The council wants to see you.

Liana hit the swimming area first. She dropped her beach bag to the sand and raced toward the water, not wasting a second to dive into it. I followed right behind, tossing my bag next to hers and hitting the water in the same place she did. I splashed her as soon as she stood.

"Hey." She retaliated. The cold salt water felt refreshing on my skin.

Without saying another word, Liana disappeared under the water. I followed. Under water, it was like an entirely new world. Everyone was off for summer vacation, which meant that children, teens, and young adults of all ages were swimming today. Since Sea Haven Beach was the best spot in the area for a swim, you couldn't look anywhere without seeing a swarm of people. Right, left. Up, down. It didn't matter.

I inhaled the salty water. It was like a breath of fresh air, like somehow I wasn't breathing properly until now. Liana kicked in front of me, sending bubbles in her wake. I fol-lowed the trail until we found an open area at the edge of the crowd. She claimed the spot by flipping over and summer saulting backward. I joined her with a front summersault. She gave me a thumbs-up and then signaled to a rock a good forty yards away.

I sighed. This time, I deserved a head start. I kicked off and sent a thumbs-up behind me. Water swished by my foot as she at- tempted to reach out for my ankle to slow me down. But she didn't manage it. I tagged the rock before she could grab onto my foot. She narrowed her eyes at me jokingly. I simply smiled back in triumph.

We spent the next several hours in the water, soaking in the most fun we could before we started college. Luckily, my classes didn't sound too difficult. I was still undecided, so I figured my best bet was to get my introductory English classes over with first. I also had a psych class I was looking forward to taking.

I did my best not to worry about all that today. It didn't take much effort to shut it out of my mind, though, not when green scales continued to dominate my thoughts. I continuously found myself scanning the ocean as far out as I could see, almost like I expected to see more merpeople follow Tristan to Sea Haven. He wasn't even supposed to be alive, so where did he come from?

Liana waved her arms in my direction, attempting to get my at- tention as I squinted into the ocean's depths once again. I reluc- tantly tore my gaze off the hazy blue water in the distance. She signaled toward the surface, and I followed. Once our heads emerged out of the water, we could speak again.

"I'm getting really hungry," she said. "Do you want to take a break and get some lunch?" Only then did I realize how hungry I'd become. "Sure. My mom

made lasagna last night if you just want to do leftovers."

She shrugged. "Anything is fine." At the beach, we scooped up our bags and wrapped our towels around ourselves. Liana discussed her ideas for decorating our dorm room on the way back, but I didn't process much of it. My attention remained locked on the horizon.

When we entered the back door, I was shocked to find my father sitting at the kitchen table.

"Dad, you're home. Why aren't you at work?" "Hi, Mr. Waters," Liana greeted.

My father folded his newspaper and gazed up at me past his read- ing glasses. His graying hair appeared unkempt, which made him look grouchy. "I took a half day."

"Okay." I crossed around the counter and opened the fridge. I did my best to keep my voice even, but my dad only ever took off work when he was sick. What could it mean that he was sitting at home in the middle of the day on a Monday? He didn't look sick, just grumpy. Was he going through some kind of male menopause?

"Liana and I were just going to have leftovers. Want me to heat some up for you?" I asked.

"No, thank you." He cleared his throat. "After you two are done eating, though, I'd like your help with something, Bree." I closed the fridge, the tray of lasagna in my hand. "Can I help you later, Dad? We're going to head back down to the beach when we're done eating." Liana was right; our dip in the ocean had helped wake me up.

"No," he insisted. "I need your help while I'm off work." "Okay." Somehow, I knew this wasn't going to be good.

I ate slowly, stalling whatever it was my father needed me for. I didn't want to be alone with him. He'd just go on pretending like nothing happened, and I'd be sitting here anxiously wanting to ask him about it.

But I couldn't stop the inevitable from happening. "I'll see you later," Liana said after setting her dishes in the sink.

"I'll be down at the beach whenever you're done if you want to hang out."

"Okay." I waved. "See you later." As soon as the back door slid shut, I whirled toward my father.

Whatever he needed help with better be good. "Why don't you go change?" he suggested, gesturing toward my swimming suit.

I planted my feet on the tile floor. "First, tell me what this is about." I knew I came off sounding rude, but after what happened last night, my paranoia was working in overdrive. My father stood and cleared his throat. And then the last words I would have expected to hear came out of his mouth. "The council wants to see you."

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