A Mermaid's Tail

I changed again into jeans, put a swim suit underneath my tank top, and slipped my purple sweatshirt on. I turned off my light and shoved pillows underneath my covers; I normally didn't do that, but just in case – you never know. I slipped out the window and shut it behind me quietly.
There was a chilly breeze that blasted my face as I walked towards Jake's backyard fence. “Over here,” I heard a voice say. I tiptoed toward it; Jake was standing there with a fishing rod and a shackle box. “Ready?” he asked, looking down at my bare feet.
“Yup, ready as ever!”
“Okay....”
Jake tossed his fishing rod the fifty foot drop down to the shore; he obviously didn't care if it broke or not, but he had done that many times, so I didn't worry about it. I took off my sweatshirt and wrapped my phone in it to weigh it down. After I threw it over the edge, I began the steep climb down. Jake was already halfway down, about to jump the last ten feet to the beach below. I heard the thump of his landing, then him grunt and stand up. I was at the point to where I couldn't go down anymore, because there were no more foot holds. “Jake, help me,” I said, gripping the rocks with knuckle-whitening force.
“Jump, Scarlet, I'll catch you,” he offered.
“I'm too heavy.”
“Do it.”
“No.”
“Do it before I change my mind.”
“Fine.”
I closed my eyes and pushed myself off of the wall, biting my lip to keep from screaming. Jake caught me at the last second; it seemed like I had been falling for minutes instead of seconds. “Thanks,” I said, patting him on his damp hair. “Ew, you're hair is wet.”
“Um, yeah, I took a shower.”
“Sure you did.”
“Yeah, sure I DID.”
“Hmph.”
He put me down to pick up his fishing gear to set it up. “Wanna watch me put the bait on?” he asked, sitting on the sand, patting the seat next to him. “Come on, it's not gross.”
“Right.”
But I sat next to him anyway, and watch him pull out a bait fish, which was still flopping around.
“You said it wasn't gross!” I screeched, jumping away. I wasn’t the type for squirmy things, obviously.
“Whoops, I lied. My bad.”
“'My bad' my butt.”
“Anyway...”
“What-ever.”
He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me over. “I was just kidding, Scarlet. As always,” he said before I could comment. He stood up and cast his line about 20 yards out, then sat back down. After a few casts and reeling-ins, he turned to me.
“Wanna try?”
“Ummm, sure, I guess so.”
I stood up and took the rod. “You ever done this before?”
“No,” I lied.
He wrapped his hands around mine on the rod. “Like this,” he said, and helped me cast the line. “Now, you have to reel it in, otherwise the fish will sink, and it could get stuck in the mud, or some seaweed or something.” He still had his hands on mine as I reeled it in. “Slowly, not too fast.”
My mind was reeling about 10 times faster than the fishing rod was; I was barely listening to what Jake was saying.
First, I was thinking about how good some seaweed would taste right about now (yeah, I eat it, so what?), and second, I was thinking about the feeling of Jake's hands on mine. I had never felt like that before, and he had done that plenty of times, more than I could even remember. But this time was different. You know how you hear about those first dates, when you feel all tingly and warm inside, like nothing could make you happier than being there with him? That's what it felt like, though a little more extreme than that. There was no way to explain it. When I thought of this, I felt my cheeks burning. After a while Jake let me do it myself, and he stood behind me to watch. “You're a natural, Scarlet.”
Ya think?
We took turns after that, just switching off and watching. I think I fell asleep watching him, because the next thing I knew, I was being shaken. “Scarlet?”
“Whaaa?”
“Wake up.”
“Oh.”
I sat up quickly. “Sorry, Jake,” I said, stretching my arms.
“It's almost two. Do you want to go home?” he asked.
“Are you going home?”
“Yeah, I want to be up early enough to pick you up tomorrow.”
“I think I'll stay for a little longer; I'll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I'm sure.”
“'Kay, I'm leaving, then.”
I stood up and hugged Jake. “Thanks for teaching me how to fish,” I smiled at him.
“Anytime.”
“'Bye.” He waved as he began to walk down the shore.
“'Bye.”
I watched him walk down the beach until he got to a part of the cliff that wasn't so steep. After he was out of sight, I stripped my clothes until I was down to my swimsuit. I shivered in the breeze. It had gotten colder than it was earlier. Making sure no one was in sight, I waded in up to my knees. It felt like I had just touched dry ice and now I was experiencing the after-burn. I almost shrieked, but then relaxed. I knew it wouldn't be cold for long. I could feel the end of my tail forming, and within 15 seconds, I saw a shiny green-scarlet color spreading up my legs. Soon it stopped, just above my belly button.
I held my breath as my legs completely disappeared and my body fell forward with a splash. I stayed underwater for a few minutes, just in case anyone saw or heard. After sensing no pursuit, I put my head on the surface of the water. The beach was deserted; I darted back under. I swam away from the shore, not taking any glances back. I swam for about an hour, then stopped in the middle of the open ocean. I spread my arms out and lay back. I loved to be in the water alone; it was more peaceful that way. Suddenly I had a burst of energy, and I shot down to the bottom. Looking up, I guessed I was about half a mile under. I reached out and picked up a handful of sand, then released it into the water; I coughed. Having sand fly into your throat is not as pleasant as it sounds.
I swam along the bottom for while, trailing my hand along everything in my path. Not paying attention, I smacked my hand into something hard. Pulling my hand up, I rubbed at the scratch. I looked to see what I hit my hand on; it was a sea urchin. Figures why it hurt. It was an abnormally large one; I must have come farther out than I thought. I scooped it up with my hand, ignoring the spines that were jabbing into me.

When I got to the surface, the sky was the slightest shade lighter. I swam as fast as I could back to the shore; the tides were with me this time. I pulled myself out of the water, watching my tail shimmer and fade, replaced by two goose-bumpy legs. I rubbed them, along with my arms. My clothes were tucked under a rock, with my rolled up sweatshirt on top of it all. I didn't remember putting them under there, but the thought left as soon as it had came. I slipped them on over my soaked body, then proceeded to climb the cliff. I was up in about 30 seconds. Apparently if you didn't look down, it was really easy. But even when I was looking down, it didn't bother me. Of course I was faking before. Didn't need anyone suspecting I was more than I seemed. As soon as I got into my room, I checked the time. It was 5:20. I had about an hour to sleep before my alarm went off. This was one of the major downers of sneaking out at night. You never get enough sleep afterwards; very annoying. I changed as fast as I could, then huddled under my covers, my teeth chattering. I barely had time to think before I slipped into unconsciousness.