Skin to Scales

A Scaly New Development

Waking up for the second time in her new home, Kai sprang out of bed with newfound energy, actually looking forward to the day ahead. She hadn't expected to make such a great friend so quickly, and she almost forgot how much she missed her old ones. Nevertheless, she still had to go to school, so she went to the bathroom to wash her face and get ready.

Kai twisted the sink handle and watched as a stream of water flowed from the faucet into the sink. She cupped her hands, splashing the water onto her face. Within a few seconds, she felt a strange tingling sensation in her legs and began to fall backward.

Looking down at her feet, or where they should have been, Kai saw only a long, scaly orange tail. Eyes widening in shock, she tried to sit up and managed to shimmy over so her upper body was leaning against the wall. She noticed that her pajama shirt was gone too, replaced by a scaly bikini top that almost seemed to be a part of her.

Needless to say, Kai was freaking out. She reached out to try and touch the tail and recoiled a bit feeling the smooth, slick surface. 'What the hell is going on?' she thought as she reached up onto the counter to grab a towel to wipe away the water that was now dripping into her eyes.

Her hands found a small, soft blue towel on the surface above her which she used to dry off her face and hands. No sooner had Kai soaked up the water than her legs and normal clothing returned, as if nothing had ever happened.

Kai was speechless. She almost wondered if she had imagined it as she picked herself up off the floor and finished getting ready for school, unsure of what else she could do.

~~~~~

At school, the first thing Kai did after going to her locker was seek out Lucas. He had been there the night before when the moon pool at Mako had gone crazy, and he might know more about the island.

She found him at his locker, grabbing his things for first period. Plastering on a carefree grin, she walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder, nearly making him drop his book which he quickly regained, spinning around to see Kai. His face lit up immediately and he grabbed the rest of his books quickly, closing his locker behind him.

"Hey, Kai!" he greeted her, walking next to her as they made their way to their first period class. "What's up?" he asked casually.

Kai tensed. "What do you mean? Nothing's 'up'. Everything's fine. Everything's... normal," she finished, realizing then that he had meant it in a totally normal way. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, before trying again. "Uh, so... What about you? What's up with you? Anything interesting or weird happen lately?" she asked, trying to be as nonchalant as possible, which was hard.

Lucas shook his head. "No, not really. Same old, same old. Well, except you moving here," he corrected himself.

Kai studied his face and figured he was probably telling the truth. So he didn't know anything then. As much as she wanted to confide in someone, Kai knew that it was probably the best Idea to keep whatever this was to herself.

"Well, anyway, what's up with that island? It's practically a death trap," she joked.

Lucas laughed a little. "Yeah, I swear I didn't know that hole was there or else I never would have brought you up there," he insisted.

Kai looked down, a little disappointed. "So, you don't know anything about that weird moon pool thing?" she asked, knowing the answer would be no but hoping for a yes.

"No, that was super weird though, right? Actually, it's not the only weird thing to happen near Mako. Apparently, there have been loads of unexplained shipwrecks and weird unnatural whirlpools around there, and nobody knows why. You know, I even heard there was a guy who used to live around here, Zane Bennett or something I think, who swore he saw a mermaid out there once. Can you believe it?"

Kai's throat closed up a bit. She took a deep breath, and, in her most convincing voice, said, "Yeah, wow, that stuff is crazy."

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, I know, right? I mean, that guy was probably just crazy or something, seeing things, but it's still really interesting..."

Kai relaxed a little when she heard he didn't believe that stuff, but she still couldn't stop thinking about it. He kept talking, but she wasn't listening anymore.

A mermaid? Is that what I am now? She thought to herself. The very idea made her feel dizzy, and throughout class and the rest of the school day, she couldn't help but think that maybe something weird was really going on.