Sprite (Annabelle's Story Part One) by Leigh Michael

like I’m eighty years old, and you look perfect.”
    “Perfect, eh?”
    I shouldn’t have acknowledged his response, but I couldn’t help myself. “Oh, shut up.”
    “What? I just wanted to clarify what made me so flawless.”
    This time, I ignored him as I climbed out of bed.
    Looking down, I cringed at the torn areas and singed marks all over my bodysuit. After training yesterday, I didn’t bother changing before I collapsed into bed.
    “Clearly you could use a few minutes,” he commented. “I’ll meet you downstairs?”
    Agreeing, I leisurely put on a new bodysuit and headed to the first level.
    “Better?” I asked, as I turned the corner into the foyer about ten minutes later.
    “Much. Nice sea foam color.”
    “I’m sure Natasha would appreciate your use of sea foam instead of simply calling it green.”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said, with a wave of his hand. “Ready to get started?”
    “I guess so, what’s in store for us today?”
    “Well, I know how much you enjoyed spending time with Clemente the other day, so you’ll be happy to hear that he’s helping us train today.”
    A picture of a man/dolphin popped into my mind. “Please tell me there’re no nets involved.”
    He made an “X” across his heart. “No nets. I promise.”
    “All right, then I’m in. Where we headed?”
    “I thought we’d train in the football stadium. We’ll need the space.”
    I liked the sound of that. The stadium looked awesome the other day, but Adrian telling me about the different kind of sprites distracted me.
    Once outside, the swarms of merfolk surprised me. It was rush hour in Tritonis, everyone heading off to work.
    Guess that meant I hadn’t slept in as late as yesterday, I mused.
    YaYa wasn’t with us, so I did a double take as the merpeople still cleared a path for us. Just about everyone stopped and stared as we swam by.
    “What’s going on?”
    “Everyone wants to get a look at you I suppose. Word’s spread that you’re here. You’re pretty much a celebrity.”
    This wasn’t what I wanted to hear.
    “Do they really think I’m the ‘Second Alpha’?”
    “Even if they doubt it, there’s not a single merperson who doesn’t hope you are. I’d say most merfolk are happy in Tritonis, but they can’t help feeling increasingly more nervous about leaving the safety of our town. The Trackers have become too reckless, and it’s not worth the risk to venture into the open sea. Knowing your limited to only Tritonis can be rather restrictive.”
    I could understand that. My new discovery of life beyond humans definitely lent itself to the saying, “It’s a big world out there.” I wouldn’t like being unable to leave my hometown.
    While we chatted, we continued on our way to the stadium.
    After many whispers, pointing, and merfolk jumping out of our way, we finally arrived at the entrance.
    It was just as big as I remembered it.
    Even bigger once down on the field.
    The seating stretched far up into the water. I recalled how small the players had looked from our vantage point from above. Now I was in the middle of the field.
    Just a few minutes after our arrival, a dolphin and seal entered the stadium as well.
    “Hey Clemente,” Adrian said. “Hi Shamus,” he added toward the seal.
    It was strange to think that they were really an encantado and a selkie. Along with the fact they could shift into human men.
    In response to Adrian’s greeting, high frequency clicking and whistling escaped from Clemente and barking sounds came from Shamus.
    “Yeah, I think so too,” Adrian said.
    My brows lifted. “You can understand them?”
    Like so many times before, Adrian found humor in my reaction. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn. I grew up with them so I’ve been speaking with them my whole life.”
    “If you say so.”
    “Okay,” he continued, broadening his attention. “Let’s get started. I’m thinking we could do a few drills?”
    Clemente and Shamus’ outbursts of clicking and