Alex's POV

Maybe Stacie doesn't know it was me following her? Maybe she missed me somehow? She isn't acting like she knows it's me. I guess I should see where this leads. If she acts weird at all towards me, I'll know she knows. Act normal, Alex. She's probably wondering why you're being distant, if she, in fact, doesn't know.

"So, I think we should get to know each other since we will be working together for a month," Stacie says awkwardly. I nod my head.

"Okay. Um, you can ask me a question first," I say, pondering over what to ask her.

"What's your favorite color?" she asks.

Why would she ask that? Our favorite colors are the colors of our tails. Maybe she thought I had changed mine?

"I like the color green. Not a dark one, but a brighter green."

"Cool, I like purple. Any shade of purple is fine with me, as long as it's purple." I nod. I knew her favorite color was purple already, but I didn't know she liked any kind of purple. Stacie giggles. I swear I can hear singing as she does so. "Your turn," Stacie says, snapping me out of my dream-like state.

"Where is your favorite place to be? Like where do you like to go?"

"I don't think I really have a favorite place. Wait, I know! I like this one place where I can sit on a mountaintop and see the moon shining down on me. It's really beautiful. The moon gets big, and I can see blue in it. I feel at home whenever I go there. I feel like I belong there," Stacie says passionately. She must really like this place, wherever it is.

"Wow, I've never heard of or seen a place like that," I say, wondering. How come I have never followed her to a place like this? If it is her favorite place, wouldn't she visit it whenever she could? I would.

"Yeah, I haven't been there in a while. When I get emotional, I like to go there to think and let everything go," Stacie admits, looking away from me. I can't believe she would tell me something personal like that. "You didn't tell me yours," she states, curiously looking back at me.

"Well, I like to go to this cave I found. I can be in there for hours. At night, the moon shines right above an opening at the top. It's amazing. In a way, I feel like I belong there, too. It's my home away from home." I guess we both like the moon. I wonder how Stacie found that mountaintop. Did she just stumble upon it one day? But, there are no mountains around here. It'd be hard not to spot a mountain. I gaze over at Stacie, who is smiling.

"I would love to see it sometime."

"Really?" I ask, astonished. She nods.

"Sure, I love seeing new things." I smile.

She really wants me to take her. Who knows? It could even be a date. "Your turn," I chuckle.

"What's your favorite thing to do?"

"I don't really know. I usually stay in my room and keep to myself."

"There has to be something..." Stacie urges.

"I kind of like to draw," I admit. The only other person who knows is Nick, of course. My parents wouldn't approve. They would think it's silly and a waste of my time. In their minds, I have to focus on things towards my career.

"Wow, really? I sort of like to sing..." she says, almost in a whisper. I can tell she is shy about it. I wonder if she's any good.

"That's cool," I smile, hoping to reassure her.

"I like to stay in my room, too. Usually, I can't though," Stacie says, frowning.

"Why not?" I ask curiously. She looks up at me, searching for any emotion. I smile, trying to show she can trust me.

Her eyes... I could die in her lovely eyes.

"I help my mom take care of my siblings. I feel bad that she has to do it alone."

So, she does have a mother. Why haven't I ever seen her, though? "What about your dad?"

"He left us... a long time go," Stacie frowns. I instantly regret bringing him up.

"I'm sorry," I say, apologizing. I didn't know that about her.

"It's okay. I wouldn't want him to stay if he didn't care about us. It would be pointless," she half-smiles.

"How many siblings do you have?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"I have two sisters and a brother. Brittany is twelve, and my other sister, Blythe, is seven. Avery is three. After school, I pick Brittany and Blythe up from their schools. Avery is still too young. He can't wait until next year, though. He's really excited for preschool." I can see Stacie light up. She really loves her brother. I mean, she loves the other ones too, but they don't really act like they love her back.

"If you don't mind me asking, what does your mom do? It must be hard taking care of you guys alone," I ask, hoping to not upset her again.

"She works as a janitor at night while everyone is asleep. She works at a big company. When I awake, she's passed out in her bed. I usually feed my siblings and take my sisters to school. I don't want to disturb her while she's resting."

"Oh, okay."

"My turn," Stacie says, chuckling a little. "Do you have any siblings?" she asks. I can see curiousness shining in her chocolate-brown eyes. "Alex?" Stacie asks, waiting for an answer.

"Um, no. I'm an only child. I guess my parents only wanted one," I say, looking away from her. If I look any longer into her eyes, I might not be able to stop myself from fading into them.

"So, both of your parents are in your life, then?" Stacie asks.

This just became extremely awkward. I feel bad she only has one parent when I have two, if you even want to call them parents. "Uh, yeah. I guess you could say that."

"What do you mean?"

"Um, they're not really home ever. They are always working or are too busy for me," I admit truthfully.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. Like you said, I wouldn't want them to pretend to be interested in me if they really weren't. It wouldn't be fair to me." Stacie nods.

"So, what do you do, then? Just hang out in your room all day drawing?"

"Um, no. I don't do that all day," I say.

"Then, what do you do all day?"

"I sometimes hang out with Nick or do whatever I feel like at the time. Mostly, I will draw pictures, but not always."

"You must be really good, then. Can I see them sometime? I mean, unless you don't want me to?"

"No, I would love to show you sometime. It would be cool to have someone tell me if they're any good." Stacie smiles happily and nods her head once.

"Okay! Good," she says excitedly.

The school bell screams, startling both Stacie and me. She frowns and starts to pack up her things. I hate seeing her upset. A beautiful creature like her doesn't deserve to be upset ever, but why is she upset? It's not like it's because of me, even though I wish a million times over it could be. I begin packing up my stuff, too.

Once Stacie is finished, she smiles towards me, showing her pearly, white teeth.

"Bye," she says, waving. I wave back, smiling. Marissa catches up to her, smiling contently, too.

I take it Nick and she must have had a good time.

Stacie swims out the door with Marissa by her side.