Ch. 1- Not Going to University
Rikki's POV
These days are the best, the days when you can just lay in the moonpool and let all of your stress go. If I only had more days like this, well life would be great. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mermaid and having two amazing friends to share this amazing secret with, but sometimes it is a huge pain. Recently saving the world from a comet by listening to the water tentacle has brought some closer for me that I have been longing for. To be able to relax and not look over my shoulder afraid that I will be attacked by the tentacle is amazing. After all the drama that has happened the past three years, almost being experimented on by a marine biologist, having Charlotte become a super-evil mermaid, and saving the world, makes me think that life would be a lot different if I wasn't a mermaid. I probably wouldn't have the best and most understanding friends in the world who I can call my sisters. Zane and I would still be together since I wouldn't have seen him kiss Sophie and realize what a jerk and immature kid he actually is.
After awhile of thinking to myself I decide that I should go meet up with the girls. I sink underwater and swim as fast as I can to the mainland. Once I arrive at Lewis's secret fishing spot I look around to make sure no one can see me and get out of the water to dry off. I rise on my freshly dried feet and start to walk to the boatshed.
It only is a fifteen minute walk to Will's boatshed, so I do it with ease. I enter the boatshed to see Cleo, Bella, and Will in what looks like a serious conversation. They greet me with a casual hi as I sit down in one of the chairs surrounding the table that is covered in what looks like college brochures. "We are discussing what colleges and universities we have applied to. Will has applied to University of Sydney, University of Sunshine Coast, and Torrens University. Bella has applied to Central Queensland University and University of Sunshine Coast, while I have applied to Central Queensland University, Queensland University of Technology, and Victoria University," says a enthusiastic Cleo. They ask what universities I have applied to and I inform them that I haven't and I am not going to university. Their faces are filled with shock, confusion, and anger. After a minute of awkward silence the three start to ask me a thousand questions while speaking over each other, making it hard for me to understand what they are asking me. "Quiet!" They finally shut up after I yell at them. "I am not going to university because I don't want to and I won't use any of it in the future." They stare at me with blank faces before they fully process what I had just said. "But Rikki, if you want to get a stable job you need to go to university," Bella says sweetly trying to reason with me.
I start to seriously think about what Bella has just said, but I know that going to university here in Australia will not work. Looking at their faces again makes me regret the decision that I have made and can't take back. How am I supposed to tell them that in a month I will be moving to the states? Cleo and Bella are practically my sisters and Will is like a brother to me. I start to fear that they will be mad at me for making such a big choice about my life without telling anyone other than my father, Terry. I look back at their faces knowing that if I don't tell them now I may not have the guts to tell them again. I close my eyes and take a deep breath before saying, "I am moving to the states."
I keep my eyes closed for a few more seconds, scared to see their expressions. Once I get the nerve to open my eyes I see the one thing I didn't want to see, sadness in their eyes and tears on their cheeks slowly sliding down their faces.
For a moment I feel selfish that I have made such a big decision, but I then remember that this is the best thing I can do for myself and the only way I can get a fresh start.