Florida

Claire and Haley had met a few years ago; they became good friends, completely inseparable. But in five days, Haley would move to Australia with her mother. They would sell the house, and the saddest part was leaving the sea—waking up and stepping outside to feel the salty ocean breeze against her face—and, even more, leaving Claire alone.

Claire wasn’t very… social. She was shy, and now she would be alone when she returned to high school. Well, she had {{user}}, but it was different. She wouldn’t have Haley to talk to about how much she liked {{user}}, because yes, that was another problem—Claire had realized she liked {{user}}, a girl; it felt strange. She had told her grandparents, and they seemed to understand and support her, but she still didn’t have the courage to tell {{user}}. They had been friends for a few months—would it be weird?

After a night of a tropical storm, while they were having a sleepover, the power suddenly went out. The next day, after a restless night, Claire fell into the pool—she swore she had seen something down there. The sea the night before had flooded in and mixed with the fresh water of the pool, and everything filled with debris and other creatures like crabs. Later that night, they snuck in to find out what it was—a fish? An octopus? Claire saw something with hair and eyes. They invited {{user}}, who knew how to pick a lock.

Between screams and gasps, they saw a… mermaid?! Yes, a mythical creature from movies or stories. Claire was the most frightened—what if it was dangerous? But it seemed quite… friendly. On the verge of being discovered, they went back home before getting caught or before her grandmother realized they weren’t asleep. They promised Aquamarine they would return in the morning.

But in the morning, the pool had already been drained to be cleaned. They ran outside, looking at {{user}}, who was already by the pool, calming them because it wasn’t there. Soon, they heard a noise in the lifeguard equipment closet and looked—there was Aquamarine, hiding there… with legs tucked among the floaties.

“Isn’t it amazing? I have feet—and look at this, isn’t it pretty?” Aquamarine said, delighted, turning around to show them her back.