"Hey, if it isn't Billy Deep!" I looked up from my game and saw an African American boy with short hair and wearing red swimming trunks coming toward me.

"Ben!" I exclaimed happily as I ran up to him and the two of us shook hands.

"It's so good to see you," Ben said. "And you as well, Sheena." Sheena waved to him before reaching out to grab her cellphone from her bag.

"I almost did," I said, gesturing to the scar on my leg, a reminder of the time I got bit by a hammerhead shark.

"Gnarly," said Ben.

"Luckily for me, I got rescued by Dr. D." I wanted to tell him that it was a mermaid, I really did, but me, Sheena and Dr. D swore to secrecy never to reveal their existence, otherwise bad people would come after her and her kind.

"Well, I hope your shark bite doesn't make you scared of the water," Ben said. "I got my surfboards if you're interested."

"Heck naw," I said. "It'll take more than a shark bite to keep me out of the water."

The two of us took our boards and went out into the ocean. A big wave came, the kind Ben always liked. "Don't try to wipe out, Billy," he called out.

"Same goes for you!"

The wave came upon us and Ben quickly got up on his board. I, on the other hand, stayed on my belly. The wave was coming right on top of us when suddenly, I felt something push the board upward, knocking me off and letting the wave crash on top of me. As I tumbled around in the water, I caught a glimpse of something, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

A girl with long blonde hair, sea-green eyes and...a green fish tail instead of legs. No. I had to have been hallucinating. There's no way...

Suddenly, a hand grabbed me and pulled me up to the surface. Ben pulled me up onto his board and said, "What happened? You were under there for so long, I thought you were gonna drown!"

"M-M-Mermaid," I babbled.

Ben gave me a strange look. "Mermaid? Did you hit your head on your board?"

"I...I...yeah. I think I did."

"Well, shake it off and let's hit the waves again."

"Actually, I want to buy a lemonade before getting back on my board if you don't mind."

"Suit yourself. Don't take too long."

I swam back to shore with my board in tow and ran up to Sheena. "Sheena," I panted. "I saw the mermaid!"

Sheena looked up from her phone and gave me a wide-eyed stare. "Are you sure? The same mermaid we met a few years ago?"

"Who else? I mean, I know I saw her! I mean, I did crash on that wave, so I might have..."

Sheena sighed and put down her phone as she said, "Billy, you do know it's over right? We're back home. Summer's almost over. We have to go back to school soon."

"But..."

"That's why Dr. D took us back in the first place. It wasn't just about doing a lecture at the college, I thought you knew that."

I was hurt when she said that. I sat down next to her and said, "But why did it have to come so soon?"

"I know you don't like going back to school because it's...well, normal and not exciting as going out to sea with Dr. D, but it's something we all have to do. Personally, I'm glad we don't have to deal with sea monsters and ghost pirates this time."

I sighed. "Maybe you like it." I returned to the water with my board and met up with Ben. He asked where the lemonade was and I said they were all out. Truth be told, I wasn't really that interested in surfing after that.

Sheena and I left the beach and returned home. Mom, Dad and Dr. D were already there, discussing...honestly, I wasn't really paying attention. Sheena and I sat on the couch, watching a Pokemon marathon on Cartoon Network. In case you couldn't tell, my favorite is Gyarados and Sheena's is Gardevoir. Total opposites. We ate lunch, we discussed current events with our family and later on, we continued to watch our marathon until it was time for bed.

Before I went to bed, however, I told Dr. D what I saw when my parents were out of earshot. "And you're sure you saw her?"

"Positive," I said.

"I didn't see it," said Sheena. "He could have mistaken her for a big fish."

"Fish don't have blonde hair!"

Dr. D thought of it and said, "We'll look for her tomorrow morning. Until then, we keep this quiet from your parents."

Sheena agreed and seemed eager to go to sleep after that. But I couldn't. My mind was focused on the mermaid. Did I really imagine it, or was she there? I wished I could see her again.

I turned over in my bed and looked out the window that had a clear viewing of the beach. That's when I saw it: a pair of glowing green eyes at the water's edge. I walked over to the window and opened it to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Then I heard a beautifully haunting voice singing, "Kruuuuu..." And just like that, I lost control of myself.