Above the Sea Chapter 2
Chapter 2 - Mystery
Everyday Vicky, Mimi, Chrystal, Cindy, and Rolanda have to go to school. Even if they skip, the teacher would notice instantly since the classrooms weren’t that huge in number. Then the teacher would personally and quickly scan the whole town for the girls and usually they’re found and punished by night. Although they’ve never actually tried skipping school, other students have and have warned them about it. They’ve just had experiences of being sick and days when they fake sickness. School was just in a giant hallow rock with openings for what attempted to be windows and such. Instead, various fish swims through those windows but then quickly swim out when they hear the teacher’s loud voice.
“Alright class! Today we will learn about what to do when we find ourselves near the surface! But it’s not like we’ll ever have that problem, right?” he said as he looked around the classroom.
A boy who sat in the back sighed as he raised his hand lazily, “I don’t get what’s the big deal if we go near the surface teach, I mean it’s unlikely we’ll even encounter a human right?”
The teacher raised an eyebrow, “Well how would you know that? Have you recently been to the top or something?”
The boy kept silent as he crossed his arms and looked the other way. Mimi looked at Chrystal who looked at Cindy who looked at Rolanda who looked at Vicky. They sat far away from each other since the teacher assigned them so. Even if a student had been to the top…they wouldn’t dare tell the teacher, so the girls didn’t. The punishment is worse than skipping school. They knew that once a girl was caught going to the surface and she wasn’t heard for…maybe a couple of months. When she returned she seemed like a different person. Class continued with the teacher’s voice echoing from the walls of the giant rock. The class let out a groan when they heard the topic again.
“Okay. Predicament number 1! Who wants to act it out?” he asked. No one raised their hand or even lifted their heads. “Okay then. Mimi and Fred” he said as he pointed at those two. Mimi got up suddenly since she was surprised she got called. She looked over and saw Fred just as surprised and they gave each other an awkward smile as they stood up at the front of the class.
Cindy smirked, “Teacher! Why don’t you give them an interesting one? Entertain us”
The whole class perked up and nodded, “Yeah! Entertain us! Drama class!”
The teacher also smiled as he looked at Mimi and Fred who didn’t seem too pleased. The teacher stroked his chin a couple of times before he nodded, “Alright then. Mimi you are the mermaid and Fred you are the human. Fred you are sitting by the, what humans call it, beach when you saw something in the water splash. You look carefully and it’s Mimi’s fin. At first you question it again but then when you saw it the second time you got on a boat and went out to where Mimi was. Act that out and Mimi demonstrate what you should do when he gets near”
So Fred pretending to be at a beach and was gazing out. Mimi did a flip with little trouble and the whole acting started. Fred became curious like he’s suppose to and swims towards Mimi even though he’s suppose to be on a boat. Mimi looked at him as he approached with big eyes. Then she got into a ball position and started to swish back and forth. The whole class started laughing.
“MIMI! You’ll act like that if a human is coming near you?!” Chrystal asked with a big laugh.
The teacher was also laughing, “Maybe you should swim away Mimi” and Mimi stopping rocking back and forth. She straightened her position and slowly edged away from Fred with a disgusted face like he was the most hideous thing on the whole wide sea. Fred gasped and he swiftly turned around.
“Psh! Who cares about this mysterious fin that belongs to mermaid? She’ll probably look ugly anyways~” and he pretended to go away.
Mimi gasped, “HEY ARE YOU CALLING ME UNATTRACTIVE?!”
Fred spun around quickly and pointed at her, “HA I HEARD THE MERMAID TALK!” and Mimi quickly covered her mouth. The teacher laughed but didn’t stop their little skit. Fred came closer to Mimi again with squinted eyes, “Hmm but the voice sounded rather loud and angry…is it really a pretty person?”
Mimi looked at the teacher, “Hey! Fred is making fun of me!”
The teacher smiled, “Don’t make fun of Mimi! She’s obviously a pretty mermaid although sometimes her language is rough…”
Mimi laughed, “Hey you’re making fun of me too!”
Vicky was laughing along with everyone else, “Aw poor Mimi!”
Class continued with more acting out scenes and ended with an explanation of what to do if a human really does catch the mermaid. The teacher made his voice stricter and louder, “If you guys are caught then make them believe it was ALL a dream! Okay? Class dismissed!” and the whole class rose up together. Mimi swam to over to Chrystal, Cindy, Vicky, and Rolanda. Since they don’t have to bring anything to school, students are very eager to just get out and have fun. As they were leaving, Fred came by with his group of friends and smiled.
“Good job Mimi. Just kidding about everything I said” Fred said with a wave.
Mimi smiled, “Oh thanks” and watched with rest of the girls ask they started to swim away.
Chrystal squinted, “Isn’t that boy that one who also don’t think it’s bad to go to the surface of the water?”
“Yeah I think so. Why?” Vicky asked.
“Maybe he knows more about the humans’ world!” she said excitedly as she nudged Mimi. Mimi laughed and nudged her back before she started to swim towards them again. They followed behind her except for Cindy who was determined to follow through with her plan. She swam back towards the school.
Mimi, Chrystal, Vicky, and Rolanda reached the boys in no time since they were only a little farther ahead. There were only three of them although they were sure there were more before. Maybe boys just swim really fast compared to girls.
“What are their names again?” Vicky whispered when they were near.
“Middle is Fred, left is Jake, and the one on the right who also goes to the surface is Zin” Rolanda answered.
“Zin?” Chrystal repeated with a soft laugh.
“Interesting name…” Mimi also said, “Fred!” she called out. Fred and his friends stopped and turned around.
“Oh hey, what’s up?” he asked in a casual voice.
“We just wanted to ask Zin something…” Mimi said as she looked at him. She had never really looked at his face before and now that she had, it was actually rather cute. Or she thought it was. She looked over at Chrystal, Vicky, and Rolanda who were also staring. So it wasn’t just her. His eyes were a teal color unlike his friends who had a greener color. They’ve learned that everyone has a green shade but it’s the first time they’ve seen someone with pure teal colored eyes. It was close to blue…yet not quite there. The girls are the only ones in the whole town with brown eyes…which made them even more unusual. He looked a little nervous and confused as he felt the girls staring at him before a small smile formed on his face.
“Yes?” he asked as he looked at all of them.
“So…about being above the water…” Mimi started.
Zin laughed, “You’re not going to lecture me about that are you?”
Mimi shook her head, “No, no, just listen! You see, we’re interested too” That made Fred, Jake, and Zin look at each other with weird expressions. The girls couldn’t make out if it was out of surprise or excitement. After all, it’s quite hard to find other people who aren’t afraid to venture to the surface since it’s been drilled in their head to keep away, danger zone etc.
“Really?” Jake asked. His voice was deep and a little mumbled which caught the girls a little off guard.
Vicky nodded, “Yeah really. We sort of…tried going above water yesterday…”
“How was it?” Zin asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.
Vicky laughed, “To be honest…it was boring”
“Boring?” Fred asked confused.
Chrystal nodded, “Yeah! There wasn’t anything interesting around, just lots of water which we’ve seen enough…”
“OH BUT the sky was pretty!” Mimi said as she pointed up. The boys looked up and then back at the girls and nodded. They seemed a little dumbfounded.
Rolanda laughed, “What’s up with your faces? It seems like you guys don’t believe us…”
Fred shook his head, “No…it’s not that”
“We’ve never tried going past the water level before…” Jake said.
“…Oh really?” Mimi asked. She pretended to sound disappointed but secretly wondered if they were just too scared. It made her feel calm about how she was a little afraid to go up at first too. “Are you guys too scared or something?” Mimi asked with a comforting smile.
Zin shook his head, “Nah not that…”
“Then what?” Vicky asked impatiently.
Zin laughed softly, “We’ve heard that we can’t breathe when we go past the water” Jake and Fred nodded in agreement.
“Eh? Who did you hear that from?” Mimi asked.
“Sare, Remember, the girl who went to the surface then was caught and disappeared for a while” Fred said.
“Oh…the girl who really weird now…” Rolanda mumbled.
Jake laughed, “Yeah that one”
“Well she’s wrong!” Chrystal said with a nod, “We tried and we could breathe perfectly fine!”
Jake, Fred, and Zin looked at them with gleaming eyes now, “Really?” and they looked at each other, “Then should we try too?”
“Sure…won’t hurt to try I guess” Jake said.
“Want to come with us?” Zin asked, “It’s a really nice place…hopefully above water too”
“OKAY!” Mimi, Chrystal, Vicky, and Rolanda said excitedly. They followed along behind them as they headed farther out away from town. They were feeling excited…hanging out with classmates isn’t something they usually do.
“Wait a minute…WHERE IS CINDY?” Mimi asked in a panic voice.
Chrystal laughed, “Remember? Her PLAN”
“Oh…right” Mimi said and they continued in silence until they reached their destination. The boys seemed excited as they swam about the area. Mimi, Chrystal, Vicky, and Rolanda were just looking around. To them, it just looked like any other location except with more rocks…and the floor was closer.
“So…we just go up?” Fred asked as he pointed up.
Mimi nodded, “Yup”
“Really? That easy?” Fred asked again as he slowly headed up.
“Yes! Why won’t you believe me?” she replied as she headed up as well. She stuck her head out then back down, “See!...It’s really pretty up here” and she stuck her head up again. The sky was blue like they’ve seen before and the sun was in the sky as well. It felt cold though as a gust of wind blew across their wet hair and faces. Mimi shivered but still stayed up to look around. They were closer to land now and could see a few people walking around. Her eyes were fixed on the trees that were not green but a brown color. As the gust of wind blew through the trees, the leaves fluttered to the ground. Mimi peered behind rocks from afar and although she was rather far away, she could see perfectly fine. A man walking his four legged creature along the road while stepping on the leaves, making a crunchy noise. The creature walking hastily next to him with its tongue stuck out, panting heavily. She heard a noise and saw Chrystal was next to her now.
“What are you looking at?” Chrystal asked as she looked at what Mimi was staring at.
“The man walking something…” Mimi answered as she pointed ahead.
“Something, like what?” Chrystal asked. She had to squint to see what Mimi was seeing clearly. “…He’s cute” she said with a smile.
Mimi looked at Chrystal with an exaggerated disgusted look, “Cute? Are you sure?!”
Chrystal laughed, “He is! Look more closely!”
“OH HE IS!” Vicky said from behind them. She had a big smile on her face as she stared at him walking briskly now. He looked a little chilly. He wore glasses and a hat that covered his brown colored hair that matched the color of the nearby trees. He had a big smile on his face as he seemed to nod his head to something. Strings were coming out of his ears and disappeared into his pocket. His smile looked almost perfect…spotless shiny white teeth were shown even though they could only see the side. He looked down at the creature with a calm and peaceful look, his eyes showing warmth in them. He looked…rather feminine actually.
“I like…the creature” Rolanda said, “It’s really small and cute…”
Mimi laughed, “You would Rolanda. For all we know, it could eat fish for breakfast”
Chrystal patted Mimi’s shoulder, “That’s okay! We’re only HALF fish!”
Rolanda nodded, “Exactly! It would only eat half of our body then!”
“…Uh that’s good to know?” Mimi said with a laugh.
“Where are the guys?” Vicky asked as she stopped looking at the land. She went under and found them still hesitating to go up. She let out a soft laugh as she went to Zin’s side, “Still afraid?”
Zin smirked, “I’m not but these boys here don’t want to do it”
“Why?” she asked looking at them.
“Just a bad feeling…you know” Jake and Fred answered at the same time.
“Aw come on. Try at least once. You guys might like it!” Vicky said encouragingly.
Jake and Fred let out a sigh as they followed Vicky’s direction. They both slowly went up and stopped when the top of heir forehead was touching the water level. Fred let out a soft sigh, “Hey man, if we don’t make it back then know you’re always my bud”
Jake let out a laugh, “Alright, same to you too”
Vicky and Zin looked at each other and laughed. Zin and Vicky went up the same time as Jake and Fred. Zin rather…less amazed about the surrounding compared to the girls’ reaction. He looked at Fred and Jake instead and watched as their face turned from amazement to pain and they quickly went back under. Zin’s eyes got big and he went back under quickly. The girls heard the commotion and followed wondering what’s going on.
“What’s wrong?” Zin asked when Fred and Jake stopped coughing.
“We…couldn’t breathe” Fred managed to say.
“Yeah…what were you girls’ talking about?” Jake said as he stared at them. The girls’ looked at each other confused.
“But…Zin could breathe right?” Vicky said as she pointed at him.
Zin nodded, “Yeah…”
“Eh? Then why couldn’t Jake and Fred?” Chrystal asked.
“Are you SURE you guys were breathing?” Mimi asked as she demonstrated.
Fred and Jake laughed and so did Chrystal, “Mimi! I don’t think they’re retarded!”
“Just making sure…!” Mimi said with a laugh as well.
“Hmm…well that’s strange” Rolanda said. They all stared at each other trying to figure out what’s different.