vi.
"Look, I'm not a sap or anything, but you need to do something about Cleo."
Rikki steamed herself dry behind the room divider and tossed yet another waterproof bikini over the side of the panel. "That one doesn't transform with me, either."
Lewis put a large, red X by the description of the top she'd rejected and peered over his notebook towards the direction of Rikki's voice. "What are you talking about? I haven't said a word to her about our secret! I promise she is not a threat! What do you want me to do? Trap her on Mako Island in case she gets suspicious?"
"No, you twit! I mean you need to talk to her!"
Lewis squinted in confusion. "You told me not to!"
"Not about the secret." Rikki huffed through her nose. "Don't you understand anything?" She poked her head out, dry and clothed again, and Lewis chucked her the next experimental suit in the pile; this one a strangely designed wetsuit.
"Really?" she quirked an eyebrow. "I'm going for coverage here, not winner of a pageant."
"Hey, you said you'd try anything! I'm just eliminating every option we have."
She dubiously reassumed her spot behind the divider, squirting more water on her arm from the squirt bottle provided.
"Okay," she said, "I admit that it was fun at first; leading her on in thinking you and I were a couple. But besides that turning my stomach..."
"Gee, thanks," he said absentmindedly, completely focused on his chart of women's swimwear.
"Let me finish!" she scolded. "I think she really is hurt by it. And I'm not a sadist. Despite what you... and everyone else might think of me."
"What am I supposed to do about it?" he sighed. "I can't exactly tell her... Wait." His pen stopped mid-air as Rikki's words began to fully sink in. "You made her think we were a couple!?"
Rikki shrugged sheepishly, though he couldn't see it. "I may have not... entirely... discouraged her misunderstanding things between us."
"Rikki!" Lewis was appalled. "Ugh... I... Do you really think she's upset about it? I mean... it bothers her that I'd be dating you?"
Rikki emerged to throw the wetsuit directly into Lewis's face. "Isn't that what I just said? She looks like I'm the Wicked Witch every time we bump into each other. You need to... I dunno. Reassure her somehow. It's exhausting watching her scamper off to cry all the time."
"She does that?"
"You are so clueless, it's amazing you're able to pick out your clothes every morning."
"Well, by process of elimination..."
"Lewis?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't care. Are you going to talk to Cleo?"
"Right! Cleo! Yes, I am!"
"Then go."
"Right now?"
"Unless you want to do another round of, 'Shopping for bra tops with Rikki!'" she said, sarcasm dripping from every word.
Lewis couldn't keep back a shudder. "Okay, just... get this stuff out of here before my brothers get home."
"Not a problem. I don't exactly relish the thought of your family thinking we're... Ew. I just threw up a little."
For once, Lewis ignored the insulting implications and hurried away.
Cleo looked surprised when she answered the door. Her hair was down, and tied back with a head scarf. That was usually a bad sign for her. It meant she was either too ill or despondent to bother doing anything else with it. Lewis liked it better when she wore it down, but he'd never had the guts to tell her so. It felt like something her... her boyfriend should tell her someday. He wasn't that to her and didn't have the right to voice a preference. The thought made him sad, somehow.
"Lewis!" she peered over each of his shoulders, looking for someone it seemed. "I... thought you'd be with Rikki."
"Rikki? Naw. No. That's not... a thing. Look, we need to talk," he stuttered.
"Uh... sure. We can go to my room. Kim's watching TV down here."
Lewis meekly followed her upstairs, sitting a respectful distance at the foot of her bed while she sat beside him—but not too close, he noted.
"I don't know where to start..." he began, losing his resolve with every second he waited. "I know I've been kind of... weird, lately. But it isn't that I don't want to hang out with you!"
"It's not?" she prodded glumly.
"No, I just... there's a lot on my mind lately." He scratched his head, wondering how in the world he was supposed to reassure her without spilling any secrets.
"Well... I get that," she nodded thoughtfully. "But we used to have a lot on our minds together. And I miss that," she sighed.
"You do?" He saw her instinctively reach for the nearest stuffed animal for comfort, and smiled to himself when it was the fish he'd left her as a get well present.
"Sure. But I get it. You have a girlfriend, now. You can't be spending all your time with me. It would be weird if you did. It wouldn't be right to be my best friend and someone else's... boyfriend."
He wasn't sure if he'd imagined it, or if her voice had begun to crack with emotion. "Cleo, Rikki isn't my girlfriend."
Cleo's eyes shot up to meet his. "But you and her... I saw you...!"
"It's not what it looked like! We weren't... Zane was messing around," he blurted out, rushing to find a way to make things alright without lying to her.
"Rikki wasn't naked?" she asked warily.
"I mean... Zane has a way of exaggerating. She and I are not in a relationship like that, and certainly not one where... what I'm trying to say is that she is not my girlfriend. No way. I mean, she's a great person. Kind of scary, and... predatory. But not the one for me. No." He paused in his rambling long enough to ask, "Do you believe me?"
She nodded, but still frowning. "So... do you want to go fishing this Saturday?"
"Oh." His face fell. "I don't fish much anymore."
"How come?"
"The science project. Really busy with that."
"Oh." Cleo sighed again, and it sounded as if her world was crumbling around her. Lewis was desperate to make her smile again.
"But we can do something else! How about... a picnic! On the beach! I'll bring the blanket, and you bring... whatever you think."
"Okay!" she brightened, slouching a little less. "Great! So Saturday it is!"
"Yeah, awesome! Meet you here at eleven?"
Cleo nodded, considerably happier, though not quite herself yet.
"Lewis," she said, suddenly growing shy as he stood to leave. "I'm really glad."
He questioned her with his befuddled expression.
"That Rikki's not your girlfriend," she blushed.
"Me too," he exhaled with relief. "You have no idea."