Friend Zone

"Is made up in my mind.
Am I just wasting time?
I think this could be love.
I'm serious."

-What if, by Colbie Calliat

Lewis knew that he wasn't the ideal boyfriend. He didn't play football, surf well, or weight lift. He was more of a fishing, science-y type boy. And that hadn't ever really bothered him. Until, he met Cleo Setori. It wasn't that she wanted him to be someone he wasn't. He would have been able to deal with that. But she accepted him just the way he was. And in a way, that was the problem. The more she tolerated, accepted, and included Lewis, the harder it was not to crush on her. Her slightly puffy mouse brown hair was always flying around her face, and her smile made him weak at the knees. Her laugh was like bells chiming, and he couldn't stand the fact that there were so many people out there that she could date, but he wouldn't ever be one of them.

When asked by Rikki why he had never dated Cleo, Lewis had a simple answer. 'What if it went wrong?' The two had been best friends practically since first grade. Lewis was worried that he would never be able to confess to Cleo without ruining the special friendship they had. He also believed she deserved someone better than him. Someone who could always make her laugh, and didn't always bore her to death with science.

But when his best friend started to take an interest in the biology of Mako Island, Lewis felt like he was living in a dream. He and Cleo spent hours together, trying to figure out what was causing the girls' transformation, as well as if maybe there was a way to prevent just any water from causing all of them to grow tales. Cleo was absorbing marine biology books and doing her own tests. He didn't of course know that she had initially started this, so she could get his attention. She certainly had it now!

Lewis was still frightened of his feelings. So he stood and watched from the side-lines as Nate and Cleo danced, and he felt his heart breaking. If he'd just plucked up the courage to ask her to the dance he wouldn't be feeling to miserable. But now, as he stood by the bleachers off to the side, he felt as if this should sum up his life. He'd been friend-zoned.