Scales & Tales - The Tales of Mystic High - Book 1

Chapter 13

Aquamarine wearily took her set to the left of Atlantic. She glanced at him, and she noticed that he was looking at her, too. Anxiety-ridden and filled to the brim with dread, Aquamarine quickly looked away. The saddened look in Atlantic's eyes hurt, both mentally and physically. It was like someone had purposefully grabbed a jackhammer and slammed it into her heart.

Not daring to speak a word, Aquamarine listened impatiently for the bell to ring so class could start, and she'd have no reason to communicate with her cousin. But her prayers were easily denied by the forces above, as Atlantic spoke up, "... Aquamarine..?"

Aquamarine took a nervous gulp, turning to Atlantic. "Y-yeah..?" she asked cautiously, making sure to speak quietly since she didn't want Atlantic to be mad at her even more than he was now.

"I... I'm sorry for what happened in homeroom today..." He mumbled, tapping his right foot repeatedly against the side of the desk.

"Why are you sorry?" Aquamarine questioned in an overly rushed manner. "You did nothing wrong, and believe me when I say nothing!"

"But I ran out... I made you look bad in front of the teacher..." Atlantic bit his lip nervously, looking away.

"Atlantic, please... You wouldn't have done that if me and Blackout didn't keep fighting. I'll... I'll try to talk to him, alright? Maybe clear up some misunderstanding we have about each other?" Aquamarine offered, trying desperately to make Atlantic feel better.

Atlantic shrugged halfheartedly. "If you want... I honestly don't care anymore. You two can hate each other, I just don't like to watch you two hate each other..."

"Atlantic, look at me," Aquamarine smiled softly as her cousin looked up at her. "It was me and Blackout's fault. I'll fix things with him, I swear. I'll try my absolute hardest. I'll meet up with him after class, alright?"

Atlantic showed a tiny grin for the first time since he ran out, making Aquamarine overjoyed. "Can... Can I please have a huggie..?"

Aquamarine's heart almost melted at the shark's shy behavior, like asking for a platonic hug was embarrassing, even though he did it all the time when he wasn't worried. "Of course, Atlantic!" She walked over, giving him a light hug. "I love you, buddy, you know that... right?"

Atlantic let out a weak laugh. "I love you more, sis..."

As class started, Aquamarine noticed that Atlantic was much more upbeat than before, and it filled her heart with joy seeing him so happy. They may not be siblings, but he was the closest thing she had to a brother, and she wasn't ashamed of it.

After class, Aquamarine immediately saw Atlantic race after her. "So are you going to find Blackout and go talk to him?"

As Aquamarine entered the hallway, she nodded. "Of course! I'll talk to him as soon as possible – if he wants to, that is."

"Aww, don't worry! If I tell him I want you two to make up, he'll do it. For some reason he likes me a lot more than other people. Besides his brother, of course. But I wonder why..." Atlantic thought to himself.

"Yeah, I wonder," Aquamarine smiled to herself, rolling her eyes playfully at her cousin's obliviousness. Suddenly she saw someone grab Atlantic's shoulder out of the corner of her eye, and whirled around to face Anchor holding onto Atlantic's forearm.

"Well, here he is! The 'stop' freak has finally shown up! I saw you talking to this dumb girl in Oceanic Creatures. What's up with that? Are you two dating or something?" Anchor scoffed with an evil grin.

Atlatnic blinked, glancing at Aquamarine, before the two burst into laughter.

"H-huh? Dude, what's so funny?" He snarled angrily, increasing his grip on Atlantic's arm.

Atlantic flinched, yanking away. "S-sorry, I just.. Whoo, that was a good one! Yeah, this 'dummy girl' is my cousin. Get it right."

Anchor immediately hissed to himself, feeling embarrassed for getting something like that wrong. "Yeah, okay. Is she your little mommy while you two are here? Does she help you with those freaky metal things on your legs?" He quickly kicked Atlantic in the shin, obviously gesturing to his braces. "I mean, what, do you need metal to help you walk? How much of a freak can you be-"

"Leave him alone," Blackout's voice rang throughout the halls. He stormed through the crowd forming around Atlantic and Anchor, and shoved himself between the two.

"Oh, did the big bad wolf come to save his damsel in distress?" Anchor let out another cruel laugh. "Let's see, how are you going to deal with me? I'm a seaweed belt in coralate. You think you can easily-..." Anchor trailed off, as a fire suddenly blazed around Blackout's whole body. When it faded, there he stood, in his true form. He had black horns sticking out of his

head, and had red marks covering his eyes. He had fangs, and they glowed in the light as he sneered at Anchor.

"What were you saying?" He said bitterly, grabbing Anchor by the collar. Anchor immediately yanked himself away with a yowl, and he grabbed his neck, which now had a severe burn mark on it.

"Ugh! Fine! I'll leave your precious boyfriend alone. Just keep your boiling hands away from me!" Anchor yelled out, quickly sprinting away, most likely to see the nurse.

Blackout sighed, as he seemed to 'sizzle down', returning to his regular form. He turned to Atlantic. "... Are you okay?"

Atlantic stood there, his face bright red, and he gave out a shaky nod. "Y-yeah... I'm fine.. W-was that your true form?" He inquired, obviously flustered.

Blackout nodded. "Yeah. I guess. I just hated seeing you getting bullied, I guess I got a little bit too riled up..."

"A little?" Aquamarine was about to say, when Atlantic quickly stumbled over both her and his own words.

"Are you kidding me!? You look so cool in your true form! I need to get bullied more often, you looked so hot -that was so epic!" Atlantic's eyes shone with envy. "I wish my true form was like that! I just get some dumb shark tail and flippers..."

Blackout blushed a little. "Er, uhm, thanks..."