Aquarina(mermaid graphic done by Jihan B. Jackson)

Chapter 14

His face contorted in astonishment and his eyes bathed in a mix of shock and...joy? But it clouded over in shock when he spoke, "S-Soul mate?" "I know you saw my eyes that day after school" His face was tainted with a faint blush and I continued "That only happens when you meet your blood companion." I informed him. He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "So, uh, your eyes turn gray?" Just what I needed. I nodded, "Yeah, my eyes turn silver and my hair turns blue" His eyebrows rose and he broke out into a smile. ''Really? That's so cool! Can I see?!" He looked excited. At least the awkwardness dissipated. I smiled, "Sure. I'll get a glass of water"

I turned to the door, but before I could touch the knob, I heard a loud crash from downstairs. I looked back at Adrian, who was wide-eyed, before jumping up to see what happened. "Mom! Dad!" I yelled, running down the stairs with Adrian hot on my heels. "Over here!" I heard my dad in the kitchen. When we got there, I noticed my dad on the floor, in mermaid form, with a part of the...sink in his hand? "What happened here?" I asked him, hands on my hips. I really didn't feel like dealing with this right now. I still had probably at least 30 more minutes worth of explanations I needed to discuss with Adrian. "Well, I was trying to fix the sink and I couldn't get the faucet off. When I yanked on it, I fell back and knocked over the tray of drinks." He looked up, finally noticing Adrian, who looked shocked and amused. Why would he be in shock? Oh, right. I still haven't told him about my family of mermaids. Great, another explanation I need to talk to him about. Dad got wide-eyed and started to panic, but before he could say anything, I spoke. "Dad, it''s okay. He's a half-mermaid. In fact, I was kind of in the middle of explaining it to him. He is also...my....um, my bc" my face flushed, again. Why is it that I tend to be doing that a lot more often now? My father's face completely changed. It went from panicked, to surprised, and then to stern. "No listen here, punk. You treat her right or else I will hunt you down. And since I am on the floor, I can't exactly face you head-on. But for now, I think I got my point across. You understand?" My dad rose his eyebrows and waved the faucet part in his hand during his little speech. Pretty intimidating if you ask me.;P My face flamed and I was about to tell him that we weren't together yet, but Adrian spoke first, "Yes sir. And I would shake your hand, but as you stated, you are the one on the floor." I froze, turning to Adrian with questioning eyes. He just responded with smile and winked at me. Winked at me! I could resist smiling back, even with a red face, before I turned back to Dad. "Now Dad, if you don't mind. I would like to finish explaining everything to Adrian, so please keep the confrontation to a minimum. Please?" I rose an eyebrow, waiting for him to object. He sighed, caving in, "Alright. Now turn me back please." I smiled, placed my hand above his tail, and closed it into a fist, evaporating the water. My dad stood up, placed the faucet on the counter, and turned to face Adrian, who by the way was about the same height as Dad.(And my dad is pretty tall, so Adrian must be about 6'2) "Well, it was nice meeting you, even under the circumstances." They smiled and shook hands. "Thank you sir and it was a pleasure meeting you." Adrian replied. "Well, I guess I better clean this up. Aqua, would you mind?" My brows furrowed, but he looked over to the spilt drinks and I knew what he meant. "Oh, yeah sure." I turned to the drinks on the floor and stuck my hand out, quickly evaporating the liquid. "Thank you Aqua" Dad said before picking up the broken pieces of glass.

"Your welcome and let's go. I still have to explain everything" I got a glass of water and sighed, pulling Adrian up the stairs. He chuckled and I turned to him, "What's so funny?" "Oh nothing" he put on a straight face but failed as a smile spread across his face. I rose an eyebrow and smirked, "Oh really?" "It's just that your dad is funny and you guys are so comfortable with the whole mermaid thing" he smiled. I rolled my eyes, "Well, yeah. We have been mermaids our whole lives" His eyebrows rose "Really? So you were born as a mermaid?" I nodded my head as we reached my room, "Yup. I am an Original and so is my dad. Pearl and Mom are Mermaid Fairies. There are three types of mermaids; Turned, Originals, and Mermaid Fairies." I hesitated, not sure if I should tell him about Alex. But I thought against it, thinking he doesn't have to know. He sat on the bed while I took a seat on the desk chair, "So what are Turned or Mermaid Fairies? And how are you born a mermaid?

From there we spent a good thirty minutes talking about just those two topics. Then after I told him about the birth of the baby mermaids, I then explained the markings. "So there are two markings? Pregnancy marking and blood companion marking? What is the blood companion marking?" he asked. "Well, first off, yes, those are the two markings. The pregnancy marking is a marking that looks like a black moon that fades towards the bottom. It appears on top of the woman's right hand during the pregnancy and it disappears after the baby is born. The blood companion marking is a marking that basically tells anyone that they're taken. It normally depends on the pair to what the marking will look like. Sometimes it is a moon, other times it can be a sun. Either way, whatever the marking looks like, it will be black. Same as the pregnancy marking." I explained. "That's really cool. Hey, weren't you gonna show me your 'mermaid form', or whatever the name for it is?" he asked me. "Oh yeah, let me sit on the bed." I responded.

I got up from the chair and made me way to sit on the bed next to Adrian. "Okay, ready?" I asked him, holding the glass out. He nodded vigorously, "Okay" I said, before pouring the water on my legs. I waited a couple seconds and soon enough I had silver eyes and tail, along with blue hair. No more brown hair or eyes. Instead sat a mermaid. I looked over at Adrian who had been quiet. His wide eyes raked over my tail. "Wanna touch it?" I asked him, knowing he did. "Um, sure" his face grew pink as he slowly reached over and his fingertips grazed the huge fin. "Wow, it feels so...so....like slippery but firm. It's amazing" His eyes met my now silver ones and they were filled with wonder. They were no longer coated with shock or confusion. Now wonder and amazement were evident in his gaze. But when he looked over at me, his gaze turned intent and was smoldering me. "It's beautiful" he whispered. I could feel my face heat up as he slowly leaned in, gazes locked. Closer and closer. All the while the only thing repeating in my head was 'He's gonna kiss me! He's gonna kiss me!' Just when we were just practically millimeters apart, my phone rang. I internally groaned. Of all times I have to get interrupted, it happens now! I am starting to get fed up! We pulled away with red faces and I quickly evaporated the water, getting up to grab the phone. I got up from the bed, my face red from embarrassment. Embarrassed and frustrated, I walked to the phone, not missing the small sigh of frustration behind me. Looks like someone is just as as frustrated as me. That thought alone was enough to melt my heart. I smirked, not trusting my smile because I knew full well that I wouldn't be able to stop if I did.

I looked down at the caller ID. Alex. That's the second time she interrupted me with Adrian today. Setting that aside, I thought about why she would call me. That could only be one of two things. Either she finished the date and called to tell me about it or something happened. I mean something bad. Slightly worried and hoping it's not something bad, I picked up the phone. Before I could say the customary 'Hello?", I was met by the sound of her scared voice, which also seemed as if she had been crying. "Aqua, you need to come to the hospital right now! Jordan was hurt!"