H2O: A Mermaid Tail

5

    I reach the cafe and get off my motorcycle. I take my helmet off and ruffle my hair to fix the helmet hair.

    I put the helmet in the back compartment and headed into the cafe. I had only taken a few steps in when Zane, Rikki's boyfriend, stopped me. He looked me over, then stared into my eyes with his chocolate brown ones, his hair ruffled just right. I suspect it had taken him a lot of time that morning to get it just right. 

    "Is that your bike?" He asks me, sounding incredulous. I scoff at him.

    "Yeah, it's mine. It's a Harley with some personal touches, courtesy of my dad." He looks past me to the bike, mildly impressed.

    "It's cool. You're ok, in my book." I laugh at his narcissism and walk around him toward the furthest booth, where the girls already were.

    Bella had gotten me a drink, which I took gratefully and sipped. Ricki was glaring into her drink, making it even hotter than when it started. Bella gave me a look, and I realized that they were now all looking at me, waiting for me to tell them why I had called this meeting.

    "Will is going to go to Mako, and I think I should go with." Rikki looks away from the bubbling drink and states at me, flabbergasted. Before she can argue, I say, "It makes sense. I know nothing about the place, so who better to lead him astray? I can distract him long enough for you guys to look at the place, at least." Cleo and Rikki look at each other, Cleo glaring at Rikki to say alright. 

    "Do it." Cleo says, eyes steeled.

    "You're going to need one of us with." Rikki adds, still glaring at Cleo.

    "I'm sure I've got it, but if it makes you feel better, you can spy on us. It'll keep our fishy secret safe, and I can find out about him." I cock an eyebrow at Rikki, daring her to say no again. She says nothing, and I nod.

    "I'll tell him at school tomorrow, and it's Friday, so it's perfect. See you guys at school."  I push through the beads to my bike, hopping on once again, and head home. I've got a big day tomorrow.

The end of school the next day

    I close my locker and glimpse Will heading across the lawn. I run over and tap him on the opposite shoulder. He turns, seeing nobody. I laugh, and he stops walking, turning (the right way) to look at me. I grin mischievously, and he smiles back, a chuckle escaping his mouth.

    "What do you want, Lethia?"

    "So, you remembered my name." He grins.

    "What do you want?" He asks smoothly. I smile up at his tanned, gorgeous face, letting myself flirt, just a little. 

    "To say yes. To your offer of leading you to the opening." He smiled at me, but looked a bit miffed.

    "What made you, or should I say, what made Rikki change her mind?" I frowned and glared at my shoes, which suddenly looked very interesting to me.

    "I don't like people who act like they know me better than I do. I was actually about to say yes when she interrupted." He grinned and looked down at his shoes too. I glanced up right when he did and we both laughed.

    "So how does 10 work for you?" I said confidently, looking fully up from my shoes. He stared into my eyes.

    "Actually, would 9 work?"

    "Perfect." I smiled at him and he grinned. We're doing a lot of that together.

    "So, are you taking me up on my offer of a boat ride too?" He said, referring to when we met.

    "Na, I can get a ride easily. But thanks, Will. See you at 9!" I smiled at him once more and spun around, heading to my motorcycle that I rode to school to avoid another Nate episode. 

    I got on and put my helmet on. Within the protection of the darkened visor, I stole a glance at Will. He was walking to the docks with a grin on his face, a slight spring in his step. He must be really happy about this trip.

    I started up my bike and drive home. Nobody could see the huge smile on my face as I drove on. Nate was standing next to the tree where my bike had been yesterday. I saw a puddle next to the sidewalk and took the chance, rolling through it and roaring with laughter as he screamed and jumped away. He yelled something incoherent at me, but he was already far behind. I looked and saw that I hadn't gotten any water on my clothes, but there was mud on the wheels that I'd have to wash off later. Whatever, I like working on the bike.  

    I pulled into the enormous garage and parked the bike. I ran to my room, heading straight for my closet. My clothes had arrived a long time ago, so I was already unpacked. I opened the doors and walked into the closet.

    "Ummm, let's see, sporty rack spotlight and hiking shoes spotlight." I muttered my myself, looking around. I grabbed a dark blue tank top and camo jacket, along with some practical jean shorts. For shoes I just grabbed some reliable Converse with waterproof tops, just in case of puddles. I left the room, closing the door and turning the lights off. I headed to my moms room and called to her through the door.

    "I'm going swimming with the girls, I won't be back for awhile." I hear an ok and head to the basement pool. I've already told my mom about them, I asked them and they said I could since she's a mermaid as well. I get to the bottom of the stairs and dive into the crystal clear water.

    I swim out of the hatch and into open sea. I streak to the island, going to an open area just a bit away from where I was meeting Will. I pulled myself onto a rock and dried off. Fully dry and tail-free, I head down to the beach.