H2O: Just Add Survival
Chapter 1
June 18, 5:30 pm
Emma, Rikki, Cleo, and Bella all lay on the deck of their boat, tanning. They were traveling to visit their friend Lewis in America before starting college in the fall. Emma had returned the week after graduation, causing Rikki and Cleo to prepare for a feud. But Emma and Bella got along fine, Bella's carefree ways going perfectly with Emma's neat freakiness.
All four girls had chipped in to buy an old boat that they named the Lorelei II in honor of Miss Chatham's old boat. Now, they were five days away from the coast of California, where Lewis was meeting them. Cleo lowered her sunglasses to look at the dark clouds on the horizon.
"Looks like a thunderstorm's heading for us."
"Not a bad one, right?" Emma asked worriedly, already thinking about a plan.
"No, but it looks like there should be some lightning." Cleo admitted.
"Then we should batten down the hatches." Bella suggested while picking up her beach towel. The foursome went inside to prepare for the storm.
Around ten, the thunderstorm was in full force. The waves tossed the tiny boat up and down. Cleo and Bella were playing cards, Rikki was painting her toenails, and Emma was scrubbing the kitchen floor for the fourth time that week.
"Em, you're going to rub your knuckles raw." Cleo said as she beat Bella at Canasta for the third time. All of a sudden, all that the four girls could see was white. Then, the charcoal smell of smoke entered everyone's nostrils. Cleo threw open the engine hatch and gasped.
"The engine's about to blow! We need to get out!" she screamed.
"Into the ocean?" Emma asked weakly. Then, a sudden force blew all four girls apart from each other. The engine had exploded! Rikki and Cleo landed hard on the deck, which knocked the wind out of them. But the danger wasn't over yet. Fire was still spreading on the Lorelei! Rikki looked all over the inferno. "Emma! Bella!" she cried.
"We're alright," she heard Bella say. "Just get out of here. We'll find you!"
Rikki got a hold of Cleo and somehow got them both over the deck railing. Their tails formed before they even reached the water. Rikki pulled Cleo up and they fought the rising waves. "Bella! Emma! Where are you!" Cleo yelled over the wind. Just then, the boat went up in a fireball, creating a heat wave that forced the girls to get farther away. There was no sign of their other two friends.