A/N: Wow 2 years. Sorry about that. I honestly didn't think it had been that long. So thank you to all of you who are reading this and are sticking with me. I hit a bit of a block and then let myself get distracted by my other projects, real life and kinda forgot about this story. A special thanks to Miss Cocoo Bananas and KK Renee for lighting the fire under me to get this chapter going.
Next, I am actually really close to getting ready to write the next chapter so it should be a lot shorter wait for it.
Third: In the two years since my last update I have been doing a lot of writing elsewhere and feel like i have improved my skills so I went back and edited all the prior chapters and have updated them. There are a lot of changes and I would advise going back and re-reading them. The largest change was that I had implied that the Rikki and Zane were sleeping together. I had been unsure if I wanted to put that in there and went against my gut feeling when I put that in, so that has been removed now.
Fourth: I would like to make a quick plug for the poll that I have in my profile. Who do you think will win the competition?
Lastly: Sorry for the long notes. Sorry again for the long wait for the chapter. Thank you to all those that have read the story, added me to their various subscriptions, and reviewed my story. And of course please read, enjoy and if you fell up to it please leave a review.
ENJOY!
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Chapter 7: Cleo
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The alarm rang out waking Cleo. Slowly she dragged herself out of bed and glanced out the window. One thought kept running through her mind; day two, revenge. Three times Rikki had gotten her wet already –though technically only once had actually been Rikki, the other two times had been Zane but Rikki had been the mastermind behind one of them.
She should have known Rikki would strike right away, she should have been weary of Rikki but instead she was now trailing Rikki which meant that she was worse than Rikki at keeping their mermaidness a secret. But that was only for the time being; she had made up her mind that she was going to change that by the end of the day.
Rikki had interrupted a date and tricked her into a fit of jealous rage and while she was over both of those for the most part it still burned at her that her date had been interrupted and that she'd been tricked so easily. By end of the day she wanted to get even for that and change the standings.
She glanced back at her alarm clock, if she hurried she just might have enough time before school to start to even the score.
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Game on.
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Rikki got up to the sound of her alarm. Any other day she would have been contemplating smashing it into bits but this particular morning was different. She still had to force herself to get out of bed and get ready, but for a change she did not do so begrudgingly; she had plans for that morning before school.
She readied herself as quickly as she could and got out the door. Ten minutes later she met up with Zane and hand in hand they began a slow stroll to no place in particular. Eventually their stroll brought them down to a small harbor and they made their way out on to one of the floating docks. They had no reason for being there or going out onto the dock, but did so anyway. As one thing lead to another they leaned in for a kiss. Just as their lips were about to touch the dock shook.
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The jolt caught them off guard nearly causing them to completely lose their balance, it had been close but they had stayed on their feet.
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"What was that?" Rikki asked.
"I have no idea, a large wave maybe?" Zane suggested.
"Heck of a wave this close to LAND!" Rikki half screamed as the dock shook beneath her feet again but more violently.
"Okay, once was freak occurrence; twice, something's going on" Zane began, "And I don't care to be on this dock when it happens AGAIN!" The dock shook for a third time with even more violence as it began to roll before settling back down.
"Wait, the other docks aren't moving; just this one." Rikki observed.
"So?"
"MOVE." Rikki began pushing Zane back towards land as the docked shook and rolled again.
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Rikki had barely held on and got back to her feet to start pushing an oblivious Zane again. She made it half a step before another violent lurch once again almost throwing her, but again at the last possible moment she was able to hold on. No sooner had she gotten back to her feet the most violent lurch occurred and Rikki had no chance to hang on and was tossed into the water.
Recovering quickly she instantly knew what had happened and dived down as deep as she could before her tail appeared. Once a mermaid she made her way back towards the surface but stayed just below. There she looked for Zane who she spotted safely on the dock holding on to the edge of it for dear life. Staying just below the surface she swam over to him where he could see her clearly.
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"I'm okay." She mouthed to him.
"What happened?" He mouthed back.
"Cleo."
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Cleo?... Of course; Cleo!
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Rikki swam off in search of a place to dry off. Meanwhile Zane was hesitantly loosening his grip and getting to his feet. He looked around and back on land he could see a few people who might have witnessed that whole scene and among them he spotted Lewis. Still with extreme caution he made his way back to shore. Once on shore (and finally feeling safe) he made his way straight to Lewis.
"What was all that about?" he asked Lewis.
"What are you talking about?"
"That out there." Zane indicated towards the dock. "The dock threw Rikki and almost me as well."
"Oh, that; that was just gas pockets releasing. Happens every so often; pockets of gas escape the crust and float up to the surface and they can have quite a force behind them."
"Gas pockets?" Zane looked at Lewis convinced that Lewis had gone completely insane.
"Yes Zane gas pockets."
Zane suddenly understood what Lewis was doing.
"Oh, right… gas pockets." He glanced back out at the dock again trying to reinforce the "gas pockets" story in his mind then turned his attention back to Lewis. "Hey since I don't have enough time for Rikki to make it back and you'll see her at school would you deliver a message for me?"
"Sure?"
"Tell her I'm sorry I couldn't wait around and that I'll catch up with her at the cafe after I get out of school."
"Will do." Lewis agreed casually. "Oh, and one more thing," he added as Zane began to walk away, "I think she wanted revenge for yesterday?"
"Huh?" Zane turned back towards Lewis.
"I believe you meant to ask why and I'm answering you. If you need more details ask Rikki when you see her later on." Lewis turned away from Zane and began to walk in the opposite direction as Zane needed to go.
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Cleo pulled herself up onto the beach. It wasn't easy to do without legs, but she was accustomed to pulling herself out of the water and up onto the beach with a tail dragging behind her. Once upon a time this section of the beach had one of Lewis' favorite fishing spots, one that he told few people about. Now it was the preferred place for the girls to leave from and return to when going for a swim.
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It was very secluded, detached from the main sections of the beach. To Two sides were steep hills that led down to large boulders with a few more scattered along the beach at the water's edge. A small path through some of the boulders led into the area and it was clear form a ways out that the path was essentially a dead end. The actual beach portion was very small and with all the rocks around it, it wasn't a very desirable location to hang out at. Everyhting about it though made it perfect for the girls.
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In a corner were one of the largest was large cluster of rocks that Cleo had hidden her bag at. Not easily found but even as a mermaid easily accesses and far enough away from the water she could dry off without the oceans waves coming right back in on her erasing the progress she would have made in drying herself off.
As soon as she reached her bag she took out a fresh dry towel and began to rigorously dry herself off. It was a long arduous process, but one she had to go through whenever she went for a swim without Rikki around; it was the price she had to pay for that swim and consequence of being a mermaid. While she had accepted it as a price she would gladly pay she still was a little envious of Rikki since she could dry herself off a lot quicker and without a towel.
Cleo hurried the process but being completely soaked form head to toe-or in this case fin- it took time. Finally dry and back to normal she checked the time on her phone; she had just enough time. Wasting no further of it she quickly made her way away from the beach; if she hurried she had just enough time to carry out part two of her plans for before school.
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I had not known were to find Rikki or what I was going to do, so it had taken me longer than I had anticipated to accomplish the task. Now I was pressed for time, and this time I knew what I was doing and how long it would take to successfully pull off an attack on Emma.
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Cleo pushed herself to her limits. She ran as fast as she could stopping every so often to catch her breath and check the time. With Each stop and check she found her time dwindling away quickly, but still within range.
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I wanted to give up, I wanted to let it go and try and find another opportunity to get her. I didn't think I could do it either and that only fueled my desire to give up on the attack, I still had the rest of the week to go after all. And then just as I was ready to actually give up a though came to me; Rikki.
Rikki had been the one to propose this element to the challenge, and she had taken it to a level beyond what had been expected and essentially gotten me wet three times the day before and to my knowledge had gotten Emma only once and she had stayed completely dry when it counted. That meant I was in last place; for the time I was the worst at keeping our secret. I had already gotten her once and was planning on getting her three more times that day (though I didn't have a plan on how to do it). That still left Emma though; if I waited to try and get her later I might not get the chance to make it up before day's end and I wanted to be wearing that title by the end of the day If I didn't take this opportunity she could end up being in the lead, she would be the best at keeping our secret.
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No!
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It had been less than 24 hours ago when I had been ready to rip apart one of my best friends for trying to steal Lewis. I had been ready and willing to fight for something I wanted. If I had been willing to fight then there was no reason not to fight again. I wanted Lewis and was ready and willing to fight for him; I wanted to prove that I was the best at keeping our secret, and to do so I would have to fight for it(the first step was moving myself to the top of the leader board by the end of the day),.
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Tuesdays were a late day for Ash; being a few years older than Emma he was already in college giving him a more flexible schedule. With Tuesdays being a late day for him it allowed Emma to have time with him before school. Any other day of the week outside of the weekend Ash would already be in class by time Emma got up.
Emma cherished her Tuesdays and each one brought about something different. Each week they managed to find a new way to find time together. On this particular occasion it was a walk through the most scenic park on the Gold Coast. Emma had been there before but never with somebody special; it was said that to truly appreciate the beauty of the park you needed to see it with a significant other. Emma had been talking about how excited for the date she was since Ash had first suggested it to her back on Friday of the previous week.
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There was an added beauty to the park on that day; they had their sprinklers out.
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Emma walked through the park hand in hand with Ash. She constantly made comments to Ash about the scenery and the view, though the exact words were indecipherable, but she knew her friend well enough to know what the topic was. It didn't matter though, she had no interest in what exactly they were saying to each other; her only interest was that they were almost in range. She had watched them from a distance as they had made their way throughout the park catching sight of them and losing them just as quickly only for them to reappear. Now they were in plain sight and a few feet away from where she needed them to be. Another 10 meters was all she needed and they would just barley be in range for the attack, though 15 would work better. 15 would leave Emma helpless and defenseless against her attack.
She watched and waited patiently as each step brought them closer. They had made it the 10 meters to be within range and still she waited to get another five as she readied herself. They stopped three meters shy of where she wanted them. This was a problem, Emma was close enough to hit, but she was still far enough away that once the attack started she could hide behind Ash and avoid getting wet or even just get back out of range before she could get wet. Making it worse, time had run out; it was now or never. Just as she was ready to make her move an idea suddenly struck her and topping it off was that Emma was in the new kill zone with no chance for escape.
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Now.
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Suddenly the sprinklers came to life and at the same time a strong wind blew carrying the water from the sprinklers with it. Emma had no chance at all as she was sprayed form head to toe. The sprinklers died off along with the wind, and with a great satisfaction she watched as Emma looked around for an escape route. Off to her left (Emma's right) was an embankment that led into a channel of water that ran out to the sea.
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One, two, three, four, come on Emma get out of here. Five, she's gonna need some help. Six.
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A strong sudden gust of wind blew across Emma; she turned her head to get her face out of the wind and saw her escape route. She felt relief wash over her as Emma threw her bag at Ash and ran down the embankment into the water.
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Nine; oh thank god she made it. That was too close.
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Ash was baffled at what had just unfolded before him. He understood Emma's need to take off but unsure of what to do next or what had caused the sprinklers to turn on like they had or where the wind had come from. And making it all the better was how his face went from confused to totally confused when he saw me step out of the brush where I had been hiding.
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"I'll take that." Cleo said as she grabbed Emma's bag from him.
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Cleo? What? How? When?...
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With the bag slung over her shoulder along with her own she took off racing has hard as she could for the beach to help Emma dry off.
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I was starting to rethink the attack; I had practically killed myself running as hard as I did to get to the park just barley having got my breath back when they came within range. And here I was again, running as hard as I could to get back to the beach. I wondered if I would make it or die trying. Had the attack been worth it? It didn't matter though; it was way too late now and I owed it to Emma to help her get dried off, especially since she didn't have a towel to use and would just have to lay there on the beach letting the sun do the work for her – a process that would take way too long and make her very late for school.
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She raced as hard as she could; her body ached with every step but she pushed on harder. When she reached the beach she found that she had surprisingly beaten Emma there. So she stashed her bag along with Emma's such that Emma would be able to see them once she came ashore and then hid herself from sight. It was possible that Emma was just off-shore where the water was deep enough to hide but close enough o be able to make out any signs of people ashore; but not close enough to make out who they were, and if Emma spotted somebody she wouldn't bother coming ashore until she felt it was safe. A few minutes later she heard the subtle sounds of what she knew to me a mermaid's tail dragging in the sand.
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"Cleo?" She heard Emma call out.
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She emerged from her hiding spot grinning from ear to ear with a smug look on her face. She could see by from the look on Emma's that in that one instance everything had just fallen into place and she understood the whole series of events that had led her to where she was at.
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"No." Emma said in disbelief.
"Yep, and it wasn't easy, believe me."
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Emma continued to stare at her in disbelief as she dug thru her bag and retrieved a towel that she tossed at Emma and then dug thru her own bag for another fresh dry towel which she used to start drying off Emma's tail. Realizing what Cleo was doing Emma brought herself back to reality and began to dry herself off from the waist up.
School came and went. To Lewis it was an average day; classes, lunch, classes. The one difference though was that he found it harder than normal to concentrate. When he had met up with Cleo that morning before school she had filled him in on her preliminary plans for the day and the attacks she planned to carry out that morning. Since then his mind had been constantly active trying to find ways to help Cleo.
When school let out for the day he waited patiently for Cleo in their usual meeting place. With her class was on the opposite side of the school she would have to make her way through the crowd to get to her locker and then fight through the crowds again to get to him; it would take almost ten minutes for Cleo to get from her class to their meeting place. If she was feeling tired, didn't feel like fighting through the crowd or stayed to ask her teacher some questions she would be at least an additional five minutes. He waited patiently counting the minutes as they passed. To his surprise it took Cleo only five minutes to make her way to meet up with him.
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"Hey you." She greeted him affectionately and kissed him.
"Shall we be on our way then?" He responded.
"Our way where?"
"The Juicenet."
"The Juicenet? Why? I was hoping we could spend some time together."
"I've got some plans that I'm gonna need your help for."
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It had been a while since I'd Lewis and myself had had any real time together, just the two of us. The few opportunities we'd had had been interrupted by one thing or another. It had been close to a week since we'd had any real us time, but when he told me his plan I was willing to sacrifice some of our time for what he had in store.
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Cleo and Lewis made their way to the Juicenet and walked in to find it empty save for Ash, one of the servers and Rikki.
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Perfect.
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They took a seat at a table across the room from where Rikki sat and went about their normal routines; Cleo reading a magazine and Lewis homework.
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"So how was school today?" Ash greeted them as he came over to their table.
"Okay." Cleo responded, "How were you at calculus? Emma and Lewis both have tried to help me with this chapter but I'm totally lost."
"I did okay; but if Lewis and Emma haven't been much help I doubt I will, but I'll give it a shot. How about I swing by your place tonight after the picnic?"
"Sounds good."
"So do you know what you want?"
"Lewis is just going to have a cup of ice and I'm gonna pay for Rikki's next drink.
"Oh and you might want to send Tinna to the back for a little while once you deliver Rikki's drink."
"Ok..." Ash gave them a skeptical look before he went to fetch Lewis a cup of ice.
A moment later he returned still looking puzzled. "I just remembered that Tina's off in just a few, just as soon as Emma's ready. Am I going to have to send her to the back?"
"No, but Tina doesn't normally stick around long after her shifts does she?"
"No; usually she just goes leaves to go home, doesn't even bother changing back to her street clothes first. Why?"
"Oh, you'll see."
Again Ash gave them a curious look and walked away.
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Ten minutes later Emma was on and Tina gone, no other customers had come in since their arrival and Rikki's drink was almost empty. Cleo walked over to the counter to pay for a fresh drink for Rikki as she had said she would. When it was ready Emma took it over to Rikki who hadn't looked up once since Cleo and Lewis had come in.
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"Here you go, curtsey of Cleo."
"Huh… oh… hey Em, when did you get here?" She asked looking up at Emma.
"A while ago, I got here before you even; I've just been in the back getting ready."
"So when did Cleo and Lewis get here?" She asked as she looked across the room.
"Like ten minutes ago I was told."
"What is this? A peace offering?" Rikki called across the room to Cleo who gave a mischievous smile in return.
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Ok… What was all that about? Well no sense in waiting her generosity, but maybe I should stay here for now, something's up. She probably wants me to come over so she can get me wet.
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Rikki began sipping on her fresh drink as she turned back to her own magazine. Five minutes later she happened to notice something peculiar as she was taking a sip of her drink; a bubble. It had been for just a fraction of a second, so quick she wasn't even sure she'd actually seen it. She figured it was just her imagination and all set to go back to her magazine when she saw another; and this one was growing. She was puzzled and watched it grow with curiosity. After a couple of seconds it was still growing and she began to realize what was happening. The bubble shouldn't have gotten as big as it was; it should have burst before it got even to a quarter of the size it now was. A few more seconds and it had grown taller and was reaching up over the top of the glass; but it was only growing taller and not any wider; she'd seen this before. The bubble continued to grow into more of a tower, and it was beginning to lean towards her as it got taller.
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Cleo.
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Rikki got up from her seat and backed away from the table quickly. The tower continued to grow and lean towards her but she was ready now. She raised a hand to it curling her fingers in as she began to evaporate away the leading edge of the tower. It could gain no ground towards Rikki, but she was gaing no ground back either.
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"It's not going to work Cleo."
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The battle was a deadlock. Neither one of us was letting up and then the battle changed in an instant. I felt a cold wet chill run down my back. It came as such a shock that I dropped my guard and the instant that I did the tower of water came crashing down on me. I knew I couldn't dry myself off in time and I couldn't risk changing into a mermaid in the middle of the cafe where somebody could walk in at any time; so I took off for the back room. The last thing I heard was something about revenge.
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Lewis watched and waited for his chance. He saw a tentacle of juice rise up out of the glass, and just as he planned Rikki got up and began to do battle with it. He got up from his seat and taking his cup of ice began to slowly skulk across the room. He made sure to keep low to avoid being seen by Emma or Ash just in case they figured out his master plan and tried to interfere, and so to minimize the chance of Rikki seeing him coming.
As he got right behind her he knew he now that he could not hide from Emma and Ash and had to hope for the best. He carefully stood up and with the most delicate of touch pulled the back of Rikki's shirt out just enough and dumped the whole cup of ice down the back of it.
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"Consider that revenge for the ice up dropped down the back of my shirt."
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Emma watched sitting on pins and needles. The cafe was empty aside from her friends whom already knew the mermaid secret. There was no danger of exposure amongst those already in the cafe but that didn't mean somebody couldn't walk in any second and possibly see Cleo and Rikki using their powers. But she also knew that if Cleo won this battle that it was a mark in her own favor towards victory, plus she also was a little curious to see who would win. She kept one eye on the battle and one out for any customers that might come in deciding to alert Cleo and Rikki the instant she suspected they were about to get a customer. By time she spotted Lewis he was dumping a cup something down the back of Rikki's shirt. Her jaw dropped in disbelief and her eyes went wide as her voice caught in her throat as she tried to utter a shocked laugh of disbelief as a juice covered Rikki ran for the back room.
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Ash had gone to the cool room to get some supplies that needed restocking at the front counter and was returning with his arms as full as he could make them. He had just enough room left in his arms to slide the cool room door shut and as he turned to head back out to the counter Rikki came running into the back room at full speed. Neither one of them had time to react as she plowed right into him. Everything he was carrying went flying as he stumbled backwards regaining his footing. Rikki had also bounced backwards but only a few steps before she lost her balance, and mid fall the change took her and she fell the rest of the way as a mermaid. The change had not interrupted her momentum any and the fall hit her hard. Ash glanced down at her as she lay there rubbing her hips grimacing with pain.
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"You okay?"
"Yeah, just a little sore that's all.
"Oh and you might want to get a mop out by my table."
Ash simply turned and walked away.
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I think we may need a no mermaids policy.
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Cleo knew it would have been pointless to stick around the cafe any longer. Rikki would have her guard up and it would be impenetrable. Ash also figured in to her decision; he was bound to start getting annoyed with all the attacks in the cafe and she figured she owed it to him to let him have some peace of mind. And as final nudge in the direction of leaving it would provide her some time alone with Lewis.
But again it would prove to be limited as before long an idea came to her to get Emma.
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Emma walked silently by herself. Her shift was over but Ash still had a few hours to go before Wilfred would come in to relive him. She had been tempted to stick around just to hang out with him, but she had homework to do. The group had plans to meet up again later for a picnic dinner and she would see him again then and took a small amount of pleasure in that. She mostly though wanted to make up for the trouble at the cafe the last few days, and for their date that morning being ruined. While she wasn't directly responsible for any of it, she had helped to create the challenge that led to it.
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She was travelling along her usual route as she passed by a small wooden pier and at the end of it was Lewis.
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That's odd; I've never seen him fishing here before.
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Curiosity got the better of her and she walked out to say hello and what had brought him to a new fishing spot.
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"Catch anything yet?"
Leis turned briefly to see who was talking to him, "Oh hey Em; na nothing yet, I just got here maybe 10 minutes ago."
"Why aren't you on a date with Cleo; I figured you two would be off together right now."
"We did, but had to make it short. Homework required her to return home and call the date short."
"So what brings you out my way then? You've got what, like 50 something different fishing spots?"
Lewis chuckled lightly, while it was true he did have a fair number of spots it was no where's close to what Emma had jokingly suggested.
"Decided to try some place new. Heard some rumors that they really like to bite round here."
"Really? Huh; never heard anything or seen that many people fishing round here."
Lewis shrugged it off as he reeled in his line and recast. "Well it can't hurt to try. I've got an extra rod with me if you want to join me."
"That's alright; Cleo's not the only one with homework to do."
"Alright, well I guess I'll see you later then.
"Oh and Em."
"Yeah?"
"Sorry."
"Sorry? For what?"
He reeled in his line again and cast it back out but just off the end of the pier and suddenly a large gush of water came shooting out from beneath the pier right where Emma was standing.
"For trapping you."
Emma ran forward and dove off the end of the pier and a few seconds later Lewis watched as his fishing pole went flying from his hands into the water.
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Well at least she's not Rikki who'll hide it someplace out at Mako. She'll return it to me by tomorrow.
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Beneath the pier Cleo waited patiently for the all clear sign. She was a little shocked that Emma had take Lewis' fishing rod but laughed a little about it just the same. Finally she saw a fishing line drop down into the water with Lewis' infamous lure on the end of it; the all clear sign. She swam out to the end of the pier and surfaced.
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"How was that?" Lewis asked her.
"Perfect.
"Sorry though that it had to take away from our time together."
"That's alright, as long as I get to spend some time with you. I'll take what I can get since all of it is great no matter how long it is.
"Besides, I think I can find a way to get us some us time at the picnic tonight."
Cleo and Lewis had been the first to arrive that evening for the groups picnic dinner followed shortly by Rikki and Zane. Emma and Ash were late to arrive and by that time Lewis had the grill going and was almost ready to start serving.
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"Perfect timing. Dinners almost ready, I just need to run over to the soda machine and get drinks. What are you two having?"
"I'll take a diet." Emma replied.
"Orange if they have it, if not grab me a diet too."
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Lewis left the grill unattended as he went to go get the groups drinks. He glanced over his shoulder a few times to see if anybody would check the grill but none did; if they had they would have discovered just enough food on it for Cleo and himself. The vending machine was just out of line of sight form the others' location which worked out perfectly for him. He selected the drinks, returned to the group, distributed them and returned to the grill. No sooner had returned to his post Rikki opened her drink and was greeted by a spray of soda that got her all over.
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They had planned on accidents occurring and made sure there was an emergency escape route to some place safe. In this case it was just a few steps to where the ocean met land and Rikki didn't waste time getting out of there. The entire group laughed with delight at Rikki's misfortune. Emma was next; as she was laughing she cracked open her can and received the same treatment as Rikki. She too got out of there quickly. Ash quit laughing and gave Cleo suspicious stare. It was clear now to him that Lewis had shaken up Emma and Rikki's sodas pretty good while he was out of sight.
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"It wasn't my doing, I've been right here the whole time. I never touched their drinks, you saw that."
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Ash knew it wasn't Cleo's doing in action but believed her the mastermind and continued to watch her. After another moment he broke his gaze and opened his own drink. Lewis had sabotaged that one too and he received his own soda shower.
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"Ash my man, you are such a sucker to fall for that." Zane poked fun at him.
Ash retaliated in turn by grabbing Zane's and opening it right in his face.
Ash smirked back at Zane as soda dripped form his face. "Not so funny is it now. Come on, let's go get the girls."
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I hadn't exactly planned on Ash talking Zane into going to retrieve Emma and Rikki, and I wasn't sure why he did, but I didn't care; my plan had worked and I was left alone with Cleo.
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"Oh and by the way Ash," Cleo called out after him, "I won't be needing your help with my homework after all. Turns out Dad is actually pretty good with this stuff."
He didn't say anything back.
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When Ash and Zane were out of sight she looked at Lewis and then her drink.
"Is it safe?"
"Yours; yeah. I told you I had a plan to get us alone."
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Content for the time Cleo let herself relax. She might not have been able to get the lead in the competition, but was satisfied with having got her revenge on Rikki for interrupting her date with Lewis the previous morning and believing that she was tied with Emma and that she had Rikki beat.
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Out at sea Rikki's mind raced with possibilities. Cleo had evened the score, they had gotten each other three times a piece and it seemed that Cleo had focused solely on her; that would mean all three of them Cleo, Emma and herself were all tied up. She'd backed off for a day thinking that all she needed was the first strike; the early blow to make them believe they couldn't catch back up and surrender; she'd been wrong.
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Not good.
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Emma couldn't believe the last two days she'd had; she'd played a strategy of defense only. She didn't think the others would be able to beat her if she just played it careful, there would be no need to go on the offensive. Now she was reconsidering her strategy since she had an uphill battle to fight.
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Two days down and five to go.