Stacie's POV

I have been super paranoid since what happened. It's only been a day, but still. Everywhere I look, I see that strange shadow of a person. I have had nightmares about it all last night. When someone calls my name, I freak out. Why would someone scare me like that? I am afraid for my life now. It's beyond creepy. It kills me knowing what could have happened. Mostly because I know my mom wouldn't be able to take care of Brittany, Blythe, and Avery by herself.

~

I have avoided Marissa ever since I have gotten to school. I go straight to my locker, taking a different route than her. I swim out of my way, making sure I don't see her.

As I sit in my seat waiting for History to begin, I see Marissa swim in. Uh, oh.

"Hi, Stacie," she says, annoyed.

"Um, hi," I answer.

"Where did you go? I didn't see you pass by me." I can tell she is upset with me.

"Um, I took a different route today," I say, twiddling with my fingers.

"Why didn't you stop to talk to me?"

"I don't know. I didn't feel like it today," I say, hoping she doesn't hear the fear in my voice.

"What's wrong?" she asks, curious.

Ugh, she knows something's up with me. Marissa can always tell when there's something wrong with me. She's practically psychic.

"Yesterday, I was swimming to pick up Brittany when I saw a shadow following me. It was really creepy. I kept getting nightmares of it replaying over and over in my head all night. The ending would always be the same. The person would grab me and kill me," I whisper, so people around us can't hear me.

"Wow! That's weird! What did you do?" Marissa asks, worried.

"I swam! What was I supposed to do? I was around no other mermaids, and I couldn't get taken! What would my mom do without my help? No one else would step up! Brittany certainly wouldn't!" I scream. Marissa places a hand on my shoulder.

"Class, please sit down. It's time to begin," Mr. Johnson yells loud enough for all of us to hear. I glance around, noticing everyone is in their seats, except Marissa.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't. I would be nothing without you. You're the rock that holds me down," Marissa whispers.

How sweet. I smile, and she smiles back. I can always count on Marissa to cheer me up. Marissa sits down in her seat. I'm glad she sits right next to me.

"Class, get with your partners and begin working on your projects," Mr. Johnson orders.

I glance over at Marissa, who surprisingly is smiling. In a way, I am too. I guess she can't wait to see what today brings with the boys either. Marissa gets up and swims over to Nick. I look over at Alex, who is already on his way over to me. He sits down in Marissa's seat.

"Hi," I say, excited. I try to calm myself down. I don't even know why I am excited. Alex was a jerk the first day. Besides, I don't like him. Yeah, he's cute, but that's not everything in a person. Looks aren't the qualities that make up a person, their personality is.

"Hi," Alex says, sounding nervous.

Why is he nervous? Was it something I said? I only said hi. "Ready to work on our project?"

"I guess..."

Something's off about him. Even though I have only known him for a day, I can tell he is acting strange. Alex's hands keep twitching as they lie on his tail. Something is making him nervous. I'm nervous too, but nowhere near as much as him. What does he have to be nervous about? He wasn't almost attacked yesterday.