Chapter 9: Discussions

At home

With Rikki

"You know, I'm surprised yet understand you not telling me about his, but hopefully now you can tell me anything," Terry says.

"I know that now dad," Rikki says.

"Nothing could be worse or bigger than this," he says.

"What? This is the best thing in the world," she says.

"Not exactly, Rikki, you have to worry and be so careful, not to mention the lies you probably had to tell to save yourselves. Is there anything else you need to tell me about this?"

"Well, the reasons we always had sleepovers on the full moon nights is because it makes us go crazy. We have pretty much got it handled now."

"Okay well, I want you to promise no more lies, even if you become some other mythical creature. I want to know. I would help you, and support you. You know that, right?"

"I do, but it was just a matter of how you would react. What if you sent me off to some scientist or got rid of me or didn't want me anymore."

"That would never happen, but I am disappointed to hear you say that…how could you think that you can't trust me?"

"I'm sorry, dad, I know I can trust you now."

"Good you better."

With Bella

"Darling, how could you not tell us?" Mr. Hartley asks.

"I was nine years old, if I told you without showing you then you would think I was imagining things. At nine years old, I didn't have a voice of reason to tell you or not to tell you…I felt like it would be my own special no one would ever know… that was my plan until I met others just like me," Bella says.

"You were a child, where would you get the idea to hide this from us?" Mrs. Hartley asks.

"It was something special to me, my own new world, I just didn't want to share something so special with anyone else," Bella says. "Besides, what if you didn't love me because I wasn't human anymore? What if you treated me like the freak I kind of felt I was."

"We would have always loved you, but now realizing how much you lied to hide this all these years is just too much to handle…" Mrs. Hartley says.

"I'm really sorry, I just did to make things easier, I was afraid…don't you understand? What would you have done in my situation? You weren't around, and I felt if you knew you would just leave forever! I was nine, there weren't a lot of options for me….there weren't even many options for the other girls. If you're going to hate me then I guess I will just have to leave because I won't be able to deal with this, and I can't let you just scream at me because you don't understand me! You will just have to accept me and love me because I can't change it now. I lied … it's not like you haven't," Bella finishes.

"Fine, we can accept this, but we won't trust you anymore…you'll have to gain it back. Of course we love you and always will," Mr. Hartley says.

"Just realize this is as much your fault as mine. All I wanted was someone to love me and show an interest in me. If you cared about me enough to pay attention I wouldn't have gone exploring, and I wouldn't have found my moon pool, and I wouldn't be a mermaid…so I you have a problem it's your fault!" Bella yells.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that, now go to your room," Mrs. Hartley yells.

"I knew this would happen if I told you," Bella yells as she storms up the stairs.

With Cleo

"So, you never would have said anything if she hadn't wanted to expose you?" Don asks.

They sit down at the table to discuss this new development in hopes of keeping it calm.

"After the incident with Kim early on in our new development, we knew we couldn't tell you. At first I wanted to because I was afraid of it, but the girls convinced me it would end in disaster. What if you wanted to send me to some scientist? It was better to hide," Cleo says.

"Did anyone else know?" Don asks.

"Lewis, Zane, and Will found out accidently, Emma told Ash," Cleo says.

"They all accepted you so why did you think we wouldn't?" Don asks.

"Kim, and her reaction with trying to expose us," Cleo says.

"I'm sorry I did that to you, but I'm glad I'm right," Kim says.

"Well, at least you have grown up since then," Cleo says.

"I know why you lied, I wish you hadn't but I accept it. Just no more lies, okay?" Don says.

"You got it, dad," Cleo says.

With Emma

"Was this why you quit the swim team, and didn't want to go on our family trips?" Mrs. Gilbert asks.

"Yes, I did my best to hide it, and avoided any water situations. I didn't want to quit the team, but what could I do?" Emma asks.

"If you had told us, we could have had a doctor help you, and maybe stop it," Mr. Gilbert says.

"That's what I was trying to avoid. I didn't want to be locked up. I just wanted to be a normal girl," Emma says.

"You'll never be a normal girl, and now you've lied to us. What about our policy to always tell the truth?" Eliot asks.

"Don't you understand I felt like I had to lie, or be locked up? T was what was best," Emma says.

"Well, maybe it wasn't, but there's nothing we can do about it now," Mrs. Gilbert says.

"But Emma, how can we trust you now? Three years of lies…." Mr. Gilbert says.

"I was just trying to save me and the others from being locked up, "Emma says.

"Well, I understand that, but it doesn't make it okay," Mr. Gilbert says.

"I want to know you won't be lying to us ever again, next time you'll be severely punished," Mrs. Gilbert says.

At Rikki's Café

"My parents are furious with me. I hate this part of being a mermaid," Bella states immediately as they sit down.

"My dad was very understanding when I told him that after the thing with Ki, there was no way we could tell them," Cleo says.

"My dad also understood but he worried about all the dangers we faced alone. He was just scared about us getting hurt. He didn't like the lies either," Rikki says.

"My parents are furious too because even though it was for a good reason, I lied and that's all they care about," Emma says.

"They probably think that we lie all the time and they will never know," Bella says.

"Well, they will just have to get over it," Rikki says.

"What if they don't? What if they never forgive us?" Emma asks.

"They will they love us no matter what," Cleo says.

"It'll just take time," Rikki says.

"So, are we going to Zane's for testing tomorrow?" Bella asks.

"I think so. We should go home, tomorrow is going to be a very long day for us," Rikki says.