Dangerous Waters Unexpected Love

The Down Side

Chapter 2

Calissa’s POV

My cousins were all well-versed in our history, but I was just learning it. I learned it is high praise to get a compliment from my Uncle Ronan. He is very demanding of me, especially during our training. I can tell that he pushes me hard, and I have already figured out why he does it like that. He knows that when I come to the kingdom, it is going to be tough on me. I will be dealing with numerous people who will have an issue with my mere existence. Especially when it comes to my having special abilities.

My uncle is sure that I have a few more. We already know about my being able to shapeshift into a human or a mermaid. We have not tried to change into anything else. He already told me that I would be able to change to other forms as well, but that was a difficult power to have full control of. I was happy enough just to be able to go from human to mermaid. I doubt that I will feel the need to change into any other forms, but we will see more when the time comes. Right now, I am just focused on learning how to navigate the ocean safely. That is it.

I had previously thought that I would work at my part-time job all summer long. That was how I earned money for my school clothes, shoes, and supplies. But I just found out that I won’t be able to work all summer long this year. I have so many things that I have to be trained on. I just won’t have time for it. There was nothing that I could do about it. I will have to pass a test, one that I was assured was going to be an extremely difficult one. I have to pass it to be recognized as an actual member of the kingdom.

Uncle Ronan told me that after the other crossbreeds had started to take it, it had started to become progressively harder every single year for the last six years. My father's oldest son, Troy, was put in charge of the test when he turned twenty. Troy will be taking over from our father when he steps down. Troy loves being able to torment his half-siblings by making the test harder to pass each year. Dad knows about me finally getting my powers, but the rest of his family doesn’t.

At least Uncle Ronan doesn’t think so. Asherah, my cousin, believes that they do know that I am coming. Uncle Ronan had mentioned me at home, and his whole family had heard about me, and how proud he was of me learning so quickly. Asherah told me privately that she believed that her youngest sister, Sirena, had told one of her best friends, Alana, about me. The problem? Alana is my half-sister and my father's youngest daughter in his official family.

If that is the case, then Troy will have a lot of time to be putting my challenge together. That is the reason that Uncle Ronan has been so tough on me. Pushing me to learn as quickly, and as much, as I can, before I enter the kingdom. He knows that they are setting me up for failure, all because they are mad that I even exist.

I have to do what I need to, to get that done. I already knew that I would have numerous people against me once I got there. I have to go to our local kingdom. The one which happens to be my father's, to be trained much further than I am right now. I know that I have a lot more to learn. In my head, I knew that I needed to get up to speed as quickly as I could. I am good under pressure though. I am used to having a target on me. I knew that I could do this. I thrive under pressure. I like to prove people wrong about me. I have had a target on my back since middle school. I will be starting my senior year this coming August. I wanted to try to end my high school experience on a high note. I was pretty disappointed to know that it was probably not going to happen.

This opportunity that I have been given is like a dream come true. I was not going to allow it to pass me by without grasping hold of it with both hands. I will just need notebooks, pens, and shoes for when school starts. I have a little over a thousand dollars in my checking account. I can make do until I can make enough to get the rest of what I need after school starts. I am just going to wear the clothes I already have in my closet. I understand the difference between a want and a need. I have had to deal with a lot of crap before. I am pretty sure that it will happen again. My clothes may not be new, but they are clean, and that is good enough.

At the end of this week, I will be going to live in the kingdom for a month. My Uncle Ronan told me that I would be living with him, and his family, while I was there. That will be the safest spot for me. I am excited about getting to meet his wife and the rest of his family. So far, I have only gotten to meet his oldest son, Varon, and his middle daughter, Asherah. Asherah told me that I could stay with her, in her room. I know she wants to warn me about something, but she keeps holding back from saying what it is. I don’t know if she was told not to say anything to me, or not. I am pretty sure that I am going to find out what it is once I get there.

I will have to go to training from the end of the first week of July, through to the first week of August. I should be back at home by the second week of August. I took off from work for a month. My manager was not happy about me asking off for a month. Since school was out, he could make up most of my schedule with the other teenagers, but a lot of them didn't like to work all summer. He kept asking me why I needed over a month off. I know it was odd for me to not work all summer long. I had worked the last two summers straight through for him, but there was nothing that I could say about it.

He couldn’t leave it alone and finally said, “Well Calissa, I hope your job is still available when you decide to come back in August”. I knew he was just trying to pressure me into taking it back. He knew my home situation, which made his trying to pressure me even more frustrating. I am always there, and I never cause problems. I come in to work for others with little to no notice. I am the best employee that he has. It was infuriating that he felt compelled to threaten me like that. I have never even taken a vacation from work before. It showed me just how little I mattered to him to treat me like that.

“Hopefully it is,” I told him. I gave him a tight smile and then left the restaurant. Originally, I was going to work the last few days before I left. But not anymore. I had headed home to get packed up. I am not going to worry about that job. I could get another one, or I could just focus on tutoring more to earn money. I made a pretty good amount of money tutoring after school last year. I am sure that I can do that again this year. I only needed to mention to my teachers that I am looking for students to tutor. I am sure that they will send the ones needing help right to me.

If I am being honest, I am a little worried about meeting the rest of my uncle's family. I could tell there was a problem with the expressions on their faces when I would ask them questions about their other brothers and sisters. I might not be as welcomed into their home as I had hoped I would be. That made me nervous, as I only wanted to fit in somewhere. I already knew that I wouldn’t be allowed to be included in my father’s family. I have been praying that there will be some other hybrids like me there too. I would love to be able to make some more friends while I am there. I don’t have any friends at high school. I barely have conversations with my co-workers at work.

The fact that I am a crossbreed was bad enough. The fact that I had special gifts was going to make it even tougher for me to fit in. Not all mermaids are blessed with gifts. Some are just mermaids, and they are not happy about it. To me, isn’t being a mermaid wonderful enough? I would have been happy just to be able to be one with the ocean and see all the beauty that it holds. I know without them saying it. The target I already had on my back, by being half-human, was pretty large in itself. Having more than one special power is going to cause me a great number of problems.

I already knew that my father, Kano, and my uncle Ronan, were both direct descendants of the Greek god, Poseidon. From my recent studies on him, Poseidon also got very busy working to help populate not just the oceans but all around the world. The reason that Merpeople are so prevalent now is largely because of him. He was good at his work too, apparently even better than my dad. It is well known that he has a great number of descendants who live both in the water and on land. My uncle had warned me that my reception would probably not be a good one. But I still had to be formally introduced to the kingdom.

Asherah went behind him to give me more information about how things were run in the kingdom. That was a little more helpful. It let me know that it would be the same crap that I have been going through as a human, only it would be worse. All the excitement that I originally had about finding out that I was a mermaid was almost gone now. It was all shattered this week when I heard that news. I had already been condemned as an unwanted nerd in my human form. I honestly thought becoming a mermaid was a dream come true. That I had found my tribe, the people who would accept me. All the hope that I had for a bright future ahead, has all come crashing down. I guess I am just not wanted in either place.