Above the Sea Chapter 4
Chapter 4 - A Guiding Friend
It was just busy work after Zin told them everything. It was extremely easy to get information out of him since he was a little afraid of what the girls would do if he didn’t. He showed them where the red shells were and they got enough for each of them. The place was closer to land, under a cave area. The water seemed cleaner there and more…pure. They were found on the bottom and even though no light was shining on it, it glowed red. Just like Mr. Fin said, it really did look like it had a heartbeat. After gathering the shells, they had to figure out what they have to say for the transformation. This part, Zin didn’t seem to know. He was still a mystery to girls, not answering to their question when they ask him how he’s certain they’ll turn into humans. It sort of annoyed them but this he would not spill.
“Come on Zin, do you really not know or are you just not telling us?” Cindy asked as she followed him to his next class.
He gritted his teeth as he turned around and rolled his eyes, “I already told you girls~ I don’t know” he sighed out. He continued to swim away with Cindy behind his tail.
“Really, because it seems like you know something we don’t” Cindy kept persisting.
He turned around again suddenly which made Cindy almost bump into him and said in a stern whisper, “Look, if you want to know, I would advise you to talk to Sare. She knows a lot more than I do okay?”
Cindy just nodded and didn’t question him anymore. She arrived to class just when it started and sat down at her seat, next to Mimi. Mimi looked at her strangely wondering why she’s late. Even though class started, the teacher seemed to be still preparing something.
“Why are you late?” Mimi asked.
“I wasn’t late! I was on time~” Cindy answered with a smile.
Mimi laughed, “Barely. Did you ask Zin again?”
“Yeah, he told us to talk to Sare” Cindy said as she looked around the class. Sare was sitting in the back next to Zin. They were smiling at each other and joking around. Mimi looked at Sare too and nodded. Class started and Cindy and Mimi waited impatiently for it to end. When class finally ended, Mimi and Cindy went straight to the back of the class.
“Sare!” Mimi called out before she tried to leave. She looked up them confused and surprised. Chrystal, Vicky, and Rolanda stood next to Mimi and Cindy wondering what’s going on.
“Yes?” Sare asked as she stood up slowly. Zin was next to her looking at her then at the group of girls.
“Do you have a moment?” Mimi asked seriously. Sare gave a puzzled look as she stared at Zin who shrugged. She nodded and they all headed outside of the classroom. They went out a little farther so no one would hear and bust their plan. They’re almost there anyways.
“What’s going on?” Sare asked, almost sounding scared.
Mimi laughed, “Calm down! We’re not going to beat you up”
Zin let out a nervous laugh, “Ha~ I’m not sure about that”
Mimi bit her lip as she raised her fist to Zin, “Shut up or I’ll beat YOU up”
Zin pointed at her and started nodded viciously, “See! She threatened me!”
Sare let out a soft laugh as she watched Mimi and Zin argue. Chrystal, Rolanda, and Vicky had teamed up with Mimi to pick on Zin. He was all alone to defend for himself. Cindy was laughing the entire time, not knowing when to butt it and not sure who to even side with. She stared at Sare instead as she continued to laugh in her soft voice. It was a really quiet laugh, a cute laugh. It was like…the opposite volume of Mimi’s. Her eyes were green like everyone else’s but seemed to also have a gold tint in them. It was sort of…weird. Her hair was short, around chin length, which was considered not normal unless she was a guy. But it matched her face nicely so it worked. She felt Cindy staring and stared back. Cindy was amazed how intense it looked and they both blinked at the same time before looking away.
“Mimi! Why are we even arguing with him?” Chrystal asked with a laugh.
Mimi immediately stopped, “Oh right. I was going to ask Sare something!”
Sare looked at Mimi with a small smile, “Yes?”
Mimi pointed at Zin, “He told us to ask you about something…” and she stopped to think about how to phrase it.
Sare was confused as she looked at Zin. He just shrugged and didn’t want to seem involved, “Yeah?” she asked again.
“Have you ever heard the story about the human who turned into a mermaid?” Cindy asked.
Sare nodded, “I have. Zin told me about it one day. I was amazed!” Zin scratched his head like he was embarrassed or something.
Mimi nodded, “Yes, yes, so we want to know…”
“…If mermaids could turn into humans!” Chrystal finished.
Mimi laughed as she looked at Chrystal, “Thanks for finishing my sentence”
Chrystal smiled, “You’re welcome!” and then looked at Sare for an answer. Her face was shocked for a split second as she looked at them. Then she nodded slowly and a big smile appeared on her face.
“Yes! I asked Zin the same thing and he just ignored my question!” Sare said as she pointed at Zin accusingly. Zin backed away trying to stay away from trouble.
Cindy laughed, “He said to talk to you about it, why?”
Sare shrugged, “I don’t know…why?”
Zin had a smirk on his face, “Because you both share the same interest. I thought it would be a nice topic for you all to talk about…instead of always talking to me about it”
Vicky laughed, “Oh…that’s it?”
Sare nodded as she squinted at him, “Yeah, is that it?”
Zin nodded, “That’s it”
“…That’s it?” Rolanda asked with a laugh, “So we didn’t have to go all the way out here to talk about this?”
Mimi let out a sigh, “Aw man~ we thought you knew what to do for the transformation or something…”
Sare let out a laugh, “Why would I know that?” and the girls shrugged. After figuring out talking to Sare about it was not helpful, they gradually split up. Actually, it was more like Zin and Sare wanted to get away as soon as possible. The girls didn’t mind though and let them leave; they had their own things to do. Chrystal, Mimi, and Cindy went to the library to search for books about this, hoping something will appear. Rolanda and Vicky ventured around, maybe hearing something which was unlikely. They didn’t want to ask anyone though incase that’ll raise suspicion. That night they all decided to sleep over Mimi and Chrystal’s house so they could discuss about it more. By now, they were pretty serious about this whole human transformation thing.
“So, the phrase could actually just be a word…” Mimi said with a yawn.
“And it’s in a different dialect…” Chrystal added in.
“Did they say which one?” Rolanda asked.
“No” Chrystal answered.
Vicky rolled over, “I’m guessing that means it also didn’t include what it was?”
Chrystal let out a soft laugh, “Nope”
Vicky made a disappointed face, “Darn. I wish this was easier”
Mimi suddenly sat up and looked down at the sprawl of mermaids on the seaweed covered floor, “You know, I think Sare is hiding something from us”
“Really, she looked innocent though?” Vicky said softly.
“Yeah she did, but didn’t Zin tell us to talk to her? Why would he do that without purpose?” Mimi pointed out.
“Remember! He said it was to get us to stop talking to him about it~” Chrystal said.
Rolanda gasped, “Then we shouldn’t! We’ll keep bothering him about it until he explodes us with information!”
Chrystal laughed evilly. “Not like we weren’t already thinking of that Rolanda”
Cindy rolled on her side so she faced them now and Mimi laid back down, “So…if we do turn into humans…how do you think life is going to be like?”
“Fun” Vicky said with a laugh.
“Refreshing” Mimi said after thinking.
“…Delicious” Chrystal said seriously and they all laughed at her.
“Maybe…maybe…we’ll find boyfriends, human boyfriends~!” Rolanda said gleefully.
Mimi made a disgusted face, “Eww…really?”
Chrystal laughed, “What do you mean eww? We’ll be humans so it would be natural to be with a human boy!”
Mimi made another exaggerated disgusted face and then let out a sigh, “I guess so~”
Vicky had a big smile on her face, “I wouldn’t mind. I heard interesting things happen when two humans go out! And I heard they’re good kissers…”
Rolanda laughed now, “Ooh~”
Cindy yawned, “I hope we don’t like…fail at being humans”
Chrystal waved her arm, “Psh, it can’t be that hard!”
They went to bed that night assuring each other life as a human would be fun and easy, although none of them know that for sure. The next day the girls arrived at school early for some reason. They never arrived early before so they were shocked themselves. They found Sare hanging around the school area though, also waiting for school to start. They quickly called her out and she waved at them smiling.
“Wow you’re all so early” Sare said.
“We were surprised too” Chrystal replied with a laugh.
“Usually we make it…barely on time” Cindy also said.
Sare smiled, “So did you girls think more about humans?”
They looked at each other and nodded, “Yes…?” It’s expected though, since Sare knows that they’re interested. It would be a topic to talk about amongst them during their free time.
“Just to let you know, I heard the humans around here speak Japanese” Sare said as she nodded.
“Japanese, what?” they all asked her confused.
Sare laughed and explained, “You see, apparently they have different languages. Just like how we can’t understand dolphins when they’re nearby. The humans close to here speak a language called Japanese”
“…So if we speak to them they cannot understand us?” Mimi asked confused.
Sare nodded, “Exactly! To them, we’re speaking another language called English. It’s a language that a lot of people know though…although they know a little and sometimes can’t carry a full conversation…”
“Eh? We speak English?” and Vicky laughed, “That’s so weird”
Sare nodded, “Yeah isn’t it?”
“How do you know this?” Cindy asked.
Sare smiled, “I studied! I’ve been reading books”
Chrystal crossed her arms, “That means…if we turn into humans and want to speak to them we’ll have to learn Japanese!”
“Oh you’re right!” Mimi said as she looked at her.
“Eh? How are we going to learn that?” Rolanda asked.
“Ugh, I hate studying” Vicky added in.
Sare let out a laugh, “Maybe…transforming also allows you to already learn the language!”
“That would be…amazing” Chrystal said happily.
“…What if it doesn’t?” Mimi asked.
“…Then that’s too bad~ they’ll just have to understand us with our English!” Chrystal said as she shook her head.
“You should teach us everything about humans” Cindy said as she looked at Sare.
Sare shrugged but then nodded with a smile, “I don’t know THAT much but sure…I can tell you the basics I’ve learned”
“Yes!” Chrystal and Mimi said happily together. Just then a rush of mermaids went by and into the classroom. It only felt like a rush though since they were going so fast. Class was about to start and they hurried inside as well. After school Sare met up with them at Mimi and Chrystal’s house. It was decided that would be the place for Sare to teach them about human life. It seemed easier to learn from her than to read it out of books, makes it more active and fun. Somehow, they’ll make each thing they learned into some kind of fun activity, even if it includes acting it out. Their days continued like that, learning about human habits and continued search for the last part of the transformation.