Fortnight Field Academy

Chapter 44

Drew's P.O.V.

The sun seemed to rush out of the sky as the moon hastened to take its place. A tiny crescent was missing from the silver orb, but I knew it would return all too soon. As it grew in size, our time depleted.

"The party's starting soon. Maybe we should get ready," Aaron's delicious voice sighed over my shoulder.

I closed the blinds of our small room and put all thoughts of celestial beings from my mind. Turning to face him, I caught a glimpse of his flirtatious smile. "You know if you want me to undress for you, you could just ask. I won't tell the twin Ariels." I shot him a wicked grin. He haughtily shook his head and left for the bathroom.

Meanwhile, I changed into my own bathing suit. A black two piece with bright red and purple polka dots- I must say, despite their personalities, those mermaids do have good taste. I tied the strings in the back and checked myself out in the wall mirror, and I must say, I looked good. The suit hugged my body in all the right places, highlighting my killer curves. Sure, it was a little revealing, but clearly, I had nothing to hide.

Aaron, emerging from the bathroom, once again blinding me with his beauty, obviously thought so, too. His chest dazzled in the light of the dull ceiling bulb. His legs were a bit hairy, but I could see the toned muscles underneath. And those thirsty brown eyes lingered on me like a predator staring down its prey. "Ready to go?" he asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I whispered, still breathless.

I grabbed the prepacked bag of towels, phones, and plastic containers, and headed to the door. Aaron let me go first, a blatant plot to stare at my back side.

We met the girls in the parking lot in front of our building. They whispered adamantly at each other, straightening up immediately at the sight of Aaron.

"Hey," Nadia said in a terrible attempt at a seductive voice. Her tiny bikini, blue as her hair, drowned her tiny boobs.

Artemisia, on the other hand, donned a light green one piece with revealing slits on the side. She was on the thicker side, but still nothing compared to me. "Hi Aaron," she twittered.

"Ladies," he said in that sickly-sweet tone.

Artemisia must have lost a bet or something because she begrudgingly sat in the driver's seat while Nadia flung herself in the back with Aaron. Guess that meant I was stuck riding shotgun.

The short ride drew on for me and Artemisia as we were forced to listen to the others playful fighting and banter. "Stooooop!" Nadia giggled at least once a minute, quickly followed by Aaron's jaunty "make me!" Somehow, I managed to keep my dinner down, and when we finally stopped in a crowded parking lot, I couldn't get out the car fast enough.

We were about a quarter mile from the Dead Sea, and from here it looked, well dead. A slight breeze danced over my skin, but the water remained perfectly still. Not a single sound tainted the peaceful night air. This place reeked with magic, but it was still lovely nonetheless.

Various Alii were milling about the parking lot, most groups accompanied by at least one long haired girl. No one here looked older than twenty-five. If circumstances were different, I might have really enjoyed this party.

"It's gonna be so lit," Nadia told Aaron as they exited the car.

"Yeah, it's really exclusive. You have to know a mermaid to get in, and even then, most mermaids don't know how to help others underwater," Artemisia added, bustling from her seat to lock arms with Aaron. "But I know how, so I'll escort you. Nadia can help your sister." The blue haired girl sighed and reluctantly moved to my side. This must be part of their deal. How sad and desperate.

Not that I was much better. Constantly comparing myself to these random girls who have done nothing to me, all for the sake of some guy who was supposed to be my brother. I needed to rethink my priorities.

Aaron caught my eye with a significant look that said, "don't get distracted; we're here on a mission." I nodded. Faking enthusiasm as Nadia grabbed my arm.

The walk to the lake was as miserable as the car ride. Artemisia and Aaron groped each other the whole time. Finally, in one single step, everything changed.

The moon disappeared in multi- colored laser lights that flashed randomly. The silence was broken by loud music and shouting people. Dancing bodies littered the sandy beaches, hundreds of them.

"Wow," Aaron whistled, echoing my thoughts.

"And this is just the surface," Artemisia said.

As we stepped into the water, I expected to feel the sharp sting of coldness at any moment, but it never came. On the contrary, it was comfortably warm. When the water got to my neck, I instinctively closed my eyes and held my breath, but Nadia said, "keep them open, you'll want to see this." A factitious smile crept on my lips and I did as I was told.

Under the sea, a whole new world appeared to me.

The colored lights took on the shape of jellyfish and sharks and swam around the partiers. People danced on top of each other like they were on invisible levels of a building, others just floated around like they were flying. At the very bottom, hundreds of feet down, people walked around with ease. Assorted snacks and drinks lined long, blue tables, miraculously unaffected by the water. I then noticed how little it was messing with me. My hair flew up about my face, but none of the other side effects took hold. For one I could breath perfectly fine- never been able to do that before. Also, I didn't feel the normal weightlessness; it was as if nothing changed.

Except for when the girls dragged us to the center of the gyrating bodies. I felt like I was flying, walking on air! Despite myself, I let out a derived laugh. "Woah!" I giggled. I moved my body unrhythmically to the repetitive base line of some overplayed pop song.

Suddenly, a strong hand wrapped around my arm. "Let's get drinks," Aaron said as casually as possible, but with an unmistakable heir of force.

I regained control of my head again. "Okay."

Aaron shook the girls off as they desperately tried to follow him. "We'll bring some back," he assured.

We made our way to the sea floor, and it was like walking down squishy steps. Once securely out of earshot, Aaron reached into the bag and produced the two small containers. He filled them up, placing one in his trunks and the other in the bag and handing me the latter. "In case we get separated."

The grave thought hadn't crossed my mind yet today, yet I knew it was a possibility. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." He nodded, but his face broke out in a huge smile. "What?" I asked, catching his infectious grin.

"Wanna dance?"

A shiver slid down my spine despite the warmth. "Shouldn't we be focusing on the mission?"

But he was still smiling ear to ear. "We're stuck here until out designated drivers decided to leave. Might as well have some fun."

"I mean won't they be suspicious if we're not back soon?" I don't know why I was arguing with him.

"It's very crowded here, we could just say we lost them."

His hand slid around my waist in an unmistakable manner. "Aaron..." I said, unsure of how to finish my thought.

"Drew," he replied with that devilish grin.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and stepped closer.

A cough of discuss sounded from behind me. I broke away immediately, thinking of a million lies to tell Nadia and Artemisia. It's not what it looks like! I'm adopted! There was something in my eye!

But the words caught in my throat when I didn't see the mermaids, but rather an over processed, hardened face, surrounded by floating blonde hair.

Aimee Pierce.