Emma's Story

Chapter 8: Country-vile

There was only one thing I hated more than rain, and it was the lack of water. Ever since I was a kid, even, I had always stayed somewhere that had at least a pool. But out here in Who-Knows-Where, run down, country-vile, the most water was a small stream that ran through, well everywhere.

The parents got the luxury of staying in the motel, while us "kids" were to experience everything while staying with over peppy locals. There were about six of us to a house. Elliot and I were staying with, Lilly, Page, Max, and of course Bridge. Jane, Justin, Sam, Mark, Lucy, and Rose were in another house. Which left Molly, Marcy and, Luke together.

The house I was in was small. I had to actually share a bed with Lilly and Page. Lying there in the night, listening to the complain, it reminded me of when I was lying in my bed with Rikki and Cleo. We were pretending to be sick, to get out of going out in the rain. But it didn't turn out well when we were put in quarantine. Then Lewis came, and Cleo's mom put wet towels on our heads and we became mermaids in the bed. They had nothing to complain about.

"Scoot over, Lilly," Page whined. "Your squishing me."

"Page, where exactly am I suppose to scoot, on to the floor?" Lilly shot back.

"Come on, stop fighting about this," I cried, "Trust me this is nothing. imagine if we all had tails."

Page and Lilly looked over to me. "Yeah, you can't complain about being squished in a bed, without having been in one, as a mermaid, with two other mermaids next to you."

"How big was the bed?" Page asked.

"Smaller than this queen, I can tell you that," I said, "Full sized."

There was no more complaining after that. I didn't get much sleep though. Upstairs I could hear Max and Elliot fighting about who was on the floor and who got the bed as Bridge was yelling at them to just get along and go to sleep. In the next room, the woman who own the house talked in her sleep. I knew this would be a long stop.

The next morning, the woman who owned the house, Willow Kenly, had all of us prepare for a long hike. She said that we would be hiking up the mountain, to this spot we would have lunch, then hike back down, looking at country sites on the way. Our start time was early in the morning.

At the start of the hike, I tried to trail behind with Lilly so that I wouldn't run into Bridge, but that didn't last long because Page needed Lilly with her more than I did and I was left in the back alone. Bridge took this opportunity to talk to me again.

"I'm sorry for what I said before." He started. "It's not that you couldn't handle it, it's just that I need to be careful, understand?"

"I guess," I said slowly as I tried to avoided tripping over rocks and branches in the small section of woods. "You don't trust me. Far enough, I don't trust you."

"It's not that I don't trust you…" Bridge started, but stopped mid-sentence. "You don't trust me?"

"Don't take it personal," I said hopping over a branch then around a hole in the ground. "I don't trust a lot of people."

"That's comforting." Bridge was now trying to follow my steps, so he didn't fall as well. "I guess we are on the same page then."

I stopped for a secant and looked Bridge in the eyes. "I guess so." I said before I started to walk again, faster to catch up with the others.

Suddenly everyone came to a stop. Mrs. Kenly started to speak to us, "Ok, we are at Pine Roads Stream. We will have to cut through it to get to our picnic spot, so anyone who doesn't want their shoes to get wet might want to take them off."

I look out to the wide stream that lay in front of us. It was too wide to jump over, and too deep to walk through without getting your ankles wet. I turned my gaze to where Lilly was helping Page. I needed to come up with something quick.

"Is there any way around the stream?" I asked out of nowhere.

Everyone was looking at me. Elliot's eyes were full of questions. Bridge was almost as wondrous as my little brother.

"Well there is the road, but it's not deep if you can't swim," Mrs. Kenly said.

"No…. it's… a fear," I said thinking on my toes. "An accident I was in."

Mrs. Kenly sighed, "I don't want to send you up the road by yourself…"

"I'll go," Bridge volunteered as fast as he could. "I mean, I wouldn't want something bad to happen to Emma here. We'll walk up the road together."

Everyone was silent as Mrs. Kenly took this idea in. Then finally she agreed and Bridge and I were off to the road. Mrs. Kenly gave us directions up to the spot so we couldn't get lost. Then we started back through the woods and out onto the road.

Bridge kept instep behind me. It was almost like he was making sure I didn't fall or something. Before I knew it, we were walking side-by-side, so close we were almost touching.

"So… fear of water?" Bridge questioned once we had been on the road for a while.

"Yeah, boat wreck, was trapped on an island for a while," I said hoping he would drop it at that.

"And why did you get stuck?" Bridge asked, obviously not about to drop it.

"The girl I was with forgot to check the fuel level before going out to sea," I said quickly. "Why don't we talk about how fast you offered to come with me."

Bridge was silent for w while, I almost didn't think he would talk again, then he said slowly, "Afraid of water, like you, have been all my life. Long story, but ends with me almost drowning in the ocean."

I could tell there was something in his voice that was lying. I could tell he never drowned, and that he was hiding something bigger than a simple fear of water. But I wasn't ready to fight with him again, so I dropped it and we walked in silence the rest of the way.

A/N: Pop Quiz: Here are three questions about H2o:Just Add water. If you answer them correctly, I will PM you a sneaky peek of the next chapter of Emma's Story. Just review the answers to this Chapter.

Why is Cleo feel she is not ready to have Sam around? A) She is not ready for a new mother B) She feels Sam is too pushy C) Sam is just another person she has to lie to D) Sam is not the person she thinks her dad should be with

In Episode 12, Who is Will surprised is a mermaid as well? A)Charlotte B)Cleo C) Emma D) Rikki

Why can't Cleo leave the café in Episode 16? A) She has to watch Kim B)Her father shows up C) Zane won't let her D) She can't go outside during a full moon