Tales of tails: The Island (Book 1)

Ch. 13: suspicions

The minutes that pass after the end of the day bell ring seem to stretch as I wait for Damien at the entrance of the school.

As I wait I keep fidgeting with my fingers and sigh in relief when I hear my name called out in the distance.

Why am I so nervous?

"So how are you doing this?" Alex asks and the nervousness returns.

"Um....well.... I'm not sure." I say giving Alex a panicked look, then I look at Damien. "But you can't put much pressure on your foot, so would it be okay if I help you?" I ask and Damien pauses making my heart beat faster.

Then he nods and I walk towards him placing my arm under his to help him.

"I'm really sorry Mel." Alex says scratching his forehead.

"It's okay Alex, you need to get going or you're going to be late. We'll be fine."

"I'll make it up to you Mel." He says grabbing his bike and waving as he drives off.

Damien and I slowly walk in silence, avoiding eye contact. The awkward vibe making me uneasy.

I have so many questions...

As if reading my mind Damien quietly mutters, "you can ask if you want."

"A-are you sure?" I ask and he hesitantly nods.

"So...." I start. Where do I even begin? How did you become a merman? Were you born a merman? Ugh, no that sounds stupid.

In the end I opt to ask something simpler. "How come you didn't change when you were in the pool?"

He slightly smiles before answering.

"Well, what exactly do you think?" He asks as we take a small break sitting on a bench.

"I'm not sure, all this time I didn't believe mer people were actually real, so I don't know what to think." I say kicking my legs as we talk.

"So what about now that you know what I am?" Damien asks making eye contact with me.

"Um..this is going to sound really weird but, I'm kind of glad you're real?" I say and mentally face palm myself when he chuckles. "I meant that I'm happy mer people are real?" I say and he nods.

"It's like all this time I wanted to believe they were real, and now I know they are so I feel relieved but I'm not exactly sure as to why yet."

"It's not weird." Damien says with a smile, his blue eyes sparkling as he looks at the ocean. "To answer your question, in order to change we have to be completely submerged in water for quite some time, and it takes longer to change when it's not salt water."

"Oh, that makes sense." I say with a smile. "So how does it work?"

"Well, since it's not our natural water the effect isn't the same. And it also depends on our concentration."

"So back at the pool?"

"I overdid it a bit and with everything that happened so fast I lost my focus." He says scratching the back of his neck.

"And you hurt your leg." I say looking at the bandage.

After a pause, I decide to speak up again. "Hey Damien, um do I make you, um I don't know, uncomfortable?" I ask looking at him to see his reaction.

His eyes widen and he quickly looks at the sky avoiding my gaze. "I-it's not that." He says looking down. "I just didn't want anyone to find out. At least not like this."

Should I ask him about the symbol? Maybe he's seen it before.

"Hey Damien-"

"We should get going." He says standing up and I get the feeling that was enough questions for one day.

"R-right."

As the sun is setting, we reach my house, and as we walk in I'm surprised to see my dad there.

"Hi dear." My mom says with a smile until her eyes land on Damien and she frowns.

I pull out a chair for Damien, but he keeps his gaze on the ground and his hands slightly clenched into fists.

"What happened?" My mother asks grabbing her first aid kit and making her way towards him.

Damien looks up and is about to say something but i speak up before he does. "There was an accident in school. A lot of kids were going down the stairs and they kind of pushed us."

"Well, the good thing is that it's nothing big, so you should be fine by tomorrow." My mom says with a smile. "You did a good job Mel."

I feel my cheeks heat up and look down. Then out of the corner of my eye I see Damien flinch a bit and looking like he just got scolded.

Good thing Sean walked in just in time. "Hey mom-" he starts and stops when he sees us. "Oh you're finally back." He says giving Damien a worried look.

"He's okay, but he should stay here and rest." My mom says.

"It's okay, I don't want to impose." Damien says.

"Nonsense." My mother says placing her hand on my dads shoulder. She looks at me and I know what to do, so I grab some blankets and a pillow and hand it to him.

"Thank you for your kindness." Damien mutters looking down.

So formal... I think to myself with an amused smile.

"Don't worry about it, anytime." My mom says with a smile and starts heading upstairs. "We'll let you get some rest."

Everyone walks upstairs but I stay behind and watch as Damien remains sitting in the sofa. His muscles stiff.

"We're not going to harm you, you know?" I say and he relaxes a bit. "And I won't tell them. Your secret is safe."

Damien's eyes widen a bit and he looks down. "Right, thank you."

"Good night." I say turning the lights off.

"Um good night."

And with that we call it a night.