Now it’s Ross’s turn to look like they’ve been slapped. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s easy for you, Ross. You get to be here for a month and then leave, like our time together never even happened. Like what happens up here isn’t your responsibility. You think you and all mer are the saviors of this earth? It sounds to me like you’re the most self-centered people out there. Each and every one of you thinks life is hard up here, that we’re all so terrible, so you just go back to the ocean, where you can hide from it all. Where you can keep doing what you’re doing and then blame anything bad that happens on us. All so you can be so sanctimonious and pat yourselves on the back for being so good and helping out a pathetic loser, then hightailing it back to the Blue. But if you stayed up here and fought, maybe you could actually enact some real change instead of washing your hands of it. The only one of you who has any guts is Kavya’s mom, seeing the world, giving us a chance. So go ahead and say you hate it here, that merpeople are so benevolent and selfless. Looks to me that between the two of us, I’m the only one who actually gives a shit about how their actions affect others. I’m better than getting whatever scraps you want to throw my way. I’m better than you.”

Ross doesn’t say a word. They stand there, their mouth silently moving up and down.

It’s fitting.

It makes them look like a fish.

     Ross     

Sean stomps away, leaving me completely dumbfounded. The farther he walks, the tighter the grip on my heart and lungs, an eel around my torso that won’t let go.

The hedge door slams as Sean heads into the street. At least now I know it’s shut. Just after, the floorboards in the living room creak. I turn to find Drop, back in their human form, shirtless.

“I thought it’d be best for me to stay inside,” they say. “They seemed really angry. Is that Sean?”

“Yes, that’s Sean,” I yell. “And you’ve completely ruined everything, Drop. This is why we are supposed to do this thing alone. We were so happy, and I didn’t need you to get in the flicking way!”

Drop scoffs. Like, they actually have the nerve to huff at me right now when one of the greatest people I’ve ever met just stormed out of my life. “Oh, what, like you were going to stay on land and be with a human forever?”