Mer Tales 01 - Everblue

lawn. I braced myself for my mother’s voice.
    “ What’s wrong, Pumpkin?”
    Dad.
    The lump in my throat dissolved. “I’m having a crazy day and I’m sick of Lucy,” I muttered.
    “ Crazy day, huh?” He stood close to me, left arm stretched out. “Does this have anything to do with what happened with your mom at the store earlier?”
    Dad still wore his work attire—black jeans, steel toe boots, and navy T-shirt with Lake Tahoe Fire silk-screened on the back. When tucking myself under his arm, I noticed the firehouse smell lingering on his clothes—a mixture of old leather and cigar smoke.
    “ I’m not mad at Mom. I just don’t like when she expects me to do stuff without asking me first.” I drew circles in the mud with a toe of my shoe.
    “ Have you told her this?”
    “ I shouldn’t have to.”
    He hummed. “I still think you should tell her.”
    I shrugged and picked at my fingernail. “She’ll just yell at me.”
    “ You won’t know unless you try.”
    I grunted.
    “ Is there something else bothering you?”
    “ Besides my best friend being MIA, the star pitcher on our baseball team asking me to be his date to Senior Ball, or the race on Saturday against the fastest girl in the league—yeah, I’m having a day.”
    “ A date for Senior Ball. Now that sounds serious.” Dad smoothed his black mustache and nodded his head. “Would I like this boy?”
    I bit my lip to keep from smiling. “Yeah. I think so. He’s nice.”
    “ So, I imagine you’ll need a dress.”
    “ Yeah, probably.”
    “ And I’ll need a gun.”
    “ Dad!” I tried to move away from him.
    He chuckled, holding me tight. “Just kidding. I don’t see the problem. My daughter’s bloomed into a beautiful young lady and this respectable gentleman, as you’ve confirmed, has noticed.”
    I hid my blushing cheeks next to his chest. “Dad.”
    “ Of course, there’s going to be an interview, polygraph, and I’ll need his social security number.”
    “ Oh geez. I shouldn’t have told you.”
    “ Okay, an introduction will do—”
    I let out a large sigh.
    “— But as far as Tatiana goes, no one’s been reported missing, so I bet her family probably left on an emergency and will be back soon. And you’ll do fine on Saturday. Keep your head down and pretend a shark’s behind you. I’m looking forward to watching the race.”
    I peered up into his face. The porch light shone around his head, creating a halo effect. “Just don’t be the loudest on the bleachers this time, okay?”
    “ I’ve got my air horn all ready.”
    I tried to twist out of his grasp again but he gave me a playful noogie on my head.
    “ Dad.”
    He laughed and let me go. “No, seriously. I’ll do the dishes tonight. Take all the time you need.” He smiled and then went back inside.
    The chilly breeze moved my hair and tickled my cheek. After working through my frustrations from Mom, my queasy stomach fluttered with butterflies. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the outcome of today’s events. But here I was, going to Senior Ball with Callahan. Only then did I jump up and down in elation.

10
FIN

    “ Wow.” I surfaced to find a newly installed air bubble inside our mer house. “When did this happen?”
    “ Today.” Tatiana ran her hand through the light from a sun-mirror and phased out of her fin, then leapt up onto the stone floor. “Mom? Mom! I can’t stay here anymore. Look at what they did to me!”
    She disappeared around the corner which gave me the perfect opportunity to phase and throw on my shorts. Apparently Mom hadn’t had time to put up a privacy curtain.
    “ Mother of pearl!” Mom yelled from the back room.
    I cringed. Not the reaction I hoped for. Sobs from Tatch followed. I ducked into my room and stopped in my tracks.
    In the corner, a lava lamp illuminated a new hammock, complete with a downy comforter and feather pillow encased in a green striped sheet. A poster of my favorite band, The Classic Crime hung on the wall and a few of my favorite books lined the shelves. My childhood Star Wars action figures sat on a stack of T-shirts.
    I thumbed through the pile, pulled on my favorite “#TessieLives” shirt, and laughed. No mer in Natatoria would have any idea what it meant, let alone understood the concept of Twitter.
    With a smile, I curled back on mesh netting. Since we slept on the bottom of the pool at night, my bed at home only served as a household prop. But with the continual sunlight