Kelp

An hour before anyone else got up, I was wide awake and in the shower. I had felt dried out and I liked the smell of the shampoo. Mine was all packed up, so I had to use Zak's and I was completely happy with that. My hair would smell like him for the rest of the day even when he wasn't around.While I had mixed feelings about him, he was a good guy. Aaron was right about that. As I finished my shower, I heard another person stir outside the door. It was time to get around. I dried myself off and dressed in a pair of new khaki shorts, a black tee with skull print, and my hoodie. As I walked out to the kitchen, I braided my hair. The scent made me sigh softly as I held my braid under my nose.

"Someone's an early riser," Aaron said from the kitchen table. He was sitting, bent over a cup of steamy, brown liquid.

"I wanted an actual shower before heading out," I said. "What are you drinking?"

"My gasoline," Aaron chuckled. I looked at him confused for a moment. Wasn't gasoline for cars? "It's coffee."

"Oh," I nodded.

"You want some? I just made a pot," Aaron offered.

"Uh, sure. I've never had it before," I shrugged. There were cups beside the machine that held the coffee. I poured a cup and tested the smell, which was very nice, but it tasted bitter.

"Yeah, it's a little strong. You should put sugar and milk in it to make it more to your taste," Aaron said, laughing at the face I made.

"Good idea," I said, digging the sugar and mild out from the fridge.

By the time Zak and Nick had woken up and shuffled into the kitchen, I had had three cups of coffee, loaded everything up and unloaded it, then reloaded it to make it fit, done a ten minute yoga session, climbed around Zak's rocks by his pool, and played fetch with Gracie. When they were ready to go, they found me on top of the SUV meditating while listening to Aaron's IPod. Nick had to climb on top of the SUV to get my attention.

"Viola!" He yelled, yanking out the ear phones.

"Ahh!" I screamed, flailing my arms as I fell backwards into Zak as Nick grabbed my legs.

"Oh God!" he cried out, catching me.

"Hi," I grinned. Nick slowly let of of my legs as Zak carefully pulled me down.

"Is there a specific reason you're on the car?" Zak asked, setting me on the ground.

"It looked like a good place to be?" I said, holding up my hands in a shrug with a smile. "Oh! you have to see this!" I cried as Nick got down.

"No! Viola!" Aaron groaned. I cli8mbed back up onto the SUV. "She's like a damn monkey. She was all over your walls and rocks earlier."

"I am the Lizard Queen!" I screeched, causing birds to fly around in circles from the trees before landing else where.

"Aaron, never give her coffee again. On pain of death," Nick said, climbing back up to me. "Come on Viola, let's get you down."

"Aye yi yi yi!" I let out a war cry before diving past Nick and rolling off the top of the SUV to the hood.

"Catch her before she climbs something else!" Aaron huffed. Zak nabbed me by sticking his arm out and wrapping it around me, pulling me close to his chest.

"Gotcha! . . . Are you purring?"

~::~::~::~

After Viola was securely in the vehicle and they were on the road, it took just under half an hour for the mermaid with legs to conk out. Zak's book lay open in her lap while her head rested against the window. Soft snores from her open mouth were barely heard over the low radio and the boys' chatter.

"Wish I had her energy," Nick snickered, taking a sip of his water while he drove through the desert.

"That lasted more than just a few hours," Aaron agreed. "Though, it was funny seeing her climb the walls and car. She can't walk the best, but she can climb like nobody's business."

"The strongest drink she can have is root beer. Caffeine free root beer like Mug," Zak added. "There's no need to make her climb walls or all over us in the car. Ever."

the conversation fell silent as the radio played softly. Aaron and Zak joined Viola in napping while Nick drove. At about half a tank, they were going through a small town. Driving through Nevada Nick had learned to fill up when he could.

"Hey," he said, slapping Aaron on the leg to wake him up. Aaron groaned and blindly swatted back at Nick before sitting up and stretching. "Stopping for gas and stuff."

"Alright," Aaron yawned, reaching back and whacking Zak's leg. "Wake up. Time to walk around." Zak grunted, shifting a bit as he roused from his sleep.

"How far are we?" Zak asked, unbuckling himself.

"We're about halfway to Carson City," Nick said as he opened the door.

"Why are we going so far North?" Zak asked, looking at Viola as she continued to snore softly.

"More secluded beaches where we can let Viola off at. The last thing we need is to attract attention to our releasing of a mermaid back into the wild on LA beaches," Nick said as he dug out his wallet.

"Good idea," Zak nodded as Aaron stepped out to stretch his legs. Viola probably needed to be woken up, but it was almost too funny and cute to wake her. Her hands were wrapped around his book still and her legs stretched out under his as her body was angled to rest her back against the door. The best part was her mouth hanging wide open while a small line of drool ran down from the corner of her mouth. She looked innocent and harmless, but he knew better. Zak reached out and tried to take the book, but Viola held on.

"Mmm not done," she mumbled, sitting up as Zak pulled her up by her hands.

"That may be, but you need to wake up because we've stopped for a break," Zak said as she opened her big eyes, blinking slowly.

"How long have we been on the road?" She asked, letting go of the book to unbuckle the seatbelt.

"About three hours. We're stopping for gas and a stretch," Zak said.

"Oh fun," Viola yawned as she shut opened her door and got out. She stretched a moment as she felt the terrible, miserable heat crawl up her body. Shedding her hoodie, she opened the door and tossed it back into the SUV as a few wolf whistles caught her attention. A couple of older men sat in a beat up, old truck that was at the other gas pump grinning and winking at her. She'd seen the before, but her sisters just ignored them.

'We're not dogs to be called for,' Nina had told her. 'If a man tries that with you, just ignore them because they're not worth your time.'

So, Viola ignored them, not caring for their stares or the way they were smiling. She walked quickly around the vehicle and stood next to Nick. "What's up?" Nick asked as he pumped gas.

"not much," Viola said, not wanting to bring up the creepy men. It wouldn't be a problem so long as the men didn't push it. "Just woke up."

"The others are inside getting snacks if you want to get something," Nick said.

"I'm good," she said, leaning against the vehicle.

"You sure? We're not stopping for a while," he said, glancing at her.

"Yeah," Viola nodded as the men passed by, blowing her kisses. Nick caught the scene and finished filling up before saying anything.

"I gotta go in to pay, so why don't you walk in with me?" He offered, putting an arm around her shoulders. It eased her worries as Nick led her in. Zak and Aaron were still snack hunting, so Viola joined them.

"Hey Vi, pick out some snacks," Aaron said with his arms already full of jerky, cookies, and chips.

"Okay," she chuckled as she picked out a few items such as gummy worms, string cheese from the cooler, a bag of salty pretzels and a bottle of Starbucks coffee.

"Nope," Zak said, swooping up behind her and nabbing the coffee from Viola's hands. "No coffee. Caffeine free soda or sports drink or water. I don't want to have you clawing up and the place because you're strung out on coffee."

"Fiiiine," she sighed, grabbing an extra large water.

"You're lucky you're getting the candy," he said as he turned around. Viola made a face at his back, causing a watching Aaron to snicker.She made her way to the front and stood in line behind Nick as he bought his stuff and gas as Aaron and Zak joined her. When Nick was finished and went out to the SUV, they piled all their food and drinks onto the counter as the gas station attendant scanned the items.

"Here," Aaron said, pulling out a twenty dollar bill. "Vi, go give this to Nick for gas."

"Can do," she said, taking the bill and walking out to where Nick had parked so others could get gas.

"Hey pretty lady," a voice sang from behind her. Viola didn't stop to see who it was. It would only give them the attention they wanted. She just focused on getting to Nick and didn't let the wild notions of what could be dictate what would happen. "Oh come on, we just want to talk!"

"yeah, there's nothing wrong with talking. I bet your boyfriend wouldn't mind if we chatted," another voice said. Viola didn't speed up or slow down, she kept her pace and was a few yards away when a hand clamped down on her wrist.

"Hey! We're talking to you!" One of the men from earlier said when she turned around. "It's rude to ignore nice people," he chuckled, grinning. His teeth were gross and black from chewing tobacco while his scraggly beard had lice scurrying around his face.

"Hey!" nick barked as he stepped out of the vehicle. "Leave her alone." The hand around Viola's wrist tightened, making her wince.

"I'm trying to have a conversation with this fine, young lady, so fuck off!" The man barked as his friend who looked equally terrible grinned.

"Let her go, no," Zak said as he and Aaron walked out of the gas station. he looked like he was ready to take both men on. Any humor he might have had before was gone as he stared down the men, challenging them.

Slowly, the hand released Viola. She hurried over to Nick and got in the SUV, sliding across the seat as Zak and Aaron circled around the men, keeping the staring contest going till everyone was in the vehicle and the doors were locked. Nick pulled out and drove off with the whole group a bit shook up. The boys had never really been in a fight before and that was the closest they'd been in a while.

"Everyone okay?" Aaron asked the group.

"Fine," Viola said, slipping her hoodie back on.

"Good," Nick sighed. He was speeding a bit, wanting to put as much distance between them and the creeps. Zak didn't say anything as he sat there staring hard out the window as he got his anger under control.The shifting of Viola sitting next to him, her curling up, broke his concentration. The small skirmish had shaken her a lot. His anger had slowly melted and he calmed down thinking about Viola's face when he and Aaron had shown up. She was scared, but was trying to hide it. Sighing softly, Zak draped an arm around Viola, pulling her close to him. At first she was surprised, but curled up to him. His smell wafted over her, making the air around her swim with the scent of his shampoo. It calmed her down more and she sat there for a few minutes, just basking in it.

~::~::~::~

After the gas station, it was a quiet four hour drive, with a small stop for gas with only Nick getting out. Aaron listened to his I Pod while Nick drove and Zak and I snacked and listened to his phone, sharing ear phones. Zak was warm and comfy, easily lulling me into a Zen mood. About an hour before we hit Carson City's limit, I had fallen asleep against Zak and he laid there with his arm around me. I would have slept longer had Nick not scared everyone with a sudden blast of noise from the radio. Zak's arm tightened around me as one of my arms flew up to wrap around his arm that had me and the other around her leg. Aaron screamed and flailed a bit as Nick laughed hard. "Oh, that never gets old," he grinned.

"I thought it did," Zak grumbled as he sat up to stretch. I blinked hard a few times before slowly uncurling myself from Zak.

"Where are we now?" I asked, rubbing my face.

"Carson City, Nevada!" Nick chirped. I was starting to wish I had fought Zak harder for that coffee. I scooted over to the window on my side and looked out. There were buildings and skyscrapers all around. What got my attention though made me press my face against the glass.

"What is THAT?" I asked, my palms flat against the window.

"That's a ferris wheel," Aaron chuckled.

"Do you go in those things? The thingys that are spinning around," I asked, grinning as I looked back at the guys.

"Yeah. You ride in the seats as it goes round and round," Zak nodded.

"Can we go?" Aaron asked. "It's been forever since I've been on one and I bet Vi would love it."

"Oh my Gods, can we?" I asked, getting excited. Aaron turned to face Nick and joined me in pleading with our driver.

"Please, please, please, please?" We begged.

"Zak? What do you think?" Nick asked, glancing in the rear view mirror. Aaron and I turned to Zak, mentally willing him to say yes.

"Well, she's never been on a ferris wheel and it's the fair. . ." Zak said.

"That means yes!" Aaron said, pumping his fist in the air.

"Thank you!" I cried, flinging myself at Zak, hugging him tightly.

"It's no problem," he chuckled as he hugged me back.

"We're going to the fair! I'm so excited!" Aaron squealed, clapping his hands.