Chapter 5

How would she break the news to the others?

"A year?" Emma asked again.

"Yes, isn't it exciting?" her mother said.

It was exciting but she saw many downsides, the most prominent of which was how to keep her secret safe from her family and missing her friends.

She continued to ponder as she left the living room and found herself falling back onto her bed with a sigh. This was a once in the lifetime opportunity right? And she could always text message and chat over social media sites when she had internet reception.

She would talk to them tomorrow morning.

OoOoO

She looked at the list she had written the night before:

'Pros:

-Opportunity of a life time

-No school

-Less stress of school work

-No exams

-More bad school stuff

-Exploring the world

-A cruise at one point

-It will be fun

-Can keep in touch with people via media

Cons:

-No graduation

-No final day of school pranks

-No friends

-No Ash

-Social life would lack

-Secret Keeping -Water will be involved at one point'

'Well, there are more pros than cons' she thought. Her pros were mainly to do with missing school and having fun abroad and her cons were to do with missing her current friends. The pros outweighed the cons from her perspective. She text Rikki and Cleo, 'MEET AT MOONPOOL. ASAP. URGENT'

OoOoO

"This had better be good for getting me out of bed so early," Rikki moaned.

"Rikki. It's eleven?" Emma replied.

"So? It's still too early on a Saturday." She retorted.

"So what's urgent?" Cleo asked.

The trio were reclining in the moon pool. Emma lifted her tail up and down through the water. "I have some really important news." Emma said. The others waited expectantly.

"I won't be coming back to school next year. I'm going to be travelling around the world with my family," Emma said bluntly.

"What?" Cleo and Rikki said in unison. She nodded. They looked at her in shock.

"That's awesome, Em." Cleo said engulfing her in an awkward mermaid hug. "We're going to miss you, so much." Cleo withdrew. "So do you know where exactly you're travelling to?"

"I think pretty much everywhere," Emma smiled, "It is a year."

"I'm sure it'll be great. You'll have to update us whenever you fly to another country and send us postcards." Cleo said. "When do you leave?"

"Next month…"

"A month?"

"I know, I wish I'd had more warning."

"Am I the only one worried about the secret factoring into this holiday?" Rikki asked. She did not sound happy.

"I've thought about it, but would it really be that bad if my family found out? They could help me keep safe,"

"No; it's out of the question. Please don't tell them." Rikki replied roughly.

"Okay," Emma said. Her expression was hard to read. "I won't tell them. It's for you Rikki."

Rikki nodded. She was tight-lipped as she gave Emma a tight hug. She released her and swam quickly out of the moon pool.

"Do you think she's alright?" Emma asked.

"No." Cleo said categorically. "I haven't seen her like that very often."

Emma did not really know how to react. She was upset that she would be leaving them too.

A/N: Sorry if you feel this was sloppily written, I'm not overly happy with it either.

OoOoO

After swimming back to the mainland, Rikki walked back to her house feeling unusually emotional. She didn't understand it herself either. Why was she reacting like this? She knew that it boiled down to the fact she did not want things to change. Since she had moved to the Gold Coast, her life had been amazing, ignoring the first few weeks of school. She had been gifted with great friends and an awesome power. She had become a mermaid. She wouldn't trade any of it for the world. Well, maybe some of the close scrapes would have been nice not to experience, but, every mistake is a learning experience. And of course, she and Emma had always clashed more than she and Cleo but fire and ice right? Sure they had had their share of ups and downs but they eventually came through it. Despite their differences, the three of them were inseparable – and this was a rare thing for Rikki who was typically a loner. She was afraid that if Emma left her perfect world would come crumbling down. After a year, would they still be close? Would they be able to maintain contact? She guessed time would tell.

OoOoO

Emma left to go break the news to her boyfriend and Cleo left to try console Rikki.

Cleo dried herself off at Lewis' secret fishing spot and walked to the caravan park where Rikki lived. She knocked on the door.

"Hey Terry, is Rikki home?" she asked politely as he opened the door.

"Yeah, come on in," he replied. "She's in her room."

Cleo knocked on Rikki's bedroom door. Rikki knew who it would be. She released a sigh and answered it.

"Hey Cleo," she said. Cleo came into her room. She looked around and opened her mouth to say something when Rikki interrupted her.

"I know it's a mess."

Cleo nodded. There was barely any floor space and Rikki's desk was completely covered in papers and books, still there from studying for the end of year exams. And yes, Rikki had studied – very last minute, but she had studied. Cleo sat down on the bed and Rikki took the desk chair. Cleo was amazed it was clear.

"You know why I'm here," Cleo said. Rikki nodded.

"I don't know what's wrong with me!" she exclaimed. "I'm usually the one who has it all together."

"You don't have to put on a tough act with us. You know that don't you?"

"It's a hard habit to break?" Rikki replied with a half-smile. She paused. "I guess I just…don't want things to change. I don't want to lose the friendship we have as a trio,"

"That's never going to happen." Cleo replied.

"Are you sure? A lot can happen in a year."

"Yes. But we have a connection that other people don't have. And besides, it's not like we're both leaving. You still have me. Or is that not good enough for you?" Cleo smirked.

"You know that's not what I mean." Rikki replied. "I'm going to miss her like hell. There'll just be the two of us – well, and Zane and Lewis – for senior year! Our last year of school and we'll be missing Emma."

"I'm not happy about it either Rikki, but we should be happy for her. A world trip with her parents? Personally, I think that Emma isn't too happy about the idea either – did you notice how she looked when she broke the news to us? She probably has the same fears. If she does, it means that because we are all making an effort, we probably won't lose our friendship in the end." Cleo said brightly. This logic was sound in Rikki's mind. She was probably right. It wouldn't be too bad, right?

A/N: I'm so sorry it's taken so long for an update on this story – I've been working on A Fishy Tale. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm still not sure where I'm taking this story so I'm just making it up as I go along.

Thanks so much to Quillcox, CelticH2O, charlotte bird, ObsessedwReading, ashray4, liveonpurpose, and Makofreak for reviewing - it means a lot.

I hope the next update won't be as long in coming as this one has been.