Chapter 7

"Let's play truth or dare!" Keisha suggested enthusiastically.

"Do we have to?" Zane moaned. Lewis and Ash grimaced.

"Why not," Emma agreed.

The game commenced.

It was Lewis' turn.

"Cleo, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Who was your first kiss?" he asked.

Cleo blushed, "You actually,"

"Aw," Dana fawned.

"Rikki. Truth or dare," Cleo asked her friend.

"Truth."

"You never talk much about your family; do you know where your mum is and do you visit her?"

The smile disappeared from Rikki's face.

"No," she replied coldly. "And I don't want to know."

"I shouldn't have asked that," Cleo looked upset looking at her hands in her lap.

"I'm sorry," Rikki apologised hesitantly, "It's…just a touchy subject – there's a reason I don't talk about it." Rikki squeezed Cleo's arm reassuringly.

"I'm not upset at you- don't worry," Cleo gave her a small smile in response. "Anyway, it's my turn!" Rikki grinned, lifting the mood again.

"Ash. Truth or dare?"

"Dare, to shake things up." Ash smirked. After a moment of thought, Rikki spoke again.

"I dare you to eat a spoonful of tabasco sauce in one go." Ash blanched. He hated spicy food and Rikki knew it. Emma went into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of sauce and a tablespoon. Ash grimaced as he held the full spoon up to his lips. Closing his eyes, he quickly emptied the contents and swallowed. A horrified expression took over his face and he ran to get a glass of water. The friends all got a laugh out of that one. Once he had recovered the game resumed.

OoOoO

It was Keisha's turn to ask. She turned to Emma. Emma asked for a dare.

"I dare you," Keisha paused thinking, "to…have a freezing cold shower." Emma reacted with a horrified expression on her face.

"With everyone watching?"

"You'd be in your clothes silly," Keisha replied. Cleo and Rikki looked at each other worriedly. It seemed the boys hadn't clicked yet.

"Come on! It's just a shower; just a little water. What harm could that do?" Dana added in.

"I don't want to play this game anymore," Rikki stated, getting up. Keisha and Dana were confused. Emma had chosen a dare – it wasn't even that bad, yet, Emma and even Rikki and Cleo refused to take part…

"Fine, I'll change the dare," Keisha gave the trio a weird look. She thought for a moment, "I dare you to…"

The dares and truths continued until it was Dana's turn to ask again. Cleo, who was being uncharacteristically courageous, chose a dare.

"Do you have ice, Emma?" Emma nodded suspiciously.

"Cleo, I dare you to stand in a bucket of ice for 30 seconds." Dana continued.

"Can't ice burn you?" Ash asked.

"Yes, but it's not even for a minute - that isn't long enough to cause burning…" Lewis replied. Thirty seconds would be long enough to cause discomfort but not long enough to cause any harm to Cleo.

"I can't do it." Cleo said.

"Why not?"

"I just can't – it sounds uncomfortable."

"That's the point!" Keisha said as she grabbed some ice from the freezer. She ducked into the laundry and grabbed a bucket.

"No." Cleo said when the bucket with a layer of ice cubes was presented to her.

"Come on! Don't be such a wimp." Dana said. She grabbed an ice cube and dropped it down Cleo's shirt. Cleo screamed from the awful feeling of ice sliding down her warm skin. She felt it melting, leaving a trail of water in its wake. She began counting in her head as she dashed from the room.

"I don't get it," Dana said in a puzzled voice. Why had Cleo run off? It was as if she was scared of ice. Rikki got up abruptly to follow her friend. In the motion, she accidently tipped Zane's glass of water all over herself. Zane looked apologetic as Rikki gave him an icy stare. It was unfortunate that he happened to be holding it at that moment. To Rikki's consolation, Zane had gotten wet also. She dashed from the room following Cleo.

OoOoO

Rikki and Cleo almost made it to the bathroom, but ten seconds was not enough. Cleo was already a mermaid in the hallway when Rikki transformed slightly behind her. With a groan, Rikki slumped to the floor.

OoOoO

"Maybe that's not such a good idea…" Emma said as Dana and Keisha left to follow the duo. They paid no attention to the Emma's and the boys' protest, thus, leading the others to chase after them.

OoOoO

"How fast can you dry us, Rikki?" Cleo asked frantically. The steam was rising off Cleo's body as Dana and Keisha rounded the corner. They stopped dead in their tracks, mouths wide open. Rikki momentarily froze taking in their expressions. Quickly she resumed the drying process.

"Guys!" Cleo yelled as they arrived to the scene. "You couldn't keep them away?"

"I tried," Emma began.

"What are you?" Dana exclaimed. Cleo returned to her human form. Rikki began working on her own tail.

"What do they look like?" Zane replied cynically.

"Mermaids," Keisha whispered.

"You knew about them?" Dana asked Emma. She sighed in response.

Ash and Lewis began to turn the inquisitive visitors around from Rikki's mermaid form. Cleo picked herself up from the ground. As Dana and Keisha were being led away, they continued to look over their shoulders until they rounded the corner to go down the stairs.

"Are you two alright?" Emma asked. Rikki transformed once again.

"Well, other than an unfortunate but not unusual fall, physically we are fine. But…" Rikki was interrupted.

"But they know," Cleo finished in defeat, "They are most definitely not going to fall for the 'you didn't see that' routine." She turned to Rikki. "How did you even get wet?"

Rikki went red, "It was my fault - I bumped into Zane's glass of water…" she admitted.

"Better to be embarrassed than have excruciating ice go slowly down your back…" Cleo said.

"What will happen now? Can we trust them?" Rikki asked.

"I think so, and I hope so," Emma said. The trio began to head back to the living room.

"It's time to face the music," Rikki said with a sigh.

A/N: Thanks so much to all who have reviewed, followed and favourited this story and me as an author - I really appreciate them all. Thanks so much to ObsessedwReading and Emmash for reviewing - it means a lot.

Any constructive criticism (not flames) and future plot ideas are welcome!

I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I hope to update soon.