"I would love to know what the secret is about." Rhea's eyes twinkled with delight.
She was eager to know what secret Aquamarine had, to tell her; Aquamarine could tell that.
"Are you that happy to know what it is?"
Rhea nodded with a smile. "I am eager to."
"Then I will..."
Rhea's phone began to ring and she groaned slightly.
Who could be calling? She wondered.
She wasn't sure about who was calling but she knew picking it up might be the end of her conversation with Aquamarine. She decided not to pick it up; she was about to learn a secret she wasn't ready to miss for anything.
She placed her hand into her pocket to end the call without bringing her phone out.
"Aren't you going to check who is calling? It could be your sister."
Rhea brought out her phone and just like Aquamarine had said, it was Celia calling.
She must be back from school. She thought. What a bad timing!
Rhea knew Celia must have checked her in her room and did not see her; the reason she had called. She ended the call and returned the phone to her pocket. She was determined not to pick up the call until Aquamarine was done telling her the secret.
"You are not picking up?" Aquamarine inquired.
Rhea shook her head. "I won't be picking up Celia's call. I can always call her back when I am done."
"You should pick it up, Rhea. She might have something important to say to you," Aquamarine answered.
"I do not think so. Or she would have called back or texted me. I think she wants to know my whereabouts. She should be home already."
"The more reason you should pick up or maybe call her back. She would be worried about you."
Rhea sighed. Aquamarine was right. If she doesn't pick up, Celia will be worried about her. She might go ahead and call Louie and maybe their father; they will all be worried about her and she doesn't want that. She thought about calling Celia to tell her she was fine and would be home soon. On second thought, she decided against it.
If she calls Celia, she would have to go home quickly without hearing the secret Aquamarine has to say, and she doesn't want that.
"I won't call her or pick up her calls," Rhea answered in a calm but determined voice.
"You won't change your mind. Would you?" Aquamarine asked. "I guess you won't," she added quickly when Rhea gave no reply. "I won't keep you waiting, then. Did you see the seashells over there?" Aquamarine pointed at the seashells that were placed at the far end of the pathway.
Rhea nodded. "I can see them."
"Go and bring the blue shining one."
Rhea stood up to pick the seashell up but stopped after a second thought.
"You are going to tell me the secret right?" She asked.
She needed to be sure Aquamarine would not make her look for the answer herself like she did with the bluestone.
"You won't tell me to go with the seashell without telling me the secret. Will you?" She added.
"Do you have truth issues?" Aquamarine questioned. "Why do you think I would do that?"
"I do not have truth issues." Rhea shrugged slightly. "But I do not want to have a sleepless night thinking about what the secret is, like I did with the bluestone. You gave me the stone without telling me how to use it and I had to stay awake all through the night, trying to figure out what to do. I am here now for an answer. You should have given me one. Instead, you talked about a secret that might give me another sleepless night if you do not tell me what it is."
"You do not have to worry about the secret. It's in the seashell. Take it."
Rhea went to pick up the seashell and was curious to open it. She tried to but Aquamarine stopped her
"I haven't asked you to open it, yet."
"I know and I am sorry. I was just curious."
"You can open it when you get home. Not now." Rhea nodded. "Now to the secret. I already told you that you will find the answer in the seashell you are holding but I will give you a hint. You can find out about the rest, yourself."
Rhea frowned but quickly concealed it. This wasn't what she bargained for. She had hoped that Aquamarine would answer all her questions and not complicate them.
"Can't you just tell me what the secret is? Why do you have to give me just a hint and let me find out the rest myself?"
"Because knowing all the secrets at once would be too much for you to bear."
Rhea clenched her fist. She wasn't here for this at all. All she wanted was to get the answers that she needed and not to get curious about things she would not get answers to.
She felt Aquamarine was withholding the truth from her on purpose.
"Then you shouldn't have told me about the secret. Don't you think?" she mumbled but it was clear enough for Aquamarine to hear.
"Rhea, I know how curious you are. Just seeing that makes me want to tell you everything at once but that would be too much for you."
Rhea scoffed. "I should be the one to say that, not you.". She stood up from the bench. "I can tell that you do not have plans to tell me yet. I am leaving.". She dropped the seashell on the bench. "And I won't go with this either."
She was about to leave when Aquamarine spoke up. "Do you believe that mermaids exist?"
Rhea turned swiftly, her eyes widened in both shock and excitement. She had so many thoughts going on in her mind; she wondered if the secret had something to do with mermaids. This was the story Leslie was telling her about today in the school clinic.
"Mermaids?" She asked and Aquamarine nodded.
"Do you believe that they do exist?"
Rhea shook her head. Though she had watched movies about them and was always happy to listen to such a story, she knows that they do not exist, and even if they did, that would be a long time ago, maybe some millenniums ago.
"Why do you say that?" Aquamarine asked.
"Because they do not," Rhea answered.
"If you do not believe that they exist, then you can't believe every word I will say to you."
Rhea furrowed her brows. What is Aquamarine trying to say?
"Rhea," Aquamarine called. "There is a lot beyond what you see. A lot of creatures exist, yet humans do not know about them. I had wanted you to find out about the existence of mermaids yourself. I need you to believe that they do exist, then every other thing I tell you would be easy for you to comprehend. But you are a curious cat."
Rhea folded her arms. "You mean mermaids exist?"
Aquamarine pointed at the seashell in Rhea's hand. "You can find out the truth from that. And for the hint..."
Rhea's phone began to ring and she groaned slightly. "It's Celia calling."
"You should leave now."
"What about the hint?"
"When next you see me, I will tell you."
"And when will that be?" Rhea asked but Aquamarine had vanished already.