When I woke up the next morning I was smiling. I tried to wipe the grin off my face all day, but it was nearly impossible. I wasn't the only one who noticed.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Claire asked at breakfast.
"I don't know. It's a new day. New experiences."
She cast me a look.
"What? A guy can't just be happy?"
"A guy can. You can't."
"Why not?"
"I don't know, because you hate it here?" She rolled her eyes. "It's all you've been complaining about. Back in Wisconsin, on the plane, once we got here… I've heard your phone calls to your friends."
This almost sunk my good mood, bringing up those phone calls. All of them have ended badly, usually with my friends having to leave for some party or school function. But I felt like I was floating on a cloud of happiness far above any possible bad feelings.
"Stop trying to ruin your brother's good mood," my mom said to Claire. Then, she mumbled, just loud enough for me to hear, "You know they don't come around too often." Claire, and I, shrugged the comment off.
My mom made a sort of "tsk, tsk" noise. "So, what you you two plan on doing today?"
"Swim?" Claire asked hopefully.
"Maybe." Mom turned to me. "What about you?"
I took another bite of my cereal and shrugged. "Not much, really. Just… hanging out."
"Well, I was thinking we could all go into town today. Maybe see a movie or something, and check out the school."
"Ooh!" Claire cooed excitedly. "I've been so excited to do that! Hey, I wonder what different movies they have here than in the States…"
I gulped. "I don't know…"
"Oh come on, Dylan," Mom said. "It'll be fun."
I purposefully coughed into my elbow. "I think I might be coming down with something though…"
"You were fine a few minutes ago," said Claire.
"I guess, but better safe than sorry, right?"
Claire sighed. "See? I told you you'd get sick after that stupid stunt…"
"What stunt?" Mom asked.
Claire and I met each other's eyes. It was the unspoken rule between us that we didn't tell our parents about any sneaking out or other misbehaviors we witness. I'm pretty sure it's some sort of sibling code.
"Never mind," we both said at once. My mom only raised an eyebrow.
I tried changing the subject. "So, where's dad?"
"Oh," she sighed. "He's sleeping. We had to go in yesterday to fill out forms, and he said he'd finish some of mine when I fell asleep first." Her eyes looked towards their bedroom door. "We haven't even technically started this new job of ours, and we're already super busy!" But I was guessing my mom liked it more than she let on. Keeping busy was her and dad's thing. I don't think they'd like it if they had nothing to do.
"Then wouldn't we be too busy to go out today anyways?" Claire was staring daggers at me, trying to get me to shut up.
Mom waved her hand and took a sip of her coffee that, to me, personally, was incredibly too dark. "Nonsense. If we can't have some fun here, why come at all?"
I was almost tempted to add, "Why indeed," but decided against it. I needed to get out of this conversation, and fast.
"Maybe you three can go. I'll just stay inside today."
"But it'd be good for you to come outside… we might even stop at a beach along the city." Claire squealed with excitement, and I smiled forcefully. That actually sounded great… if only it didn't involve my obnoxious family.
"I really would love to come, but I want to feel better for the first day of school. All that activity might be detrimental to my health." The lie slipped smoothly from my lips.
"Hmm… well…"
"I promise I'll go next time," I added on.
Mom sighed. "Alright, fine. But just so you know, the liquor cabinet's locked," she teased. I rolled my eyes.
"Please. As if I didn't know that the only thing you keep in there right now is gin. Which, by the way, is disgusting." I left my dishes in the sink and bounded upstairs, shutting the door behind me.
My eyes flicked towards my clock on the other side of the room. Five o'clock couldn't come fast enough.
My parents and sister left for town at three, and I had no idea what to do for the next two hours. So, of course, I turned to my music.
Even while being drowned in the lyrics of Imagine Dragons- not my favorite band, but it was good nonetheless- my thoughts kept wandering back to Tara. There were so many questions I wanted to ask her. Like, who's her family? Does she have some sort of pod? Does she have any friends? Although it's obvious she has at least one, if you could call that one mer-chick screaming at her by the rocks a friend. What's her favorite food? Has she ever met another human before? I was thinking she has, because she wasn't overly surprised at seeing me. I'd seen Aquamarine before with Claire- she practically begged me to watch it, I swear, it had nothing to do with my own desires- and in that, the mermaid is fascinated by humans. I wondered so many things about Tara I felt like my head was going to explode.
When even my music ceased to become a distraction that was working for me, I grabbed my laptop and went onto Facebook. This was only depressing, though, since all I saw were my friends status updates. I checked my Twitter too, but that website is really only entertaining for short periods of time.
Frustrated, I set everything aside and lied back onto my bed. In my head, I went over my options, checking yes or no. I could go eat (nah, not really hungry), I could go for a walk (again?), I could play Flappy Bird on my phone (no, that would make me hate life even more), I could call one of my friends (yeah, definitely not).
In the end, I went back onto my laptop and watched Netflix, no matter how much I was trying to avoid that unproductive option. And I suppose there was some good out of it… I got to squeal over Merlin without being worried anyone would hear me.
Two hours passed quickly enough doing this, and soon enough it was 4:55. With a huge grin on my face, I ran downstairs and out the door. It wasn't as nice as it had been the past few days, with some clouds hanging over the sky, but there was still a scorching warmth present.
I tried to not look too excited by the time I reached the rocks, not wanting Tara to be scared off or anything. When I arrived, the first thing I heard was a loud splash.
"Hello?" I asked hesitantly.
I heard spluttering and coughing, and jump off the last rock. Tara was lying on her back, eyes wide and hand on her chest. Her eyes fluttered, and she coughed once more.
"Woah, are you okay?" I asked. I sat down next to her on my knees.
She turned her head towards me and sighed. slowly "Yeah- cough- sorry. I kind of just breathed in some water on accident." Her head turned away from me in embarrassment. "Yeah, I know, stupid..."
"Wait, you can't breathe water?"
"No…"
"But aren't you a mermaid?" Tara chuckled slightly. She flipped her tail over- with great difficulty, I might add- so she was lying on her stomach.
"Not everything you hear about us is true," she said. "For one thing, we can't breathe water." She pointed to her neck. "No gills. But we can hold our breath for up to half an hour, so… it kind of makes up for it."
"Wow. That's amazing."
"Thanks..."
"Thank you," I corrected. "For actually, um, showing up."
"I said I would. Unlike some people, I keep my promises." The corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile.
"I said I'm sorry."
"Really? I don't recall that."
"Well, I'm saying it now." I liked the way her words lilted in a funny way like the rest of the natives here.
There was silence for a moment as I situated myself next to her. It was hard for me to focus on anything but how scorching hot the sand was at that moment for some reason. All of my questions flew right out of my head.
"So…" Tara started. "Do you…" She rubbed her neck uncomfortably. "Uh, want to go for a swim?"
I blinked. "A swim?"
"Yeah. A swim." Her eyes looked upwards, as if specifically avoiding eye contact. "With me."
"How would that work?" I asked. "I mean, you must be a pretty good swimmer, and I… well, you've seen how well I can swim."
Tara laughed lightly at that. "Don't worry, I promise it's not dangerous."
I raised my eyebrows doubtedly at her.
"Really! I mean it!"
I shrugged. "Okay. fine, I guess." I stood up and hesitated. "Wait, I'm not wearing any swim trunks."
She looked at me dubiously. "You came down to the beach to meet a mermaid and you didn't wear a swimsuit?"
"Hey! I'm sorry. I'm kinda new to this."
Tara sighed. "Alright. Hurry up, then."
I did. I ran to the house and changed into swim shorts so fast I would have thought it physically impossible. They were different than the one's I threw out my window (the ones I still have outside my window that I should probably pick up). Then, I ran right back to the rocks and met Tara, who was doing something quite weird to pass the time.
Her hand was angled towards a small crater in the sand where water had gathered. Her palm curled, fingers outstretched, and as she lifted them upwards, to my amazement, the water actually moved with them.
A long coil of water- much more than what was originally in the small basin- lifted in the air, and Tara manipulated it to form different shapes. When I came upon her, I think she was trying to make a star.
"Woah," I said, amazed. In surprise, Tara dropped her hand. The water dropped with it.
"Oh!" she exclaimed nervously. "You saw that?"
I hardly noticed her question. "That's… you…"
She flinched. "Too weird, right?"
I shook my head. "No way! It's… how did you do that?"
"Um…" She looked down at her hands. "I'm not really sure? It's just something I can do."
"Do all mermaids have powers?"
"As far as I know…"
"That's so fucking cool," I whispered. My eyes met hers. "Can you do it again?"
"Uh… sure?" She reached for the same puddle and lifted it all, in the form of a liquid sphere, into the air. It hovered and started moving towards me.
When it was right in front of my face, I stuck my pointer finger in the water. It didn't feel any different, besides the fact that the water I was touching was floating in the air.
"Awesome…"
It wasn't so awesome, however, when, three seconds later, the entire sphere lifted higher and rained down as regular water on top of my head. I gasped, and glared at Tara. She was laughing.
"Um, rude," I growled. She just shrugged and continued giggling. I wiped the water off my face and took off my shirt.
She stopped laughing.
I raised my eyebrows. "What?"
"Nothing. Just… nice abs."
With a smirk, I posed in the most ridiculous manner and swept my hair back. "What? You want some of this?"
She cracked a grin. "You wish."
Laughing, I sat down in the water next to her. "So… how are we gonna do this?"
"Um… well, I'm guessing it's gonna be pretty easy, but… I don't know." Tara looked at the sand and started pushing herself into the water.
"You want some help with that?" I asked her.
"Sure…"
I stood back up and hooked my arms underneath hers. Pulling as hard as I could, I managed to get her into water that was at least a few feet deep.
She smiled at me softly and said, "Thanks. Now, follow me." Then, she flipped over and dove into the surf. Her tail splashed water in my face and I laughed.
Is this real? I asked myself. A quick pinch of my skin told me it was.
I followed her directions and walked into deeper water. When I saw the telltale gold shimmer, I jumped in and landed right behind Tara.
Her back was turned away from me, and her dark hair floated in puffy clouds. The gold tail of hers was flicking every few seconds to keep her from floating to the surface. It was amazing how… real it was. Its muscles twitched and squirmed like any other limb would. And, it didn't curve near what would be her knees and feet, like someone wearing a fake mermaid's tail would do... it was all its own muscle, one that faded from scales to skin seamlessly. Something about it was fascinating.
Deciding I'd kept her waiting long enough, I reached forward and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun and around, using her hands to sweep her hair away from her face. When she caught my gaze she grinned. I wasn't sure how she could smile like that underwater, teeth and everything showing. Practice, I guess?
"Ready?" she mouthed to me. I nodded.
Her hand reached for mine and I grabbed it.
She started off swimming by rolling in the water slowly. Her tail flicked off at the end when she did, while I had to kick my feet to follow. Tara tugged my along in the water, pointing out colorful things around me. There was a school of fish that swam by us, scattering when I reached for them. Tara laughed at that. She pointed out a bed of coral, in the most beautiful colors. I knew enough about coral that it wouldn't be good for me to touch them.
After a while I felt a tightness in my lungs. I tugged on Tara's arm. Her eyes met mine, confused, until I pointed to my throat. She smiled and swam upwards, much faster than our leisurely stroll underwater.
I gasped for breath when I reached the surface.
"Are you okay?" Tara asked. Her eyes were squinting into the sun.
I nodded, still unable to speak yet. She laughed.
"Maybe next time you shouldn't wait to tell me you need air. How long were we even down there for?"
I just nodded again. Then I coughed. Tara's smile diminished slightly.
"Seriously, are you okay? Do you need CPR or something?"
However tempting it was to nod my head again, I knew that wouldn't be fair to Tara. No matter how nice her lips were looking… (and a small part of my mind wondered how she discovered what CPR even was).
I coughed once more before speaking up. "No, I'm fine. My throat's just a little dry. I'm not used to all this salt water… or being underwater that long either."
"Really? Where did you come from? I'm pretty sure somewhere in America, but…"
"I moved from Wisconsin. It's a state in America, so you're right. We had lot's of lakes, but not too many oceans."
"What was it like there?"
"Um, cold. In the winters, anyways." I kept kicking my feet to stay afloat. "During the summers it could get really hot, but even then it wasn't as hot as it is here."
"Huh. Sounds… weird."
I shrugged, water lapping over my shoulders. "I guess. Especially to you, since you can't go on land or anything."
She looked at me curiously and nodded. "Uh… yeah."
I noticed we were still holding hands, but didn't comment on it.
"So are we going there?" I asked. Her eyes followed my pointed finger to Mako Island, way off in the distance. When my meaning must have clicked in her mind, she snapped her vision back to mine.
"Why would we go there?" she asked, a bit accusatory. It almost sounded panicky, and maybe a little confused.
"Because… that's where I always see you swim off to." She still looked confused. For a moment, I wondered if my guess had been wrong, and that Tara really had no connection to Mako. "It's also just, a, uh, cool place, you know?" I was starting to feel nervous now.
But then I saw it. There, in her eyes. A flash of recognition. She knew what I was talking about. "Oh, um, well…" But she didn't want to talk about it. I could tell by the way she stuttered, trying to come up with some witty remark.
"It's okay," I said, even though it wasn't. "You don't have to tell me about that place."
She licked her lips like they were dry. "Thanks."
I grinned. "Not yet anyways. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other."
Tara rolled her eyes. "Wow. You're real cocky, you know that?"
"I try."
She giggled and tugged on my hand. "Ready to go back under?"
"Yep."
"Sure you won't drown?"
I scoffed. "Please."
Her laugh was infectious. I listened to it gargle into bubbles when we sunk into the water.
We swam deeper each time we went down, Tara pointing out more animal and plant life in the ocean. I spent approximately half the time staring at my surroundings, and the other half staring at her. Part of it all was kind of scary, I have to admit, but I could ignore those feelings and focus on how magical it all was. Everything was perfect… except for maybe when I had to return to the surface every minute or so. It was an aggravating yet necessary action. My brain didn't need any more oxygen deprivation that day.
Probably the most exciting event of my trip underwater was seeing the dolphins. They swam right up to Tara like they were close friends, and judging by the wide smile on Tara's face, maybe they were. Some swam around us, cackling and making strange clicking noises, while some were bold enough to come up and bump into us. Tara let go of my hand for a few seconds to let me wrap my arms around around on of them. Something about the way the dolphin looked at me, so much emotion on an animal's face, made me wonder if it had thoughts like I did.
Since we obviously don't know everything about sea creatures, or any creatures at all, I thought to myself while watching Tara caress a few dolphins' sleek bodies. Maybe.
That annoying feeling in my lungs and head started up again sometime after that, and I, unfortunately, had to let go of my new friend to ask Tara for help. She brought me to the surface again.
"That was amazing," I said, first thing when I surfaced. She smiled.
"I didn't think we'd see any today, but I was hoping we would." Her eyes shut contentedly. "Dolphins are my favorite animal in the world. They're so…"
"Human?" I offered.
She opened her eyes to look at me. "Yes, exactly. Human."
"Have you met many other humans?" I asked her.
"Yeah." She said her answer like it was obvious.
"Well, sorry. I just wasn't sure how many encounters like this you've had."
"Like with you, you mean?"
"Yeah. Do you take humans out on swims often? Or is it only when they bribe you with one of your most prized possessions?"
She rolled her eyes. "I'd hardly call it bribing. I could have made a storm so large you would have been forced to give me the locket back." I hadn't noticed until then, but there the necklace sat on her clavicle, shimmering in the sun. Another thing I realized was that she admitted it was her that created the storm. I wasn't sure how to feel about that.
"Yeah, yeah. Let me just have that one on you, okay? You've already got so many cooler things than I do."
Tara chuckled. "That's true. Anyways, back to the whole human thing… nope."
"Nope?"
"Nope." She nudged my shoulder with hers. "You're the first human with the privilege to see all of this, with a mermaid as your tour guide."
I gasped sarcastically. "My, I feel so blessed."
"As you should feel."
"Seriously though, I'm the first?"
"Numero uno."
"Then… how come you've met so many other humans?"
She looked up, like she was thinking about something. "It's… complicated."
"How, exactly?"
Her smug smile returned. "I can't have you knowing all my secrets quite yet. How about you tell me more about yourself?"
"Tara, are you coming on to me?"
She scoffed. "Yeah, right."
I sighed. "A man can only hope, I suppose."
Tara started sinking into the water, so only her eyes peeked above the blue, salty liquid. "You coming?" I heard her warbled voice ask from beneath.
I sank in, following her.
We didn't share any other personal information that day, but that was okay. When we returned to the shore, it was late, and I was tired from hours of swimming.
"How are you not exhausted?" I asked her at our return to the rocks.
"Practice."
"Yeah, an entire life of it," I mumbled. Something about that must have been funny, because she laughed.
"What?"
She shook her head. "Nothing."
My bare feet slid against the slippery sand, grating the heels. "So…"
"So." Silence hung in the air.
"Will, um…" I cleared my throat. "Will I see you again?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Are you… asking me out on a date?"
I didn't blush there. I fucking swear I didn't. "What? No, no, I… I'm just asking if you're going to come back and visit, or…"
Snap out of it, I told myself. You're never like this around other girls.
She's not like other girls, I heard something else remind me.
"I mean… well…" I shrugged, trying to be as nonchalant as possible despite the fact that I passed that point long ago. "I did ask you if you were busy Friday and you never did answer."
She looked at me curiously. I definitely wasn't holding my breath, or freaking out, or wondering if she was going to disappear from my life and I'd always wonder about the girl in the water for the rest of my existence. Nope. Not at all.
"Yeah. Sure."
This is where I definitely did not breathe a sigh of relief.
"But not on a date though. I mean, I hardly know you," she said sarcastically.
"Hopefully you'll get to know me," I said, grinning wide. Ah, there's Dylan again. I thought I'd lost you for a second there, bud.
Tara started sliding back into the water, disappearing from sight. Her smile stayed on even as her mouth dipped beneath the cool water.
"Can I see you on Monday? At five again?" I asked.
"Can't wait." With one last smile, she dived into the ocean. I sat down on a rock and watched her tail swim away. The gold shimmered away in the sea, and I waited for her to swim towards Mako. But she never did.
Or, maybe she did, but she must not have swam as fast as usual. Maybe she just wanted a slow swim, but I had a feeling she didn't want me to connect Mako to her.
That was alright. I was here in Australia for the long run, which gave me plenty of time to figure out the mystery of Tara.
I stood up off the rock and started walking back home.
(A/N: So, what do you think? Hmm? I don't know if I like this chapter as much, but I got a lot of help on this with my friend Clove31, who beta read this for me (thanks girl!). I've gotten some messages from people asking if I'm quitting this story since I haven't updated in a few weeks or something, but I'm just really busy, even though school just ended. I will be finishing this story, and my other h2o one too once I get a grip on it. The problem with my other story is that I was a lot younger and a lot less experienced at writing when I wrote it, so there are a lot of plot holes and unnecessary things in it. Don't worry though, it will be continued! Also, I do not own Imagine Dragons (obviously) and anything else I might have mentioned it here. I don't own H2O either... if I did, Emma would never have left (although I suppose there was nothing that could have been done about that) and there would be more seasons. Please review, it would mean the world to me. And always feel free to PM suggestions to me, for this story, other stories, or a possible future username. Hope everyone's enjoying their summer!)
