See? Told ya I would update soon! Keep up the encouraging reviews. This is one of the longer chapters I've written, and its pretty good, if I do say so myself :D

Enjoy!

POV: Amanda

Being a mermaid had its drawbacks, but swimming wasn't one of them. I swam whenever I had the chance. The four of us could already swim much faster than the average human, but I could go faster than all of them. The water rushed by me, the air bubbles tickling my stomach. A school of silvery fish freaked out ahead of me, and dissolved into pairs as I passed. I smiled to myself and surfaced. I could hold my breath for over ten minutes, and I still didn't need to breathe, but somehow, being under the water makes you all disoriented. The warm breeze dried the immediate moisture of my checks, as I tried to figure out where I was. Spotting the secluded but still close to home spot on the beach where I'd left a towel and some other things, I slipped back under the water and rocketed towards it. After not so gracefully hauling myself up onto the dry sand, I reached for the fluffy towel and began drying off. I wasn't any hurry, but I didn't want to wait for three hours for my hair to dry either. When my skin and scales were mostly dried off, I wrapped my hair into the towel, turban style, and leaned back onto my elbows to watch to pitching waves. The sunshine glinted off the coppery red scales of my tail, and the sound of the ocean and spray of the sea-a safe distance away from me- was relaxing. For once, my world was all as it should be. For now. Any minute now, something was going to happen, and the world I'd put back together with chewing gum and band aids was going to break. It always did, somehow. I sighed. At least it wasn't cracking yet. Suddenly, behind me, I heard nonchalant footsteps. I whirled my head around. Here I was sitting in all my mermaid glory, and someone was coming. I could tell they were running. I saw a head of dark brown hair appear, and I knew who it was a second later. Carter Johnson-again. My heart thumped wildly in my chest, as someone was about to discover my secret.

"Don't come any closer!" I shrieked desperately. The footsteps stopped.

"Um, okay." He said, his voice very deep, as usual. I didn't think he could see me from where he was, but I could see him. He stood awkwardly, peering around. Suddenly, he spotted me.

"Amanda? What are you doing here?" No "you're a freakin mermaid", or gasps of surprise. Nothing. He can't see my tail. I sighed with relief, until he started towards me.

"No-wait!" I yelled. "Stay there!" He stopped in mid stride.

"Why?" Because I don't want you to see I'm a mermaid!

"Uh, well, just a minute!" I called in a sing-song. "I'm, um, I'm changing clothes!" I watched him turn beet red.

"Why?" He repeated. What guy asks a girl that!

"Uh, the water line at my house broke, so I'm, uh, taking a bath." No! Don't say that!

"In the ocean?" He asked dumbly. I laughed nervously.

"Uh, yeah. It'd better than nothing." I said.

"Well, uh, sorry for trespassing on you." He said, turning to go. I sighed with relief.

"Thanks for not, you know, spying on me or anything…like that." I said awkwardly. He stood with his back to me for a moment, then disappeared.

"That was close!" I whispered to myself. And just then, my mermaid GPS decided I was dry enough, and I changed back. Laughing, I shook my head. This was going to be great.

Nearly half an hour later, I sprinted up the front steps, and dashed across the porch. I opened the door, the very squeak sounded guilty. I was late-again. After my near exposure by Carter, I'd taken the long way home to avoid him. As quietly as I could, I slipped through the foyer and past the dining room and joint kitchen. My mother and John were sitting on the sofa in the living room, talking in hushed voices.

"I'm so-o sorry I'm late." I said quickly. "I'll watch the br-kids as long as you need me to." I was going to have to stop calling them brats in my head, or one day I might say it out loud. John stood up and sighed. Mom glanced up at him, utterly submissive. He was so controlling!

"You were late two days ago, and yesterday you deliberately walked out when I was talking to you. You didn't come home yesterday until evening, and now you think you can just waltz in here and think everything is fine?" He shook his head. "Your mother and I want what's best for you, but you are making things very hard for us." He rubbed his temples, very dramatic of him. "We told you to be home by four, and you're nearly a half hour late."

"I'm sorry, I…" You what? Almost got caught in all your mermaid glory? "I lost track of time." I said, the excuse sounding very lame. "I'll try better next time." For several agonizing seconds, the only sound was the kids playing on the back porch. Then Mom spoke.

"Amanda, honey, you know we go out on Tuesdays." She said softly. "This can't happen again." I nodded. I didn't want to be in trouble again.

"Since you've been late to watch your siblings for the past several days, your mother has had to cover for you." John said. "And to make up for that, I want you to watch them all day, until Saturday. No leaving to socialize with your friends, no phone calls, nothing. And your mother gets a week off." I felt my eyebrows shoot up. I was basically grounded, except now I had to babysit the step-brats, probably without getting paid.

"But-" I stuttered.

"No buts." John said forcefully. He turned to Mom, "It's already been decided. We'll be back around ten. Make sure Jimmy's in bed by eight, and Lucy by eight- thirty." I stared at him, slack jawed. The door to the back porch opened, and the step-brats ran inside and into the kitchen.

"And one more thing, Amanda." Mom said, rising from the couch. "I know John isn't your biological father, but he is your father figure. We would like you to apologize for what you said yesterday morning. For saying he wasn't your father." But he's not! The silence stretched.

"Well? We're in a hurry." John said. I opened my mouth but no words came out.

"uh…" I managed. "But, Mom, he really isn't my dad!" I blurted. "I have the right to state the truth!"

"You have no right to speak to either of us that way!" John boomed. "Apologize!" The tears threatened to spill now. Why do I cry when I'm mad? Why? All of the sudden, Jimmy ran into me from behind. And spilled water all over me.

"Oops! Sowwy, Manda." He gurgled, picking up his cup-thankfully a plastic one. Panic seized me. Oh my gosh! What do I do! Out of the corner of my eye, I spied the downstairs bathroom. I fled.

"Amanda!" John yelled behind me. I bolted inside and locked the door, just before my tail appeared, and I flopped down on the cold tile.

"Manda's in trouble!" I heard Lucy giggle. The knob jiggled, and Mom tapped softly on the door.

"We'll talk about this when we get back." She said sternly. "But we have to go." I heard the front door close, and cartoons started on the TV. I let the tears come. My world had broken again. It was time for more band aids.

What did ya think? The more reviews I get, the more encouragement I get! But, homework calls, so I won't start another chapter.