Under the Sea *Book One* Water Trilogy

~Six~

The next morning was hell. The power had gone out again so I woke up late, my hair was an un-brushable mess, and I had forgotten that I had homework.

I drove down the highway, trying to be careful, but I kept catching myself speeding as I tried to get us to school. My brother held on tightly to the seat as I passed a tractor trailer. He screamed when I zoomed across the highway as I nearly missed my exit ramp.

"You look like you survived a war." Connor said as we pulled into the school parking lot and it was undoubtedly true. I hadn't slept that well. Nightmares about drowning had taken all my energy. The puffs under my eyes made me look like I was glaring and I hadn't bothered to try to cover it with make-up, being late made it impossible, and I was wearing a wrinkled t-shirt I had found on the floor.

"Awesome." That word seemed to be his catch phrase.

After I parked the car I gave a once over in the mirror and decided to put my hair in a simple braid. I then had to run from the back of the parking lot to the front because all the other spaces near the front of the school had been taken in the rain, getting my white shirt wet and see through in the process. Heidi ended up having to give me a sweatshirt from her locker. The rest of the day had gone incredibly slow. By the time we got out the weather had stopped till it was just a grey sky and thunder no longer boomed.

I met my brother in the Jeep.

"How was your day?" I asked as he climbed in and threw his back pack in the back seat.

"I got to dissect a cow heart-"

"That's disgusting."

"It was awesome!" he yelled, making me jump. Connor laughed. "Why are you wearing someone else's jacket?"

"It was raining and I wore a white t-shirt," his eyes bugged out of his head.

"At least you had something to cover up with."

We drove home in silence other than the music I turned on. I prayed the whole way that it wouldn't start storming again or that it at least waited till I had some more time to talk to Finn. I couldn't help that I was obsessed. How often did someone get a chance like that any way? I had drawn sketches of what his home might be like under water in art class while Seth had tried to flirt with me. He brought up the fact that he was happy I was coming to his party; I just nodded my head and said that I couldn't wait to go.

*

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I parked the car in the garage, I was the first to come home every day and I was usually the last to leave which gave me the right to take over the dry space.

"Are you staying here or are you going over to James's?" I asked. Then began to wonder why James had not been in the car with us at all today. I was his car pool ride to school.

"He's sick," Connor was giving me a strange look. "I don't know how you didn't realize this morning you were missing a kid."

"Well he's not mine," I sighed as he climber out of the car and shut the garage, not believing I was so out of it that if James had not been sick I would have left him at his house.

Climbing out of the car I made my way to my room, threw my purse on the bed, put my hair up in a messy bun, and went down to see if Finn was waiting for me.

The sun was still hidden behind a wall of grey and the ocean was still a little choppy. More storms were expected for the rest of the week until Friday, which I only knew because everyone was happy that Seth's party wasn't going to be under rain, and this was my only chance to see Finn at a decent time. I went and sat on the edge of the dock, which was still wet from the rain but I didn't care, and waited. It was slightly windy and the water was warmer than the air. I had on jeans but I still put my feet in. The fabric started to soak up the water near my ankles. I didn't see a merman anywhere.