Open Space [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 9

I wake up with no one beside me, Isabella had 'migrated' next to Fraser suspiciously. Mason isn't inside his sleeping bag though so I figure he must already be up. I open the theatre doors to get out the smell of alcohol and sweaty teenagers out and find Mason kicking stones into the school's garden.

"Hey." I say quietly rubbing my eyes as they adjust to the bright sun. We must have all slept in because it feels like it's 10am but I'm not sure how long Mason has been up - it looks like he's been pondering something all day.

"Do you want to go swimming?" Mason blurts out.
"Sure... umm do you need swimmers?" I ask awkwardly.
"Yah let's just go up to the house so I can grab them."

I'm pretty surprised he wants to swim with me. Maybe - we'll hopefully - this will be a nice bonding moment and he won't freak out. But I guess he has seen my tail before so it won't be too much of a shocker.

Mason and I go into his room and shut the door which raises suspicionse from George and Rebecca.

"Wait here while I get changed in the bathroom, oh and you might want to grab some swimmers off Isabella so it doesn't look weird when we head out to the beach with you in clothes." Mason says.
"Okay dokay." I reply. Boy I hope it's not this awkward when we're actually swimming.

A few minutes later Mason comes out with no shirt and board-shorts and I go into the bathroom to get changed.

"Hey do you want talk about last night before we g-." I ask jumping back onto the bed.
"Door open young man." George orders knocking on the door.
"Okay dad." Mason groans.

Mason gets up and opens the door while I sit cross-legged on the bed. When he opens the door it probably looks very suspicious because I'm in Isabella's bikini and Mason is half naked.

"What are you kids up to?" George asks raising an eyebrow.
"Ohh we were just about to go swimming." I say, "let's go."

As we're leaving the house Mason and I laugh about how awkward that was. Today isn't that busy at the beach surprisingly which is a positive. We race into the water and I swim further ahead so no one will so me transform. As bubbles erupt around me I'm greeted with my curse passed down through generations. Mason swims up to me and stares at me in awe.

"You're incredible."
"Aren't you the tiniest bit surprised?" I ask.
"Yah I'm surprised with how negative my first response was." he chuckles.
"C'mon." I say grabbing his hand. We swim over allot of reefs and even though Mason doesn't have the gift of a tail he manages to keep up quite well.

I wonder what Bella would say if she found out Mason and I were together right now, although it wouldn't be hard to guess. I wonder what she's up to... actually no I don't.

"So what are your disadvantages that come along with your tail?" Mason asks - genuinely curious.
"Umm well the obvious one which is lying to everyone, not being able to touch water in public, full moons, there was for most of my life only Grandma and I but it's nice to have a friend now, but I think the top 2 worst disadvantages is lying and full moons."
"What do they do?" Mason asks.
"Remember the night in the tent and when I went out I turned psycho?"
"Yep."
"Well there's your answer - I have to avoid it no matter what and it's scary to think the next full moon is only a couple weeks away." I shiver at the thought of it.
"Let's get back on land."
"Okay."

* * *

I dry off and Mason and I walk further down the beach. It's nice just walking with no real sense of direction to be completely honest. You get to enjoy the little things more. Like the bright Australian sun, the white sand, the fascinated tourists, the cars competing for decent spots, the old people sharing lunch but most importantly the handsome man beside me who accepts me being a mermaid. I stop Mason and look at him.