39- Tears and stars from her eyes

hair and makeup, and then he kissed her
quickly on the lips.

“No. You look perfect.”

“Thank you.” Mia combed her hair, running a hand through the dark waves of her
hair, and the street light coming through the windows illuminated the golden
reflections that ran through her hair.

“So, we'll keep seeing each other secretly?” Mathias asked,
leaning back in his seat and watching her smooth her skirt and adjust her
blouse.

“Nearly lives and reincarnations,” she said. “Tomorrow they officially lift my punishment.”

“Well, it's a bummer, isn't it?” Mathias said, and she glared at him.

“I get turned on by this thing of us seeing each other secretly, always worried about being
found out.”

Mia laughed and Mathias closed his eyes, as if enjoying the sound. She
tried never to sing near him. She didn't want to cast a spell on him. But her voice, and even her
laughter, had an effect on him.
"Look at you, acting like a bad guy," she teased.
"Hey, I'm a tough guy."
He flexed his muscles and Mia leaned in and kissed him. He put his arms around her,
trying to pull her in for a longer kiss, but she pulled away from him.
"I'm sorry, Mathias, but I really have to go," Mia said.
"I'm sure my
father is up waiting for me."
"Excuses," Mathias sighed, but let her go. "See you at rehearsal tomorrow?"
"Of course." Mia opened the car door and got out. "See you."
She closed the door behind her and trotted down the block toward
Afa's Baby and His Mermaid Moon by Mia Antonella C.R - Page 7
her house. When Mathias dropped her off, she always made him park around the corner so that her father couldn't spy on them through the front window and catch them kissing.
As she passed Ignacio's house, she kept her eyes fixed on the sidewalk so as not to direct them in that direction. It didn't help to see that his car was parked in the driveway or that there was a light in his room. He didn't want to see her again, and that was the way it was.
Her own house seemed to be dark, and she took that as a good sign.
Theo was starting work early the next morning, so hopefully he would have already gone to sleep. When Mia opened the front door, she tried to make as little noise as possible.
“Oh my God, Seila.” Mia put her hand on her chest and leaned against the door. “What was that about?”
“I wanted to talk to you,” Seila said.
She had turned her father’s chair around so that it faced the entrance and was sitting there with her arms crossed. Her long dark hair was tied back in a messy bun and she was wearing her old, threadbare pink pajama pants, which really threw off her authoritative stance.
“You didn’t have to hide in the dark like a lunatic.”
Mia pointed at the lamp on the table beside Seila. “You nearly scared me to death.”
“Fine.”
“Fine?” Mia rolled her eyes and groaned. “Really? Is this going to be one of those talks?”
“What do you mean by ‘those talks’?” Seila asked.
—The kind where you lecture me about everything I’m doing wrong.

“I’m not lecturing you,” Seila said defensively.
“It’s just that…” She took a deep breath and tried to start over.
“It’s after ten at night and rehearsal is supposed to have ended two hours ago. You’re lucky that Dad has trusted you again,
because I know for a fact that rehearsal doesn’t last that late.”

“I’m sure Daniel is telling you the tale,” Mia murmured and looked
down at the worn carpet that covered the floor.

“Daniel isn’t telling me any tale.” Seila bristled at the
accusation. “I know this because I drove past the theater, and there was
not even a prompter left.” And judging by the amount of eyeliner you put on and how ridiculously short your miniskirt is…
“It’s not ridiculous,” Mia said, and pulled her skirt down.
Afa’s Baby and His Mermaid Moon by Mia Antonella C.R - Page 8
“… I can only come to one conclusion: you’re dating some werewolf,” Seila said. “Do you know how dangerous that is for you? Of course you do. Mermaids
kill werewolves… You’ve seen it.

Mia looked at the ground. She hadn’t yet told her sister that she had already
killed someone. At that moment, the guy had been stalking her and that had
driven her to turn into a monster. But the real reason she had
killed him was that she had to. If she wanted to survive as a mermaid, she had to
feed. Over the past four weeks, ever since Mia came home and sealed a deal with Antoinette, Seila had begun to suspect that mermaids fed themselves by killing werewolves. She had never directly asked her sister if she had killed anyone, so she had not told her. But Seila might have known that even if Mia had not killed anyone yet, she would soon.

“It’s not like that.” Mia sighed. “He’s just a werewolf who works with me at the construction site, and we spent some time together. It’s nothing out of this world.”

“A werewolf?” Seila raised an eyebrow.

“It’s Mathias Logan,” she said.

“Ah. He seems nice.” Seila seemed to relax a little, probably remembering him from when they were in high school. “But that doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to hang out with him. He’s too old for you…”

“Are you serious, Seila?” Mia mocked. Have I become
a mythological monster, and what you care about most is that Mathias and I are
three years apart?

“No, actually…” She looked up at Mia. “There are a million
reasons why you shouldn’t be secretly seeing Mathias, and one of them
is his age. Another is that you just broke up with Ignacio. But none of those reasons
really matter. The only one that counts is that you know you shouldn’t.”

“What nonsense!” Mia threw her head back and slammed it against the door.

“You and Dad kept telling me that I had to get out of the house and do something
to cheer myself up. And when I finally decide to do something, join the play, make friends… now you’re telling me that’s wrong?”

“No, Mia, that’s not what I said.” Seila was doing her
best not to raise her voice and wake her father up. All you did was walk around the house in your pajamas. You didn't get up until two or three in the afternoon. You didn't shower or eat. I wanted you to do something.
"And I'm doing something, why can't you be a little more tolerant?" Mia asked.
"I can't do what I like most in the world anymore, swimming, because with my strange supernatural speed it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the swimmers. It's not even fair to me. I fought hard to become so good,
Afa's Baby and His Mermaid Moon by Mia Antonella C.R - Page 9
and now, with hardly any effort, I can beat any record. I stopped swimming, I had to
leave Ignacio, and I might have to leave you and Dad…"
"We'll find some way to deal with this," Seila said for the
millionth time that summer.

She had interrupted her, but Mia was glad she hadn't let her
finish. He was about to say that he might have to leave his life, but he
hadn't really talked to Seila about it yet.
The mermaids were running out of patience.
But as soon as she closed the door, a lamp came on and Mia nearly screamed.