iv.

The incessant ring of Cleo's alarm finally pulled her out of a deep sleep. She stretched and moaned, trying to ignore it for a few more seconds. As she sat up in annoyance she suddenly realised that she was breathing normally and her throat was perfectly fine—if not a little dry from sleeping with her mouth open as evidenced by the drool on her pillow.

"I'm all better!" she announced to her fish; both the real Hector and the stuffed one. "I can go to school today!" Both responded in kind with silence, but Cleo was used to that. She cheerfully got up to ready herself for the school day.

Kim was still overcoming her virus, so there was no one to bang on Cleo's door prematurely about making it downstairs for a ride or to steal her juice and toast. It was a nice change, being able to moisturise and change her hair accessories all six times it took to get it just right.

Cleo wasn't the greatest academic, but even she was a little worried about missing three days of school over a cold. She knew Emma would have thrown a fit until her parents let her go, sick or not, unless she was deathly ill or in a coma, but other than a little anxiety over whether she'd remember the last few lessons, Cleo was excited by the thought of returning.

It never occurred to her that she might not be assigned to the same group as Lewis for the big science project.

"Lewis!" she waved at him as they approached the lockers.

He glanced over his shoulder before returning the wave, but he didn't seem exactly enthused.

"It's alright Lewis; I'm not contagious anymore! I'm all better, now!" she reassured him.

"Wish I could say the same," he mumbled.

Cleo frowned. "What's wrong? Are you sick now, too?"

"Not exactly. It's good to see you're okay!" he brightened.

She nodded vigorously. "I'll bet Mrs. Macintosh forgot to assign me a group again, but that's alright. She'll let me join yours if you ask her!"

"Uh… about that, Cleo. I don't know if that's such a good idea."

She blinked, taken aback for a moment. Lewis had never hesitated to make her his partner before. Maybe he was sick after all. "Why not?"

"It's just that… I picked a really hard project, and I wouldn't want to bother you with it when you just got over being sick."

"Oh. That's okay! I can do it! I mean… if you help me, I can."

"That's the thing. I don't know if…"

"Lewis!" Cleo started at the voice of another girl calling him. A voice that didn't belong to Emma.

A girl dressed in a red tank with zippers making funny slashes up and down her pant legs was motioning Lewis over to her. Her blonde hair was in two French braids, and she had a wary, almost cheeky expression. Cleo decided she must be the new girl. She was dressed very... confidently.

That's when she noticed the oddness of Lewis's outfit. He was never one to wear trousers unless the weather turned unusually cold or his mother was making him dress up for relatives coming over. There was not a cloud in the sky today but he was in the longest pair of trousers he owned and his colourful shirt was buttoned almost to the top. The major difference was the presence of that girl: Rikki.

"Lewis!" she was still beckoning, growing more insistent with his stalling. He gave Cleo an apologetic shrug and hurried away to Rikki.

Cleo was in shock. Her lip trembled mid-pout. They had to be dating! He'd even taken her to Mako Island and spent the night there! She didn't suppose they'd…

Cleo let out a gasp, attracting the attention of several passing students. She cleared her throat, determined to get to the bottom of Lewis's strange behaviour. She would start with the girl named Rikki.

She ambushed her outside Biology, which for Cleo meant less of an attack and more of a friendly "Hi!"

Rikki looked both ways as if the greeting must have been meant for someone else. "Me?"

"Yes, you. It's Rikki, right?"

"Do I know you?"

"Oh. Well, I just... asked around about you while waiting for class to start. I meant to say hello and everything, but there wasn't time."

"Right. A little creepy, but okay. So to what do I owe the pleasure of this unwanted conversation?"

Cleo couldn't tell if she was trying to be funny or just rude. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, I was just... wondering how you and Lewis met, is all!"

"Lewis? Why...?" Rikki saw it then; in the big, sad eyes directed towards her, the shuffling feet, and the way she hung on her every word after his name was spoken. This girl was head over heels for the nerdy science guy, and he probably had no idea. She could have settled things then and there and put the poor girl out of her misery, but the part of her that wanted to see how far she could take a prank overruled the compassion she had for the forlorn stalker.

"It all happened so fast, I couldn't really say," she shrugged. "One minute I was the weird new girl at school, and the next I'm being asked to the JuiceNet, and going on overnight camping trips..." she let out a long sight for effect. "He's quite the charmer, that Lewis."

"Really?" Cleo's face sank. "I mean... of course he's really cool, and nice, and... thoughtful. I never heard him called that before."

"Well. Sometimes it just takes the right one..." she paused, ready to call her by name, "And you are?"

"Cleo. Cleo Sertori. Lewis didn't mention me?"

The fact was, he had. Couldn't shut up about her, come to think of it. But that's not what Rikki said. She was finding it far more enjoyable to bait Cleo. "Nope. Can't say that he did. Well, this was fun! Catch you around, Claire!"

"Cleo..." she tried correcting her, but the pretty blonde was already out of earshot by the time she gained the courage to speak up. She said it anyway as she fought back tears. "My name is Cleo."

A/N: Awww, poor distressed Cleo! Hehehe. I can't pretend this doesn't amuse me about as much as it does Rikki. How the misunderstandings begin...