Becca held her hands up. “Okay, fine. Don’t tell me. I really don’t care.”
Only a few minutes ago she thought she might’ve misjudged Astrid. Now she saw that she hadn’t. The merl was just as obnoxious as ever.
An awkward silence descended. Becca reached for a cherry. As she did, she saw something crawling on the marsh melon.
“Ugh. Crabs. They’ve smelled the food,” she said.
A small army of the creatures had invaded the cave. Some were attacking the squid eggs. Others were carrying off a water apple. Becca scolded them, but they paid no attention. She brushed the one crab off the melon, but a dozen more were scuttling toward the cherries.
“They’re getting everywhere!” she exclaimed, picking up the cherries. “Astrid, can you help me shoo them away?”
Astrid reached for her scabbard, took her sword out, and brandished it. “I think I’ll have some nice, fresh crabmeat with my melon,” she said loudly. The creatures must’ve understood Mermish, for they scattered.
Again, Becca was puzzled by Astrid’s decision not to use magic. Why didn’t she cast a commoveo spell? she wondered as she put the cherries back down on the blanket. She didn’t understand Astrid’s weirdness at all.
Then suddenly she did.
Oh, wow, she thought. That explains everything! Astrid’s unwillingness to songcast…her interest when I talked about my magic growing stronger…her defensiveness…They’re all part of the same problem.
Becca reached for her traveling case and started to dig through it, pretending that she was looking for something. She was pretty certain she’d figured out the reason behind Astrid’s eccentricity, but she wanted to confirm her suspicions before confronting her.
“I, uh, I just remembered I have some, um…candied mussels in my bag. They’d make a nice dessert, don’t you think? Could you cast an illuminata for me?” she asked lightly. “The one I cast earlier isn’t strong enough to light up this mess.”
“An illuminata? Um, well, I really shouldn’t,” Astrid said. “I’ve got a cold and my voice is raspy. It would go way wrong.”
But Astrid’s voice wasn’t raspy. And Becca hadn’t heard her sniffle once.
I am right, she thought. She closed her case and put it aside. “Astrid…” she said gently.
Astrid quickly looked away, but not before Becca glimpsed the desperation in her eyes, and the fear. Becca recognized those emotions. She knew them well. She reached for Astrid’s hand.
“What, Becca? For gods’ sake, what?” Astrid said, knotting her hand into a fist.
“You don’t really have a cold, do you?” Becca asked.
Astrid didn’t reply, but her eyes filled with tears.
This was bad. Very bad. This was about the worst.
“Oh, Astrid,” she said, her heart aching for this tough, sad, misunderstood mermaid. “You can’t sing.”
ASTRID QUICKLY BLINKED away her tears and tried to recover her cool.
“Of course I can sing,” she said.
Becca shook her head. “No, you can’t. That’s why you left us. Because you wanted to keep it a secret and were afraid we’d find out. Afraid we wouldn’t accept you.”
Astrid rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Spare me the amateur psych session, would you?” She rose and started stuffing the leftover food into her backpack.
“What are you doing?” asked Becca.
“Packing up. I’ve got to get going. I’ve wasted enough time here already.”
Becca was stung by the insult, but she didn’t give up. “So I’m a waste of time, huh? Nice, Astrid. Is that how you cope? By pushing mer away when they come too close? By swimming off when you get scared?”
Astrid snorted. “I’m not scared of much, Becca. Certainly not of you,” she said.
“You’re scared of the truth, though.”
Astrid finished packing. She cinched her backpack. “It’s been real,” she said, turning to swim away. “Happy travels.”
Becca tried one last time. “Hey, Astrid? This isn’t an attack, okay?” she said. “It’s me being a friend. Or trying to.”
Astrid stopped. Her shoulders sagged. She looked like a puffer fish that had suddenly deflated.
“I understand. I really do,” Becca said softly.
Astrid whirled around. “No, you don’t,” she said hotly. “How could you? You’re normal, Becca. Your whole life is normal. You have parents who aren’t disappointed in you. You go to school and no one makes fun of you. No one talks behind your back. No one thinks you’re a joke.”
“Yep,” Becca said brightly. “That’s me, little Miss Normal.”
“How did you know, anyway?” Astrid asked.
“Well, the fact that you never songcast kind of gave me a clue. And…”
“And what?”
“And I always know when someone’s hiding something,” Becca said.
“Yeah? How?” Astrid asked skeptically.
“Because I usually am that someone,” Becca replied.