Chapter 13

A few weeks later... ( A few days after Lewis' birthday)

"Mornin' Bella,"

"Good Morning Fred," Bella replied cheerily. Fred Jackson was Bella's colleague. He taught music also at their school. Fred was a tall, lanky man with dark brown hair and brown eyes – his son Perry looked just like him. Bella had just walked into their joint office.

"How ya doin'?"

"Good, what about you," Bella replied smiling.

"I'm fine thanks. How's the husband and kids?"

"Doing well," Bella sat down on her side of the office. "How's your wife and Perry?"

"Good, thanks for asking, Perry really enjoyed his time at your place the other day,"

"Oh, good, Jake loved having his friends over. They should have another play date sometime,"

Fred nodded and stood up, "Ready to go?"

"Yup," Together the colleagues left their office together to go to the staff meeting.

That lunchtime Bella and Fred both having a non-contact fourth period, walked together to the staff room. As she walked into the kitchen area to make herself a coffee, a fellow teacher, not looking where she was going bumped into Bella, this sent her water splashing down Bella's back.

Bella gasped and quickly placed the coffee cup on the bench

Oh, I'm so sorry Bella," she apologised profusely.

Bella sprinted in the direction of the bathroom. Fred saw this dramatic action and decided to see what was wrong – it was only water after all. Bella locked herself in a cubicle. "Oof!" she exclaimed as she transformed. Bella realised that this probably was not the best place to come – the cubicles were not exactly very roomy. Fred knocked on the cubicle door a minute later.

"Are you alright Bella?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Fred, thanks for asking,"

"It's just you ran off in quite a hurry..."

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure," she paused, "Ah, that my shirt wasn't ruined,"

"It was only water? And in the toilet?" he queried.

"Never mind." Bella said obviously wanting the topic dropped.

As they were speaking, Bella was trying to use toilet paper to dry herself.

Fred could have sworn that he could see the reflection of something orange from under the cubicle door.

"Ah, Fred, could you please throw me over one of those hand towels?" she asked getting desperate.

"Why?"

"Please Fred?"

"Okay," he said and threw it over.

"Thanks." After a few more minutes Bella had transformed back, and after flushing the used toilet paper away, she came out of the cubicle, the towel in hand.

"Sorry 'bout that," she apologised. The two of them returned to the staff room, Fred astounded by Bella's behaviour – she was not usually this random.

OoOoO

This event was only one of many close calls with Fred around. Bella cursed herself for always happening to be there when something was spilt.

One rainy day, a couple of droplets of water had hit Bella and she had sprinted to the cleaning cupboard, there were no towels close by. Fred again had followed; he heard the sound of someone falling followed by an 'Ow.' This event had confirmed his suspicions. Again, she had apologised and avoided his questioning. Bella pulled her raincoat, rain hat and rain pants over her clothes, put her gumboots on and grabbed an umbrella before walking back to their block and joint office with Fred holding his own umbrella. Bella had taken her rain gear off with care, gelling and hardening each droplet so the water would not touch her. Rain was a pain. She sat down at her desk and pulled out her marking. Fred shut the door, and leant on it. He watched her silently before asking bluntly, "Bella, please be honest with me, are you a mermaid?"

He mouth dropped open and she dropped her pen, quickly recovering herself, "Wha-, are you serious? Pshh, No!" she saw his disbelieving and condescending expression and changed her answer. "Yes," she said quietly. Fred smiled, he had guessed correctly.

"Please please don't tell anyone Fred, I could be..."

"In big trouble I know. Don't worry your secret is completely safe with me,"

She sighed relieved, "Thank you so much! But, how did you know?"

"Well, every time even the smallest drop hit you, you were gone, except when a towel was nearby. I have to admit I also saw a flash of orange a couple of times."

"But how did you know the signs?"

"Well, let's just say someone very close to me is a mer."

"Who? Your wife?" she asked shocked.

"No. Bella, me."

"You what?"

"I'm a merman," he said in a low voice.

"What? But you do not show it. I mean you never run off suddenly like I do."

"I use powers." He said simply. To Bella's surprise, he raised his hand and started to raise a tentacle of water out of a small bottle of water situated near to his laptop.

"Is Perry...?"

"Yeah, Jacob?" Bella nodded in response.

"I never knew there'd be others already so close to me," she muttered. "But Fred, how did you not get wet in the rain – you didn't make a big deal at all!"

"You see, my main power is to move the water, so I just move the water around me so it doesn't hit me. That is also how I avoid scrapes like the ones you get into," he chuckled.

"Just like Cleo," Bella murmured, as soon as she realised what she had said she clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Cleo?"

"You weren't supposed to hear that, she's gonna kill me,"

"So, she's mermaid too? She's Jennifer's mother? That means..."

Bella nodded in defeat. She then perked up realising that her colleague was not a human, therefore the others probably would not mind him knowing.

"So, do you just have the power to move and shape water?"

"No, I can also control wind and explode stuff that is water based." Bella nodded, she had the latter, and Cleo had both the first powers mentioned.

"Where'd you get changed?"

"I was on holiday in Niue at the time, I was seventeen, and I went wandering at dusk. I found this really inviting lagoon and went in just as the full moon was high in the sky, and I'm guessing you know what happened next."

Bella smiled in acknowledgment.

"What about you?"

"I was nine, and I changed in a moon pool in Ireland."

"That's pretty young,"

"Yeah, my grandfather helped me through it though. As for powers, I have Gelidkinesis – to turn water into jelly, Substanciakinesis to harden water into a substance similar to glass or crystal and Mecokinesis, that is to make water or the jelly explode, it is very helpful sometimes when I want to glue objects together."

"Cool!"

"Do you know any other mermaids or mermen?" Bella asked.

"No, sadly other than my son, you're the first I've met. What about you?"

"Yeah, yes I do," she felt sorry for him, she knew what it was like to not have any mermaid friends – it was really lonely. She decided to take a leap of faith.

"Come with me after school – meet me at my place" (referring to their mainland house) "and then you will be able to meet some of my mermaid friends – oh, and bring Perry,"

"Sure," Fred replied smiling.

A/N: Please review :)

I am going on camp now for three days, so there will not be anymore updates in that time.

Enjoy anyway!