Diary of a Mermaid

Cecile Rivera

I walk downstairs and see Cat, Jaclyn, and Finn watching TV. I take a seat at the kitchen table, right beside the family room. Finn notices me and says to the women, "I'll be right back," He gets up and takes the seat adjacent to me.

"You've been awfully quiet," he says. "What's wrong?"

I sigh. If I can't trust my brother, who can I trust? "It's just, well, Theo kissed me at the party."

"He what?!" Finn bursts up from his seat. "I'll kill him."

"No! Sit down! That's not the problem." I say, grabbing his arm before he can kill my would-be boyfriend.

He sits back down. "Then what is?"

"When we were leaving his house, he pulled me aside and said, and I quote, 'What went on between us today, I'm gonna pretend it never happened. You should too.'"

"Wow, that's - that's low." Finn murmurs.

"I know. But it wasn't his fault. Mom made him do it."

"Wait, Mom? You mean our real mom or Jaclyn?" Finn asks, sounding appalled.

"Real mom. Cecile Rivera."

"What did she do?"

"Well, I was texting her and - well, I'll just show you." I quickly run back upstairs and I run back upstairs and grab my tablet off my bed. I open the texting conversation as I walk back down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Here," I say, handing it to Finn.

He quickly scans it and says, "Oh no."

"Oh yes. I meet this perfect boy and I'm not allowed to talk to him?" I think exclaim.

Finn stands up and walks to the fridge. He take out a tub of ice cream and scoops us both a serving.

"Chocolate chip cookie dough. Your favourite," he says, handing one to me.

I smile in thanks and dig in. He sits back down and starts on his.

Steven bursts into the room. "Kids, Nemmy's gone!"