I'M VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VEEERRRYYYYY SOOOOORRRRYYYY that I've been getting sloppy. School's been HECTIC AS HELL but I hope you'll bear with me. Plus, I'm a sophomore, so I get hard work.

And I've seen that you guys have been waiting patiently. And I've seen the stats for view and visitors that this story gets, and to my surprise, my last chapter had 51 viewers and 39 visitors!

So, let's see if I can do it again!

P.S. This chapter is one that I've have been dying to do since the H2O episode!

Hint: What is Charlotte's biggest fear?

ENJOY!

September 26th, 2009, Saturday...

At Charlotte's house...

Charlotte's POV

You know, I learned a long time ago that promises were sacred, nearly as much as secrets are. And no, my current situation has nothing to do with this! I just so happen to be walking proof of how valuable both promises and secrets are.

So tell me: Why oh why did I decide to agree to go camping with Alaine...on an island of all places?!

Don't see the problem? Well, it started like this...

Flashback...

September 23th, 2009, Wednesday...

I and Alaine had just walked into the school building, well more like strutting in really. I had let my dear best friend take a look into my closet and the next day, she made me take out my savings from the restaurant and took me out shopping.

Alaine wore an orange off-the-shoulder top with a white tank top underneath, a white pair of leather shoes, a brown rope-belt, and an orange flower crown to go in her long curled-up hair, along with a few brown-roped bracelets.

I, on the other hand, wore a sleeveless, paisley-print, tie-up shirt with a dark magenta, lace skirt with a pair of flats with black polka dots. My hair was in a bun with a black headscarf with white polka dots on it. This leads me to believe that I should never allow Alaine to have too much fun picking out my clothes, no matter how good they look on me.

"Why do I get the feeling someone's watching me?" I asked her as we made our way to the lockers. No matter how beautiful my mother tells me I am, there will always be a part of me that is slightly insecure about my looks, even if I do admit I look great.

Alaine laughed at my expense. "Char, you have no idea how gorgeous you are, don't you? That feeling you're getting is the attention of the male population at school! I know I look good, but the clothes I picked out plus your height plus your beauty equals some hot guys coming your way in the future."

I glared at her for the logic. If having Riley after me wasn't enough, random guys coming up to me and trying to talk to me was waaaaaayyyyyy out of proportion.

"Honestly, Al, you are sometimes the most unbearable girl on the planet."

"Yeah, but you love me too much to let me go, so suck it up!" Alaine said cheerfully. I could only chuckle at the small happy dance she was starting to do.

"So is that why you want me around? To make sure I keep you from becoming a hermit?" I asked teasingly. She looked at me, this time producing a glare of her own.

"Oh, very funny, why I outta-"

"Hey, Charlotte!"

Alaine and I turned around to see Damon, Domonique's brother, right behind us. I learned earlier that though he went to a different school, he was his sister's ride on the way here. I was thankful to see that the bruises he had gotten from the mall had disappeared.

"Oh, hey Damon, I see the bruises are gone," I said cheerfully. He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Thanks, though as expected, my mom blew her top when she found out though. But I think telling her that I was defending you eased on her," he said.

"OI! Damon!" Alaine exclaimed excitedly. "Do you think Char's beautiful?"

"ALAINE!" I exclaimed, smacking her on her shoulder. Did she have to put that out there!

"Not really-"

"Why thank you, Damon-"

"I think she's gorgeous!" he said with a gleeful smile.

"And I hope you burn in hell, Damon," I said sourly at him while Alaine was giving me a look. I started to turn away but he gently grabbed my arm and looked towards Alaine.

"Excuse me, but do you mind...?" he trailed, probably hoping that she got the message. And unfortunately for me, she did. She gave me a smirk and walked off from us.

I took a deep breath. "Yes, Damon?" I asked. He looked at me all nervous and took multiple breaths before asking,

"Well, I know our first meeting didn't turn out well, but I figured that if you were free sometime, that maybe we could go out to a movie or something?"

Behind us, I heard a range of giggles coming from Alaine, who I have enough knowledge to know will talk my head off about this.

But let's explore my options here: I have an already busy schedule being a reincarnated mermaid who works and then goes to training until dinnertime, I practically have softball practice and choir a majority of the week, and add in the unknown mystery date with Riley who gave me no choice but to accept!

So call me a hypocrite, but I'm tired.

"Sure, but I don't know when I'll be available," I said. Call me crazy, but this is technically the first time someone sincerely has asked me out and if Riley gets mad, well I'll be damned!

Damon gave me a grateful smile, with his teeth showing, and pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Don't sweat it, you're not the busy only one. Give me a call and we'll work out the rest." I smiled at him.

"Sure!"

He smiled at me one last time before walking away. I turned around to see a very happy Alaine grinning so wide I was sure it wouldn't fit her face.

She squealed "See! You're already getting dates and they're eating right out the palm of your hand! Though I'm surprised Damon hadn't asked you out sooner or Riley wasn't just 'randomly' walking by slow enough to hear you two."

I looked down at the paper before opening it to see Damon's number. "I highly doubt it was either of the two. He was grounded, and last I checked, dating was under the list of things you can't do under punishment."

"So, are you going to go out with him?" she asked me.

"To be honest, when I get a free schedule, yes. But if I know Riley by much, when I do, he'll use that as our date," I admitted. So two dates from two guys, one who seems nice while the other is a jerk. These are the times I wonder what luck I have in my life.

Alaine laughed at my dilemma as we got to our lockers.

"Who knows, if our God favors you, you can probably be one of the women who have multiple husbands. You'll be living the dream!" she said with a laugh, which resulted in my playfully hitting her.

As we opened our lockers, I noticed a card fall out of Alaine's.

"And you say I'm the only one attracting a guy's attention," I teased. She stuck her tongue out at me before picking it up and reading the cover.

"'A picture is worth a thousand words, so what does this picture say about you'," Alaine read with a smile before opening the card and pulling out a picture.

Only that smile turned into a deep frown as she took it out. Feeling my "big sister" senses going off, I stood next to her and looked at the picture.

I wanted to burn it on sight.

Though it wasn't personally up close, I recognized the picture. It was the day I found Alaine at the park.

However, the picture was close enough to see how broken she looked, the tears in her eyes as well as the bruise. Alaine turned the picture around and read

"'Sometimes it's better to be alone than be with anyone else. There's no one else to tell you your pathetic better than yourself oxoxox Willow& Tessa!'"

That's it!

I ripped the picture from Alaine's hands and tore it up piece by piece. It's one thing to abandon someone, but to constantly remind them of that sickened me to no end. I have to live with what happened in Australia, but anything similar I won't tolerate!

I'll make sure to get back at those two when I can!

I looked at Alaine, who was shocked at my brief action. What? Did she want to keep a reminder of that?

She looked at me and said, "Now I know better than to make you mad."

Ha! If only she knew what happened last year...

"I'm sorry, but that just made that note just so...I don't even know how to describe that! But now, we need to do something. And me destroying the evidence was bad enough," Charlotte said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Alaine just shook her head sadly. "Just forget about it..."

"Shut it!" I exclaimed, "I know you too well by now. You'll try to brush it off like it's nothing and then when your alone, you'll cry your eyes out. So tell me what I can do to prevent that!"

Alaine looked at me wide-eyed before taking a moment to think about it.

Then she spoke, "Well, how about..."

Flashback ends...

Now that I think about this, she probably planned this for a while and I gave her the golden opportunity!

Now here I am, in my bedroom, finishing packing a bag worth of overnight clothes and a sleeping bag. I honestly hope that there is some higher being is in my favor because I wish that I might not have to go into my mermaid form during the trip. Because if there's a God, then he knows my luck with camping trips.

I shuddered at the memories as a shiver went through my spine.

"Char, are you ready yet?!" I heard Alaine exclaim loudly from the other side of my door. I shook my head as I heard the hyper-activeness in her voice. I knew Alaine was a nature girl, but I swear if camping is the only thing that makes her happy, then she's going to be the death of me.

"I'm heading down there now!" I yell as I grabbed my camping bag and left the room.

When I got downstairs, I found Alaine setting breakfast down on the table while, from a distance, I was preparing our lunch for the overnight trip.

She wanted to come as well, but since dogs weren't allowed on the campsites, hence why Thomas wasn't coming, she decided to stay behind to watch him.

"Morning, Char! Are you ready for...Ever!?" Alaine asked in an over-excited tone.

And me playing the older sister role to her, simply stated: "No, and you conned me into this."

Alaine snorted at my comment and stated "Well you did say 'So tell me what I can do to prevent that!'. So in my defense, you brought this on yourself when you wanted to cheer me up!"

"And I regret it deeply," I said as I sat down at the table.

"Party Pooper!"

"Nature Freak!"

"Buzz Kill!"

"Screech Queen!"

I heard Alaine give an over-dramatic gasp and the next thing I know, I feel her wrap her arm around my neck and held it there tightly.

"Take it back, take it back, take it back!" she chanted as she held my neck. Though she knew I was joking, she still found the name I picked out rather than insulting.

"N..N...Ne...Ve...Ne...Never!" I chocked, trying to break her grip from me. And if I didn't, I'm pretty sure she would end up chocking me for real here!

"Alright you two, break it up! I swear, it's like having two children with you!" my mom said as came into the dining room with a small cooler which I assumed was our You, Mom!

Laughing, Alaine released her grip on me.

"But seriously Char, you act like camping is some big, bad omen for you or something," she said as she took a seat and started to eat breakfast, pancakes to be specific.

"It's not an omen, per se, it's just that nothing good happens when I do go camping," I replied.

"Oh come on, you spent the night with me and the girls at the beach, and nothing happened!" Alaine retorted.

No, nothing happened, except I found the artificial moon pool that turned me into a mermaid again and you nearly got turned as well! I thought in my head.

"Yeah, but that was different. I've mostly gone places with jungles and stuff like that-"

"Only once!" my mother interjected.

"Yeah, but still, we're on a more open island, so I don't want to take any chances," I stated before I took a bite of my food.

"Speaking of islands, have you too decided where you're going?" my mom asked. She was skeptical about me going off somewhere completely foreign without adult supervision and she couldn't get there fast enough in case something went wrong, but she trusted us.

Plus, dogs weren't allowed on the ferry, hence why Thomas couldn't come, so she's watching him.

Alaine started to explain "We decided to go on the Channel Islands National Parks. We specifically picked Santa Rosa Island because it has great wildlife, beautiful scenery, hiking/backpacking trails, and a lot of fun stuff to do. We would go to the beach, but Char refuses to anything water-related."

I felt her glaring at me and looked up before defending myself "Hey, I told you that you could go snorkeling, kayaking, or whatever, but I wanted nothing to do with that!"

Alaine was about to answer me back, probably with a smart-aleck comment, but my mom stopped her.

"Alright, alright, so you have disagreements about what you want to do," mom intervened," but give me some insight on how you're getting to the island."

"Alright, so the drive from her to Santa Barbra is an hour and a half, and the ferry, based on the schedule I printed out, should take at least 3 hours. After that, I and Char are going to settle at one of the camping sites. After that, we may start hiking around and take pictures of the wildlife, or in Char's case, sketch them, and if we make it to the beach, have lunch there. And if we still have time to kill, and I have my way, we can just chill out there and I can go snorkeling. By nightfall, we'll head back to our tent and sleep it off until tomorrow," Alaine concluded.

Even my mom was surprised by our planning. "Alright, since you know what you're doing, stand up so I can see you two."

We all got up from our seats and mo looked at our wardrobe attire. Alaine was wearing a simple blue t-shirt with shorts and sneakers. I was wearing a t-shirt as well and jeans. I also added a jacket since I learned how windy it could get during the ride.

"Alright," my mom approved, "now, you got your clothes?"

"Yes," we both said in sync.

"Swimwear?"

"Yes."

"Towels."

"Yes."

"Cameras?"

"Yes."

"Your leisure things?"

"Yes."

"Sunblock?"

"Yes."

"Bug spray?"

"Yes."

Money and the boarding pass?"

"Yes." Alaine took care of those things with care.

"Your phones in case of emergency?"

"Yes."

"And I packed your lunch and placed it in a small cooler to carry easily. Understand?"

"Yes."

"And a rape whistle?"

"Yes, mo- Wait a minute? A what?" I looked in her in shock.

She gave me an impassive look. "What? Two young girls alone on a trip together, anyone would try to take advantage of you and-"

"MOM!" I exclaimed," just trust us! I'm almost 18 years old. You don't have to worry about us like you're sending us on a mission to our deaths. It's just an overnight trip. You'll see us tomorrow!"

Perhaps I was too harsh, but she can't keep babying me forever. Plus, I have powers now. No one will dare lay a hand on Alaine on my watch!

I watched as my mom sighed and hugged us both.

"Can't blame me for worrying. My baby is leaving the nest," she said with a small smile.

I blushed at her wording and remembered the talk we had those nights ago. "Sorry mom, but I promise that we'll be safe and sound."

My mom hugged us again for a little longer and I couldn't help but notice how Alaine practically fell into my mother's embrace. And I knew the reason why.

(Written by Return to Neverland, edited by ME!)

At Channel Islands' National Park Ferry Service... an

2 hours later...

"Hurry up Char! I don't want to miss the boat!" Alaine shouted at me as we both exited my mom's car. There was slightly heavy traffic, so the car ride took longer than expected.

Racing ahead of me, as I said a quick thanks and goodbye to my mum as she drove off.

"Wait up Alaine! The boat isn't leaving yet!" I called out, as I raced to catch up to my energetic and paranoid sister.

After Alaine's mother called her last week and practically told her she regretted ever giving birth to her, I knew that she meant more to me than just being my best friend. We were sisters, family. And family doesn't leave the ones they love to get treated like she was.

That's why against everything sane I agreed to go on a trip with Alaine to the Channel Islands National Park. On a boat!

Which is now why I am currently getting hounded by Alaine to "Get my tail moving!"

Hahaha, I had to suppress a laugh at the irony in her choice of words.

We finally made it to the docks where we were to be boarding the boat when she finally stopped her paranoia of missing the boat.

"There," I chuckled as we set our stuff down, "we're here. You can stop stressing now that we're not going to miss the boat."

Alaine let out a sigh. "I know, I know. But I'm just so excited, my mom never let me do things like this."

A frown then fell over Alaine's at the mention of her mom. I went over to her and wrapped my arms around her in a great big hug, trying to cheer her up.

"Hey, don't worry about her. We're here to have fun and that's exactly what we are going to do," I smiled at her.

"Your right. We are going to have a fantastic day with just you, and me. And NO psychotic, bitch of a mother!" She exclaimed.

"And no Rileys," I added, which was met with a series of giggles from Alaine that I joined in on.

Now all I had to worry about was being accidentally splashed from being water bound on a boat.

Just great! But at least it made Alaine smile. But that was the whole point of this trip: To help Alaine forget about her bitch of a mother.

No matter how much I disliked this trip.

"Now how about you get on the boat I'll be up in a minute. I just need to make a quick pit stop at the bathroom."

"Okay. See you in a sec!" she smiled before skipping onto the ferry, her tie-dye bag swing along with her as she grabbed our stuff and boarded the boat.

I quickly went to the single restroom locking the door behind me. After relieving myself, I made my way to the sink to wash my hands when my phone started to ring. I checked the caller ID only to see an unknown number. I wonder who it could be?

"Hello, Charlotte speaking. Who is this?" I asked.

"Hello, Charlotte speaking. It's your one true love speaking!" a male voice answered in a sickly-sweet voice.

What the Hell!

"Who is this?" I exclaimed. My mind was 60 mph trying to find out if this was a prank call and not who I think it is!

"Oh, no one, just a sexy lifeguard, who has a thing for beautiful Australian waitresses," the voice answered. I froze and my eyes widened.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Oh no.

OH NO!

"RILEY!" I yelled into the phone.

"Took you long enough. You know I'm surprised you didn't realize it was me. I thought you wouldn't forget the sound of my voice. I'm hurt, Charlotte," Riley replied, with a mock tone of hurt.

I let out another groan of annoyance before placing my phone I between my shoulder and my cheek so that I could wash my hands quickly, and more importantly, dry them quickly.

"How did you even get my number? You little stalker!" I exclaimed. It seems I spoke too soon when I said "no Rileys" before.

"I have my ways and means," he teased. I swear, the next time I see him, I'm slapping him!

Why does he have to be so persistent? I don't have time for him right now.

"Brendan gave it to you, didn't he?" I groaned. It is like having an annoying little brother with him. The little...Uuuggghhh! Giving Riley my phone number, oh he is going to get it when I see him on Monday!

Before Riley has time to answer I turn the tap on to wash my hands and get sprayed in the face and all over with water.

"Oh great," I said, and twenty seconds later, I'm on the restroom floor in my tail, "OUCH!"

"Charlotte, are you okay?" Riley asks, clearly concerned.

"Yep just fine," the sarcasm evident in my voice. I turn to see my tail, flipping it like a fish out of water. Huh, I'm full of puns today, aren't I?

"Look I've got to go Riley. Bye!"

"No wait, Char-" but I don't get to listen to the rest of what he has to say before I end the call. Now time to dry myself before I miss the boat.

I curled my hand up and quickly dried myself before bolting out of the toilet, running as fast as my feet could take me. I made it to the docks and saw the ferry sailing off into the distance.

Now that's just bloody wonderful! Stupid bladder, stupid broken tap, and most of all, stupid Riley! Now, what am I going to do?

And then it hit me. I had a tail for Pete's sake! And it's a good thing I left my stuff with Alaine and I got my phone water-proofed!

I looked over my shoulder making sure that nobody was looking my way, then I jump off the pier and into the ocean.

I swam at full speed trying to catch up to the boat. I knew I had 3 hours until we got to the island, but I wasn't stupid enough to pop up out of the water where people could see me. Nope, Jonathan would have my head for that!

So when I felt I was a safe distance away from it, I finally let myself rest and take in the beauty of the ocean around me.

It was truly amazing. Not even pictures could capture this!

The ocean was nearly crystal blue, I couldn't count on my fingers how many different types of fish I saw swimming past me, and I could see the kelp forest below me, and I couldn't help by being reminded of a certain jungle.

Despite that it was open water, I'm pretty sure it was the most beautiful sight I've ever seen. I could hear whales singing in the distance, just like Brendan taught me. And if I know Alaine, she's probably gawking at whales while muttering about how they might become endangered, etc, etc.

It was the most amazing feeling since...ever. I hadn't gone swimming like this since I got my tail back. Nothing could ruin this. No mermaid lessons, no immortal mermaid trying to end the world, not even Cleo and the girls could ruin it.

I swam leisurely through the kelp forest, carefully keeping tabs on the ferry at all times from below. It was so relaxing. I decided to go to the surface for air.

That's when I heard the most frightening sound known to Man. A sound that stopped me in my tracks, or rather, fins.

A Dolphin!

I was frozen with fear as I saw, this can't be happening. First Riley calls, then I get water on me and grow a tail in the bathroom, then I miss the ferry. And now I'm about to be murdered by a dolphin.

Maybe if I start swimming, it'll go away. So I start swimming as fast as I can in my state of panic. Which isn't very far because I'm practically paralyzed with fear.

Oh God, now it following me! Jumping in and out of the water, pretending to be playful before it attacks. Ughh, now it's showing its fangs before it bites me. Then it dives down and grabs a shell from the ocean floor.

I make my way to the surface, hoping that it will deter the thing from coming any closer. I was wrong.

The little creature pops up right next to me. The shell in its mouth, then it opens up its jaw and throws the shell. I close my eyes, This is the end. Goodbye cruel world, it seems only fitting I leave this world the same way my father did. I can see the headlines now:

"MERMAID WASHED UP ONSHORE. PROBABLE CAUSE OF DEATH: KILLED BY DOLPHIN!"

But then...nothing happened.

I scrunch my nose up and slowly open up one eye. The dolphin is making clicking noises in front of me, nudging a shell towards me with its nose.

Huh, it's not trying to eat me?

I eye the beast off before hesitantly grabbing the shell and throwing it away from me. The dolphin swims and clicks away merrily before grabbing the shell and throwing it back at me. A smile graces my face, before I create a water bubble, softly solidifying it with my new power, which Lewis un-creatively calls Bella-Jelly, after the new mermaid the girls had let into their circle.

Using my powers, I then throw the ball out into the water. The dolphin swims quickly and catches it in his mouth, before throwing it back.

I let out a laugh, who would have thought that, out in the middle of a kelp forest, I would be playing catch with a dolphin? After years of fearing the creatures, because 1,000 to 1 attack that killed my father. And now I've finally gotten over my fear.

After dissolving the ball, my new dolphin friend and I begin making our way towards the ferry that has begun to dock into the ferry terminal. Seeing a secluded beach nearby, I take hold of my new friend's dorsal fin and he rockets me to shore.

As soon as I get on dry land, I used my heat powers to dry myself off before running towards the ferry terminal.

I make my way through the crowd, and find Alaine by her tie-dye bag and our stuff. She notices me quickly and pretty much tackles me to the ground.

"Charlotte! Where the Hell have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!" she shrieks. I couldn't help but laugh and push her off me before we got back on our feet.

I decided to play it cool. I can't have her catching on to anything, so I lead her out of the terminal and make our way to the campgrounds near the beach. I explained that I was looking everywhere for her and that Riley's call had distracted me.

"Well next time, you can wait to use the bathroom on the ferry so that I don't lose you!" she exclaims.

"Don't worry, I won't let you out of my sight either," I chuckle.

"Sure, because I'm the one that went missing," Alaine retorted until she looked behind me and squealed, "Wow, look at that!"

I turn to see a dolphin doing backflips and tricks right in front of us.

My dolphin.

"Looks like we made a friend!" Alaine said excitedly.

"Yeah, it looks like we did," I smiled.