Lie to Me: A Mermaid Tail

**PROLOGUE**

"Ashlyn, please just get in the water," My gym teacher begged. The cool, humid air circled around me as I breathed in the heavy scent of chlorine.

                "No," I answered, crossing my arms over my white "Kaplan High School" t-shirt. Mr. LaRosa held out a black one piece, but I shoved it away. This action was followed by a series of snickers.

                "The swimming unit is a large part of your gym grade, Ashlyn," Mr. LaRosa reminded me. He held the swim suit tightly to his chest. "If you don't participate, you could fail gym." He reached for his clipboard and a blue pen, biting on the cap and obviously scanning the list for my name.

                "I don't care, I'm not touching that water." I swiveled on my toes and rocked back and forth. The sky outside the floor to ceiling windows was a stormy gray, brooding and thinking. I searched for the sun, hidden by a cloud somewhere, but I didn't see its glow anywhere. Fine by me, maybe it didn't want to swim in the pool with tons of people either.

                "Ashlyn!" someone said.

"What?" I groaned, turning towards the source of the voice.

"Get in the water," this girl Elena yelled, tugging on a strand of her damp, limp brown hair, dangling her feet in the water. "You're acting like a baby."

"Yeah, what's the matter, can't swim?" This girl Arianna squealed. She high fived Elena and some other girls.

"I can swim better than all of you, combined," I shouted. Mr. LaRosa looked at me, and I realized he would make me swim now. "I mean, I wish I could swim better than all of you. But I can't. Can't swim, I mean." I was shaky and I bit my knuckle.

"Hey, water bug," Elena shouted. "Catch!" She giggled and splashed water on me.

I sprinted into the girls' locker room. Instead of going towards the lockers, I ran down some stairs and I flung myself into a small janitor's closet.  My legs and shorts disappeared and were replaced by a shiny, bronze tail. Damn, I thought. Takes forever to dry and get my legs back.

After the hour-long drying process, I got my legs back. I snuck out a window and jumped down onto the school's soft, green grass. The bell would ring in about ten minutes, so I crossed the yard and through a back door, into the school. I grabbed my backpack and ditched. I lived only a few blocks away, so I walked.

I threw my bag onto my porch and kept walking to the ocean.  The sea was so close. I could feel the slightest breath of the ocean breeze. I could taste the salt dancing on the tip of my tongue, smell the cool, dense sand and see the gulls flying to the clouds. Sand begin to gather in clumps near my feet as I moved closer to the beach.

I threw my shoes into the dunes and took off in a sprint. I quickly scanned the beach and saw no one but a few seagulls and an abandoned towel. I ran faster, straight into the water. The black rocks stretched slightly far, into the cold, blue-green water. I dove under and felt a familiar tingling sensation surround the lower half of my body. My shorts deteriorated, as did my top, leaving only a shimmery bronze bikini top. And in the place of my legs? A shiny, bronze tail. Again. It happens whenever I make contact with water. Been this way ever since I was a little girl.

 I swam along the bottom of the ocean. I must be at least a mile out by now. The fish surrounded me, and the coral reflected the chinks of sunlight sinking through the water. The sea was the only place I truly felt home. Especially the Great Barrier Reef; all the colorful, exotic fishes and under water plant life.

The cool aqua water was bright and flowing around me. My auburn hair swirled freely around me, and the luminescent fish swam around me, not even acknowledging my existence. I ignored them and kept swimming effortlessly. One tail is easier than two legs; it never gets tangled together, as my legs often did. It glided through the water, swishing the water around, shoving it away. Little bubbles erupted from my mouth.

I swam for another half an hour. Then, it happened. The downfall of my supernatural existence. Don't get me wrong, I'm a normal teenager; if you look past the fins and all. Oops, I'm getting off topic... right. It happened. There was this teenage boy; swimming for some reason far away from shore.  And it was no mystery that he saw me.

I screamed.

****************************

also check out my new story harbinger: https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/44836455-harbinger it's a work in progress, but my writing has really developed since I started Lie to Me