stars

twenty-six

Phoebe

I feel Brooke's hand go limp in mine. I can't believe this is happening. No, this is another nightmare, right? Yeah. I feel someone tap me from behind. I turn around and see Oliver. Alex is here too, but farther away. I'm holding Brooke's hand still. Is that weird? Probably not. Oliver looks at Alex, then to me. "Is she..?" I nod. He sighs. "That'll be harder then. Um, you said she was a mermaid, right?"

"Yeah, I know it's weird and you probably don't believe me but-" He interrupts.

"No, no, I believe you," Oliver said, laughing. "It's funny actually. When I met her, I had a suspicion that she was one."

"What?"

He got down on his knees, looking at Brooke. "This is gonna drain my energy." I was about to ask a question, but I was interrupted by a bright blue glow radiating from Oliver's hands. I covered my eyes with my arm, looking away. When it stopped, I looked over to him. His hands had small glowing pieces, almost like glitter, and Brooke was literally glowing. It was a faint glow, but it was still there. I looked at her, still crying. Oliver looked really tired. Alex came up behind him, grabbing him.

"What was...?" I asked.

"Oli's magical too." Alex laughed nervously. Oliver yawned.

"And you didn't tell me, why?" They ignored my question, looking at Brooke. Her body was covered in black lightning like marks before Oliver came. Now, there are fewer. On her arm, shoulder, and cheek were the only visible scars on her body. The glow had worn off.

"She needs to rest now. I think. I've never had to revive a human before." Oliver laughed quietly. His voice was quiet. Alex sat behind Oliver. Oliver leaned against him, watching Brooke still. The moment she moved, I smiled. My face went hot remembering what she told me before. She loved me... "Okay, if she isn't up in an hour, call us again. We need to go now. Oliver needs to regain his magic strength." Alex said, standing up. Oliver stood up too. I frowned as they walked away, growing into a shadow in the distance.

My focus turned back to Brooke. She told me she loved me. That's a first. I laughed silently, pushing my hair out of my face. Who would have thought? What if she was lying? Or maybe she didn't mean it in that way... I looked up at the moon. There was a full moon tonight. I smiled again. I heard movement. Looking down at Brooke, I saw that she was moving slightly. She had my full focus now. Was she waking up? It hadn't been a long time so it was unlikely. I frowned when she didn't. I wanted her to be up now. I picked her up, moving her farther from the shore. We were sitting behind a rock on the sand. It was completely dark.

I was getting tired but I didn't want to sleep. How could I? Brooke might wake up while I'm asleep. My eyes were getting heavier by the second and I couldn't seem to keep them open. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to keep my consciousness. I failed.

*

I felt someone shaking me. I jerked awake. Looking around, I saw Brooke. She was awake. She saw I was awake and turned away. Silence filled the air and neither of us looked at each other for a moment. I turned to look at her and I felt my face heat up.

"Did..." I said. She turned to look at me. "Did you mean that?" I saw her face turn red.

"Y-yes," Brooke said quietly. I didn't know if it's because she was embarrassed or just exhausted from the poison.

"Oh," She looked away and so did I. More silence.

"Did you mean it?" Brooke asked, looking at me. I nodded, looking down. This was so awkward. I was so awkward. I mentally beat myself up for not talking to her. C'mon Phoebe, I yelled internally. She's right there and she loves you! Talk to her.

"So what now?" I asked. She shrugged. "Okay. Are you okay?" Another shrug. "Are you still hurting?"

"A little bit. Not nearly as much as before, but nothing's worse than Noah." Brooke laughed as if she was trying to make a joke. It wasn't that funny. I frowned. "Sorry," She laughed again, looking to the ocean. "Do you know if Evian or Jamie are alright?"

"Who?"

"The merpeople who brought me up. At least, I think it was them. I don't remember anything, it's all a blur." I thought about it for a moment, trying to remember it.

"They seemed worried about you, but they don't have the black scars that you do." I looked at her arms. She covered them with her hands. I wanted to reach out to her and tell her that the scars weren't bad, but I didn't. She stared at the ocean, trying to cover her arms, worrying about her mermaid friends. I frowned and looked to the sand. "You should probably go to make sure they're okay. They swam back down once they saw me." I said. In the corner of my eye, I saw her look up at me.

"Should I?" Brooke asked. I saw her look away, so I looked at her. She looked worried. Scared, almost. I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. She looked up at me. She was definitely scared. I smiled.

"Go," I said and so she did. She nodded, got up, and ran to the ocean. Hesitantly, she dove into the water and disappeared. I drew hearts and circles in the sand with my finger, waiting impatiently for her to come back. I knew it wouldn't be anytime soon, but I knew that she'd be back eventually. It was very dark outside and I wondered if my mother was back from wherever she left to go. I also wondered if she'd be mad I was out this late if she was home.

What's going to happen when Brooke goes back to school? Noah's going to be there, right? What if he tries to hurt her? Maybe I should tell Brooke to not go to school. Maybe I should let her go to school if she can handle seeing him again. I drew a big heart in the sand with a sad face in the middle.

I wonder if I can handle seeing Angel. In the current situation, probably not. I mean, I like her, but I like Brooke more. I want to be friends with her still, but why would she want to be friends with me? After all, I was in a relationship with her and I paid more attention to a Brooke who hated me than her. If someone did that to me, I would be mad too.

I frowned and look up at the stars. I still don't get how Brooke thinks they're so cool. They're just balls of light. Nothing special. Just like me.

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(I wrote this in like two days, which is p long for me. The first day I was eating like 800 bowls of chocolate ice cream and today I was sitting in a room with stars on my wall. Also uh to my special reader, you might be v happy with the last couple of chapters. As always readers, bye <3)