Sorry if it's been a while guys, but here's another chapter! Happy reading!
The next morning, Garret woke up to the start of a brand new day. He got up, got dressed, and went about another normal day at school. After the crazy adventure he had a couple days ago, Garret was looking forward to having a normal day at school.
However, as Garret went about his day at school, he wasn't thinking about school at all. All he could think about was the world of the Little Mermaid debating on whether or not he should still go over there. He could still remember meeting Ariel, her friends, her family, and even could remember Spot. Most of all, he could remember being chased by those three large sharks that attacked him and his friends. That was pretty much the biggest reason why he wasn't sure that it would be safe to venture into that world.
Soon enough, it was lunch period and Garret was sitting at the table by himself still thinking about his little problem playing with his lunch. As he did, a couple of the kids walked past him, a girl and a boy. As he took notice of them, he saw how much they were talking to each other. They looked to be the best of friends. Garret then turned back to his food not wanting to look at them anymore. Then not feeling hungry, Garret stood up and walked around the campus aimlessly not really having a destination to go to. As he walked, he passed by more students going about their day in school. Some of them looked at him and began whispering to each other, but Garret paid no mind as he kept on walking. It was all prattle talk anyway.
Soon enough, he came to the school library. He would always come here all the time whenever he had some free time or if he needed some time alone. After a few seconds of staring at the library, he decided to go inside.
"I might as well go there for a bit," he thought to himself. "Besides, I gotta return that book I just finished anyway. I wonder if there's anything new there."
He then walked into the library. Inside, the place was filled with tall bookshelves of books. There was also some large tables for the students if they wanted to do any reading and studying. It wasn't as big as any other library, but it wasn't that small either. As Garret walked inside, he looked around trying to find a certain individual. Then he saw the very person he was looking for.
Close by one of the bookshelves standing on a ladder putting books away, there was a woman. She appeared to be in her thirties about as old as his mom, had short blonde hair in a bob, wore glasses, and a long blue dress.
"Hello Ms. Gensar!" called out Garret.
The woman who Garret addressed as Ms. Gensar looked down at Garret and grinned upon seeing him.
"Oh! Garret! Hello there!" she said cheerfully. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," said Garret. "I just came to return the book I borrowed the other day."
"Just a moment!" said Ms. Gensar. "I'll be right down."
Ms. Gensar was one of the very few people that Garret spoke to, but at the same time it wasn't like he talked to her much. She was friendly, but Garret being the boy that he was, he hardly spoke to her if only when he was checking out books or turning some in.
She then placed put one more book back on it's shelf and climbed on down. At the very same time, Garret dug into his backpack and pulled out the book he was reading the other night and placed it on the counter. Ms. Gensar then grabbed the scanner and scanned it.
"My goodness," she said. "You only checked out this book a few days ago and you're already finished with it? Did you at least read the book?"
"Come on, Ms. Gensar, you know me better than that," said Garret. "I've always been a fast reader."
"So you keep telling me," smirked Ms. Gensar. "Anyway, what did you think? Did you like it?"
"It was really interesting," replied Garret. "Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I love reading every single word and going through every single page."
Ms. Gensar laughed. "I'm glad you liked it. Are you going to check out another book?"
"Of course I am," said Garret as he went over to a shelf looking through the books. "Do you have anything new?"
"Not for a while, but feel free to take a look," said Ms. Gensar. "There's bound to be a book that you haven't read yet. You just have to get a good look."
Garret walked into towards the bookshelves in the back and looked around checking the books from cover to cover trying to see if there was any books that were interesting to him. There books about history, books about how to do things, and even some books about manuals. But there wasn't a single book that Garret found an interest in.
"Man... there just isn't anything that sounds good right now," thought Garret. "There's gotta be something I haven't read yet."
He then walked towards the front shelves checking out the books on them. He ran his finger checking the titles of books from spine to spine. So far he still didn't find an book that struck him fancy, but then he saw a title of a book that made his finger stop.
The title read: Mermaids. The World's Most Beautiful Mythical Creatures.
As soon as Garret read the title, he immediately thought about Ariel and all the other mermaids back in Atlantica. This made him sigh.
"Oh for crying out loud," he muttered. "Is this someone's idea of trying to mess with me or something? I mean come on..."
Garret's finger hovered over the book for a few seconds trying to decide that if he should take a look at it or not. It wasn't exactly the last thing he wanted to read, but it for some reason some part of him was a tad curious. Finally after about a couple minutes of debating with himself, he finally took the book off of its shelf and put it under his arm. He also picked a couple of other books as well. Some of them were ones that he read like fairy tale books and others were books that he hadn't read before like books about the ocean and about the gods from Greek.
Eventually after a few minutes, he came up to the counter where Ms. Gensar was and placed his picks on the counter, so he could check them out.
"I take it that you found the books you were looking for?" she asked.
"No. Not really," Garret replied. "Most of the books I've found here are either ones I've read before or ones I picked just for the heck of it."
As Ms. Gensar scanned the books, she couldn't help but look at some of the titles.
"Mermaids huh?" she said thoughtfully. "Since when have you taken an interest in them?"
"Just now I guess," said Garret. "There isn't really any reason."
"I see," said Ms. Gensar. "So what have you been up to these days, young Garret? I know I've been seeing you around in the library lately, but..."
"Meh. I'm hanging in there," Garret said shrugging his shoulders. "Nothing really new I guess."
Ms. Gensar soon finished scanning the books and then she gave them back to Garret. "There you go. Your books are all checked out," she said. "Enjoy."
"Thank you Ms. Gensar. I will," said Garret.
He then stuffed the books into his backpack and then zipped up his backpack. He hoisted it onto his shoulders feeling the new weight of the books and was just about to walk out of the library when he heard Ms. Gensar.
"Excuse me, Garret? One moment please."
Garret turned around. "Yeah? What's up?"
"You know... I was wondering if you were feeling alright," said Ms. Gensar. "You seem a bit... conflicted about something."
"What makes you ask me that?" asked Garret.
"Well... for one thing whenever you pick out books, you go straight for the one that captures your interest," explained Ms. Gensar. "This time, you hesitated before picking one."
"Oh. You saw that huh?" said Garret. "I just wasn't sure if that was the one I wanted, so that's probably why."
"You know Garret, if you ever need to talk to someone, the councilors are always here," said Ms. Gensar. "And I'm always here too."
Garret flashed a smile trying to his best to be reassuring. "I appreciate your concern Ms. Gensar, but I'm fine," he said. "It's nothing for you to be worried about."
Then the bell began to ring. Signaling that it was time for Garret to return to class.
"I gotta go. I'll see you later Ms. Gensar," said Garret as he left through the front door.
Ms. Gensar watched as Garret left until he was out of sight. Then she sighed to herself as she resumed her daily duties.
"These kids today," she said to herself. "They always try to be strong about their problems thinking that they can handle it on their own."
Back in the world of Atlantica, Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian were speaking to King Triton about what had become of Spot. King Triton was at first shocked that Ariel and the others were attacked by sharks, but he calmed down a little when he found out that Spot that saved them.
"Well, so Spot was able to fend off some sharks and he was able to return to his family?" he asked.
"Yes, your majesty," said Flounder. "You should have seen it! We were all like, ahhh! And Spot was like grrr! And then Bam! Smash! Whip!"
"Alright Flounder, I think Daddy understands," giggled Ariel. "Anyway Daddy, you'll be happy to know that Spot is back where he belong with his family."
"Very good," smiled King Triton. "I'm proud of you Ariel. I know that Spot was like a son to you and you didn't want to let him go, but you did the right thing by doing so and now Spot is back where he belongs."
"Thanks Daddy," smiled Ariel. "I am gonna miss him, but I'm happier knowing that he's safe with his family."
"Me too," agreed Flounder.
"Yes. I will miss da kid too," said Sebastian. "But I'm happier knowing dat tings will be a little less quieter around here."
"By the way Ariel, where is Garret?" asked King Triton. "I don't see him with you."
"He went into his room your majesty," said Flounder. "He said he was feeling a bit tired."
"Well, I can't really blame da boy. I'd be tired too after having ta deal with a morning like dat!" said Sebastian.
"If he's tired, then let him rest for now. You can check up on him later," said King Trition. "In the meantime, Sebastian I would like for you to go on an errand for me just outside of the kingdom."
"Yes your majesty," said Sebastian.
Then the king and the crab went away leaving Ariel and Flounder by themselves.
"Well what should we do now, Ariel?" asked Flounder.
"Well... we do have a lot of free time now, so what do you say we go play Bubble Pop Ball?" asked Ariel. "I know a great place we can play just outside of the kingdom."
"But what about Garret? Shouldn't we wait till he's better?" wondered Flounder.
"No. Let's let him rest for now. We don't want to bother him," said Ariel. "Now come on, let's go."
Ariel and Flounder then swam out of the palace heading outside of Altantica.
Back in the real world, it was after school and Garret was walking outside of the school ready to head home. He looked around trying to see if his mother Charlotte's car had driven up yet. He then saw a blue car minivan pull up to the front of the school and he saw his mom in the driver's seat. He then went up to the car and got inside sitting in the front seat.
"Hello honey," greeted Charlotte. "How was school?"
"It was fine," said Garret. "Nothing to report, I guess."
"Are you sure? You seem a little down," said Charlotte. "You look like you've got a lot on your mind. You know if you ever need to talk son, I'm right here for you."
"I know Mom, and I appreciate that, but I'm fine. Really," I said. "I'm just... thinking about some things right now."
As his mother drove towards home, Garret stared out of the window looking at the trees and houses that went by lost in his own thoughts and still contemplating about going back to Atlantica or not. He was now at the point of an impasse. As he continued to stare out of the window, he thought about what his father said about wanting him to make friends and about Ariel and Flounder telling him that he was their friend.
Then Garret spoke. "Mom? Do you mind if I asked you something?"
"Sure son," said Charlotte. "Ask away."
Garret then paused choosing his words carefully before responding. "OK. Here's the thing. Recently... I met a couple of people who were really nice to me. So... I hung out with them for a while and they consider me to be their friend. But recently, there was a bit of an... accident that caused me to be a little scared. Not at my friends mind you, but a fight of sorts. We were able to get out of the fight unscathed and one even risked her life for me, but now it has me feeling a bit scared. Like... could I ever be friends with them or something like that. I mean these people told me that they consider me as a friend as did I, but I still can't help but feel a little scared for some reason. So... I was wondering... what should I do?"
Charlotte was silent keeping her eyes on the road as she was driving. After a while, she gave her response.
"Well, if you want my opinion about it, I'd say that you should take advantage," she said. "I mean you care about your new friends don't you?"
"I... guess so," said Garret doubtfully.
"Then why don't you be friends with them? After all you said it yourself, you consider them your friends as they do you," continued Charlotte. "In addition, a good friend would do anything for their friend even risk their life to protect them. That's what a true friend is. If I was in your position, I would thank the person who saved me and be their friend for the rest of my days."
"You really think so?" wondered Garret now looking at his mother with curousity.
Charlotte smiled. "I know so honey, but that's my opinion. It's really up to you on whether or not you should see your friends again."
Garret then looked down at the floor as the car pulled up to the driveway.
After a while, Garret ate dinner, did his homework, took a bath, and was now lying on his bed reading a book. As he read, he couldn't help but think about his mother's words. He then set his book down and then lied there on his bed staring up at the ceiling. After a few hours of staring up at the ceiling for who knows how many minutes he finally sat up and made a decision.
He got off his bed and then went over to his drawer and switched his pajamas with a pair of shorts leaving himself bare-chested and bare-footed. He got a flashlight and then quietly walked out of his room making sure that his parents and his sister were asleep not daring to wake them up. Soon enough, he came to the door of the attic. He looked back making sure that his family was still asleep. Then he pulled down the chain making the ladder come down and then he climbed up entering the attic.
As the ladder of the attic pulled up on its own and the door shut, Garret turned on his flashlight and looked around. The attic was still in the same state as it was when it entered it before. He shone the light all around until he came across the door leading to the room with the mirror which was opened wide.
"Guess I should probably remember to shut the door," Garret said to himself. "At least that way, I'll avoid suspicion with Mom."
He walked into the room and shut the door behind him. He then walked up to the mirror its glassy surface shining from his flashlight. He then set the flashlight down and faced the mirror. He took a deep breath and then placed his hand on the surface of the mirror.
"I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but... I wanna go back," Garret said to himself. "I want to know more about that world. I want to know more about Atlantica. Most of all, I want to be with my friends."
Then as if the mirror was responding to his call, the teal gem began to glow and shine and the surface of the mirror became watery. The singing voice was once again heard as well, its sweet song floating around the room.
A large rope of water shot forth from the mirror whipping and swirling around Garret like before. However, Garret didn't fight it nor did he move. He instead closed his eyes and waited. The rope of water spun itself around and around Garret until it was a dome. He also felt himself being lifted up from the floor and being drawn to the mirror. Then Garret was sucked into the mirror entering the world of Atlantica once more.