I'm glad it didn't take the "traditional" turn of most mermaid stories and ended tragically.
As for the friends. Cut them some slack, folks. We hardly learn anything about them, so I wouldn't automatically say they're bad people. It's normal at this age to get kind of swept into a little romance frenzy. And their advice "get to know him if you don't hate him so far" isn't a bad one, actually. What are you supposed to do instead? Wait for love at first sight? You gotta meet people to find the one.