6.

Zac's second night as a full-time merman was spent in Rita's grotto pool. Mimmi had insisted on staying with him, so when he woke up it was to her gentle, open-mouthed snores. It wasn't as pleasant as staying in the moon pool; the moon pool was open, the light of the sun like a halo from the mouth of the volcano above. Rita's grotto was completely enclosed underground—there was no morning sunlight to shine down on them to herald the day.

He rolled over, feeling at just as much of a loss today as he had the day before. It was still strange not to have to get up, get dressed, brush his teeth, comb his hair, and all those other morning ablutions that basic human hygiene demanded.

In some ways, merpeople lived a much simpler life, he decided. And in others...not so much, he thought, when he realised breakfast would not be a simple matter of walking to the kitchen and opening the fridge for a plate of morning prawns.

He glanced at Mimmi, still snuffling away in her sleep, completely dead to the world, one arm flung over her body and the other trailing in the water, held up by the natural saline buoyancy. She had done so much for him these past few days that he decided to let her sleep in...and try to find breakfast himself.

The day-lit ocean made him blink when he emerged from the tunnel. At least he hadn't woken up impossibly early, although it was hard to tell exactly what time it was.

He swam to the reef where they had stashed the mesh bags Mimmi had helped him weave the day before. Tying one of each around both his wrists, he set off, eyes open for anything edible.

It was actually kind of fun—having to catch your own breakfast. It was just like camping. You ate off the land and the sea—or in this case, the coral and the sea.

He was feeling particularly accomplished when, after about twenty minutes of slow swimming across the reef, he headed back to Rita's with both mesh bags brimming with tasty morsels. Mimmi would no doubt get the shock of her life when he showed up with breakfast already sorted.

Just went to show he clearly knew more about this mer-style living than she gave him credit for. Besides, he'd always been a fast learner.

A few early morning seafarers passed by overhead and Zac stopped swimming to glance up at the shadows the boat hulls made against the surface. It was strange to think of those people up there, walking around on their boats, with nary an idea that directly below them a merman swam along.

He shook his head and darted in the direction of Rita's grotto. Barely slowing at the entrance, he nearly swam head-first into Mimmi. His tail caught and dragged the water as his arms quickly back-peddled. Bubbles escaped Mimmi's mouth in surprise as she rolled sharply out of the way.

After they had straightened themselves out, Mimmi sent him an annoyed look. Zac merely shrugged sheepishly and held up the mesh bags of edibles. Her expression immediately lightened and she grabbed his wrist to drag him back inside the grotto.

"Wow!" she praised, as she picked through the bags, lining things up on the stone ledge. "You caught all of this yourself?" When Zac nodded, she beamed at him. "I guess I don't have to teach you as much as I thought."

Zac shrugged again as she divvied up the clams he'd gathered, accepting his share and, when using his nails failed to pry them open, focused his power on splitting the shell open so he could scoop out the flesh.

As they ate, his eyes drifted across the subterranean space. On one side of the grotto sat his backpack and all of the work Evie and Cam had picked up for him. He and Evie had spent time going over it the night before, after which Rita had sent Evie home and taken over Zac's instruction. He still had to do the homework, but for once it was nice not to have to worry about due dates.

Besides, it was awfully hard to do your homework when you couldn't leave the water. Even keeping his upper body too dry for too long made his skin itch uncomfortably. It was the most bizarre sensation—like he'd been out in the outback all day without a drink of water—when all he'd done was wipe off the moisture on his skin for just under an hour.

"Zac?"

Zac blinked. "Huh?"

"You were staring really hard at nothing."

"Oh. It's nothing."

Mimmi shot him a skeptical look. Zac brushed it off again by concentrating on finishing his breakfast. He then went to check his phone for the time, but remembered he didn't have it, nor could he check the position of the sun. "Remind me to ask Rita about putting a clock in here," he muttered.

As if called by magic, they both heard movement come from the grotto's cavern. Mimmi began to clear away the remains of their meal, putting empty shells and things back into the mesh bags. By the time the echo of footsteps grew loud enough to be just around the corner, the ledge had been cleared and washed.

Evie peeked her head around the side of the grotto carefully. When she saw them there, both awake, she brightened, coming down the stairs with a smile. "Zac, Mimmi, good morning!"

They echoed her back, but Zac's brow furrowed. "Shouldn't you…?" he began.

Evie nodded quickly. "Yes, I need to be quick. Here." She held up a large duffle bag—Zac's duffle bag, which she'd been hiding behind her back. He stared at it, eyes widening. "So, me and Cam, we thought about what you said yesterday, about believability? Anyway, Cam snuck into your place and packed a bunch of your things to make it look like you'd...you know, whatever story you end up going with." She placed the duffle bag next to his backpack against the wall and Zac continued to stare at it blankly. "I know it only helps a little, but we thought it might make your parents less worried if it didn't look like you'd simply vanished into thin air."

Zac blinked rapidly, his breathing a little shaky. "Right," he replied, weakly. "Yeah. Okay. Thanks."

Likely sensing his distress, Evie didn't push the matter. Unable to touch him, she simply smiled, blew a kiss, and said her goodbyes. She hurried around the corner of the stairs, backpack slung over one shoulder and Zac ached to go with her.

He never thought he'd ever miss going to school. Never thought he'd want to go so badly it hurt.

He rubbed at his eyes slowly as Mimmi swam closer and placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

Zac took a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm fine."

He wasn't, but he was going to have to be.

He turned to face his sister and pretended not to notice the way she studied him worriedly. His eyes travelled back to the bag slumped against the wall. His lips twisted. "I guess no more excuses."

"Huh?" Mimmi twisted to follow his gaze. "Oh." Slowly, she caught his eyes with her own and held them there. "Zac...you need to tell them something."

"I know." He pressed his lips together. He let out a heavy sigh. "They don't deserve to think their son ran away from home."

Mimmi shook her head slowly. "But they don't deserve to think he's been kidnapped or dead, either."

Zac grimaced. That was clearly the worst possible option. Then again...if they thought he was in trouble, at least they wouldn't be emotionally hurt by his 'running away', and when he came back, they'd just be happy, rather than angry. But it was selfish to think that way. He only contemplated it for a second before discarding the thought. Putting his parents through that was the worst thing he could do. Letting them think he had run away, but was safe, was the much kinder option.

He sighed again.

He was going to be grounded until he died, after all this was said and done.

He bit the bullet that evening. After a day spent doing absolutely nothing of consequence except follow Mimmi around until she had to leave for her part-time job, he was completely bored and feeling a bit useless. Mimmi had offered to stay with him and call-in sick, or even quit, but he'd insisted she go. She shouldn't have to put her life on hold, just because his had suddenly ground to a halt.

He had been left completely to his own devices and had no idea what to do with himself except to swim around in circles, exploring the reef.

What did mermaids do all day?

At one point he ran into Ondina on her way to the café and asked her that very question. She had rolled her eyes and informed him there was plenty to do, if you knew where to look.

Not helpful.

By the time evening rolled around and Rita was back in the grotto, Zac was bored out of his skull and more than ready to simply gird his loins and call his parents. Mimmi still wasn't back from her job yet, and Evie was at work with Sirena, who was singing that night (maybe he could listen in from under the docks?), so it was just him and Rita.

She had handed him the phone after he dried his hand on a towel and then hovered by the stairs. "Do you want me to leave...or stay?" she eventually asked.

Zac bit his lip. "...stay," he decided. He might need her help with his alibi.

Rita nodded and settled down.

It was funny how just a year ago she'd been 'Principal Santos', the woman no one ever wanted to see outside of school, and now...now she was more like a favoured aunt. Practically family. In fact, considering she was pretending to be Mimmi's aunt, she kind of was family.

"You can do this, Zac," Rita urged.

Taking a deep breath and nodding, Zac dialled.

"Hello?"

"M-mum," Zac said, and his voice shook. He was both relieved and upset that it had been his mother who had picked up. In some ways it would have been easier to talk to his father...but it was good to hear her voice.

"Zac! I don't know how long this project of yours is, but I think you've imposed on Cameron's family for long enough. You need to come home, now."

Zac's fingers clenched hard around the phone's plastic casing and he had to force himself to relax. He tried to organise his thoughts, think of the best way to break the news. "Mum...I, uh…"

"Zac, honey, what is it?" Now she sounded concerned.

Zac licked his lips and his eyes met Rita's across the grotto. She gave him a supportive nod, expression solemn. He took a deep breath...and just blurted it out, "Mum, I'm not coming home."

There was silence on the other end of the line for an unbearably long time. Finally, he heard her exhale softly and say, "Excuse me? You...what?"

"I'm...not coming home."

"Zac Blakely, what do you mean you're not coming home?" she demanded sharply.

"That," Zac replied shakily, pressing the phone hard against his ear. "Exactly. I'm not—I can't—come home. I…" Shit, where were his excuses? His carefully planned words? They flew out the window completely and left him with an empty mind and a thudding heart.

"You can't come home?" his mum repeated incredulously. "Is this some school thing? Have you and Cam gotten yourselves into some kind of trouble?"

He couldn't implicate Cam, so he shook his head, but she couldn't see that. "Uh, no, we're not in trouble."

"I'm calling your Principal. Whatever project or assignment this is, it's gone on too long. I'll have a chat with her and-"

"Wait!" Zac squeaked out, before she got it into her head to hang up and call the exact same number he was using. "Uhh...it's not...not an assignment. I, uh…"

"Young man, did you lie to me?"

"Well, I…"

"And Cam, was he in on this? Where are you, Zac? Tell me right now."

"Not here!" Zac snapped, exhaling sharply. "I...I told you, I can't come home, okay? I'm...somewhere."

"Somewhere," his mother echoed in clear disbelief. She fell silent for a second and Zac reached up to run a hand through his hair. He let his forehead drop to the stone ledge and tried not to groan. This was going just as badly as he had imagined it would. Abruptly, she continued, "If I call the school and ask them about your attendance, what are they going to tell me?"

Zac looked beseechingly at Rita, covered the mouth of the phone and whispered, "What's my school excuse?"

Rita sighed. "I informed your teachers you were ill. I suppose it's going to have to be something fairly nasty to keep you out of school for a whole month." She pursed her lips in annoyance.

Zac thought quickly. "I, uh, the school thinks I'm sick," he told the mouthpiece.

"They think you're sick!"

His head thumped against the ledge again. "I told you, I'm...not here. I...went somewhere. So I can't be in school...and I can't come home."

His mother breathed heavily over the phone. "Zac, what's going on? Are you in trouble?"

That really rather depended on your definition of trouble, he thought. If your definition included mermaids out for your blood...then yes. If your definition also included being trapped in the ocean, then also yes.

But he couldn't say that. And he didn't want her to think he was in some kind of land person trouble like...being witness to a violent crime or something. Actually...maybe he could pretend he was in witness protection...that was a thing, right?

No—that would only worry his parents as well. Everything that involved his involuntary disappearance would worry his parents. If he were a more selfish person, maybe he could do it, but…

"Zac!"

Zac blinked at the phone in his hand and pressed it back against his ear. "No, I'm not in trouble. I'm fine. I promise. I just...can't come home, okay?"

"Why?"

Zac's mouth opened and closed. "Why?" he repeated.

Rita's sharp gaze caught his again and she raised an eyebrow. He shrugged miserably. 'Nerissa', she mouthed.

Zac bit his lip.

"Yes, Zac, why can you not come home? Where are you? What on earth is going on!" His mother grew more angry, more hysterical with each question, until she was practically shouting down the other end of the line. Zac could only stare at the floor of the grotto with wide eyes, mind still horribly blank. All his excuses had fled, he couldn't think, he...

"I...I can't explain. I'll call you later. Okay, love you, bye!"

He hung up.

Rita sighed from her perch on the steps and slowly put a hand to her forehead. "Zac…" she muttered reproachfully.

Zac put down the phone, groaned, and buried his head in his arms. "'M'sorry," he said, voice muffled. "I just panicked!"

"Zac," Rita repeated with a sigh.

Zac raised his head. "I mean, I had like a million excuses, but all of them would have upset her in different ways. I thought about saying I was in witness protection, but that would make them worry I was in danger. I thought about saying I'd run away. I thought about saying I was on a sudden school trip…"

"You can't use school, or me, as an excuse, Zac, I'm sorry," Rita butted in, lips pinched. "They'll investigate and I'd lose my job. It's too risky."

Zac groaned again. "Okay, well, you see the issue. There's no good excuse."

"Zac, not telling them anything is just as bad."

He thumped his head against the lip of the pool again and contemplated sinking to the bottom and just pretending the rest of the world didn't exist. It wouldn't be too far off from the truth, anyway. "I know," he sighed.

Rita stood and walked the short distance from the steps to the pool. She crouched down, hand reaching for the phone. She paused when she had it in hand, looking from it to Zac. "Maybe it's time you trusted your parents with your secret."

Zac stared at her in horror. His mouth dropped open. "Are you serious?"

Rita straightened, smoothing down her shirt and undoing a crease in her trousers. The phone dangled from one hand. "Yes, I'm serious."

"But it's not just my secret to tell," Zac countered, eyes still wide with surprise.

He remembered a time when he would have jumped at telling people what he could do, but knowing the truth now, knowing what was at stake...it was just too risky. It wasn't just his secret anymore, but the secret of an entirely different world. It was his sister's secret, and Rita's, and all the other merfolk's.

Not to mention that his parents would never look at him the same way again.

He'd never had to tell someone a secret of this magnitude before.

When he had told Cam, it had been different. Back then, it had felt like he had gained a cool super-power, but he had still been Zac Blakely…the human. Cam had had time to get used to his powers before finding out the real truth. Evie finding out had been an unavoidable mistake, he hadn't told her so much as accidentally shown her. Her acceptance had been much harder to come by.

He couldn't only imagine how his parents would react. Surprise? Horror? Disgust?

Even if they were accepting...they'd never be able to forget that he wasn't human. They'd know he was different. They'd treat him differently.

Just the thought of them looking at him with that knowledge in their eyes terrified him.

Rita tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and pursed her lips, looking down at Zac with softening eyes. "I know it's not easy. They're your parents. But do you honestly think you can go the rest of your life without telling them the truth? This way they can know who you really are and you won't need to lie to them anymore."

That perspective had its appeal, but Rita had hit the nail on the head: it wasn't easy.

He licked his lips and pushed back from the ledge. "I'll...think about it. I, uh, gotta go." He didn't, really, but he could use Sirena's singing as an excuse. If he swam under the café's docks, he'd probably be able to hear.

He had nothing better to do with his evening.

"Alright, Zac. But please, think about it and know that we'll support your decision. I'm willing to speak with your parents about things, if you decide that's the route you want to go."

Zac paused in the middle of the pool in surprise. He shot Rita an wide-eyed look. "Really? You'd do that?"

She nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Of course."

That...made the prospect a little less daunting. "I...I'll think about it."

Rita nodded and left the conversation at that. Zac watched her go and sat in the middle of the pool, thinking. He was still thinking when he ducked underwater and headed on auto-pilot towards the café's docks. The water around him was dark and silent, but glittered with moonlight enough to see by. The ocean was such an incredible place - bright and colourful during the day, and dark and mysterious during the night.

His mind was awhirl. He just didn't know what to do. Tell his parents or not?

On the one hand, it would be such a relief not to have to lie. For them to know. To not have to hide who he was. He could introduce them to Mimmi…

On the other hand, the risk was enough to make his stomach churn. He needed to talk to Mimmi. Maybe she could help him sort out this mess in his head. It would affect her just as much as him, if he told them.

And Evie. He should talk to her as well. She knew his parents —knew how they'd react. Not to mention she'd gone through the same shock, once, when she found out about him and the girls.

Navigating to the café docks in the dark was a lot harder than during the day, but in the months he'd had to explore the coastline, he'd become pretty efficient at getting around by locating significant underwater landmarks and by judging the steepness of the underwater slopes at different points along the docks and beaches. When he began to make out the long, barnacle-encrusted wooden poles that held up the huge pier that David's café sat on, he slowed down until he floated directly underneath their dark shadow. Not even the moonlight could pierce the darkness underneath, and the water was cooler and more still.

He surfaced silently and peered up through the dark slats in the pier. Footsteps echoed from above, along with dripping and the lapping of waves. And, faintly, Sirena's voice.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to carry so well beneath the wood.

Zac glanced around. He could see David's boat tied up at the dock, but it was empty. No one was around to see him, so he felt safe in moving out from underneath the pier and circling the side of the café until he was directly below but to the side of the pier, closest to the door. Still nothing. He could hear her voice, faintly, but it was like it was being snatched away by the wind.

He sighed. So much for that plan.

Suddenly, there was a niggling sort of tingle in his head, like an itch he couldn't scratch. He blinked a few times to get rid of it, but it grew stronger, and then suddenly, his mind flashed to an underwater scene. Strands of dark hair floated across his vision and he could see the darkened coral that marked the entrance to the moon pool.

Just as suddenly as the vision had come over him, it left, and the niggling sensation in his mind died.

He shook his head, putting a hand to his forehead as his brow crinkled. That had seemed an awful lot like the times he'd sensed Mimmi was in danger and had seen through her eyes...but Mimmi wasn't in danger...was she?

He had seen the entrance to the moon pool...dark hair...like Mimmi's…

But why?

He ducked underwater and kicked his fins a few feet, drifting forward and staring out into the darkness. He wasn't getting a feeling of panic or fear from her, but why else would he have had that strange vision?

He felt a disturbance in the water, and froze, squinting into the darkness. Then, suddenly, Mimmi came torpedoing towards him and flipped to a halt feet away. He twisted aside and stared at her with wide eyes. She grinned at him and pointed to the surface.

As soon as they emerged beneath the pier, Mimmi let out a breathless laugh. "It works!"

Zac opened and shut his mouth. "What?"

Mimmi gestured animatedly. "Well, I thought, okay, so we can sense when one of us is in distress right? Like, upset or scared."

Zac nodded.

"So I thought, why not try to use our connection to figure out where you were? I checked the moon pool and Rita's grotto and you weren't there and I didn't want to search the whole coast." She paused, shaking her head like that was absurd. "So I concentrated really hard on our connection and voila!"

That...was actually kind of handy. "I felt you," he informed her, "but it was different —there was no emotion. I could just see what you saw for a second."

She beamed. "I know, I think if we practice we can always find each other."

"Like a mental telephone," Zac said thoughtfully. Considering that keeping track of someone in the ocean was rather difficult, he could see how this might be incredibly useful if they could send mental images to each other.

"Exactly!" Mimmi glanced up at the dock above them. "Is Sirena singing tonight?"

Zac sighed. "Yeah, but I can't really hear from down here."

Her face fell slightly. "Sorry, Zac."

He shrugged it off. "It's fine." It wasn't fine. He felt incredibly ostracised. Everyone was continuing on with their lives, but he was stuck on pause. It was…frustrating.

Mimmi saw right through him. She bobbed in place, turning away from the faint strains of sound. "What about your parents, did you talk to them yet?"

Zac sunk down to his chin guiltily. He considered submerging himself completely and pretending he hadn't heard her. "Uhhh…Sort of."

The look she sent him was full of reproach. "Zac."

He looked away. "I…"

"Tomorrow," Mimmi informed him through narrowed eyes. "Don't make me take things into my own hands. I'll go talk to your parents myself if I have to."

He whirled on her. "Don't you dare!"

She set her jaw in an expression he knew meant nothing would change her mind. They shared that particular stubborn trait. He clenched his teeth. "Mimmi," he warned.

She raised an eyebrow. "I will, Zac. You have to face this. Just tell them. Stop putting it off."

"Fine!" he snapped exasperatedly.

"Good."

[31.03.16] What's this, another chapter? Shocking, I know. I've been doing a bit more writing recently. Oh, and costuming. You know when you get sudden creative urges and think "Hmm, I should make a historically accurate Regency ball gown"? Yeah, I got one of those.

Meanwhile, Zac might be capable of adapting to his situation but he's still not coping with the sudden cut-off from all he's ever known. Cue more angsting, oh, and a little bit of plot development...