Chapter 12: Secrecy and Rebellion
It was safe to say that Katy was jealous of Sara and Farley's new relationship. Katy had Mitch, and that was truly amazing. However, she was envious of Sara and Farley's ability to be public together as a couple. Their little moments of PDA pained Katy whenever she saw it. She and Mitch unfortunately did not have that luxury at the moment. They had to be hidden, away from the public eye. And, that was the hardest part. Yet still, Katy did slightly enjoy the secrecy and rebellion of it all.
She would visit him every time she could after school, as long as she could escape from Sara and Mia. A week after the arrival of Cleo, Rikki, and Bella, Katy left a regular school day with Mia. Sara had excused herself from the group early, for which Mia groaned that she was just going to hang out with Farley. "I tell ya, Farley's gonna take Sara away from us. She's probably already told him we're all mermaids," Mia complained as the two of them left the school grounds.
"They've only been official for a week now. Mia, give them some time together. And, I doubt Sara would've already given away our secret that easily. She's much smarter than that." Katy reassured her.
"Ugh whatever. Either way Team Mako is being split up."
"Do you have to be so negative about it? Or is it because Sara has found a guy for her and you're just jealous?" Katy questioned.
"What no? I'm fine how I am right now!" Mia responded quickly. Katy raised an eyebrow at her. "Ok. Ok. Maybe I'm slightly jealous of her right now. Only slightly. But, Blake and I have become friends again, so that is a significant improvement over what we were before."
"Maybe you'll date Blake then," Katy joked.
"Ugh, maybe if something extreme happened. But, I really don't see it happening," Mia spoke. "Ok what about you then? Any guys on your radar?" Mia quickly changed the subject.
"Nope! Not yet at least," Katy answered almost too quickly. Luckily, Mia didn't press for answers to harshly. The two of them continued walking away from the school. Katy gulped and spoke up again. "So, Mia I gotta be the bad friend as well. I'm going to run some errands, so I have to leave you."
Mia just scowled. "Damn. First Sara with Farley and now you with your errands. Guess I'll just be alone then."
"You could swim to Mako Island?" Katy suggested.
"Oh Boy! And hang out with those other mermaids? No way. Not on my list of fantastic things to do today."
"I don't have the answers for you…"
Mia stared at Katy. "Alright fine. Go. I'll be ok. I promise. But, when you're done text me. We are going to swim together tonight: You, Me, and Sara. Whether I have to drag her away from Farley or not, we're going to do that ok?"
"Duly noted," Kat joked. She said goodbye to Mia and went away. She followed the coast, winding through the forest, doubling back on herself if Mia had decided to follow her. Soon, she found herself staring out over the canal toward Mitch's boat house. She allowed herself a quick smile, before circling around toward his front door.
She entered immediately without knocking. Mitch was in the exact moment drinking water when she came in, and in his surprise spit out his drink, coughing and sputtering. He struggled for a few seconds before he addressed Katy. "What… are you doing?" he asked quietly, trying to contain his breath.
"I thought I would surprise you," Katy put forth.
Mitch wiped his lips on his sleeve. "Well good job, you definitely succeeded."
"How's it going with Marian? Any closer to breaking up with her?" Katy questioned blatantly.
"Already going straight for it. Not a, 'Hi Mitch. How's it going?' Just coming right out with what I'm doing with Marian," Mitch quipped.
"Oh I'm sorry. Hi Mitch. How are you doing? Good? That's great! Now, are you going to be breaking up with Marian soon?" Katy joked back, yet still keeping it serious.
"I promise you, it will happen soon. I just got to find a good time and place to do it. I'm working on it. You have to trust me," Mitch promised.
"Ok. I trust you. But do it soon. It's like a gotta rip it off quickly, you can't just hold onto it," Katy affirmed.
"What's got you troubled Katy? Usually you haven't been pushing me about this so heavily. Why now?" Mitch pondered.
"Sara is in a relationship with Farley. And, safe to say I'm very jealous of her. Not like about her having Farley, but they're so cute together at school, and we can't be that yet." Katy explained.
"Like I said, I'm working on it. You just have to trust me."
Katy sighed. "Ok. Mitch, I trust you. But, please do it soon."
"I promise. Besides, how could I say no to that cute face." Mitch stepped up to her. He leaned to her, and kissed her on the lips. He felt perfect to Katy. It was a little rebellion she was part of. She loved the feeling of almost being secretive about it. Her heart sped up a bit as they continued the kiss.
"...but I still can't believe it's been a week and we haven't been back here yet," came a woman's voice from outside the boat shed, circling toward the front door. Katy and Mitch immediately broke the kiss, surprised by the voice.
"Well, we've been busy. It's our first time back to Australia in a while. We had to travel around a bit," came another voice, this time a man's.
Katy somewhat placed the voices. They seemed familiar. She had heard them recently. But, she had a slight trouble placing them.
"Do you think someone actually lives here?" The woman asked.
"Only one way to find out," The man replied. A second later, loud knocks happened at the front door.
"Who is that?" Mitch whispered to Katy.
"You think I know?" Katy responded quietly, "I swear I've heard them before. But, maybe not. I don't know. Open the door, we need to see who this is."
"What if they're from school? They'll see me like this."
"And that'll happen either way when you break up with Marian and go public with me! Just do it!"
"Alright fine," Mitch cleared his throat, went to the door, and flung it open.
Katy wished now he hadn't. Standing in the doorway was none other than Bella and Will, looking quite confused when they saw Mitch standing in the doorway, with Katy behind him. "Katy? What are you doing here?" Bella asked.
"Oh…. Hi Bella. I'm just hanging out…" Katy came up with quickly, feeling almost awkward.
"You two know each other," Mitch turned to Katy and asked.
"We're acquaintances. She's a friend of Mia's cousin's girlfriend," Katy responded.
"Ain't it so," Mitch muttered. "Now, can I ask why you're here?" He turned back to Bella and Will.
"I used to live here like a year and a half ago," Will spoke. "Didn't think anyone would live in this place after me, but it seems like you've done well with it. We wanted to see how it was doing after all this time."
"Thanks I guess… Look, I don't really know you that well. It seems that Katy knows you, but I'm not sure about letting you come in…" Mitch trailed off. Katy sensed his defensive tactics. Mitch wasn't used to fully trusting other people.
"That's ok," Will backed off, "Just wanted to make sure this thing was kept in good shape. That's all."
Katy spoke up. "Mitch, they're ok people. Just let them come in and check it out. You want to be able to trust people, you have to start now."
Mitch seemed tense for a moment, then he relaxed his shoulders. "Alright fine, you can have a quick look around. Just don't mess with anything."
Will nodded, and he and Bella stepped into the boat house. "You've done quite well keeping this place clean. I'm impressed," Will complimented.
"Thank you," Mitch responded flatly.
"Ha. When Will lived here, the entire place was covered in junk that he collected over the years. I kept trying to make him clean it up, but it never worked," Bella joked.
"When did you move out?" Katy asked.
"Oh…. When I graduated high school, I stayed in for that summer before I moved to Los Angeles for University," Will explained, "It worked out for me and Bella though, despite being apart. She was close by in San Diego with Cleo and Rikki. We would see each other every so often whenever we could get away."
"Aren't you both so cute," Mitch joked, still wary of them. Katy shot him an angry glance. Mitch just shook his head.
"We've been together for about a year and a half, and we've handled moving to a new country and going to different universities. I think we're doing well," Bella put in, almost mocking Mitch.
"Well, if I ever need any relationship advice, I know who to go to then." Mitch shot back sarcastically.
Since there wasn't much to the boat shed, the tour was quick for Bella and Will. Will told a few quick stories about his time living there, but mostly didn't say much. They said their goodbyes, and left, leaving Mitch and Katy alone once again. "Your friends are odd," Mitch stated when Will and Bella had been gone for a time.
"Well they aren't my friends. They're acquaintances, big difference. And why were you being so defensive there? They were being nice." Katy asked.
"Some random bloke and his girlfriend showing up at my door saying he used to live here? Seems suspicious to me. The only reason they stayed as long as they did was because you knew them." Mitch explained.
"You have to better at dealing with new people like that," Katy suggested.
"I've been handling life myself pretty well so far. I've actually done really well for myself considering the circumstances."
"But, it's better to learn to trust people."
"I trusted my parents to raise me in a good household, and you know how that happened and where I am now."
"Yet, you're asking me to trust you when you say you're going to break up with Marian soon."
Mitch sighed. "You're right. I do need to work on it. But, you're the first person I've been able to talk to about this. It'll take me some time, but I know I can do it."
"I'm glad I could be so special to you," Katy moved over and hugged Mitch's larger frame. "But, it won't be worth anything if you don't break out of your shell." Mitch hugged her back. There was nothing he could think to say. Deep in his mind, he knew Katy was right. He just didn't know how to do it.
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Sara and Farley walked together along the beach, hands intertwined as they went along their way. Sara convinced Farley to stay farther away from the ocean as to hopefully not get sprayed or splashed by the ocean in any way. It was fun to go about their own pace, and Sara enjoyed the attention she got from Farley. "How are Mia and Katy dealing with the fact that you have a boyfriend and they don't?" Farley teased.
"They're happy for me, somewhat. With a slight tinge of jealousy," Sara replied, smiling. She felt as though Farley understood her more than most guys she had a chance with back in Gibbon.
"Well, I would consider myself lucky to get a beautiful all-American girl like yourself," Farley flirted.
"I had heard a lot about Australian boys when I was growing up in America. I just never thought I'd get a chance to actually have one for my own," Sara returned. She kissed Farley on the lips before taking off across the sand at full sprint. "Catch me if you can!" She yelled back in a teasing manner.
Farley stepped back in surprise as he saw Sara run down the beach. He smiled and chased off after her. His training with Blake let him catch up to Sara pretty quickly. "Got ya!" he teased as he picked up Sara off of the beach. However, the momentum of the run was too much, and it sent the both of them laughing hysterically as they crashed to the ground, with Sara landing on top of Farley.
They looked into each other and chuckled at the silliness of it all. Sara leaned down and kissed Farley gently upon the lips. He reached upward, moving her golden hair backward behind her ear, touching her face gingerly. It was a splendid moment for Sara, feeling Farley's newly toned arms caressing her head.
Sara failed to notice how close their fall was to the incoming tide, and she opened her eyes to the rushing sound of water, just in time to shove herself off of Farley, before the wave battered him. Farley stood up instantaneously and out of the water, slightly soaked. The water had lightly splashed Sara's hand as she leapt up. She turned away from Farley to hide herself forcing the water off with her powers and onto the sand below her. It took two seconds and she was completely dry again, avoiding the mermaid tail.
Farley began to step toward her. "Now that was not what I was expecting," he joked.
Sara held out her hand. "Just stay back a second. You're soaking wet," She spoke, scared he would get water onto her, revealing her mermaidness.
Farley played it cool. He knew what she was, and he knew forcing her like this would be bad. But, he had to seem to not know about anything. "What's wrong with that?" he asked innocently.
"I just. Don't want to get wet. Saltwater isn't good for my skin. Not a big fan of it," Sara fibbed.
Liar. But I don't blame her. Farley chuckled to himself. "Ok fine. Shall we continue walking then?" he asked, pointing back the way they came.
"I'd like that," Sara smiled.
A half hour later, Farley was mostly dry, but Sara wasn't taking any chances. They had walked back down the beach still talking, but Sara still refused to grab Farley's hand, lest he find out about her secret. So they continued walking apart.
"Why are you so scared of the water? Besides the problem with your skin and saltwater. Is it because you aren't from a place with the ocean?" Farley asked out of the blue.
"A little because of that yeah. It's so intimidating. I'm not sure what to think about it," Sara replied.
"I've lived my life mostly in western Brisbane, away from the sea. So, I'm not as used to be extremely close to the beach everyday like this either," Farley put in.
Just then, Sara's phone buzzed in her pocket. She looked at it to see a text from Mia. "Feeling lonely. Meet me at the Cafe. And yes, you can bring that boy toy with you," it said. Sara just rolled her eyes. But, she felt like she couldn't just abandon Mia, even if she was trying to break up her date for the day.
"What was that?" Farley asked.
"Mia. Wants us to come to the Cafe. Keep her company I suppose," Sara explained.
"Ugh. Do we have to? She's just gonna be a third wheel for the two of us," Farley complained. He didn't mind Sara's two friends, but sometimes they were a little too close. Could've been mostly because of the mermaid thing, but Farley wasn't sure.
"Come on. Let's just be nice," And Sara went ahead, leaving Farley the option to either go with or be left behind. He decided to follow her.
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At the Cafe, Mia was sitting at a booth by herself with a juice when Sara and Farley arrived. Mia smiled and waved them over. The two of them sat opposite side to Mia who slurped some of her juice. "What's going on?" Mia asked almost too cheerfully.
"Well, Farley and I were hanging out together... But you wanted us to come here, so here we are!" Sara replied, a bit sarcastically. "I thought you were hanging out with Katy anyway."
"Katy's busy with some errands, so I thought I would hit up you two and see what was going on. Grab some juice!" Mia spoke, smirk on her face.
A waitress came by, and Sara and Farley both ordered a juice each. Within a few minutes, they were delivered to their table freshly prepared. "I gotta say. This juice is so much cheaper and better to get it fresh here then back home," Sara spoke up.
"What? You didn't have any corn and beef smoothies back in Nebraska?" Mia teased.
"Ha ha ha. Very funny. Maybe I should dump my smoothie on you," Sara joked back.
The two of them laughed at each other, leaving Farley just sitting there with nothing to do but be silent. Maybe I'm the third wheel to them. He pondered to himself, drumming his fingers on the table.
Sara sensed his feeling of awkwardness, and reached down with her hand and grabbing his hand closest to her, resting it on the table. Mia noticed immediately. "Oh please don't you're gonna make me sick," She joked.
"Well, you might be seeing more of it. Farley and I are dating now so better get used to it," Sara shot back.
Just then, into the Cafe walked Bella and Will, casually talking to each other. "There's one of them," Mia spoke low to Sara and pointed her out.
"One of who?" Farley asked spinning around and trying to get a better look.
"This doesn't concern you Farley," Mia responded quickly.
Bella noticed Mia and Sara. She walked over quickly. "What a small world," Bella joked, "I just saw your friend Katy not ten minutes ago."
"You saw her? Where was she?" Mia asked, wondering about what Katy's errands were.
"Yeah. Will used to live in this boat shed nearby, so we went to visit it. And Katy was there, visiting with the bloke that lives there now. He was decently tall. What was his name? Richard or something? No… Can't remember. Had thick black hair, and a sense of haughtiness about him. He seemed to listen to Katy though." Bella explained.
"So she lied to me! She was actually going and seeing a boy instead of hanging out with me. Ugh. Both of you two and your boys." Mia complained.
Farley was about to defend himself and Sara, but She spoke up. "Wait, Mia. Jet black hair? Really tall? Arrogant asshole? Could it be…?"
"But… No way… Couldn't be… Come on, she wouldn't do that..." Mia trailed off.
Farley realized it as well. "But, she wouldn't be with him… Would she?"
Sara scrambled through her facebook. Looking for the one picture she could use, and she eventually found it, showing it to Bella. "Is this who you saw?" she asked.
Bella studied the picture for a moment. "Yeah that was him. She and him were definitely there together," she spoke.
A sense of dread filled the three of them sitting down. "So… Katy is with Mitch Stevens…" Farley spoke quietly.
"We don't know that for sure. We just… She can't be dating him at least. He's with Marian! But, why would she be hanging out with him?" Mia spat.
"I don't know. I don't know," Sara responded in shock. "He's an asshole! Why would the normally happy-go-lucky Katy be with him?"
"I remember my first day here. He made me a dare, or else he would make my life hell. He said I had to go to Mako Island and take pictures…" Farley began before slamming his mouth shut. Sara and Mia's eyes were on him immediately. Shit! I can't give away that I know about their pool on Mako!
"You went to Mako Island?" Sara and Mia questioned simultaneously. Even Bella looked at Farley with eyes showing concern
"What's w-wrong?" Farley stammered. "I just went to some beach on the west side. Took some pictures, and then I left immediately. I was creeped out by the whole island. Too weird." Farley breathed a sigh of relief as he made it through the lie with himself intact.
"It's not that weird!" Mia shot back. Sara glared angrily at Mia. "But we don't blame you for leaving so early. Either way, we have to deal with Katy now. Sara, you and I need to find out more. Sorry Farley, this is a girl thing."
"Uh…. Ok." he spoke, quite confused.
"Text Katy to meet us… at the usual meeting place, and let's go and talk to her."
"Right. Sorry Farley. This is between us girls right now," Sara apologized, and she and Mia got up immediately, heading out of the Cafe.
Farley just slouched in his spot disappointed. This would be so much easier if they knew that I know about them. Sara especially wouldn't need to be so secretive.
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Sara and Mia impatiently floated in the Moon Pool. They immediately swam there from the Cafe after texting Katy. Now all they had to do was wait for her to show. "Ok, so what's the plan?" Sara asked.
"We can't come right out and say it. We have to give her the chance to come clean right away. Keep pushing the envelope and see if she cracks," Mia planned.
"And what if she lies and denies everything?"
"She's still our friend. But, we have to decide what we need to do." They stood quiet for another minute in the pool.
"What if she doesn't come?" was Sara's next question.
"She has to come to us eventually. We can't allow her to be with Mitch. He's bad news all around."
"But what I found surprising is that Bella said that Mitch seemed almost tamed by Katy. How could that happen? Biggest jerk in the school, and yet he listens to what Katy says? Something doesn't seem right." Sara spoke forth.
"Let's just see what happens when she arrives."
Not five minutes, the cheery redhead rose from the pool, a smile on her face. "Hey guys! How's it going?" Katy asked.
"Oh pretty good," Sara spoke casually.
"How were your errands?" Mia asked nonchalantly.
"Decently well. Just had to pick up a few things at the shops for my mum. Nothing too big," Katy lied.
"Yet you still left me behind for it?" Mia asked, slightly forming it as a joke. "I had to bother Sara and Farley for a cure to my loneliness."
"Sorry Mia. You know how my mother is. I had to get this done or else I would've gotten into some trouble."
Mia and Sara looked at each other. They didn't know what to say. Katy was obviously lying to them. There was nothing they could do. "Good to know," was all that Sara said.
Katy was puzzled. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing. It's all fine," Mia spoke, "Are you sure there wasn't anything else you did at all?"
"I told you, I went to the store for my mum. What is this? An interrogation?"
"No… But we're just concerned…" Sara began.
"About what? I didn't come here to hang out with my best friends only to be questioned about my entire afternoon!" Katy was fuming.
Sara and Mia backed off. "Sorry Katy. We just usually hang out. But I was confused why you were just running off with a vague explanation," Mia apologized.
"So, you're questioning me instead of talking to Sara so much about hanging out with Farley? Mia. We've been friends longer than that."
"Sara has a boyfriend now! I'm sorry she can't hang with us all the time," Mia spoke.
"Oh and how long until Farley finds out she's a mermaid! Face it. We have to stick together and you're trying to sow distrust of me! We've been friends for six years Mia!"
Sara exploded. She had had enough. This was it. "Alright, Katy. Enough bullshit. We know you were hanging out with Mitch Stevens. You lied to Mia before, and you're lying now."
The moon pool got quiet. Real quiet. Sara and Mia stared at Katy, waiting for a response. It was time for her to fess up to everything.
Hope you guys love the story! Send a review as per usual. Stay tuned for chapter 13 next week!
