I woke up with a pounding headache. I tried to open my eyes but it was like all I was seeing was bright whiteness, which soon clouded a bit. I let out a groan and sat up.
"Why the hell is it so bright?"
My voice was raspy and my through was sore. What the hell did I do last night? I heard someone laugh low and soon it got much darker. When I was able to finally squint I saw Jacob fixing some curtains over the windows. The windows. Not my windows. I was in Jacobs room.
"Why am I in your room?"
He looked at me and sat on the bed handing me some painkillers and a glass of water.
"I found you drunk in the woods"
"Oh my god no"
"Yeah"
He chuckled a bit as my eyes went as wide as they could without being in major pain. I groaned again and let my head fall against his sheets.
"It's okay I didn't let you hurt yourself...what do you remember?"
"Edward...breaking up with me before I could talk to him."
Jacob was in silence
"Did I do anything stupid?"
I looked up at him
"Well, after you passed out the few first times you stripped and might have kissed me"
I was mortified. I would've never told Jacob I liked him unless I was truly gone. Maybe I didn't even tell him maybe I just up and kissed him, maybe I tried to molest him.
"Don't worry"
I looked him in the eye, was he serious? Don't worry? How could I not worry? He looked like a sexy beast right now and I can't even begin to think how we could ever go back to normal friendship after I drunkenly kissed him.
"Hey maybe you should rest at home?"
"No! No I don't want to go there."
I turned in the bed and buried my face in his pillow, I felt his hand on my back doing circular motions that usually calmed me. It was also then that I noticed I was only wearing underwear and a bra under a large t-shirt that wasn't mine. I looked up to the cabinet
"I'm wearing your shirt aren't I"
"Yes you are"
And I let my head fall back down on the pillow. After awhile of my moping jacob left and brought me back an outfit form home, letting me get changed and told me we needed to talk some. When he left I got up and changed into the black leggings he brought and a light blue hoodie mom bought me that had a white whale tail at the bottom. I didn't want to do anything with my hair so I left it a mess and didn't even pull it back, before going out the door I put on my sunglasses. I met Jacob out in his shop and when he saw me he laughed a bit. He walked up to me and pulled some of my hair back into a little clip which still let my hair be down but without being in my eyes. I smiled at him sadly. We walked silently side by side all the way down to the beach before he revealed something in his pocket wrapped in little red paper.
"Happy birthday"
I smiled at him again and opened it to a silver charm bracelet with a wolf outline on it.
"Thank you"
He helped put it on me.
"I don't want it to be weird between us"
I sat on a log facing the water and I felt the log move a bit as he sat down next to me.
"It won't be"
"How can you-"
I had turned to address him but he cut me off with a kiss. One that very much so surprised me but I managed to enjoy it, putting my hand up to his face. When he pulled back he addressed me first.
"I heard everything you said while you were drunk, I don't know if it was all true but I know there's something there. I want you to go on a date with me."
I smiled shyly
"Okay"
"Okay?"
I nodded and he smiled and kissed me quick again. My heart gave a little (big) flutter when he did, he's always been my biggest crush and I knew I was sad about losing Edward but I didn't feel it anymore. We walked a bit more, him managing to snag my hand, and ended at the movies. Afterwards he made an appearance at my house for dinner and then bid me goodbye and goodnight, to see him on Monday. When I walked into my room I saw everything I had gotten from my birthday from the Cullen's, along with two presents on my bed unopened. One from mom and one from dad. The present from dad included money he said was for 'spinning wheels'. I knew he'd wanted me to have my own car for awhile now but mom always wanted me to have more sense of responsibility, and I knew I didn't really need a car or want one for that matter, so I made a plan to go drop it in my savings. Mom's gift was a mermaid charm that the note said was passed on in heritage. I wondered if she knew Jacob had given me a charm bracelet. Once putting my things away I walked to the living room to find mom in a bathing suit. Which was confusing because it was the beginning of fall.
"Go get on a suit honey, I need to show you something"
I did as asked, got on a swimming suit that was more suited for surfing and got some sweatpants overtop. I followed mom to the car and all the way out to the water.
"Do you believe in some fairy tails? Like mythical creatures?"
Thinking about vampires I nodded slowly, wondering where she got the idea. We both stripped when she said and she led me into the water, which currently didn't feel like it was freezing but I saw her shiver.
"Mom, What are we going out here you're going to get sick and catch hypothermia."
She just shook her head and started expertly swimming to a far out rock I spotted. I followed her and she patted a spot next to her when we got there.
"Our family has always been involved with mythical creatures, and I'm not supposed to tell you but now that your life is impacted I have to tell you... your grandmother, my mother, she was born of mermaids."
I wasn't sure if she was joking or if everything I knew was wrong in life
"When I tired of age my mother gave me that bracelet so I could keep swimming without getting full effecting Powers. If you take that charm off you'll get it all. "
"If I take this charm off I'll get a tail?"
"Only if you get in the water, I wanted to be here to help you through this process. It's your first time it'll be painful"
She held out her hand and I warily took it off and handed her the bracelet, she didn't seem to care about the wolf on there. She led me up to a high cliff.
"I want you to jump, don't go anywhere when you've transformed. We can't let our life become public and I don't want you caught in fish traps."
This was really happening. I looked down at my body, down at my black and green surfing suit and looked at my mother, who had led a whole other life that I never knew about, and she nodded. I took a running start and leapt off the ledge, it felt like cliff jumping except I knew when I reached the bottom I wouldn't be human anymore. Hitting the water was like a breath of new air, as much as mom said it didn't hurt that much. It hurt about as much as getting a shot everywhere or hitting the water normally when cliff jumping. I looked down at myself and creeped myself out. The top of my wetsuit was still there, but it seemed to face out (even the zipper!) into my skin, my skin was skin for a bit after my stomach and then where my legs would separate started what looked like an elongated slimy whale tail. I didn't want to touch it but instead I tried moving in tiny bits and found what rotated my body. It was weird to feel a prickle of something at the bottom of my fin instead of toes. I tried to swim to the shore but found it difficult without having feet. Mom was waiting and smiling like she was the proudest person on the planet.
"How do I switch back?"
"You just have to touch the dry soil or sand"
I reached my hand up and laid it flat against the dry cold sand, and I barely felt a change except now I could stand up. I looked back down and walked out of the water, my wetsuit had returned and there was some green slime left on my feet. After running my feet through the water a bit more to clean them mom sat me down and gave me back my bracelet.
"Your life won't change much, but we're going to have to do something about your thoughts"
"What do you mean?"
"I already know that the Cullen's are vampires, and I figured out Edward could read minds after sitting with him for a whole dinner, so I need to be able to block your mind from these thoughts."
I let out a silent oh and she messed with my hair a bit
"I'm not sure if this will work, but anytime he tries to read your mind now, or Alice tries to see into your future they'll only see or hear screaming and it'll be painful. That goes for any vampire or werewolf that tried to do something to do."
"Werewolf?"
She cringed
"I thought he would've told you, seeing how close you are... jacobs family and tribe are werewolves, except Jacob hasn't aged in yet."
"Jacobs going to be a werewolf soon?"
"Yes. But they can only hurt you if you make them mad, their anger is what transforms them, your dad's sister was with one. And for now just stay away from the Cullen clan. "
"Are there any other mythical creatures I should worry about?"
" well there's other hybrids under the water but that's all I know about"
I nodded slowly.
"On your 18th birthday I'll let you go down and explore, everyone down there are either teens like you, or born full. We should head back and you should try swimming with a tail. "
I nodded and took the bracelet off, giving it to mom to hold onto. I looked at her and she dived in. I walked in the water and nothing happened.
"You have to do the diving motion, wether it's off a cliff or into the shallow it has to be head first"
I nodded and dove in, feeling a slight tingle this time and I waited for for her to start swimming before I went under her. I could see a lot further under the water, and it looked very clear to me even though I knew this water wasn't clear at all. I spotted a very clear green shell and went, surprisingly I was able to swim very fast. Afterwards I made it to the beach and mom threw some dirt at me, which managed to get a few sprinkles on my hand. I switched back and waded out of the water and was handed my bracelet again. That evening she explained a lot of things about the mermaids to me, and I knew it wouldn't really be a hindrance unless someone took my charm and shoved me in water but it would be a really useful tool.
