Diary of a Mermaid

Hand in hand

Steven pulls up to a modern house ten minutes later. He gets out of the car and opens Finns door. We all shuffle out and walk up to the front door. Theo knock. A camera above the door buzzes and the intercom beside it crackles to life.

"Theo! I'm so happy to see you!" a woman's voice says.

Theo blushes and glances at me.

The lock on the door clicks automatically and Theo pushes the door open. I look astounded, so he says, "It's all electronic,"

We walk into the house and a woman with curly grey hair and glasses runs toward us. She envelopes Theo in a hug. "Theo, my boy! How are you? How is military school?"

"God, Ma! I've only been gone for a month!" Theo squirms in her arms.

A girl calls out, "What's all the fuss about?" Then she enters the foyer. I study her. She has shoulder-length brown hair, blue eyes identical to Theo's, and a snarky smile. I'm guessing this is Rosie.

"Theo!" she shrieks and dashes into his arms just as his mom lets go.

He hugs her quickly and brushes himself off. "Ma, Rosie, I'd like you to meet Steven Cordova," Steven shakes her hand. "Finn Rivera," Finn nods in Theo's moms direction. Theo comes to stand beside me. "And my main client, Topaz Rivera. Topaz, Finn, Steven, this is my mother and sister, Denise White and Rosanna Dannis."

Steven hands her the bottle of wine we brought and says, "Happy birthday,"

Denise smiles. "Thank you. Now, um, dinner is almost ready. Feel free to wonder around until it's time to eat."

"Thank you," Steven says. "Now, I'd like to discuss this house's security features." The conversation drowns out as the two walk down the hallway.

"I'm Rosanna," Rosie says to Finn. He straightens his polo shirt by pulling the hem. I recognize the move. We saw it in our favourite movie, Molars, a parody of the classic, Jaws. The hero, Kirt Simpson pulls his shirt down after meeting the beautiful Thalia Grace Stuart, who later becomes Thalia Grace Simpson. You see where I'm headed with this.

"Finn Rivera. Nice to meet you." Rosie shakes his hand.

"Lets get a snack," she says and they walk off together.

Finn looks back over his shoulder and gives me a totally rare shocked look. I discreetly wink back.

"So, do you want to go the backyard?" Theo asks me uncomfortably when he sees Rosie and Finn walk off.

I smile. "Sure,"

He leads me down the hall and through a back door to the yard. We're the only ones out here. We sit down on the swings of a swing set.

"So, tell me about yourself," Theo instructs after we've fell into the same swinging rhythm.

"Well," I begin. "I love photography." I pull a small photograph out of my purse and hand it to him. It's of me, Angel, and Nemmy. We're all wearing long-sleeved white blouses and long black skirts. None of us are smiling. Our hair is in two high pigtails with multiple multi-coloured elastics fastening the hair, prohibiting it from flowing freely. The white background makes us stand out even more.

"This is really good." he comments.

"Thank you,"

"What else?"

"Huh?" I ask?

"What else do you like?" he explains.

"I like to make things,"

"Like what?" he asks. Wow. He seems genuinely interested in me.

"Dinner!" Denise calls from the kitchen.

"Hold that thought," Theo says. "We'll talk more after." He jumps off his swing and waits for mine to stop moving before holding out his hand to me to help me off.

We walk back to the house hand in hand.