The Secret of Rosewater High: A Naideu's Tail

Day One: Afternoon

For once, Elie arrived to class early. He was pretty proud of this rare accomplishment. Elie was in a particularly good mood. The day had gone by without a hitch, minus the little incident in Language Arts. However, that was all behind him, because it was finally time for the class he had been looking forward to the most. His primary class. Not long after arriving, Elie spotted Luke and Leila. They waved him over to where they were sitting. 

"Good Afternoon class!" said Mrs. Shelsea.

She was as peppy as ever. Everyone responded with a "Good Afternoon." 

"I'm glad to see that all of you made it on the first day. Today I would like to evaluate your transformations."

"Transformations?" Elie thought. 

"I would like you all to line up single file and when I give you the signal you are to come into the water," the teacher explained. 

There was a great deal of murmuring around the classroom. 

"Don't worry, I will be going in first," said Mrs. Shelsea.

She then promptly hopped into the water. Everyone was surprised by this. A few moments later, her head popped out of the water and she waved a student over. The student did as she was told and got into the water. Mrs. Shelsea followed her underwater. Shortly after, Mrs. Shelsea popped her head back up and waved the next student over. This process continued for a while until finally it was Elie's turn. She waved him over and with a little hesitation, he got into the water. It felt so nice to finally be in the water again. Elie felt like tiny bubbles were forming underneath his skin. He could feel his tail starting to form. Feeling the saltwater wash over him, it suddenly felt as if every worry in the world had been lifted off of his shoulders. When the sensation was over, Elie looked down at the familiar blue-tinted scales. His flippers were a luminescent silver, while the main body of his tail was a gorgeous midnight blue. There were slight markings of fish scales on the outer part of his shoulders and along his arms. Mrs. Shelsea looked up from her clipboard. 

"My goodness!" she exclaimed. "That's the fastest transformation I've seen so far."

Elie wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

As if reading his mind, Mrs. Shelsea answered, "The faster your transformation, the more in tune you are with the water. You have a lot of promise. However, I must warn you, your gifts will come at a price. You will most likely have stronger side-effects when you enter your awakening period.

"My awakening period?" Elie asked in confusion.

"It's like puberty, but for Naideu," she replied.

"Oh," Elie answered.

There was only a handful of students left and then the teacher was finished. 

"I'm very excited for this year. It would seem that we have quite a few gifted students in this class. Though there is still hope for those of you with less natural talent. A little extra hard work and you can be just as great, maybe even better, than your favored peers. However, enough of that. Today we are going to jump straight into our lessons and learn how to blend in with our surroundings. The object of blending is to lose yourself in your surroundings. It can be very helpful if you are on the verge of being caught. I think the best way to learn how to camouflage is to play a game of hide and seek." 

There were plenty of 'Are you serious?' faces going around the students. 

"Before you all complain about hide and seek being a game for little kids, I assure you that this game is not for little kids. There will be times where you will find yourself not hiding from humans, but hiding from creatures of the sea. You see, sometimes they get a little carried away and decide that they want to snack on us. The object of this game is for you to blend in with your surroundings. I will be seeking you, but remember it is dangerous out here. If I can find you, so can they. You are expected to stay within a 700 foot radius. There are plenty of places to find. Just remember, when you camouflage, try to become your surroundings. On my mark, 3, 2, 1... Go!"