Chapter 4: Rikki Chadwick and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

To say Rikki had quite the night would be an understatement. She and the girls who stole Zane's Zodiac had run out of petrol in the middle of the ocean. They paddled to a nearby island called Mako where Cleo fell down a mysterious cave. The other two girls followed her, swimming out of an even more mysterious pool inside the dormant volcano. Rikki had noticed a full moon above them and felt a strange, magical feeling. She ignored it and helped the girls swim out to sea. They were immediately stopped by the water police. Thankfully, Rikki had been able to sneak back into her house without being caught by her parents. She didn't think she would be let off the hook when she went to the track later on though. Zane would lay into her.

Rikki sighed as she got dressed that morning. She figured she should get Zane's outrage out of the way. She supposed he had every right to be mad at her. Yes, he had messed with her bike but he didn't manage to get her bike impounded like she did his Zodiac. If he was as rich and spoiled as he lead on, she was sure he'd be able to get it out in no time but it was still an inconvenience. Maybe Rikki should apologize to him. Maybe she did take it too far.

She had been walking in a secluded area when the sprinklers had turned on, spraying her with water. Rikki reckoned this was the payback she would get for her deeds yesterday. She'd have to apologize. She had just stepped out of the water's way when she felt odd. Her whole body seized up and she lost her sight for a moment. When it had returned, she found she couldn't stand and fell forward onto the ground. What the hell had happened? Why couldn't she use her legs?

Rikki felt her hair on her back. That was strange, she had put it up in a bun today. She looked at her chest and saw her top and collared shirt was now replaced with an orange, scaly bra. Rikki turned around to look at her legs and saw they had been replaced with a fish tail with orange scales to match her bandeau top.

What the hell?

Rikki did her best to move away from the sprinklers in her new form. She sat under a tree as she did her best to dry herself off with only her hands. She didn't know if drying off would work but she thought she only grew a tail because she got wet. She felt the same odd feeling as she transformed back into her human form.

What the actual hell?

Suddenly, Rikki didn't think she could go to the race track anymore, not now at least. She needed to figure out what had happened to her. Was this some curse for taking Zane's Zodiac? Could she reverse it? Was it temporary? If it was, how long would it last?

Rikki recounted the events from yesterday. It had to have happened after she stole the Zodiac, she probably got wet on their joy ride. That pool inside the volcano had been odd, especially when the full moon came over the opening. The pool had started bubbling and water was rising upwards as Rikki and the other two girls sat in it.

Wait, did this affect the other two? Cleo and Emma? Rikki needed to find out. Maybe they had answers. She just didn't know where to find them.

As luck would have it, Rikki saw the boy she knew to be named Lewis walking towards her. She had seen him with Cleo a few times at school, maybe he would know where she was.

"Lewis!" Rikki called as she ran up to him.

"Hey, Rikki, right?" Lewis asked.

"Yeah," Rikki said. "Hey, you hang out with Cleo sometimes right?"

"I-yeah sometimes." Lewis said as he turned bright red. "Why? What's up?"

"You wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?" Rikki asked.

"I think I saw her going into the JuiceNet cafe a little while ago." Lewis said.

"Perfect. Thanks, Lewis." Rikki said. "I owe you."

Rikki ran off to the JuiceNet cafe. She had never been but she knew it was a popular hangout for a lot of the locals her age. As she pushed back the beaded curtains, she saw both Cleo and Emma at the bar, looking like they had a secret. Unfortunately, she also heard a chair pushed back with so much force it demanded her attention.

"My father's pissed, you know." Zane told Rikki as he approached her.

"I'm sure." Rikki replied. "Look, I'm sorry I took it too far but-"

"Sorry?" Zane asked as she moved past him, trying to get to the two girls at the bar. She and Zane seemed to have the attention of the cafe. "Sorry isn't going to cut it."

"Fine, fair enough." Rikki said. "I have something I really need to attend to so-"

"So do I." Zane replied.

"Zane, please-"

"Just who do you think you are anyway?" Zane asked her. "You think you can just waltz into this town like you're the greatest motocross racer that has ever existed? I knew you were bad news."

"Look," Rikki started as she approached him, trying to simultaneously defuse the situation and take the attention off of them. She guessed that was the last thing Zane wanted. "I promise we can talk about this later but I really need to take care of something."

"No, we're talking about this now." Zane said, grabbing her wrist. "I want my stall back."

Suddenly, the large drink Zane had previously been drinking exploded, landing all over him. Rikki had pulled away just in time to avoid being splashed. Zane, on the other hand, had been covered in his juice. Someone might as well have dumped the drink on his head.

"This isn't over." Zane warned Rikki as he left the cafe. Rikki shook her head, glad to get that over with before turning around to the two girls she had meant to speak to. Emma looked surprised at what had happened, just like everyone else in the cafe. Cleo's eyes were wide with surprise but it looked like a different kind of surprised than everyone else.

"We need to talk." Rikki said as she approached the two girls.

As luck would have it, Cleo and Emma had transformed into mermaids too. How the hell had this happened? Mermaids were just myths. Cleo even admitted she thought she somehow made Zane's drink explode over him. She said she was upset at him for attacking Rikki. Rikki made a point to thank her, she didn't have to do that.

The girls did agree on one thing, they needed to keep this a secret. What would someone do if they happened to find out? Sell them off to a marine biologist or make them an attraction at Sea World? Maybe see if they could fight sharks or talk to squid. No, this had to be a secret between the three of them.

Rikki needed to go home and take a nap. The girls had spent hours talking and her brain hurt. She never thought she would spend so long talking about mermaids. She wasn't surprised when she heard her parents' voices screaming at each other but she was surprised when she saw her mother leaving with a duffle bag on her shoulder.

"Shelia, please!" She heard her dad beg. "Just let me explain!"

"There's nothing to explain." Shelia spat back. "There's nothing you could say to make me stay."

"Mum," Rikki said as she approached her mother who was now standing at the base of the porch. "What's going on?"

"Your father got fired from another job, that's what's going on." Shelia said. "I've had enough of this, we're leaving. Come on, Rikki."

"Wait, don't I get a say in this?" Rikki asked her mother. She hoped she could convince her to stay.

"You want to live with your dead beat dad, Rikki?" Shelia asked.

"How dare you-" Terry roared.

"Dad." Rikki stopped him from going any further. "He's not a dead beat."

"Just keep telling yourself that, Rikki." Shelia said. "Sooner or later you'll come to realize what I know now."

"Mum, please." Rikki pleaded. She felt tears threaten to fall and she briefly wondered if she'd turn into a mermaid. "We need you, please don't go."

"You can come with me, Rikki." Shelia said. "I'm going to stay with my parents until I can get on my feet."

"You're making me choose?" Rikki asked.

"I'm giving you a choice." Shelia said. "You can come have a real life with me or you can rot in this trailer."

"Life isn't all about money, you know." Rikki said.

"You're so young and naïve, Rikki." Shelia told her daughter. "Of course it is, I don't know why I married your dad in the first place."

"Don't say that." Rikki shouted back. "Don't you dare... how-how would I have ever been born if you two didn't get married?"

"Rikki," Shelia said as she wiped the tears falling down her daughter's eyes. "This was never the life I wanted for you. I never would have had you if this is how I thought you'd turn out."

Rikki pulled away from her mother sharply after that. How dare she say that to Rikki? Rikki could tell her dad was fuming behind her. It was taking everything in him not to explode on Shelia.

"If you think I'm coming with you after that, you're wrong." Rikki said.

"Rikki-" Shelia pleaded, maybe realizing her mistake.

"No!" Rikki shouted back. "No, if you didn't want me, I'll do you a favor. You don't get to have me. I'm staying here."

Rikki wouldn't have left with her mum anyway. Not if she offered Rikki a brand new bike and a cure to her mermaid tail. She had a bond with her dad that was unlike anything she had with her mum. She needed to stay in town with Cleo and Emma too. They needed to navigate this mermaid journey together.

"All right." Shelia sighed. "I'll call."

"Please don't." Rikki said as she failed miserably to hold back her falling tears.

Shelia nodding as she walked away from her husband and daughter. A part of Rikki hoped she'd never see her again and another part hoped she'd turn around and beg to come back to them until Rikki and Terry finally let up and said yes. Shelia turned behind a trailer and Rikki seemed to know she'd never see her again. She couldn't hold back a sob.

"Rikki-" Terry started as he took the few steps down the porch.

"I'm going to the track." Rikki said without hesitation and turned toward the track. Maybe that wasn't the best place to go but that's where she always went when she was upset. She didn't know what else to do.

Zane rode his bike at the track alone today. Nate had been busy with a martial arts class and Zane was still pissed at Rikki for stealing his Zodiac and getting it impounded. His dad had quickly bailed it out for him but the fine was coming out of Zane's allowance. Between Rikki's beat up suit and five year old bike, Zane suspected she didn't have the money to pay him back. The least she could do would be to give him his stall back.

It was getting dark outside and he knew the track would be closing soon. He finished one last lap and was ready to head home. As he walked by the stalls, he noticed someone was in Rikki's stall near her bike. Or multiple someone's. He had never seen Rikki with many people before so he felt like something was off. He supposed he should leave it alone, it would serve her right for what she did to him. Still, as inconvenient as it was to get his boat back, he knew it would be a different story if someone destroyed Rikki's bike. She couldn't simply buy a new one.

"Hey," Zane said as he entered the stall. He saw a few boys holding tools near her bike's engine. They couldn't have been any older than eleven. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Come on, mate she's a girl." The boy who must have been the ringleader told him. "She doesn't need to come to this track."

"Really?" Zane asked. "Is that a rule or something?"

"No," another boy said. "But girls are gross. We don't need her here."

"Well, I know it is against the rules to tamper with someone's bike so why don't you guys get out of here before I tell the owner what you're up to?" Zane threatened the boys.

"Why would you help her?" The ringleader asked. "We see you with her, you hate her."

Fair point, Zane thought. Why was he helping Rikki? He didn't owe her anything, if anything she owed him. Still, some gut feeling inside of him told him this was the right thing to do.

"Just get out of here before I tell Henry." Zane warned them. The boys dropped their tools and left the stall before he could say another word.

Zane parked his bike to take a look at the damage they had done to Rikki's. It looked like the boys did know their way around an engine but it wasn't anything he couldn't fix. Again, Zane wondered why he was helping her. She owed him big time.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He heard as soon as he was done fixing Rikki's bike. He looked up to see Rikki was standing just in front of his own bike, her eyes were red and puffy and she had tear stains down her cheeks.

"Rikki," Zane started, suddenly feeing a need to help her. "What's wrong?"

"Why the hell would you care?" Rikki asked. He could tell she was pissed. Why? "What are you doing to my bike?"

Zane suddenly realized why she was so upset. "Rikki, it's not what you think-"

"Then what is it?" Rikki asked.

"There was a group of boys that were trying to destroy your bike." Zane started. "I was just trying to fix the damage-"

"Oh, likely story." Rikki said. "I'm really not in the mood to deal with your bullshit, Zane. You can have the other stall if you want, I don't give a flying fuck anymore but please quit tampering with my bike."

"I'm not, I swear!" Zane yelled back.

"What's going on out here?" Henry said as he exited the shop. "Rikki, are you all right?"

"Zane's messing with my bike again." Rikki said, ignoring his question. This was so embarrassing. She cursed her mother even further into oblivion for making her deal with this.

"Zane, I told you if you got caught-" Henry started.

"But I wasn't!" Zane pleaded. He couldn't be thrown out of the track. "Check the tapes! You'll see!"

Rikki scoffed and rolled her eyes. Henry looked between the two teenagers and finally complied.

"All right." Henry said. "Get in here, both of you."

Henry lead the pair inside of the shop, turning on one of the one television screens and pulling up the tape in Rikki's stall. It was empty until about an hour ago when three young boys entered the stall and started grabbing at Rikki's tools and tearing apart her engine. Zane came up right to the stall shortly after. The tapes didn't have sound but Rikki could tell he was pissed at the boys. They eventually ran off and they saw Zane sit down and start to fix the bike before Rikki came into the picture.

"Well, maybe you were telling the truth for the first time." Henry said. "Don't think this lifts your probation. Rikki, I don't know what you're doing out here but I'm going to have to close up shop."

"No, please." Rikki pleaded not for the first time today. "Just a few laps, I need to clear my head."

"I'm sorry." Henry said. "The grandkids are in town and I'm already late for dinner. The wife is going to kill me if I stay any longer."

"What if I stay?" Zane asked.

"You?" Henry asked the troublemaker. "Why would I trust you with my track."

"You'd trust her." Zane said motioning to Rikki. "I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get hurt."

Rikki really didn't want to be left alone with Zane. She didn't know what he'd do to her if she was alone with him. Was now the time to get revenge for impounding his boat? Still, she knew Henry couldn't leave her alone in his right mind and she could hop on her bike and run away from Zane if she needed to.

Henry was looking between the pair again, trying to decide if this was a good idea or not. Rikki looked like she had a hell of a night and he knew how freeing and relieving it could be to ride a bike around the track. He took a sigh, he really was getting old and soft.

"Fine. You're right though, I don't trust you." Henry said, looking at Zane and handing the keys to Rikki. "I don't want you two getting hurt. I'll ban you both if that happens, understood?"

They both gave him a nod as he moved from around the corner to grab his jacket and car keys. As Henry walked to his car he thought maybe Sandy was right. Maybe Zane Bennett finally cared for something other than himself, his bike and his other various toys.