Chapter 1: This is Halloween
The beach air is crisp and salty, the wind a bit sharp for the residual warmth. A little too cold for the typical beach-goers, but for regular like Steven, it's perfect. All he needs to do is convince Connie the same because right now she looks miserable, all scrunched and frowning.
"Come on in, the water's great!" He's standing a few feet from the shore, splashing his arms on the surface of the water.
Connie shields her face from the droplets of spray. "Um, I think I'll just stay in the tide." Her feet are buried in the sand, arms wrapped tight against her exposed legs. It has been weeks since she's been able to convince her parents to let her leave the confines of their suburban home for anything other than attending school or her lessons. She's wasted the last few weeks of decent weather worrying over study materials and sheet music, and now it's too cold to play outside.
"Suit yourself!" He takes a huge gulp of air and disappears beneath the water. A few minutes later, the top-half of a distinctly Steven-shaped dolphin—complete with a silly-looking tuft of brown hair where the blow-hole would be—explodes from the surface, kicking up a large wave that soaks the girl completely. He wiggles his flippers back and forth. "Look, I'm a…what did you say these were called again?"
"A dolphin. That's great, Steven." Connie says, annoyance edging into her tone. She pulls her dripping hair into a knot, wringing out as much of the ocean as she can.
"Isn't it cool? Amethyst taught me. I'm still not very good at it, though." The tide withdraws slightly and she can see what he means. On the bottom half of the dolphin is a human waist and legs—it's absolutely unnerving.
Connie scrunches her face. "That's terrifying! What if you get stuck like that?" Even though it's horrific, it's still impressive, Connie thinks. She shrugs away the thought, shivers, and instead calculates how long she's obligated to indulge in Steven's whims before complaining of catching a cold.
He stikes a pose in the water, fin on hip, feet staggered in an effortless-cool stance. "I think I'm…FINTASTIC." Just then, the wave that had been steadily building crashes down on his head, sweeping his feet out from under him.
Connie can't help but giggle, rolling her eyes at the terrible pun. At least she's no longer thinking about the cold biting at her flesh.
"I think it's time we headed back. If I get sick my mom will kill me." Five minutes is more than long enough.
"Aww, but I was having fun." A flash of pink and he's back to his actual self. "Does that mean you have to go home?"
"I can stay out a little later. It's a weekend after all. I know, let's warm up in front of the fire and talk about our Halloween costumes!"
"Hallowhat?"
"Halloween! You don't know what Halloween is?"
Steven's blank face tells her everything.