Cora was doing some work on her laptop in the common room when the other mermaids came swimming up through the entrance. They appeared shaken up about something and were all talking at once. Except for a glance or two in her direction, they didn't acknowledge that Cora was even there.
"I can't believe that man attacked you!" Piper exclaimed, putting her hand on Nerissa's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I think I'll be alright," Nerissa responded, wiping away tears that weren't there. "I think I just have to re-evaluate who I engage with."
Cora rolled her eyes. This ought to be good, she thought.
"I remember that man from a few days ago," Nerissa continued. "His name was John Olsen. He had seemed nice, but he wouldn't stop asking me questions, and he wasn't very good looking. I shouldn't have talked to him in the first place."
Catalina nodded vigorously. "From now on, we should only talk to cute guys under the age of 21."
"Maybe 22 if they're really attractive," Piper interjected.
"Yeah, guys like Mason Harper," Meredith said dreamily, and Nerissa gave her a fierce look.
"Mason Harper is mine, Meredith," Nerissa said sharply. "I claimed him yesterday."
"I know," Meredith said, "but I can still admire him, can't I?"
Nerissa narrowed her eyes, but then shrugged. "I suppose."
Isla frowned. "Who is Mason Harper?"
"Only the best looking guy in all existence," Meredith replied, drumming her fingers on her heart. "Dark hair, crystal blue eyes, and a smile to die for."
"And he's really nice," Piper added.
"And he's mine," Nerissa said with a flick of her pink tail that effectively silenced the other mermaids for a few seconds.
"Well, I don't know about you guys," Isla finally said with a shy smile, "but I think Jack Baker is really attractive."
Cora flinched at the mention of the boy she hated.
"The security guard?" Catalina asked. "With the red hair?"
"There's nothing wrong with red hair," Piper said defensively.
"Yeah," Isla responded. "He's just so manly. I feel like he could protect me from anything. And I think he's interested in me."
An odd twinge of pain rippled through Cora, but she quickly suppressed the feeling and passed it off as surprise.
"I don't know," Piper said, chewing on her fingernail, "he's kind of hairy. That beard..."
"Oh, his beard is perfect!" Isla said with a giggle. "Not too long, not too short."
Meredith nodded. "I could bury my fingers in a good beard."
The rest of them gave her a strange look and Nerissa cleared her throat. "Well, Isla, you have my permission to like him if you want, but he seems a bit weird to me."
"Absolutely, I agree," Cora said suddenly. "That guy is completely unstable."
Nerissa gasped and gave Cora a murderous look. "Nobody asked you, Cora!" She yelled, then turned and swam out of the common room. The other mermaids dutifully followed her.
Cora shrugged and went back to working on her laptop. She was getting tired of their asinine conversation anyway.
*****
Cora swam as fast as she could towards the inlet where the jungle and the cliffs bordered the lagoon. Trying to decipher what Lina, her dolphin friend, was trying to tell her had been a bit difficult, but she had gotten the essence of the message. Blue, the other dolphin, was in mortal danger.
Cora had learned to communicate with the two dolphins in the lagoon early during her time in Neverland. Since the other mermaids had been ostracizing her for years, she worked on befriending the dolphins and had developed a good sense of their language. Often, she found that the conversations she had with the dolphins were far more interesting and intellectual than those she had with the other mermaids.
She reached the inlet and found that Blue was tangled up in the plastic netting they used to keep visitors out of the lagoon. The barrier was generally effective until the Buffalostrich Rex came along and ate through it, spitting the residue into the water. Cora swam up to the struggling dolphin and tried to calm him. Lina hung behind, swimming back and forth in an anxious manner. Once Blue was relatively still, Cora worked her fingers through the netting, breaking it when necessary to free the dolphin's flippers and dorsal fin.
Finally, when Cora had removed all of the netting, Blue swam free and brushed up against her in gratitude. She followed the dolphins up to the surface where they bobbed their heads at her, whistling and clicking their thanks. She whistled a message back that loosely meant, "It was nothing." Cora watched the two dolphins swim away and was about to follow them when a heavy rod hit her on the shoulder. She spun around in anger and found a young man standing at the edge of the cliffs with a look of surprise on his face.
"What do you think you're..." her words and her fury faded as she took in the young man standing before her. Jet black hair, crystal blue eyes, and a smile to die for. She couldn't remember ever seeing anyone with such white teeth.
"Were you... talking to those dolphins?" He asked her, his eyes wide open in amazement.
"Maybe," Cora responded. She knew she should swim away, but she was captivated by his strong, cleft chin.
"That's incredible. You must have a lot of free time on your hands."
"You have no idea," Cora said before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth.
He smiled at her and she thought that her insides might melt.
"You must be Mason," Cora blurted, wanting to slap herself for being so awkward.
He raised his eyebrows. "Indeed, I am. How did you know? Can you read minds as well as talk to dolphins?"
Cora laughed, but it came out stilted. "No. It's just that the other girls are quite enamored with you."
Mason chuckled and looked at the ground. "I see. But the real question is whether you are enamored with me. It seems your estimation is the only one that matters."
Cora's jaw dropped, but she quickly closed it. She felt as if her heart was doing flips in her chest.
"It's really too early to draw any conclusions," she said, hoping that her unsteady voice didn't betray the fact that she was most definitely enamored with him.
"I've got my work cut out for me, then," Mason replied with a wink. "And I regret to say that I'll have to start it by asking you a favor, but first, I have a question."
"Of course, ask me anything." Ugh, could I sound any more desperate? She thought.
"I couldn't help but notice that you're not in the show with the other mermaids. Why is that?"
Cora hesitated. A part of her wanted to share all of her secrets with this gorgeous stranger, but she hadn't quite lost her sense of self preservation. "I'm shy. Being in front of a crowd is difficult for me, and I'm not really comfortable showing myself to the world."
"That's a pity," Mason replied, looking at her so intensely it seemed he was boring holes through to her soul. "So, you're afraid."
"You could say that, yes."
He studied her a moment longer. "But it's not because you're shy."
"What makes you say that?"
"You're afraid that everyone will find out what you really are. That you're not just some beautiful girl who dons a tail for a few hours a day, but that this is, in fact, your life and your world. You proved this by not participating in the show, for why would they hire a girl to pretend to be a mermaid if she's not going to entertain and engage with the guests?"
"Th-That's an interesting theory," she stammered, "but they're still working on my role. I'll be doing more intimate interactions."
"Even if that were the case, it still wouldn't explain how the other mermaids are able to jump so high or hold their breath for so long. And in my brief conversations with them, even though they don't divulge much, I've deduced that they do, in fact, live at the bottom of this lagoon."
Cora began to shake. Here it was. Everything she feared had been found out in just a few observations.
Mason must have seen the shock on her face because he held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. I'm actually more interested in protecting all of you. Believe me, I know how it feels to be looked at as different and unnatural." He lifted up his pant leg to reveal a large, metal boot in place of his calf and foot. "I was in the military for a short time," he explained, "it happened in an unfortunate conflict."
He gazed mournfully at his metal foot, and Cora's heart went out to him. The others hadn't mentioned that he was missing half a limb. Mason apparently thought this feature made him less attractive, but it only made Cora like him more.
"Which brings me to that favor," he said, shaking off his morose mood with a small smile. "I wandered over here because I was following an exquisite mechanical wolf. Then I saw you and those dolphins, and I was so surprised that I dropped my crutch which, regrettably, hit your shoulder before it sank to the bottom of the lagoon. Would it be too much to ask you to retrieve it for me?"
"Oh, so you're just using me for my tail," Cora joked, hoping it wasn't too much.
"Yes, at this moment, I am."
Cora smiled and dove into the water, easily locating the crutch and bringing it back up to the surface.
"You are magnificent," Mason said, bending down and taking the crutch from Cora. His eyes locked on hers. "Thank you so much. You can't imagine how much I rely on this silly stick."
"We all have our weaknesses," Cora said breathlessly.
Mason gave her a charming half smile. "And I fear you are bringing out too many of mine."
He held her gaze for a few seconds more, and then stepped back and situated his crutch underneath his arm. "It has been enchanting to meet you... oh dear, I don't even know your name and yet I feel as though I've known you my entire life."
"It's Cora."
"What a lovely name."
"Thank you."
"Well, Cora, I'd better get back to my group, but would it be too forward to ask if I could see you again?"
Cora nearly jumped out of the water. "Not at all. I have a pretty open schedule."
Mason chuckled. "I suppose you do. I have to work all day tomorrow, but how about the next day, Friday? Perhaps we can meet here again, around 4:00?"
"Sounds perfect."
Mason winked at her again then turned and disappeared into the jungle. Cora felt like she should slap herself for being so idiotically lovestruck, but she couldn't help that the thought of Mason Harper made her smile more than she had in years.