From Feet to Fins Part Three

WE ARE AT PART THREE!! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!

Please note that this is *PART THREE* of a multi-part series, so please go back and read Stolen From the Tides and Encroaching Waters. If you already read them, sit back and enjoy!!

...

I caught a glimpse of long copper waves of hair, flowing out behind the girl's head as she walked into the cafe. I pulled my walkie-talkie out of my back pocket and said, "Target acquired. Permission to proceed?"

The talkie crackled as the person on the other end said, "Permission granted."

I stuck the talkie back in my pocket and nonchalantly walked across the street to the cafe the girl had walked into.

I walked in just as she stuck her hand into her purse for her wallet.

I reached for my back pocket. I had the perfect weapon.

"No, don't worry," I pulled out my wallet. "I can cover it."

...

I stared at Kim, my mouth gaping, my mind swimming as I tried to comprehend the words she'd said.

Suddenly, the dizziness evaporated and I began to boil with white-hot anger.

"WHY WOULDN'T YOU TELL ME?" I exploded.

"Haven-" Kim tried to interject, but I cut her off.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME!! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE JUST KEPT THIS A SECRET FROM ME!" I smacked her comforting hand away from me and ran outside, out to the ocean. I raced to the waves, splashing softly against the shore.

I stopped right at the edge, staring out at the horizon. Kim came to my side. "Haven, Haven!" she cried, pulling me away from the ocean, her face streaked with tears. "Please, you can't do this right now. Listen to me!"

I looked at her with steely eyes. "Why? Why should I listen to you? I never even knew who I was for the past twelve years of my life! I never knew why I didn't fit in! I never knew why my hair was pink. I never knew anything, thanks to you!!"

I plopped down in the silky white sand, digging my hands into the sand and drizzling it all over my lap.

"Haven, if you had known you were a mermaid when you were six years old, you would have been bragging about it to the other girls."

"What's the harm in that?" I spat, glaring at her viciously again. She winced but continued.

"Haven, people would become curious. People would come to study you. They might even take you to a lab to experiment on you," I suddenly realized the sense in what she was saying. "That's no life for a child."

"So what do I do now? Now that I've never swum a day in my life, I'm just supposed to magically take to the sea?"

"Haven, mermaids are magical," Kim said, setting her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure it will be intuitive."

"Okay," I said, standing up and taking a step toward the ocean. I felt a tremor of fear and excitement rumble in my gut.

"Haven, wait!" Kim cried, grabbing my wrist. "Please wait until Alan gets back! He needs to be here!"

I stared back into the ocean. The desire to go somewhere I would belong, the thrill of contemplating the excitements that lurked under the sea, diminished. I sighed.

"Fine," I told her, looking back to the ocean wistfully. Soon, I thought,

...

The walk back home was long. When I got to my house, I was drenched in sweat. I pushed my damp black hair out of my eyes as I walked through the doorway.

As the door slammed, I saw something jerk on the couch. The something was a man with a bald head and a stained shirt, clutching a brown, long-necked bottle.

"Whozere?" he slurred, his tiny, olive-green eyes flicking around the room. He recognized me and sighed.

"Ah. Sloane," he sighed, laying back. "Anything useful?"

"Yes," I replied. "Let me go take a shower, first."

I passed him on my way to the hall and he grabbed my wrist, yanking me back toward him. He leaned up to snarl in my face, "Tell me what you found out."

"Let me take a shower," I said calmly.

"No!" he spat, glaring up at me. "You earn your shower by telling me what you know!"

I winced. I didn't need to shower because I was sweaty (although that was a factor). I needed to shower because frankly, I was jarred by my experience in the cafe.

As I recalled the way that girl looked at me... the electricity running up my spine as, when I flirted with her, she flirted back.

I couldn't risk attraction- attachment- on this mission.

I needed to get away, to mull it over in the shower, to banish anything I felt (or thought I felt) for Haven Levine.

Talking about it was only going to make it worse.

I yanked my wrist out of his grasp and raced down the hall to the shower, ignoring Dave's shouts. Escaping from him- and from Haven.

I locked the bathroom door, clean clothes in my hand. I turned it on as cold and hard as I could.

It was like hail, hitting my shoulders, back, and head. Chilled, I turned the knob sharply.

Scalding water assaulted my skin, pounding me as I thought of the way Haven looked at me.

The steam distorted everything, twisting it. The sunlight beaming in through the window blazed into my eyes and turned Haven's hair to fire. But nothing could change the undeniable attraction in her eyes

I cried out and turned the knob back to cold, but made the pressure softer.

It was like a cold drizzle, soothing my red, hot skin. I washed the sweat from my skin under that cold water, afraid to turn it to lukewarm. Warm water against my skin would burn. Cold water was the only safe option.

I emerged from the bathroom in a gray shirt and sweatpants. Dave was sitting up on the couch, looking grumpy. "Well, care to share?" he asked caustically.

I winced. It wasn't his acetic tone that stung- it was that a shower had been unable to cure my restless feelings regarding Haven Levine.

"Yes," I said in a steady voice. "I introduced the possibility of a secret. What if they don't tell her?"

"They will," he said certainly. I wasn't sure how he could be sure.

"What's our next move?" I asked.

"Did she agree to meet you tomorrow?"

"Um, she said she'd be at the cafe tomorrow," I said. "I'll see her then."

"If she doesn't just take off," he muttered.

"You said she loves her parents," I snapped. "Trust me. She will."

...

My anger burned down from a raging bonfire to a flickering flame to hot coals, then was spent, burned down to ash that crumbled when I tried to liven the fire again.

I couldn't leave Kim and Alan forever. I loved them too much, and they loved me as much as I loved them.

I went downstairs and found Kim reading a book on the charcoal gray couch. I sat down next to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. An unspoken forgiveness.

I laid my head on her shoulder and she kissed it.

I went back upstairs to my room and lay on my bed. Sleep came easily with the knowledge that I would be awake at night. Exploring the seas- my home.

...

I was awake before Alan came home. I heard murmuring downstairs and then quiet. It wasn't long before Alan came upstairs and sat at the foot of my bed, where I was still curled up in a blanket.

"So," he said. "Kim told you."

"Yeah," I replied softly.

"You're going into the ocean tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Will you be coming back?"

I sat up, startled into silence by such an assumption. "Of course!!" I cried, glaring at him.

"Oh," he said as I threw my arms around his neck. His arms encircled me and I tucked my face into his shoulder.

"I will always come back," I promised, my voice muffled and quavering with tears that were stinging my eyes.

He sighed, leaning back.

"Tonight," he said.

...

I slipped out of the house, racing across the white sand. I had a pink and white striped towel draped over my bare shoulders, exposed by the thin straps of my yellow tank top.

I set my towel on the moonlit sand.

I approached the water slowly, but it rushed eagerly to meet me.

The water brushed the tip of my toe-

And pain erupted in my legs.

...

Thank you for reading!! Part Four is going to come out on July 3. Please like, share, subscribe, and leave a comment and insights if you want to see more!! I am thrilled to share the rest of this story.

You have no idea how much it helps to see your supportive comments!!

Sorry this one is late, I forgot to publish it!! So sorry y'all!!