Okay, so I didn't update sooner than I thought I would. But hey, it's better than nothing! Anyway, thanks for the awesome reviews! They really help me when I'm writing this story! I don't own H2O: Just Add Water. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!
When Lauren and I arrived at the moon pool, we discovered that we weren't alone. The whole gang was here, including Lewis. "Hey Will!" Rikki greeted. "What brings you in this neck of the woods?"
"Lauren and I were getting away for Carrie," I said saying Carrie like it was a sour taste in my mouth.
Everyone let out exasperated sighs. "Why can't she just keep her paws off you?" Cleo asked.
I shrugged. "She keeps asking me to go out with her!" I complained. "The chance of that happening is as small as Rikki going out with Zane!"
Rikki scoffed. "Like that would ever happen!"
"And speaking of Zane..." Lauren began.
"Emma and I had a little run in with him on the Lorelei," I finished.
"Please, do tell," Cleo said.
Emma and I then started to explain the events on the Lorelei. Everyone had worried looks on their faces as they heard more and more of our encounter with Zane.
"This is bad!" Cleo panicked.
"We just have to be more careful, that's all," I reassured. "Hey, on a lighter note, my dad's having a barbecue next weekend and all of you guys are invited!"
"Cool!" Rikki smiled. "Please tell me your dad makes a mean burger!"
"But of course!" I smirked. "He knows what he's doing." Everyone was getting excited for the barbecue except Lewis. "Lewis, what's wrong?" I asked.
"Next weekend is the full moon," Lewis breathed.
"And since when has that ever stopped us?" Rikki asked. We all gave her a look. "Oh, right."
"And it's not just any full moon," Lewis continued. "It's a blue moon. It doesn't occur very often but it is when there are two full moons in one month. We were lucky to get through the first one unscathed."
"So?" I shrugged. "We can get through this one too."
"It's not that simple," Lewis countered. "If I have my mythology facts straight that means mermen can get affected by the blue moon. It also says that when mermen are moonstruck, it's ten times worse than when mermaids are moonstruck."
"Well, that just rained on the parade," Rikki sighed.
"When was the last time you were moonstruck Will?" Emma asked.
"I'd say when I was around thirteen," I said. "And trust me, it wasn't pretty. I can only remember little snippets, but I created a big lightning storm and it was out of control. It was so bad, that it ended up on the news.
"It looks like you're gonna have to cancel the barbecue," Cleo said sadly.
"I can't," I replied. "It's a family tradition. My dad never misses this barbecue."
"It looks like we're going to have to improvise," Rikki stated.
"Did I also mention that Kyle's friends and Carrie are going to be there?"
"Okay," Rikki said hesitantly. "We're really going to have to improvise."
"Do you think we can pull it off?" Emma asked.
"Emma, we handled you when you went on a ravenous sardine eating rampage!" Rikki laughed. "I think we can handle a barbecue!"
I snickered. "When did this happen?"
"Shut up!" Emma warned.
"It was when you were on one of your dates with Lauren," Cleo smirked. "Emma got moonstruck in the middle of her dad's birthday party. After that, her tail wouldn't go away and for some reason, she wouldn't stop craving for sardines."
"She ate a whole pack at one time!" Rikki said barely containing her laughter.
"It wasn't my fault!" Emma whined.
"I'm gonna get you a whole tub of sardines for your birthday!" I joked. Emma shot a glare in my direction. It looked like she wanted to strangle me. "Sorry!" I said shooting my hands up in the air.
"Well it's getting pretty late guys," Lewis said recovering from his laughter. "I think we should head home."
"What're you, my mother?" Rikki asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, I'm gonna start to head home," I said. My parents are starting to get suspicious. They keep asking me why I come home so late."
"Then you better get home," Emma said understandingly. I nodded. As I was leaving the moon pool, the girls decided to swim back with me. I smiled at them in appreciation. I then saw Rikki smirk. I knew what she was going to try and beat me back to the mainland, so I shot off before she even knew what hit her. I looked over my shoulder to see the girls hot on my tail. They had determination on their faces. Uh oh. I thought.
When we finally reached the mainland, I was surprised to see that Cleo won the race. She beamed with pride as she approached the shore. "I won!" she yelled in victory.
"That was pure luck!" Rikki playfully pouted.
"Don't be such a sore loser Rikki!" Emma laughed as she poked her in the chest.
"Whatever," Rikki dismissed.
"I think I'm gonna swim back to my dock," I said. "It's quicker that way."
They all nodded. "See you in school tomorrow," Cleo said.
Crap, tomorrow's Monday. "Oh yeah," I said in recognition. "I forgot we had school tomorrow."
Rikki knocked on my head. "Is there a brain in that hollow head of yours?"
"Very funny," I laughed. "Well I'll see you guys tomorrow." I leaned over and have Lauren a quick kiss. Right after there was a chorus of giggles from the girls. You gotta love your friends. I thought. I went over to Rikki and we executed our secret handshake. To this day, the rest of the gang still marvels at how we even came up with such a complicated handshake. I waved to the girls and dove under the water.
As I glided through the water, I started to think if my parents would scold me again for coming home so late, especially on a school night. It would be so much easier to just tell them the truth, but I knew I couldn't do that. It would put the girls in danger and plus, I had no idea how my parents would react. When I was approaching the dock, I saw Kaylie sitting at the end of it, with her legs dangling over the water. I smirked. I decided to surprise her. I dove just below the surface of the water and started to swim slowly towards her. It felt like I was a shark closing in for the kill. When I was directly below her, I stuck my head out of the water and whispered, "Boo."
Kaylie immediately jumped in fright. She was so startled that she almost fell into the water. She looked down and saw that I was the culprit. "Will!" she hissed. "You scared me to death!"
"Oops. Sorry," I laughed. I grabbed onto the edge of the dock and hoisted myself up onto it.
"You know," Kaylie began. "Mom and Dad keep wondering where you run off to."
"What else is new?" I shrugged. I held my hand over my tail. As I was clenching it into a fist, my mom opened the back door and yelled my name. "Will! There you are! Do you have any idea how late it is?" Before she caught sight of my tail, I threw myself back into the water.
"Yeah Mom," I said nervously. "I'm sorry."
"Pretty soon, sorry is not going to cut it! You need to..." she trailed off. "Can you explain to me why you are in the water?"
I took a moment to throw together an excuse in my head. "I actually came home earlier through the back," I said as normal as I could. "I felt like taking a quick dip before going inside."
"Okay..." my mom shrugged. "Just please come home earlier from now on."
"I will," I said. Truthfully, I didn't know if I could keep my word on that, but I would have to try.
"Good," my mom nodded as she went back inside and shut the door behind her.
"That was a close one," Kaylie breathed.
"Too close," I added.
"Are you ever gonna tell Mom and Dad the truth?"
"Maybe one day," I replied. "But definitely not now." I then hopped back up onto the dock and steam dried myself.
"Okay," Kaylie nodded. "On another note, did Kyle tell you about Dad's barbecue next weekend?"
"Yeah, about that," I began. "The gang and I are going to have to be really careful when we're there."
"Why?" Kaylie asked with a confused expression.
"That's when the next full moon hits," I clarified. "And it's not just any full moon, it's a blue moon."
"So? You guys have survived full moons before."
"The blue moon can affect mermen, which means I can get moonstruck. If I become moonstruck, it won't be a nice sight to see."
"It can't be that bad can it?" Kaylie asked with a little laugh.
"Do you remember that really bad lightning storm back when we were thirteen?"
"The one that caused power lines to go dead for two weeks and trees to burn down?" she asked. I nodded. "What about it?"
"I caused it because I was moonstruck."
Kaylie's jaw dropped. "Seriously? Oh, then I guess it is bad. Do you think you'll be okay for the barbecue?"
"I'll have to try," I shrugged. "Dad's never missed one before. I can't make him cancel it just because of me."
"I guess..." Kaylie trailed off.
"Hey, I'm gonna head up to bed," I said. "I'm beat."
"Me too," Kaylie agreed. "Gotta be ready for that geometry test tomorrow."
I froze. "We have a geometry test tomorrow?"
"Yeah, didn't you study?"
"Nope," I said flatly.
"We'll then you're gonna have a lot of trouble," Kaylie smirked.
"Well, isn't that just fantastic?" I asked with obvious sarcasm practically dripping out of my mouth as Kaylie and I started to walk inside.
Tomorrow's gonna be a long day. I thought.
Chapter done! I hope you enjoyed it! I have a pretty busy weekend, so I will try to get the next chapter up by tomorrow. Thanks for reading!
MysticalMerman