Drowning

Chapter 10

The snake revealed itself in front of us. Cora quickly put the knife behind her back. What was she doing?
"So... What's up, snake?" Cora said casually.
The snake had a confused expression.
"Are you shy? Oh, well I was when I was little. You see, I found out there was nothing to be afraid of because-"
"Zip it, chatterbox." The snake interrupted. "I would like to finish you off."
"But before you finish me off, we should get to know each other. Hi, I'm Cora. Full name's Coralia. What's your's? By the way, what type of of snake are you?" Cora held out her hand. The snake moved closer to her, only to hiss in her face. As soon as it got close, Cora pulled out her knife and stabbed the snake in the middle of it's large body.
The snake twitched and fell to the ground.
We all clapped for Cora.
"Good Job! Bravo!" We cheered. As soon as our claps stopped, rain started to fall. We all ran under the nearest tree.
"Oh no." Cora whispered.
"Oh no what?" Before she could answer, my question was answered. The dead snake snapped open it's eyes and it's familiar, red tongue flickered out of it's mouth. The blood disappeared.
"What just happened." Kurt said from behind.
"The rain heals wounds for supernatural creatures."
"What?!"
"Amy, remember when you broke your leg?"
I nodded.
"The rain healed it. That's why it healed so quickly." Cora finished.
The snake rose up and smiled devilishly at us. I felt rain beat on my head, and soon, my legs were glowing. Kurt's and Cora's were also.
We all fell to the ground at about the same time. Cora's determination had faltered and had been replaced by anxiety.
We were like a fish out of water. Because literally, we were fish out of water. We were useless. We had no way of running away or protecting ourselves. We were live bait waiting to be caught. I struggled to move, and I saw Kurt and Cora flipping around. I started dragging myself. Then I remembered my wings.
Wait, no. I couldn't do it. I couldn't leave my friends. I'm only strong enough to carry one of them. I couldn't leave one behind.
"Finally. My food is mine." The snake slithered closer to Cora.
Suddenly, the snake said, "Eek!" And slithered away.
I made eye contact with Kurt and Cora. Same expression on their faces. What happened?
Garrett stepped into the clearing, his face without emotion. You could have no idea what he was thinking.
Cora, on the other hand, felt very embarrassed. She felt like walking up to him and hugging him for saving his life, but she couldn't. There she was, on the ground and Garrett seeing her biggest secret. Cora was overcome with silent embarrassment.
And so was Kurt. He was happy to see his best friend, but embarrassed he saw him as a merman. What would Garrett think of him? Would he tell the school? His whole popular group would leave him instantly. They'd think he was so... So... Girly.
I was also embarrassed. There he was, starring at us, and we were helpless. We could do nothing.
I broke the silence, "How did you do it?"
"I stepped on it's tail." Garrett said calmly. The rain stopped and we sat there silently. Thankfully, our tails started glowing.
"Garrett." Cora addressed him. "How did you know?"
"I didn't know." Garrett answered. Our tails stopped glowing and we were free to walk. Cora got up to her feet.
"I... Have got to go." She signaled us to come with her. We walked back home silently.

~~~

"I wish school could be over already." Cora complained. There was seven minutes until the bell rang, dismissing the students home.
"Why aren't you working on the homework for today?"
"I don't want to do it. Not now, at least."
"Cora, no one wants to do it. We don't have a choice."
"Whatever."
"Double whatever."
"Triple whatever."
"Quadruple whatever."
"Whatever times whatever.
"Million whatever."
"Million whatever plus one."
"Infinity whatever."
"Infinity whatever plus one."
"Infinity and beyond whatever."
"Google whatever."
"Guys." Kurt said. "What are you doing?"
"Ask Cora, she started it."
"I didn't. You did."
"No I didn't."
"Yeah, you did."
"No I didn't."
"Yeah, you did."
At that moment the bell rang.
"Whatever." Cora said as she walked away.
"Whatever?! Stop saying that!"
"Stop bothering me."
"Fine!"
"Fine." Cora left the room.
"Wow." Kurt said from behind me.
"What is wrong with Cora?"
"I don't know." Kurt said as he left.
I left right behind him.

~~~

Names names names...
"Rosalyn's name means beautiful, pretty rose. It's Spanish. Her last name means innocence." Kurt flipped the page. "Eric means ever or eternal ruler and his last..." Kurt read the list of names he had looked up the day before. We had gone over the names Cora and I had looked up, and so far, no luck. Kurt was wrapping up. This was pretty boring. I had pictured it a lot more exciting.
"And for the last name, Calder. Calder mean frozen, or ice. His last name has no meaning."
"No meaning? Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah. I looked it up more than once. No meaning."
"Every last name has a meaning." Cora commented. Her attitude had cleared up when she came here, and we all knew it was because of Garrett. She couldn't stand being in the same building as him anymore. Their relationship wasn't going so well.
"He said his last name was Greek."
"Still, nothing." Kurt shook his head. "Let's just forget about it."
"We can't. We need to know what it means. We might be missing something."
Cora, who had been hanging her head all day, bounced and and sat up straight. "Guys! I get it!"