Page 101 of Shifting Tides

“Don’t turn your back on me.” Letti grabbed my shoulder and yanked it to make me face her again. “You’re not worthy ofhim. You can’t even transform like the rest of us. You’re not a real mermaid, and you never will be.”

The insult sliced deeper than I expected. But it just made me more pissed off.

“If you ever touch me like that again, I’ll show you how top-siders throw a punch.”

“Girls, do we have a problem here?”

Celeste entered the locker room and sauntered over with her arms crossed over her chest, her long red hair looking like a halo of fire around her head. As nice as Celeste could be, she could also be a strict disciplinarian, and I was seeing that side of her very clearly right now.

“No, ma’am,” Letti said, instantly straightening her back and putting her arms at her side. “Arya and I were just reaching an understanding about boundaries, weren’t we?”

She sneered at me, then spun on her heel and walked away, flipping her black locks over her shoulder.

I kept my features neutral as I watched her walk away, half tempted to storm after her and put my new defense skills to use.

Celeste gave me a concerned look. “Please tell me if any of the girls are giving you a hard time. I won’t tolerate bullying.”

“Nah, nothing like that.” I waved my hand dismissively. “Just the usual teen drama. It’s all good.”

It absolutely wasn’t, but I was so not about to be a snitch. My popularity was low enough without throwing that in. Besides, I could handle this crap myself.

“Okay,” Celeste said, both her tone and the crease in her brow saying she didn’t believe me. “Well, have a good evening, Arya.”

She left the room, and I turned back to the task of changing.

“She’s just jealous,” said a soft female voice behind me.

I looked over my shoulder. Adina was sitting on the bench in front of the opposite row of lockers, hugging her shoulders, telltale streaks on her cheeks.

“Kendall dumped her right after you showed up,” Adina continued. “She’s convinced it was your fault, even though they were having problems well before that.” She wiped her nose with her hand.

I wanted to ignore her, to finish changing and get on with my day. But she was talking to me without any of the usual poison, and she was clearly distraught.Damn my caring nature!

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She sniffled loudly. “Not really.”

Don’t do it. Don’t do it.

But I couldn’t help myself. “What happened? I heard you and Cora fighting earlier.”

Her face puckered up, and she seemed to be fighting her body’s reaction to whatever emotion she was feeling. Then she hung her head toward the ceiling and took a deep breath.

“Cora found out that I’ve been seeing Jackson for a few weeks,” she admitted like she was confessing something horrible.

“The hound?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if there was another Jackson. And I had never seen the two in the same room together.

“Yep,” Adina said with another sniffle. “She thinks I’m a traitor for seeing a guy who’s not a mer.”

I frowned. “And just because of that, she turned her back on you?”

She shook her head and looked away. “You wouldn’t understand.”

I should have taken that as my chance to go back to minding my own business and leave. But I knew what it felt like to be shunned by those bitches, even if Adina had been one until very recently. And Adina herself hadn’t hassled me like Cora and Letti had. If she was open minded enough to date someone from a different species, maybe she wasn’t so bad.

And no one deserved to be treated like this.

I closed my locker and went to sit next to her. “I may not understand everything about mer culture, but I do understand that they like to keep everything to their own. Probably better than anyone.”

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