Real Mermaids 2 - Don't Hold Their Breath Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Helene Boudreau
mid-transformation.
âThis mer stuff is pretty nuts, huh? Iâm still trying to figure out how I feel about it all.â Luke turned to me and took my hand in his. He raised our hands in the air. âAbout this too. I hope thatâs okay?â
A warm feeling spread through my hand as I considered this for a second.
âSo, what youâre saying is that youâre just as clueless as I am?â I asked.
âPretty much.â Luke dropped my hand and picked up a flat rock. He rubbed it between his thumb and index finger, then threw it over the water. It skipped a couple of times before sinking. He picked up another rock. âThings are just all really new for me too. What I could really use right now is a friend who gets where Iâm coming from.â
Friend. Was that a friend-friend or a kissy-friend I wondered. But before I could ask, Luke stopped tossing his rock mid-throw.
âDo you hear that?â He looked over his shoulder at me.
âWhat?â I listened, but all I could hear was the sound of waves washing up along the shore. But then the wind changed and I heard it tooâa high-pitched whine like the sound of a motorboat. âWhat is that?â
Luke tossed his rock aside and strode down the beach. I followed. âWait, Luke. Whatâs making that noise?â
Luke broke into a run and headed for the breakwater, calling over his shoulder, âItâs Reese!â
âOwrch!â I stubbed my toe on a rock, trying to catch up.
Who the heck was Reese?
By the time I reached Luke, heâd already scrambled up onto the rocky breakwater jutting out into the ocean and was hopping from one enormous boulder to another.
âWait! Luke!â I yelled, afraid of what he might do. Thankfully, we were at least a quarter of a mile from the main part of the public beach, but still. With the pounding surf and jagged rocks, this was not the best place to plunge into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, even if you were a pesco-sapien. âBe careful!â
âCome on!â Luke waved an arm over his head before jumping down and disappearing behind a rock.
âLuke!â I called out, worried heâd hopped into the ocean and was sprouting a tail by then. I caught my flip-flop in a crack trying to climb a boulder to get to him, scraping my big toe in the process (again!). âOw, ow, ow! I do not have the right shoes for this.â
Thankfully, I found Luke on a low-lying rock near the end of the point. He had a hand to his ear, straining to hear over the sound of waves crashing all around us.
âWhat the heck are you trying to do? Get us both killed?â I stepped down beside him and hung onto a nearby boulder to avoid getting swept out to sea by a random wave.
âWhere is he?â Luke shaded his eyes and scanned the water.
âThis is a bad idea.â I turned to go.
âNo, I swear I heard him. Just wait a second.â Luke caught my arm to stop me.
âHeard who, exactly?â
Reese! Luke called out into the vastness of the ocean. His mer voice came out as a high-pitched ring, like the sound of buzzing electrical wires or summer cicadas.
âIâm guessing this Reese guy is a mer, but how the heck do you even know him?â I asked. âOther than when you were a baby, you just said youâve only transitioned to a mer once this past spring. In Florida!â
Luke turned and laughed when he saw I was clinging onto the boulder for dear life. âI met Reese way before that.â
âBut how?â
âI didnât actually meet him. I heard him.â Luke pounced onto the next rock, searching the waters as he went. âMy mom and dad used to take us down here for picnics all the time. Trey and I would jump from rock to rock like this for hours. One day, my ears rang like crazy and Mom and Dad thought it was because I was listening to my music too loud. But that wasnât it. I could hear him. I could hear
âThis mer stuff is pretty nuts, huh? Iâm still trying to figure out how I feel about it all.â Luke turned to me and took my hand in his. He raised our hands in the air. âAbout this too. I hope thatâs okay?â
A warm feeling spread through my hand as I considered this for a second.
âSo, what youâre saying is that youâre just as clueless as I am?â I asked.
âPretty much.â Luke dropped my hand and picked up a flat rock. He rubbed it between his thumb and index finger, then threw it over the water. It skipped a couple of times before sinking. He picked up another rock. âThings are just all really new for me too. What I could really use right now is a friend who gets where Iâm coming from.â
Friend. Was that a friend-friend or a kissy-friend I wondered. But before I could ask, Luke stopped tossing his rock mid-throw.
âDo you hear that?â He looked over his shoulder at me.
âWhat?â I listened, but all I could hear was the sound of waves washing up along the shore. But then the wind changed and I heard it tooâa high-pitched whine like the sound of a motorboat. âWhat is that?â
Luke tossed his rock aside and strode down the beach. I followed. âWait, Luke. Whatâs making that noise?â
Luke broke into a run and headed for the breakwater, calling over his shoulder, âItâs Reese!â
âOwrch!â I stubbed my toe on a rock, trying to catch up.
Who the heck was Reese?
By the time I reached Luke, heâd already scrambled up onto the rocky breakwater jutting out into the ocean and was hopping from one enormous boulder to another.
âWait! Luke!â I yelled, afraid of what he might do. Thankfully, we were at least a quarter of a mile from the main part of the public beach, but still. With the pounding surf and jagged rocks, this was not the best place to plunge into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, even if you were a pesco-sapien. âBe careful!â
âCome on!â Luke waved an arm over his head before jumping down and disappearing behind a rock.
âLuke!â I called out, worried heâd hopped into the ocean and was sprouting a tail by then. I caught my flip-flop in a crack trying to climb a boulder to get to him, scraping my big toe in the process (again!). âOw, ow, ow! I do not have the right shoes for this.â
Thankfully, I found Luke on a low-lying rock near the end of the point. He had a hand to his ear, straining to hear over the sound of waves crashing all around us.
âWhat the heck are you trying to do? Get us both killed?â I stepped down beside him and hung onto a nearby boulder to avoid getting swept out to sea by a random wave.
âWhere is he?â Luke shaded his eyes and scanned the water.
âThis is a bad idea.â I turned to go.
âNo, I swear I heard him. Just wait a second.â Luke caught my arm to stop me.
âHeard who, exactly?â
Reese! Luke called out into the vastness of the ocean. His mer voice came out as a high-pitched ring, like the sound of buzzing electrical wires or summer cicadas.
âIâm guessing this Reese guy is a mer, but how the heck do you even know him?â I asked. âOther than when you were a baby, you just said youâve only transitioned to a mer once this past spring. In Florida!â
Luke turned and laughed when he saw I was clinging onto the boulder for dear life. âI met Reese way before that.â
âBut how?â
âI didnât actually meet him. I heard him.â Luke pounced onto the next rock, searching the waters as he went. âMy mom and dad used to take us down here for picnics all the time. Trey and I would jump from rock to rock like this for hours. One day, my ears rang like crazy and Mom and Dad thought it was because I was listening to my music too loud. But that wasnât it. I could hear him. I could hear