stars

three

Brooke

When I told Phoebe that my parents didn't want me home, it was true. My mother found out that I had been roaming in the human world and instead of locking me in jail, she told me I wasn't allowed back home.

As we walked into Phoebe's home, I realized why my mother said humans were dangerous. Phoebe told me to go up the stairs and go into the room at the end of the hall (whatever that is), and then I heard yelling. But not from Phoebe. "Why the hell did you come home in the middle of the night?" I heard a woman yell. "Were you off with boys? Or maybe girls since you're a little-"

"My friend's mom kicked her out, and we were at the beach. I just wanted to help her, mom." Phoebe interrupted quietly. Her mom kept yelling at her and then I heard footsteps and turned to see Phoebe at the top of the stairs. I saw a red mark on her cheek.

"You can stay here. My mom says it's okay." I could see her eyes were watery. She sniffled and walked to a door. "Come on Brooke." She said when she noticed that I was just standing still. I followed her into a room. She turned on the lights, causing me to squint. The light hurt my eyes at first, but I got used to it in a couple of seconds. The walls looked like a very colorful sky, with pink and purple and a lot of stars.

I noticed she had a bed that was over another bed. What a weird thing.

I turned around to look at Phoebe, who was sitting on a large cushion. She held her knees up against her chest, laying her head on them. I wasn't very familiar with humans or their emotions, but I think she was upset. "Are you okay?"

Phoebe shook her head and looked up at me. Her eyes were red and her face had water drops on it. "Um, I can't believe I forgot to ask you this when we first met. Can I ask you something?" She said, her voice weird. I nodded.

"Are you homophobic?" I shook my head. "Okay, sorry."

I sat down on the ground next to her. No one I know is homophobic, actually. Merpeople are great. Apparently, humans are against love? "Um," Phoebe said, sniffling. "You're probably cold in your bathing suit, so you can borrow some of my shirts if you want. They'll probably fit on you since you're skinnier than me." She wiped her face and got up, walking to a wooden block with holes. She opened it and got a shirt out. It looked like it would be big for me, but it might just be because I'm too skinny. I put it on over my bathing suit.

"Hey, Brooke, did you get kicked out? Or did your mom just say she didn't want you home for a while?" Phoebe asked, laying down now. "I-" I can't tell her I got banished from the kingdom for being near humans and if I go near my home again I could be killed. "Yeah, I got kicked out."

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. "Um, are you tired right now?" I shook my head. I never really get tired, but it might be because I've gotten used to staying up the entire 24 hours of the day.

"Okay, well you can stay up if you want to, but I'm gonna sleep." She said, climbing onto her bed. "You can sleep on the bottom bed, or try to pull an all-nighter, although I don't recommend that." She smiled and laid down.

I sighed. I laid down, looking at the indoor sky. It was quiet, besides a low hum coming from outside this room. I jumped into the lower bed. It was comfortable and I realized I actually was tired. Maybe I should sleep, but I didn't want to. What if something happens? I am in an unfamiliar place. 

My thoughts kept me up for at least another hour and then my mind decided to think about Phoebe. I know blue isn't a natural color for hair, so did she dye it? Unless she's a fairy, her hair can't be naturally blue. Then again, what's the probability that I would meet a fairy on human land? Not very likely. Less than a 1% chance that I would. 

And then my mind went to Jamie, my best friend who I will never be able to see again. I felt sad. I tried to think of something else, like learning about humans so I can better blend in. Maybe I could try to become better friends with Phoebe? 

I looked up at the top bed, laying on my back. I wanted to talk to Phoebe, but humans need more sleep than merpeople. How would Phoebe react if she knew I was a mermaid? What would she do if she saw me use magic? Would she think it's cool or tell other humans to execute me? 

I shook the thought out of my head and closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep. 

I was underwater. I was swimming in the blue water, and when I looked down, I noticed I had legs instead of my dark blue tail. My lungs burned and I struggled to get up to the surface. Once I reached the top, I couldn't get out of the water. It was like there was some kind of magical barrier that prevented me from getting the oxygen I desperately needed. 

I woke up abruptly, remembering my terrifying dream. I didn't see Phoebe awake, so I peeked over the tiny gate that kept her from falling out. She was still asleep and I couldn't help but notice that she looked upset. Was it because of what her mother said earlier? I fell back to the bottom bed. Suddenly, I felt pain in my leg. 

*

(Okay hi, I wrote this at like 12 am so I'll probably wake up and rewrite some parts in here. Also, I need to say that Brooke is like 14 and Phoebe is 15, so yeah. Thank you for reading and I'm writing the next chapter soon. <3)