I woke up after what seemed like only a few seconds of sleep to the silent buzzing of my phone alarm. I groggily checked the time, somehow convinced that my alarm could be wrong and I actually had a few more minutes to rest. Alas, it was time to begin what could very well be the most awkward day of the summer. On top of the whole issue with monotonous icebreakers and painful small talk with all the new campers, I had my issue with Rikki to worry about. I think she's being cautious of me since she accidentally showed her powers (or so she thought) at the sushi restaurant. Whatever, it's not like I have to talk to her today anyway. I can just wait for it all to blow over before I continue my plan of building trust with her.
I quietly climbed out of my bunk, gathered my things, and made my way to the showers to get my day started. Thankfully, there were no mishaps today and I was able to avoid transforming. As I was drying my hair, I became startled by the sound of a voice outside. Who in their right mind would be out here at such an ungodly hour? I snuck closer to the source. Through one of the high windows, I was just able to make out those unmistakable locks of curly blonde hair. It was Rikki! I know that eavesdropping is rude and creepy, but given the circumstances I figured it was justified. I pressed my ear against the thin wood, much lower than the window so there was no chance I would be caught. I couldn't make out everything she was saying, but it definitely sounded like she was on the phone.
"I don't know... the situation..." I could only make out some of her hushed words, "and my...acting up...could you...knows anything weird...planetary alignments..."
The first few weeks after I became a mermaid, I was obsessed with figuring everything out. I wanted to know how, why, and what it all was. Of course, I quickly put together that the night of my transformation was a full moon. I started thinking that maybe since the moon had an influence on the tides that it could have something to do with this too. I pretty much confirmed this theory when during the next full moon, my powers went totally crazy and I blacked out. My friends had to tell me in the morning about the damage. It's a good thing they knew all too well about being mermaids themselves, or that probably would have really freaked them out. Anyway, from that point I started studying the lunar cycle and the positions of other planetary bodies in relation to my condition. It seemed like notable astronomical events like supermoons had more influence on my mind and body. It was all too coincidental to be an accident. If there were other groups of mermaids, they could likely draw the same conclusions - and it sounds like Rikki and whoever she was speaking with on the phone had done just that. If I were to guess, she was concerned about why her powers were going crazy yesterday and looking for some sort of explanation.
By this point, Rikki seemed to have moved further from the bathhouse to the point that I couldn't make out anything she was saying. I decided to turn my attention back to getting ready and ultimately finding a way out without Rikki seeing me. After about ten minutes of not hearing her talk anymore, I peeked through the windows to make sure she had left before hustling back to the dormitories.
I arrived back, and my hand had made contact with the cold metal of the doorknob when I suddenly hesitated. If Rikki had gone back here after finishing her call, she likely wasn't asleep yet. Barging into the room with my shower supplies and a bag of my dirty clothes was a dead giveaway to where I had been, which wouldn't be a problem if Rikki wasn't right by the showers basically revealing her secret to the world. I backed away from the cabin and went back to the bathhouse. I dropped off my stuff on one of the benches and left to go for a morning swim.
It only took about five minutes for me to find the cliff I had gone to yesterday. It was still dark outside and the air was cool and silent. Staring out over the water, its stillness reflecting every detail of the trees above it, I decided to take a few moments to gather myself. Today would be fine. I would do my job, make some friends, and smooth things out with Rikki. There's no reason anything should go wrong. One final breath, and I jumped.
I had timed my swim perfectly with the sunrise so I could grab my stuff and make it back to the cabin before most people woke up. Thankfully, when I walked in, I noticed that Rikki was fast asleep. Only a few girls were up and no one was talking, so I decided to just lay in bed for a few minutes and go on my phone. Every time I opened it, I prayed to see that a specific person had texted me. Today was another disappointment. I considered messaging him to see if he would want to talk it out, but I knew I shouldn't. It's something he needs to process, not me.
Time flew and before I knew it, I was rushing to the cafeteria for breakfast and to see my assignments for the week. I opened the double doors to the standalone wooden structure and made a mental note of the many faces I saw. While I scanned the room in search of the job list for counselors, I couldn't help but make judgments about some of the kids there - mainly which ones might be a problem for the rest of the summer. A few rowdy boys near the entrance were laughing as they used plastic sporks like catapults to send syrupy waffle pieces flying towards one another. I thought they might be a particular problem - loud, obnoxious, inconsiderate, and sticky. Another table had a few girls silently poring over hefty novels. It seems as though none of them had exchanged words yet - that the group had accumulated through a shared understanding that minimal socialization was desired. They were probably fine, but those book kids can be weird, so I really can't draw conclusions. As I made my way closer to the back wall, I noticed that a few white papers stood out on the bulletin board - the job assignments. To my dismay, I saw my name listed under "lifeguard". What the fuck? I'm not even certified. I mean, I was, but I never said anything about that on my application for this exact reason. After ten minutes, I finally managed to flag down the coordinator, Barbara, to get my position changed.
"Uh, excuse me," I started shakily, "I had a bit of a concern with the job assignments."
"I'm sure," she began coldly, "But they are final. When you signed up to be a counselor you signed up to perform all of the positions."
"You don't understand, I'm listed as a lifeguard, but I don't have any certification or experience" I said quickly, trying not to let my lie show.
"It doesn't matter," she said, rolling her eyes, "All of the campers' parents signed waivers before enrolling. They agreed to leave their kids under our care - experience or no experience."
I tried to protest, but she had already turned and began a brisk walk towards the stage, where she would make the morning announcements. Lifeguarding can't be that bad though, right? I feel like a ton of people would want the job. If I switched with someone, how would she know? I mean, clearly you don't need any credentials to do it, so what would the harm be? While Barbara droned on about what the summer would look like for the campers, I started asking around. To my delight, Rena had just sat down next to me. Surely she would want to switch.
"Hey!" I said, extra cheerily.
"Hey!" she replied with a similar energy, "Are you ready for the first day?"
"Yeah..." I began hesitantly, "but I'm not really sure about my job. I got assigned lifeguard for today, but I can't even swim. I talked to the coordinator but she wasn't any help. Would you want to switch with me? I'm sure it would be a lot of fun!" I held my breath, waiting for her response.
"Uhhhh I don't know...that job is kind of boring" Rena said, "I mean, Lisa had it last year and she said she didn't even get to go in the water. You just sit on the tower and watch the kids pretty much. Besides, they're only allowed to go in the shallow area, so there's no way you would need to actually swim."
"Oh," I said, a bit more relieved, "it's no problem. I'll just get through it then."
If I didn't have to actually go in the water, then it shouldn't be that bad, right? Of course the lakeshore was still a super hazardous place, but I've been careful enough so far. Surely I'll be fine.
Barbara finished talking as most of us were done eating and dismissed everyone to their groups. The counselors were told to go wait for the campers in their assigned positions, so I made my way down to the main lakefront and climbed up the tower. It was pretty high up, far from the water, and covered, so I was feeling a lot better about the situation. I decided I would listen to music, since it's not like anyone was at serious risk of drowning. Still, I'd keep it at a lower volume just in case a kid needed a bandaid or something and needed to get my attention.
About halfway through my shift, after three rotations of campers, I heard someone calling from the bottom of the tower. It was a counselor.
"Hey! Are you Claire?" she said.
"Uh, yeah" I replied, pulling an earbud out to hear her better.
"Oh, good!" she shouted as she began climbing up, "I'm Jennifer. They accidentally put too many people in the crafts section, so Barbara sent me over here to help with lifeguarding."
Phew. Not only do I have someone that could go in the water if the need arose, but I also won't be so bored now.
"Oh," I said, "well nice to meet you. Nothing interesting has really happened yet, but I guess that's good."
"Yeah, I'm glad no one has gotten hurt" she replied, already starting to survey the area.
I paused, ready to pose the big question, "Um, actually...this is kind of awkward, but I can't actually swim-"
Wait. I need to go bigger. Not being able to swim doesn't matter when it's three foot deep water. I had to make sure we were clear that I can't go near the water.
"Well I can't swim or go in the water or anything...there's a microbe in these lakes that I'm like, deathly allergic to. If I even get it on my skin I break out in this awful rash and hives and just-"
"Okay!" Jennifer said quickly, "I get it. I'll make sure to be the one to go if anyone needs help"
"Thank you so much for understanding" I said, trying to be as apologetic as possible.
"No problem" she replied, with a seemingly genuine attitude.
The rest of the shift went by a lot quicker now that I had someone to talk to. Jennifer was pretty cool - she had been a counselor at the camp for two years and a camper for six. She was telling me all sorts of funny stories from past years, which made me more excited to actually be here despite the circumstances. After our last group, we said goodbye and went to our respective living quarters. There's only two girl dormitories, but they were at opposite ends of the campground for some reason. When I got back, Rikki was already in her bed, headphones on and eyes closed. I knew I had to talk to her before it was too late and we grew apart from the brief friendship we had. I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Hey," she said, sounding a bit surprised.
"Hey," I replied, "my shift is done and I have nothing else to do. Want to go take a walk?"
She seemed to ponder for a moment, but finally she nodded and started putting her shoes on.
Things were going better than I could have hoped for. We were back to laughing and our conversation was flowing pretty well. Eventually, I decided to show her the cliffside I had found. It was so beautiful, and I really wanted to see what the sunset looked like reflecting off the water. When we got there, a group of three girls were already there, sat beside a case of beer. I assumed they were using the secluded spot to get drunk without anyone catching them. Upon further inspection, I recognized one of the girls - Jennifer - but the other two I had never seen. Rikki immediately tugged my arm and whispered something about leaving, but before I could process what was going on, one of the girls saw us and shouted Rikki's name.
"What's going on?" I questioned. "You guys know each other?"
"Oh yeah," Rikki said sarcastically, "we go way back!"
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because one of the girls - brunette with a larger, muscular frame - lunged and grabbed hold of Rikki's arm, bringing her closer to the others in the group.
"Yeah, way back to this morning when we met the bitch" she said, "Hopefully you're not thinking of being friends with her, she'll screw you over every chance she gets."
"Wait, what the fuck happened?" I asked, looking at Rikki, who was now visibly concerned.
"You know what," said the third one - a short girl with curly black hair, ignoring my question. She looked at the opened can of beer in her hand and seemed to get an idea. "Let's call this a healthy dose of revenge. Then we'll be even, right snitch?"
Before anyone could think, the girl with curly hair poured the remaining contents of the beer over Rikki's head and laughed. That seemed to be satisfying enough for the rest of them, since the brunette let go of Rikki's arm, pushing her down in the process, and joined the other two in walking away, laughing.
I was mortified. I looked over at Rikki and saw that she looked close to tears. She kept eyeing the cliffside but seemed unsure. Fuck. I knew what I was about to do was gonna be bad, but I had no other choice. I ran over to the blonde-haired girl on the ground and whispered through panicked breaths.
"It's deep enough. You can jump. Go. I'll distract them."
She looked up at me for a moment with a mix of confusion and what seemed to be anger. I didn't stay long enough to figure out what she was feeling. I ran up to the group of girls full speed and pushed over the short one. I quickly looked back and saw that Rikki wasn't there before I started sprinting, quite literally, for my life. I used my familiarity with the area to my advantage, juking between the trees. Still, I knew I wouldn't be able to outrun them, so I had to be clever. I found a tree that was easy enough to climb and used my lead to get as high up as possible. Of course, the distance I put in between them only mattered so much, and the muscular one started climbing up shortly after I had found a place to situate myself. I clenched my fist discreetly and concentrated on her hands. A few seconds later, she cried out in pain and fell off the tree.
"FUCK!" she screamed "SOMETHING FUCKING BIT ME! HOLY SHIT! IT BURNS! GET ME TO THE FUCKING NURSE"
The three girls hurriedly ran back towards camp. I let out a sigh of relief and started climbing back down the tree. By the time I made it back to the dorm, it was just getting dark. Rikki hadn't made it back yet, so I decided to go right to sleep as to avoid any confrontation. I had no clue what to do. I mean, I could avoid Rikki during the first part of the day, but what about when we were all back in the dorm? I couldn't distance myself forever. And besides, how was going to deal with Jennifer? I couldn't avoid her. Like most things, I decided to just sleep on it and hope that it worked itself out. By now I should have realized that that never happens.