stars

five

Brooke

My legs and right arm hurt. A lot. I didn't know why, but I figured it was because I had been away from water for too long. I grabbed Phoebe's hand and dragged her to the beach with me. I took off the shirt that Phoebe let me borrow and jumped into the water. My legs and arm hurt less now. I knew I needed to heal in my mermaid form. 

"I keep forgetting that you're wearing your bathing suit under that shirt," Phoebe said. She laughed. I smiled, laying on my back in the water with my eyes closed. "How long are we gonna spend here?" She asked. 

"A while, probably," I swam farther out, making sure Phoebe couldn't see me. I took a deep breath and dove underwater. Then, I transformed. My legs merged together, forming a long, dark blue tail. My back sprouting a fin. I swam around, happy that I was a mermaid again. And now, my arm doesn't hurt anymore. Neither do my legs, but technically I don't have legs anymore. 

Brooke? Oh my gods, Brooke! I heard a voice call. I turned around to see my best friend, Jamie. His brown hair was different, but I didn't know how. He and his green tail swam over to me. He gave me a hug. I smiled, hugging him back. Where have you been? You've been gone for like four days! I missed you! He let go of me. 

Well, I said, scratching my arm. I've been going up to look at the sky like I have been doing for years. Except my mother found out that I was talking to a human and- 

Wait you are hanging out with a human?! They're dangerous, Brooke. Jamie exclaimed. 

I looked down. Yeah, I know, everyone says that. I know some are, I've seen it. But the human I talk to is nice. She'd never hurt me or anything. Don't worry about me, Jamie. 

Just, He said. Be careful, please. 

I hugged him again. Don't tell anyone I'm here. And also, love ya. I let go and waved, frowning.

Love ya too. Don't die. 

I swam back, transforming back. I swam back to the surface. I tried to stand up, but my legs were weird and caused me to fall. Phoebe reached out and caught me before I actually fell. "Ah, sorry Phoebe!" I stood up. "It's fine. At least you didn't fall in the sand. It's kinda hard to get out of hair." 

I smiled. "Did you want to go back to your house or do something else?"  

She was silent for a moment. "Would you maybe want to hang out with some people?" I hesitantly nodded. Maybe me meeting other humans would help me blend in with them better? But Jamie did tell me to be careful, and I don't know if they're Phoebe's friends or some people she just knows. Hopefully not like whatever her name was who was rude to Phoebe. 

 "Okay, they're really nice. So don't worry. " She said, grabbing a metal box, which I had learned was called a phone and tapped on the screen. "They're on their way." 

After a while, two people showed up. One was a boy with brown hair, brown eyes, and cute little freckles. The other one was a boy with bright blue hair, different from Phoebe's, and light blue eyes. I noticed something strange about him and made a mental note to talk to him about it later. 

They both hugged Phoebe, then asked why she wanted them here. " Well, I don't want to go home until I have to sleep and I'm here with Brooke." "Oh, the Brooke you keep talking about?" The brunette spoke. Phoebe blushed and nodded. "Yep." 

Both boys looked at me. "Okay, Brooke, so this," She pointed to the boy with blue hair. "Is Oliver." Then she pointed to the other boy. "And this is his boyfriend, Alex." Their faces turned red. 

"We aren't dating, Phoebe!" Oliver yelled, his face very red. I giggled. 

"Well, then. Phoebe's told me about you guys. From what I've heard you spend a lot of time together. " I said, looking at Phoebe. She smiled and I smiled back. I looked at the boys. "So, what has Phoebe said about me." 

"She said you're c-" Alex covered Oliver's mouth and Oliver kept speaking, but it was muffled. "She said you're a great person to talk to," Alex said. He uncovered Oliver's mouth and whispered something to him. Oliver frowned. 

I walked over to Phoebe, sitting next to her. I watched Oliver and Alex talk to each other and laugh. They turned to me and Phoebe. "So did you guys want to swim or no?"  Alex asked. Oliver looked scared to swim. Did he not know how to or...

"I guess I can. Brooke?" I shook my head. "Okay, then. Let's go swim then." Oliver shook his head. "I'll sit out of this, you know, talk with Brooke!" He said nervously. I looked at him. 

"You want to talk to me? Or do you just not want to swim?" He sighed. 

"Didn't want to swim. I have bad experiences with water." He said sheepishly. "Anyways, Phoebe talks way too much about you." 

"And what does she say?"

"S-Well you heard what Alex said. She said you're a great person and the best person to talk to." I smiled, knowing he was keeping something hidden from me. I turned to look at Phoebe, who was splashing Alex with water and giggling. She looked happy. I smiled. Oliver was looking at either Alex or Phoebe. 

"Do you like Phoebe?" I asked Oliver. 

"She's one of my friends, of course, I do." He said. 

"No, like as in date-like." He shook his head and laughed. "No. Why?"

"You keep looking over there at her," I said, looking over at Oliver. "I'm looking at Alex." 

I looked back at them and noticed how far away they were. It wasn't far away to where they were close to where I met Jamie earlier, but the water definitely went over their heads. I worried for a second. What if one of the sirens tried to drown one of them? Sirens are always trying to hurt people. I despise them so much. I looked up at the sky, squinting because the sun is so bright. I looked in the clouds for shapes. 

I noticed only one. A heart. 

*

(Uh yeah, that was that! I wrote all 1047 words today and it isn't one am! Uh I'll try to put more words in the next chapter, and give me your opinions on the three new characters /I say to the three people who read my story/ <3)