Chapter 8: No Ordinary Girl

That evening the four girls sat eating dinner with Charlotte and Ash outside in the garden.

Charlotte and Kayla had just finished telling everyone the day's almost disastrous events.

'I can't believe Kim did that' Roxie said incredulously 'you're her niece!'

Kayla shrugged, she'd rather switch to another topic but she guessed this was going to go on for a while longer 'she just wanted to understand.'

'A feeling I know all too well' Charlotte said 'from that point of view, I can understand what drove her to such extreme measures.'

Ash sighed, shaking his head 'do you think we can trust her to keep quiet?'

'She said she would, for Cleo' replied Charlotte 'but I honestly don't know how much that means to her, they seemed to have gotten closer since they were younger but…'

Kayla nodded 'Kim said that to me as well, she said she and mom were quite close by the time mom died.'

'I still think we should keep an eye on her' Elayne added 'I don't trust that she'll keep the secret when the time comes to it.'

Ash frowned 'what do you mean?'

'I mean when the right opportunity shows itself, when the right offer is given…she'll talk' Elayne said.

Becka frowned 'and expose her own niece, she isn't that cold, she wouldn't.'

'I'm with Elayne' Roxie said 'I think we should watch her closely.'

Charlotte watched the four girls for a moment then said 'she offered to spy on Sophie for me you know…perhaps there was self-gain in that as well but that has to say something.'

No one had a reply to that they just continued to eat in silence for a few moments until Kayla finally said 'so Charlotte, about that locket?'

'What locket' asked Becka curiously.

Charlotte pulled it out laid it on the table 'Kayla found it in Kim's room, she took it from Cleo's belongings' Charlotte began to explain as the girls and Ash examined the silver locket with the amethyst stone.

'The locket is part of a set, three were made many years ago, one for each of the original mermaids or at least the earliest mermaids we know of; one of the mermaids was my grandmother' Charlotte continued.

All of the girls, save for Kayla, looked at her in amazement at this 'but that does not make the locket mine' Charlotte quickly added 'I once thought it did, just as I thought I had the right to inherit the mermaid powers…but I was wrong. My grandmother and her friends Louise and Julia stumbled upon the moon pool by accident, no different than your parents.'

There was a long silence and then Ash said 'someone once told me, that those that go seeking power don't deserve it and were not meant to have it but those that stumble upon it by accident were meant to have it…that is fate's design.'

Elayne looked at him, possibly wondering where he'd heard that.

Charlotte picked up the locket and handed it to Kayla 'this, by right of inheritance, belongs to you, you're a mermaid and your mother's daughter' Kayla wasn't sure what to say.

'Thank you' she said at last and put the locket on, it fitted her very well.

'So…where are the other two' Becka asked curiously 'and how come there are only three?'

Charlotte shrugged 'the others could be anywhere by now, long before your parents died they stopped wearing these according to Sophie, I have seen pictures of your parents where they no longer have the lockets on.'

'That must have been after we left' Ash said 'as far as I can remember Emma never took hers off.'

'And as for there only being three lockets…there were only three mermaids in the beginning' Charlotte said 'at least that we knew of.'

Frowning in thought Ash said 'perhaps where they lived before…the accident, perhaps the lockets are there.'

'Whatever was in those houses would have been emptied out long ago' Charlotte said 'I won't pretend to know Emma and Rikki that well…but I think they left their lockets somewhere more…secret and well hidden' looking at the girls she added 'and no doubt intended to give them to you one day.'

After another long silence Charlotte said 'but we'll have to try and figure that out another time, Roxie and Becka you two should be getting home, Kayla and Elayne I think it's time you headed off to bed.'

The next day Becka woke up with a firm decision planted in her mind, after school today she would go and take a look at this building; it was, from what she could tell by the card, a local music agency.

'Hey Becka, you almost ready or what' came Roxie's voice from downstairs.

'Yeah, just a minute' Becka said as she finished putting on the last of her clothes and gathering up her school things.

She came downstairs to find Roxie waiting and Sophie standing by the kitchen, watching them 'you two head straight to school alright' she said to them, not looking at them.

'Yeah yeah' muttered Roxie, she handed Becka an apple 'here, eat this as you go, you haven't got time for anything else.'

Becka raised an eyebrow at her sister, like Roxie had ever cared about being on time for school. They headed out the front door and began walking 'I just wanted to get going, Sophie was bugging me this morning' Roxie said irritably.

'What about' asked Becka as she took a bite of the apple.

Roxie sighed 'she knows you know, that we sneak out and see the others…I think she knows about nearly every time.'

'Well, I guess she was going to find out sooner or later, she seems calm about it though' Becka said 'maybe she's just given up.'

Roxie shook her head 'she's not the type and there is something else I want to raise with her too.'

'What's that' Becka asked, frowning.

'Charlotte told me Sophie was meant to send me somewhere when I turned 16, and you too in fact…but she hasn't so my question is why hasn't she and who is this person' Roxie asked.

Thinking silently Becka said nothing finishing her apple and tossing it in a passing bin.

Becka was just telling Roxie about her plan to go investigate the music agency after school when Kayla and Elayne joined them near the grounds of the school.

'Hey guys' Kayla said 'anyone nervous about being back at school now that we're well you know…'

'It's a little unnerving' Elayne said 'you all said you can't participate in water sports anymore correct?'

All three girls nodded 'yeah' said Roxie 'not easy to explain that one…probably looking at failing PE now.'

'We all are' replied Elayne 'unless of course we can find an alternative way to make up for it.'

Becka was about to speak but Roxie cut over her 'say Beach Volleyball and I will smack you over the head.'

'Why not, our parents did it' Elayne said 'whatever works right?'

Roxie made a face 'because firstly it is seriously sexist and degrading having us jump around in bathing suits, secondly it still contains possible water hazards thirdly…' but she clearly couldn't think of a third.

As they continued towards the school Elayne rolled her eyes 'we don't wear swimwear, we wear sports clothes like usual but I suppose you have a point about the water hazards.'

The school bell rang and they rushed off towards class, getting lost in the sea of students as they all went their own ways.

As Kayla moved towards the classroom she saw a tall blonde girl she didn't recognise and pointed her out to the others 'is she new, I don't recognise her?'

'Yeah, maybe' Elayne replied frowning.

The blonde looked at them, frowning and giving them a distasteful look, she then flicked her hair and turned back to the girl she was talking to.

'Her name is Hannah Kent' said a girl from behind them, the four of them looked at her, 'she just transferred here from Sydney.'

'Huh' Becka said thoughtfully 'Kent…why does that name ring a bell?'

'It should' the girl replied 'her mother is Miriam Kent, that big star in the fashion world.'

Roxie snorted 'so she's one of those girls huh?'

The girls looked over at Hannah again; she was tall with blonde hair and a moderate tan. Her body was slender like that of a supermodel and clearly had been well cared for its entire life.

'Come one' said Elayne 'we should get to class.'

Rolling her eyes Roxie smirked 'you're awful, what is it with you and work?'

'I just don't want to get in trouble' replied Elayne 'something wrong with that?'

'No, you just seem so eager to get down to work' Roxie replied laughing.

Elayne didn't bother to continue the argument, she turned and headed into class, Becka and Kayla followed her and Roxie reluctantly went as well.

They were just settling down into their seats when alarms started going off everywhere and the place was chaos, the teacher's attempts to calm the kids and tell them to slowly leave in an orderly fashion really wasn't working.

'What's going on' Becka said, her face looking worried.

Alarm sirens were sounding and the red lights were flashing round and round throughout the school 'attention; all teachers escort their students outside, all staff vacate the premises, this is not a drill.'

'That sounded like the principal' said Kayla as they were filed in line by their teacher.

Elayne nodded 'I think you're right sis, but I wonder what has happened?'

It didn't take long for them to find out, the hallway was littered with damaged stuff and the glass of their interior fish tank was looking dangerously close to breaking.

'Guys' Becka said, nodding to the fish tank nervously.

Roxie nodded 'yeah…I know, let's just hope we get out before it breaks.'

There was another rumble throughout the school and that was all it took, the glass shattered and the fish tank water came out in a roaring flood sending the four girls crashing back into the classroom.

'Quickly' Roxie said grabbing the door, slamming it shut and locking it 'shut the blinds!'

Fortunately it looked like the rest of the class had grabbed onto something and resisted the water.

The four of them turned into mermaids before they could shut both blinds but no one seemed to be around yet.

Kayla pulled herself over the second pair of blinds and pulled them down 'there…great, now what are we going to do?'

'Relax' replied Roxie 'I can dry us all off.'

Becka looked around 'I don't know sis, this is a lot of water…it's going to take more than a steam dry to get rid of this.'

'It may take a few minutes, but don't worry' Roxie grinned.

Another rumble shook the building 'ok, I'm still worried' Elayne said 'what is that?'

'Let's get out of here, then worry about that' Kayla said irritably.

Becka nodded 'I agree with Kayla.'

The four of them lay on their backs, silently while Roxie boiled away the water, gradually drying the entire room.

After several minutes Elayne said 'could you hurry it up, they might come looking for us any minute!'

Roxie glowered at her 'hey, I'm the only one who can get us out of this, might be wise not to irritate me.'

The room was finally dry and the girls felt themselves dry rapidly and then they became human again and pulled themselves to their feet.

'Alright, good, now we'll tell them we were unconscious ok, that is why we didn't go anywhere' Elayne said calmly.

They were just heading for the door when knocks came from it and three men, knocked it down, all dressed in fire gear 'there you girls are, come on we need to get you out of here, can you all walk?'

We nodded and they guided us out of the building to where the rest of the school was gathered out front. We looked back at the building, the source of the problem was pretty clear now; someone had set a fire in the upper floors.

We stayed with the school for as long as we had to, and watched as they got the fire under control and finally managed to put it out.

One of the firemen came over to the girls, looking between the four of them 'you four ok? No injuries?'

Kayla nodded along with the others 'yeah we're fine, aquarium broke, knocked us unconscious.'

The fireman nodded 'well, you all seem ok, but I suggest you all stop by the paramedics before you leave the grounds, don't want to find out later you have a concussion or something.'

Elayne nodded 'what started the fire?'

'Still figuring that out' the fireman replied simply 'but needless to say I think your school will be out of action for a few days…a lot of structural damage.'

Giving a small laugh Roxie said 'yeah, we felt that.'

Becka headed home with the others, the paramedics had given them all the ok and school had pretty much been cancelled for the next few days at the very least, probably more.

Suddenly remembering what she'd planned to do after school Becka stopped and pulled out the card from her pocket, noticing her stop the others looked back at her 'hey, something wrong sis' Roxie asked curiously.

'No' Becka replied 'I just remembered, I was going to go take a look at this music agency.'

Roxie grinned 'about time, you need to get yourself noticed.'

Turning red Becka stuttered 'well…I was just…I mean I was only going to look.'

'Nonsense' Roxie said grabbing her by the arm, 'come on, lead the way, I'll come with you.'

'No you don't have to…' but Roxie cut her off.

'Of course I do, you need me to back you up, admit it' Roxie said jokingly.

Elayne and Kayla just watched silently as the two argued, they finally sighed and continued walking 'we'll see you guys later ok?'

'You're not coming' Roxie asked curiously.

Kayla looked back at them 'not unless Becka wants us to' she looked at Becka questioningly.

'I'll be fine' Becka said 'but thanks for offering.'

'Well I'm coming with you' Roxie said stubbornly.

Becka rolled her eyes and headed off, hoping her sister would give up and head home, she really wanted to do this alone.

Becka finally arrived at the address about forty minutes later, having got lost a couple of times. The building was fairly small, squashed into a street but was at least three floors high.

It had glass double doors at the front, the kind you opened yourself not the automatic ones. The only really glamorous thing about the building were the neon letters over the entrance, likely to attract attention and business.

Taking a deep breath she walked up the steps and pushed open the doors, stepping into the reception area, it was a large and open room with a deep red carpet floor, some potted plants and numerous portraits on the walls. She had to admit, compared to the outside it was fairly flashy. Moving over to the large desk right in front of her she looked around, no one was at the main desk. She rang the small bell and waited, hoping someone would come.

Several minutes passed but no one came; she was just about to call out when a voice made her jump 'hey sis' and she turned to find Roxie walking in the door.

'You followed me' Becka asked irritably 'look I want to do this alone, can't you get that!'

Roxie raised her hands in surrender 'whoa chill' she reached past Becka and tapped the bell a few times 'I'll stay in the background, I promise.'

Becka sighed 'alright, you better' she tapped the bell once more and a voice rang out making them both jump.

'I hear the bell' it sounded like a woman and a rather irritable one at that.

A blonde middle aged woman stepped through from a back room and sat down in the chair behind the desk, looking up at them she said 'well, what can I do for you?'

'Um' said Becka awkwardly, what was she here for…now that she was here she had no idea what to say.

The woman looked at her, eyebrow raised 'sweety, we're very busy here, if you need something I can help but otherwise.'

Roxie raised her eyebrow 'busy, you were just lounging around.'

The woman narrowed her eyes at Roxie 'I was on my break; I suppose you were the one rudely ringing the bell.'

Before Roxie could reply with her smart mouth Becka said 'I wanted to um…talk with someone about possibly uh…starting a music career.'

Roxie frowned at Becka in surprise 'really?'

The same thoughts seemed to be in the mind of the woman because she raised her eyebrow doubtfully 'do you have a name' she asked Becka.

'Becka…' but then she hesitated, she didn't want to use the name Benjamin, firstly it was too personal for her, secondly she doubted Sophie would like this and it would trace back to her in no time 'Becka Hartley' she answered and she felt Roxie cough and gasp behind her then rapidly tap her shoulder. She turned to her sister and Roxie was gently shaking her head to tell her "no".

The woman didn't seem to have noticed the reaction; she was typing at her computer 'do you have a demo disk of some of your work?'

'Um…no' Becka said, realising now that probably seemed stupid.

The woman frowned 'well, I suppose I can ask if someone can do a sort of…initial interview with you, one second' and she walked off to the backroom.

Roxie pulled Becka close 'are you crazy, using your mom's name? Do you realise what kind of problems this might cause?'

'And do you realise how much worse it would be if Sophie heard about this' Becka replied.

Roxie sighed 'they are both pretty bad to be honest.'

The woman returned 'Mrs Wilson will see you Becka, room 3.'

Becka and Roxie headed down the hallway and knocked on the door with a small number "3" on it.

'Come in' came a voice from inside and the two entered.

Mrs Wilson was older than Becka had expected with brown hair that was greying, she looked up and saw the two of them 'my goodness' she looked at Becka 'you must be Becka Hartley and who is your friend?'

'This is my sister, Roxie' Becka explained, though she was more curious how she knew she was Becka.

Frowning she said 'sister, you don't look much alike.'

Roxie laughed 'we aren't, I was adopted into the family.'

Mrs Wilson nodded 'I see, I apologise, now let's get down to business, I understand you want to do music Becka?'

'Yes' Becka said 'singing primarily, I mean I can dance a little too but it's my voice that everyone keeps talking about, not to sound big headed.'

Roxie nudged her 'you're being modest as always, you're amazing don't hide it.'

Mrs Wilson smiled 'modesty, it is an interesting thing, people who are modest are usually better liked but don't always live up to their full potential. However more arrogant or pompous people go far but aren't as well liked.'

'Then I guess it depends what people value more doesn't it' Becka replied simply.

Mrs Wilson nodded 'indeed it does. Now I can discuss a few possibilities for you Becka but without a demo disk of your singing talent…we can't really go very far.'

Becka nodded 'I understand.'

It was then some sort of realisation seemed to come over Mrs Wilson, she looked at Becka closely and then seemed to mouth her name silently.

'Something wrong' Roxie asked frowning.

'You aren't by any chance related to a Bella Hartley are you?'

Becka gaped for a moment then said 'I…um…yes, she was my mother.'

'Your mother' Mrs Wilson said 'my goodness, so the child was a girl.'

'I'm sorry' Becka asked frowning at her.

Mrs Wilson sat up straight, taking a tissue from her box and dabbing her eyes 'it was the last time I saw her, she came here to officially…end the contract with us…she must have been at least…7 maybe 8 months pregnant.'

'Contract' said Roxie 'Bella had a contract here?'

Mrs Wilson nodded and stood up 'yes indeed, she came to us wanting to promote the songs she had been singing around the Gold Coast area since she'd arrived and so she made them into an album.'

She moved over to the right wall which was a large rack of CD albums with a CD player on one side and had books on the other. She searched through the CDs and finally pulled out one and handed it to the girls.

The album had a very beach, ocean and even some mermaid theme (kind of risky in Becka's mind) it had a beautiful picture of her mother on the front, she looked no older than maybe 18 or 19. The album itself was called "No Ordinary Girl"; it had such numbers as "Come Back To You", "I'm The Kinda Girl" and "Pretty Baby".

Roxie looked at Becka, eyebrow raised, she clearly thought such an album was risky as the songs gave away too much, but then again who would take songs seriously.

'Can we keep this' Becka asked Mrs Wilson curiously.

She nodded 'yes, it's yours, I heard about the tragic accident of course, by that time Bella was a famous singer, she may have done only one album but it had made her famous enough to get her on the news and get us on the news through her. So yes…it all makes sense now, clearly talent runs in your blood.'

Oh more than that does Becka thought to herself but that was something she couldn't share with anyone.

'Why did my mother not continue music' Becka asked curiously 'I mean if she had such talent?'

Mrs Wilson sighed thoughtfully 'Bella…she was amazing, she could have been great, I remember the day she walked in here like it was yesterday…but like I said before some are just modest, or do things because they love it not for the fame or money…Bella was one of those.'

Becka looked at her mother's face on the album cover…she could believe every word of it just by looking at her.

Becka walked out of the building, followed by Roxie, still staring at the album in her hands 'wow, we have to go show the others this' Becka said 'come on.'

When they arrived back at the house the others were just relaxing 'you'll never guess what we found out' Roxie said.

'What' Kayla asked curiously from her place of the sofa.

Becka put the album down on the coffee table 'look at this.'

Charlotte frowned picking it up and looking at it 'Bella made an album…about mermaids?'

Becka shook her head 'I don't think so, I mean it has the odd ocean reference but it's just music, no one would take it seriously.'

'Wow' said Elayne seeing the cover 'Bella was really pretty, can we listen to it?'

Charlotte stood up and took it over to the CD player, put it in and pressed play.

Her voice was…beautiful, it was like nothing Becka had ever heard, she wasn't sure how much she sounded like that, but her mother had been amazing. The main song "No Ordinary Girl" was certainly a secret description on her mermaid life but Becka doubted that anyone ever had taken it seriously.

'You do sound a fair bit like her' Roxie said to Becka 'your voice is slightly different I think, but otherwise…'

Kayla was looking amazed 'wow, that was like so… moving and beautiful.'

'I see now what Sophie meant' Charlotte said 'Bella really was something special.'

Roxie frowned 'Sophie said that?'

'Oh yes, even she couldn't deny Bella was talented when it came to singing' Charlotte nodded.

Footsteps from the stairs drew their attention 'hey, what is that music' Ash came down the stairs.

'That would be my mom' Becka said with a smile 'we discovered she did an album.'

Ash grinned 'huh, she's really good.'

The six of them spent the rest of the day listening to her music and talking about the various songs, in a sort of tribute to her memory.

(Note to Readers: Thank you for all the reviews I have received. For those of you following the story, sorry this last chapter has taken so long but I am writing many things and so I have to prioritize. The more reviews and more detailed feedback you give me the better, for I will feel more inclined then to continue this story first above others I am working on. Also if I am able to give replies to your feedback to share opinions all the better.)