Forever His Mermaid

Chapter 5- Memories and Guys With Hard Backs

Falling asleep that night on my bed, with red coral above me and the water glistening above my head and all around me, I watched as my hair spun in circles and danced, as well as the sheets. That was one of the disadvantages of living underwater. Nothing ever stayed still, unless you held it down with something. Like when I had loose papers around, I had to hold them down with a paperweight. It wasn’t exactly convenient, but hey, life isn’t perfect. The door leading out of my room was on the opposite side of the woven seaweed walls, sturdy and firm. I rolled over and thought about what Aquette had asked of me.

She wanted me to confront Caspian and be nosy, basically. How would I do that? I didn’t want to creep him out or invade his space, but I had to figure out if one, he liked her back, and two, if he was datingPearlor not. I mean, I’d be freaked out if a person I didn’t talk to much came up to me and asked me who I liked and was dating. Would I tell the person? Well, Caspian was a much of a laid back guy, so hopefully he’d tell me.

I decided that first thing tomorrow I’d find him and have a talk.

*****

After dressing myself and fixing my tangled bed hair, I swam out of my room, feeling light headed and slightly groggy, but otherwise fine. I shook my head around and rubbed my eyes to further wake myself up, and went on my way. Soon I passed Betty’s Hair Boutique, and my mind flooded with memories of me and Philip.

I went here right before our first date… to impress him. I wanted my hair to look perfect. I had boring blonde hair, but I came out with bright blue highlights, everything curled to perfection. It was so nice back then…I thought.

No, Liana, he’s out of your life, you need to forget about him. He’s gone, and you need to move on. I told myself. There’s no need to dwell on the past.

Moving on past the boutique, I swam ahead.

I realized a little too late that I had no idea where Caspian would be. I had no idea where he lived, and I didn’t know him all that well so I didn’t know where his usual hangout spots were. I had seen him around town a few times, but that was it. I was hopeless. I guess I could always just go to Aquette and ask her if she knew where he lived or maybe Harmonessa, but I was honestly too lazy to go anywhere at this point. I just wanted to go back to bed.

Not wanting to let Aquette down, I convinced myself that I would find one way or another, which meant I’d have to search the whole town for Caspian. It was going to be a long day.

Searching every street filled with little merman boys playing together and young teenagers talking about hanging out, I kept my eyes open for a head of jet black hair and blue eyes. Most mermen had either brown or blonde hair, so he’d be easy to find. Yet, after hours of going down alleys and through grass and fields and even around abandoned shops, I didn’t find him anywhere. Maybe he was still sleeping?

Officially giving up on finding Caspian myself, I went to find Harmonessa and hopefully get some information about the whereabouts of Caspian. She was a very social person, hyper and outgoing, so of all people she’d know where he was. At least I knew where she lived.

I swam purposefully to her place, which stood out from everyone else’s as it was completely covered in bright flowers and the roof were splattered with hot pink paint. Everything she owned was girly and colorful. Sometimes she was so girly it scared me.  Opening the door to her small house, I swam in quietly, moving my fins in slow motion, gently propelling myself forward but not making any sound. Not wanting to disturb her if she was in the middle of something, I moved around to each room searching for her, if she was even home.

I found her in an empty room at the very back of the house, with just a book in her hands.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I need your help.”

She looked up quickly and formed a smile when she recognized me.

“Oh hey, I was just reading this book called Moonshine. I’ve never liked reading before, but I’m starting to enjoy it more. What do you need?”

“Do you know where Caspian is?” I said, cutting to the chase.

“Um… I think he lives about on the street over, if you go left after you leave here. His house is really big, the largest one there. His family’s rich.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know?”

“No…. well I’ve gotta go find him. See ya!”

“Do you have to go right now? We could talk about stuff! I mean, can’t you just go later?”

“No, I really need to go. Sorry! But I’ll see you around?”

She sighed. “Fine.”

*****

 “Caspian?” I said. Nothing.

I swam further into his house, looking for him.

“Caspian? Anyone home?” I said again, a little louder. Bubbles flew up from my mouth, my voice reverberating  through the water.

I went into the next room and crashed into something very hard, and fell to the ground.

“Agghh.” I heard someone say, and I blacked out.

~30 minutes later~

“Are you okay?”

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking rapidly. Everything was blurred, and I faintly saw the shape of a guy.

“Mhhmm.”

“Liana?”

Hearing my name, I rolled over to see a guy with dark hair and big eyes. After a few minutes of staring into space, it registered late in my brain that I was looking at Caspian.

“Oh umhm…. hey Caspian…” I mumbled.

“Why’d you come here?”

I sat up awkwardly, dizzy and out of it. Rubbing my temples, I pushed myself off the ground and stood up, stumbling but regaining my posture.

“I uh… needed to talk to you. How long was I on the ground?”

“Half an hour.”

“Oh.. what happened?”

“You collided face first into my back, and you fell on top of me, and I got up but you had passed out. I didn’t even hear you come in…. yeah, so what do you need?”

“Um, you know Aquette, right?” I asked him.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, she likes you. A lot. And she wanted to know if you liked her back. And since I don’t feel like beating around the bush, she wanted to know if you were datingPearlor not.”

“Why would I ever datePearl? She’s kind of a bitch… just saying.”

I laughed aloud. “Yeah, Aquette thinks the same thing too. So, do you like her back?”

“Uh…” He looked away quickly, turning red.

“So I take that as a yes?” I said, smiling to myself. This was hilarious.

“I’ve actually liked her for a long time. Are you sure she likes me?” He said quietly, looking up at me.

“Yeah, she actually sent me here, and she definitely likes you.”

“Good to know.” He said, giving me a mega watt smile, showing off his sparkling white teeth.

“Well, I should get going now. I’ll see you later?”

“Bye!” He replied, looking away with a big smile plastered on his face.

Aquette is gonna be thrilled. I thought to myself.