Chapter 3: The Truth Hurts

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own H2O: Just Add Water, or any of the characters in the show. Also, of you see any major brands mentioned in any of my stories, I don't own that either.

Well, here it is. After the long awaited wait, Chapter 3 is here! Sorry if my writing kinda sucks a bit on this chapter. I've been really tired this summer (and I was sick when I typed some of the first part.) Anyways, without further ado, here is Chapter 3! (And also, remember the four words you'll hear in every story: TYPED ON AN IPAD. Please excuse any minor spelling mistakes and/or grammar errors. For anyone who owns an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad, you probably know what I mean.

Kyle's POV

My mom grabbed her car keys and raced out the front door. "Come on, Kyle!" she said. "You're gonna be late again! You've missed two practices, and you cannot afford to miss another one." I continued stalling, because my mom wanted to take me to ice skating practice. And it's pretty obvious why I can't go to that! If I fell, my life would be over.

But, because I had to obey my mother, I grabbed my skates and got into the front seat of her car. As the car engine started, I turned on the radio as my mom pulled out of our driveway. I tuned the radio until I got to the pop music station, as a song began playing.

Hey, I just met you

And this is crazy!

But here's my number

So call me, maybe?

It's hard to look right

At you baby!

But here's my number

So call me, maybe?

I sang the lyrics obnoxiously, until we arrived at Bette Sherman Ice Rink. I gulped, and my face felt pale as my mom stopped the car. She looked at me for a moment and opened my door.

"Kyle, I've said this once and I'll say it again." my mom said, in an unusually strict voice. When it comes to parenting, my parents are generally the loose and fun parents who encourage their children to have a drink or so at a party. "You can't afford to miss one more practice, with Regionals in December! Unless you want to just quit!"

I did want to quit skating, but I couldn't. I knew she was being sarcastic. Besides, I've spent a lot of my life ice skating, ever since I was four of five. So I got out of the car and took my Zuca skating bag out of the trunk, closed it, and walked familiar scent of sweat, hockey pucks, popcorn and leather filled the air as I walked in. And right as I was tying my skates, Samantha walked over. I looked up and saw that she was fuming.

"KYLE BRADLEY, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Samantha barked at me. Her voice echoed off the walls. Everyone there stared at us as she continued to lecture me about skipping do many practices, especially before Regionals, blah blah blah. I knew that I should respect her and all, but it was a bit annoying.

Samantha nudged me to get on the ice. I finished tying the laces of my skates, put on my gloves, hat, scarf, and earmuffs over my hat, and walks onto the rink. On the ice, I was extremely careful not to fall or touch any ice. Somehow, I didn't the whole three hours.

I grabbed my skates and my bag, and headed out the door and into my mom's car, once again. Except this time, my little sister Taylor was in here eating dry Cheerios in a container, and Rebecca was wearing a green and white soccer jersey, with matching hair ribbons, shorts, and soccer socks. Her black cleats were perfectly polished, and her manicured hand was holding a ball and a water bottle. Even though Rebecca did a new sport just about every other year, she always seemed to exceed in whatever she did. Last year she was into cheerleading, two years ago it was basketball, and four it was ice skating, along with myself.

Whenever one of us go into Kindergarten, Mom wold sign us up for ice skating. I think it was originally because of me always wanting to do it, but when my mom saw how good I was at it, she made it a tradition. Taylor, being only four and not in Kindergarten, hasn't done it yet. But Rebecca did it until she was in second grade, until all of her friends signed up for basketball. And even though she was really good at it, (but not as good as me, of course) she quit, due to peer pressure. At eight years old! She sure is a funny girl. And not the good funny.

As I sat down in the front passenger seat, Rebecca kicked the back of my chair repeatedly. But of course, my mom never noticed, so I spent most of my car ride being kicked by Rebecca.

Rebecca was dropped off at a soccer park fifteen minutes later. As soon as that happened, I clenched my fist and and made a fist pump. Yes! She was gone!

"Kyle, dear, do you smell something burning?" Mom said. I looked behind me and saw that the leather seat next to Taylor was on fire! (Okay, so it wasn't a big fire, but still!) Taylor clapped when she saw it. My mom screamed, and I looked at my fist. It was still balled up, so I unclenched my fingers .

The fire stopped.

I was speechless. "But... How did... It was... What?" I said, mumbling. My mom's eyes were as wide as the moon. It didn't take me long to figure out what caused it: me. I, Kyle Bradley, started a fire! Was it my power? It had to be. After all, Olivia and Madison had already gotten theirs. It suddenly all made sense.

The drive home seemed endless. I couldn't tell if my mom thought that I had maybe done it or had something to do with it, because I saw her look at my hands when it stopped. The moment the white Honda my mom was driving parked in the driveway, I got out of the car and rushed inside. I ran up to my room, grabbed my cell phone, and dialed Olivia and Madison's phone numbers, and put them on a group chat.

Olivia was the first to pick up. "Hello?" she said?

It didn't take much longer for Madison to pick up and grumble into the speakers.

"What do you want?" Madison asked. Her voice was flat and she sounded tired.

"Madison, Olivia, it's me. Come over now!" I said. With that, I heard Madison groan, and two clicks, meaning they both hung up.

"Okay. So we might not know much about... Well... Us," Madison said. "But what we do know it really cool." With a flick of her wrist, I saw the water in a cup on my bedside table gradually rise. I watched in awe as this happened. I was going to tell them about my power, but I didn't want to spoil it for Madison. After all, she can be very, very, very, VERY stubborn.

When the water was just a few inches from the ceiling of my room, Olivia put her left hand in front of her and froze it. After it was frozen, she clenched her teeth, narrowed her eyes, slightly curled her fingers, and focused on the frozen water. A few seconds later, the ice broke in to millions of tiny pieces, flying everywhere.

"So, Kyle, why DID you tell us to come over here, anyways? Did you get your period?" Madison asked. Yes, I'm thirteen, almost fourteen, and I still don't have my period. It's not THAT big of a deal, is it? Okay, so maybe it is. After, Madison got hers when she was twelve, and Olivia got hers when she was eleven. But I guess it doesn't matter. At least, not right now.

"I, uh..." I didn't know what to say. Part of me wanted to tell them right now, but another part of me wanted to make some dramatic and big deal about showing them. But what could I say about them coming over? "I wanted to ask you guys something." I said "Who can we trust with our secret? Shouldn't we tell our parents or our doctors? Because if you think about-" Olivia cut me off, mid-sentence.

"Oh, no no no no no. We cannot and will not tell ANYONE. Understood?" she asked. Madison joined in and talked about the risks of telling others, like being locked up in a lab to be dissected, or being followed endlessly by photographers and never getting privacy, or even both. As much I was itching to tell someone to get it off my back., I just swallowed those thoughts and looked at Olivia and Madison.

"Okay..." I said slowly, not sure of myself. "I won't tell anyone, I promise."

But how long could we actually keep that promise?

"GET UP!" my mom yelled as she hit me with a pillow. I slowly opened my eyes and saw my alarm clock, which not only was loudly beeping, but read 7:04. "School starts at 8 AM, sharp." Oh, crap, school! I forgot that today would be my first day at Harborside High School. Quickly, I jumped out of bed, shooed my mom out of the room, put in my contact lenses, brushed my hair and my teeth, got dressed, applied my mascara and lip gloss, and rushed downstairs. Rebecca was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a magazine and eating her cereal. And, of course, not a single hair on her head was out of place. As much as I love and hate her, I envy her. She is gorgeous, polite, (around adults, at least.) popular, and really athletic. If I can't be like Rebecca, then I sure as hell hope Taylor turns out like her, but, you know, actually nice.

I sat down in a chair, where a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon rested in place. I gobbled down the food, spook a swig of my orange juice, and double-checked my backpack.

Pencils?

Check.

Paper?

Check.

Binder?

Check.

Lunch money?

Check.

Gym clothes?

Check.

Anything else I might need?

Check, check, check!

"Bye, Daddy!" I said as I planted a kiss on my dad's cheek. He was reading the business section of the newspaper, and drinking coffee. Dad said goodbye, took a drink of his coffee (extra-caffeine, of course) and continued reading the paper. As he and my mom talked, Rebecca and I walked to the bus stop, which was just at the end of our street. When we reached there, I pulled out my phone and texted Madison.

"u coming?" I texted her. Just a moment later, Madison replied.

"nope, sorry. Mom made cole drive me and avery to school today :P and she said it would be good 'bonding time' for us."

Of course she wasn't coming. Even if she wasn't being driven, a newer, closer bus stop was built by her house, even though she live just a block or so away. And Olivia's mom always drives her and Spencer to school together on the first day.

Eventually, Rebecca's bus showed up. She climbed on, got a seat towards the back, and began chatting with her friends. So now, it was just me. Sure, there were other kids near me, but I knew none of them.

My bus came a few minutes later. I chose a seat towards the middle. Not in the front, where the nerds are, but not in the back, where the most popular kids sit, like Lacey and her clique, even though Lacey and Claire aren't on that bus. But Danielle is. It's because Danielle and I live a street away from each other, so we're always on the same bus. In seventh grade, everyone was talking a lot and misbehaving, so they gave us bus "buddies". And guess who I had to sit with? That's right, Danielle. It. Was. Awful.

I spent the bus ride sitting next to a sophomore who talked to his girlfriend in the seat in front of us. So I just looked out the window, admiring the view. I saw a lot of trees, cars, birds, people carrying briefcases, and part of the beach as the bus passed it. Soon enough, we pulled into the Harborside parking where an abundance of cars and school buses sat. As soon as I climbed off them bus, I saw how many people there were. When my Aunt Hattie, who went to Harborside described it, her description was very accurate. She talked about the hundreds of kids crowding the hallways and outdoor areas, and the dozens and dozens of classrooms, filled with rude teachers, and the occasional nice one.

There were girls running into each others arms and giggling, and guys were fist-bumping each other. Everyone talked about their amazing summer feats, like going to Hawaii or meeting a celebrity. Sure, those things are all cool, but I had one no one could compare to: just a couple of days ago, my best friends and I became mermaids.

That's when reality hit me, hard. Avoiding water in high school would be like avoiding lava in an active volcano. With all the swimmers, and being near a beach where seniors and juniors could go for lunch break, and rain, or anything, this would be difficult.

As I searched for my locker, I accidentally bumped into a girl applying makeup in her locker mirror. Before I could apologize, she shot me a nasty look.

"Watch where you go, midget!" she said. I was dumbfounded. Did she just call me a midget? I may be the youngest person here, but I could bet that I'm smarter than her. I was about to walk away, when I remembered my power. I clenched my fist and focused on her lip stick. As I looked at it, the tube melted right in her hands. Then, I charred the tips of her hair, and for a finishing touch, I made the air around her humid, making all of her makeup run.

"Oh my god, what happened?" she exclaimed. The whole area of the hallway looked at her. It was impossible to keep my giggles under control! But I wasn't the only one who had trouble with that. In fact, most everyone did. As I started walking, I felt a tug on my collar of my shirt. I turned around and saw Olivia as she pulled me into the girls' bathroom. She did not look happy.

"Kyle!" Olivia exclaimed, quietly. "What do you think you're doing?" I shrugged my shoulders, but apparently that wasn't enough for her. I had no doubts that Olivia knew I had my power. While revenge is sweet, no feeling is worse that getting in trouble. Olivia lectured my about using my powers in public, and if I must, how I must do it discreetly.

I ran to find my locker, when I found it. 'Okay,' I thought, as I unlocked my locker. '28-10-32. That's not too hard.' My locker opened, but it was empty. So I filled my locker with my textbooks, decorated it with some photos, and put my cell phone in there. Not a moment later, the bell rang. I ran to find Mr. Scott's classroom, my homeroom. I slid into my desk, and looked around my class. I didn't know most of the people in my class, but I did recognize Lacey, Danielle, a few boys and a girl from my old middle school, and Madison. Madison was diagonal from me to the left, downwards. I was sitting in the fourth of seven rows, and towards the middle. I guess I could have a worse seat.

Right after roll call, the morning announcements came in the tv set in the corner of Mr. Scott's classroom, like every other one. There was an Asian-American man who looked about 45 years old sitting in a chair, in font of a desk. I suspected he was the principal.

"Good morning and welcome, or welcome back to Harborside High School! For all of the freshman and new students, my name is Principal Grey." He went on and on about sports sign-ups for the fall, after-school programs like drama club and math club, and our school mascot, the Bulldogs. I kinda zoned out on the announcements being made. They lasted about five or ten minutes, and right when they finished, the bell rang.

"GO TO FIRST PERIOD, KIDS!" Mr. Scott yelled as we shuffled out of the room. I glanced at my schedule and saw what I had lined up. For today, I had Algebra, Art, Break, History, French, Science, Lunch Break, English, Gym, and Newspaper. I basically have the same schedule every day. Luckily, I have Art with Olivia, Science with Olivia, Madison, and Landon, History with Madison and Landon, French with Olivia and Landon, English with Madison, Gym with Olivia and Madison, and Newspaper with Landon. So it works out pretty well.

Algebra class is pretty easy. At least, for me. After all, there's a reason why I skipped Fifth Grade. It's because I'm a genius. Okay, so I'm not actually a genius, but, you know, I'm not dumb. At least, not usually. And in Art class we didn't really do much, because it's the first day. Most of my classes are good, except for History. Oh my goodness, it is terrible! It's very boring and hard. I guess high school isn't all it's cracked up to be, actually.

Madison's POV

I walked into the science lab and plunked my stuff down next to Landon,. Across the table were Olivia and Kyle, sitting next to each other. Olivia and Kyle were talking, when their eyes suddenly grew. I turned around and saw that they were looking at Claire and Danielle who were sitting next to each other, and across from Lacey. And next to Lacey was... Charlie. As in Charlie Anderson. THE Charlie Anderson, who left Olivia, Kyle and I stranded that one night, the night that changed it all.

"Hey, Maddie." Landon said, with a smile. I smiled back and chatted with him for a minute, until the teacher came in. She had dark brown hair that was shining, white teeth, and clear skin. She looked to be in her mid-30s, and was wearing a designer dress. In one hand was a cup of coffee, and in the other was a file of papers, and her phone.

"Sorry I'm late, class. I just got off the phone with my sick uncle. But don't worry, he'll be fine. " The teacher had a kind and bubbly personality, which was like a breath of fresh air from the other teachers here. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Mrs. Ashwood." Mrs. Ashwood talked a little bit about herself, like her husband she married last June, and her dog, Phoenix.

"Now, class, for our first class, we'll start simple with something you've worked with before I'm sure: water."

Olivia, Kyle and I locked eyes. I felt a rush of nervousness through my body, and I know that they felt it, too.

"Did you know that only 1% of earth's water is fresh water?" Mrs. Ashwood took a graduated cylinder and poured most of the water into a bowl. "The amount in this graduated cylinder represents that. And most of it is frozen in icecaps, so that take away 61% of that." Mrs. Ashwood took a dropper and filled it with water. "This is about how much fresh water there is in the world we can use. I'm going to put a little drop in each hand to represent how much you may use.

Everyone stood their hands out, except for us. When Mrs. Ashwood reached us, she looked puzzled.

"Girls, don't you want some water?" the teacher asked. She looked at me, then Olivia, then Kyle.

"Um, no thanks. Thanks, though!" I said to her. Mrs. Ashwood. She looked at us again strangely.

"Okay, girls." she said, moving on to Landon. "Whatever you say!" Landon looked at us weirdly, especially me. He shot me a look saying, "What gives?"

Mrs. Ashwood then handed every partner group a graduated cylinder filled with water, and instructed to use the items in front of us to test the effects of it in water. Landon and I watched food dye swirl in the water, and TUMS tablets dissolve. As Landon reached for something else, his hand hit the graduated cylinder, which made it spill all over my arm. Oh no!

"Mrs. Ashwood, can I use the bathroom?" I asked frantically. She looked into my eyes, then at Kyle and Olivia. I don't know what she was thinking, but I could tell she knew something was up. Then, she uttered one word that pretty much saved my life.

"Hurry." she said. "HURRY!" I exited the room and ran down the hall to the bathroom. I opened the door, got in the handicapped stall, and locked the door. As I sat on the toilet seat, my tail appeared, not a moment late.

I reached for the toilet paper to help dry me off, but it just stuck to my wet tail. So I lifted the water off with my hands, shook it, and changed back to normal. So I walked back to the classroom and sat in my seat. Everyone watched me as I sat down, like I was some exhibit in a Freak Show. As I began talking with Olivia and Kyle, Mrs. Ashwood walked over.

"Excuse me, girls, but could I see all three of you guys after class?" she asked. I was stunned. Did she think I was trying to be rude? If I'm trying to be rude, I don't do it like that! I just act like a boy and be impolite.

The whole rest of the class, Landon couldn't stop staring at me. But once class ends, I pack up my bag and head out the door, when Kyle stops me.

"Remember? Mrs. Ashwood wants to meet with us." Kyle said. I groan, and head over to Mrs. Ashwood's desk.

"Yes, Mrs. Ashwood?" I asked unhappily.

Mrs. Ashwood looked at us for a moment. Clearly, the wheels in her head were turning. If only I knew what it meant! Did she want us to go to detention? No, that wouldn't make sense. It's not like we didn't anything wrong. At least, I bot think so...

"Girls," Mrs. Ashwood said, opening her desk drawer. She closed it after talking a quick glance inside. "is there anything you might want to talk about?"

Oh no. Is is possible he could be onto us? No, that's silly. How would he associate what happened in class with... Mermaids? Is it even possible? Seriously, how could she be a mermaid? It really just doesn't add up. Don't get me wrong, Mrs. Ashwood is (or at least seems) nice, but I can't exactly see her swimming underwater with a shiny, copper colored tail as a teen. But then yet, neither could I picture myself like that a few weeks ago.

"Um... No!" I said, making myself sound sure. I wasn't, but I didn't want her to suspect anything.

Mrs. Ashwood glanced at us, then spun around in chair, facing the computer. "Well, if you girls say so! Now go to lunch." she said. In her voice, there was a little part that sounded kinda like it was saying "I know you're not telling me something I already know".

We all walked out of the room, looking at one another. "That was weird!" Kyle said as soon as we were out of earshot. Olivia seemed to understand what Kyle and I were feeling, because even with her simple nod, it signaled a lot.

We all went our separate ways as we walked towards our lockers. Sure, Kyle's locker was close to mine, but hers was still in a different hallway.

I put in the code for my locker and opened it. On the first day, it was already messy, disorganized, and dark. Yes, I know all the locker are dark, but the just seems... different. I shuffled through my stuff and found a brown paper sack, which contained my lunch. So I grabbed it and walked outside where some lunch benches were. Under a shady tree, Landon sat there, eating his sandwich and starting homework he got in an earlier class.

"Hey." I tell him as I walk closer. "Mind if I sit here?" Landon looks up at me with a smile, and motions me to sit down. I slowly unpack my "healthy" lunch of a bag of Doritos, two Oreos, a pack of fruit snacks, a PB&J sandwich, and a water bottle. (If you can't tell, I pack my own lunch.) I began eating my sandwich, awkwardly.

For a few minutes, there was just dead silence between Landon and I, aside from the crunching and chewing of food. After a few minutes, Landon speaks up and says something.

"What was the big deal about getting water on your arm in science?" Landon asked. Oh, Landon, if only you knew. I thought about how Kyle asked about telling someone, but Olivia and I shoved it down her throat, hard. But now that I thought about it, it could be sorta useful! However, I could never imagine ACTUALLY telling someone! What happens if they don't believe you, or faint, or call a bunch of TV stations? If I told my parents (although I don't know why I would), I wouldn't think that they would do any of those. Well, maybe the first two. But most likely not the third. (You know, unless your parents really geniunely hate you.)

Landon kept staring at me, expecting an answer. "Are you suddenly afraid of water?" he asked. "Because just a few weeks ago, our families went to SeaWorld together, and not only did we sit in the Splash Zone, but we went swimming with dolphins. Remember that?"

"Landon... I..." I started talking, but I couldn't manage to finish the sentence. Not only did I not know what to say, but also how to say it if I could figure it out. "I don't know. I really can't tell you, and I'm really sorry about that."

Landon's crystal blue eyes looked into mine, and looked away. "Yeah, okay." he said. Landon started to pack up his lunch and got up "See ya around.

He walked away from the oak tree, saw a few of his friends, and drifted into a group with them. I felt like total trash! But if he said that to me after that would've happened to him, I wouldn't think that he trusted me anymore.

I felt worse than trash. In fact, I felt just plain awful.

The bus ride home was awkward. Cole had football practice, so he couldn't drive me, and Avery was going to the mall with her friends. But even if she were coming directly home, she'd still have to take the bus, considering she doesn't have a car. Most of the time, she drives my dad's silver Range Rover. And frankly, I'm quite surprise she hasn't wrecked or dented it yet.

When I got home, my mom was, as usual, sitting at the computer and looking at the latest tabloids online.

"Hey." I said as I walked in. Sure, my mom is usually pretty strict, but she really likes going on the Internet and looking up stuff.

"Did you hear that Kim Kardashian got yet ANOTHER Botox injection?" my mom said, munching on a bag of pretzels. I shook my head, walked out of the room and into the kitchen, and grabbed an apple. I took it upstairs to my bedroom, along with a water bottle, for a little experiment.

I opened the water bottle, set the apple on my bed, controlled the water to wrap around the apple, and lifted it up. Amazing! If I could do that, imagine what else I could do that to.

A smirk crept onto my face as I made the apple fly out my open window, and into the streets. But as that happened, Landon zoomed by on his bike as the apple fell to the ground. When he looked toward my window, I immediately ducked down and closed the window. He seemed confused, then left.

In some ways, this secret has been too awesome to explain in words. But in a lot of ways, it's made my life harder. And with Landon and the secret, I can probably guess that it will be the latter, not the former (being difficult).

When he was out of eyesight, I fell onto my bed and heavily breathed out. I don't know what is going on! Landon and I have been childhood friends. Heck, when you babysitter got married when we were seven or eight, Landon was a ring bearer and I was a flower girl. He's practically family.

I really want to tell him. But, I did make Kyle swear she wouldn't tell anyone, and the last thing I want o become is a hypocrite.

Why must my life be so complicated?

Hey guys! Mochimochimochi32 here. Yes, I (finally) finished and published Chapter 3! Oh my, I can't even BEGIN to tell to tell y'all how hard I worked on this. And yes, I do know that this isn't exactly my best chapter, but please bear with me. I have a lot of good ideas for upcoming chapters, (but I still need some small ones, in case someone wants to PM me about that.) but I'm still working out the next few ones. And also, big kiss once again to SerenSplash989 and Marill96, for just being plain awesome (and helping me, too!) Don't forget Michelle the Editor, and Finchel and Clewis 4Eva (To Finchel and Clewis 4Eva: I did realize that Lacey and Zane had the same last name. For everyone, just imagine that her last name is actually Byrd, and to Michelle the Editor and everyone else, I tried to edit chapter one where Charlie leaves the girls. I couldn't figure out how to edit the document, so I'll post want really happened on my profile sooner or later.) Just one last thing! Every week or so, I'll have a new poll on my profile, usually about my story and what I should do with it. Your opinion counts! I looooooooooove it when people participate in my polls. And don't forget to review please! It helps he know someone is STILL reading this story. Now, I'll see y'all later! (Not really, but... Oh, you know what I mean.)

Mochimochimochi32 :)