Opal Waters | ✔

Chapter 14

The moon continued to move across the sky. The clouds were parting and the stars growing even brighter than before. It was breathtaking, it was peaceful.

"Damien?" I question. I heard him yawn, he'd dozed off a couple of times, as we had already been here for a few hours. Only a few hours to go. Things were taking forever, but I knew soon enough we would be able to head back to the dorms.

"Hm," I heard his quiet grunt. His chest rising slowly as he takes in a deep breath before stretching his arms above his head.

"What do you miss most about your pod?" I figured this was a reasonable question. He glanced at me, before looking back at the stars like he was thinking. I figured it was probably a hard question to answer since it would be like asking what your favorite thing was from your childhood home.

"Nothing I guess," He paused for a moment. "I didn't really talk to too many people, I was very much a lone wolf even though there was almost always people around,"

"You don't miss anything?" This confused me, even if you hated a place there was always going to be something you would miss about it. In my case I would miss history lessons from Asada, the way she spoke, the power she conveyed and the way she cared about the material were enough to keep me captivated and on the edge of my seat.

"I haven't been gone very long, give me a little bit more time to really find my way around this new world... I'll get back to you on that," He smiled, his eyes so full of life as he looks at me. If I didn't know better I would have never guessed that he was just sleeping. I flicked my fin up throwing some sand in his directions. He shook his head turning away from me.

"Tell me about yourself Opal," He motions for me to tell him my life story. I shook my head turning back to the moon.

"There is nothing special about me or my story, so no reason to tell you about me, you should just learn about me by hanging out," I chuckled. A twinkle of light shoots across the sky. I point towards it but it was gone before Damien could even catch a glimpse. He must have known what I was pointing at though.

"You are special though," He mutters, his voice soft in the quiet of the night. The world spinning around us, but we seemed frozen in time. It was freezing now, as goosebumps line the outside of my arms. I wished I could just grow another skin to keep myself warm but I'd been out of the water for too long. Shaking my head at the thought of the sand getting lodged under my top layer of skin grossed me out.

"Why do you say that?" I didn't know why I was whispering but something in this moment told me it was right. Another star shoots across the sky, this time Damien was the first to point it out.

"I've never met another mermaid with a hair or fin-like yours, so I may not know why you are special, and you may not either, but you are. Because you are the only one just like you," He reached over, a large smile covering his lips as he poked my nose with his finger. I swatted his hand away rolling in the sand to get away from him. He flipped over on his side pulling himself closer to me. "Plus, no one is as beautiful as you," Now it was his turn to whisper, and he did so with such a passion, that the world seemed to slip away.

His eyes were dancing with mine, his hand reaches through the sand as he places it on top of mine, our finger interlocking, his breath slows, the sand tearing at our skin between our fingers. Everything in this moment was perfect.

I waited, anticipating the kiss...but it never happened. He never made a move. I would be a liar if I said this didn't bother me. I found myself wanting to kiss him. Wanting him to complete the move, but he fell back onto the sand to look up at the stars.

"I like you," He muttered, the words catching me off guard. My breathing was heavy, and I did my best to hide it as much as possible so I didn't embarrass myself.

"Oh yeah? Why?" I question, trying to tease him as much as he was teasing me.

"I don't know, I haven't figured that out yet either," He sat up the best he could in the sand. I mimicked him, pulling myself up to a seated position. Bending my fin in front of me I used it to balance my arms.

"Do you ever want to leave this place?" His question caught me off guard. The worlds lingering in the air as I tried my best to hide the shock on my face. Mentally cursing the amount of moonlight tonight provided.

The truth was I thought about it every single day. I wanted to leave so bad, I had no reason why, but I felt stagnant, undervalued. My life seemed boring, the same every single day. I needed a change and I felt the only way that was going to happen was if I got out of here. Soon the transformation started for the both of us, our skin must have been dry enough that the fin couldn't hold itself anymore.

Once the transformation was complete I did my best to keep myself covered as we head towards our clothes, all of the sand falling to the ground. Damien went ahead of me, giving me the privacy I needed to get dressed before turning to look at me again.

"Well, do you ever want to leave this place?" He asked again, the question comes as just as big of a shock as the first time he had asked.

"Yes, I do..."