Evie | a lesbian fantasy romance [girlxgirl]

three

My stupid alarm wakes me up and I groan, immediately snoozing it with hopes that I can go to sleep for another ten minutes. But as I close my eyes again, the sun shines through my curtains and a sliver of light warms my face up, making it impossible to fall back asleep.

When I rub my eyes and roll over to look up at the ceiling, dreamland fades and is replaced by real life, and that's when I remember the events of yesterday.

I can't be sure if what I saw and experienced was real. Did I really meet the mermaid version of Evie Davidson? Did I actually see a mermaid, something that should have been mythological, in the sea and touch her tail? Or was it one massive hallucination, a symptom of grief that was taking it's toll?

There's no better way to find out than to get up and see, so after freshening up and getting ready for my day, I grab some shopping bags and my bag from downstairs. I'm not sure what I expect, but all the work I did yesterday is real, meaning I wasn't dreaming like I thought... but if this is all here, then that means the mermaid stuff is real, and it just can't be.

Carefully, I make my way outside and lock up before heading to the dock to get to the speedboat. My eyes scan the sea, unsure what to expect, but there's not a single sign that could suggest yesterday was real. No mermaid tails, no Evie, no nothing. But I'm still on edge, so I try to hurry it up when I get into the boat and start the engine.

The last thing I expect is for the engine not to work. No matter how many times I turn the key, the engine splutters to life but I go nowhere. I groan quietly, not in the mood to deal with this right now, and attempt to take a closer look at the engine sitting on the back end of the boat. Up until recently however, I'd never even driven one of these things, so I may as well be learning a new language.

So, this is great. Now it's another thing to add onto my to-do list. And to top it off, it means I'm going to have to use the dodgy-looking rowboat tied next to me which is going to take forever to row to the mainland.

I take a bunch of pictures of the engine from all angles on my phone, planning to show it to Andy or Alice or anyone who can help me figure out what the problem is, then grab my stuff from the boat with mild irritation.

Tossing my stuff into the rowboat, I grumble lowly and untie it from the post before grabbing the oars and making a start. It's okay at first, the rowing not that difficult, but then two minutes pass and I realise just how much upper body strength is required to keep this up and actually make the boat move. I am not a fan.

I keep rowing, my fingers already struggling to keep ahold of the oars because of the pain in my arms, and I try to focus on moving forward and nothing else. That only works for so long until a head suddenly pops up beside me in the water, startling me so much that I drop one of the oars in the sea.

"Fuck!" I shout, heart racing in my chest as I realise it's Evie. "What the fuck?!"

She purses her lips and dips into the water momentarily whilst I hold my hand my chest to calm the beating. She reappears with my oar, threading it back through the rowlock and holding it until I grab it once more.

"Are you insane?!" I shout, eyes widened with shock. "You could have given me a heart attack!"

She ignores my frustration and continues floating beside me with pleading eyes. "You have to stop, Leila."

I look around us, wondering where the hell she finds the audacity to corner me in the middle of the freakin' ocean. "What?" I ask with disbelief.

She tilts her head towards me knowingly. "The house. It's my home. Please, stop."

Oh, so it's this again. If I wasn't convinced about yesterday being real before, I certainly am now. And though I should be more amazed at the fact that mermaids are real, I'm more focused on how annoying this one happens to be.