It was hard to say whose face was more surprised, Marcus's or the teacher whose classroom he had walked out of earlier. After he had dropped off the boat he had decided to head back to school simply out of sheer spite for the same teacher he now faced. He had expected that his class would have been over by the time he returned, but Zach, Evie, and Cam sat right where he had left them. "Oh." Marcus blinked. "Hi. Came back to see what work I had missed. Guess that's not necessary."
The teacher's mouth fell open as Marcus strolled back to his seat and fell onto the chair. He looked expectantly at the teacher just as the bell rang overhead. The class very slowly got to their feet, each of their eyes on either Marcus or the teacher. But the confrontation they expected ever happened. Marcus left the class whistling with the others on his tail. "So how did it go with Ondina?" Evie asked as they sat down for their next class.
"Fine, I guess." Marcus shrugged. "Kind of hard to tell with this type of thing. But I think she might be a little better now. She won't go right back to being the Ondina you guys know, but I think she'll start."
The class was as boring as Marcus had thought it would be, possibly more so. He wasn't the best of students and he had more pressing matters circling around his thoughts. The door to the class opened and Rita poked her head in, smiling apologetically at the teacher. "Sorry, but could I borrow Marcus?" She asked.
"Not a problem." The teacher smiled back. "Mr. White, please grab your things."
"Sure deal." Marcus sighed. He knew this familiar scene all too well. "Any homework tonight?"
"I'll send it along with Zach." The teacher assured him as she closed the door after Marcus.
"Come with me." Principal Santos said brusquely, striding down the hall at a pace that Marcus had to hurry to keep up with.
They walked in silence all the way to her office. When the door closed behind them Rita gave him a long exasperated look as she sat down at her desk. "Please tell me that you have a good reason for leaving class early." She said slowly, her head in her hands. "One that I can tell your teacher."
"I have a good reason for leaving class early." Marcus told her. "I had to leave class so that I could talk to Ondina, a mermaid who is having a lot of after-break-up trouble."
"You know that you can't leave class any time you want, correct?" Rita asked him, ignoring his sarcasm.
"You know, they said the exact same thing at my boarding school." Marcus recalled.
"Marcus, things like this draw attention to us." Rita told him. "Attention we do not need. I agreed to keep your secret because I thought that you were more cautious than this."
Marcus's face soured. "I left because I wanted to help someone." He shot back. "That's gotta count for something."
"Marcus, I'm not trying to argue with you." Rita told him tiredly. "But I need you to be more subtle. Gaining a reputation like you just did today is only going to make it harder on you to keep your secret. Why not tell the others?"
"Because I don't want to." Marcus said. He didn't know how to explain his thoughts, nor did he particularly care to. It was something that he wanted to keep to himself for as long as he could. "Not yet at least." He added quickly to placate Rita.
"I suppose it would be too much for me to hope that you have plans to tell them sometime soon?" Rita asked despondently.
"Yep." Marcus nodded vigorously. "Absolutely. Anyways, back to the matter at hand, what did you want me for?"
"I have to give you some form of punishment." Rita told him. "I'd rather be lenient for obvious reasons."
"Call my parents." Marcus yawned. "That should make Mr. Whatshisname happy."
"You mean Mr. Thomas?" Rita asked. She frowned as she studied Marcus. "Calling a student's parents is generally not something I do for a first offense."
"Which is why it should make Mr. Whatshisface happy." Marcus said, deliberately not using the teacher's name. "My parents won't care. I haven't spoken to them in a while anyways. I'll give you their number."
"If you think that is wise," Rita said. "You may go back to class. But, please Marcus, try not to draw any more attention to yourself. It only makes things harder on us."
"Got it." Marcus turned and stepped out into the hallway. He pulled out his phone and dialed his parent's number, putting the phone to his ear. The phone rang several times before an automated recording played, informing him that no one was able to answer at the time. Marcus sighed and ignored the pang of disappointment in his heart. "They won't answer anyways." He muttered.
The rest of the day passed by in a flash. Marcus was the picture of a perfect student, sitting quietly in class and speaking only when spoken to and taking constant notes. By the end of the day he was chafing at the bit to be out of his seat. When the day's final bell rang he was out the door before it had even stopped ringing.
The café was as empty as it had been yesterday, emptier in fact. Marcus found a note from David on the counter and quickly read through it. "On an errand…" Marcus surmised. He snorted a laugh and shook his head. "Yeah, okay. Because I'm going to believe that."
He stepped into the back room and pulled his shirt out of his backpack. He heard the doors open and hurriedly pulled on the shirt. He stepped out of the back room, a pleasant smile on his face as he looked for the patron. But his smile faded when he saw that the café was empty. "Stupid door." He muttered, pulling on a pair of gloves and grabbing a clean cloth from under the counter. When he stood back up Ondina was at the bar, smiling at him as he staggered back in surprise. The rag went flying in the air and landed on the floor at Ondina's feet. "What was that for?" Marcus demanded. He rubbed his chest as he willed his heart to return to a less frantic pace.
"For the cave." Ondina said cheerfully. She stooped down and picked up the cloth, tossing it to Marcus with a flick of her wrist.
Marcus caught it out of the air and placed it in the sink. He bent down to grab another cloth from under the counter, keeping a wary eye on Ondina as he did. When he stood back up he began to wipe down the polished wood of the counter, although there was no reason. David kept the entire café cleaner than most operating rooms. As he finished his task he raised an eyebrow at Ondina. "So, what can I get you?" He asked. "Same as last time?"
"Oh so you are going to make me juice now?" Ondina asked haughtily. "Without any arguing on my part? My how you have changed."
A muscle worked in Marcus's jaw as he slowly turned back to face the blonde mermaid. "Do you, seriously, want to play this game? With me?" He asked her. "Because I promise you that-." His voice caught in his throat and Marcus found he could no longer make any sound.
"Just juice please." Ondina said pleasantly, her hands hidden beneath the counter.
"That's not fair." Marcus complained. He had quickly fixed Ondina her drink and slid it to her across the counter. "Like, at all."
"What is fair then?" Ondina asked curiously. "Because I don't see any rule book."
"What about morals?" Marcus demanded. "Don't you have them?"
"Didn't you dump a glass of water on me the other day?" Ondina shot back.
"You dumped two glasses of juice on me first!" Marcus snapped, outraged. "My actions were justified!"
"Then so was me using magic!" Ondina beamed at him. She sipped at her juice again and shrugged. "Still not bad. Not great though."
Marcus ground his teeth in frustration, sifting through his mental reserve of comebacks. He gave a growl of frustration when he found that none of them fit having an argument with a mermaid. "Whatever." He grumbled. "Just don't do that again, that's just mean."
"Fine then," Ondina shrugged one slender shoulder. "Then don't pour any water or juice on me. That's fair, right? You don't make me grow a tail and I won't turn you into a cat."
Marcus caught her eye and stared into their blue depths. "You're bluffing." He declared, but he switched his gaze to her Moon Ring.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." Ondina said breezily, "Want to find out if I am?"
Marcus quickly came to the understanding that he might have just lost this argument. He worked his jaw furiously, searching desperately for some sort of witty response. But to his astonishment and disappointment it appeared that his sarcastic demeanor had left him. "Fine, fine." He grumbled. "You win."
"Of course I do." Ondina said, finishing her drink. She set the empty glass down on the bar and hopped down from her chair. "See you tonight at Rita's." She smiled at Marcus and walked out of the café, her walk exuding confidence.
Marcus saw the change in her walk immediately, but the sense of accomplishment he felt was eclipsed by a different one. He ran a hand down his face as he groaned. "What have I done?" He demanded of the empty café. If that was how Ondina was normally, then Marcus realized he might just have met his match.