It was hard to believe that after waiting for what seemed like months, it was finally spring break. Nikki took the bus to get to Elena and Amarisa's apartment, not carrying much since they had already packed two weeks prior. Her heart pounded in anticipation as she thought of the exotic vacation they were about to have. Amarisa had continued to be very secretive about the location, assuring her that she would like it and that she wanted her to be pleasantly surprised.
Already spring was starting to feel like summer, it was about six in the afternoon and the sun still bore down on the world, covering everything in its warm glow, making everything gold. There was only a faint breeze that tickled every once in a while, and she was glad that she decided to wear her yellow sundress, it kept her nice and comfortable.
"Hey honey, it's me." She said into the intercom and Amarisa buzzed her up. She walked into the lobby and headed for the stairs. She had been taking the stairs a lot the past year, ever since Amarisa came back into her life she just felt like she had more energy, she could walk up stairs without feeling her heart pounding heavily in her chest, and she rarely missed the bus now because she could sprint the distance easily now. As she ran up the stairs to Amarisa's apartment, she wondered if it was because of her regular mermaid "injections" that were doing this.
Speaking of mermaid injections...guess who had the same idea and was running down the stairs to meet her? "Nikki!" Amarisa exclaimed as she enveloped her girlfriend in a big hug when they met up.
"Hey." She hugged her back, pressing her lips against hers. She breathed in deeply, underneath the scent of Amarisa's shampoo and soap was the unmistakable musk of her, heady and alluring. .
"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but should we go back inside now?" Oops, Nikki realized she was running her hands all over Amarisa's back, pressed right up against her like some sex starved vixen.
"Yeah, good idea." She said, allowing herself to be taken by the hand and led up the stairs. She noticed gleefully from the bulge in Amarisa's sweatpants that she hadn't been lying about enjoying the kiss.
"Hey Nikki." Elena greeted her from the kitchen. She was wearing a white apron that said "Fuck the chef" in large black letters. She turned off the stove, took off the apron and hung it on a chair before walking over to give Nikki a hug. "It's good to see you again." She said, squeezing Nikki tightly. Nikki hadn't seen either of them since last time, two weeks ago. She was excited to spend the next two weeks with them.
"I'll be grilling burgers on the balcony, can you cook the mushrooms for me?" She heard Elena asking Amarisa as she headed out with the plate of burgers. "Nikki, if you could chop up the veggies?"
"Okay." They both agreed. Nikki put her bag away and got to work cutting the tomatoes into slices.
"How was school?"
"It was pretty good, Chesney started going on and on about gender bending in my science fiction English class."
"That class sounds like it gets pretty crazy." Amarisa commented as she stirred the mushrooms with a spatula.
"Yeah, Dr. D'Angelo just gives a lecture for twenty minutes and the rest of the class is usually open discussion, it can get kinda off topic sometimes."
"I remember you telling me that once the prof got off topic too and started talking about steam punk for an hour." Amarisa said.
"Oh yeah." Nikki chuckled. Amarisa put the stove on low heat and walked over to the table. She came up from behind Nikki and wrapped her arms around her, nuzzling the crook of her neck.
"Mm that feels nice." Nikki sighed. The tension in her stomach reminded her that they had spent way too long apart. She took a piece of tomato from off the cutting board and offered it to Amarisa, who took it eagerly between her teeth.
**
After a while Elena returned with the cooked burgers and everyone gathered around the table to build their own burger. They settled down to eat in front of the tv, and after taking a bite of her greasy burger with its crispy lettuce and juicy tomato slices, she agreed it was the perfect start to the summer.
"What did you put in yours, Amarisa?" Elena asked curiously as Amarisa's burger made a louder than normal crunch.
"Cheetos!" Amarisa said happily, and the two girls laughed.
"You're so creative." Nikki said, rubbing Amarisa's arm. The window was open, letting the warm summer breeze blow into the room, the wind danced across Nikki's face, making her feel sleepy. After dinner she lay on the couch, resting her head in Amarisa's lap, half- watching the nature show the other two girls were watching.
She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until Amarisa was shaking her shoulder. She looked out the window to see that it was already dark out. "Time for bed." Amarisa said, "It's a long drive tomorrow, you should get some rest."
"Ok." Nikki said, yawning.
"You too, Elena." Amarisa said to Elena who was still sitting on the couch. "You got it boss." Elena said, who was also yawning. She got up too and they said their goodnights to each other as Elena headed back to her own room. Nikki got changed into her pajamas and went to Amarisa's room. Amarisa was setting up the nest again, fluffing up the blankets on Nikki's side. Nikki crawled underneath the blanket, towards the side where she normally slept. Amarisa followed suit, and Nikki curled up against her, and they quickly fell asleep.
**
Morning came, rudely and abruptly, for they had to have an early start if they wanted to get to the colony by nightfall. As Nikki rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she was glad that at least it was still dark out, there was nothing that felt more awful than lack of sleep combined with the glaring brightness of a morning sun. She went into the kitchen to find the two girls already eating breakfast.
"Hey hun." Elena said, looking sharp-eyed and awake. "I made some turkey bacon and eggs for you, there's juice in the fridge, toast on the counter.
"Mmph." Nikki said, heading straight for the coffee maker. Breakfast was a silent meal as neither she nor Amarisa were morning people. Once they finished eating, Nikki helped Elena clean the dishes and put them away as Amarisa went to put the stuff away into the car.
"I'm so glad you're driving." Nikki muttered to Elena who laughed.
"Ok sleepy head."
**
They got into the jeep, Elena in the driver's seat and Amarisa riding shotgun. Nikki lounged in the back, closing her eyes and falling back asleep in the car.
It wasn't until she felt the car stopping that she opened her eyes. They had pulled into a truck stop, and it was about eleven in the morning.
"You hungry? Let's get some lunch." Elena said.
Nikki got out to stretch her legs, raising her hands high above her head. "Ahh..."
They went into the Arby's, and Elena headed to the washroom as Amarisa and Nikki stood in line. "There are so many choices." Amarisa said. Even after a year of living in the human world it seemed that the food-loving mermaid always got excited when it was time to eat out, even if it was only fast food.
"I'll tell you my secret, if you order from the value menu you can get four burgers for the price of two of the big ones." Nikki said, "You get a lot more meat this way too."
"Really!" Amarisa said, impressed.
"Yep!" Nikki said proudly. "It's on me." She said, putting Amarisa's hand away when she reached for her wallet.
"No." Amarisa pouted, but finally gave in after Nikki insisted.
"You want the Junior roast beef with Cheddar? The Ham and Swiss burgers are really good too."
They left the counter with a pile of food, six jr roast beef burgers and six ham and swiss burgers, along with a mountain of curly fries, a deluxe baked potato, drinks for the three of them including a chocolate shake for Amarisa.
"Oh wow this stuff looks good." Elena said as she came back. "I better get some food too."
"Sit down silly, I got some stuff for you too." Nikki said to a surprised Elena.
"Oh really? Aw you didn't have to, that's sweet of you."
**
When they got back on the road it was with a more enthusiastic mood and the three of them chatted happily as they drove through the windy mountainside. "Look." Nikki pointed eagerly to Amarisa, at the winding river that flowed alongside the road. "Oooh." Amarisa said, looking pleased. The three of them chatted as Elena drove, about the new TV drama show they all watched, the strange people that worked and dined at the restaurant that Elena and Amarisa worked at, and Nikki's school stuff.
**
Soon the mountains became replaced by farms, field after field of green grass, blowing in the breeze of the gorgeous spring day. It was nice to get away from it all, to be able to chat with the two girls, with no distractions.
**
It was already starting to get dark when they traveled off the highway onto a different road. The road cut through thick forest, and the remaining rays of daylight cut through the leaves to cast odd but beautiful jagged stars onto the seats and walls of the jeep. They must have driven for over an hour, deeper and deeper into the woods until Nikki was sure that they were lost. That's when they came across a split in the road. She looked at the bright yellow sign, puzzled at the unrecognizable characters.
"Take a left." Amarisa said. "Oh hello Nikki, you're up." Amarisa said excitedly. "We're almost there."
"Oooh." Nikki sat up excitedly to rest her head on her elbows, looking between the two seats, through the windshield. They had driven up to a large grey gate, the walls stretched into the woods, for who knows how long. The gate opened and they drove into a parking lot. It must've been some sort of security building because Amarisa told them to have their IDs ready. There was another gate that stopped them from going any further, so Nikki followed Amarisa as they headed into the building.
From the looks of it, it looked like a police station. Nikki's eyes scanned the scene greedily, taking in all the mermaids at work. To her surprise, the mermaids were dressed in their black uniforms, she had always thought they walked around naked. She mentioned this thought quietly to Amarisa, who replied, "They wear their uniforms while on duty, and they take them off after work." She went to a box and got them three sheets.
Nikki was surprised that they had to fill out an immigration form since they hadn't left the country. She filled out her information and once they were all finished, one at a time they went up to the booth. She went up to the mermaid that was waiting for them, she was dark grey with piercing blue eyes, her austere beauty was a little distracting as Nikki handed over her driver's license and immigration sheet.
"What is the main purpose of your visit?" The mermaid spoke in a clipped voice, her English was clearly enunciated, most likely the result of lots of practice.
"Um. I'm just here on vacation." She said, looking back at Amarisa uncertainly, who nodded.
"I see." The mermaid said suspiciously, scanning her ID in a machine.
