Author's Note: Hey mates, I'm back. And since I don't feel like recapping everything or typing a disclaimer, I won't. But there's one thing I have to say. In big, bold letters, you'll see a warning. You'll understand what the warning is about when you read it. But for now, some shout-outs!

Xdoggrealoaded88: I'm glad you think the part about Saturday night guns was funny… and I'm listening to Green Day's 'Holiday' while typing this…

The Crouching Tiger Shark: Of course I wouldn't mind if you drew a picture of that. I'm glad you updated your profile page… you got a description of Rueben and Marcus and that other guy… I hope this means you'll update your story soon…

Insane Pirate Dragon: He sure won't be keepin' his scheme to himself… :)

Lav'O'Dolphin: I'm glad you thought that image was funny… I can't get it out of my head. Yup, she scared him off her with a knife… that is cold blooded… mwahahaha…

Okay, in this chappie, a lot of things are goin' to be happenin'. This chappie will SHOCK you. And like the last chappie, this chappie will feature a sharp object… that's what the warning is about…

On wit da story!

Chapter Eight: Secrets Revealed

Lenny swam off to that new ship, just to get a glance of it. He couldn't wait to get that money to get the ship; if he got the money at all. There was a chance that he wouldn't win the prize. But he would try his best, and at least that would give him satisfaction.

"Hey lover boy."

Lenny turned around to see Andre grinning at him.

"Hey Andre." Lenny said with a smile. "What's with the lover boy thing?"

"You know what I'm talkin' 'bout." Andre said, still grinning. "Jamel told me about what happened last night."

Lenny stared at Andre before getting what he meant. "Nothing happened!" Lenny said.

"Mmm, hmm." Andre said, not believing what Lenny had said. "My parents said the same thing when they were engaged to be married, and a year later after their wedding, I was born."

"It was an accident." Lenny said.

"I being born wasn't an accident." Andre said.

"No, not that!" Lenny said. "What happened to me!"

"Oh." Andre said. "And sorry buddy, but I don't believe you. You don't get in positions like that on accident."

"It was an accident!" Lenny said. "You see, there was this pizza…"

"So you got dinner and got to be part of a show?" Andre said, grinning.

"No!" Lenny said, blushing. "There was this pizza, and the cheese was sticky, so Ronnie got stuck trying to get a slice, and when I tried to pull her off the pizza, I got stuck too."

"That still doesn't explain anything." Andre said.

"So after we were stuck, we heard a scream from the TV, got scared, and tumbled over." Lenny said. "We couldn't get up 'cause we were stuck like that. About a few seconds later, Jamel came in. Nothing happened, Jamel just came in and started laughing. That's it."

"Okay." Andre said, trying to analyze all this. "So you're telling me, that you want me to believe that you two got stuck together with sticky cheese. Then, you want me to believe, that you heard a random scream from the TV, and fell on the couch?"

"Yeah!" Lenny said, nodding his head.

"Pscht!" Andre scoffed. "Yeah right!"

"But it's true." Lenny said.

"Uh huh." Andre said in an unbelieving tone. "You know what you were doing. And your story doesn't make any sense. How'd you hear a scream from the TV, right when you were stuck with Ronnie?"

"We were watching a scary movie!" Lenny said.

"Riiiiiight." Andre said, grinning. "But, since I think that everyone needs to state their case, I've got a question that'll probably make me believe your story… if you answer right."

"Well what is it?" Lenny asked.

"Did you try to get off her?" Andre asked.

Lenny stared at Andre. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. He couldn't seem to find to answer. After two more times of opening and closing his mouth, and blushing, Lenny gave up.

Andre noticed Lenny's expression and his grin became larger than ever. "Oooh." He said like a little kid. "Oooh, Lenny, you're in trouble."

"Shut up." Lenny said, glaring at him.

"Sorry, but since I wasn't there, and you didn't answer the question, it doesn't seem like your story turns out to be true." Andre said, still grinning.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up." Lenny mumbled.

"So, how'd you get 'unstuck'?" Andre asked, putting quotations on unstuck. "Get tired of each other or something?"

"No!" Lenny said, glaring daggers at Andre. "She scared me off with a knife."

Andre stared at Lenny before breaking out in uncontrollable laughter. "She scared you off with a knife?" He said between breaths. "That's cold blooded!"

"Yeah, but it worked." Lenny said, smiling. "Hey, where's Jamel?"

"I dunnow. He said he was hiding from you." Andre said thoughtfully. "I wonder why?"

"Because he was the one who delivered the pizza." Lenny answered.

Andre stared at Lenny. "Now I can believe your pizza story." He said.

Lenny smiled, but he smiled too soon, because Andre added,

"But I still don't believe that nothing happened."

"Shoot!" Lenny muttered under his breath.

"'Sup Andre!"

Andre and Lenny turned around to see Jamel swimming towards them.

"Hey Andre, you seen Lenny…" He paused when he saw Lenny floating right next to Andre, his fins crossed.

'Oh snap!' Jamel thought.

"Hi Lenny." Jamel said nervously. "I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah." Lenny said, a smile on his face. His smile disappeared when he added, "I'm gonna kill you."

Jamel let out a high pitched scream and began to swim for his life.

"I'm gonna kill you!"

Andre just watched as Lenny chased Jamel around in circles. 'Man, that guy is fast.' He thought.

It was only a few moments later before Lenny had caught Jamel and tackled him to the sea floor.

"Say… you're… sorry!" Lenny said.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just let me up!" Jamel said, struggling to get out of Lenny's grip.

"Not until you also promise me a free pizza!" Lenny said.

"All right! You'll get a free pizza!" Jamel shouted.

"A free non-sticky pizza?" Lenny asked.

"Yes!" Jamel said.

"Okay then." Lenny said, letting Jamel up.

"Dang man, that was mean." Jamel said, brushing off his shoulders. He paused for a moment before he smiled and added, "Making me miss a tip just because I walked in on you and your girlfriend…"

Lenny let out a growl of frustration. "Will you guys stop saying that?"

Jamel and Andre looked at each other before chorusing, "No."

"Well stop saying it anyway!" Lenny said. "She's not my girlfriend." He had to stop himself before he added 'yet.'

"Okay, we're sorry." Andre said sincerely, though his face still held a smile. "We'll try not to tease you… as much. But you know you'll never hear the end of this, right?"

"Oh brother." Lenny said as he rolled his eyes.

"Ooh!" Jamel suddenly said. "Speaking of brothers, my bro came to visit me this morning! I told him I'd let him meet you guys later on!"

"Cool." Andre said. "My brother lives far away from here, but he sometimes visits. What about you Lenny?"

Lenny stared at his two friends, sadness in his eyes. "My brother's dead." He said slowly.

"Oh." Jamel and Andre said.

"Sorry 'bout that." Jamel said.

"It's okay. You didn't know." Lenny said, looking at the ground.

"I'm still sorry. It's sad to have one of your family members die like that. I remember when my grandma passed away." Jamel said.

There was a long silence, then Andre spoke up. "I've gotta go get my video game finished. I'm almost done." Andre swam away to his apartment in haste.

"Sorry to leave you alone like this, but…" Jamel began.

"But Mr. Jetty will bust a vein if you're late?" Lenny finished for him.

"Actually I was going to say that he'd kick my butt, but that'll work too." Jamel said, swimming towards the pizza place. "See ya later Len!"

Lenny swam back towards Ronnie's ship, feeling depressed. He was still sad over Frankie's death. He didn't blame himself for his death, but someone else did…

Scene Change

Rueben swam up to Angie's door, trying not to back out. He was going to ask her why she wouldn't forgive Oscar for whatever he did. He had seen her mad at Oscar before, but never for this long. Gathering up all the courage in his brightly colored body, he knocked on Angie's door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Rueben."

Angie opened up the door and saw Rueben smiling nervously. "Well if it isn't my old friend 'Jacques.'

Rueben gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah. Listen… can I come in?"

"Are you going to eat all my ice pops like the last time?"

"No."

"Then you can come in."

Rueben swam into Angie's apartment. "Listen…" He began, "I'm sorry if I trickled you like that. I didn't know it was gonna end like it did."

"Mmm hmm." Angie said. "Why'd you do it?"

"Because…" Rueben mumbled, "…Because I was trying to get you and Oscar back together."

Angie looked at Rueben before she began laughing. Rueben looked surprised; apparently, he wasn't expecting this reaction.

"You always were the one who tried to get friends back together." She said with a smile. Her smile disappeared as she added with a sigh, "But I don't think you can fix this problem."

"Well why not?" Rueben asked with a look of confusion.

"Because, Rueben, this problem is worse than all the other ones." Angie explained. "It's not a tiny problem like if someone tears up your picture in Kindergarten, you can always draw another one. This problem is bigger."

"What is it?" Rueben asked.

"You'll have to ask Oscar." Angie said. "He's got the whole story."

"Oh, okay." Rueben said. "I guess I'll go do that then."

Rueben swam out of Angie's apartment, heading for Oscar's.

'What could he do that would possibly make them break up like that?' Rueben thought. He sighed. "I guess I'm about to find out."

Scene Change

Oscar was sitting on his couch, watching TV. There was really nothing on, but watching TV was the only thing to keep his mind occupied off Angie.

"Oscar! Oscar, open up!"

Oscar sighed and swam over to the door. He opened the door and saw Rueben looking at him with a concerned face.

"What is it Rueben?" Oscar asked.

"You've gotta tell me what happened that made you and Angie mad at each other!" Rueben said.

"Sorry Rube." Oscar said. "You're my friend and all but… I just can't explain this to ya. Sorry." He was closing the door when Rueben said,

"But you have to tell me!" Rueben said. "If you don't fix this mess, then her new boyfriend Lenny will get her!"

That grabbed Oscar's attention. He opened up the door and said, "Lenny?"

"Yeah, Lenny!" Rueben said. "Why, d'you know him?"

Oscar pulled Rueben into his apartment. "Okay, what do ya know?"

"Whoa, whoa, hold it!" Rueben said. "I'm not sayin' anything until you tell me how you know Lenny!"

Oscar sighed. "All right, I'll tell you how I know him. But you'll find out that how I know him is connected to why Angie hates me."

"Okay, I'll be learning about her new boyfriend and about why you're fighting." Rueben said. "Go on."

"First of all," Oscar began, "Lenny isn't Angie's new boyfriend; he's not even a fish. He's a shark."

Scene Change

WARNING! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE LENNY GO OOC, THEN KEEP SCROLLING DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE THE BOLD LETTERS THAT SAY IT'S SAFE! THIS INVOLVES A SHARP POINTY OBJECT! READ IT IF YOU WANT, BUT IF NOT, KEEP ON SCROLLING!

Lenny swam into Ronnie's ship. He headed straight for the bathroom, but left the door open. He was feeling depressed.

'I know it's not my fault he died,' Lenny thought, 'But why do I still feel so sad?'

'Because,' a voice said in his head, 'even though you don't blame yourself, someone else does…'

Lenny felt even more sad as he remembered overhearing his pops a few minutes after Frankie's funeral…

Flashback

Lenny swam outside the ship, about to run away. He was going to keep swimming, but he heard his pop's voice from outside the window in his office. Putting his ear to the window, Lenny listened closely.

"Why did he have to die?" Lino was saying to himself. "He was perfect; perfect! And Lenny; he's just too different. It's at times where I wonder what would've happened if Lenny had moved. Maybe then, Frankie wouldn't be dead."

Lenny pulled his ear away from the window, unable to listen anymore. Tears stung his eyes and prevented him from seeing. Lenny swam away from the ship as fast as he could. Taking one last glance back, he whispered,

"I'm sorry pops."

End Flashback

Tears rolled down Lenny's cheeks. The memory was still fresh in his mind, and it hurt him every time he thought of it.

'Then I met Oscar.' He thought. 'I thought I had actually made a friend… boy, was I proven wrong. He didn't confess his secret at the end, kept up his act on me, and then after that… I wasn't able to go back home.'

Lenny looked at himself in the mirror.

'I wonder if the rest of the mafia are thinking of me. They probably think that I couldn't make it. I mean, look at me. I'm not exactly one of those muscular guys. And I'm not exactly a born hunter. But I think they probably have some hope in me. If there was one thing they all agreed on, it was that I had the brains of the family. I miss those guys… especially my friend Cody. He always stuck up for me, and even though he knew I was a vegetarian and laughed at it when I told him, he still liked me for it.'

Lenny was deep in his thoughts, feeling extremely depressed. He glanced at the counter in the bathroom and saw a razor…

Scene Change

Ronnie was in the kitchen, about to get a glass of lemonade, when she stopped.

'I smell blood…' She thought. 'And it's coming from the bathroom!'

She rushed towards the bathroom and gasped at the sight. Lenny was leaning against the bathroom counter, unconscious, and blood floated in the water beside him.

"Oh no." Ronnie whispered.

She dragged Lenny towards his room, and placed him in bed. As she watched him lying there, she thought, 'How'd that happen?' She got her answer. Looking closer, she saw a huge gash on Lenny's fins, red with blood. She swam back to the bathroom and noticed that a razor blade was also red.

'Why Lenny?' She thought. 'Why'd you do it? Don't you care that you've got friends that'll miss you?'

Ronnie didn't feel like drinking lemonade anymore.

OKAY! YOU CAN READ IT NOW! IT'S SAFE!

Scene Change

Rueben stared at Oscar with wide eyes. "What?"

"I said that Lenny was a shark." Oscar said. "You see, this is what happened. I took Lenny in after he ran away from home. He was Don Lino's other kid and… he didn't feel appreciated."

"So Angie doesn't like you because you took Lenny in?" Rueben asked. "Why'd you take him in anyway? Aren't you supposed to be…?"

"Yeah, supposed to be." Oscar said. "And Ang doesn't hate me because I took Lenny in. She hates me because I lied."

"Lied?" Rueben asked. "About what?"

"About everything." Oscar said. "I'm not really the shark slayer Rueben. I was an Anchor that killed the guy."

Rueben stared at Oscar in disbelief. "But… what about… that fight scene…"

"It was all organized." Oscar answered. "Lenny helped me with it and let me win. I got to keep my fame as a shark slayer, and Lenny got to disappear from his old life."

"And… at the whale wash…"

"That was the only thing that was real." Oscar said. "But this is the main reason why Ang hates me. A while ago from that time, Angie said that she liked me the way I was before. But… I didn't give up my lie, and it made her feel like she wasn't good enough."

"So… it was all a sham?" Rueben said in a whisper.

"Yeah." Oscar said. "I'm sorry Rube."

Rueben couldn't believe it. He thought the whole thing was real. He remembered that he wasn't the only one feeling dejected; there was Angie, who felt worse than he did. He glared at Oscar.

"I can't believe you. After all those times Ang helped you out, and even after she told you her true feelings… you let her down. You're a fake." Rueben said.

"But Rueben…"

"Don't but Rueben me!" Rueben spat back. "You're nothing but a lie! I thought you were a real shark slayer! Every time I asked you about what you did, I now know that everything you said was a lie!"

"Rueben… you're my friend…"

"Used to be your friend." Rueben said icily. "And even if I was your friend, friends have to draw the line sometime. And you, Oscar, have crossed the line."

Oscar didn't say anything. He just looked at the floor like a little kid does after they got in trouble.

Rueben headed for the door. Before he left, he turned around and said, "You know Oscar, I've always looked up to you. I just wish I could say the same right now." And with that, Rueben left.

Oscar stared at the door.

'Oscar, you idiot!' his conscious screamed. 'You just lost another friend, and it's all your fault! Go tell everybody the truth! And start by going to Angie!'

"Shut up." Oscar said to himself. "I'm just havin' a bad day. I guess I'll take a nap." So, Oscar went upstairs to his room to take a nap, completely ignoring the fact that he had caused his friends so much pain.

Scene Change

Lenny woke up in a bed. He tried to sit up, but was overcome with dizziness.

"Hey there Lenny."

Lenny turned to see Ronnie beside his side.

"Hey Ronnie." Lenny said with a weak smile.

"Are you okay?" Ronnie asked.

"I guess so." Lenny answered.

"Good." Ronnie said. In a flash, Ronnie punched his fin, careful not to reopen the cut.

"Oww!" Lenny said, grabbing his fin. "It's not okay to hit!"

"Yeah, well it's not okay to worry your friend either!" Ronnie said. "How long has this been going on?"

"How long has what been going on?" Lenny asked.

"You know what I'm talking about."

Lenny winced at the harshness in Ronnie's voice; and at the pain that shot through him. He remembered what had happened in the bathroom.

"Well?" Ronnie asked, crossing her fins.

"I just started." Lenny answered.

"Oh, well that's made me feel better, I know that you've just started." Ronnie said sarcastically.

"Ronnie…" Lenny began.

"¿Qué está equivocado con usted? ¿Cómo podría hacer usted una esa cosa?" Ronnie shouted in Spanish. (What's wrong with you? How could you do a thing like that?)

"Ronnie…"

"Usted sabe lo que está como ver a su amigo que yaciendo en el piso, la sangre por todas partes, no instruido si él está vivo?" (You know what it's like to see your friend lying on the floor, blood everywhere, not knowing if he's alive?)

"Ronnie…"

"Por supuesto usted hace no! ¡Porque mientras preocupaba, usted decidía suicidarse!" (Of course you don't! Because while I was worrying, you were deciding to commit suicide!)

"I wasn't trying to commit suicide!" Lenny said.

Lenny was able to understand everything Ronnie said because she taught him some Spanish, knew some Spanish words all ready, and since she spoke Spanish sometimes, he understood her.

"Oh really? Well what were you doing then?" Ronnie asked, switching back to English. "Playing a nice game of 'Let's see how far I can slice myself open before I hit something vital?"

"No." Lenny said.

"Well what were you doing then?" Ronnie asked.

Lenny looked at Ronnie, but then looked away. "I… I don't know."

"You know what you did." Ronnie said, her voice cracking. "You sliced your fins."

Lenny looked into Ronnie's eyes and saw that she wasn't mad at him anymore. She was hurt.

"Yeah…" Lenny said. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you cared…"

"What d'you mean you didn't know I cared?" Ronnie said. "I've always cared! I've cared about you since I first met you! Now… I don't anymore." And with that last comment, Ronnie dashed out the door.

Lenny sat up in his bed, sad and surprised. Ronnie's confession had caught him off guard.

'She does like me.' Lenny thought. 'She really cared about me all this time… and I made her sad.'

Lenny plopped back down on his bed, overcome by dizziness. Growling in frustration, he grabbed his pillow and buried his head under it.

'Man! I'm such an idiot!' Lenny thought as he took his head from under the pillow and began to hug it. 'I have to find a way to make it up to her…'

Too dizzy to even think, Lenny drifted off to sleep…

TBC…

Rueben found out about Oscar's secret… but who cares about that. LENNY CUT HIMSELF? What's gonna happen now? Is he gonna cut himself again? What's Oscar gonna do? Now that Lenny knows how Ronnie feels about him, what's he gonna do? Only one way to find out, and that's to stay tuned for the next chappie.

R&R pleez!