Below the Surface

Prologue: Make a Wish

~ B E L O W T H E S U R F A C E ~

"Always Be Yourself. Unless You Can Be A Mermaid. Then Always Be A Mermaid."

PROLOGUE:

Make a Wish

As we're sneaking away from our birthday party, Bella and I grab our longboard surfboards and carry them over our heads and run for the water. Halfway across the beach we break into giggles and obnoxious laughter, so much for secrecy. Once we hit the shore, we dive into the ocean with our stomachs on top of the board and start paddling out. When I see a small wave arriving, I take a deep breath and dive down. My body immediately warms up with the water, but when I surface for air I get goose bumps from the light, spring breeze. We're a good distance away from the beach that we can still faintly see and hear our friends and family. I lie on my back and stare at the clear, starry sky. I turn my head over to Bella to see her clearly under the full moon tonight. Gentle, smooth waves rock our boards as we lie under the starry night and I can't help but smile at what a great birthday it has been.

"Best birthday ever right?" Bella says and I grin, best friends born on the same day, fate or coincidence?

"That's just what I was thinking." I tell her. Suddenly, she sits up and looks down at me with a sad look on her face. "What's wrong?" I sit up with her and paddle my board closer to hers.

"I don't know...I'm just thinking that junior year is ending, today's our seventeenth birthday, and we're going to be seniors this year. Not to mention we're also going to college next year, and...everything is just happening so fast!" she blurts out and I purse my lips together trying to think of a way to comfort her, but something in the sky catches my attention instead.

"Oh!" I exclaim loudly as I see a shooting star cross the dark sky. My sudden movements cause me to slide off my board and slip into the water. I quickly brace myself onto Bella's board, "A shooting star! Make a wish!" I close my eyes tightly and then reopen them and stare out in the sky hoping there will be another one.

"Where?" Bella exclaims, whipping her head towards the night sky. "Oh! There's another one!" she points upwards and I see it just in time before it disappears into the vast darkness. "We have to make a wish!" she slides off her board and then mirrors my position and rests her elbow on her board holding her pinkie out in front of me. I grin and do same, interlocking our pinkies together. "Okay," she smiles. Closing her eyes, she hums for a wish to make and then opens them revealing her bright blue eyes, "Beyond high school. Beyond college. Let's wish to never have to leave the ocean, our second home."

I laugh and shake our hands side to side, "Basically, let's wish to be mermaids?"

"Exactly." She grins and we both close our eyes tightly.

The next morning, I wake up at five in the morning for a quick wave before heading for school. I jog across the empty street and choose the sandy pathway towards the beach instead of the one that is used for bikes and vehicles. This part of the beach is peaceful. The sandy ground fills in between my toes as I walk beside the wooden fence leading towards the beach with scrawny, long trees reaching up to the light orange, purple hue sky. As I make my way out of the pathway, I see the sight of waves crashing down, and a small smile forms on my face. I drag my shortboard surfboard on the smooth soft sand the rest of the way until I'm standing on the edge of the waterline. I look out into the dark blue ocean with the morning sunrise above the horizon. I take a deep breath, breathing in the warm salty air. What a perfect morning to surf. I hear laughter and chattering behind me and see other early surfers coming onto the beach. I look down at my turquoise rash guard shirt and then down at my black swimsuit bottoms, I take my neon green and yellow board and step my feet into the chilly water. Once the water hits below my knees, I dive forward onto my board and I rest my stomach on the board and start paddling out into the ocean. With each stroke I become used to the water and when I see a wave arriving, I take a deep breath and dive down through it. Water rushes through my body trying to push me off my board but I grasp the sides of it tightly, I let air out of my mouth as I open my eyes in the salty water and watch as the water becomes bubbly around me. Suddenly, a heavy a weight is dragging down the bottom half of my body and I slip off my board. The leash on my ankle keeping me attached to the board rips off and my board soars through the water and up to the surface. I thrash my arms in the water as I try to pull myself out of the water, but something feels different about my body. No matter how hard I try to kick my legs back and forth I can't seem to move them. I take my board in my hands and haul myself on top of it as I gasp for air.