- everything was coming back to me. I squinted into the pastel sunset and sat up slowly, afraid of looking at my tail. Afraid I may go into shock if it was missing again. Even though it had happened before, it wasn't any less scary now.

At least this time I came prepared in the clothing department. I had strapped on three tops, and two skirts weighed down by a million shells. One top and one skirt safely made it through the transformation.

Something seemed different about the time of day, however. The moon was much higher in the sky. That

Earthkids were draped on the pier and clustered on the beach like stars in a midnight sky. Hundreds of kids talking, singing, dancing, running wild. How was I ever supposed to find Spencer in this crowd?

I spotted a girl in dark clothes that I thought I recognized from Seaside High. "Have you seen Spencer?" I asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Spencer who?" she answered, turning around. Only it wasn't a girl in dark clothes, after all. It was a

guy!

"Have you seen Spencer?" I asked a clean-cut man.

"Is that his name?" the man answered, relieved. "He's been sitting over there with my wife. Totally whining, looking everywhere for you!"

I eagerly followed the man. But sitting next to his girlfriend wasn't my Earthlove. It was a dog!

"Have you seen Spencer? He's not an animal, he goes to Seaside High," I asked a teenaged couple.

"They're all animals at Seaside," the girl answered, as her athletic boyfriend grabbed her. "Get off already," the girl said playfully to her snuggling mate as they walked on. "Seaside has its own section," she called back, pointing to the hill. "Most of the kids from school are up there - the snacks are free!"

I gazed out into the sea of teenagers, and then to

Brightly colored lanterns hung over Seaside's entrance, between the trees and around the statues, with a spectacular view of the ocean below. Gutsy dancers bopped on the lawn around the flagpole. A makeshift tiki hut housed a snack bar, and speakers hung from the palm trees cranking out top-forty tunes from the master DJ on the pier as we awaited the annual fireworks.

But I feared the only thing exploding was my heart.

Chainsaw approached with Robin, who was decked out in a tight red dress and hipster boots. Radical for her, as she normally hid her body beneath dark cloaks from medieval times.

"Here, eat this!" Chain said, tossing me a bag of chips. "You need some nourishment."

"Yeah. You're not attractive when you're depressed," Robin teased.

"Can you believe the way she looks?" Chainsaw whispered, sitting next to her. "Like we had a total babe underneath our noses all along!"

"Yeah - we did." I sighed.

"It's going to be a stellar - " Chainsaw started. He stared past me, suddenly silent.

"Have the fireworks started?" I asked, not wanting to look.

"They have for you!" he answered. "Dude, turn around!"

"I'm too tired for one of your jokes," I said.

Chain grabbed my jaw and turned my head toward the tiki hut.

It was Lilly - standing only a few feet away. In all her

"Lilly," I exclaimed, overjoyed and confused. "Lilly!"

She turned toward me, and smiled radiantly when she recognized me.

"Spencer!" she said breathlessly, running toward me.

I held the necklace out to her, but she shook her head and hugged me hard. I wasn't about to let go.

"I missed you," Lilly said, looking up. Her words rained magic on me.

"But where did you - "

"Let's not talk now," she said, placing her salty finger on my lips.

There are some people who touch you and you know they are yours - or if not, they should be. Not as a possession, but as an extension of yourself. Adding, enhancing, liberating the real you with their touch, their aura, their spirit.

She had already left me twice. But for some reason she kept coming back. Whoever she really was, at least she was with me now.

Lilly grabbed my hand and pulled me underneath the stars and stripes. We held each other close while the DJ played "Baby, It's You."

- not that I had done much slow dancing in my fifteen years. But this dance was different. Although I didn't know much about Lilly, I felt I knew everything. It was as if I could feel her soul press through her body into mine as we held each other tight.

Suddenly a rocket shot into the air, and a explosion of red showered down, reaching over the sea.

"The city of Seaside and KGMS Radio proudly present Seaside's tenth annual Festival of Fireworks," the DJ's voice blared through our radios.

"Come on!" I said, grabbing her hand. Our hands fit so nicely together, as if they were made for the sole purpose of binding us. We raced down to the crowded beachfront and found an empty spot on the rocks jutting out from the pier.

Chainsaw and Robin followed and we all lay back, staring at the confetti-colored night sky.

"Ouch," Lilly said suddenly, pulling at her side.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Look at that!" she said, pointing up to a burst of golden sprinkling dust.

I stroked her silky hair. The beauty of the fireworks didn't compare to the beauty beside me.

Suddenly she sat up, clenching her stomach.

"Are you sure you're all right?" I asked, worried.

"It's just something I ate."

"Do you want me to take you home?" I asked.

"I am home." She smiled, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Are you a runaway?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm not running away. I'm running to . . . We're connected, you and I," she said, looking up at me.

"My life hasn't been the same ever since you saved me."

"Neither has mine. The rhythm of the sea is different. I feel a peaceful surf when we're together and a storm inside my heart when we're apart."

Lilly spoke so poetically!

I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me, but I felt she already knew. This was good, because suddenly Chainsaw and Robin returned, invading our love space.

"If this doesn't settle your stomach, we'll try something else," Chainsaw said, plopping down a two-liter of Coke.

I opened it for her. She drank the whole two-liter in one gulp!

"Wow, girl!" Chainsaw exclaimed. "You drink like a fish!"

"Lilly!" a voice shouted. "Lilly! Where are you?"

"Oh, no!" Lilly exclaimed, as if she were seeing a ghost. "I can't believe it!"

She was frustrated and angry. I imagined her going to the spooky Underworld by herself, handing over her savings to Madame Pearl, waking up terrified on the beach, nearly trampled by throngs of Earthees. Finless, friendless, lost without her family or Tide. Crawling and stumbling her way amongst lower life forms in pursuit of a rebellious teenager.

"Look at the sky, Wave!" I exclaimed. "Fireworks!"

"Is this a friend of yours?" Spencer asked, puzzled.

"Wave, you shouldn't have come."

"Let's go!" she demanded, taking my hand.

Waverly crouched in front of me, blocking my gaze with her own. "Swear on Bubbles' life?"

I stared into her furious eyes, but then turned back to the sky.

"I thought so! You're not coming back - "

"No," I whispered. "I'm not coming back."

I surprised myself with my decision.

"Lilly, what's going on?" Spencer demanded.

"You mean he doesn't know?" Waverly realized, shocked, suddenly rising to her feet.

"Know what?"

"Where her real home is - "

I jumped up and covered Waverly's mouth with my hand, but she pushed me away.

"I'd like to know, too," Chain interrupted.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my side. "I need to go."

"You're going to leave me?" Wave asked, exasperated.

I gazed at the electric colors reaching through the sky like the legs of an octopus. "But I don't want to go - "

"Have you thought about your parents? Bubbles? The ocean?" she continued, grabbing my free hand.

"Bubbles?" Chainsaw wondered. "Is she cute?"

"Waverly!"

"A dolphin?" Chainsaw asked curiously.

Waverly grabbed my arm and began dragging me toward the water. "Think now, act later! You haven't changed," Wave said, out of breath. "Boy, are these legs awkward."

I looked back at a confused Spencer, who was standing with his friends.

"What do you mean I haven't changed?" I asked, impressed by her sudden energy and passion. I didn't resist her desperate grip but hoped to reason with her.

"Think now, act later," she repeated. "You haven't grown up."

"I feel something I've never felt before, something that was missing in my life."

"You're still a little girl, Waterlilly! Impulsive, irresponsible, immature!"

Her words stung me like a man-of-war. I thought my decision to stay on earth meant that I was growing up. Was it instead a sign that I hadn't?

I felt another sharp pain and doubled over. Purple particles rose over the pier and flickered throughout the sky. I turned around and found Spencer standing behind me. His eyes looked lost. "I have to go," I said reluctantly.

"But you just got here. Here, I'll take you home." He

I caressed his hand as my eyes welled with tears. But Waverly's grasp was stronger and she pulled me away, leading me underneath the pier, away from the crowd toward the end of the rocks.

The next moment seemed to last a lifetime, and yet there wasn't even time to say good-bye. I wanted to hold Spencer, to kiss him, to see the fireworks forever reflected in his eyes. I wanted to explain everything, to give him the answers he deserved, to tell him that I loved him. But Waverly's words echoed in my mind. How long had I known him? Even though my heart answered "forever," my head answered "only two days." I'd breathed water all my life but only air for such a short time. It was like a dream. Hadn't I always acted immaturely, selfishly, spontaneously? It was irrational to think I could leave my world for his.

The shooting pain in my side wasn't as sharp as the pain exploding in my heart.

"Lilly!" I shouted. "Lilly! Where are you?" I cried against the blasting music but it was futile.

I stared out to sea with a sinking feeling. "Lilly!" I called again. "Lilly!"

Suddenly Waverly's head popped above the surface, and then, a moment later, much to my relief, so did Lilly's.

In an instant she was treading water below me, next to the jutting rock beneath my feet. She swam so - Lilly. From head to toe, or should I say fin?

The reality hit me harder than my surfboard had the other day. She was beautiful, yes, even more beautiful in the water, but instead of legs she had the tail of a sparkling green fish. What I thought had been a hallucination the first time I saw her turned out to be fact.

This couldn't be. I was in love with a . . . mermaid?