Chapter Fourteen

Chloe’s POV

“What are you talking about? Where’d you get that from?” I tried to play innocent, but my stupid mermaid hormones forced my eyes to change from deep Caribbean blue to a bright emerald green. (I know they changed because before a mermaids eyes change colour, their vision goes blurry)

“It was Georgia. Please don’t get mad at her. She didn’t directly tell me. See, she went off to ‘powder her nose’ while we were eating some lunch and….she left her phone. A message popped up from you, so why not read it (As I thought we were all friends here and you can’t have sent her something I shouldn’t see) As I read what it said, I realised that I was WAY off…I left a note on her phone and left immediately.”

My newly green eyes widened in disbelief. My brain was almost torn apart at the stress this adds on to my weak shoulders. (A/N Quick fact : for every person who knows about a mermaid, 10 years is taken away from their lives. They have 100 years)

I should probably inform the boys about this curse, as I am now only going to live until 30.

Before I could respond, Ashton spoke up, reminding me that they were still there because damn, are they being unusually quiet. “Wait so Vanessa AND Georgia know now?” “Yes they know and I don’t want anyone else to know. I don’t need any more stress to interfere with my life.”

The guys wanted to make a bond fire on the beach later tonight, so I will plan to announce it then.

Vanessa studied my expressions and could tell that my thoughts were frantic and worried. “Chloe, you can trust that I won’t tell anyone.” I thanked her as she helped me to my feet. “Okay, Georgia and I have plans to go out shopping, so have fun with the boys tonight” Vanessa smiled and gave a quick hug to both me and each of the guys before leaving the room.

“Okay now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready for tonight. I still have soap in my hair.” A laugh erupted from the group as I left the room.

I grasped the cobalt door handle, pressing in the button that locks it.

I rushed to my closet and glared at the ivory box that sat silently hidden behind my clothes. I ignored the floral colours that stood in the way and pushed them aside. My hands wrap around the box as I pull it close to my side and fix the clothes.

Running to my bed, I threw the box down and desperately opened it. Lying on the black felt interior was my lifespan tracker. I took the magic paper delicately in my palms and touched my finger on two sets of ten years. A line soon appeared to cross the numbers off. Whoa. I die in a year. 20 years old…huge accomplishment. *note sarcasm*

I out the paper back in and put the box back where it came from.

~~~+~~~

The now bitter cold water gave me goose bumps as I ran it through my brown hair. As soon as the old shampoo was fully gone, I turned off the water flow and sat back in the tub and thought

-That dream. It was so real The boys were on stage singing for thousands of girls who were cheering for THEM. Beside the fact that they were trying to expose me, they were living their dream. Maybe it’s a sign. But how will they get there? I need to make it happen. I smiled; satisfied with the thoughts I had made to make these boys famous.

With my fingers now wrinkled to the point of being identical twins to the common raisin, I decided that it was time to get out. I pulled the plug and watched the water level decrease. Beside me, was a fresh towel just begging me to use it. I dried my tail as my bare legs slowly became the replacement.

I got to my feet and climbed out of the empty porcelain tub to have my feet be happily surrounded by the fluffy lime green fur that my tub side rug had to offer. The evening sun tickled my skin as it poured through the only window that this bathroom had. I grabbed the robe that I had previously worn earlier and sat at my new green dresser that the boys picked out; because my old one didn’t match the green flow that I have going in here.

I pulled out the top drawer and picked up my wand and plugged it in. While I waited for it to heat up, I blow dried my hair.

After each curl was done to perfection, I pinned them in rings so they wouldn’t uncurl before I finish getting ready. My make up was a simple line of eyeliner and some ‘Chi Chi’ mascara.

I went into my closet and shut the door, because behind the door was a small picture of me. That picture secretly hid the pass code lock that opened my hall of ‘perfume’. I swung open the picture to reveal a ‘type in code’ lock. I touched each specific number in a certain order and the wall pulled back and slide to the left, opening my hidden extra room. It was amazing of how fast I built this. It took three full nights of working 10PM to 6AM, but it was all worth it.

I stepped in and smiled at the selection of special bottles of the potions that lined the shelves. My eyes set on the section that held perfumes that prevented any reaction to alcohol. I want to take every precaution to make this night full of fun and not have a rabid mermaid on the loose because a possible sip of beer. I sprayed the perfume on my collar bone area and breathed in deeply to inhale the floral scent. I put it back and found my way out of my perfume room and typed in the pass code to relock it.

After a good three hours of getting ready, I stood before my full length mirror and admired my appearance. I chose o wear a navy blue crop top with some tan short short; seeing as it’s still twenty degrees outside. For shoes, I went with some navy blue and white stripped flip flops. Mu hair ( now released from the pins that held up the curls) had perfect curls. To top it off, I added in a single french twist on the side with a dark blue ribbon woven in. I smiled, straightened my shirt, and headed to the living room.

The first one to notice me was Ashton, of course. He grabbed my hand and pulled me in close enough so he could whisper in my ear. “You look gorgeous.: My cheeks burned as I blushed relentlessly. “You don’t look to bad yourself, Mr Irwin.” Pointing out his sexy sense of style, I kissed his cheek and grinned. “I can’t wait to get my hands on you Chlo’…” His finger ran along my jaw line as he planted a small kiss on my lips.

An interruptive cough erupted from the boys.

“Yes, Hemmo?” I waited for his response. “We should get going…” I gave him a look that said ‘I will get you back’. The group stood up, grabbing their things {fire fuel, snacks, towels, beach chairs, guitars, etc} and heading out the front door to the car. Ashton and I were the last to leave, so I locked the door.

The boys owned a Range Rover that sat four, so I had to sit on Ash’s lap. Lucky for me, the beach was only a mile away. With Luke driving and Calum sat next to him, that left Michael, Ash and I in the back.

When we got to the beach, it was completely deserted. Perfect.

We headed down to the shore, the boys gathering some fair sized wood pieces on the way. The sand was shockingly colder than usual. My feet felt as if they were almost going to freeze over as the sand enclosed my feet. What happened to the hot weather earlier?!?!?! “This spot looks good” Luke said whilst dropping his pieces of wood. We stood about a good ten feet from where the water reached at most. The boys began to stack up the wood and get it ready to light. I unfolded the chairs and Calum began to help, as his part in setting up the fire was finished.

“I never got to formally thank you for saving my life….” I stopped and smiled. “I acted like a complete ass when I first saw you after my accident. I’m sorry. Don’t get me wrong, you are my hero. Without you, I’d probably still be at the bottom of the ocean, dead. Thank you.” He hugged me tightly giving me a big whiff of his refreshing scent. Damn, this boy smells so good!!!!! He pulled back and smiled. “Anytime…” He got back to unfolding chairs as an orange flame finally rose in front of the boys. They stepped back and claimed their designated chairs and set them in front of the fire.

Ashton sat next to me, the arms of our chairs only millimetres apart. I stared deep into the dancing flames as they lit up our faces. The sounds of the quiet ocean waves were barely audible over the frequent crackling of the burning wood.

“Who wants to sing?” Michael question popped up three other yes’s as I sat silently. Ashton turned behind him and grabbed the guitar before handing it to Luke. He smiled and said “This one’s for you.” Luke began to strum the beginning of an unfamiliar song. They write all their songs, so I wouldn’t even have a chance to recognise it.

Luke starts singing:

“Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey

Simmer down, simmer down
They say we're too young now to amount to anything else
But look around
We worked too damn hard for this just to give it up now
If you don't swim, you'll drown
But don't move, honey”

They all come in for the chorus:

“You look so perfect standing there
In my American Apparel underwear
And I know now, that I'm so down
Your lipstick stain is a work of art
I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart
And I know now, that I'm so down”

Calum starts singing his verse:

“Let's get out, let's get out

'Cause this deadbeat town's only here just to keep us down

While I was out, I found myself alone just thinking

If I showed up with a plane ticket

And a shiny diamond ring with your name on it

Would you wanna run away too?

'Cause all I really want is you”

*Chorus*

***etc***

As they finished, I wiped away my tears and looked up, smiling from ear to ear. “That was amazing.” I kissed each of their cheeks before hugging Ashton. It was again silent as the wood in the blazing fire crackled loudly.

“I have to tell you all something.” I stared at my lap, where I twirled my fingers nervously. I glanced up to see four confused pairs of eyes. “No one else can find out about my secret, because if they do, I will only live to 20.”

“W—what do you mean?” Ashton’s voice was shaky and full of fear.

“Well, for every human who knows, ten years is taken away from my life. I’m down to 30.” They all gasped in unison as I nodded. “One more person and I’ll be down to 20 and I turn 20 in a few days.”

“No one else will find out. We can’t lose you, not now.” Calum stood to his feet as he spoke. The others agreed with his statement as he sat back down.

We were surrounded by an awkward silence for minutes  until Michael spoke up. “Who wants to take a swim?” His excited tone encouraged the others to have the want to go in. “Calum, you okay staying here alone?” Luke patted his shoulder as he nodded. “I will stay. You guys go have fun.” Ashton gave me aloof that said ‘Are you sure?’ and I nod.

The boys run off, leaving me and Calum here alone.

“Why don’t you want to swim?” I ask “Not so confident in the water after the little ‘incident’” he says whilst smiling.

“What’s it like being a mermaid?” His sudden question filled my head with thousands of answers. “It sucks. I can’t go swimming in public, I have to drink water through a straw or I’ll change, and I can’t go surfing; which was my favourite thing to do as a kid.” He nodded “That must have really affected your social life….”

“Actually, for the first six months that I was a mermaid, I spent in the ocean, I didn’t come out until I got a hang of the situation.” His mouth formed into an ‘O’.

Screaming and water splashing around in front of us interrupted our conversation. There was only one boy out there. What just happened?

Michael came running out of the water as the water as the other boys frantically looked around them. “What’s going on Michael?!?!?!”

Almost out of breath, he managed to say,

“It’s Ashton. He’s gone!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*-*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*-*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*-*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(*-*)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~