"Emma Giiiiillllbert!" Rikki called, merrily walking into the front foyer of Emma's house, Cleo trailing behind. It was the following day.
"Percy, I swear to God, if you ask one more time-"
"It's not like I'm asking a lot from you, Em!"
Cleo and Rikki looked around, searching for the source of the bickering. They spotted Annabeth sitting on the living room couch, reading a magazine quietly.
"They're upstairs." Annabeth informed.
"Have they been fighting a lot?" Cleo asked. Annabeth nodded.
"Yup. All night. They fight just like siblings."
"About having a swimming race?"
"No. They argued over many other things. Last night Percy was mad that Emma used up all the hot water. He claims he's never taken a colder shower."
Rikki and Cleo exchanged looks. Rikki smiled with amusement, but Cleo was more worried.
"My boyfriend invited us to the marine park." Rikki announced. "Do you, Emma, and Percy wanna go?"
"There's lots of rides. And marine animal shows, like dolphins and seals." Cleo added.
"Sure. It'll give those two a chance to cool off." Annabeth set aside her magazine and rose. Just then, Emma walked down the stairs with Percy following.
"Hey guys." Emma huffed, annoyance from earlier still lingering in her tone.
"Marine park. In or out?" Rikki asked.
"Definitely in." Percy replied with a grin.
"I'm in." Emma said.
"Zane!" Rikki noticed her boyfriend standing at the entrance of the marine park, waiting patiently. Rikki quickly walked ahead of the group to join him, immediately slipping her hand into his with a girlish smile. They exchanged greetings and by then the rest of the group caught up.
"This is my cousin-"
"Percy." Percy introduced, sticking his hand out for Zane to shake. Zane accepted and shook his hand.
"Zane." Zane returned. He gave Percy a once-over, wondering what Rikki and Cleo saw in the guy. He wasn't any taller than Zane, maybe an inch or two shorter.
"I'm Annabeth." Annabeth introduced, politely shaking hands with Zane.
"Nice to meet you, Annabeth." Zane muttered politely. The group headed into the marine park. But almost immediately did they find Lewis, casually waiting for them near the entrance.
"Oh, hey, guys!" Lewis said nonchalantly.
"Lewis, what are you doing here?" Cleo asked.
"Just...just getting some fresh air. And looking for a job too. Gotta make money, right?" Lewis lied. Annabeth and Percy exchanged unconvinced looks. "So, who's this? Are you going to introduce me?"
Emma sighed, exhausted with all the introductions.
"Percy and Annabeth. Guys, this is Lewis."
"Maybe you two should just wear name tags." Rikki snickered.
"Like the one's that say 'Hi, my name is Percy.'" Percy added.
"And write right under it, 'Emma Gilbert's cousin.'" Rikki said, the two both laughing. The sound of people screaming caught Annabeth's attention, whipping her head towards the source. A rollercoaster roared and raced away nearby, proving to be the source of the screams with no indication of any present danger.
"Do you guys want to go on one of the water rollercoasters?" Annabeth asked the group.
"Yes! Can we go, Emma?" Percy asked her. Emma didn't respond, only averted her eyes and pursed her lips.
"That sounds like a swell idea." Zane agreed.
"Zane." Rikki nudged him.
"Yeah, I want to." Lewis chimed in. Cleo stiffened and folded her arms. Emma, Rikki, and Cleo exchanged nervous glances.
"You guys go on without us." Cleo suggested.
"We'll hang out here." Emma said.
"Aw, c'mon. Why?" Percy asked.
"Not our kind of thing." Rikki answered.
"Well what even is your thing?" Percy asked.
"Just go on without us. We don't want to ruin the fun for you guys. We'll wait right here and everything." Emma insisted.
"Are you sure? We can do something else if you'd like." Annabeth offered. The girls shook their head.
"Positive. Go have fun. People love those coasters."
The group walked to the entrance to the rollercoaster before parting ways. Emma, Rikki, and Cleo moved to stand on the sidelines rather unhappily with their situation, while Zane, Lewis, Percy, and Annabeth went on. Percy wanted a front row seat, but Zane sat next to him instead of Annabeth. Annabeth sat beside Lewis a little further back.
"They're going to want to go swimming soon too." Emma grumbled.
"We can just hang out on the beach. We don't actually have to go in the water." Cleo pointed out.
"Percy...he plays rough. He's going to try to get me into the water, I'm positive. He's going to splash me or something since he's got the maturity of a five year old." Emma said.
"He can't splash you if you're far away enough from the water. I'm sure it'll be okay. You love the beach. And you'll be able to get some sun." Cleo added.
"I need to go for a swim." Emma murmured.
"Let's head up to Mako later." Rikki said. Emma shook her head.
"I can't get away. I have to stay with them this whole time. My mom wants me to, especially since she hasn't seen them in years."
"How long are they staying?" Cleo asked. Emma paused, thinking for a moment.
"I'm not sure." Emma replied. "I was never told. I should have asked before, but I'll do that later. Hopefully they'll be gone by the end of the week."
For a moment, no one said anything. They watched the cars roll onto the rails as the ride began, temporarily focusing on that.
"I hope they'll get along with Zane and Lewis." Cleo murmured.
"So, Percy," Zane said to him as the car slowly eased up the steep incline. "You're from America, right?"
"Yeah. New York." He answered.
"And Emma's your cousin?"
"Yup."
"How so?"
"Her mom is my mom's sister."
"So how many girls have you been with?"
Percy's eyes widened in surprise, completely thrown off by the sudden question.
"What kind of question is that?" He demanded.
"I'm just curious is all. You know, guy to guy." Zane assured casually.
"Just one. Annabeth."
"Not just dating, though. Have you fooled around with anyone?"
"No!"
"Zane's pretty easy to get along with." Rikki assured Cleo. Cleo and Emma snorted. Rikki looked offended by their disbelief, but couldn't help but crack a smile. "Okay, but he's not going to bother with Percy and Annabeth."
"I'm going to go check the dolphin shows and see Ronnie real quick, okay?" Cleo announced. Emma and Rikki nodded their heads and agreed with her.
Moments later, Cleo was off and the others rejoined Emma and Rikki. It was after all an aquatic rollercoaster, so everyone was wet. Zane, being in front row, was drenched, but Percy seemed perfectly dry. Nonetheless, Emma and Rikki stood ten feet away from them.
"Have fun?" Emma asked.
"It was so much fun." Percy was grinning like a five year old. He eyed Zane with a little dislike, but he wasn't going to let Zane ruin the fun for him. "Can we go to the dolphin show next? Please?"
Percy looked at Annabeth with puppy dog eyes. In response, Annabeth smiled, but rolled her grey eyes.
"I'm fine with that. But it's not me you should be asking." Annabeth looked at Emma. Percy turned his puppy dog begging look onto Emma, who scowled.
"Yeah, sure, fine. It's not going to start for a while now, though." Emma said. Percy grinned.
"Is there any place for us to get some towels?" Annabeth asked.
"Yeah, there should be some over here. I can take you guys over." Lewis offered.
"I'll be right back. Go entertain yourself with a seal." Annabeth whispered to Percy as she followed Lewis with Zane.
"Rikki, go with them. Make sure Zane behaves." Emma ordered. Rikki looked offended.
"Excuse you, I'm not a babysitter." Rikki protested.
"Neither am I but look at what I have to deal with." Emma grumbled, eyeing Percy.
"Lucky you." Rikki grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at Emma before heading off to catch up with the trio.
Emma and Percy started walking aimlessly around while waiting for their friends to go dry off from the ride.
"How come you didn't get wet?" Emma asked, startling Percy. Percy couldn't hide the look of panic on his face as he struggled to come up with a good excuse. Of course the only time Annabeth isn't here…
"I wore a poncho." Percy answered. He was quite satisfied with himself.
"There were ponchos? I didn't see you bring one. Or put one on. Or take one off. Or the others doing it."
"I had grabbed the last one. They only had so many you can borrow."
Emma rolled her eyes, finding it hard to believe. Even if it was true, she was irritated with his rudeness. The polite thing a guy should do is give the last poncho to his girlfriend, right?
"So, Annabeth, what do you like to do in your free time?" Lewis asked as he walked side by side with her.
"I like reading and doing research stuff. I'm really into studying science and architecture." She replied.
"Lame." Zane muttered, which Rikki giggled in agreement.
"Really? That's cool. I-I like science too. It's a hobby of mine. Do you like biology?"
"Alright, Ronnie. I'll give you one more, but that's it, okay? You'll get sick from all these snacks."
Cleo stood over Ronnie the dolphin on the dock, holding a bucket of small fish to feed him with.
Ronnie clicked at Cleo eagerly, opening his mouth for her to feed him. With a gloved hand, Cleo tossed a fish, landing right in his mouth. Ronnie happily ate the fish, as Cleo watched with a content smile.
"I gotta go now, Ronnie. Be a good boy, okay? I'll be back soon." Cleo turned on her heel and began to walk back off the dock.
Ronnie clicked and before Cleo could even get halfway, her body was splashed from behind.
Cleo yelped in surprise and dropped the bucket, throwing her hands up. Her eyes grew wide in panic as she looked around. There was no way she could make it back to the building and dry off. There wasn't anything to dry off with nearby. Time was running out. The seconds ticked by as Cleo frantically looked in every direction. No one was around, and in a panic, Cleo dove into the dolphin tank.
Emma and Percy had ended up sitting in an underground observatory to view the dolphin tank. They sat on a bench alone in the glow of the water, but there wasn't any dolphins swimming around to observe through the glass.
"Maybe we can hit the beach tomorrow!" Percy suggested. Emma didn't look too excited about the idea.
"Yeah, maybe. Maybe Elliot can go with you tomorrow."
"Ah, c'mon. Why won't you come? I won't make you go swimming or anything."
"I have to work." Emma lied.
"Then go right after."
"Maybe, Percy." Emma's tone was icy, indicating she wanted to stop talking about going to the beach. Percy sighed and a silence settled in between them.
"I find it hard to believe that you went on that ride and didn't get wet at all." Emma announced.
"I told you, Em. I wore a poncho." Percy protested.
"I told you not to call me Em, Percy."
"What's your problem anyway? Ever since I got here you've been so uptight about everything."
"I have not."
"You have so!"
"Just because I'm not as immature as you are, doesn't mean I'm uptight. I'm just being who I am. I've changed a lot since we were eleven." Emma murmured.
"Really? You seem like the same easy-going swimmer I've always known." Percy muttered sarcastically. Emma rolled her eyes.
"You don't understand."
"Did something happen?" Percy asked.
"Something life-changing." Emma replied. Percy stared out at the water, his goofy expression faltering.
"I know the feeling." Percy said. "You're not the only one who's changed."
"You seem like the same irritating cousin to me."
"Maybe. But I've been through...a lot these past couple years. So I know how you feel. And if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you. We're family, after all."
Emma said nothing. Her heart was growing heavy. She didn't like lying to Percy, as much as he got on her nerves. She was touched by his sincerity and kind words.
"Likewise, I suppose." Emma said softly. "It's not like this is something that's going to last. You live in America, after all."
"Yeah, but I can probably visit more often. Or at least talk to you more often. Things have settled down by me now." Percy assured. Emma shrugged. "But listen, before I leave, I gotta meet this Ash. I have to see if he's good enough for you."
Emma snorted.
"Whatever, Percy."
Silence fell over them once more, both of them watching the blue water. But something came into view. Very distant, but Emma could recognize that orange blur anywhere. Emma glanced at Percy, who was staring out at the water. In seconds, Emma was at her feet, whipping herself to stand over Percy, blocking his view. Percy furrowed his brows in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"The dolphin show. We're going to be late. The others are probably looking for us. We better leave. Now." Emma didn't let Percy protest. Instead, she pulled him to his feet and pushed him back towards the stairs.
"Why are you suddenly in such a rush? We haven't been here that long." Percy pointed out.
"I hate keeping people waiting."
When the pair reached the outside, they immediately spotted Lewis, Annabeth, Zane, and Rikki, the first three of which were, for the most part, now dry. Rikki was able to hold hands with Zane, but that could have been due to a steam dry from her.
"Oh there you two are." Lewis said upon regrouping.
"Guys." Emma spoke, eyeing Lewis, Zane, and Rikki with a glare. "There's been a...a...development."
"What?" Annabeth asked.
"I need their help with something. Something happened. With the dolphin tank." Emma explained. Eventually, it hit Rikki, Lewis, and Zane, all at the same time. And it was reflected by the looks on their faces.
"The dolphin tank?" Lewis repeated. Emma nodded.
"Is there something wrong? Maybe I can help." Percy offered.
"No!" Emma, Rikki, Lewis, and Zane cried in unison, startling Percy and Annabeth.
"Are you sure? I'm really great with marine animals." Percy insisted.
"I'm positive, Percy." Emma's tone was icy.
"We don't need your help." Zane added in such a tone that attempted to make him seem superior and standing over Percy.
"Why don't you two go get us some seats for the show? And we'll catch up." Rikki suggested.
"We'll join you after we take care of this situation."
With that, Emma, Rikki, Lewis, and Zane rushed down an employees only section to the dolphin tank.
"Something's not right." Annabeth muttered.
"Do you think we should follow them?" Percy suggested. "We both know I can help."
"Yeah, but they might find out about us. About you. How would we be able to explain your powers?" Annabeth pointed out. "Besides, it's you, Seaweed Brain. You might make matters worse."
"Ah, shut up, Wise Girl." Percy pressed a kiss to her forehead and slipped his hand into hers. "But if they're not back in five minutes, I'm going looking for them."