Whew! It's done! I really hope you guys like this chapter, I worked really hard on it! Thanks for the nice reviews :) ~JNZ


Chap. 8

Will

I got home from school a little earlier that day. I still was thinking about Mary. I had finally figured out what to do. I was going to make her transform in front of me. I had no other choice, really. If I just asked her or told her that I knew, she'd probably deny it. This was the only true way to know. And now I had a plan.

I paced around our small kitchen. There was a knot in my gut the size of Australia itself. I was still fighting myself on this, still worrying, still fearing. I had such a mix of emotions that I didn't know what to do. I could potentially explode.

Before I had any more time to think, Mary came through the door after returning from school. She dropped her bag by the door and slipped off her shoes. She noticed me in the kitchen and gave me a smile. "Hey," she greeted me. She came over and joined me in the kitchen, taking a seat on a stool opposite to the counter.

"Hey," I shakily greeted her back. I began to put my plan into action. I walked over to the fridge, took out a bottle of water and poured it into a glass. I gave a quick glance at Mary. She flinched slightly. I took a sip and set it down between us. I tried staying casual. "How was school?"

"It was fine," she told me. "Except for my biology pop quiz. Mrs. Strach is brutal with them," I was barely paying attention to her words. She lifted her arms and rested them on the table. Perfect. "How was your day?"

At first, I didn't realized what she said. It finally occurred to me that she asked me a question. "Wha-" I tried to respond. "Oh, um, it was fine."

She lifted her eyebrow for a second and then just shook her head a little. I picked up the glass of water and took another sip. My plan was really about to start. I began. I carefully set the glass down on the counter. As I pulled my hand away, I did so in a way that caused the glass to fall towards Mary, making it look like an accident.

It worked. The drink fell, spilling water all over Mary's forearms. The knot in my stomach grew bigger.

Everything happened so fast. Mary's eyes widened as she looked at her arms. She frantically grabbed the dish towel next to her and began rapidly trying to dry off her arms. I tried being casual again. "Is everything ok?" I asked nonchalantly.

"It's. . . it's. . . fine," she struggled through her words, still in a drying frenzy. "Just a little water is all. . . " Five seconds.

She almost had herself completely dry. But just then, the spilled water dripped off of the counter onto her legs. She realized she was just about out of time. She shot off the school and started to run towards her room. The boat house was open besides our rooms and the bathroom. "I'll be right back!" she yelled.

She made it to the living area before I said something. "Don't bother," I called. "I already know. . ."

She whirled around on me. "WHAT?" she yelled. And then the change happened. She fell to the floor. I walked around the counter so I could see her.

So there I was, standing over my little sister as a mermaid. I couldn't believe it. Even though I had known before hand, I had neglected to prepare myself mentally for seeing her like this. I just couldn't believe it.

I searched Mary's face as she lay there on the floor. She looked severely upset, almost hurt. I almost felt bad about doing this to her, but the feeling was quickly suppressed out of anger at the fact that she didn't tell me. I crossed my arms over my chest and stood my ground.

"So. That's what's going on."


Mary

So there I was, laying on the floor of our house in all my mermaid-glory, Will standing over me. I couldn't believe this. He was seeing me as a mermaid. And even worse, he already knew! How'd he know? How could he do this to me? Why'd he make me go all fish? Why couldn't he have just told me he knew I was a mermaid like any normal older brother would?

Ok, granted, most older brothers don't usually have the opportunity or a need to do that. But you get the idea.

Will's face stiffened as the look of nausea and shock left it. Now he was looking serious and firm. I didn't like it. He crossed his arms and finally spoke. "So. That's what's going on."

I studied his face. He was stiff. His face was strong. If he still had the initial shock that was visible before, he was hiding it pretty well. His face was unreadable. His blue eyes were moving, looking me up and down, like he was studying me. I don't know if I'd ever felt more vulnerable than I did right then.

I decided I needed to say something, anything. I thought fast. "This. . . isn't what it looks like. . ." Wow. That was lame.

Will raised his eyebrows at me. "Really," he said skeptically. He walked over and bent down next to me. "Because it looks like you just got wet and then you grew a tail."

Crap. He had me there. He then took a strong arm and slipped it under my back, then slipped the other one under my tail and lifted me up. I felt his entire body tense when he touched my tail, but he didn't say anything. He walked me over and gently put me on the couch. "Explain," he ordered.

"Could you get me a towel?" I asked in order to avoid having to actually explain. Also, I would rather not just sit there with a tail.

"Not until you explain," he said. He was not making this easier.

"How'd you find out?" I demanded in a harsh tone. I still lay there with my tail as he took a seat in a chair where I lay.

"That's not important," he told me calmly. He was handling this way too well under the circumstances.

"It is to me," I shot back.

"Mary. . ." he coaxed soothingly, trying to get me to calm down. It wasn't working.

"Will," I spoke quick and aggressively.

"Calm down," he told me. "It's not the end of the world."

"Yeah, not for you," I muttered so he couldn't hear me.

"Mary," he repeated. "What's going on?"

I couldn't believe how incredibly calm he was about this. It wasn't right. He looked like he was about to hurl before and now all of a sudden he's cool and rational? It didn't make sense! I didn't know what to do. I just kind of lost it then.

"I don't know!" I was almost yelling. "I just. . . I just don't know. . ."

He moved on to a new question. "How long have you been like this?"

Due to the lack of water on it, my tail finally air dried and I transformed back, just like usual. I glanced at Will. His eyes were wide. He quickly shook it off. I returned to a sitting position and crossed my arms, not meeting his gaze.

"How long?" he repeated. I felt his eyes on me.

"I don't want to talk about it," I spoke firmly, still not looking at him.

He was silent for a moment and let out a sigh. I finally worked myself up to look over at him. He wasn't looking at me, but I could see a deep complexity in his eyes, one that I couldn't understand. He looked back at me and I looked away. "Why didn't you tell me?" he finally said.

I sighed. "Because I couldn't," I told him.

"Why?" he asked in reply.

"Because. . ." I had no idea what to say next. But I had to say something. "Because this is serious. And I can't just throw our secret around like that," I spoke as I thought of me and Jessie. And then I realized what I said.

Will noticed too. "Our?" he inquired.

Oh no. "My," I said quickly. "I meant my."

"But you said our," Will was persistent.

"Forget it, Will," I told him.

"Mary. . ." he started.

"I'm done talking about this," I made the snap decision as I stood up. "I'm going out," I headed for the door.

"Mary," I heard Will stand up behind me. He jogged up behind me and grabbed my arm, trying to make me stay. I quickly pulled out of his grasp and broke into a run out the door. I could hear him jogging too.

I didn't know what to do. If I just kept running, he'd make me come home. I made another snap decision. I ran for the dock and dove of the edge. I sunk down in the water, head first, and began swimming. Less than five seconds later, I heard another splash into the water. Will.

I transformed again. My speed before I transformed wasn't fast enough, and before I could break into a full mermaid swim, Will caught up to me. He swam up on my right side. I tried to swim faster, but he was keeping up speed somehow. He pushed towards my body and wrapped his left arm around my waist. When he finally got a good grip, he began dragging me towards the surface. I tried everything to break free of his grasp, but he was too strong. He held on and just pulled me up.

We finally reached the surface. We were floating on the surface for a second. Will was catching his breath while I, personally, was fine. Will's left arm was still clinging tightly around my waist, not letting me break free.

"Let me go," I told him sternly. I stopped struggling for a moment.

"No," he said just as stern. "You need to talk to me about this."

"I don't want to," I replied harshly. I lowered my voice. "At least not now. . ."

"Mary, you can't run away from this!" he said.

"I'm not!" I resulted to yelling now. "You just made me turn into a mermaid in our house and then began interrogating me about it! You honestly expect me to want to talk about it right after that?"

His grasp around my waist lightened a little. He was silent for a moment. "I. . . I'm sorry," he spoke gently now. "I was. . . just. . . worried, is all. . ."

"You don't need to be," I replied. "I'm fine. I just need time to think."

He finally released me. I swam around to face him, but he wouldn't look at me. "Ok," he agreed. He sighed. "I'm sorry," He repeated.

"I know you're worried. But I'm ok," I coaxed reassuringly. "I just need time. Can I please have that?"

He nodded, still not meeting my gaze. "Yeah," he spoke slowly. "Do what you need to do."

"Thank you," without another word, I dove beneath the surface and began swimming. I looked back. Will was underwater now too, watching me swim away. I broke into a torpedo swim and just kept going, not having a clue where I was headed.

There was a huge knot in my stomach now, but there was also a small feeling of hope in my heart that everything would be ok.