§ § § -- April 4, 2005
Haruko had two classes with David, one in the late morning and the other near the end of the school day. She managed to avoid him in the first class; but she had no such luck in the second, which was her science class and the one for which she had furiously written out her extra-credit report the previous evening. Her mother had insisted that she have a thorough bath after a weekend's immersion in salt water, and Haruko had only reluctantly submitted; it had surprised her to find that she was tired of being wet, though her skin and hair had been uncomfortably sticky with salt and other things the brine had left behind.
Her teacher looked at her with surprise when she approached the desk and presented the report. "What's this?"
"I thought I might try for some extra credit," Haruko ventured, a little bashfully. "I spent some time…out at sea, studying exotic fish and things like that."
"Well, as a matter of fact, that fits right in with the marine curriculum I'd planned to introduce to close out the year's final grading period," the teacher said. "Why don't you stay up here a bit, let me get the class under way, and then we'll have you read your report out loud." So saying, she quieted the students while Haruko mentally groaned and wished she had just waited till the end of the class and sneaked the pages onto her teacher's desk.
"Class, for the final grading period of this school year, we're going to study marine life, and by way of an initial overview we happen to have a report by Haruko Miyamoto. We would both appreciate it if you'd all show her a little common courtesy and listen while she reads—thank you. Haruko?"
Haruko hoped nobody would notice her shaking hands—at least, nobody behind the front row. She took one deep breath and began reading before she could chicken out any further, and rattled through the entire report without once looking up from her papers. Her classmates remained quiet, and when she finished she began to turn away with relief, only to hear the class applauding. She blinked, then grinned and handed the teacher the report before hurrying back to her seat.
David Omamara, who sat in the next row to her left and two seats farther ahead, had twisted around in his chair and was staring at her. "Where'd you learn all that?" he whispered while the teacher was writing out the basic topics of her latest curriculum on the chalkboard. "You must've gotten it off the net."
"Think so?" Haruko asked sweetly. "Too bad you didn't write one yourself. You had the chance after you fell off that boat yesterday." David's eyes went wide at this remark, and Haruko just couldn't stifle a tiny, satisfied smirk before pulling out her science text and placing the rest of her books under her chair.
"How'd you know about that?" David demanded, forgetting to whisper.
"David Omamara," said the teacher firmly, "kindly face the front and pay attention." David turned reluctantly around, but Haruko could tell he was steaming, and she felt pretty good at having bested him for one of the rare times in the history of his teasing her.
But the kid sitting behind David snickered. "Mrs. Dobson, as long as we're listening to special reports about the ocean, maybe David here oughta get up in front of the class and tell everybody about the mermaid he saw yesterday."
The teacher stared at him in reprimand while the class broke into laughter. Haruko looked around the room; there were a lot of knowing looks, and she wondered how many of their classmates had been watching the regatta that weekend. David whipped around in his chair and slugged the boy behind him, his face flaming. "Shut up, Marquard!"
The boy grinned broadly. "Still stickin' to that goofy story, huh?"
"I did see a mermaid," David snapped at him. "You were on that boat too, y'know. In fact, I saw two of 'em—and one was her." He pointed at Haruko.
"Class, class," the teacher called loudly over the din and the lingering laughter. "Let's settle down and stop the nonsense. David and Shane, please, pay attention."
But Shane Marquard was clearly having too much fun at David's expense, and Haruko had to admit she was enjoying it immensely. Let him see what it feels like to have somebody humiliating you in public! "Mrs. Dobson, maybe Dave could get some extra credit too if he told everybody what he saw this weekend."
Mrs. Dobson, looking weary and put-upon, sighed deeply. "David?"
"Come on, David, tell us," several voices encouraged wickedly, giggling.
By now David could have passed for a traffic light, there was so much blood in his face. "Yeah, okay, fine, so I was part of the crew on a boat in the regatta yesterday. And fine, so I fell off, and I can't swim. But I swear to you, there is no way I could've ever gotten outta the water, and not drowned, if it wasn't for that mermaid who saved me. There were two mermaids, and the one that saved me was blonde. The other one was her." Once more he pointed at Haruko. The class roared again, and David's ruddiness began to shade in the direction of purple. "I swear!"
Mrs. Dobson shook her head in resigned amusement and lifted both hands, palms down. "That will do, class. I think we've had our dose of humor for one day."
Shane Marquard and quite a few other kids were peering at Haruko, their eyes still alight with mirth. "What's with him sayin' you were a mermaid?" Shane asked.
Haruko shrugged lightly. "Oh, he probably just had the bends or something," she said, but she could see David's miserable face just behind Shane and felt a sudden pang of conscience. "Well, hey, you know we're on Fantasy Island…"
She left the sentence hanging, and the kids around them looked at one another, most with tentatively thoughtful expressions. Then, one by one, they shook their heads and let out snickers. There were a couple of muttered "no way"s, and Shane snorted, rolled his eyes and turned around in his seat. David sank back into his own, his face very slowly beginning to fade back to its normal color as Mrs. Dobson succeeded at last in distracting the class.
At the end of the school day Haruko was lucky enough to snag an empty seat close to the front of the school bus she rode, and was reaching up to try to work the balky window down when she felt someone else thump into the seat beside her. She peered over her shoulder and groaned aloud; it was David again. "What?"
David cleared his throat, looking embarrassed, though not quite as much as he had in class earlier. "I, uh…well, I just wanted to say…thanks for getting Marquard and those other morons off my back."
Haruko stared at him in disbelief, then nodded once, tentatively. "Sure."
"Listen…I guess I kinda owe you one…reminding them about this island. I mean, yeah, I know, not that they believed it really, but…at least it made 'em shut up, know what I mean? So I just thought I'd say thanks." David fidgeted, and Haruko expected him to get up and bolt to his usual seat in the back of the bus; but he lingered for some reason.
Just when she was about to demand what else he wanted, he looked up at her and leaned in much too close for comfort. "Hey," he whispered, "you can tell me the truth and I won't blab about it, solemn oath. Was that other mermaid really you?"
Haruko debated telling him, wondering what he would do with the information. The incident in class had proven that nobody was really going to believe him even if she told him the truth, so what precisely could he say? She shrugged a shoulder and admitted very quietly, "Yeah, it was me."
"I knew it," David said, very self-satisfied. "Good, 'cause I wanted to ask you. Was that other mermaid a friend of yours? Can you, well, you know…introduce us sometime?"
Haruko gawked at him, a grin beginning to split her face. For once, she had the upper hand with her longtime nemesis, and it felt euphoric. "Well, I don't know," she drawled, settling back into her seat and regarding him with exaggerated doubt.
"Aw, c'mon," David wheedled. "She was gorgeous. There's no girl in this lousy school that's half that pretty. What would I hafta do to get her to notice me?"
Haruko decided not to tell him about Akima's admitted attraction to him; after all he'd done to her, he could stew for a while. "For one thing, you'll have to learn how to swim," she said, grinning. "Then maybe she'd talk to you."
For just a moment David looked taken aback; then he nodded once, grabbed his backpack and headed for the back of the bus, determination on his face. Haruko watched him go, then turned back to the window to try again to get it down. She knew it was hopelessly stuck, but it was the only way she could hide her laughter. Thanks, Akima, my friend, she thought gleefully. She knew both Akima and Andonen would enjoy this tale when she saw them again—and maybe, so would Miss Leslie and Mr. Roarke.
Thanks for your patience during the nearly two months it's taken me to complete this story! I hope to get the next one done a little quicker. :) In that one, Taro Sensei's world has already begun to crumble around him. How long will his fragile new life hold up now that he's moved back home to Fantasy Island?
