Swimming? No thanks

Chapter 7

Max's POV

I woke up to the sound of my parents talking in their bedroom. "Have you noticed something different about Max lately?" Mom.

"Yeah, she seems like she's hiding something." Daddy.

"And whenever we go swimming, she always has something important to do, so she can't go."

"There was also last week. She disappeared and gave us a lame excuse."

"Hey, Mama?" My little sister, Amelia.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Can you help me get dressed? I don't know what to wear."

"Sure." I heard footsteps come towards my room. I turned over and acted like I was asleep. I heard my door open. "Max, you need to start getting ready, considering your bathes have been longer lately."

"Okay, Mom. I'll be up in a minute." I heard my door close and footsteps fade. I got out of bed, grabbed a towel, and walked out of the doors that led to my balcony. I snuck down a tree behind my house. I ran down the beach and dove in. I watched my tail appear as I swam near the beach.

I swam for about five minutes before getting out and drying off. I snuck back in and got in the bath. I washed everything and climbed out. I blow dried my tail and went back to my room. I picked out my outfit for the day and got dressed. I walked downstairs and made my breakfast. I carefully ate my bowl of Fruit Loops. I placed my spoon and bowl in the dishwasher and grabbed everything I needed for school.

I got out of my house just as Diana and Sarah got there. "Hey, guys. I need to tell you guys something, but I need to tell Alyssa, too, so I'll wait until we get to her house."

"Okay," they answered simultaneously. Huh, you'd never guess that they were twins. Sarcasm intended. They exchanged a look and all three of us burst out laughing.

We walked down to Alyssa's house where Alyssa and Cameron were waiting on us. "Hey," Alyssa greeted.

"Hey. So I heard my parents talking about me this morning. They were talking about how I was acting weird. They have noticed everything that I've been doing odd. I've never kept anything from them before, so this is going to stand out. I'm sorry. I might reveal our secret because of this."

"It's okay. We understand what your going through. I went through it with Megan. You just need to act as normal as possible," Alyssa reasoned.

"I am, but they see right through it. I don't think that I can keep this a secret much longer."

Alyssa grabbed my shoulders and looked me right in the eye. Okay, in the bubble. "You can and you will. Just think positive."

"Could you please let go of my shoulders? You're kind of in my personal space bubble."

She groaned and let go. "That is not what you should be focused on right now! We need to figure out a way to make your parents think that you're totally fine and that nothing's up."

"How? They see through everything I say and do. I am an open book."

"Quit thinking like that. We will figure out a way."

"Okay. Let's just drop it. We're almost to school." I pointed to the big building in front of us.

We walked in silence the rest of the way. After a couple minutes, we met up with Jackson and Alex at our normal meeting place. "Hi," Jackson greeted. He noticed the look on my face. "Max, what's wrong?"

"We'll explain later," Diana answered. Jackson nodded, understanding that it was a mermaid thing.

"Is there something that I need to know?" Alex asked.