Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings by Helene Boudreau Read Free Book Online

with her again.
    No secrets. Full disclosure.
    “Hey, Jade. You feeling okay?” The door squeaked as Dad opened it a crack.
    “Mmm-hmm, yeah, I think so. You can come in.” I scraped my mess of curls into a hair tie from my bedside table.
    Dad entered, carrying a laundry basket. He set it down on my dresser.
    “I checked on you a little earlier, but you were still comatose. Did you have a good sleep?”
    “Yeah, thanks.” I smiled then noticed the shadow of stubble lining Dad’s jaw. His hair poked out at all angles. “You, on the other hand, look like you’ve seen better days. Although, if you’re going for the aging, burnt-out rocker look, you’ve totally nailed it.”
    “Insolent child.” Dad laughed and tossed a pair of bundled-up socks my way. I ducked.
    “I’m just saying.” I swung my legs over the side of the bed and tested my verticalness. So far, so good. Maybe I’d meet Cori and Lainey after all.
    “Can I be useful over here?” I grabbed a bunch of T-shirts and added them to the teetering pile on top of my dresser.
    “See these things?” Dad smirked and pulled open a drawer. He lined up my socks like little cotton soldiers. “It’s a scientific breakthrough. They call it: the drawer.”
    “Wow. I must have missed that last Obsessive Compulsives Anonymous meeting,” I joked.
    I helped pick up the rest of the clothes. Soon, only the Michaela tankini was left at the bottom of the laundry basket. We both reached for it at once.
    Dad pulled his hand away and smiled. “Good as new.” He nodded to the suit.
    “Thanks, Dad.” I took both pieces and refolded them slowly.
    “Your mom would have loved it, by the way.” Dad piled the clothes from my hamper into the empty laundry basket.
    “You saw the tag?”
    Dad straightened and squeezed his eyes shut. He brought his hands to his face and soon, his shoulders shook.
    “Oh, Dad. I’m sorry. I should have warned you.” I hugged him.
    “It’s okay…I’m okay.” Dad pulled himself together and plucked one of my pink, jasmine-scented tissues from the box on my side table. He blew his nose and forced a smile. “I just haven’t been getting much sleep lately.”
    “That’s my fault, sorry.”
    “It’s nobody’s fault, just a rough week all round. Hey, you want some breakfast?”
    “Thanks, Dad. But if it’s okay, I think I might be ready to venture out into the real world again. I’m going to catch up with Cori and Lainey at Bridget’s. I could use a bit of girl talk, you know?” I set the bathing suit down at the foot of my bed.
    “You really think that’s a good idea?” Dad’s face hardened into an expression I couldn’t read.
    “What do you mean?”
    “It’s just, well, we should decide where we go from here.”
    “And we will, I just thought if I got to talk to Cori…”
    “Jade,” Dad interrupted. His voice had an urgency that caught my breath. “Sweetie, you have to listen to me. I don’t know what you were planning, but you can’t tell anyone about what happened the other day. Do you understand?”
    “Well, I wasn’t planning on taking out a full page ad in the Port Toulouse Herald , but…”
    “No!”
    I flinched.
    “I’m sorry.” Dad’s voice softened. “I’m sure Cori would be a great comfort right now, but it’s too risky. No one can know what’s happening with you.”
    I shook my head, trying to understand. “You mean I have to live with this big secret hanging over me?”
    Dad paced the room.
    “Look.” He rubbed his hand through his hair. Again. “This is all new to both of us and without your mom here, we’re kind of in a strange place right now. Maybe it’ll happen again, maybe not, but if this ever gets out…”
    “You mean you think I’ll change into a mermaid again?” But I knew the answer from the look on his face. Dad had no idea.
    “The only things we know for sure are that Micci was a mermaid and the gene doesn’t seem to be recessive.”
    “No kidding.” I fought to