Making a Splash

A New Friend

Two weeks had passed since the school camping trip. Things there had been... eventful, to say the least. Kyle's body hadn't been found, but with him gone for so long it was hard for people not to assume the worst. Of course, only three people knew the actual truth of what had happened to the seemingly innocent high school student.

The first week had been nerve wracking for Lily and her two fellow mermaids. Did anybody suspect them? Would the police show up and question them? If they were found out, would their other secret get discovered too? These thoughts ate away at their minds, but after nothing happened for the full week things began to revert back to a state of normalcy.

And of course, that meant school. Namely, final exams, which were less than a month away.

"Ugh... this sucks." Lily groaned. "I hate exams."

"You just need to study better." Emma told her. Being one of the top students in her grade, finals didn't seem nearly as daunting to her as others.

Lily yawned as she looked at her textbook with a drowsy expression. "Can't we just go swimming instead?"

"Lily, we talked about this." Marie reminded her. "We agreed to study together for an hour each day after school. We can swim after that."

"Fine." the red-haired girl groaned.

"My, my, what do we have here?"

The sound of the familiar voice caused the three girls to sigh in annoyance as Veronica walked up to the table they were studying at in the cafeteria. Accompanying the stuck-up female student were two other girls that were typically seen following her.

Lily was the first to respond, letting her annoyed tone be all too clear. "What do you want, Veronica?"

"Are you all studying for finals? How sweet?" she said. "I suppose it must be tough if grades are all you have to show off."

"At least grades are something that are earned, rather than bought with our parents' money." Emma commented.

A slight twitch of Veronica's brow signaled that she was not willing to take that comment lying down, especially from Emma. If it wasn't for the fact that they were at school, she would probably slap her or worse. But she managed to at least retain a somewhat cool head. "Careful there, Emma. Wouldn't want to drown in that ego. There's no passing by ships to save you."

The subtle reference to the time Veronica had left Emma out to drown in the middle of the sea went far over the line. Lily was ready to slug Veronica for that comment, but Marie signaled for her to hold it in. Lily hated it, but she knew that if she threw the first punch, any blame would fall on her.

"Well, we'll let you get back to your adorable study session. Ta ta, losers." Veronica said as she and her friends walked away laughing.

Once Veronica and her two friends were out of sight, Lily let her frustration out. "Ugh! Why is she such a jerk?!"

"Are you alright, Emma?" Marie asked, knowing she had gotten the worst of the bullying from Veronica's comment.

Emma responded with a nod of her head. "Yeah. Don't worry, I'm over it."

Lily and Marie glanced at each other, wondering how much of what their friend was saying was true. But they decided to let it go for now. After all, once they were done studying for the day, they had an exciting swim ahead of them.

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"Woo! Bet you can't catch me!"

"Oh that does it! You're gonna get it this time, Lily!"