336
Mermista had reading to do. The council had given her homework the following day. "It's a good thing I like to read." She said and flipped to the next page. There were charts of sea life territories with the main fish or people living there.
There were four full pages listing all of the known sea creatures and the unnamed creatures too. They all had discriptions and pictures. Question marks were beside the unnamed sea life.
"Educating yourself is a good thing." Her father said from the doorway. "It can be a snoozer to read all of it. It's a requirement though. There will be a verbal test about how much you know." Mercia told her.
"Ugh, just freaking great. I hate tests. Home schooling is bad enough. I have a question is there a physical part to all of this too?"
Mercia suddenly did a few combatic moves for her.
Mermista was shell shocked and her eyes couldn't believe what she'd seen. "Whoa! Daddy, I had no idea that you could move like that."
"On land you need to learn this stuff. In the sea it's different. Both are important. Yes, physical training is a must. We can put that off til after your birthday." Mercia told her.
Oh yeah . . . that. All this training stuff had even taken her mind off of her birthday. It was like a week away. Little did she know it would all come in handy about six months from now.
337
I had just cleaned a fresh wound to my upper left arm. Figg had accidently got me with a fishing hook. The cut wasn't horrible. It only took five minutes to disinfect and bandage it. It still stung though.
"Sebastian?" A voice called out from above.
It took me a few seconds to recall it. "Down here!" I yelled out to Amara.
She was bright and happy as she came over. She noticed my arm and made a face. "What happened?"
I was slightly red from being shirtless. "Figg was casting his line and it caught my shirt then the hook dug into my arm." I told her.
"I wish I had the power to heal, but I don't. Sorry about that ouchie." She said and took something out of her jacket pocket. She gave it to me.
I took it from her. It was a teal envelope, average card size and I pulled out the card to look at it. I opened the card and read, 'You're invited to Mermista's 17th Birthday Party at SeaCrush! October 21st! It starts at noon!'
I looked up at Amara. "Thank you for inviting me, but I don't know if I should go."
"Trust me, she wants you there." Amara told me. "Here's what you should do. Show up an hour or two late. She'll be upset that you're not there. Tell the DJ to cut the music and get a microphone. In front of the crowd speak from your heart. Tell her again that you're sorry about everything and how much you love her. All of this will win her over."
338
"You've got five days to think of what you wanna say." Amara said to me. "And I see why Mermista likes you so much. Now put on a shirt. I'll see you later."
After Amara left I sat on my bed and stared at the invitation. I knew Mermista just wanted to be friends. It was a good idea. Be late and pour out my heart to her. I put the invitation in my bottom dresser drawer. Then I pulled out the middle drawer and grabbed a white shirt to put on.
I spent the next two hours writing down what I should say to Mermista on her birthday.
Mermista was spending the rest of her day with Andreas and her mother's side of the family. She promised her father she'd be back by dinner.
