Escape the Sea (COMPLETED)

Chapter 24: Different but the Same

"Lydia?!" Coral exclaimed, giving her best friend a big hug. "I thought you were dead!" She said, embracing Lydia even tighter. "Who told you that?" Lydia asked in amazement. "No one. It's just, you never migrated with us. I looked all over for you. I came to the depressing conclusion that you went exploring again and a shark ate you." She explained. "That is definitely not what happened. Plus, you know I can kick a sharks butt pretty easily due to my past experiences." Lydia laughed, trying to brighten the mood a little bit. She felt so bad that she put Coral through all of that. "Correction, I protected you." She puffed up. "Not true!" Lydia responded, putting her hands on her hips. "Very true." Coral smirked. "Fine, we both kick butt. Together." She winked before cracking up. "Come on in girl! We have so much to catch up on!" Coral said, swimming inside her small apartment.

Lydia swam into Coral's temporary abode. It was very similar to her own room's size, it just had an extra room attached to it. It wasn't as fancy as hers but it had a nice homey feel to it. She saw hints of Coral's personality throughout all the rooms by the way she decorated the place. It had a lot of random antique things that no one would even give a second glance to. Coral was different in her own, unique way. "So, what happened? Why haven't I seen you almost all summer?" Coral questioned, sitting at a rock table with orange coral chairs. Lydia joined her and started to explain what had happened over the summer.

"So, let me get this straight. You became human because Titus banned you, you fell in love with the boy that found you, you kicked his girl friend's butt, AND you're a princess?" She said, comprehending what was being told to her. Lydia nodded her head, "Basically." She said shyly. "That's my girl! Though, I would've punched Lauren from the start. I ain't gonna let someone treat me like that." Lydia laughed hysterically. Not at the statement, but the fact that she would actually do it.

Coral has always been the 'tougher' one out of the both of them. Lydia was more of the sweet and bubbly one while Coral was the "mess with me and I'll mess with you" type of girl. Even their looks are total opposites. Coral is a rare breed of mermaids that have patterned tails and Lydia had her different faded pink tail. Lydia was a bit pale and Coral's skin was light brown. She had short orange hair whilst Lydia had very long dark brown hair. Lydia was more on the smaller curves side while Coral was more curvaceous. Even though they're both total opposites, they are both different in their own unique way, which made their connection stronger.

"So, will I ever be able to meet lover boy?" She asked, raising a brow. "Sure you can! You'll love him! He's sweet, protective, and just downright amazing." She said dreamily. "Didn't you say you gave him a shellphone?" She asked, having a suspicious smile on her face. "Yeah?" "Oh no, what is she up to this time?" thought Lydia. "Let me see yours." She said, putting her hand out. "Oh no, you're not calling him. What if he's busy?" She hesitated, clinging to the shell. "If he really likes you then he'll drop everything to talk to you, now hand me the phone or I'll grab it myself." She said assertively. Lydia gave her a weird face and handed her the phone.

"Really, Matt!? Dump your fiance and go with Jenna! I don't care if you're going to get married, you're destined to be with her!" Josh cursed at his TV.

BLOOP BLOOP

He quickly paused his movie as soon as he heard that familiar sound and rushed to the shellphone. "Hey Lydia!" He said with a wide smile taking over his face. "This is not Lydia. This is her captor." He heard from the other side. "W-what?!" He exclaimed. He then heard chuckling in the background, then hearing a very familiar voice saying "Coral! Don't do that to him!" "Ok, ok, gosh." Josh was about to go to the ocean himself and find Lydia if he didn't get some closure soon. "Hi, this is Coral. Lydia's best friend forever. The most awesome mermaid on the planet that destroys anything that hurts the things I love." She said confidently. "I'm so sorry Josh, this is my best friend I told you about." Lydia said apologetically. Josh laughed, "Oh yeah, I remember you saying something about her. Um, hi Coral!" He said, still a bit confused.

"What are you up to?" Lydia curiously asked. Josh looked back at his television screen that was on Netflix, which read "13 Going On 30". "Um, doing push ups. I just reached 100." He said, smiling at his save. "How big head is that?" He could hear in the background. "Takes one to know one." Lydia retorted. "Sorry for disturbing you, Josh! I'll let you get back to working out." She quickly said, still having an apologetic tone. "Um, ok Lydia? Bye?" He said, wondering what was going on over there. "Love you! Bye!" She said before quickly hanging up. "Love you too Lydi." He said to himself.

"He seems nice." Coral said while munching on a snack. "He is." Lydia replied, having a dream state plastered on her face.

"Josh!" Mrs.C called, knocking on his bed room door with great force. "Yeah!" Josh called back from the other side. "I told you to take out the trash 30 minutes ago! It's not going to take itself out!" His mother said, knocking once again. "I'll do it in a second!" Josh said, trying to finish his movie. "Not in a second, NOW!" She demanded. "Ok, ok." He reluctantly surrendered, getting up from his blue sheeted bed. He opened his white wooden door and lazily grabbed the garbage that his mother graciously left out for him in front of the back door. "Oh, and Josh, call your sister inside. It's time for lunch." She said as she was cutting up some carrots. "Sure mom." He said before closing the big glass door.

He dragged the garbage bag to the side of his house to the big red can. "Kelsey! Mom said to come inside, it's time for lunch!" He called to his sister, which was playing with her dolls in the grass. Josh was about to go back inside when he thought about what his sister must be going through. Kelsey was probably feeling a bit lonely without Lydia being there to talk to or to play with her dolls with. He finally decided to go be his little sis. "Hey." He smiled. "Hey." She replied as she was brushing her dolls hair. "Are you ok?" He asked, picking up a mermaid doll with perfectly brushed purple hair. "Why would you care?" She asked with a confused look on her face. "Because I'm your brother." "That never stopped you from not caring." Josh could hear his little sister's painful emotion in that small sentence. "Kelsey I'm sorry. Look, I didn't mean to do that to you. I was a different person then." He said, trying to sympathize with her. Kelsey smiled at thought of Josh being different. "And, I promise to actually be a big brother." He said, holding out his pinkie. Her small smile became a wide grin as she put out her pinkie for the promise.

"Ever since Lydia got here, you've been different. Which is good, I guess. But, now she's gone." She said with tears in her staggering blue eyes. The blue eyes ran in the family. Been winning hearts for generations. "Hey, don't worry. She's coming back." He softly said, hugging his sister. "Wait, what? She is?!" She jumped up from the grass so quickly, you could've missed her. She looked like she was about to explode into a bunch of rainbow sprinkles. She then raised a brow towards her brother, "Why?" "Um, because her parents changed their mind." He said this as convincing as possible. "Where does she come from, anyway? Why is she so mysterious? Why does-" she babbled on and on, interrogating Josh throughout all of lunch. He knew his sister and when she wanted an answer, she got the answer.

How on earth is he supposed to hide this from his persistent little sister?