Bella's POV
We would see each other the next day at Rikki's. Everyone was there when eventually Lewis entered. We looked curious at him. He sat down and was immediately harassed by questions.
Rikki: well, what did she say?
Zane: Is she gonna shut up?
Emma: What happened?
Cleo: Did you two kiss?
We all looked at Cleo. Was that the point here? "Cleo!" Rikki slapped her brown-haired friend. "What?" Cleo looked not-comprehending.
Lewis then started talking. "Well, Rikki, she has said a lot of things. Zane, she'll shut up. Emma, we've just talked, that's all. And Cleo, that you could even think that? I thought you have more trust in me." Then he looked at Will, Edward and me. "You three, any questions?" Lewis asked annoyed. "I trust you'll say the necessary part." I answered. Edward just nodded.
"I don't even know that girl, so I'm not gonna smash myself into this." Will said.
"We've had a little talk. She told me she was just curious. She won't tell anybody, she promised and I believe her." Lewis said.
"Yeah, well, I don't." Rikki interrupted him.
"Rikki, she's really sorry about what happened." Lewis defended his ex-girlfriend and Edward confirmed it. "After this summer she won't be a bother anymore. She's going to college to Canberra, she told me. Oh, and there is one more thing, even though I think you're not really gonna believe it. She said that if we needed any help, any time, she wanted to help us. Doesn't matter how."
I smiled, this sounded pretty good. Right? Rikki and Cleo shook their heads. Rikki then talked. "Bella, I don't believe you're so naïf. She's just fooling us. She will tell it to somebody, she won't help us. You don't know her, but we do. She's just a bitch, a hard-lying BITCH."
"No, Rikki. I don't agree with you this time. I believe Lewis and so I believe Charlotte. Maybe she has actually changed. We should give her a chance." Emma protested.
"Remember what happened last time, Em?" Rikki asked, nearly provocative. Oh no, this was going the wrong way. "She has had her chance, I believe. Cleo, what do you think?"
"I agree with you, Rikki. She can't be trusted anymore. She has had her chance." Cleo stated. Rikki and Zane nodded convinced.
Suddenly Edward interrupted their little argument. "If I may something. Euh… Cleo, I can't read your mind, but that doesn't mean I can't guess what you're thinking. And my guess is that you're just jealous. Rikki, you've never given Charlotte a chance, you've told. So why not? Giving someone the benefit of the doubt isn't always a bad thing. Zane, you've given me a chance, even you were afraid of me at first, now you start to trust me. Why wouldn't you trust Charlotte? I think we must agree with Emma, Lewis and Bella. Give her a chance… If she screws up again,…" Rikki interrupted him. "Then the whole world might know we're mermaids. Great plan, vampire-boy!"
"Rikki! You don't have to yell like that at him. He's just saying his mind, you did, so why can't he?" I yelled at Rikki.
"Because he's not one of us, Bella. He's not one of our group!" She yelled back. She looked down and ashamed right away when she said it for a second, then looked back at me. "Sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to…"
"Too late." I said and walked off to the jetty outside the café. And I dove into the water.
I swam to a part of the beach that was usually deserted and waited for my tail to dry off. Before it was dry, a pale boy with dark hair stood in front of me. "She's sorry, you know." My boyfriend said.
"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't give her the right to say at all."
"Can you blame her? She's right. She doesn't know me, Bella. Give her some time to get used to me. How difficult was it for you at the beginning?"
"Knowing you? not that hard." I said.
"No, I mean, knowing the existence of vampires. Knowing the truth about Alec, Jane, Aro,… Cleo and Lewis also needed time to get used to the idea of hanging out with me and my family. Lewis still doesn't know sometimes how to handle of what happened in Italy. Give your friends the time they need, it will be okay, I promise." Edward sat down next to me and hugged me. My tail was dry in the meantime and I stood up, but Edward stopped me. He was way too fast for me.
Rikki's POV
After I said that, I regretted it immediately. Sometimes I really have to shut my big mouth. But mostly I couldn't help it, it just came out, just like now. Bella walked off and Edward looked at me. "Don't worry about it Rikki, it's okay. I understand it. I'm gonna go find Bella. You can in the mean time come to an agreement of what to do with Charlotte."
I must admit, Edward was a really nice guy. He loved Bella with all of his heart. It was so beautiful to see. I smiled into myself. He was okay with it. Thank God!
Cleo stated again to avoid Charlotte. But Edward had made me doubt. Eventually we agreed on just letting Charlotte be. Not really being friends with her, but we didn't gonna threaten her either.
Now, I just hoped Edward would convince Bella on forgiving me.
