"All right, kids," Mrs. Madison called, "supper's ready!"
Jenny and Michelle were out near the middle of the lake when she called, and it wasn't until she starting banging on a pan that they realized it was time to eat. Jenny hung onto Michelle, who started towards shore; she'd never have been able to get this far out herself, but the young mermaid could make the trip speedily enough, even towing someone else. A couple of minutes later, they were back in the shallows.
Michelle pulled herself onto the dock and began to shake the water out of her hair while Jenny went and got her wheelchair. She extended a hand to help Michelle up, but the other girl smiled and pulled herself up into the chair. Jenny smiled, too; Michelle did appreciate having help now and again, but it seemed like she preferred to do things herself, when possible. Jenny figured part of the reason Michelle had taken her out so far was that it gave her a chance to be the one helping people.
"Hey, thanks for taking me out there," she said.
Michelle smiled. "No problem; it was fun."
The two of them strolled over to the campfire, where Michelle's dad was serving up the fish. He and Michelle had caught them earlier, one from above and the other below. Jenny giggled as she remembered the one fish that Michelle had grabbed after her dad hooked it.
The other family members were seated around the fire as well. Zoe was reading a last few pages of her book before it got too dark, Jennifer and Karyn were talking, and Michelle's mom was making some kind of bizarre cottage cheese, Jello, and marshmallow "salad." Everybody was still in their swimsuits except for Michelle, who hadn't bothered wearing one in the first place.
Jenny grabbed two cans of pop for her and Michelle and sat down next to her new friend with a plate of fish. Today had been a blast, and it wasn't even over yet. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.
As time wore on, Jason grew more and more nervous; his mom would be home any minute now, and this was refusing to turn out to be just a hallucination. He dreaded the idea of telling her what had happened, but he needed to get help from somewhere, and he couldn't get ahold of Becky. He nearly had a heart attack when he heard the front door open.
"Hello, dear," his mom called. "Come give me a hand with these bags, please."
Jason collected himself as best as he could and went out to bring in the groceries. Unfortunately, even though she didn't notice until everything put away, Jason was unable to hide his feelings from his mom.
"How was your day, dear?" she asked, frowning slightly. "Are you alright? You look a little tense."
"I-I just feel kind of blah," Jason replied. He knew he'd need to tell someone about this, but he'd rather wait until Becky was available; at least she would just ignore him if she didn't know what was going on.
His mom put a hand on his forehead. "You don't feel feverish, dear, but you're shaking. Are you sure you're alright? You can tell me if something's wrong, you know."
Jason nodded emphatically. "I'm f-fine!" he said. "Just kind of under the weather, that's all!"
His mother scrutinized him for a moment, then put her hands on her hips. "Look, Jason," she said. "I know you better than that. Something's wrong, and you're afraid to tell me. Honey, no matter what it is, it's not worth lying about, okay? You're my kid and I love you, and nothing's going to change that. Now, do you want to tell me what the problem is?"
Jason sighed. He knew that there was no way to win when she was acting like this. "A-all right," he said. "It's weird and creepy, but...come with me."
He led her into his bedroom, sighed, and pulled down his pants. His mom looked a little confused and annoyed at first, then stared wide-eyed at what he had revealed. "My God," she gasped, "is that...?"
Jason nodded, tears forming. "I...I think so," he said. "I...last night, when I took the garbage out..." He managed to explain about the note before bursting into tears. His mom put her arms around him. "It's alright, dear," she said. "I don't know what this is all about, but we'll get it sorted out."
Becky looked at the clock. It was going to be time pretty soon. She bade Andrew farewell and set out walking; Ellen's house wasn't too far away. She was really going to do it. She was headed for a girl's house, to spend the night with other girls, as a girl. She almost considered turning back, but...this needed to be done. She was going to be a girl now, for the rest of her life, and this was as good a way as anyway to learn to accept it. She paused briefly on the sidewalk by Ellen's house, took a deep breath, and walked up to the front door.
