Marine - The whisper of time E-Book

Tanja Kloibhofer

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 362

Beschreibung

At first glance, Marine is a normal girl who goes to school and likes to spend as much time as possible in the water. Nevertheless, she has long had the feeling that something sets her apart from the other children her age. When she finally discovers an old letter with her name on it in the attic, she receives an invitation that suddenly turns her life upside down. Because she has special marks on her hands and feet, unusual eyes and clues to past stories beyond the normal world. And Marine herself is aware of her extraordinary role: "I was uncomfortable - even too embarrassed, even though I've had them all my life and secretly loved them."

Leseprobe

Quote

"Life is like a book.

Every day, fate turns a page."

- Quote (author unknown)

Chapter 1: Weightless

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four ...

I just floated. It was always like diving into another world.

Myworld.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four ...

I muffled the sound of people cheering for me from outside.

Marine, marine, let's go!

I pulled a little harder, pedaled a little faster and found myself at the edge of the pool. However, I still had a surprising amount of air, so I quickly decided to turn around and dive back in.

I noticed how speechless the crowd was. They didn't make a sound. This in turn spurred me on and made me move even faster.

But don't lose the beat! One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four ...

I liked these moments. Everything was so quiet down here. I saw my worries, problems, fears, joys, and sorrows as if through a transparent pane of glass. Just like the water here. Crystal clear.One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four ... come on, faster!

I saw it. The edge for which I was heading. It was like a goal - a very big wish that I wanted to achieve. I felt that I barely had any air now - I had landed in such a moment before. The familiar feeling rose up inside me.

Panic.

But this time I didn't let them get the better of me. I wouldn't make the same mistake again.

So, I continued to dive without taking a breath.

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four ...

I broke through the surface of the water with my head.

I gasped. Trembling, I held on to the edge and slowly blinked my eyes to get the stinging sensation of the chlorine out.

It was quiet.

No one was here.

No one had ever cheered for me.

No one had been there for me.

I was swimming all alone in this pool.

I had only imagined it.

A sigh escaped my lips at this realization. However, it couldn't wash away my smile.

I had achieved my long-standing goal. I had been working towards this edge for months and now - now I was clinging to it as if I were a helpless dolphin.

I have completed ten routes! Ten! Ten times fifty meters! That's amazing!

All too quickly, however,theycame to mind. My mood was dampened.

I couldn't hold on here forever or someone would find out - someone would surely notice what I had visibly on my hands, and then I would have a bigger problem to deal with than all the ones I already had in my life.

The people who knew about it - well, actually only one - thought I was just imagining it. That it was nothing to be afraid of - nothing horrible. But I saw it differently. I was uncomfortable - even too embarrassed, even though I had ownedthemall my life and secretly lovedthem.

I shook my head. My thoughts were strong and powerful and often drove me into a phase in which I was unaware of the outside world.

With the last of my strength, I pushed myself up and climbed out of the pool. The air around me was pretty chilly and I shivered from the very first second. Even though it was early September, today was one of those cold days. The clouds dominated the sky, but sometimes the sun glared through the large windows of the indoor pool - it felt a little mystical.

Many people thought I spent too much time in fantasy books and my head, but it was a foundation of my life that made me happy. A place I could retreat to - where I had everything I needed.

I trotted to my lounger but didn't let on that I had goosebumps. As quickly as I could, I took my towel and dried myself off - I hid my hands and feet as normal. It was a kind of habit.

I pulled on a bathrobe and slipped into my Crocs before gathering my things and scurrying towards the changing room. I knew many of the older women and men, but only by sight. I couldn't and didn't want to talk to them, but we liked to smile at each other from time to time.

This time it happened again, and I nodded to the waving lady with the pink bathing cap. I had the reflex to return her gesture, but I decided otherwise. At the last second, I suppressed the feeling as I thought ofthemagain.

The swimmer always went to the pool with her two friends on Wednesdays and Fridays.

How did I know that? I noticed a lot, even though the others thought I was floating around in my mind. I could really sink into it, but I didn't do it on purpose. I had memorized when, where and with whom someone was here, as I spent myself a few hours in the pool almost every day. I had used my annual pass, which I always bought at the beginning of the year, much more often than any other pass in my wallet.

I opened the locker with the right key. Another advantage of the annual pass was this thing here. The locker had been in my possession for at least four years, which is why I also stored private things there that no one else would put in a locker at an indoor swimming pool.

I stuffed my navy-colored shoulder bag into the top compartment and pulled out a fresh bath towel and my bar of soap in return. I locked my locker and headed around the corner. I loved the showers at the swimming pool. Like so many others, they were separate and lockable.

I went into one and locked it. A soft humming sound came from next door, and I recognized the song in a few seconds. Not only books, but also music saved me from reality from time to time.

I immediately felt a little resentful of myself for leaving the water so late. If I had been alone, I would have loved to sing out loud, but now I didn't dare. I couldn't perform in front of other people - I had known that for a long time.

The water just dripped down on me, running over the individual strands of my wavy brown hair and down my back, pleasantly warm, until it finally fell on my feet every now and then.

I played with my toes again. Many of my classmates could do some amazing things with this part of their body, but I wasn't able to. Not because I was unathletic or lazy, no - but because ofthem.They prevented me from stretching my toes far apart and I hated it when I saw it at others. Luckily for me, they had never seen my feet. They would only have made fun of me even more.

Once again, I stared down. Or rather, I looked atthem.

My webbed membranes between my toes.

Everyone had them, but mine - mine were out of this world. They were the reason why I didn't join a swimming club, but only took part in some competitions, and only until the skin between my fingers and toes was simply too abnormally large. At around the age of ten, they had grown so much that they were now gigantic.

"Abnormal ... what's normal?" I whispered to myself, twisting my hands. I smiled at them, trying to be frugal with them, because there were some people in this world who had lost them.

But then I noticed this sign again. It wasn't necessarily big or conspicuous. It was under both of my little fingers. One circle per hand, containing a delicate triangle with the tip pointing downwards, caught my eye. With dry skin - which I had when I wasn't in the water - these spots were barely noticeable, but they were so strange that it hurt.

I shook my head again, unperturbed by its unusualness, and turned my head to the sky - or rather, to the shower head. A few seconds later, I turned off the tap and used my solid soap. I didn't let the strangeness of my fingers or feet affect me again and rubbed myself with a sufficient load of lavender scent.

This smell felt like a comforting homecoming. I had no real connection to this plant, but it reminded my body of a beautiful and relaxed time that I hadn't known or had forgotten.

It could be that Mary had such a perfume ... right?

I tried to remember back to my first adoptive mother. This stabbing pain was always added to my mind in connection with these thoughts. When I was five, the old lady died of heart failure. I was sent back to the home then. So far, five places had been my home. I had changed families three times in six months until I was scheduled for the adoption center again for a while. However, I had only spent a few days there until my current adoptive parents showed up with their son and picked me up. I had also heard the whole story from them, as I couldn't remember it.

I'm spending far too much time thinking again.

I put the soap with the lavender scent back in the bowl provided and didn't let the rising smell bother me. A few moments later, the water splashed down on me again. Before my head could do anything else, I turned my thoughts to my success, which had happened just a few minutes ago.

I knew that I could hold my breath for a very long time. My last measurement was incredible - five minutes and twenty-five seconds - that was something amazing for a fifteen-year-old girl like me. The five hundred meters I had dived today filled me with joy and I thought about the fact that I wanted to breakeleven lanes, so five hundred and fifty meters, next. "You can't rest on your laurels," Mary had always told me. This saying was my last and only memory of her.

I noticed that the foam had disappeared from my hair, so I turned off the shower and quickly wrapped my towel around myself. It was only now that I realized that the woman next door had long since disappeared and that I was alone in the entire changing room. I didn't mind at all.

Still a little wet, I trotted to my locker, opened it, and pulled out a pile of clothes – a dark blue long jeans, a plain red T-shirt, my blue striped socks, underwear, a pair of dark shoes and of course my black leather gloves, which had cut-off fingers. The sun had been shining brightly that morning, so I hadn't brought a jacket or sweater. Hopefully, I wouldn't get sick. The reason wasn't school, but my adoptive mother Sarah. She hated it when she had to change her plans because of me or take her limited time for me. That's why she stopped taking time off for me when I turned ten. I didn't mind, but sometimes it did hurt. At least a little.

I retreated to a changing room. Even though there was no one in the room but me, I didn't want to risk being discovered - thattheywouldbe discovered.

I held back the reflex that wanted to reach for the gloves first. I usually put them on immediately without exception - but only so that no one could seethem.There was a love-hate relationship between the gloves and me. I thought they were cool, and they covered everything that needed to be covered, but they sometimes hurt my webbed membranes and in summer I sweated faster than imaginable. So, I put my underwear on first. With the exception of my gloves, I couldn't wear dark clothing as I would look unhealthily pale. My skin didn't take on much color in summer and therefore didn't lose any in winter.

I looked at myself in the mirror, fully dressed. My chest-length hair lay damp on my T-shirt - everything else looked the same as always. The blue of my eyes stood out as usual. They were the only thing I loved about my body. I was too small, too pale, had webbed membranes, my skin had a lot of dry patches - some people also criticized me for being too thin. But my eyes had never been criticized. I didn't know if it bordered on self-love, but my eye color stood out as my personal favorite from the palette of the colorful world.

I sighed and shook my head.

What's wrong with me today? Pull yourself together a little. You can't be stuck in your thoughts all the time, Marine!

Now the marks had sunk into the skin under my little fingers. You could just see them as something had been scratched into the bark of a tree with light pressure. Of course, I had already looked on the Internet to see if this mark existed and whether anyone had this "disease". The website answered my first question in the affirmative. The symbol said no more and no less than that it belonged to the element of water. With the best will in the world, I couldn't find out anymore.

I slipped my gloves on before I could think any further. There was a brief tug on my webbed fingers because I had moved the left glove too far down. I didn't understand how I could feel pain there. No veins or nerves had been found in this extra skin. The doctors had even wanted to take it off me once, even though it wouldn't have been risk-free. In my panic, I had decided against it. The most likely reason was that I didn't really like change and was afraid of real pain. However, it could also be because I felt an actual benefit when I swim. Either way, now it felt like a trademark of mine that only few people knew about.

My steps took me back to my wardrobe, from which I took out my most important things and packed them in my shoulder bag. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be here tomorrow. Bernd - Sarah's son and therefore my adoptive brother - was six years older than me, but we enjoyed doing things together. He finally had time to watch a new part of a fantasy series with me. Sarah and Jonas - my adoptive parents - didn't think much of theaters or movies, but luckily my brother was a different story. He was also the one who attended the most events and other things with me, who knew the most about me and who liked to talk to me or do other nonsense. However, time held him back, as he had been forced into his own business by Jonas and was therefore the manager of three companies.

"I need a change of pace with you. You know, I sit around all day with important people who only seem to have money on their minds. The others in my age only want to be friends with me because of the same reason. You're not like that - you can get up to all sorts of nonsense. Besides, I don't have to wear a suit with you," he explained once and I couldn't help but smile back in that time.

After double-checking that I had really taken everything with me, I made my way to the exit door. I waved to Scherbert, who was working at the cash desk. He and his wife were the owners of this indoor pool, and I knew them a lot better than the visitors.

"Oh no, rain," I sighed as I stood in the middle of the doorway. I liked rain, but not when I had to ride my bike for about ten kilometers. The water was pouring down in drops that made you think the world was coming to an end.

It was coming to an end. Well, with the help of climate change and us stupid humans. That's why I rode my bike and didn't beg Bernd to take me by car. The train was no use to me for school or the indoor swimming pool, so I was quicker on the direct route. Living a little outside of Hamburg's east side was sometimes a horror.

Well, there's nothing you can do. For better or worse, I have to cycle through the rain.

I sighed and turned my head back once more.

Or should I stay here and go for another swim? No, better not. I'm already running out of time anyway ... should I call Bernd? He would certainly come and get me and if I asked him not to tell Sarah and Jonas, he would. But isn't he still at work? It's ... 16:28. He's probably still sitting comfortably in his office chair, wearing a smart suit, and waiting for the next customer.

My quick steps led me as to the shelter where my bike was waiting for me. I shook myself like a wet poodle when I stood in the dry. Fumbling with my bike chain, I probably looked like a thief, but the numbers hadn't been so easy to twist for a long time and so it took me longer. I checked that the seat wasn't wet before I turned my bike towards the road and sat on it. I left my bag hanging around my shoulders, but also clipped it to the back of the luggage rack.

" Let's go. Hopefully, the rain will let up," I asked the heavens quietly. "If only I had a rain cover!" I grumbled to myself before putting one foot on the pedal and riding into the cool water.

Chapter 2: The beginning

I pushed myself to the limit, but the drops were still faster. They hit me from every side, but mainly from the front due to the wind I was creating. The water was already running down my hands and into my leather gloves. I noticed how my webbed fingers tightened - strangely enough, they felt it when they got wet. A small waterfall ran out of my gloves.

"Can't you stop? Can't you stop for a second?" I grumbled to the heavens, but I was angry with myself. I should have called Bernd - I would certainly have fared better.

I urged my bike to stop. I was puzzled. Irritated. Astonished.

The raindrops stood in the air as if they had been suspended from the clouds. My mind raced in amazement.

That's not a natural occurrence, is it? Yes, it must be something natural. I've just been reading too much fantasy. It could have something to do with the Earth's magnetic field, right?

My skin tingled, my eyes felt a little strange, but they didn't hurt. My heart was pounding in my chest as if it wanted to jump out.

Everything glistened as if the sun was shining. Every single raindrop floating above my head seemed to have its own personality. I blurredly perceived colors in the liquid.

You're joking now, right?

I dared to move again when I realized that nothing else was happening. I carefully touched one of the water formations with my trembling hands. After the next blink of an eye, the cool water ran down the ends of my hair, my nose, and my back again. The standing drops had only stayed for a few seconds.

Was that even real? Or had I just imagined it?

Slowly and with an eerie feeling, I put my feet back on the pedals and started pedaling. It only took me another five minutes to get home. No incidents of this kind crossed my path again. I quickly parked my bike under the porch and ran to the front door.

"Please, you're not back yet. Please!" I hissed to myself. Slowly and quietly, I turned the key in the lock. Only a crack wider than I was, I opened the door and pushed my way through.

Silence reigned in the house. It felt as if no one was here. Nevertheless, I quietly rushed into the downstairs bathroom and tore the clothes off my skin. Just as I was about to squeeze into a new pair of jeans, I noticed a car coming up our driveway. I cursed quietly to myself as I continued to hastily change and throw the wet clothes into the laundry basket. My feet came to a halt just before the front door as it was pushed open.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why are you panting like that? Did you cycle through the rain?" asked Bernd with a smile on his face. I just nodded in reply to his questions before we did our special handshake. "You were lucky. Dad is on later today."

"Why?" I replied curiously.

"Probably he has an important appointment," my brother dismissed it as if it wasn't interesting. "How was school?"

"As always," I replied boredly as I rubbed my hair with a towel.

"Were they nice once?" he asked, but I could tell from his grin that he already knew the answer I was about to give him. As always, I just rolled my eyes.

"Look - mum and dad certainly wouldn't mind if you told them you wanted to change school. You've got the grades for it!"

"Except for math," I replied a little dejectedly. I knew I wasn't that stupid, but I had more of a talent for languages than an understanding of numbers.

"You had a C! Almost a B! And you've never written an E!"

"Not good enough for Sarah," I sighed and sat down on a bar stool while Bernd poured himself a glass of orange juice. My brother was the only one who knew that I had wanted to change schools for a long time. Not because of the teachers or the subjects, but just because of my classmates.

"You're fluent in French and also participate in a Spanish course, even though no one does! The teachers didn't even want to let you go in both courses at the same time until you proved it to them that you can do it."

"Oui je sais," I mumbled flattered with red cheeks. I didn't like it when people emphasized my strengths so clearly.

"Oui madame?" Bernd laughed in confusion, and I joined in.

"Yes, I know," I translated for him. He nodded approvingly.

"That's what I said. So easy anyway."

I grinned at his feigned ignorance. He obviously liked it.

"Tomorrow is the last day for this week, then you've made it. And to top it off, you get a ticket to the movies! What do you think?"

"I'd prefer it to be the last day of school there," I grumbled. "But the offer sounds good," I added so that I didn't sound ungrateful. I was really looking forward to the movie night.

"And afterwards - afterwards we'll go toMC, right?"

"You mean the new McDonald's branch right next to the movie theater?" I asked with shining eyes, and he nodded with a smile. Bernd held out his fist for a fist bump - I simply had to accept.

"Thank you."

He took a sip of his juice and stared into the distance.

"Do you know why I knew you were driving in the rain?"

"Uh - no?" I replied, a little perplexed by this strange question. "Maybe because of my hair?"

"No."

"Maybe ... maybe because I'm wearing different clothes?"

"No," he replied with a smile. But I couldn't take it.

What does Bernd want from me?

"Then why?" I asked, a little annoyed. He looked at me for a long time before opening his mouth and placing a hand on my folded hands.

"I was sure because you're not wearing your gloves."

It was true. Even though I often wore the leather for protection, I felt a lot better without it when I was alone. But now that they were wet, I had to take them off for better or worse, even if I didn't like doing it in front of Sarah or Jonas. I didn't care about Bernd in this respect - as with other things.

He gently took two of my fingers and slowly spread them apart so that the skin between them tightened.

"Could it be that they're getting bigger and bigger? That they're growing more and more with you?" he asked slowly as I withdrew my hands from his gaze. I hated it when they got too much attention. My brother was no exception.

"I don't think so. If they're wet, they'll get bigger either way."

"They grow when they get wet?" Bernd asked and I couldn't hold back an annoyed groan any longer.

"No, they don't grow. It's just like our fingers. They get wrinkly and a little thicker if they come into contact with water long enough. It's similar there too."

"I understand," he replied thoughtfully. My brother was already gazing into the distance again. We lingered in silence until I couldn't stand it any longer.

"Did you... did you notice anything weird with the rain?"

"What?" he replied hastily. I seemed to have just snapped him out of his thoughts. So, I repeated my question a little more firmly. A negative answer came back. But before he could question everything again, I asked him the next one.

"Why are you home so early?"

"Mum asked me in the morning if I could cook dinner. She and dad would join us later or come very late in the evening."

The day is getting better and better!

I gave him a smiling nod in reply. Bernd was not only my adoptive brother, but also a top chef.

I did the laundry and put my leather gloves on the radiator to dry them. I just hoped that I would be able to wear them when Bernd's parents got back. They didn't like me sitting at the table with my bare hands. Not because they also did, but because of my specialty between my fingers. I didn't like it either - Sarah gave my hands death stares when this happened, as if they were snakes and could attack her at any second.

However, they hadn't arrived by the time the food was served, so Bernd and I ate alone - without gloves.

"I'll make you a suggestion, Marine," he said suddenly, as the weather passed by on TV. As I looked over at him, he had the remote control in his hand. Now he pressed the red button and the flat screen responded immediately. Normally we weren't even allowed to look at the television when we were eating.

"Hm?" I replied with my mouth full, as I didn't want to be rude. For better or worse, Sarah had impressed these manners on me.

My brother pushed his empty plate a little away from him and folded his fingers together. Bernd seemed to be serious.

"I'm talking to Sarah and Jonas ... about you ... about school ..." he said slowly, jogging my memory. My eyes grew to the size of tennis balls.

"You ... you want ...? No. No, I can't accept that. They wouldn't understand ..."

"But we can try, Marine." My brother looked at me with a serious and stern expression. "It can't go on like this. They can't keep putting you down all the time. We'll talk to them at dinner on Sunday. I'll go first. We'll explain it to them objectively. It would be best if you picked another school already."

I didn't answer but thought about it while chewing. I hated my classmates, and they hated me, but dropping out of school only because of them?

Oh, pull yourself together, Marine! You can't keep getting bullied. Maybe you'll find better classmates somewhere else - maybe even friends.

"But -" I started to object. "But ... you know yourself that there's no other school in the area! I ... I'd have to go to boarding school!"

Bernd's face became contorted. Slowly, he began to nod.

"Yes, that's true. But I can't accept it like this either. They manipulate you and play with your feelings for fun."

"It's not so bad," I was about to reply, but I kept my mouth shut because he wouldn't have believed me anyway. This was my only chance to get away from here.

From my classmates. And also, from Sarah and Jonas.

Sometimes I felt guilty for not liking them, as they had saved me from the adaption center. However, as a small child, I had always had better ideas of what a family should be. I felt trapped with them. It was always about the money or the crazy business they did every day with their construction company.

And I didn't have one of those things. I couldn't go far with the ten euros pocket money I got a month, so I saved it. I would be able to buy something with it one day. Just the other day, I had lost a quarter in my savings box for a blue cardigan that had been on sale. I loved it - I had only worn it for the last time yesterday.

Every now and then my heart yearned to return to Mary - even though she had often been disciplined, I had felt comfortable with her. The feeling was still there - the memories were no longer in my head.

"Well? What do you think of the idea?" my brother's deep voice came wafting over to me. Sometimes - like now - it gave me goosebumps. The pitch of his voice matched his appearance perfectly. Bernd was two heads taller than me, always had a little tan on his skin and had gray eyes. He also saw the inside of a training room as often as I saw the indoor swimming pool. Almost all of the girls there looked after him every time, as if he was their commander. Bernd said himself that he thought that sucked.

I lingered in my own thoughts for a while and the family member remained patient.

"Let's try," came suddenly from my lips. It sounded to myself as if someone next to me was saying it in my voice.

It can't go any more wrong than them saying no ...

But my heart was pounding as if it feared the worst.

Chapter 3: The letter

However, before I could look for a new school, the current one got my attention.

I got wet again when I rode my bike in the morning the next day. This time, however, I was wearing a long raincoat, which I left hanging in the checkroom before walking up the steps of the school. I quickly went to the toilet and only then I made my way to the classroom. I was always the last one to arrive for class and only stayed as long as the teacher did. In this way, I tried to limit the bullying attacks against me. This time I was unlucky - Professor Strauß hadn't come to class yet. It was loud, so I had a tiny hope that they wouldn't notice me.

But today was obviously not my lucky day.

"Ohhh!" came from the girls' corner. I could feel their eyes on me, but I skillfully ignored them and sat down right in front of the teacher's desk. At the beginning of the school year, I chose this seat every time - at least no one around me sat here. Except for the nerd Paul. But for him, I was air. Fortunately.

They were giggling about something - I knew in advance that it was about me. I rolled my eyes as I turned my back on them.

"Well, Marie? Have you gone for a swim yet?" I heard a bad joke from them. My hair was still wet. They'd been calling me Marie since first grade. They were probably too stupid to pronounce my name with the right French accent.

"Aren't you going to take off your gloves? They're full of water. Oh, I forgot! You have a thing for these!"

"Who in God's name still wears gloves these days, girls? Only old ladies and lunatics like you, Marie!"

"Only they go to the indoor swimming pool!"

Anger seethed inside me. They couldn't leave me alone.

"How are your swimming lessons going? Are you finally able to stay afloat or are you still diving?"

I stood up with a jerky movement. When I looked back at them, I noticed that they had shrunk a little in shock. I would have liked to smile at that moment, but it felt like something inside me had taken control.

I stomped with purpose as I walked in front of their table of four. My hands slowly moved together. I panicked, thinking that I was now revealing my webbed membranes. But my body seemed to have something else in mind.

The leather slowly rubbed against each other and generated a little warmth, which thawed my cold hands. Nothing more happened within ten seconds, so the girls found new courage and resumed their previous activity.

"What do you want? Show us how ugly your gloves are? Look how old and scuffed up they are. Oh yes, I forgot - you don't get any money from youradoptive family," the first one - Alexa - hissed at me. I knew she was trying to pull me down with my marital status, but my ears had switched to deaf.

"Are your fingers cold or are you trying to infect us with your horrible allergy?"

As the third one was about to open her mouth, something happened. I felt a kind of pleasant warmth move through my body and shoot forward to my hands. It seemed very familiar, although I couldn't remember that I felt it before. My skin tingled again, and my eyes itched a little, but I couldn't move my fingers to get rid of the stupid feeling.

A tiny drop of water made its way between my palms and slowly trickled down. Faster than I could look, more liquid trickled down from my fingertips, directly onto Alexa's book. The first page turned into paper-mâché, then the second, the third - on and on until the whole book was soaked. My hands and gloves stayed dry, though.

What the hell is happening here right now?

With a quick movement of my hands, the waterfall came to an end. I leaned them on the edge of the table and looked each girl individually and clearly in their eyes.

"You need a swimming course, Alexa. I saw you last time. You don't know how to swim. That's why I was kind enough to give you a little bit of water for practicing," I explained with a smile before regaining control of my body. The girl stared back with a scowl, but I stood my ground. Before she could open her mouth, Professor Strauss came through the door.

"Bonjour mes amours," she greeted us, and I returned to my seat with a smile.

"Bonjour Professeur Strauss," we replied in chorus, then we were allowed to sit down.

"Professeur Strauss?" came from Alexa. I felt hot and cold down my spine. She couldn't tell on me now! She'd done bad things to me before!

Well, woe betide you!

I fixed her with a look as the control of my hands was snatched away from me again. This unfamiliar, but now known feeling flowed through my body into the tips of my little fingers, which were unnoticeably directed at my opponent. Now I was definitely getting goosebumps and I realized that my fingers were tensing up so much that they were trembling. Fear welled up inside me, but there was no turning back. My body was no longer listening to my head, which was fighting against it.

As I listened more closely to myself, I realized that my fingers were listening to my heart.

"Madame Strauss, Marie ... I mean, Marine ..." The energy left my fingers abruptly. Alexa fell silent and her gaze turned inwards.

"What is it, Alexa?" our teacher asked a little angrily, as she hated being interrupted. She gave us the last ten minutes of the lesson to ask questions.

Alexa started talking again - this time stuttering.

"I mean, I... I have..." My fingers tightened a little more so they wouldn't shake so much. "I mean, I accidentally dropped the book in a puddle."

"You don't ride your bike, do you, mademoiselle? How could it get wet?" I loved our professor's French accent. On the first day, she had told us how beautiful it was in Paris, as she had spent a few years of her life there herself.

"I was... I was clumsy," my classmate stuttered back, and I smiled broadly as I was able to move my hands again. Professor Strauss, however, didn't seem to be impressed.

"I'm sorry, mademoiselle, but I'll have to mark you down for this. And you'll have to get a new book yourself. Without it, you won't be able to complete the course."

"Y-yes, madam," Alexa replied dejectedly. As the adult turned around, a quiet chatter arose around her. Her friends - and she herself - probably couldn't understand why she hadn't told me off.

I smiled smugly into my book to read what was written there, but my thoughts were elsewhere. How had I managed to bring up so much water? Why hadn't Alexa just told me off? And why the hell had my fingers moved of their own accord and simply ignored my head?

As I realized that I wasn't going to get any more answers today, I pushed my thoughts aside and got my attention back to class. I got five plus points in that lesson, which our teacher added to her notebook with a broad smile. It hurt to think that one day I would no longer see Professor Strauss.

However, Alexa didn't see it that way.

"You're in for a treat, you vilesea girl," she hissed at me before turning her back on me and stalking off.

Sea girl ... Sea girl ... Sea girl ...

A slow echo of her words lingered in my ears, as if it had been stuck on with superglue. I didn't know whether they were meant to cause me pain or rather questions.

Were the others beginning to realize that I was different?

I was only able to free myself from the many questions that had arisen today as I jumped into Bernd's car. He had already loaded my bike into the trunk. The navigation system showed 33 minutes, as we were driving into the heart of Hamburg. We sang and danced along as best we could with the songs my brother had put on. We knew the words to the chosen songs, and I loved such a time. It was only now that I realized how long it had been since we had done anything together.

We only calmed down as we were at a traffic light and a calm, slow song was playing. I had known it since I was a small child - my heart associated it with Mary. That's why I sang along with my eyes closed.

I wanted to remember it again.

I wanted to be with her again.

The song in French was no problem for me. I also knew the highs and lows by heart. I felt free because I kept my eyes closed. I could imagine myself anywhere in the world.

But as much as I wanted it, the memory didn't come. It was as if it had been locked in a prison. Sometimes I thought it was a kind of strange cliché that there had been a life for me before the Schmitts - before Bernd and co.

I looked out of the window a little sadly as the song stopped. We were driving again. Bernd hadn't made a sound the whole time.

"You sing really well, Marine," he said, but I just nodded my head. I found myself in a sea of thoughts again. Why hadn't my parents wanted me? Why had I been adopted? And why had the Schmitts taken me in? Sarah hated me and Jonas seemed almost indifferent when I was around. Was I really soawful?

"Come on, Marine. We're here. The movie starts in ten minutes!" shouted Bernd in a rousing, joyful mood and I had to grin.

"I'm coming!"

Almost three hours later, we walked back to the car. Normally it wasn't dark at this time in September, but as it was raining heavily again, the black clouds covered the sky.

I loved the movie from the start to the end, but most of all I had to thank Bernd because we saw it in 3D. This made it much better.

Because we were already at the car and it was pouring down buckets of water, we drove the car toMcDrive- where I was secretly totally against it. I had already felt bad because we had driven all the way to Hamburg by car, even though we had a train station in the area. But then we would have been late for the cinema and wouldn't have seen the movie anyway.

"What do you like, Marine?" Bernd brought me back from my thoughts again. I still couldn't save myself from them.

"TheCaesar Salad Naturaland a Sprite," I explained to my adoptive brother, who passed this on. I was glad we weren't here often. The packaging of the food wasn't good for the environment.

"What are you thinking about all the time? Has something happened at school again?" he asked, reminding us both of the only physical assault my classmates had committed. A few boys of my class had circled me and pushed me back and forth. I remembered with a smile that the leader of the small group had cycled into the stream on the way home.

"No, no," I replied quickly and turned to face him. He had already seemed so strange yesterday as I had asked him about the rain. I didn't want to unsettle him anymore. "I'm just thinking about the fact that I've now managed my tenth edge in diving," I explained to him with a proud expression. Now Bernd looked puzzled, but he made a happy face.

"Seriously? That's totally cool! Why didn't you tell me? You're amazing."

I could feel my cheeks getting warm and therefore red. I hated it when someone praised me, but Bernd was the only one who understood how important this topic was to me.

"Yes..." I replied meekly. My adoptive brother watched me speechlessly with astonished eyes. The food saved me from his further questions and because I didn't tell him anything else, Bernd knew that the matter was over.

"Have you found a new school yet?" he asked suddenly. I shook my head.

"But I haven't had time to look for one either," I continued, lest he didn’t think that this matter was unimportant to me.

We remained in silence while I ate my salad and inwardly agonized over how it was possible to create so much waste with one single order. Splashing sounds of the drops falling from outside onto Bernd's car, the road and everything else catches my attention. It relaxed me. Rain, waterfalls, and the sound of the sea had always had this effect on me.

Bernd was again quicker than me and waited, looking out of the window.

"What did you mean about the rain yesterday, Marine? It was normal."

I coughed because I had choked.

I thought he had forgotten!

"I... uh..." I started to stammer before coughing again to get myself some time. "I meant the shape of the drops - I mean, they were very heavy, the raindrops," I replied hastily. It had finished speaking as I realized which nonsense, I told him. But as I looked at my brother, he accepted my words with open arms.