"...you are special,"

The words echo in my head. My mind confused. Why was I so special? Asada and Olyvya would tell me the same thing, but there was no reason behind it. Just the fact that I was. It couldn't be true, I was just like every other mermaid here.

"Your pod is in town?" There were so many things that I didn't even know where to start. I'd never met another pod, something about it scared me.

"Yes, and they know that I'm here, they are coming after me, to get me back and find more mermaids to strengthen their numbers,"

I didn't know if I could trust this guy. I had just met him yesterday and all of this seemed a little insane. Why were they coming for him after they had banished him? Why did they care about him at all, they cast him away to the waves without a second thought.

"Why did you get banished?" I wasn't sure I was ready for the answer. Maybe it would be something I didn't want to know, and I wouldn't be able to take it back. I'd be stuck with the knowledge for the rest of my life.

"Well, I'm a bad boy,"

"I'm going to kill you," I rolled my eyes. His comment had done nothing but annoyed me. Was anything he was telling me true?

"I'm being serious," He threw his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth between each foot like he had to pee.

"What do you mean you are a bad boy?" he rolled his eyes, just like I had the first time he said it.

"I did too many things, got in trouble too many times that they decided they didn't want to deal with it anymore, eventually they got mad enough that they kicked me out, they didn't realize how much I added to the pod and now that they are low on numbers they are trying to get me back. Opal, the other pods are at war right now, you guys are the only ones that have been safe,"

I wasn't sure what to think, or what to believe. My whole world felt like it was getting flipped upside down. Why haven't we been at war like the other mermaids? Why were they at war anyway? Did Asada know about all of this as well?

"How do you know so much?" I felt my heart breaking, my body wishing they would have told us. Maybe we would have been able to help out? I guess this was not the case. Maybe she didn't tell us because we were only students, just learning about the world and once someone graduated they would get to know. This must be why we weren't allowed to swim past a certain depth. They always blamed it on the rip tides but it sounded like mermaids were killing each other.

"I've lived it, I've seen it, this killed my mother right in front of me, and while you guys are here without a single care in the world, the rest of us are fighting," Damien seemed angry, he seemed like he'd been slapped, kicked, and then shoved into the dirt. But he was free now, he didn't have to worry about that anymore.

"I want to help," I panicked, the words falling from my lips before I could even realize I had said them in the first place. I knew I wouldn't be able to help. I wasn't trained to fight.

"No, that is not going to happen!" Damien was rather defensive like he was protecting me from whatever was outside of our waves. I shook my head.

"Yes, meet me at the beach where we had the dance, we will search for my necklace and hopefully we will be able to find it," I shook my head turning to rush away from him before I realized I was supposed to take him with me to my classes.

"Ugh!" I groaned backtracking to grab his hand an I dragged him to my science class.

He followed along. Which I was thankful for since we had been clear on the other side of the school. I knew I didn't have the strength to drag him that far.

When we entered the classroom, the students dropped their pencils and looked up at the new student. The girls fanned themselves as if they were going to kill over in their own seat. Shooting looks at each other like they were taking possession of a cute puppy. There was no denying how attractive Damien was.

I took a seat towards the back of the classroom and Damien followed me, pulling a chair up to my desk. Hudson nods his head, the teacher, his eyes never leaving Damiens. Had his sister not told him about the new student? Damien grabs his necklace placing it inside his shirt, learning from his mistakes he didn't want anyone else to notice how different it really was.

"Okay class, let's get back to work on the molecular structure of our legs when we transform, please pull out a piece of paper as there will be a lot of notes on this," Hudson looked around the room as students fumbled through their bags. I did my best to not add to the chaos, pulling out a sheet of paper for both Damien and me.

I also had to borrow Damien a pencil, but that was fine. The silence as he wrote his own notes was welcoming. I copied down whatever was written on the board but my mind was so wrapped up in what Damien had said earlier that I couldn't be bothered to listen to Hudson.

My eyes fading, as I tried my best to focus. I just couldn't do it. I'd have to ask Damien for his notes later. Shaking my head I hated how far I was falling. I hadn't felt like myself all day. Something must not be right.

But what was wrong?

Maybe it was the kiss? Everything seemed to be off since them. I glanced at Damien, his eyes too focused on his paper to even notice.

What did you do to me when you kissed me?