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Chapter 4
Sunday, March 1, 2009 @ 1:30 PM
Title: Pearldrops.Author: Яįє4. SecretsTo know that one has a secret is to know half the secret itself.
‘Three can keep a secret,
if two of them are dead.’
-Benjamin Franklin
The girl stared back at me, unblinking. She was enchantingly breathtaking, her eyes the shade of greenish blue and her hair the colour that of sapphires. I reached out to touch her, yet, my fingers felt only the smooth surface of the mirror. Trapped behind the glass, she appeared petrified, confused even. I smiled sadly and the sides of her mouth arched up, curling back to show a set of glistening, pearly white teeth. As sudden unexplained emotions trembled in me, a tear trickled down both our faces.
She was my reflection; the part of me caught in glass.
The deafening silence was shattered by the eerie echoes of water drip-dropping down. The flitting shadows made it impossible for me to discern the expression on his face. What was he thinking? Was I a water demon to him? Some kind of sea witch? A monster maybe?
I bowed my head lower, trying to hide my true form. I hated him for the suspense, wondering if I had done anything wrong that angered him again.
“A mermaid,” he murmured, as if questioning himself on the possibility of me existing.
“This explains so much…”
I could hear the squelch of mud as he stepped closer. The dim light illuminated his face and at that moment, his eyes locked on mine. I felt my face flushing and my hair changing colour; an automatic reflex action I would experience when my senses were on full alert.
The bewildered look on his face switched to one of genuine interest and then, as our gaze intensified, his expression switched to one of embarrassment. Clearing his throat, he quickly looked away, but not before I saw his abashed countenance. I almost died of a heart attack then. Even in the darkness, he was so strikingly cute. My eyes must have given me away again when he caught me looking. I carefully avoided his glance, feeling him surveying me curiously.
“Is this real?” he questioned again.
Stupid, ignorant human.
“Do I look fake to you?” I replied impatiently.
“No, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that…”
“I’ve never seen a mermaid before,” I finished his sentence loudly.
“You can read minds?” he asked dumbly, mouth agape.
“What? Did I just read yours?” I questioned haughtily instead, looking at him nonchalantly.
“Answer the question,” he snapped.
“Yes and no. Of course I can read minds, how do you expect us marine creatures to communicate in water then? But, the point is, I can’t read yours,” I said coldly.
It is so annoying that none of our powers work on you, I added silently.
“Why not?” he retorted.
His demand took me by surprise. I was totally taken aback. In the marine world, we could only think safely when we were outside radar perimeter of someone else’s. It was difficult to keep your thoughts to yourself. Reading someone’s mind was an infringement of personal privacy. He did not seem to think so.
“Are you humans literally brain dead?” I shot back at him.
Ray looked at me incredulously. He opened his mouth, then, as if to think otherwise, closed it. He shrugged and moved closer.
“What is a mermaid doing so far away from home?” he whispered.
“The choice isn’t hers to make,” I said carelessly. I flicked my tail nervously, twisting my hair round my finger as I did so. This was the question I dreaded.
“You don’t want to know.”
His gaze strayed down the entire length of my body as I replied softly. His eyes set my skin ablaze and I could feel a tingling sensation spread like wildfire all the way down the dorsal end of my tail.
“Trust me. I want to know everything about you,” he breathed the words with such sureness I found it unbelievable. His stare pierced through the very depths of my soul and my face burned instantly. He could probably see the blush rising in the dark.
“Why?” I asked numbly. “Don’t you think I’m ugly? This green, scaly tail of mine from waist down must have ruined the picture.”
He looked at me in shock. Then to my astonishment, he chuckled.
“I think you’re beautiful. Isn’t that enough?” he said hoarsely, in between fits of laughter.
Well, it was. But I wasn’t ready to admit it.
“What’s so funny?” I inquired, irritated by his sudden outburst.
“You are the most ridiculous girl I’ve ever seen,” he explained. “What would other girls think of themselves if they overhear you?”
Question marks sprouted in my head. He must have seen the confusion scrawled on my face for he continued, “Girls are jealous of you. You might not have noticed but you’re the talk among guys in the whole of Marine sands.”
I blinked blankly.
“In short, you’re popular.”
I found truth in his words. The sudden boy attention I received gave me splitting headaches. I was disgusted by their audacity. Had I seemed like such an easy target? The number of pick-up lines showered on me was uncountable. Yet, none were from him. I was disappointed, but I tried to hide it.
Feigning ignorance, I implored innocently, “Oh really. Why is that?”
“They like you,” he said simply. “After all, you’re a pretty thing.”
Yeah. They like me.
All except one.
***
Ray studied me intently. I knew he was contemplating on how to pull more truths from me. After a minute, he exhaled loudly.
“Relle, you’re so secretive. What secret is there behind that mask of yours? What’s not to tell when I already know you’re a mermaid.”
Crap. He was using the oldest trick in the book-persuasion. What did he just call me? A thrill traveled down my vertebrae. He had used my pet name on me.
Do not say the magic word, I pleaded silently.
“Please?”
I threw him an exasperated glance. Bingo. He had hit the bull’s eye.
“Do you want to be late for class?” I berated, ignoring his puppy dog eyes.
“No, but…”
“No buts,” I said firmly. “And turn around. I need to put on those sheep’s wool you humans call clothes.”
I focused my willpower on changing back to my human form. My tail vanished and in its place were human legs. I scanned the cave. Location cleared. Struggling to stand, I hurriedly waved the droplets of water that drenched me. It whirled silkily like a spider-like strand and departed into the crevice. Ah, the power of mermaids. It was such convenience. Changing into the uniform I had carefully placed on the ledge to keep dry before turning into a mermaid, I widened my gait and headed towards the cave opening.
Ray was waiting for me outside the cave. It was obvious he was pondering over something. Stepping out, I was momentarily blinded by sunlight. I squinted painfully as my eyes adjusted to the sudden incline in light intensity. Mermaid’s eyes were used to pitch darkness in the depths of the pacific where little light reached the seabed.
“You okay?” his concerned voice flooded my ears.
“It’s just the bright light. Mermaids have cloudy vision on land,” I muttered. In water, I had no problem seeing. Yet, here, everything was fuzzy and sometimes replicated. Instead of seeing one, I would see two images.
I fumbled pathetically and tripped over a jutting rock. He was by my side instantly, catching hold of my waist, preventing me from an unglamorous crash.
“Thanks,” I said, embarrassed. A sudden yearning shot through me like an arrow, making my heart ache wildly.
This feeling, I was not used to it. With him around, I was constantly unsure of myself, and I did not like it one bit.
The sudden closeness was unfamiliar. The clean scent of his cologne assailed my nostrils as I inhaled deeply to slow my heartbeat.
He smelled nice.
“You can change from human to mermaid and back, at will. I’m amazed,” he said in my ear.
Keeping a safe distance from him, I hissed tauntingly, “you have no idea how much more I can do.”
“Was that blackmailing I hear? We shall see. But firstly, there’s this nagging thought gnawing at the back of my head…” he trailed.
“Shoot.”
“What do mermaids wear on top? Coconut shells split into two?” he mused. “It was so unfortunate it was so dark in there…”
I could literally see him fantasizing.
“Stop dreaming. Mermaids are fully clothed,” I emphasized thickly, “sorry to disappoint, but the females wear plaited shell tops.”
“That’s a pity.”
I cast him a stony look as we clambered back to the school compound.
Humans were such perverted creatures.
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