Ricky glanced down at his left hand. The colouring on it had changed very subtly, becoming a little paler, especially on the contours of the little finger and wrist. He gasped just a bit. "Oh- I must have bruised it when Jeff knocked me down," he said thinking and calming down. That had to be it. He recalled he did land on his hand at a slightly awkward angle, so it must be just bruised. At least it didn't hurt.
He poked at the nail of his little finger, which had split just a little horizontally, cursing that he didn't cut them before hand. They did seem overly long. Sighing he peeled the rest of the nail, flicking the piece away.
"Are you sure?" Asked Anne still staring at him.
"Y-yeah," he said getting just a little creeped out now. He rubbed his hand a little nervously.
"Well, I hope you'll listen," said Anne. "I got to go return some books. See you around."
Ricky blushed. "T-thanks! I'll see you around too." Damn it, that sounded so awkward. Why can't he talk to girls right?
Anne just giggled a little as she left. Ricky Sighed a bit. A girl actually talked to him! And... she was even okay with his interest in the changed. It felt liberating, and made him feel a little normal. Glancing around he quickly took out the picture of the mermaid. He really wanted to talk to her... and a mermaid... well... that had to be the safest thing to talk to. It wasn't as if it could stalk him on land.
He went to see Jeff the Razor in the classroom... he was chatting up one of the cheerleaders.
"Hey Ricky. You ever met Belle" Asked Jeff smiling."
"Hi," said Ricky shyly again and blushing. He was just staring at her pretty yellow top.
"Like- Hi," she said when blowing bubble gum. "He seems nice," said Belle a little impishly. "Oh- like oh my gawd. I gotta do this like- homework. Can he do it? I gotta go wash my hair. It ain't easy gettin' a hair cut at night. Like- y'know?"
Jeff smiled and nodded grinning. "Oh yeah, Ricky here is smart. He did a few of mine. What do you say champ? You want to help this girl an' me out? And don't worry, you'll get something out of it too. The Razor cuts fairly."
Fair... "yeah right," said Ricky trying not to let the sarcasm out.
Jeff didn't hear it. "Great. So $25?" he asked innocently.
"A-Actually, I was wondering if you could let me see the mermaid." Asked the young boy hopefully.
Jeff blinked. "What? You mean you want to go to my house to talk to my pet mermaid?!" The Razor laughed at the thought.
Ricky continued to look hopeful. "Please? I'll do both your homework. I just want to talk to her." he just had to let him!
"I don't usually let just anyone come to my mansion you know. If you want to come to my house, you gotta do a favour for me."
"I'm already doing your homework!" Said Ricky annoyed. Why did allowing entry to his house have to involve more?
"Yeah... but my house is more exclusive then most. You gotta do something. I think I know what we can do. How would you like to mess a little with the mermaid?"
"M-mess? What do you mean?" Ricky's heart almost skipped a beat. Did that mean he could go in the pool with her?
Jeff grinned seeing the interest. "Come with me, I've been planning this prank since she moved in. I want you to video tape it."
Ricky gasped a bit and nodded. "Um- I'll comply," he said just hoping he was just going to jump into the pool or something.
"Eh?"
"I- I mean I'll do it." Ricky said quickly.
Ricky was in Jeff's car as 'The Razor' shopped for a few things. Whatever he bought though Ricky was kept in the dark on. It was at least an hour before they arrived back at his mansion. He glanced at Jeff, who had an absolutely insane grin on him. Whatever this prank was, it was making him quite excited. Ricky was feeling just a little excited too... what joke are they going to play on her?
The car was parked inside a garage as they got out.
Jeff glanced inside a bag. "Okay... now the pool is over there. The mermaid sleeps at night, so this is a golden opportunity," He said smiling. He took out what seemed like some kind of band, with a lot of bells on it.
Ricky gasped again worried. Still it looked like this stuff was harmless. "What should I do?"
"Keep that tape on the mermaid. I'm going to slip this around her wrists... don't worry she'll be fine," He said dismissing that concerned look Ricky flashed.
They tip toed across the yard, and Ricky could at last see the beautiful mermaid, sleeping on the edge of the pool, resting her head. Her tail occasionally flopped in beautiful iridescent colours, that were like the new sun. She looked in every way like a real mermaid. She was a real mermaid. She had beautiful blond hair and... oh whoa... she was naked! He zoomed in the camera a little to her- just as soon as he found the setting. She was so peaceful sleeping. It just couldn't be right to disturb her. He was about to say something but-
Jeff realised he couldn't put the band around her arms the way she had them folded... but he had another idea and feeling very bold, he put it around her neck instead. Ricky gasped and wanted to object but Jeff quickly shushed him. Jeff then emptied the contents of something in his bag into the pool and quickly ran away. "Okay... come on come with me." he said grinning. "Time for phase 2..."
"What exactly are we doing? What did you put in the pool?"
Jeff just gave another little grin. "Hey come on relax. Consider this pay back for when the changed did stuff to you."
"But she hasn't done anything," Said Ricky even more worried. It was true he didn't like what the changed did to him, or even to Julian... but this just felt wrong.
"It's them versus us dude," said Jeff. "You know that now don't you? We got to set things even. Besides it wont hurt her. It's just a little... joke."
Ricky glanced still a bit worried. He just wanted to talk to her. Maybe after this was over... "O-okay. What do I do now?"
They quickly entered the mansion, and Ricky was lead to a room. He realised this was Jeff's bed room. Opening the window they had a clear view of the pool, though it was too dark to see the mermaid. Jeff flipped a switch on some kind of alarm panel, and suddenly the yard was bathed in light. They had a clear view of the pool now, and the sleeping mermaid.
Jeff then took out another contraption he bought from the shops. It looked to be some kind of sprinkler. He set it on the window, and jammed it so that it would go in one direction. He quickly attached the other end to a private bathroom sink he had for this room.
"Okay... three two... one..." Jeff turned on the plumbing, as a shower of ice cold water was thrown out the window and into the pool, right onto the mermaid. Jeff gasped as he heard the sound of bells confusing the mermaid even more.
"WHAT THE!" the Unearthly sound of the mermaid screamed in the darkness.
Jeff laughed as they got it all on tape. "Oh dude... that went so well..." He said smiling.
"What was in the pool?" Asked Ricky now very worried.
"Fish food," He said laughing even more. "And she'll be ringing like a bell for days. I stuck that thing with crazy glue." That was in his mind, the best prank ever. They could still hear the bells ringing on the mermaid as she tried to take off the band.
Ricky bit his lip then glanced at the pool horrified. "W-who is she?" he asked
"Eh, who knows. Her family pays us to keep her here. Not much though. Just cause she's a changed she suddenly needs my pool..." He then drew the curtains. "That'll keep her occupied for a while anyway. Maybe she'll tell her changed friends not to mess with us. So, you got to see the mermaid, that means you can stay here and do our homework."
"T-that wasn't the deal! I wanted to talk to her. How am I supposed to talk to her now?"
"Well you still can," he said shrugging.
Ricky bit his lip. This.. probably wont go well.
"Okay tell you what, do my homework, then if she calms down you can talk to her whenever you want now. Heck, you're invited over now whenever you like. You more then earned that. Fair deal?"
"Yeah... okay... I guess," he said while scratching his hand. holding that camera was not good for his earlier bruising. At least the mermaid didn't know he was involved in this... so... maybe there was a chance to talk to her later.
"Better hurry dude. You only got a few more hours till sunrise, and I ain't droppin' you in my car." Of course he was just teasing. Maybe.
Jeff then turned on an X-box console to play some kind of fighting game, leaving Ricky to do the work. He sat down on a desk, to look at the assignment. The teenager glanced out the window hearing the sound of sniffling and he felt his heart start to go.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
