The Secret

“Hey Ada! I’ve been looking all over for you,” Siyen Merluz said, suddenly emerging out of nowhere. He flashed me his famous prince-charming-I-can-give-you-the-world smile and I just stood there helpless.

“Uhh…really?” I said, as I nervously nudged the nose bridge of my Betty-La-Fea-like glasses.

“Yeah. I thought you were avoiding me.”

“Avoiding you? Why would I?” I said, trying to force myself to look innocent.

“Remember I promised to take you around my family yacht? Lucky for you, I don’t break my promises.”

“Yeah…lucky.”

“Come, follow me.”

As I passed by the nose-picking-booger-rolling nerds, sex-is-my-favorite-subject jocks, I-know-aliens-exist freaks, I-will-be-a-whore-after-graduation blondes and other creatures that inhabit a high school prom, I remembered what my friend said. He’s the kind of guy who thinks he owns the world. He freakin’ allowed the school to borrow their family yacht for the prom. People like him are never interested in people like you. It’s a fact of life. Nothing can change that. If he is ever being nice to you, it’s not what you think. He has a hidden agenda. Avoid him.

I know that following my friend’s advice should have been clever, but I guess fate would not allow me to be clever. I did try to avoid him, but he was able to track me down anyway.

I let him steer me towards the other end of the yacht. He motioned me to enter a cabin. Like a zombie, I followed his command. The cabin was dark and its walls were made of a black glass-like structure. It seemed eerie. I did not know why he wanted me there. I did not know what he was planning to do. Yet I couldn’t leave.

“Is it okay if I use the bathroom?” I said, as nervousness always brings out the bathroom queen in me.

“Sure, it’s the white door at your right.”

I got some tissue and I realized that my hand was trembling. Stop it, Ada. This is silly. As I washed my hands, I noticed that the mirror above the sink, which served as a part of a medicinal cabinet, was half open. I was going to close it when I saw a golden metal glimmering through the opening. Inside the medicinal cabinet, I saw a dilapidated trophy. Emblazoned on it were the words: Siyen Merluz—Best Speaker, Topic—It is better to have loved than never to have loved at all. I tried to stifle a laugh. I couldn’t imagine how Siyen won such a goofy trophy. Could it be that Siyen’s a closet romantic?

“Are you okay? You’ve been there for a long time already,” Siyen said, knocking on the bathroom door.

“I’m almost done,” I said, putting the trophy back in its place.

When I went out, it seemed like I was transported to a different room.

“This was my father’s anniversary gift to my mother.”

I was speechless. There were masked butterfly fishes, royal angel fishes, regal tang fishes, moorish idol fishes, stingrays, dolphins, tortoises, and other sea creatures swimming around the cabin walls.

“This is amazing. Are we…are we…underwater?” I asked, feeling a bit foolish.

“There are underwater cameras beneath the yacht which transmutes the images into these walls.”

“Beautiful.”

“Beyond beautiful,” he said, looking beyond my thick black glasses and plunging into my deep blue eyes.