Breathless: A Little Mermaid Retelling

by Megan Linski

  She looked up. “It’s kind of a secret. Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve always sort of wished I had blue hair,” Isa replied.

  “Really?” Adrian seemed surprised.

  “Yes. Like the ocean. I’ve always wanted to dye it, ever since I was fourteen.”

  “It’s been a long time. Why haven’t you?”

  “I told my friends in high school, and they thought it was dumb. They said they’d laugh at me.” Isa blew a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes. “Plus, my dad would kill me. Fun isn’t allowed.”

  “I think you would look beautiful with blue hair. Where I come from, girls have hair of all colors,” Adrian said.

  Yeah, underwater, not on land. But Isa still stared at the photo wistfully. She wanted and wanted.

  Adrian stood up and grabbed her wrist. “Come with me.”

  That’s how she ended up in a salon chair in the nicest dye bar in the mall. Isa tried to explain to the excited stylist that no, she wasn’t going to dye her hair blue, no matter what her overbearing, rich and enthusiastic boyfriend said, but the more Isa tried to refuse and the more color samples the stylist showed her the more Isa felt her reserve weakening.

  This was something she had wanted to do since she was a teenager, and she’d never allowed herself to do this one small thing, just for her. What would be the big deal if she did change her hair color?

  Isa had the thought that nobody would elect a girl to Coral Queen who had blue hair, and that’s when she finally said yes.

  Two and a half hours later, Isa emerged from the salon feeling like she could conquer the world. Her blonde hair had officially been changed to a vibrant and eye-catching blue. It had an ombre effect, and started as a light sky blue at the top before it slowly transitioned to turquoise, then a rich sapphire at her ends. When she moved it back and forth, her rippling locks looked like a wave and shone against the light. Isa had never felt more confident or good in her entire life.

  Adrian was outside a gaming store, looking at an Atari that was on display. When he turned around and saw Isa, he had the biggest smile on his face.

  “You. Look. Amazing.” Adrian put the shopping bags down and picked her up, spinning her around. “I’m so glad I talked you into this.”

  “I’m glad you did, too.” Isa ran a hand through her hair again. She couldn’t stop touching it. “It’s like… I feel like me for the first time ever.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” Adrian took her hand, and they walked through the mall like that.

  Adrian caught her looking at girls coming out of a prom dress shop across the aisleway. “You want to go in?”

  “What? Me. No. Prom’s long over for me.” She laughed.

  But before she’d even finished her sentence she was inside anyway, and in a dressing room. Isa had grabbed the first dress she saw as a whim, just to try on for fun, but the moment she slipped it over her body Isa had a feeling that she’d just put on the dress of her dreams.

  The dress was a sky blue that matched her hair, and was covered in sequins that looked like scales. It was a mermaid fit, and clung to the top and middle of her body sexily before fanning out around her feet in a mess of tulle and sequins.

  She felt like she was covered in blue diamonds and was some sort of mermaid princess. Isa had fallen in love with it. She exited the dressing room to show Adrian. His face lit up the moment he saw her.

  “It would be worth it to go to the ball if I was wearing a dress like this,” Isa said, spinning around.

  “Why don’t you?” Adrian got up and took both of her hands in his. “If you want, I’ll go with you.”

  “Is that your way of asking me to the dance?” She put a hand on her hip. “No soliloquy, no song or flash mob? Chivalry is dead.”

  Adrian laughed, got down on one knee, and asked, “Isamaria, will you be my date to the Seaside Ball?”

  “Okay, yes, yes, shh,” she told him, giggling. “You’re making a scene.”

  And he was. People were looking at them, but she didn’t care. Going to the ball wouldn’t be so bad if Adrian was her date. Besides, she couldn't wait to see everyone’s expressions once they saw she had blue hair. They’d totally freak out.

  Isa decided the Seaside Ball would be her new beginning. She’d finally come out as herself and show the world who she really was. She’d rub it in their preppy faces that she was never the girl they thought she was, but someone more.

  When they left the mall and got back into her car (with her new dress, of course), Isa pulled out of her bags something she’d been hiding from Adrian.

  “This is for you, Adrian,” she said, and she unwrapped the Atari from the wrappings. “I got it behind your back when you weren’t looking. It’s my way of repaying you for my hair and the dress.”

  “You didn’t have to repay me,” Adrian said, though he was clearly in awe. He was geeking out over the old system.

  “No, seriously.” She pressed the console into his hands. “I saw you obsessing over it earlier. This is a thank you, for everything you’ve done for me.”

  Adrian grinned. “You don’t know how much this means, Isa. I literally just lost one of these—well, had it taken.”

  “Well, now you have it back.” She smiled at him and started the car. “Come on. Let’s go home and play it.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Adrian

  Isamaria’s house was really big. Way bigger than Adrian expected.

  He wondered how she was able to stand it, being so alone so often in such a big place. The palace was larger, but there were always hundreds of merpeople swimming about. Here, it looked like it was just Isa.

  Isa had walked all around the huge complex, calling for her father, but no one answered. “Hm,” she said when she returned to Adrian, who was leaning against a counter in the kitchen. “That’s strange. He should be home by now.”

  “Your father is gone for the weekend, chica,” someone called. A small woman walked into the room. She screeched when she saw Isa’s locks “Isamaria, chica, what did you do to your hair?”

  “I dyed it. Do you like it?” Isa asked hesitantly.

  “I love it!” The woman hugged Isa tightly, and Isa beamed. “It suits you perfectly.”

  The woman’s smile brightened once again when she saw Adrian. “Oh? And who is this?”

  “Lupe, this is Adrian, my boyfriend.” Isa took Lupe by the shoulders. “Adrian, this is Lupe. She helps me.”

  Adrian wasn’t sure what that meant, but he didn’t have time to reason, because Lupe was already throwing her arms around him and kissing him on the cheek. “How lovely! Isa hasn’t had a boyfriend in so long! And so handsome, too!”

  “Where is my father, Lupe?” Isa asked with a laugh, breaking them up. She practically had to pry Lupe off of him.

  “Oh, he was called away for the weekend, dear. Something about work,” Lupe told her, and she frowned. “He’ll miss the Seaside Ball. I’m sorry.”

  Isa’s face remained passive. “It’s fine, Lupe. Thanks for telling me.”

  “Do you want me to stay and cook you something? Dinnertime will be in an hour,” Lupe said with a glance at the clock.

  “No, it’s fine. We were just going to order pizza, anyway. Go home and relax” Isa shooed Lupe away and closed the door behind her.

  Isa looked so small pinned up against the doorway. It was like she was waiting any moment for Adrian to pounce on her like a tiger. She was just waiting for him to start groping her now that they were alone in her house.

  That wasn’t his style.

  He raised the video game in his hands. “You promised me we would try this.”

  Isa relaxed. “Yep. Come on, living room’s this way.”

  The TV in the living room was bigger than Adrian had seen in some movie theaters. He’d always loved televisions, but he never got to do anything as fun as play an entire video game or have a movie marathon. Electronics didn’t work underwater, and he’d always been cursed to only a few hours at a time o
n land.

  Now that time was unlimited, and the prospect of that amazed him.

  Isa set up the Atari, and they started to play. Immediately she noticed how incredibly bad he was at gaming.

  “I thought you were like some video game freak, the way you geeked out over that Atari,” Isa told him suspiciously.

  He shrugged, but the smile was broad on his face. “You can like something without being good at it.” Truth was, he was still learning the buttons.

  When the pizza showed up Adrian was thrilled to see that she’d ordered anchovies and crab as toppings instead of pepperoni. Meat from land animals never went well on his stomach.

  “Sorry it’s gross, I didn’t think—” she started, then shut up when she saw Adrian shove a whole piece into his mouth.

  “Say no more.” He grabbed another piece. Isa laughed and didn’t ask any questions.

  They played the Atari until it was almost dark, then Isa switched it off and turned on cable. “My favorite show is on,” she told him. “I never miss it. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t care. Watch what you want.” He shrugged.

  “That’s such a guy response.” She went into the kitchen to make popcorn, and Adrian watched the previews for the show as the last program finished up. Isa’s favorite sitcom was some sort of fantasy soap opera about mermaids. How did he guess?

  Isa plopped onto the couch with a full bowl of popcorn and sat it between them. She leaned against him as they ate. Adrian noticed that she’d changed her shirt to a low-cut top and was leaning further forward than she had to.

  She was testing him, seeing how far he’d go. Adrian wasn’t about to be tempted. Everything rode on this, and he wasn’t messing it up.

  Isa got the hint that nothing was going to happen halfway through the show and moved to the other side of the couch. She splayed her legs out like she didn’t care about looking feminine or attractive, which made Adrian feel much better.

  “This is really nice,” she said. “I haven’t had a day to just chill in a while.”

  “Don’t you do this with your friends?” Adrian asked.

  “My friends would think this is boring. They just want to party all the time. Most people expect me to be something I’m not.” She played with a popcorn kernel.

  Adrian couldn’t imagine anything being boring so long as Isa was there. “People put high expectations on me, too,” he said. “I’m not who everyone wants me to be, either. Most people consider me… weird. I’m not like everyone else.”

  Isa gave him a look. She tossed a piece of popcorn at him and he jumped up off the couch to catch it in his mouth. She giggled. “Well, maybe we can be weird together.”

  “I would like that.” Adrian grabbed a piece of popcorn and tossed it. “Catch!”

  Isa tried to nab it with her mouth but she fell over the side of the couch instead. She laughed when she hit the ground, and said, “Try me again!”

  They spent the rest of the night tossing popcorn back and forth, seeing how difficult they could make it to catch. That led to a strange game of Jaws, where Adrian was the shark and Isa the dying swimmer, which then led to making a fort out of pillows, couch cushions, and blankets.

  “I haven’t done this since I was a kid,” Isa said when she finally put the last blanket in place. She crawled underneath where Adrian was waiting. They lied next to each other side by side on their stomachs. “But don’t you think we’re a little old for this? It’s a little childish.”

  “Do you care what people think about you? About us?” he questioned. He knew he didn’t give a shit. Screw the world. The only thing that mattered anymore was he and Isa.

  “I… I think I have for a long time,” she said slowly. “But I’m kind of tired of it. And I don’t think I want to care anymore.”

  Her face was very close to his. Adrian leaned in so they were closer, and at this point he couldn’t stand it any longer. The TV was still playing in the background, and the light reflected waves off her blue hair. He pressed his lips to hers softly and kissed her like he imagined the ocean kissed the sand, or like the sunset did the sky as it went over the horizon.

  Isa seemed surprised, but then dove into his kiss and gently returned it back, closing her eyes and allowing herself to float easily upon the surface before swimming within its depths.

  When Adrian pulled back, things seemed different between them. Isa went to move away. He didn’t like it.

  “You can sleep in my bed with me, you know,” Isa offered. “My dad’s not coming home. We aren’t going to get caught.”

  That’s what she was worried about? Adrian had other things on his mind. “I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

  “We’re boyfriend and girlfriend, aren’t we? That’s what couples do.”

  Isa tried to crawl out, but Adrian snagged her wrist before she could get away.

  “I don’t want to be that kind of boyfriend,” he told her. “I want to get to know the real you. And I want to make this last a long time.”

  The expression on her face was hard to read, but Adrian could. She wasn’t used to commitment. Actually, it seemed like Isa wasn’t used to anything more than a quick one-and-done.

  He was going to change all that.

  Isa leaned against his shoulder as the show continued to play. Adrian didn’t know how late it was. They’d been playing around for hours. The kiss had seemed to make time come crashing back into reality.

  A short time later, he heard snoring. Isa had fallen asleep in the fort. He didn’t want to wake her.

  Adrian turned on his back, laid his head on a pillow underneath him and looked up at the blanket ceiling. His legs were tingling, and he felt different. It was weird to him not having a tail. Already, he missed the ocean. He wanted to feel his fin, not his feet.

  But it was too late to back out now, and Adrian didn’t regret his decision.

  Three days was a ridiculously short time to humans. Adrian hadn’t considered that. There were humans who had been together three years who still hadn’t told one another they loved each other. How could he expect Isa to say that she loved him in such a small period of time?

  The first day was almost over and Adrian felt that Isa was no closer to saying she loved him than the day before.

  Already, he had so little time.

  Chapter Twelve

  Isamaria

  When Isa woke up the next morning curled up against Adrian’s side in their little fort, she realized how happy she was.

  This whole thing with Adrian was a little too perfect. It bothered her. It was messed up. He was a gorgeous guy, and despite everything she’d tried last night he hadn’t made a move, not even after they’d kissed. He even refused to sleep in her bed.

  They acted like little kids together, and she loved it. It was fun. There was no pressure and no need to feel grown up. Being with him was so easy.

  He had to be a serial killer or something. Were mermen serial killers? There had to be at least one.

  Isa thought about confronting Adrian about being a merman. But she didn’t want to ruin the fairy tale, not yet, so she ignored the thought and went on with her day.

  Isa got up and made breakfast, bacon and eggs with pancakes. At the smell of food, Adrian came into the kitchen. He seemed as happy as she was. They didn't talk, but when they were eating Isa noticed Adrian only touched the pancakes and avoided the bacon and eggs.

  “So, what are we doing today?” Adrian asked as he finished up.

  “I got a new board,” Isa said. “I was hoping to try it out.”

  “I’ve never been surfing,” Adrian said. “It’d be cool to learn.”

  “I think I have an old board around here you can use.” Isa ruffled through the mall bags from yesterday and tossed him his swimsuit. “Get dressed, and let's go.”

  Isa said screw the shower and just threw on her bikini. She met Adrian by her car with their two boards, and they headed down to the beach.

  Isa half ex
pected Adrian to grow a tail the minute they were waist-deep in water, but she looked and saw he still had legs. Could he control what he looked like? Adrian hung onto the board warily, looking a bit confused.

  “What do I do?” he asked.

  “Watch this.” Isa waded into the water where a small wave was growing. She hopped up on her board and crouched, then rose to her feet slowly as the wave grew stronger. She easily rode it in a casual, careless way. She could feel Adrian’s eyes on her as she floated back to where he was.

  “You're a natural out there,” he told her. “It’s like you were born to surf.”

  “The sea is where I belong,” she told him. “I’ve known that since I was a little girl.”

  She was glad the sea was calm today, because Adrian had no balance. If he could barely stand upright on land there was no way he could handle being on a board in the ocean. Each fall was more floundering and spectacular than the last.

  Isa was happy Adrian was here with her. If not she probably would’ve spent the three-day weekend alone. She was used to being alone, and didn't mind it, but it got boring after a while.

  "I really suck at surfing," Adrian said after he'd taken his twentieth fall, one where he'd knicked the corner of his board. "I should be banned from it permanently."

  "You're not that bad. Everyone's terrible their first time," Isa said, though she wasn't being honest. Adrian really was awful.

  "We should do something I'm good at," he said. "Also, something that involves being less in the sun, because personally, I'm boiling out here."

  "What did you have in mind?" Isa asked curiously.

  Adrian tilted his head. "Do you have snorkeling gear?"

  Around an hour later, after they'd gotten a late lunch, Isa and Adrian snuck into her uncle's lot. All of the boats were put away for the weekend, but Isa broke into the office and grabbed the keys. They were sailing away before anyone had seen what had happened.

  "Is your uncle going to kill you for this?" Adrian yelled over the roar of the engine.