Beneath the Tides

When Aquanetta woke up the next morning, the first thing she noticed was that she was quite sore. She looked down at her body and noticed that she had bruises littering a few places. Most of them she could hide, like the ones on her hips, but the ones circling her wrists from the handcuffs would be difficult. The second thing she noticed was that she was lying on the ground. She must not have changed the night before. She riffled through the bags she got the day before, looking to see if she had gotten a long-sleeved shirt or something. Luckily, she found a form-fitting white long-sleeved shirt and pulled it out. She grabbed a pair of shorts and another bikini. This one was plain white. She put on the bikini and then threw on the shirt and shorts. Aqua sat down on the large rock by the lake and tied on some tennis shoes. She grabbed a ponytail holder and threw her multi-colored hair on top of her head in a bun.

The night before, Medea had made Aqua realize something; she had five days left. Five days of being able to walk on land. Then it was back to the sea for her. She wished she had more time. More time with her friends. More time with Zoey. She couldn’t believe how fast she fell for the beautiful brunette.

When Aqua reached the beach and saw all of her friends, plus one, she came to a sudden realization; she had to tell them. She didn’t know when, but she had to. Would they still want to be friends with her? Knowing her fishy-little secret? They had questions. They had to. Like, where did she go with no money? Why was she so secretive when it comes to her home life?

“Aqua!” She snapped out of her daze and saw Melanie waving at her with a smile on her pretty face. Aqua smiled back with a wave. She jogged up to the group, letting herself be pulled into a hug by Melanie and Allison.

“What’s up with the sleeves?” Allie asked, pulling on the end of her left sleeve. Aqua let an easy smile crawl across her lips and pulled her arm back softly.

“Felt a little cold this morning,” she said.

“Yet you’re wearing shorts?” Dylan asked, pointing at her bare legs. She glared playfully at him.

“My arms were cold, Dylan. Not the rest of me.” He held up his hands in a defensive manner.

“Damn, my bad. No need to bite my head off,” he teased. She smiled at him and then looked over at Zoey, who rolled her eyes at her brother. The two girls grinned at each other, and then Aqua saw Lyn looking over at her with a look in her dark brown eyes that she couldn’t place. The black haired woman cleared her throat, and then looked over at Zoey with an apologetic smile.

“Zoe, baby, I’m sorry, but I have to go. My boss wanted me to come in early,” she said. Melanie frowned at her.

“You already have a job? You just got back.”

“It’s the same one I had before. He left a spot open for me for when I returned from Australia,” she explained, kissing Zoey quickly, and giving the rest of them smiles, except for Aqua of course, and hurried off down the street. Zoey sighed, and then smiled at the rest of her friends, moving closer to the multi-colored woman.

“So, what do you guys want to do today?” She asked. Aqua felt her stomach churn. Should she tell them she has something to tell them? Should she say something now? Should she wait?

“Aqua? You alright? You’re looking a little pale,” Allie asked, breaking Aqua out of her thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” she said quickly; possibly a little too quickly. Jason looked at her skeptically.

“Look, Aqua, I know you’ve only known us for a couple days, but you’re easier to read than a fucking book. What’s going on?” He asked.

“There’s something-”Aqua paused and took a deep breath. “Something I’ve been keeping from you, and I’m not sure how all of you react.”

“What is it?” Melanie asked softly, the complete opposite of the way her brother was taking earlier. Aqua looked around, noticing more people around them than before.

“I can’t tell you here. We have to go somewhere private,” she said quietly.

“Where do you want to go?” Zoey asked, placing her warm hand on her back. Aqua had to fight the shiver that wanted to crawl up her spine at Zoey’s touch.

“Follow me,” she said, leading them to her lake. They passed through the trees, going deeper into the wooded area surrounding the lake.

“Where are we going?” Allie asked, pushing a branch out of her face. Aqua turned back to her with a slight smile.

“To where I’ve been staying for the past couple of days,” the multi-colored haired woman answered with a soft smile.

“You’re not taking us back here to murder us, right?” Jason quipped. Aqua shot him an unimpressed look.

“Shut up.”

When they reached the lake, the group looked at Aqua confused. “I thought we were going to where you’ve been staying?” Melanie asked.

“This is where I’ve been staying,” Aqua said.

“I am so confused right now,” Dylan said. “Why have you been staying by a lake? Aren’t you scared of water? And where have you been sleeping?” Aqua took a deep breath.

“I think…I think it would be better if I just showed you before explaining, but please, hear me out afterwards,” she practically begged.

“We’ll hear you out,” Zoey said, smiling slightly at Aqua.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” Aqua said to herself, slipping out of her shorts. While she was pulling off her top, she heard Jason mutter, “is she going to show us that she used to be porn star?” Followed by a sharp smack and then a loud, “ow!”

Still in the white bathing suit she put on earlier, Aqua climbed onto the rock and then looked down into the water. She let out a sigh and then dove in.



Zoey watched as the woman stripped down to a white bikini and climbed into the large rock positioned by the large lake. The first thing she noticed was how beautiful Aqua looked in white. The second was the bruises littering her wrists and hips. She felt a burst of white-hot anger erupt from inside her, but then took a deep breath to quell it. She couldn’t get angry right now. She saw the look that Aqua gave them while she pleaded for them to let her explain everything and not freak out. It slightly worried her. She’d hadn’t seen that side of the woman yet, and she didn’t like that scared look on her beautiful face.

She turned her attention back to Aqua and saw her dive into the lake. Her eyes widened. “Oh my God,” she whispered. She shared a look with Allie.

“I thought she couldn’t swim,” the short-haired brunette whispered, brown eyes darting around. Zoey’s own hazel orbs scanned the water, but then they widened even more and she took a step forward.

A bright, pinkish hue had taken over the water, getting brighter as time went on. A couple seconds later, it disappeared, but Aqua was still under. “Should one of us go in and get her?” Melanie asked, looking at Dylan while biting her bottom lip.

“Wait,” Allie said, “look.” A hand was reaching out of the water, grasping the rock tightly. Another arm shot out of the water, and Aqua began hoisting herself out of the water. When she was fully out and looking over at the group, none of them could do anything.

Except for stare at the tail that now replaced her legs.