The Mermaid Project

chapter one

I stood outside the building, the line of people in front of me full of desperate teenage girls like myself. I wasn’t so much desperate as I was ready to be done with the world I live in. The building was dull and grey, giving away nothing about its intentions or the intentions of the doctors inside. I was disrupted from my thoughts by another round of squealing from the girls ahead of me.

It seemed as though one would need to release the buildup of excitement, causing a chain reaction from the others. All these girls were around my age, but I doubted that they had the maturity and intelligence that I had been told countless times I possessed. The girl in front of me turned around, looking at me with the biggest smile she could muster. “Hi!” she squealed. I flinched from the sudden loud noise. “Jesus Christ!” I exclaimed.

She didn’t seem fazed by my obvious discomfort at her tone.

“What are you here for?” she chirped.

“The same thing as everyone else, I guess,” I mumbled.

She just stared at me. She looked like the average teenage girl that lived in Washington. She was dressed in skinny, dark-wash jeans, paired with a white t-shirt. Black Ugg boots adorned her feet, and she had on a green and white infinity scarf. Completing the stereotypical look, she held a Starbucks cup and her red hair was straightened to a point.

“No silly, what are you here to become? I think it’s just amazing how all this is possible. We’re so lucky that we don’t need permission anymore! I’m here to be a vampire. Not those dumb ones from Twilight, but like the ones from Vampire Diaries, you know?” she rambled on until I couldn’t take it anymore. “Mermaid!” I yelled. “I’m here to become a mermaid.

Finally, after that girl got called into the big metal door, I got my peace and quiet. It didn’t last long though, as I was called into the building moments later. I walked up to the door, my hands shaking. Despite my nerves, I wasn’t going to back down. I wanted, no, needed this to happen. I needed to get away.

They ushered me to the white room, with the big silver table. The straps made me nervous, but like I said, I was not backing down. The guard left the room, leaving me to explore on my own. Finding nothing of interest, I took a seat on the table, waiting for the surgeon to come and tell me what I had to do to become what I wanted.

I was jolted from my thoughts, when I heard a scream from another room. It sounded like that girl from outside. It’s a shame I never got her name.

Oh well.

I looked in the full sized mirror on the wall, examining myself. My black, wavy hair curled down to the middle of my back. I looked nothing like that girl, with my grey, zip-up sweatshirt, moss green top, skinny acid-wash jeans, and black, high-top converse. Before I could over analyze, the door behind me opened. 

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Dedicated to Twiggins for telling me to post this story that's been on my computer for over a year.