I flip up. “You do? Who possibly wouldn’t want to be with you?” I can feel my face go bright red, a rush of heat that overrides the cold air against my wet skin. I slowly duck my head underwater to hide my embarrassment. Fortunately, it just makes Ross chuckle.

They bend down and tap me on the very top of my head, the only part of my body that’s still peeking above the water. I pop back up and meet their eyes. “I just really want to go back home. I miss everyone there and it’s barely been one day.”

“Shit, Ross, I’m so sorry,” I say. “I’ve been talking about myself ever since we met, and you’ve got your own crap to deal with.”

“Don’t worry about it,” they say. “Besides, it’s actually a good thing your life is so messed up.”

They’re so blunt I can’t help but Donkey Laugh. Ross laughs too, and it’s so lighthearted and exuberant and playful that it boosts me up. It makes me feel as comfortable as when I’m around Kavya, and how normally no matter how upset either of us is, it can all be washed away with an epic water fight. It’s so stupid and little kid, but I don’t know. Something about it is just refreshing. In the next second I’m thinking Ross might like that too, so before I know it, I’m springing out of the water, grabbing Ross’s hand, and pulling them in with me.

“Motherfucker!” they scream. But the cuss doesn’t sound cute or funny this time. They sound pissed. Legitimately angry. All the playfulness from just two seconds ago gone.

But it’s too late. I can’t take back the yank that sends Ross tumbling down, down, down until—

SPLASH!

They’re flailing limbs and disheveled orange hair and horribly angry scowls before they’re fully submerged.

At first I think maybe Ross can’t swim. That could also explain why they were washed up yesterday on the beach. So as soon as Ross goes under, my lifeguard instincts kick in. I grab them beneath the shoulders and pull them up.

We surface, and I go into soothe mode. “You’re okay. It’s going to be o—Oof!”

The wind is completely knocked out of me. I fly back, nearly smacking my head against the side of the pool.

“What the hell, Ross? You nearly got me concussed!” Upset Accountant. But what else are you supposed to say when somebody kicks you so hard you practically smash your head in?

When I get my bearings, I’m not convinced I didn’t hit my head after all. That would be the only explanation for what I’m seeing.

Ross is still there, floating in front of me, but now they have a fin.

A bright orange, glistening, scaled fin.

     Ross