Sara wore a blue, school regulation
swimsuit. She was beautiful, at least as pretty as Storm but not awkward or shy.
She dived, swan-like into the pool and swam a perfect freestyle towards them.
“Hi,” Sara said. She smiled at Storm and
welcomed her again to Sloan Select.
It was hard to dislike Sara since she was
so nice, but to Storm, the other girl was just another obstacle – not
insurmountable – but it was a pity she wasn’t a mean girl like Lavinia Snow. Then
she wouldn’t feel so bad about…
In that moment when her new friends – or
the two people who had tried to befriend her at her new school – waded over to
her, Storm stopped breathing. It was as if her lungs wouldn’t work – she needed
her gills to breathe and her tail to swim.
“Quick,” Jack said.
He scooped her up and together, he and Sara
placed her on the side of the pool, they draped a towel over her and gave her
CPR until she was breathing normally.
Storm coughed and spluttered when she
woke.
“What happened?”
“You
just passed out…”
“It
must be the pills I took.”
“Hey
Storm, this place is really strict about drugs…” Sara said.
“No, they’re… prescription. They’re for
my…. I’m not normal.”
“She’s a… she was…”
“… a mermaid. I know. I read your mind.
You are the third. We’ve been waiting for you. You complement our powers and
together we can win the Tournament of Skill and so much more. Welcome to the
club,” Sara said. Jack nodded.
“I’m… I’m not a mermaid anymore.”
“Oh, so that’s why you swim so perfectly,”
Sara said, in awe, “Never mind, you must have been gifted some other power
during transition.”
Storm studied Jack’s concerned face. He
didn’t have feelings for her. Not in that way. Storm could read his mind.
“I… I just want to go home.”
Storm suddenly realized Jack was in love
with Sara, might always be in love with Sara. He was only interested in Storm
because she could help them win the tournament. Storm was now ninety-nine
percent relegated to the role of friend - perhaps forever. What had she done?
How could she have been so… foolish?
“You stay here,” Sara said. “I’ll go get
help. Jack, stay with her.”
Jack placed a rolled up towel under
Storm’s head. As he did so, he noticed Storm’s sun bleached blonde hair and
pale blue eyes closely. Her skin was slightly freckled and tanned from the sun.
Storm was beautiful.
“You saved me,” he said. “We’ll save
you.”
“I came here to be with you,” Storm whispered.
There was no use hiding it anymore. Jack looked stunned. He didn’t know what to
say so he said nothing. Storm rolled over, coughed and sat up. “I’m just not
used to being in the water without my tail.”
Storm started to cry. She wanted to go
home. Jack didn’t know what to do so he put his arm around her.
Wow. That’s really weird. He acted as if he hadn’t heard her declaration
– or as good as one. Maybe she needed to be clearer.
Jack, although he was the hottest boy at
Sloane Select by far, never really imagined too many girls thought the same
because Sara had always kept him at a distance. Now, here was a new girl – a
special girl – damaged, like all the students, in her own brilliant way,
admitting that she’d come to the school just to be with him.
He didn’t want the responsibility of that.
He’d loved Sara since the first time he’d seen her. He was loyal to his first
love. This one would never work.
Yet Storm looked into his eyes with her pale
blue ones, searching and sweet. Storm held him close and kissed him on his hands;
she slipped her fingers through his hair and kissed his neck before he realized
what she was doing. Then he used all his power to silently, softly, push her
away.
