stars

nine

Brooke

Phoebe fell asleep. How exhausting is her human school? I looked at her, before turning away realizing it was probably creepy to look at a sleeping person. I grabbed a blanket and put it over her, going to sit on the ground.

What do I do now? She's asleep. Maybe I could go to the beach. Sounds like a good idea. I grabbed her notepad and left a note in my terrible handwriting, putting it on the pillow next to her.

I ran to the beach, jumped in the water and swam away. My legs replaced with a tail, as they always do when I go into the ocean. I was hoping to see Jamie, but I didn't want him to be mad at me for being with humans. I heard a noise.

Turning my head, I saw a young mermaid. You scared me! I said. She hid behind a rock. Why are you this close to the shore? And where are your parents?

The merchild didn't respond, she just kept staring at me. I swam forward slowly. She backed away. Okay, kid. It's okay. Just... Can you talk to me?

My mother told me I shouldn't talk to strangers. Especially not ones near the shore. She said, swimming closer to me. She swam around me, observing me.

Where's your mother?

Gone. She went with the rest of the pod to find some of the other merfolk. She said, sitting in the sand.

Do you know who all went? Or who they're trying to find? I said, worrying.

Um, I know the queen went. My mother went, the woman that lives near the coral, and a couple guards. I think they're trying to find the hunting pod. The girl said, picking up seashells. My father is in the hunting pod.

I frowned. She was all alone. What's your name?

Evian. She was arranging the shells to form the royal symbol, a shape I was too familiar with. It was plastered everywhere in the kingdom.

Okay, Evian. I have to go now. Don't tell anyone you saw me, okay? I said. She nodded. I'm Brooke, by the way. I swam past her, going to the right. I tried to make it seem like I wasn't going to the shore. Once I was far away enough, I swam to the shore, transforming back to a human and walking to Phoebe's house.

Why was the hunting pod lost? Why were they out far enough to get lost? I tried to ignore the thoughts, focusing on getting back to Phoebe's. Then again, I wasn't in a rush to get back. I skipped around the beach, getting sand all over my legs. I stopped by the foot shower things, rinsing my feet off. I walked back towards her house, stopping momentarily to pet an animal. (They said it was a German shepherd dog?)

I walked into Phoebe's house, which is technically mine now too, and closed the door quietly. I ran up to her room, seeing she was still asleep. I threw the note away, then sat down. I looked at her sleeping peacefully and couldn't help but smile. I wanted to wake her up because I was bored; I wanted to talk to her. I knew I shouldn't, after all, she must have been very tired if she just fell asleep twenty minutes after she got home. She's been doing it for a couple days now. 

Phoebe rolled around, her eyes fluttering open. "Hey Phoebe, you're finally awake!" I joked. "Maybe you shouldn't go to school tomorrow, though. You're always so tired. You should just rest tomorrow." She shook her head, mumbling something. 

"No, m'fine, my mom would be really mad if I stayed home from school. But speakin' of school, would you wanna go to my school?" She mumbled tiredly. I laughed quietly at her voice. She sounded way different when she was sleepy. I shrugged. "I'll think about it," I said. 

"Oli and Alex thought it would be cool to have you there in our classes and at lunch." 

"I'll go, then. It sounds fun enough with all three of you guys there." I said, smiling. "But I better have you in almost all of my classes, and Alex or Oli in the rest." She nodded, smiling. 

*

Phoebe shook me. "Yo, get up. We gotta leave early so I can get the principal to let you in my school." I groaned, opening an eye. 

"Now? Why not in like five minutes or something?" She rolled her eyes, smiling. 

"Get up and get ready, Brooke. C'mon." I got up, rubbing my eyes. "Also, tomorrow, we're going shopping and wasting all my money." She said, changing her hoodie. I brushed my fingers through my hair. Phoebe walked into the bathroom, getting ready. I was ready, while Phoebe was still getting ready. 

A couple of minutes passed, and she walked out. "Okay, uh, I got a bunch of old empty notebooks and pencils for your classes. Hopefully, we can be in most of the same ones." Phoebe said, handing me a blue bag. I put in on my back, watching as she put her bag on. "Did you want something to eat? Like a Pop-Tart or something?"  I shook my head. "Okay, then let's go now to try to get you enrolled, or at least let them know you wanna go to the school."

*

I stood in the principal's room with Phoebe. She was saying how I wanted to join the school and that I could get a guardians permission to go. I looked at the principal and noticed he seemed familiar like I've seen him a long time ago. Phoebe was explaining some legal things or something. He turned to me. "So, Brooke, what's your full name? We'll get you a visitors pass for today if you would like. Tomorrow, bring the papers and we'll get you enrolled." 

"Um, my full name is Brooke Ara..." Mermaids don't really have last names, we usually just have first names. "Rivers." 

He wrote something down. "Okay, Miss Rivers, here you go." He handed Phoebe a piece of paper. "Phoebe, you're dismissed from your first two periods to show her around." Phoebe smiled, and we walked out.

*

(Uh, hi! This took longer than I thought to write, mainly because of me procrastinating, but shh. Next chapter might be longer. This chapter was probably one of my shorter ones. Anyways, there'll be a new character soon. Bye <3)