Chapter 7- Cora

I watched Dad leave and gulped nervously as George came back into the living room.

He looked at me and chuckled. "Easy, no need to be afraid. Come on, I'll take you upstairs to show you your room and then introduce you to Sam." He headed upstairs and I followed him. He went to one of the rooms and opened the door, revealing a bright blue room with nothing but a bed, closet, and dresser. "This will be your room while you stay with us." I looked around for a moment before he lead me to another room. The door was open so I could see Sam sitting on her bed watching TV. George tapped on the door to get her attention and she looked over. "Sam, this is Cora. She's going to be staying with us for a while and will be attending the same school as you."

Sam looked over at me, tilting her head curiously. "Hi. I'm Sam."

I gave a polite nod as George continued speaking. "She needs new clothes and school supplies as do you so I'm counting on you to take her shopping tomorrow."

Sam nodded. "Sure."

George nodded and turned to me. "Alright then. Feel free to make yourself at home. You can go explore if you want but just be back here in about 2 hours. We always have dinner around 7."

I nodded. "Alright, thank you." I watched as he went back downstairs.

"Why are you staying with us? Where are you from?" Sam's voice was polite, merely curious.

I turned around and looked at her. "I'm from the ocean and I wanted to attend human school to see what it's like."

Sam blinked and just looked at me for a moment. "Wait, so, you're Syrena?"

I nodded nervously.

Sam's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh my god! My dad has told me about Syrena but he doesn't really know any details. I've always wondered what they're like and how they live. Wow, I can't believe it! Why did you want to come live on land? Do you not like living in the ocean?"

I smiled. "I just came here to go to school. Syrena do things a lot differently than humans and humans fascinate me so I wanted to come learn more about them. There's nothing wrong with living in the ocean, it's great."

"Wow, you're going to tell me all about it. So, you've never been on land before?"

"Only for short periods of time."

"So you don't really know anything about humans then?"

I shook my head. "I know some things but like I said, Syrena do things differently."

Sam smiled. "Then I'll teach you. I'll teach you anything you need to know about being human and help you out with school and fitting in if you tell me about Syrena."

I nodded. "Deal."

She turned off her TV and got out of bed. "Want to go walk around so you can start memorizing the area?"

I nodded again. "That sounds great."

Sam led the way downstairs and outside after letting George know we were going for a walk. "I'll show you where the school is. It's not far from here, only about a 15 to 20 minute walk. I always walk to and from school with my friends unless the weather is bad, then I ask dad for a ride. But the weather is pretty nice here so that doesn't happen often."

I nodded as I looked around, taking in everything around me. "Do you have many friends?"

Sam shook her head. "Nah, people are annoying. I just stick with my two best friends, Cole and Daemon." The rest of the walk to the school was quiet. Sam pointed at it when we got near. "There it is."

I looked it over. "It's not very big."

Sam shrugged and started walking again. "Come on, I'll show you the park."

I caught up with her. "What's a park?"

Sam looked at me in slight surprise. "It's a place where kids can play and people can hang out."

When we got there I looked around, fascinated by the strange objects there. "What are all of these things?"

Sam led me around the park, explaining things like slides and swings and monkey bars to me. "Don't you have anything like this in your world?"

I thought for a moment. "Kind of. Except it's just for little kids. By the time my dad and I moved into the kingdom I was too old for it."

Sam tilted her head curiously. "Where did you live before the kingdom?"

I frowned. "I'm not sure. My memories are hazy and dad never talks about it."

Sam could tell it was upsetting me and changed the subject. "Oh, well, come on. We should get back to the house." She led the way back. We went to the living room and watched TV for a bit until dinner was ready. I didn't really know how to use human utensils very well so Sam showed me and I thanked her.

George made polite conversation as we ate. "So where did you two go?"

I looked up from my plate. "Sam showed me the school and the park."

Sam nodded. "She's never seen a park before. Didn't know what slides or swings were. Syrena don't have those things except for at a young age."

George only looked vaguely interested. "Wow." He took our plates when we were done.

Sam headed upstairs. "C'mon Cora." I followed her and we went to her room. "We have to go to bed at 9 which gives us a little over an hour so let's just watch some TV." I nodded and we watched a few shows.

At 9 I got up. "Night Sam."

"Night." She watched as I left her room and went to my own. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted from my exciting day.