Fantasy Tales Series: Rise of The Merfolk

Chapter Eleven~Edited

The air was cool on my skin resulting in goosebumps appearing on my arms. The sunset was an array of fading orange, soft pink and butter yellow. The sun was the rich gold of late afternoon as it came to a closing. As I walked down the street towards the beach, I could hear the crickets starting up a fuss – their chirping was oddly soothing. There was barely any wind now and I enjoyed it. Wind got annoying after a while. No one was really out; everyone would be inside their houses at this time. It meant the beach would be abandoned. The perfect place to learn how to control my powers better. Except for one older couple I spotted in their mid forties enjoying some fish and chips on the beach. When I finally met my own love, that was one date I wanted to do. Visit a soothing beach at sunset and eat take away on a picnic blanket together.  

The girls hadn't even bothered to ask where I was going which I was very grateful for but also slightly bothered by. It meant that they were so wrapped up in self pity and drama that they didn't bother to ask if I was safe. Before I left the house I had pulled Naomi aside to talk some sense into her, it hadn't gone very well at all. 

'Naomi, I'm just going to say it.' I started with fake gusto. She stared at me blankly. 

'Okayyyy?' She drawled. Naomi never usually spoke to people like that, she would always at least pretend to be interested in what they had to say. 

'I don't like Kalum.' 

She glared at me and crossed her arms defensively. 'I don't remember asking for your opinion.' 

'You're one of my best friends and you deserve to know that he's not as nice as he seems, he-,'

'Just because you're jealous doesn't give you the right to tear me down Aqua. I thought you were better than that.' 

I didn't bother replying and she stormed off away from me. 

At least now I had an excuse to leave and didn't have to lie, I hated lying. I was good at it though, all you had to do was tell the person a variation of what they wanted to hear and look them in eye. Lying left me feeling icky afterwards so I didn't do it much. Dinner hadn't really happened tonight- no one was in the mood to cook so we had ordered in pizza. 

The very discussion of what pizza we should order almost set everyone off again so Lila and I had taken over and ordered what we wanted and what we thought the others would like. We had also eaten together while the three girls pouted, although I didn't hear any complaints about our pizza choices so we must have guessed correctly. Sophia and Cece were still annoyed at each other, I thought it was ridiculous and petty, and Naomi was pouty because no one had asked her about Kalum since the argument. 

When I got to the beach, I almost ran from excitement to find Cora. It didn't take long to find her, she was standing beside some rock pools near my private spot on the beach I had discovered. I still wasn't sure if I liked Cora yet but she was helping me out and it was an offer I would be stupid to refuse. Besides, I didn't have a better offer to take. 

'Hi.' I said a bit awkwardly. We hardly knew each other and I was bad at small talk. She nodded in acknowledgement. Maybe Cora felt strange too. 'How are you?'

She shrugged. 'I'm a bit excited to be honest. I've never taught anyone before.' Her pink flowing hair was blowing back into the wind. If she hadn't taught anyone before than would she be able to teach me? I wasn't sure but surely it wasn't too hard.

I smiled and gazed at the rock pools. They had small ripples in them and plant life scattered all about. One had tiny fishes darting in and out of its holes and seaweed. I saw a pink starfish start to move slowly next to a black spiky sea Urchin. The thought of me scooping it out of the water and using the Urchin as a weapon crossed my mind. I pushed it away. 'How do we start?'