to get wet and eventually transform into her mermaid form, but nothing happened: she froze the water.
“Okay, this is over the top. I’m getting tingles now,” I said.
“All I did was…” Emma said, holding out her hand against some water in a vase. It began to freeze, like magic. We could not believe our eyes.
I wanted to have powers too. I tried to move my hands like my friends did, but I just looked like a goofy Spiderman.
“Not fair. Why don’t I get to do the cool stuff?”
“I don’t think ‘cool’ is the word. It’s scary… But you should’ve seen the look on Zane’s face,” Cleo laughed, as she remembered how she sprinkled a ton of water on that little bully’s face.
“This isn’t funny. We’ve got to keep this a secret. From everyone. We could end up dissected, or in the circus or something,” Emma said, very serious and concerned.
Why did she have to say that? We were having fun. She is too down to earth sometimes.
“So this secret, it’s just between the three of us?” Cleo asked.
“Our secret. Our responsibility. Whatever happens, we’re in this together,” Emma replied.
“This doesn’t mean we’re married, does it?” I asked, trying to lighten up the mood.
Emma looked at me, and I could swear she blushed a little.
“Now that was actually funny,” she just said, with a big smile on her face. The same smile she had while we were swimming together in the ocean.