stars

eleven

Brooke

"So," A boy leaned against the locker next to mine.  "You're the special new kid, right?" I looked at him, confused as to what he was talking about. Yes, I was a new kid at this school, but what did he mean by special? I laughed nervously. 

"What?" I looked at the boy after putting my history book into my locker. "What do you mean by 'special'?" He looked at me, smiling. 

"People have been talkin' about you. Not a lot of new people come to this dumb town. I had to see if you match with what the people have been saying." He said. I looked at him again, taking in the details of him. He had blond hair and a beanie (Thanks to Phoebe for telling me what that is.) He had ripped clothes, a human fashion trend that I do not get. Why would someone want clothes that are damaged? Isn't the point of clothing to keep you warm? 

"What have people been saying about me?" I asked, shutting my locker. 

"That you're cute." I felt my face go warm and I laughed. 

"That's funny. Anyways, I have to get to class, so..." I said, walking away. 

"Where are you going?" He asked, walking next to me. 

"English with Mr. Smith," I said. "This is my second time there today, and since I didn't see you the first time, I'm assuming you aren't in this one either, so goodbye... What's your name?" 

"Noah." 

"Well, I'm Brooke!" I smiled at him and walked to my next class. 

*

I stared at the teacher in boredom. Why is this class so boring? I yawned and looked over at Phoebe, who was scribbling in her journal. I kept glancing at her. She filled the page up with doodles. She looked up, then at me. She noticed I was staring at her and blushed. I laughed quietly. "Nice drawing, Phoebe," I whispered. She smiled, laughing quietly. 

"Thanks. Now pay attention, or we might get in trouble."  I smiled and sat back in my seat, still looking over at Phoebe. Phoebe occasionally glanced up at the teacher, taking notes in her other notebook, then she'd continue drawing. 

After a while, we got to go out in the hallway for our other classes. I walked out with Phoebe. She waved to me, walking away. I saw a paper fall out of her journal, so I picked it up. It was a page of her doodles. There was a bunch of hearts, smiley faces, and roses. I was about to go return it to Phoebe, but Noah stopped me. 

"Hey! Brooke, right?" I nodded, looking for Phoebe. "I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me at lunch tomorrow." I thought about it while standing on my toes to look for Phoebe. 

"Maybe. I sit with Phoebe and her friends and stuff so, I'll ask them." 

"They were fine sitting without you when you weren't at this school, so I think they'll be fine for a day without sitting at lunch with you." Noah put his hands on my shoulders, making me stand normally. I looked at him. "I'm sure they won't care. Please?" He said. I hesitated but nodded. He let go of my shoulders, smiling. I gave up looking for Phoebe, so I was standing in front of Noah. I looked up at him and smiled. 

"I gotta go to gym class and dress out or I'll be counted tardy. See you later?" I said. He nodded. 

"See you later." He smiled and walked in the opposite direction as me. I sighed. Oliver and Alex were in my next class, and I know Alex has a class with Phoebe after gym, but I could wait and give it back after school. I ran to gym before the bell rang and went into the locker room. I put my bags in my locker and did dumb "exercises". I went through the rest of the day, waiting to give the drawing back to her.

After the rest of my classes, I walked to Phoebe's locker, handing her the page. "You dropped this between fifth and sixth period."  

"Oh thanks." We walked out of the building, walking towards Phoebe's house. Phoebe was looking around, but I was talking to her about Noah. She told me she didn't think he was a good kid, but he was really nice to me, so I didn't understand why. We got to her house, and I felt pain in my legs again. I had to go to the ocean again soon or else I'd be in constant pain. I decided to go tonight while Phoebe was asleep. 

Hours later, Phoebe was asleep on her bed and I carefully walked out of her door, running to the ocean. Occasionally, I would trip and fall, but I kept running. When I finally got to the ocean I jumped in and swam as far out as I could in a minute. I swam to the surface, looking around for guards, for I was still banned from Erye. Once I saw none, I lie on the sand. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, which were trying to adjust from the quick change from oxygen to water. 

Brooke? I heard a voice say. Hey Brooke, I haven't seen you in forever. 

I opened my eyes and turned around to see who was speaking. Evian! Hey! Any updates on the pod? 

A look of grief washed over Evian's face. They found out a couple merfolk were injured, some lost, the rest killed. When the queen, my mother, father, and others came back, they told everyone that they were injured and they sent out the others and more pods to go find the lost ones. Mother told me that they have many reasons to believe that humans had caused this. 

Humans? I'm so sorry. Um, do you know the woman with black hair and a dark purple tail? 

Evian nodded, sitting next to me. She was taking care of me while my mother and father were gone. 

Did she say anything about her daughter?  As much as I loved being on land, I wish I could go back to see my mother. 

She has mentioned something about her. Why?

 No reason. 

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(Okay, so this chapter took me forever cause I wrote it 20 words per day thanks to my good friends writers block and procrastination. Some days I just got lazy cause my laptop died and I didn't want to charge it. Sorry for the wait, my two readers. Bye, have a good day. <3)