Nixie's POV
I haul my bag back onto my shoulder as the bell goes, a groan escaping me as I do. Lyla and Sirena meet me at the lockers, similar looks of exhaustion and disdain on their faces.
"I wish we didn't have to do this every day. It's a horrible waste of time," Lyla complains.
"At least its Friday," I offer, and then moan, "I never thought I'd be using human terms for days or eagerly awaiting a specific one."
"Come on you two, Auntie Rita wants us to come to school so that we're close. Things are still chaotic back home. She's just being cautious," Sirena argues, closing her locker. "Let's go home, we all have homework."
Lyla rolls her eyes as we walk home. "I don't see why we should bother, I mean it's not like we actually need any of this information."
"I find interesting," Sirena admits. "And I love art class, it's so much fun."
"Yeah for you," I state. "You can draw and sing really well, the arts teacher loves you, he hates me."
"That's because you don't try and you're always late," Sirena scolds. "You did this during mermaid school too, how do you expect to pass if you don't pay attention."
"I'm not particularly interested in passing," I mutter.
"We're stuck with it whether we like it or not," Lyla decides. "Stop moping and deal with it. Nixie, we don't have to like it, but it'll become suspicious if we don't do our work. Sirena, stop enjoying this torture, you're only encouraging Rita." Sirena laughs as she pulls out the key to the house, unlocking the door. We crowd around the small kitchen table to do our work.
"Rita's late today," I comment.
"The principal called a staff meeting," Sirena replies, chewing on the end of her pencil, "she won't be home until six." Since we moved, Rita had to get a new job. She's no longer a principal, instead working as a family studies teacher. It's not her favorite place to be, but she says it's not too bad and she can always earn a new position next year. I hope we aren't here that long. I pull out my English book and sigh. It's pretty boring. The book is about this kid who failed school and is wandering around a city. So far he just seems mentally unstable to me. I make it through ten pages before I groan and let my head hit the table. I glance at Lyla, who's using Rita's laptop.
"What are you doing?" I ask. "Shouldn't you be reading?" Lyla and I are in the same English class and she hates it even more than I do. She flashes me a sly look.
"Cheating," she replies. I perk up.
"Ooh how?" I demand. She turns the screen to show me a website.
"It's called Spark Notes. Everything I need to know about the book without actually reading it." My eyes widen.
"Really? Ooh, please share," I beg.
"You can use it when I'm done," Lyla states. I sigh.
"Alright, but hurry, we're supposed to be done the book tomorrow, and I'd rather not have to listen to Mr. Dalerwood rant about irresponsibility again."
"Don't worry, I'm almost finished," Lyla replies, her eyes betraying the equal amount of dread at the thought of another one of our teacher's lectures.
"After dinner, do you want to go for a swim?" Sirena inquires. "I feel like I haven't been swimming in ages.
"Yeah, definitely," Lyla responds.
"Yes please," I agree. I turn to look out the window. This place feels lonely. I miss mako. I even miss Rita's and the café. At least it had good seafood. I just want things to cool down so we can go home.
Zac's POV
I crumple up my paper and toss it into the trash. I have a history assignment due, but I can't focus on it. I haven't been able to focus properly since that day two months ago, down at the jetty. I can't stop thinking about the mermaid they found. It's driving me crazy. She could be the only other being like me. She might even be able to help me. I haven't gone to the facility, except for on that trip, I've been afraid. I mean, what if this mermaid has the ingrained ability to recognize me as one of her own kind. If she accidentally gives me away, I could end up in a tank too, on display for everyone to see. I had finally worked up the nerve to go when the whole building flooded. It's been closed for about a month while repairs are done. Its open now, but I'm not sure if I should go. I mean, even if I do see the creature, it's not like I'd be able to talk to her or ask any questions. I don't even know if she can speak English.
I grunt and put my face in my hands. If only things weren't so complicated, if only I could've had a chance to see this mermaid for myself before they took her away, if only this whole merman thing had never happened, then I'd be free of stress and able to live my life.
It might not be a bad idea to take a trip down to the center. I could inquire and maybe get a look at this mermaid. It might ease my stress and lack of focus. I decide. I pull on my sneakers and head outside. Climbing into my boat, I head down the coast to my destination.
Diana's POV
I sit down with a sigh. I really should have given Janice more credit over the years. Managing this place is hard work and the paperwork is unbearable. I gently touch a small bluish conch shell that is sitting on my desk. Nixie had given it to Sirena while they were here, but it had been left behind in their frantic escape. The damage of that night has been fixed for a week now. It's thanks to Nixie that this place stayed open at all. I smile. She'd given me quite a shock, showing up here afterwards with a handful of priceless gold coins. The money earned allowed me to make some drastic but good changes to marine center. I made sure to expand the rescue center as well. The rest of the coins are safely stored away. I won't use the money for personal use. I made a promise to myself that the funds would only go to improving the center.
"Come in," I say as someone knocks on the door. Alisha pokes her head in. Alisha is a young woman in her late twenties. She has chocolate brown eyes and shoulder length brown hair. While I still do my old job as animal psychiatrist, Alisha works in the same field so that I have more time to work as manager. "What can I do for you Alisha?"
"You have a visitor Dr. Evans," she begins.
"It's just Diana, Alisha. Do you know who this visitor is? And where's Erin? This is normally something that his job entitles."
"Erin's home sick today, he called in. And the visitor is Janice Taylor. Didn't she used to be the manager here?" she informs me.
"Yes she did. Thanks for telling me, where can I find her?" I inquire.
"Main lobby," Alisha replies, before leaving. I sigh. Right now Janice is the last person I want to chat with. I haven't really spoken to her since she was demoted. I reluctantly rise from my chair and walk out to the main lobby. Janice is standing near the door. I put on a professional smile and approach her.
"Hello Janice," I say.
"You look good Diana. So does this place," Janice states.
"Thanks. What can I do for you?"
"Right to the point I see. I just wanted to visit you. We haven't talked since… you know."
"Forgive me if I'm not interested in small talk Janice. We both know you have a reason for being here so get on with it, I'm busy," I reply coldly. She sighs.
"I just wanted to come by and see for myself how the repairs went," Janice answers as she walks further into the center. I follow her reluctantly. "The place looks good, though you've changed quite a bit around. Wherever did you get the money for all of this?" her tone turns suspicious. My shoulders tense.
"An old friend of my mother; he recently came into a lot of money. He offered to cover the repairs and I'm in the process of paying him back," I lie. A muscle feathers in Janice's jaw, it's clear that she doesn't believe me, but she doesn't press the matter.
"That's quite a stroke of luck then, I suppose," she says, walking up to the tank positioned beside the new front desk. Within moments the newest dolphin, Sandra, swims by. She was brought in last week after she washed up on the beach; pregnant but seriously underweight. She's here until the calf is born and strong, when they'll both be released.
"It is lucky. I'm grateful that this place got to remain open. Where are you now?" I ask, genuine curiosity flooding my voice.
"I'm teaching the Basics of Oceanology Workshop at a local college," Janice replies curly, a frown adorning her face. "It's far from where I'd like to be, where I was, but I haven't been able to get a decent field job; not now that my reputation is as tarnished as it is." The malice returns in her voice.
"I had nothing to do with that Janice. You brought that upon yourself. You made some seriously bad calls and that's why you were deemed unfit," I state. "That and it was your responsibility to ensure that the tanks were in a proper state. The flood was considered your fault for failing to report a potential hazard."
"That tank was fine and you know it. The only reason it broke was because of Rita Santos. Whom, may I remind you, you let in," she snaps. "You were stealing Diana. The damage is on your shoulders. Unfortunately I'm the only one who knows that and no one seems to want to believe me."
"Janice, we've been through this before. You hit your head pretty hard when the place flooded. I was upstairs at the time. The doctors figure your brain created a dreamlike story to fill in the blanks of that night."
"So Nixie and the other two were a dream as well? I made them up? They're just figments of my imagination?" Janice demands. I shake my head.
"No they weren't. It's possible that their escape had something to do with the flood, but it was your actions that got you removed from the staff here, not them," I argue. "Now please, I must ask you to leave. I have work to do and you're a civilian now, if you want to talk about the center or receive information, ask the attendants, not me. Otherwise, you can set up a meeting like everyone else," I remind her. She glares at me but decides not to argue.
"We both know you're lying Diana," she states. "You betrayed me."
"I never betrayed you Janice. All I did was have a different opinion. The way those girls were treated was nothing short of shameful and wrong. We're supposed to help save marine life; not tear up an innocent family. I won't deny that I'm glad they got away. But I didn't betray you. Now please, I'm busy. I have a lot of paper work to do and the job is still new to me. Goodbye Janice," I say. I turn and head back to my office.
Once inside I slump down and sigh. I hate lying; especially to someone I used to consider my friend. But it has to be this way. If Janice was to stay here; she'd only try to track down Nixie, Lyla, and Sirena, and I can't let that happen. Everything is such a mess. I return to my chair and open the desk drawer, removing the mermaid file. Luckily a lot of our data on them was destroyed, but I kept my copy of the basics a secret. It's probably time to get rid of it for good before someone stumbles across it. I slip it into my bag, intending to shred it when I get home. I'm no longer staying above the facility, but in a small house around the corner, so at least I'll have the privacy to destroy the documents.
As I leave the building, I can't help but hope, for mermaids' sake, that Janice doesn't decide to poke around any further and find something to prove her claims.
Okay, here it is; the sequel to a fish out of water. I apologize for the slightly odd title, I may change it if I come up with something better. I've decided to put a little more of Zac into this story. I never really showed his thoughts in the last book and I feel they are important. This story is still in the beginning stages and I'm not really sure where its going to go, so if anyone has any ideas, feel free to share them, because I could use a few starter points. I was also thinking about including Aquata in this story, but I'm not sure, what do you guys think?Thanks for reading this, you all are amazing :)
-Mermaid