“Well…I can tell you, I know exactly what I’m going to do,” Emily said in an angry voice. She bolted upright, her blue eyes blazing with an intensity that Melissa had never seen before. Not even the time that Emily had found out that Melissa had kissed her crush back in high school. “I’m going to drive over to your place, find the cunt that did this to you, beat her sorry ass to a pulp, and drag her back here so you can kiss her!”
Melissa’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and for the first time in what felt like days, grinned with genuine happiness. “God Emily, you’re amazing. What would I do without you? I swear, if I wasn’t cursed at the moment, I’d fucking kiss you.”
It hadn’t been exactly what she’d intended to say. She frowned, but Emily’s next words surprised her even more.
“And if you weren’t cursed, I’d let you.”
A moment of awkward silence passed between the two friends.
Emily broke it with an embarrassed cough. “Um, anyway. I’m going to go get my mace, and maybe a bat or knife…I think it’s in my car downstairs.”
“Thank you,” Melissa whispered. She meant it. Then she remembered something. “Um, while you’re down there, can you close my car door? I think the keys are still inside. I was…kind of in a hurry.”
Emily smirked. “Yeah. Don’t worry Melissa. We’ll take care of this. That bitch isn’t going to get away with turning MY friend into a mermaid!”
“Words I bet you thought you’d never say, eh?”
Emily laughed. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
She walked out of the door.
Melissa snuggled into the couch, feeling cold. She was happy that Emily was helping, and for the first time since this had all began, felt some hope that it would work out alright. But at the same time, she didn’t like feeling helpless. She was essentially stuck here. She couldn’t drive, couldn’t walk. If someone broke in, she’d be unable to get away. She was now reliant on Emily for help, and if Emily couldn’t get Serenity to come by force…what would happen to her then?
The tears threatened to come again.
A door opened somewhere in the apartment.
Melissa let out a gasp. She looked around for a blanket to cover her tail, but there was nothing around. There weren’t enough pillows.
“Emily? What the fuck was all that screaming about?”
Melissa recognized the voice. It belonged to Stefanie, Emily’s sister. She was still in high school, at the end of her sophomore year. She was a nice kid, and Melissa liked hanging out with her when she stayed with her sister in the city. But right now, she didn’t want to see her.
“Emily?” the voice called again, sounding worried. “Where are you? You alright?”
Melissa debated for a moment, and then let out a sigh. “She stepped out for a minute Stef,” she called.
There was a momentary silence. “Melissa? Is that you?”
“Yeah…mostly.”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing Stef! Just…just don’t come here, okay?”
It was the wrong thing to say.
Almost immediately, she heard footsteps approaching down the hall. Stefanie appeared around the corner. She had short, dirty blonde hair that was currently dripping wet, and wore nothing more than a towel. Almost against her will, Melissa found herself glancing down at the towel, and she could see that Stefanie was apparently bustier than Emily was, if the stretched towel as any indication.
“What are you….talking….about…” Stefanie said as she came to a stop.
The two girls stared at each other for a long moment. Stefanie’s eyes grew wider and wider.
“Um,” Stefanie said.
“It’s a long story.”
“That’s…a costume. Right?”
Melissa debated about going with that. It’d be easier. She didn’t feel like telling the whole story again. But Stefanie wasn’t an idiot. She’d figure it out sooner or later.
“No,” Melissa confessed. “No, it’s not. It’s…um, it’s real.”
Stefanie continued to stare. Melissa stared back, feeling her cheeks grow red, and she did her best not to stare at Stefanie’s chest, or at her lips…
Then Stefanie let out a squeal, causing Melissa to twitch.
“That’s so…so…fucking cool!”
“Huh?” Melissa said, but in the next moment, Stefanie moved forward. Holding the towel with one hand, she reached out with the other. She lifted some of Melissa’s now pink hair up, inspecting it with a grin.
“Your hair!” she exclaimed. Melissa moved a hand to knock Stefanie’s away, but Stefanie grabbed at that too. “And your nails! And your makeup!” A finger traced Melissa’s eyes and lips, and she momentarily lost her focus at the sensation. “And your breasts!”
“Hands off!” Melissa managed to snap in a shaky voice, trying to control herself.
Stefanie let out a laugh. She sat down on the edge of the couch, pushing herself up against Melissa as she reached out and felt Melissa’s tail.
“God – that’s so weird! And so cool! What the fuck Melissa! What happened?”
Stefanie turned her head to stare at Melissa with an inquiring expression.
But with Stefanie so close…Melissa could barely keep the urges down. She just wanted to reach out and kiss Stefanie.
“God. You’re so pretty with that makeup…and those scales…the nails…the tail…everything.” Stefanie swallowed, and then frowned. “It’s so…hot…”
“Stefanie…please…just…move away.”
Melissa stared at her imploringly, trying to get the girl to move. Stefanie leaned in closer.
“Why?” she whispered.
“Please don’t!” Melissa begged.
Stefanie was only inches away from her face. Melissa used up every ounce of her willpower, and managed to prevent herself from lunging forward.
She thought perhaps the moment had passed.
And then Stefanie lunged forward and kissed her.
It caught Melissa completely off-guard, but almost immediately, a pleasurable sensation swept through her, and she leaned into the kiss.
Stefanie let out a moan and leaned into it, dropping the towel as her hands combed through Melissa’s hair and down onto her back, sending shivering sensations of pleasure through her. A part of Melissa wanted to shove Stefanie away, but another part was demanding that the kiss continue, to feel Stefanie’s lips against her own, to feel her tongue—
“STEFANIE!!”
Stefanie drew back like she’d been shocked, blinking rapidly. She fumbled for the towel, and looked dazed.
“I—I—“ she stammered.
Horror spread through Melissa the instant contact was broken.
“MELISSA!”
Both girls looked over at Emily, standing in the doorway, eyes wide with shock and anger. She dropped the bat and mace and rushed over, grabbing at Stefanie, yanking her away.
“What—what’s going on?!” Stefanie cried, looking scared, shocked, and angry – and still a bit flushed.
Emily didn’t respond. She forced herself between the two girls, glaring at Melissa with hatred in her eyes. “Melissa…how could you fucking do this?!”
Melissa let out a sob, covering her face, trying to block the scene out. How could she have let this happen? She should’ve just gone to the beach. This could’ve been avoided. It was her fault.
All her fault.
What had she done?