Teenage Mermaid

by Ellen Schreiber

  “You think so?” I asked eagerly.

  “I know so! You’ve seen how psycho my mom gets‌—one minute she flies off the handle because the toilet seat’s up, the next minute she cries at a Hallmark commercial. Believe me, you’re better off not seeing her!”

  I returned to my lookout post and leaned on the aluminum railing. Maybe Chainsaw was right. But I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to find out.

  Mrs. Linwood, our airhead school secretary, was rummaging through her overstuffed file cabinet when I barged into her office.

  “Candy‌—she didn’t show up today. Is she sick?”

  “Excuse me?” Mrs. Linwood asked, startled.

  “Candy. The transfer student.”

  “Oh, I met her yesterday. Lovely girl,” she said, plopping into her chair.

  “Is she sick?” I asked.

  “No one called in for her today.”

  “Do you know where she is?”

  “If I did, that information would be confidential.”

  “She’s my lab partner in Mr. Johnson’s class. We have an assignment due today,” I lied.

  “But she just transferred yesterday. How could she have an assignment due today?”

  “Ask Mr. Johnson. I don’t think it’s fair. That’s why I need your help!”

  “But‌—”

  “It’s thirty percent of our final grade. I could fail the whole quarter! He’s a madman, really.”

  “Well . . .”

  “Please, it’s up to you to save the day,” I begged.

  “All right, all right. Let me take a look at the records.” She shuffled through the heap of files on her desk and picked up a Post-it. “One call was made to her house at noon. No one answered. They didn’t have a machine, so we couldn’t leave a message.”

  She went back to her bloated file cabinet.

  “Can you call again, please? Now? She’s also supposed to go to the fireworks with me tonight,” I confessed.

  “With you?” she asked, skeptically.

  “Please?” I begged.

  “Oh, all right.” Mrs. Linwood pulled my angel’s record from her cabinet and punched in the phone number.

  It rang forever. Mrs. Linwood shook her head and began to put the phone down. “Hello? Hello?” she suddenly said. “Yes, Seaside High School calling. Candy was supposed to be in school today, but no one has . . . yes . . . Candy Hartman . . . She transferred here yesterday . . . but she was standing right in front of me! Yes . . . Yes . . . Yes . . . Oh, I see . . . Thank you.”

  She hung up the phone, confused and silent.

  “Well?”

  “That was the plumber.”

  “The plumber!”

  “Seems the Hartmans’ Realtor sent him. The family refused to move into the new home until they had brand-new pipes. They’re still living in their house . . . in Utah.”

  “But I just saw her yesterday!”

  “So did I.” She frowned.

  “Then who was the girl I talked to at school?”

  “Who was the girl I talked to at school? Oh, my! You must not tell anyone about this. Oh, dear, oh, dear! This could mean my job!”

  Who was this angel girl? Where was this angel girl? And would I ever find out?

  I fingered the necklace in my pocket, more confused than ever.

  “You’ve been zoned, man,” Chainsaw said at the Seaside Pier Arcade, after I filled him in. “Totally Twilight Zoned! Like now I think maybe we all dreamed it.”

  “It’s a nightmare to me,” I said. “I see her underwater, then I don’t. I see her at school, then I don’t. I see her at the pier, and then I don’t. Lilly . . . that’s all I know.”

  “You think you know,” Robin interjected. “Her name could really be George.”

  “In which case you could find her on the corner of Fifth and Main.” Chainsaw laughed.

  “I just want to wake up a couple years from now. Then maybe all this’ll somehow make sense.”

  “You can’t sleep. The fireworks are tonight,” Chainsaw said cheerfully.

  “Are you kidding? I’m not going!”

  “Sure you are, dude! It’s summer’s first blow-out. You have to go.”

  “I’ll be there,” Robin reminded me. “I’m the one woman in your life that doesn’t disappear.”

  “I appreciate that.” I sighed, giving her a hug.

  “I’ll pick you up at eight,” Chainsaw commanded.

  I woke up, groggy, lying in the sand. The sound of head-banging music was ringing in my ears. Where was I? Oh, yeah! Now my mission, my love, my legs‌—everything was coming back to me. I squinted into the pastel sunset and sat up slowly, afraid of looking at my tail. Afraid I may go into shock if it was missing again. Even though it had happened before, it wasn’t any less scary now.

  At least this time I came prepared in the clothing department. I had strapped on three tops, and two skirts weighed down by a million shells. One top and one skirt safely made it through the transformation.

  Something seemed different about the time of day, however. The moon was much higher in the sky. That damn gold dust! Madame Pearl had said it might make me sleepy.

  Earthkids were draped on the pier and clustered on the beach like stars in a midnight sky. Hundreds of kids talking, singing, dancing, running wild. How was I ever supposed to find Spencer in this crowd?

  I spotted a girl in dark clothes that I thought I recognized from Seaside High. “Have you seen Spencer?” I asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

  “Spencer who?” she answered, turning around. Only it wasn’t a girl in dark clothes, after all. It was a

  guy!

  “Have you seen Spencer?” I asked a clean-cut man.

  “Is that his name?” the man answered, relieved. “He’s been sitting over there with my wife. Totally whining, looking everywhere for you!”

  I eagerly followed the man. But sitting next to his girlfriend wasn’t my Earthlove. It was a dog!

  “Have you seen Spencer? He’s not an animal, he goes to Seaside High,” I asked a teenaged couple.

  “They’re all animals at Seaside,” the girl answered, as her athletic boyfriend grabbed her. “Get off already,” the girl said playfully to her snuggling mate as they walked on. “Seaside has its own section,” she called back, pointing to the hill. “Most of the kids from school are up there‌—the snacks are free!”

  I gazed out into the sea of teenagers, and then to the setting sun. Darkness was not far off. Even in broad daylight, I would have little chance of finding him. The approaching tide inched farther up the shore, tempting me to return.

  I was pulling my empty Styrofoam cup apart, its former carbonated caramel-colored high-fructose contents forming acid in my already upset stomach. I was hanging on Seaside High’s front lawn, sitting on a bench, oblivious to the exciting festival around me.

  Brightly colored lanterns hung over Seaside’s entrance, between the trees and around the statues, with a spectacular view of the ocean below. Gutsy dancers bopped on the lawn around the flagpole. A makeshift tiki hut housed a snack bar, and speakers hung from the palm trees cranking out top-forty tunes from the master DJ on the pier as we awaited the annual fireworks.

  Fireworks. That’s how I felt about Lilly, exploding emotion, romantic reds, beloved blues, passionate purples bursting through a darkened world.

  But I feared the only thing exploding was my heart.

  Chainsaw approached with Robin, who was decked out in a tight red dress and hipster boots. Radical for her, as she normally hid her body beneath dark cloaks from medieval times.

  “Here, eat this!” Chain said, tossing me a bag of chips. “You need some nourishment.”

  “Yeah. You’re not attractive when you’re depressed,” Robin teased.

  “Can you believe the way she looks?” Chainsaw whispered, sitting next to her. “Like we had a total babe underneath our noses all along!”

  “Yeah‌—we did.” I sighed.

  “It’s going to b
e a stellar‌—” Chainsaw started. He stared past me, suddenly silent.

  “Have the fireworks started?” I asked, not wanting to look.

  “They have for you!” he answered. “Dude, turn around!”

  “I’m too tired for one of your jokes,” I said.

  Chain grabbed my jaw and turned my head toward the tiki hut.

  It was Lilly‌—standing only a few feet away. In all her beauty, searching the crowd, in a red sequined halter top and a white flowing skirt with dangling seashells. She was sandy, and barefoot.

  “Lilly,” I exclaimed, overjoyed and confused. “Lilly!”

  She turned toward me, and smiled radiantly when she recognized me.

  “Spencer!” she said breathlessly, running toward me.

  I held the necklace out to her, but she shook her head and hugged me hard. I wasn’t about to let go.

  “I missed you,” Lilly said, looking up. Her words rained magic on me.

  “But where did you‌—”

  “Let’s not talk now,” she said, placing her salty finger on my lips.

  There are some people who touch you and you know they are yours‌—or if not, they should be. Not as a possession, but as an extension of yourself. Adding, enhancing, liberating the real you with their touch, their aura, their spirit.

  She had already left me twice. But for some reason she kept coming back. Whoever she really was, at least she was with me now.

  Lilly grabbed my hand and pulled me underneath the stars and stripes. We held each other close while the DJ played “Baby, It’s You.”

  Our embrace was magical, different from any other‌—not that I had done much slow dancing in my fifteen years. But this dance was different. Although I didn’t know much about Lilly, I felt I knew everything. It was as if I could feel her soul press through her body into mine as we held each other tight.

  Suddenly a rocket shot into the air, and a explosion of red showered down, reaching over the sea.

  “The city of Seaside and KGMS Radio proudly present Seaside’s tenth annual Festival of Fireworks,” the DJ’s voice blared through our radios.

  “Come on!” I said, grabbing her hand. Our hands fit so nicely together, as if they were made for the sole purpose of binding us. We raced down to the crowded beachfront and found an empty spot on the rocks jutting out from the pier.

  Chainsaw and Robin followed and we all lay back, staring at the confetti-colored night sky.

  “Ouch,” Lilly said suddenly, pulling at her side.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Look at that!” she said, pointing up to a burst of golden sprinkling dust.

  I stroked her silky hair. The beauty of the fireworks didn’t compare to the beauty beside me.

  Suddenly she sat up, clenching her stomach.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” I asked, worried.

  “It’s just something I ate.”

  “I’ll get you a drink,” Chainsaw offered, uncharacteristically polite. “Come on, Robin.”

  “Do you want me to take you home?” I asked.

  “I am home.” She smiled, resting her head on my shoulder.

  “Are you a runaway?” I asked, concerned.

  “I’m not running away. I’m running to . . . We’re connected, you and I,” she said, looking up at me.

  “My life hasn’t been the same ever since you saved me.”

  “Neither has mine. The rhythm of the sea is different. I feel a peaceful surf when we’re together and a storm inside my heart when we’re apart.”

  Lilly spoke so poetically!

  I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me, but I felt she already knew. This was good, because suddenly Chainsaw and Robin returned, invading our love space.

  “If this doesn’t settle your stomach, we’ll try something else,” Chainsaw said, plopping down a two-liter of Coke.

  I opened it for her. She drank the whole two-liter in one gulp!

  “Wow, girl!” Chainsaw exclaimed. “You drink like a fish!”

  “Lilly!” a voice shouted. “Lilly! Where are you?”

  Suddenly a barefoot girl with a seashell skirt like Lilly’s and seashells woven tightly into her black hair was stumbling toward us on the rocks.

  “Oh, no!” Lilly exclaimed, as if she were seeing a ghost. “I can’t believe it!”

  Waverly caught sight of me and stumbled over to us. “Lilly, it’s time to come home!” she demanded.

  She was frustrated and angry. I imagined her going to the spooky Underworld by herself, handing over her savings to Madame Pearl, waking up terrified on the beach, nearly trampled by throngs of Earthees. Finless, friendless, lost without her family or Tide. Crawling and stumbling her way amongst lower life forms in pursuit of a rebellious teenager.

  “Look at the sky, Wave!” I exclaimed. “Fireworks!”

  “Is this a friend of yours?” Spencer asked, puzzled.

  “Wave, you shouldn’t have come.”

  “Let’s go!” she demanded, taking my hand.

  “I’ll go back after the fireworks,” I said, gazing up at the electric sky.

  Waverly crouched in front of me, blocking my gaze with her own. “Swear on Bubbles’ life?”

  I stared into her furious eyes, but then turned back to the sky.

  “I thought so! You’re not coming back‌—”

  “No,” I whispered. “I’m not coming back.”

  I surprised myself with my decision.

  “Lilly, what’s going on?” Spencer demanded.

  “You mean he doesn’t know?” Waverly realized, shocked, suddenly rising to her feet.

  “Know what?”

  “Where her real home is‌—”

  I jumped up and covered Waverly’s mouth with my hand, but she pushed me away.

  “I’d like to know, too,” Chain interrupted.

  Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my side. “I need to go.”

  “You’re going to leave me?” Wave asked, exasperated.

  I gazed at the electric colors reaching through the sky like the legs of an octopus. “But I don’t want to go‌—”

  “Have you thought about your parents? Bubbles? The ocean?” she continued, grabbing my free hand.

  “Bubbles?” Chainsaw wondered. “Is she cute?”

  “She’s a dolphin!” Wave replied.

  “Waverly!”

  “A dolphin?” Chainsaw asked curiously.

  Waverly grabbed my arm and began dragging me toward the water. “Think now, act later! You haven’t changed,” Wave said, out of breath. “Boy, are these legs awkward.”

  I looked back at a confused Spencer, who was standing with his friends.

  “What do you mean I haven’t changed?” I asked, impressed by her sudden energy and passion. I didn’t resist her desperate grip but hoped to reason with her.

  “Think now, act later,” she repeated. “You haven’t grown up.”

  “I feel something I’ve never felt before, something that was missing in my life.”

  “You’re still a little girl, Waterlilly! Impulsive, irresponsible, immature!”

  Her words stung me like a man-of-war. I thought my decision to stay on earth meant that I was growing up. Was it instead a sign that I hadn’t?

  I felt another sharp pain and doubled over. Purple particles rose over the pier and flickered throughout the sky. I turned around and found Spencer standing behind me. His eyes looked lost. “I have to go,” I said reluctantly.

  “But you just got here. Here, I’ll take you home.” He took me by the hand. “But you have to tell me where that is! You’ve left me twice. A third time might mean . . . I’m afraid if I let you go, I’ll never see you again.”

  I caressed his hand as my eyes welled with tears. But Waverly’s grasp was stronger and she pulled me away, leading me underneath the pier, away from the crowd toward the end of the rocks.

  The next moment seemed to last a lifetime, and yet there wasn’t even time to say good-bye. I wante
d to hold Spencer, to kiss him, to see the fireworks forever reflected in his eyes. I wanted to explain everything, to give him the answers he deserved, to tell him that I loved him. But Waverly’s words echoed in my mind. How long had I known him? Even though my heart answered “forever,” my head answered “only two days.” I’d breathed water all my life but only air for such a short time. It was like a dream. Hadn’t I always acted immaturely, selfishly, spontaneously? It was irrational to think I could leave my world for his.

  The shooting pain in my side wasn’t as sharp as the pain exploding in my heart.

  Suddenly Waverly and Lilly dove into the water as if they were dolphins. I rushed to the edge of the rocks like a crazed animal in search of prey. Why were they swimming? Didn’t they know how dangerous it was to swim at night?

  “Lilly!” I shouted. “Lilly! Where are you?” I cried against the blasting music but it was futile.

  I stared out to sea with a sinking feeling. “Lilly!” I called again. “Lilly!”

  Suddenly Waverly’s head popped above the surface, and then, a moment later, much to my relief, so did Lilly’s.

  In an instant she was treading water below me, next to the jutting rock beneath my feet. She swam so quickly! What were they swimming away from, or to? Why were they risking their lives? But none of the questions that raced through my mind in those desperate moments could have prepared me for the answer, when five huge white sonic boom fireworks hit simultaneously, lighting up the sky, the boardwalk, the beach and‌—Lilly. From head to toe, or should I say fin?

  The reality hit me harder than my surfboard had the other day. She was beautiful, yes, even more beautiful in the water, but instead of legs she had the tail of a sparkling green fish. What I thought had been a hallucination the first time I saw her turned out to be fact.

  This couldn’t be. I was in love with a . . . mermaid?

  Suddenly the images flashed‌—one after another. A beautiful girl appearing from nowhere under the ocean, not out of breath, swimming like a fish, a strange aquamarine Spandex covering her all the way to her nouveau riche flipper gear. A kiss of life, of love. Mysteriously showing up at school. Noticing the two-finned mermaid at Starbucks. Commenting on the Ferris wheel, “I’ve never been higher than the rocks.”