The girl behind her had flowing red hair. It was beautiful the way it swirled around her slender body. She could not make out her face very well, but in her mind, she knew it was Mara. Mayumi smiled while she was dreaming, turning over onto her back and kicking off her bedsheets. She always had this dream, or some variations of it. The redhead was always in them and always following her, or Mayumi would be chasing her. It was like a fun game of cat and mouse; they never managed to reach each other.

Which was why most mornings she woke up with a happy, yet frustrated feeling. It was a lovely and magical dream, but why couldn't she ever get close enough to see the mermaid's face, or touch her hand? She shook her head and then sighed. Mayumi climbed out of bed and quickly went through her morning routine, fed Holly and grabbed everything she needed for her trip to the secret cove.

This time, she put on a yellow pok-o-dot bikini and a pair of lime green jean shorts over the bottoms. At the beach, she would take the shorts off, maybe this time get in the water with Mara. She may not be a mermaid, but they could at least swim together a little, right? What could it hurt? She grinned stupidly at the idea. 

"Bye Holly!" She yelled to her fuzzy feline and made a dash out her front door, grabbing a piece of toast on the way. She gobbled it down and ran toward the beach. When she got to there, she slowed down, took a deep breath and tried to act like a normal girl going out for a swim. She did not want any nosy person to follow her to the rocks and wonder why she'd be nuts enough to climb them.

When she was near the rocks, she looked around, making sure she was alone. Mayumi got over them in record time, though she managed to scrape her leg on a jagged rock, cutting it enough that it started to bleed. She did not even notice, because she was so eager to see Mara.

"Oh hello," she said when she got to the water's edge and saw her friend waiting for her. She dropped her duffel bag, kicked off her shoes, socks and shorts and then walked out to meet Mara. "Did I keep you waiting long?"