The sun rose over the Australian coast just like it did every day, but today it rose over a greatly changed group of people. The six teenagers awoke and opened their eyes at different times throughout the hours of the morning.
Cleo's eyes opened first. They immediately focused on the sparkling diamond ring that was fitted tightly on the fourth finger of her left hand. She couldn't keep from smiling as she remembered Lewis's proposal.
Suddenly it hit her like a ton of bricks. She and Lewis were getting married. She was soon going to be Cleo McArtney. Cleo took a deep breath of excitement. There was so much to do, so much to plan, so much to-
Cleo stopped in her tracks, her heart beating fast. There was one thing she needed to do before anything else, and it kind of petrified her.
She needed to tell her Dad.
Zane was the next to awaken, of the six. The first thing he did was reach his arm for Rikki on the other side of the bed. It took a few seconds for him to remember that she was not there anymore. She was at her own home, along with everyone else. The house seemed oddly quiet at Zane laid there. He stood up out of the bed, a little reluctantly, and headed down the steps to the kitchen.
Zane was surprised to see his father already sitting at the kitchen table, already dressed and reading a newspaper.
"You're up awfully early," Harrison Bennett observed, glancing up from his paper for just a second.
"Yeah." Zane's bland tone matched his father's. He walked to stand in front of of Harrison's chair and waited patiently for him to look up.
After several seconds, Harrison realized that Zane had something to say. He looked up with disinterest. "What is it?" He asked.
"I'm moving out." Zane said matter-of-factly.
That got Harrison's attention pretty fast. "What?" He said angrily.
"And I'm moving in with Rikki." Zane continued. "We're going to get an apartment together."
"I'm not paying for that." Harrison said coolly.
"And I'm not asking you to." Zane said firmly. "Dad, I'm nineteen years old. I have a job, and a girl I'm in love with. This is happening."
With that, Zane picked up his jacket and walked out the door, proud of himself for talking to his dad. Of course, Zane left out the fact that Rikki was a mermaid and that he was now a merman.
Wow, he was a merman. It would definitely take a while before Zane got used to that idea. He hoped to be able to swim with Rikki sometime that day. This was all so exciting.
Bella's eyes flew open. She quickly sat up in her bed and threw off the covers. Without even stopping to change out of her pajamas, she raced out her front door and outside onto the dock. Without hesitation, she dove straight into the water. Her heart beat fast for a few seconds as she waited for the change into a mermaid to come.
A wave of complete relief swept over her as her legs joined together to form one long, golden fin. Bella's smile was almost too big for her face as she swam quickly through the water. She didn't know where exactly she was headed and she didn't care. She was just excited to be able to swim in the water again, as a mermaid.
Carefully, Bella surfaced, looking around to be sure that there were no boats nearby. She looked around guiltily, realizing that she should have checked for boats before she dove into the water. Luckily for her, the water was clear. The last boat had finally given upon the mermaid hunt that had taken the city by storm.
Bella grinned as she dove back down into the water. She never wanted to climb out again.
Rikki stretched her arms over her head as she stood up out of her bed. She missed Zane's big, comfortable bed, Well, really she just missed Zane. She couldn't wait to talk to him. She wanted to see how he was handling things, and she desperately hoped he hadn't started freaking out yet.
Rikki eagerly reached for her phone and dialed Zane's number. Zane answered before the first ring had even ended.
"I've been waiting for you to finally wake up." Zane's voice teased from the other end of the line.
Rikki calmed at the sound of Zane's voice. She smiled brightly. "Sorry, you know I'm not too much of a morning person."
"So..." Zane started casually. "What do you want to do today?"
"I don't care, as long as I get to spend the day with you." Rikki said honestly.
Zane smiled before speaking again. "Can I interest you in a swim?"
Rikki was surprised. She hadn't expected Zane to be so enthusiastic about his situation.
"Uh, sure." She said nervously. "I mean, do you really want to?"
"Actually, yeah." Zane admitted. "Do you want to?"
"Of course I do." Rikki said, relieved. "Meet you at the dock outside your place in fifteen minutes?"
"Sooner is better." Zane said through a grin before clicking his phone shut.
Will's eyes opened slowly as he took in the familiar sight of his boat shed. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight that was streaming into his room.
He took a few seconds to think about the events of the last few days. For whatever reason, it seemed like things were going to work out for him. Bella had given him a second chance.
Will's eyes narrowed as he thought. He couldn't believe that Bella was willing to let him try again. She knew that he had feelings for Rikki. In fact, Bella had been changed forever because of the love he had felt for Rikki. She now had the power to heat water, instead of her usual power to turn water into a jelly-like substance.
Will felt intense guilt when he thought about his behavior over the past week. He was trying to get past it, but it was hard. Everyone else seemed happy, seemed to be moving on, but he was having a hard time with it all. It felt like he had gotten off too easily.
Will stumbled his way into the bathroom and turned on the water in the shower. He stood there, watching the streaming water for several seconds. Slowly, though almost hopefully, he reached a hand out and let the water run over his skin.
Nothing happened. Will shook the water off of his hand, chastising himself. What did he really expect to happen? He knew that the powers had transferred back to Bella. Still, he was kind of disappointed to be a regular human again.
Will showered quickly before heading downstairs. He pulled out his phone to call Bella. No answer. Will tucked the phone into his pocket in disappointment. He wanted to be a good boyfriend to Bella, he wanted to fix things. He may not be in love with her, but he was so very attracted to her. More than anything, he wanted to get back to a point where they could be comfortable with each other.
Also, though Will would be hard-pressed to admit it, he missed swimming in the water with his fin. It had felt so good to be able to power himself through the water that way.
Will shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the present. He tried to call Bella again, but, again, received no answer. Will said, impatiently, in his kitchen, waiting for his phone to ring.
Lewis was sprawled across his bed on his back, snoring loudly. The relief of being back to normal combined with the stress of asking Cleo to marry him had completely worn him out. His cheeks rippled as his inhaled and exhaled, completely dead to the world. His phone rang several times before he managed to make himself awaken enough to answer it.
"Hello?" He muttered, his voice garbled with sleep. He quickly shook himself out of the dream he had been having. "Cleo!" He said happily. "Come over?"
"No, Lewis, I can't come over right now," Cleo said as smoothly as she could manage. "I'm getting ready to tell Dad about our engagement. I thought you might want to be here when I break the news."
Lewis's eyes popped open. "Um..." He stalled. "Don't you think that had better be a father/daughter talk? You know, just the two of you?"
"Lewis," Cleo began, "I really think we should do this together."
Lewis abandoned all thoughts of bravery. "Cleo, I'm nervous about telling him." He admitted.
"So am I." Cleo's tone matched Lewis's . "But can we please tell him together?"
"Of course we can." Lewis would never let Cleo down if he could help it at all.
"Great." The relief in Cleo's voice was obvious, even over the phone.
"I can be there in, say," Lewis checked his watch. "Thirty minutes?"
"Sounds good to me." Cleo took a deep breath. "I'll see you here soon?"
"Absolutely." Lewis said with a smile. He would do anything for Cleo, he just hoped she knew that.
Lewis headed on his way to Cleo's. Rikki headed on her way towards Zane's. Bella swam, free, out in the ocean, and Will waited worriedly in his boat shed. Of the six, some were happy, some were worried, some were excited, but all were glad that the adventure of the last week was over.
Lewis made it to Cleo's house in record time.
"Are you ready for this?" He asked quietly as they stood outside Cleo's front door.
"Yes." Cleo said firmly.
"How do you think he'll take it?" Lewis asked, looking straight forward.
"Pretty bad." Cleo admitted. "But Sam will take it better, and she will help calm him down."
"Ok." Lewis nodded. "Are you ready for this?"
"I've been ready for months." Cleo looked solidly up at the boy she loved. "Let's do this."
The pair walked into the house, side by side.
