Cold and surprisingly tiring. Those are the words I'd use to describe riding on the back of a...mermaid. Still can't get over that word. It's like swallowing a pill that just doesn't wanna go down and ends up getting stuck at the back of your throat.
The water was freezing, and the air only made it worse. It took us a long time to get back to the shore, now the moon has fully come out to hang itself in the sky above us. Finally though, we make it to a beach front, the LA skyscrapers are clear, and all the lights are bright.
I let go of Amelia and put my feet down on the sand below me when she stops. I walk shakily towards the dry beach, struggling against the high tide of the night.
"Hey, wait!" I hear Amelia call out from behind me. I turn to face her, my knees still submerged in the water. She still carries a sad pout on her face as she sits out in the waves. "I didn't even get your name." she smirks slightly.
I shake my head, why should I give her my name? Not like I'll ever see her again, at least I don't have plans to, so why would she want my name? She gave me her's though, so I guess it's only polite. "Mark." I call back to her, the noise of the waves crashing around us forcing me to speak up.
"Mark." she smiles as she says my name. "It was nice to meet you, Mark. Will I ever see you again?"
Her question completely derails me for a minute. Why would she want to? "I umm...."
"You could meet me back at the rock whenever you want!" she quickly says excitedly.
"I mean... I...." I search my head. She is so innocent, she doesn't understand that there is a lot of risks for her if I hang around. The more I frequent the rock, the more of a chance someone will notice, and more of a chance she'll get caught. But the look on her face, anticipation for my response, tells me she doesn't even care about those things. "I guess I could." I shrug.
"So you'll come see me again!"
"Uh...yeah."
"Oh yay!" she goes under the water for a second. If I had a guess, she probably did something childish like a flip or something. "When do you think you'll be out again?" she asks excitedly again. She hangs on my every word. Her simple nature easily puts a smile on my face.
"I really don't know." I answer her honestly. I mean, I have to get to a hospital, come up with some shit story to convince my friends as to where I was and what happened, and then...I guess the only way I could really get out there would be to rent a boat or something. It would take a while. "Maybe in a couple days. I'll come around in the evening some time." I decide. I have no clue how long 'a couple of days' is, but it'll have to do for now.
It seems to please Amelia regardless though, as a wide smile breaks loose across her face. "Okay! See you then!" she waves before she goes back into the water.
I stand in the waves for a minute. My brain is really struggling to comprehend what exactly this day has been. It all started so normal. Normal morning routine, normal drive to work, normal day at work, and a shit storm that hit the fan all at once on the way back home. What would I even say to my friends and family? Hey, don't worry about the fact they didn't find my body in my car and I'm actually alive and well, I was saved by a fucking mermaid! Yeah, no.
I turn and trudge the rest of the way out of the ocean that is still doing it's best to pull me back in. Fuck the ocean.
Regardless on what I say, I have to get myself to a hospital or something. I'm not the stupid person in the movie that goes through some traumatic experience and just goes home like it's nothing. I know better than that. Even though I don't feel like death or anything drastic, I was in a pretty bad wreck today and it never hurts to get checked.
I made my way up the beach, and it's only when my feet hit the sidewalk do I realize that I'm still totally bare foot. Great. Maybe I should've asked for my shoes back, even if they would have been ruined. Hardly anyone is here at all at the beach, but I don't pay much mind to this. I wander over to the payphone on my right. I pick up the phone and listen to the dial tone for a second before I realize...I don't even have change on me. I don't have a phone, my wallet, or even my shoes. I wonder if Amelia found my other things and kept them for herself.
Whatever, standing here with a germ fest of this public phone isn't gonna help me. I guess it's time to be the psycho person in the movies and ask one of these groups of kids for their phone.
I wander back out to the beach where there is a bonfire surrounded by kids a little ways down. With their lively laughing and actions, they don't look nearly as stoned as the kids out at the entrance. I'll take drunks over druggies any day.
They don't really notice me walking towards them till I get relatively close.
"Hey, who the hell are you?" one of the boys calls out at me. Friendly.
"My name is Mark." I answer simply, not making any movements now that all of them had their eyes on me. "I just need to borrow someone's phone really quick."
"Why?" a girl directly to my right asked.
"Jesus, he looks like shit." someone else pointed out. Very friendly.
"I was in an accident and I need someone to come pick me up." I answer the girl on my right. "I promise I won't leave your sight with the phone."
"No way, man. Get the hell out of here." a boy directly next to her waved me off.
"Derek, stop." she smacked his arm. She clearly wasn't wasted...at least not as much as the others.
The boy, Derek, shrugged and pointed at me, "I'm just sayin', babe. It's not smart to hand your phone to a guy who doesn't even have shoes on."
The girl just looked me over for a little bit. I held my hands up in defense, "I promise I won't go anywhere." She sighed and stood, pulling out her phone from her back pocket. She was ridiculed by her friends as she unlocked it and handed it to me. "Thank you." I said before dialing a familiar number.
The phone rang only a couple of times before it was answered, "Hello? Who is this?"
I smiled at the sleep in their voice. Now I just felt like an ass. "Hey, Tyler. It's me."
"MARK?!" I heard him jump at my words, all traces of the grogginess now gone. "Tell me exactly where you are."
YOU ARE READING
From The Place I Hate, Came My Love
Fanfiction"But honestly, who would've ever guessed that I would find someone so amazing and that I love so much all because I should've died in a car accident. I remember cursing myself that I even got out of bed that morning, but if I had the chance to go ba...
