An Excuse to Get You Half-Naked (Jack)

[Elisia Lark]

After coming out in an over sized shirt covering her black bikini, Elisia saw Jack exiting his own room. She tried to ignore the fact that she was going to be swimming with such an attractive guy. But that was really the only reason she chose her bikini, it was cute and accented her features. She was wearing the cover because she was a little afraid of showing anyone else her body. The whole self-conscious thing might not help a whole lot. But she was doing this and she was determined not to let it get to her.

They walked down to the gym in a somewhat strained silence that Ellie could only guess was caused by Jack's nerves. She still didn't really understand why he was so scared, but she was about to find out. As she'd promised him, she knew she wouldn't be afraid of his power or even disgusted by it. She'd seen some pretty gross stuff come from powers and one that had to do with water couldn't possibly be that bad. She just couldn't put her finger one what it could possibly be. It would be awesome if he could shapeshift into a fish, seriously she'd be so jealous.

Once they got to the pool, Elisia chewed on her lip and prepared herself mentally for the revealing of her bikini. Gosh what if he thought she was ugly? Oh no. Shaking the thought from her head, the brunette took a deep breath and slipped out of the Marilyn Monroe cover exposing a rather modest two piece bathing suit. It covered the essentials but it wasn't ugly. Glancing over her shoulder at him, she pulled her hair to the side and could feel her face catching fire.

[Jack Montoya]

By the time Jack had gotten dressed and left his own dorm,
Elisia was already making her way out. Sure, he wasn't exactly sure what all girls did while getting changed, but he was always stunned how a lot of girls managed to change faster then him. he didn't really think on that though, he was too busy worrying about his powers and how Elisia would react. He had no idea why he was freaking out so bad, but he had a pit of anxiety in his stomach. When he saw her outside her door, in a large t-shirt that basically covered any other revealing clothing she might have underneath, Jack felt his face heat up. It was almost as if he just realized he was going to go swimming with a pretty girl.

They walked down to the pool in a kind of awkward silence that Jack continued to kick himself inwardly for. If he wasn't so self conscious about that one aspect of himself, he would have spent the entire walk down goofing around to make Elisia happy on her birthday. If he wasn't so scared about how she would re-act to him suddenly turning into aqua-man, he would have commented on her shirt and complimented how she looked in it. But, he didn't he stayed silent as they walked, but he did keep a confident stride the entire way. Even if he was walking off to potential humiliation, he was going to do it with his head held high.

As soon as they entered to pool room, the smell of chlorinated water calmed him a little bit. The room itself was warm and humid and perfect for swimming, he could already feel his skin prickling and his stomach growling, as if his body knew what was about to happen. But for a moment, his eyes fell away from the pool and his gaze turned to Elisia. She had taken off her shirt to reveal a pretty good looking bikini on a pretty sexy body. Jack flt his mouth open slightly, but he quickly shut it and averted his gaze. "Nice swim suit." He offered, turning his brown eyes gaze back to the water. He had wore a shirt to the pool as well, so he quickly tore it off, revealing his torso. The change wouldn't be instant, it would take a minute or two to start hitting him hard core, so he moved over to the pool and slipped in. When in the water, he felt like he was shocked by static, the sensation soon ceased, but he knew what it meant. "Come on, the water is fine." Jack stated, smiling up toward Elisia the best he could.

[Elisia Lark]

Once she glanced over her shoulder she caught a glimpse of his reaction, but she was sure it was her imagination. His compliment had her blushing more, if that was possible and she rubbed at her arms, eventually folding them in front of her. She was shielding herself from things even she didn’t know about. It was the self-conscious thing that affected her body language. The only real reason she was wearing this bikini was because she wanted to seem like she was comfortable in her own skin. Unfortunately she had no idea how to appear sexy or confident in her appearance.

Looking back at him, she saw him take off his shirt and she bit her lip as she looked away. Holy geez he had a nice looking body to match his attractive face. Ellie blushed at her own thoughts and glanced back at him when he called out to her. His smile looked strained a bit and she looked at him confused. Why couldn’t he look like a fish instead of a totally cute boy? It wasn’t fair how he could look so adorable and be so confident while she felt like she should be wearing a giant bag.

Biting her lip nervously, she walked over to the edge of the pool and stuck her toe in. It did feel really nice. Elisia stepped back a couple times and took a deep breath. Once she let it out she took off in a little jog and jumped into the deeper end, curling in on herself. She came back up for air and ran her fingers through hair to push it back out of her face. “So what is your power? I mean you clearly don’t turn into a fish and there aren’t any fish around so you can’t communicate with them. What is it Jackkkk?” She asked as she swam a little closer to him, still very aware of the fact that he was shirtless.

[Jack Montoya]

She did look good in her black bikini, but the way she held her self left Jack thinking she didn't realize how good she actually looked in it. He was in the water for only a little bit before she joined him, but during the time she was not in the pool, Jack couldn't help himself from stealing glances at her body while he waited for her to jump in. Then she jumped in, curling into herself to make a sort of canon ball flash. Jack only recoiled from the splash she had made from surprise, and then a broad grin stretched across his face, even though he didn't feel too great. When she came back up for a breath of air, running her fingers through her wet hair, Jack felt himself gulp. How could he not have realized how attractive she was a week ago?

“So what is your power? I mean you clearly don’t turn into a fish and there aren’t any fish around so you can’t communicate with them. What is it Jackkkk?” She asked, swimming a little closer, an Jack frowned a bit. It wasn't like she was hurting his feelings or anything, he was just worried that turning into a fish-boy would kind of scare her away. But now that he was in the water, the changes would start happening, he could feel it right now, his skin prickled all over. While floating, as she swam closer to him, Jack subconsciously brought his right hand down to grip his left forearm, and he felt a ride and some scales that were fully formed.

"Uhmm.. actually, my power is underwater adaption." He mumbled, blushing deeply as he lifted his left arm out of the water, swimming a bit closer to her so she could see. His forearm had changed from what she saw when he took off his shirt. Large skin colored scales ran up and down his arm in random patches, and it was obvious that the rest of his skin wasn't far off behind. A dorsal ridge also ran along the side of his forearm. Starting slightly on top of his forearm by the wrist, quickly turning off the the outside-side of his forearm, snaking its way down his forearm to crest off at his elbow. The two were now very close in the water now.

[Elisia Lark]

If Ellie knew half of the thoughts that were crossing through Jack’s mind, she wouldn’t believe it. A guy like him thinking a girl like her was attractive? Impossible. Still, she wouldn’t have minded hearing it from him. After all, they were pretty much thinking the same thing about each other. Not that Ellie would ever admit to that out loud. But seriously, what other reason could she have for wanting to swim so badly? It was just an excuse to get him half naked of course.

Once she was closer she really wished she was more comfortable with herself. It’d make flirting or something much easier. Why couldn’t she be like Robbie when it came to being a natural flirt? It wasn’t fair. She noticed his posture was slightly uncomfortable and a little hesitant, so she kept her distance and waited until he was ready to show her. Elisia was careful not to overstep her boundaries and she didn’t want to upset him or anything. He started blushing when he admitted to his power and her eyes widened. She was surprised at how close she had been to guessing correctly. He was like…like Shark Boy for lack of a better analogy.

“Oh my gosh! That’s so cool!” Again she was very much aware of the close proximity, but it didn’t bother her. He held out his arm so that she could see the scales and fin that had appeared. Reaching out, Elisia couldn’t help herself from running her fingers along his forearm in fascination. He was like a male mermaid. “Jack, why would you be hesitant about telling someone about this? It’s amazing, I’ve never seen anything like this before,” And Ellie loved fish. One more reason she had to like him. Once she looked up at him, her heart skipped and she blushed. This was the closest she’d ever been to a boy who was shirtless and she wasn’t complaining.

With a smile, Ellie dove backwards and swam away from him hoping he’d try and catch her. That was flirty right? Elisia wouldn’t know.

[Jack Montoya]

Jack was blushing full on as he held his arm out, it seemed to take Elisia a moment to realize what was being shown, but then her eyes widened in surprise at what she had shown him. Jack thought that the worst case scenario might happen, who would want to flirt with and or talk to a guy who turned into shark boy every time he dove into a pool? Then he caught the thought in his head and pinned it down, why had he thought that? “Oh my gosh! That’s so cool!” She exclaimed. Jack's face took on a little shock, but he held it in. It wasn't every day he showed off his changes to a girl, so he wasn't really sure how to react. Shivers ran up his arm as she touched him, her fingers running along his forearm. “Jack, why would you be hesitant about telling someone about this? It’s amazing, I’ve never seen anything like this before." She said.

"I... not too many girls find scales on a guy neat." He stated in a small voice. Jack was starting to regain his composure when he realized how close the were and how Elisia blushed when she noticed it too. Then, just like that, she was gone, swimming off toward the other end of the pool in a come-catch-me way. Jack looked back down in his arms and noticed they were now covered in scales. In fact his body was starting to get covered in scales as well, along with his face. The ridge on his spine was now fully protruded, and his fingers were webbing along with his toes. He would be fully transformed soon, but he didn't really care. Now feeling better about himself, he put his arm back in the water and submerged fully. His blonde hair curled outward into the water and transparent eye-lids under his actual eye-lids closed over his eyes,, protecting him from the chlorinated burn.

Without hesitation he began to kick off towards the swimming figure of Elisia. While underwater he felt the fleshy pops of the slits in his neck that could be considered gills emerging, he had three on the right side of his neck and three on the left. Now that he could breath underwater, see underwater, and swim fast with his webs, he quickly caught up with Elisia. In no time he was directly under her, looking up at her, with a small smile on his face. In case she hadn't noticed him, he reached up and tapped her stomach with his right index finger. "You look beautiful from under water too." He stated, knowing she probably wouldn't hear him, and that was probably for the best.

[Elisia Lark]

Ellie really was fascinated by him. If she hadn’t been so set on performing, she might have gone into marine biology because she absolutely loved fish. They were just so cute! Unfortunately when keeping fish they didn’t last long enough for her to really be able to connect with them. Due to her father’s allergies, it was the only pet she’d ever had growing up. Seeing a teenage boy practically turning into one, well it was definitely something that caught her attention. It was just so different and unique which was what she loved about it. Musical psychometry had nothing on underwater adaptation. Oh if only they could switch powers for a day.

“Well you’ve just found one who does,” Elisia smiled at him before slipping off into the water for him to catch her. Of course with an ability like his he’d have no trouble getting her, but she wanted to make a game out of it just so he could see that he had nothing to worry about. Just like any fish, he was just as cute. She was a pretty decent swimmer having spent a good majority of her time in hotel pools whenever she visited her mother in New York because she never really got to visit her mother and Patrick usually made it like a mini vacation. Of course she’d never outswim him, but she was determined to make him have to chase her a little bit at least. Coming up for air, she looked around to see where he’d gone.

Just as she caught sight of him he poked her stomach and she went back under to see him completely transformed from when she’d seen him before. Elisia was in awe, how could a boy who was already incredibly attractive become more beautiful and interesting just by diving into the water? Ellie only wished she could swim like he could. Submerged in the water, her eyes only slightly burning from the chemicals, she couldn’t look away from him nor did she want to. Eventually though she had to come back up for water and she leaned against the pool wall. Was the pool getting warmer or was that her? She bit her lip and began to braid her hair over her shoulder to distract herself. Talk about a fun birthday present.

[Jack Montoya]

From the first day jack discovered his power, he looked at it with a mixture of fright and joy. Being able to breath under water was a very cool thing, but being able to adapt to it so he could be considered a merman was even better for him. It always made him think of that one Disney channel movie he had seen once upon a time, where the same things happened to a boy when he was thirteen. Of course, he wasn't so whimsical with it now, and was scared to death that a girl would suddenly find his scales not attractive. It always got him thinking though, if it happened to him, why shouldn't it have happened to other people. Maybe stories about things like him swimming in the ocean weren't to far fetched when you looked at jack, but thoughts like that weren't for him, at least for now.

“Well you’ve just found one who does." She stated, at least that was what jack thought she said, or hoped he said, probably a mix of both. Not many people instantly looked at his power and thought it was just about the best thing ever.. and he was glad about that. After he poked her in the stomach, she submerged herself. The two were both underwater and they looked at each other, he looked at her with a small thankful smile while she looked at him like he was the best birthday present ever. He chuckled a bit at that, but it was lost in a garble of bubbles since he was underwater. He wanted to kiss her. Whoa Jack.. where did that come from? He decided not to dwell on the feeling, because Elisia had to surface for air, and the feeling quickly fleeted back into his chest.

She was catching her breath, and he didn't want to be a weirdo staring at her waist all day, so he surfaced too. In the open air, his gills fluttered momentarily and Jack coughed, but his breathing quickly switched back to his regular lungs. Even so, his gills stayed present on his neck, they would stay present until he was fully out of the water and drying again. "So, having fun?" He asked, his voice a bit scratchy and strained from his recent coughing. He was still pretty close to her.. and he started to enjoy it.

[Elisia Lark]

As they watched each other beneath the surface of the water, Elisia could see him smiling and laughing. It was so weird and though it hurt her eyes to keep them open in the chemicals, it was worth it. They were drifting closer to each other the longer they floated and she wished that they would continue getting closer because she was really wishing for that kiss. It shocked her that she wanted such a thing, but as she’d told Chris before, she was waiting for someone special. Who knew? Maybe when she told him that she had been thinking of Jack? It was possible and the idea of kissing him over Chris was much more favorable. She doubted it would happen though.

Drifting back up, she watched as he did as well. Seeing the gills on the sides of his neck had her smiling. He really was unique. A true merman as one would call him. He coughed and she reached out to pat his back or something. She settled for dropping her hand automatically and just staying close against the wall. When he spoke she heard the rasp and scratchiness of his voice. She smiled and nodded before giving him a hug. It felt strange, not because of the scales or the fins, but because she had been waiting to do something like that and had actually done it without wimping out. Once Ellie pulled back she blushed again and looked down, “I’m really glad we went swimming.”

[Jack Montoya]

It was weird for Jack too. Sure, he had kissed a lot of girls... and he had lusted after and dated a few of them, but he was never the guy to go after a girl unless he had a real reason too. He wasn't one of the guys to go after a girl on her level of attractiveness alone, and his need to satisfy his own urges. He was weird among his friends because of that, like it was a such a hard thought for teenage guys to grasp that he actually wanted a girl for who she was, not for what her boobs were like. As he coughed, she reached out towards him like she was going to pat her back, but she quickly dropped her hand back down. She really was shy. But as soon as he asked her if she was having fun, she nodded and leaned in, giving him a hug. It was a weird feeling, someone hugging him while he was all scaly.

Her chest against his scaly chest felt weird, but it made him smile. “I’m really glad we went swimming.” She said after pulling away and looking down into the water out of what he guessed was shyness. Without really thinking about it, he pulled her back into the hug with one arm and with his free hand he gently guided her face back up to his, then he leaned in, and pressed his lips up to hers. He never did anything like this while scaly, his lips weren't exactly scaly, but the skin around his lips were. He wasn't sure how she would react, but for him, it felt right.

[Elisia Lark]

Hugging Jack in this form was really like hugging a giant fish, and though most girls would probably be grossed out by that, Elisia just thought it was awesome. Strange girl that she was, it didn’t make any difference to her. She was still hugging a really attractive guy and he wasn’t freaking out on her! Talk about major progress. The only person Ellie ever really hugged willingly was Robbie and that was from a sibling standpoint. This was in no way shape or form a sibling hug. At least, Ellie didn’t see it that way, they were much too close for that.

When she pulled away, she was expecting him to just shrug and nod or something typical of any guy response. To say the least, she had not been expecting what really did happen. His arm looped around her waist and her arms wrapped around his neck while his fingers guided her chin up. His lips found hers and her eyes slid shut. Who’d have thought her first kiss would be with a merman? Dream come true much? No, not really. But still, if not the fish thing, she was kissing Jack! That was like insane in itself. One of the most popular, and nicest guys she’d met was actually kissing her and not by her doing, but by his!

After Ellie pulled back, she didn’t separate herself from him, she stayed close just pulling their lips apart so she could really look at him. “W-what was that for?” She asked with a nervous and shy laugh. “N-Not that I’m objecting because really, I’m so not, but that just was out of the blue and now I can’t even stop talking. Really I should stop, you see what you did to me?” And so the nerves opened the floodgates of Ellie’s rambling monster and she couldn’t stop herself once she got going.

[Jack Montoya]

To be honest, Jack was almost as stunned as she was. The last thing he expected to be doing today was kissing Elisia in the gymnasium pool, but here he was, doing just that. Its not like Elisia wasn't attractive, he just hadn't really realized how attractive she was until just very recently. Mixed emotions and chemistry was something he picked up on when they had first met in awkward conversation in a classroom. Sure, when he sang with her in the practice room, it was pretty fun, and he felt something there for her too, but he considered it a new chummy singing thing. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she immediately fell into the kiss. Her lips were soft and warm, and for a small moment that was the only thing he could really focus on. He was happy, and thinking back to it, when he was explaining his relationship with Ellie to his sister, he didn't expect that this would happen.

Ellie pulled away, but only her lips, she still stayed in his hug, so he was doing something right. “W-what was that for? N-Not that I’m objecting because really, I’m so not, but that just was out of the blue and now I can’t even stop talking. Really I should stop, you see what you did to me?” She said in a long sentence filled with statements and questions. Jack couldn't help but smile at her.

"Call it an early birthday present, I guess. Besides, like I said before, I don't mind how fast you talk or how much." He stated, giving her a little mischievous smile before finally letting her go. Without another word he fell back into the water, turning his brown eyed gaze to the blurred lights on the roof far above him. His head was swimming, and his heart was doing back flips, did he really just kiss her?

[Elisia Lark]

Oh gosh Robbie was going to kill her. She had made it so painfully clear that her and Jack were strictly on a friend basis. Well so much for that...at least she thought. Either way they had just kissed and once Robbie found out, well Jack was definitely going to have a talk with the college boy. Oh please just don't let him embarrass her. She loved her brother, really she did, but now she was absolutely terrified of them meeting now. Ellie couldn't very well tell Robbie that her and Jack just so happened to kiss in the pool during her 'party' because that was just not going to help. Ugh, she was screwed.

And yet, she couldn't really find it in herself to care when she was so blissfully unaware of everything else. Really the only thing that matter at this point was how much she liked being close to Jack. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like to kiss him when they were dry and when he was not scaly. The idea brought a smile to her face and she wouldn't have been surprised if he could hear her heart pounding frantically against her chest.

"Best. Present. Ever," She giggled. Man he was attractive. The little smirk he gave her before falling into the water just added to it. Once she knew he wouldn't see her, she did a little dance and sunk back down into the water as she fistpumped. And to think, she was so sure this birthday would be like every other. Terrible, boring and forgettable. Well, she had been proven majorly wrong and boy was she okay with that. She had just been kissing Jack.

[Jack Montoya]

Well, Jack sure hoped that Robbie wouldn't kill him, because he really didn't feel like dying right now, he felt like he was on cloud nine. Sure, he could relate to all overbearing brothers everywhere, because he planned on being one when he was older for his little sister. There was no way anyone was going to touch little Aveline if he had anything to say about it, but she was two right now, so those years were a long ways away, and he was thankful for that. That day they sang with each other, she had mentioned her brother, and he really hoped that if he did run into him today, because what better day to run into a girls brother then on her birthday, that it didn't turn out bad. Especially if he finds out that he had just kissed his little sister. He heard that Mexico was nice this time of year, and he laughed at the idea while he was under water.


"Best. Present. Ever." She had giggled before he fell back into the water, and he felt good. he didn't regret kissing her, he enjoyed it, and he was anxious to see what they would be doing after today. Sure, he would be off in New York with his family for Christmas, but he hoped that didn't mean she would have a chance to forget about their kiss while he was away. His head was still swimming, and he had no idea what was going on outside of his little space underwater, but Elisia was still out there, he glanced her to her and saw her sinking into the water. He took a deep breath, water ran through his gills, depositing oxygen in the organs so he wouldn't drown himself by filling up his lungs with water. After that he snapped to attention and sat up from the pool floor to look at her, he quickly ran a webbed hand through his hair and shot her a smile.

[Elisia Lark]

If Robbie killed Jack, he knew Ellie would have a problem with it. What Jack didn't know was that Ellie had admitted to liking him to Robbie. So her brother knew that if he scared Jack off that he'd really be hurting her because it was rare that she ever liked anyone. Besides, Robbie had said so himself, Jack was helping her make progress and that was what was important. Or so she hoped. What she expected from her brother was a lot of embarrassment because Robbie could seriously win an award for most embarrassing brother ever even if she did love him. And Robbie knew it, too. Jack wouldn't need to swim to Mexico, but Ellie might.

When Jack sunk down into the water as well, Elisia was glad that she was a good swimmer and had worked on holding her breath underwater for long amounts of time. Totally out of character, Ellie swam around him as if she was taunting him. There was no way she'd be forgetting about the kiss over break. Funny how they were going to the same place. Oh gosh if they ran into each other down there, he could meet her fathers! The idea caused her to smile wider and she brushed her lips against his cheek before swimming away teasingly.