Cindy and Sammy, mermaid sisters, pulled up to the curb in front of Lucy's house to accomplish their mission.

A familiar pickup truck was also parked in front. The tailgate was down and Matt was sitting on it, waiting for them.

Cindy waved to him, and he waved back. When she got out of the car, she had an awkward moment, wondering if she should greet with a hug. He went in for a fist bump instead. Much easier.

"So we just go in through the back gate?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," Cindy said.

They were quiet for a moment as they walked across the lawn.

"So you came out to your family last night?" he asked.

"Yeah," she smiled.

"I guess they took it well then?"

"Yeah," she said. "And also, I might be coming to Aspen Ridge in the Fall."

"Hey," Matt smiled, fist bumping her again, "that's sweet."

Cindy led the way through the gate.

"The legends were true!" Liam lunged up on to the edge of the pool with his tail on. "Cindy has brought us a new guy to make into a merman!"

Matt recoiled a bit from Liam's enthusiasm. Cindy just let out a giggle. "You'll get used to Liam. He can be enthusiastic."

"And I pride myself on it," he grinned.

Liam pulled himself out of the pool. Matt stared as Liam revealed his blue merman tail. Matt seemed to be thinking "why on earth did I agree to this?"

"So," Liam said, "what's goin' on Cindy? You jump ship on Saturday with no warning, and then come back on Monday with two merfolk-to-be? What's going on?"

Cindy closed her eyes, and took slow, steady, deep breaths.

"I need you guys to be serious for a moment," she said.

Liam's smile turned to a more neutral expression. The others swam to the steps of the pool near where Liam was. Cindy waited.

"You guys... you guys are my friends."

"Yeah," Lucy and several of the others said in agreement.

"Well," Cindy said, "I... I feel really bad. I've been... I've been hiding something from you since we met."

"I... I think I know," Lucy said. "I... I felt like when you first reached out to me, it was a little sus. Your account didn't have any photos or anything. I asked you about your high school, and certain questions, and decided that you were indeed, a high schooler, and not some creeper in his 40s."

Cindy looked down at the ground. "Yeah Lucy. Yeah. You're right."

"Why all the secrecy?" Lucy asked.

All of their eyes were locked on her when she glanced back up. They stared, blinking in silence.

This was it.

"When I first messaged you Lucy.... I was a guy."

Everyone gasped, or made similar reactions. That was of course, except Liam who characteristically burst out laughing. Not the reaction Cindy would have wanted, but at least she knew he wasn't laughing in a mocking way. Liam just laughed at everything.

"Wow," he said, the first one to speak. "That's... that's really interesting! That was not what I was expecting. But... dang, that makes a lot of sense."

"So," Lucy said, "you said that when you messaged me you were a boy. So you're saying..."

Cindy breathed deep. "Yes. I'm transgender."

"Man," Liam said in astonishment. "I mean, not that I'm calling you a man. I just... wow. Never would've guessed."

"Yeah," Heather said, "I mean... you look so much like a girl."

Cindy smiled slightly. "Thank you. I guess... the reason for that is, I've had this condition called gynecomastia - a severe case of it. It happens a lot in guys going through puberty. Your hormones go out of whack, and it made my body look a lot more like a girl's."

"It wasn't just your appearance Cindy," Izzy said, "you just always have seemed like a girl. To me anyway."

"I've felt more at ease here than I have anywhere else in like, the past year," Cindy said. "I didn't have to hide my chest, or my interest in mermaids... I could just be... me. It helped me discover I was a trans girl."

"So we're the reason why you're trans?" Liam asked.

Cindy thought for a moment. "Well, I feel looking back like there was always a really feminine side of me. I always wanted to be a mermaid. And you guys were the ones that brought her out."

Lucy pulled herself up out of the pool, and let out a sigh. "I'm really glad that you feel comfortable here Cindy. I'm glad that you feel like you trust us enough to tell us about this."

"Thanks," Cindy said.

Lucy sighed again. "But... I just feel a bit peeved that you didn't tell us the truth when you first came."

"I was scared," Cindy said. "I didn't see any guys on your page. And I felt self conscious about how I looked. If I'd come as a guy, I would've had to wear a t-shirt, and it would've hurt..."

Lucy nodded. She still looked slightly upset, but like she understood. "I guess I need to update the page more... I just was a bit scared at the stared. I was afraid I'd let a mervert come."

Cindy cringed, deeply.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It's just... I was talking to someone with no real account, claiming to be a teenage girl who wanted to get in on our friend group."

Cindy looked down in shame. "I'm sorry I lied Lucy."

Lucy was about to get up, then remembered she had her tail on. "Darn thing. These things aren't always great."

Cindy smiled a bit.

"Come closer," Lucy asked her.

Cindy obliged, and Lucy gave her a hug. "But you weren't anything like I feared. You're an awesome girl. To say it the mermaid way, you're super fintastic!"

Cindy giggled. "Thanks."

Her other friends agreed similar to Lucy. Cindy was their friend, and they didn't care that she'd once been a boy.

"Oh!" Liam said. "I almost forgot!"

He wriggled out of his tail, and then went over to the pool chair he normally put his stuff on. He got out his phone, and a few moments later, Cindy heard a chime from her swimming bag.

Seeing Liam's grin, Cindy opened her own bag. It felt almost like opening a Christmas present.

When she opened her phone, she found that he'd sent her a text.

When she saw what he'd sent, her heart swelled, and she let out a giddy squeal. It was a picture of her, drawn somewhat like a Disney mermaid.

"Sorry," Liam said, "it looks a little rougher than I'd like. I normally draw a bit more realistic. And I realized -"

"No Liam," Cindy said with a few tears, "I love it."

It was cute mermaid-girl Cindy, with her cream-red tail, and smiling freckled face. She smiled wide, and saw that Liam had added a little starfish onto her hair clip.

"I'm gonna find some way to print this out and get it on the wall of my room," she said."

"Please don't!" Liam pleaded with a laugh. "At least let me make a background first."

"Okay," Cindy giggled. "But... I just really love it. After everything that's been happening with me the past few days... it means a lot to me."

Liam's smile turned to a slight frown. "Why haven't you been talking to us the last few days?"

Cindy sat down on a pool chair, her legs feeling weak. She began, painfully, to explain what had happened with Matt. Matt added in his own comments, some of them joking around, which thankfully made things easier.

"And so I was really, really upset," Cindy said.

"I can imagine," Lucy said, as the others nodded in agreement.

"I felt really horrible too," Matt said. "I... I was really afraid she was going to hurt herself."

Cindy turned to face him. He hadn't mentioned that exactly before.

"I was afraid to call her," Matt teared up, "and by the next morning... I woke up feeling terrible. I was scared out of my mind that because I hadn't called her..."

The silence said enough as he trailed off. Cindy wished Matt had mentioned this earlier. She imagined that he was only saying this now because he was afraid of her friends hating him. She couldn't fault him for that.

But she now felt honestly sorry for him. He had chosen what direction he wanted to take in his life romantically, and done so in a reasonable way. But he'd felt mercilessly punished for it, wondering if he'd permanently scarred Cindy for life... or worse. And unlike Cindy, Matt was an only child. He didn't have a nice sister to talk things out with him. But he did have friends.

Cindy gave him a quick hug. "I'm sorry I couldn't say it earlier. I forgive you."

He hugged back. "Thank you."

They ended their hug, but it thankfully was not awkward. It was a hug between friends.

"I was not doing well at all," Cindy continued explaining again, "but Sammy and I talked for a long time about everything, and now... now I feel like myself again."

"And... and... Cindy and I, we talked things out in the open on Sunday," Matt said. "It helped me a bit."

"So you invited him to come here?" Lucy asked, looking befuddled.

"Yeah," Cindy giggled. "He asked me what he could do to make it up to him, and I told him that he needed to try on a tail."

Liam grinned in amusement as Matt shifted around uncomfortably.

"And then to cap off to all the craziness," Cindy said, "last night, I came out to my parents."

They all gave a bit of an awed reaction, and seeing Cindy's positive mood, congratulated her.

"So now...," she cried. "I can be Cindy. I... I don't have to hide anymore."

There was just nonstop happiness emanating from her as she said it. She could be herself around her family, and her friends, and out in public. She was free.

"I'm so happy for you Cindy!" Lucy said, "I'm happy to know that we helped you discover yourself."

"Yeah Cindy," Liam said. "It... you just seem so contagiously happy right now."

Liam got up and gave her a hug.

"I'd give you a hug too," Kendra said, "not to be rude, but it'd take too much effort."

Cindy laughed. "It's okay. I'm just... thanks so much guys. I'm glad to have great friends. And... and we're not sure yet, but we're hoping that I can go to Aspen Ridge in the Fall."

All her friends gave a little cheer. Brianna, being in sports at Aspen Ridge, commended Cindy for turning away from the dark side.

Sammy then began teasing Brianna back that South Bend's band could outplay Aspen Ridge any day of the week, to which Brianna had her tongue tied. She obviously didn't know much about the band.

After all the heavy discussion, everyone was ready to just relax and swim. Cindy reluctantly let Sammy use her tail, but it was worth it, to see her mermaid sister finally get to swim the way she was meant to all along. The two of them were very alike, and it filled Cindy with glee seeing how much her sister liked it.

Meanwhile, Will coaxed Matt into trying his tail. Matt appeared to know Will from a class or something, so gravitated to him.

It took Matt a while to come out of his shell, but with some encouragement, he was soon laughing and having fun with the rest of them.

Most hilarious was seeing Matt's face at the moment he realized "oh shoot I like swimming with a merman tail." Liam saw his expression, laughed and clapped him on the back. Maybe they'd see more of Matt here.

Cindy would ask Sammy for a turn with her tail again, but for the moment, Cindy rested on one of the pool chairs, enjoying the moment.

A little thought came into her mind. Everything was so great right now. Something would come along to mess it up.

She neither denied the thought, or gave into it. Bad things were going to happen, yes. Stuff completely unrelated to Cindy being trans.

But there were going to be fun times like this too.

And when those dark times came... she had her family. And now she knew her friends would be there too.

She smiled, and on an impulse, leapt up from her chair, ran, and jumped into the pool.