Kelp

"Wall Mart?" I asked as we drove into the parking lot of the large building. "Does it sell walls?" The only answer I got was the men laughing. I didn't get it, but then I probably didn't need to.

"No, but it sells everything else," Aaron said from next to me.

"We're picking up cheap clothes because we don't have any for you," Zak said. I had to use a pair of his flip flops so I could go into the store. They were soft and squishy, making my feet very comfortable. Nick parked the car close by, I think because of my feet. "Alright, do you know what size you are?" Zak asked as we got out of the car.

"Um. . . Small," I shrugged. "It shouldn't be hard to figure out though." My sisters had bought my clothes, but if I was going to be an adult like I said I was, I would have to do tings by myself. Starting with picking out my own clothes. Zak led the way in while I shuffled behind him with Aaron and Nick trailing behind.

"It should be on the tags," Zak said. Oh! I stopped and turned around to look at my shorts tag.

"It says small," I mumbled before turning back around.

"Well, we should be able to find you something. Wal-Mart has basically everything," Aaron said, herding us towards the clothes. There were racks and stacks of clothes. A little bit of looking and I saw a few shirts that screamed me. They were green and black and yellow with silver and gold designs of filigree and skeletons. It made me smile as I picked a few of them out in my size. When it came to the shorts though, they were. . . Short. The ones I had on went to my mid thigh, but the other at the store were almost like underwear. So, I kept looking and hopping for something that the others wouldn't feel weird with. After a bit of looking while Zak, Nick and Aaron were browsing elsewhere, I found a few pairs of shorts that went to my knees. They were baggy, but fit when I tried them on.

The underwear was easy, as it came in simple packages of eight and I found the best bras ever! They were all cloth and no wires, but had cups. I think the lady called them wireless bras. Thankfully I was given a cart to put all my things in as my clothes were starting to pile up. After pajamas came shoes and socks. Again, convenient packages of large amounts of socks were easy to find. The shoes were a bit iffy, since they didn't have a lot of my size. A long search and Nick coming in for the rescue for reaching the top shelf, I found a pair of slip on sneakers and a pair of flip flops.

"Is that all you're getting?" Nick asked, checking out my cart.

"Yeah. I mean, I won't need much if I'm going right into the ocean," I said. "Besides, I don't know what I'd do with them afterwards. I don't want to leave you guys with a bunch of stuff."

"I'd pick out a few more things. we might get held up and laundry wouldn't be available," Nick pointed out. He had a point. "Are those boy cargo shorts?"

"Yeah. The girls' shorts looked like underwear," I nodded, scrunching up my face.

"Why don't you grab a few pairs of jeans too. There's some out even though it's summer," Nick said as he followed me back to the women's clothing.

"This is more fun than shopping with my sisters. They just picked out everything and most of it I didn't like," I told him as we hit the jeans.

"How many sisters do you have?" He asked, leaning against the cart as I looked through the jeans. I paused my search to count in my head.

"Mmm, about fifty."

"Seriously?!" He chocked out in shock.

"I'm the youngest, too," I said, going back to my search to find a couple of pairs.

"How does your mom look?" Nick chuckled. I tossed the jeans into the cart before going back to search, chewing on my lip. My mom was never a good subject to be on.

"I was her only child, so she looked fine. My dad has multiple wives, so I have a lot of half sisters."

"How come you're an only child?"

"My mom died when I was little. She was killed in a ship wreck," I said, keeping my eyes on the jeans I was digging through. I missed my mom, yeah, but most of the time I kept my thoughts on other things unless I was having a really bad day.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Nick said softly. No one said that. When I used to ask about my mom, I got the run around of her being a good wife and mother. Nothing about who she was as a person; what she liked, if she could draw, her favorite books. I didn't get to know those things because when merpeople die, we don't talk about them.

'The dead stay with the dead.' That's what we're told and no more.

"It's fine. It was a long time ago," I shrugged, picking out another pair of jeans.

"How long ago is a long time?" He asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"I was nine when she died. So, six years ago or twelve human years." Nick frowned before I explained to him about my time measurements versus human time measurements and he had the same reaction Aaron did. Nick laughed, taking a moment to calm down.

"Does Zak know?" He asked.

"No, I haven't been able to tell him yet," I chuckled.

"I wanna tell him, can I tell him?" Nick asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Tell who what?" Aaron asked, coming over to us from the food part of the store.

"Do you know how old Viola is?" Nick asked, bouncing on his heels a bit.

"Oh! Yeah," Aaron grinned.

"I'm gonna tell Zak, com on!" Nick said, grabbing my cart and shoving off with Aaron and I hanging back a bit. Aaron took out his phone and held it out to where the screen was facing us. I thought he was going to take a picture, but instead he started to talk to it.

"Aaron's secret vlog. We have a mermaid who made out with Zak who things she's a kid, but we're about to correct him," Aaron told the camera on his phone before turning it to watch Nick and Zak while Aaron and I hid behind a row of TVs.

~::~::~::~

Zak thought dinner had gone well. Everyone had talked and laughed, Aaron told stories that eased the awkward atmosphere. Viola talked about her classes, which were much like college classes to the boys, as well as her pet shark, Derp.

"Why'd you name it Derp?" Zak asked, chuckling around his fork full of chocolate cake.

"My older sister, Nani, had found the word from a trek on land. She'd say it all the time, so I picked it up and named my shark that," Viola grinned.

"That's kinda cool though, Aaron had said. "Usually we think dolphins or fish are mermaid pets, but a shark?"

"He's just a tiger shark. Not any longer than my arm," she said, holding out a long arm.

"It's still a bad ass shark," Nick pointed out.

The trip to Wal-Mart was stalled when Viola didn't have shoes.

"I have these," Zak offered, holding out a pair of flip flops that he never wore. "think you can manage them?" He watched her put them on and snickered. The flip flops were three sizes too big. "Poor lil' bit. Don't worry, they're just temporary till we get you your own." Viola walked and shuffled in them a moment, making Zak laugh.

"Oh shush!" She huffed before lifting up a leg to poke him with her foot. Zak quickly hopped to the side and ran away laughing before Viola could try again.

The ride to Wal-Mart was quick; filled with the radio, Viola asked what things were, and Aaron teaching Viola how to do the Macarana. After they arrived and Viola figured out her size, the boys left her to do her shopping, at least Nick and Aaron did. Zak hung back, looking at things, but staying close by to keep an eye out for Viola. Just in case something happened. It was Wal-Mart, the creepers really came out at night or really any part of the day.

"While Zak looked through hats and Viola looked through shirts, Zak found himself studying her. The way she walked and held herself while she was alone versus around him and the others. She'd been curled in on herself and tried to be as non-threatening as possible and while she searched through clothes, her long limbs carried her gracefully. She seemed to have a shimmer about her as well. Something like in the movies with faeries where the air around them seemed to be magical, except Viola was a mermaid.

Zak shook his head before going to look at watches. The girl was something else. The green hair was a bit odd, but her eyes. . . The bright amber of them reflected bright in the sun. It made her set apart from everyone else around her. Did her sisters look like that too? If they did, why didn't anyone have pictures of them?surely someone would have wanted to capture that mysterious beauty. Did they even show up in pictures? Aaron had snapped a picture on his phone of Viola, but it didn't do her justice. It made her look alien really.

Her movement caught his eye and he put the watch down before he slowly followed behind.Zak could see the cart was full, kinda. At least it was things she needed. When she saw Nick helping her out, Zak backed off and went to the electronics to check out the movies. There wasn't much, but an old copy of 'Splash!' caught his eye. It was probably corny, but also ironic. Keeping the DVD in one hand, he continued to dig through the bin as Nick came running up to him.

"Hey Zak, Zak," Nick said bouncing as he stood next to Zak.

"Did Aaron give you the free samples of energy drink again?" Zak sighed.

"No, but I found out something that you might be interested in," Nick said, checking to see if Aaron was filming it still.

"And what would that be, Nick?" Zak asked, beginning to feel wary of what his friend was so excited to tell him.

"Did you know time is measured slower under the water than above ground?" Zak as wondering if Nick had gotten into free candy. "More precisely in increments of two. So two years on land equals a year underwater."

"So. . ." Zak said, not following Nick.

"So what's fifteen times two?" Nick asked, not ready to blurt it right out.

"Thirty," Zak said. It took a second, but it finally came to him. "thirty!?" Nick cackled as Zak stared at him wide eyed. "She's thirty!?"