H2O: A Mermaid Tail

30

    "Lethia, what are you doing here?" Sophie's voice rang out from behind me and I turned, smiling innocently.

    "Just giving Will a pep talk." She looks between us for a moment, then miss and walks off. Will squeezes my arm, smiling at me with his clear blue eyes.

    "Wish me luck."

    "Good luck."

    "Won't need it." He walked away into the boat, giving me a final farewell wave before I turned and walked away. I went back to the Dophin show, searching around for Cleo, Bella, and Ricki. I found them all sat together on a bench and joined them.

    "Why aren't you on the boat with Will?" Ricki asked me curiously, peering over Cleo to look at me. I shrugged, playing with the end of my blonde braid aimlessly.

    "I didn't really get an invite." Bella looked between us all and frowned.

    "So, Will's about to go into a competition with only Sophie and Zane there to cheer him on?"

    "Not for long!" Ricki declared, standing up confidently. We followed her lead, going to the docks and diving in. As soon as my legs transformed into a tail, my mind felt clear. Water to us is like a giant feather mattress: you always want to be with it and you never want to leave it.

    We sailed through the water, going deeper as we approached the boat. I made an 8 with my fingers and we all swam down to the eighty meter marker, where I believe Will could get to.

    We waited only a few minutes before he entered our area of vision. Pausing at 60 for only a moment, he went down to eighty. We joined him then, swimming closer and waving.

    I couldn't sworn he smiled as he pulled the ribbon. I waved one final time before he swam up, and that's when we went up to, hiding behind a giant balloon in the water a little ways away from the boat on the surface, maybe five meters.

    "New record! We did it!" Sophie cheered as Zane whooped. Will broke the surface right when the unthinkable happened.

    Sophie kissed Zane. And not just a peck, oh no, this was a long, deep, more than a crush kind of kiss. I immediately turned to Rikki, who's face had gone stone cold, anger and hurt evident in her features. She sank under and swam away, and soon everyone left to go. I swam away with Bella, going to a beach to dry off and ending up at the cafe where a celebration of Will's win was taking place. Everyone had Rikki Cafe hats on, and reporters were there with cameras waiting for Will to turn up. Sophie saw me and ran up, grinning.

    "You seen Will yet?" She asked. I shook my head and looked at Bella, who shook hers. Sophie shrugged. "He's probably recovering, I'll go get him and bring him here." She hurried off and Zane noticed Bella and I and came over with a big smile on his face, brown eyes twinkling.

    "Will here yet?"

    "No." I answered, and Bella didn't even look at him. He didn't seem to notice, walking away and into his office that I had seen Rikki walk into just minutes before. I tugged Bella's elbow and motioned towards the door.

    "It's not a good time to be here." I said softly, and she nodded. We both left, knowing that Rikki and Zane were officially over.