Hey guys!
I'm so so so so sorry that I haven't updated lately due to Internet issues and slight writer's block, but I hope that this makes up for it as we are at the halfway mark now!
Read on and enjoy!
When Lily next woke up, it was morning and she smiled as it was the day that she and Ben were going to Dreamworld and she couldn't wait to see the place that he and humans liked so much, as she imagined all the rides and attractions that Ben had talked about last night in her mind.
She soon heard footsteps outside her room and the door opening slightly and she then felt Ruby jump onto her bed and her wet tongue licking her repeatedly to wake her up, like she did with Ben every morning (he often joked that Ruby was the only alarm clock he really needed).
Senna's eyes widened when she saw the furry land creature up close and quickly hid under the pillow.
'Ruby!' Ben's voice said from outside, whispering, as he approached Lily's room and peeked in to see the dog on the bed and licking Lily's face with amusement and annoyance, 'Ruby, don't annoy Lily, girl! Get off her bed!'
Lily smiled at Ben, not minding at all as she patted the dog and her tail wagged excitedly while she sat up and looked at the clock and saw that it was seven-thirty and the sunlight was creeping through the blinds.
And it was another beautiful sunny day which made her wonder if there was ever a cloudy or cold day in the human world, since it always seemed to be warm and sunny all the time.
However, she soon forgot that as she quickly got up once Ruby jumped off the bed, hurriedly got dressed into another new outfit which was a top with pink, blue and purple bohemian patterns on it, her soft denim shorts from yesterday and light purple flowery sneakers.
'Morning, Lily, glad to see you're up,' Ben said, when he entered, carrying Ruby's leash for her morning walk and wearing a forest green T-shirt with white text and grey shorts.
Seeing her master, Ruby ran over to Ben and nuzzled against his legs, as he then said, 'sorry if Ruby has been bothering you, it's what she does in the morning to wake me up as well.
She's a great alarm clock, aren't you girl?' Ben said, patting her and Ruby wagged her tail happily in response, 'the only one you'll ever need in this house!' to which Ruby barked in agreement and Lily smiled.
'She also does it to Dad when he's here, although he yells at her and shouts to me, 'Benjamin, get your bloody dog out of my room right now, she's slobbering all over me and getting her muddy paws all over my best doona!' he said, doing a bad impersonation of his father but it made Lily smile.
'Ruby always knows when it's time for me and Dad to wake up, even though it hacks him off when all he wants to do is sleep but he does love Ruby, even when he finds her annoying, like when she jumps on his lap and ruins his suits.
She also knows when it's time for her morning walk and from the way she's wagging her tail, she wants you to come and walk her again. Don't you, girl? Don't you? You want Lily to walk you again, don't you girl?' Ben said.
Ruby barked happily and ran over to Lily, jumping into her arms and licking her again, smelling Lily's ocean scent that she liked so much and Lily smiled and hugged the dog that she had grown fond of.
From under the pillow, Senna screwed up her face at hearing the soppy tone that Ben used to talk to Ruby but gave a small smile at seeing how much he loved and cared for his dog and Lily, even though he hadn't realised what his canine companion had and now there was only one day left.
'Just one day left now,' Senna muttered to herself so that she wouldn't be heard, 'and that boy hasn't given her so much as a peck on the lips. Sharla must be laughing at us from her lair and relishing the fact that Lily will soon be a part of her garden if they hadn't kissed yet.
Well, hopefully today will be the day! Lily's dilly-dallied for too long now and I must make sure that she stays on task!' Senna said, peeking out from the pillow, which went unnoticed.
'Anyway, we better get a wiggle on if we're to take Miss Ruby for her walk and have breakfast before we go to Dreamworld today.' Ben said
Lily nodded and smiled, eagerly anticipating the fun day ahead, and hoped that the theme park would be just as fun as the Neptune Carnival, maybe be even better.
'Have a quick shower if you haven't done so already, especially since Ruby has slobbered on your face and you don't want to smell doggy all day!' Ben said.
'Melinda will have breakfast ready when we get back and then we'll head off to Dreamworld afterwards,' he then said, 'you go and wash and I'll meet you in the foyer in a few minutes, ok?'
Lily nodded and Ben left the room with Ruby following him. She quickly went into the bathroom, showered (which was now easier for her since she knew what to do) put her clothes back on and brushed her hair with the fork, as she always did.
She was about to leave when Senna cleared her throat which made Lily turn around and see the crab standing on the bedside table with her 'lecture face' on and Lily thought Here we go again, as she sighed and embraced herself for Senna's lecture.
'Well, I'm glad that you've been enjoying yourself so far, Lily,' Senna began, wagging her claw at the former mermaid, 'and that you had the time of your life yesterday exploring the boy's world, walking that furry land creature and him buying you nice clothes and jewellery like that charm bracelet there,' pointing her claw towards said bracelet.
Lily quickly put it on and dangled it in front of Senna who looked at it quite uninterestedly.
'Pretty,' she said, rather dismissively, 'but while you've been having fun, may I remind you that you had TWO CHANCES to kiss the boy yesterday, while you were in the car and he told you his life story and on the beach when you walked the furry land creature?
Two chances and you didn't take them! And now you have only ONE DAY left to kiss him and time is slipping away from you!
Sharla is probably relishing the fact that you are getting closer to your deadline and the boy hasn't even given you a peck on the cheek! Well, no more dilly-dallying now, young lady, today is the day that you must do it!
Maybe a romantic atmosphere is what you need… yes, maybe tonight would be perfect..
You've only got one chance left before the sun sets tomorrow, Lily, don't waste it,' Senna said as Lily patted the crab on her head, picked her up and placed her in her pocket and hurriedly headed to the foyer where Ben and Ruby were waiting for her.
'I wonder what adventure Lily is going to take me on today,' Senna muttered from inside Lily's pocket.
On the beach that was quiet for this time of morning apart from the lifeguards starting their patrol and a few other people out walking, Lily smiled as she walked Ruby, feeling the slight breeze against her hair and the sun shining on her face while the dog happily sniffed and paddled in the water and Ben put his arm around her waist again.
Only this time he didn't pull it away in embarrassment as he felt strangely comfortable about it, his love for Lily growing from strength to strength no matter how hard he tried to deny it.
'Ben! Lily! Hey, how are you? I haven't seen you guys for a while!' a familiar voice called out to Ben, which made him and Lily turn around and see Mia and a little girl walking towards them, which surprised Ben as he hadn't seen her or any of his friends since the barbecue although he had been texting them.
'That's Mia's little sister, Samantha,' Ben whispered to Lily, 'and she's an irritating little brat whenever Mia is forced to look after her but acts like an angel in her mum and dad's presence! She makes Anna look like Taylor Swift!' and Lily smiled in response.
'That's putting it mildly,' Mia said, 'You must be thinking 'She must have the patience of a saint to put up with her brat of a little sister,' and I do! It's like I'm dealing with a mini-Anna and that's saying something!' giggling while Samantha scowled at her.
'Speaking of which, sorry that I haven't been able to catch up with you and the guys lately as we've been having so much fun going around the Gold Coast and doing some shopping. Lily certainly has been having the time of her life and everything that she saw excited her!
It was truly amazing that the little things we take for granted brought her so much joy.' Ben said.
Lily nodded and twirled around to show Mia her clothes which she admired, 'those clothes look so cute, Lily, they really suit you!' she had said and then Lily stuck out her wrist to show Mia bracelet.
'Oh, you got your bracelet, Lily!' Mia said and Lily nodded again, 'and I love your charms, especially Ariel's dress, the best friends' one and the state colours!'
Lily smiled and pointed to Mia's own bracelet to indicate that it was like hers and to symbolise their friendship, although she felt guilty for not getting to know Mia better since she had been occupied with Ben but she didn't seem to mind when she saw the expression on Lily's face.
'Lily, don't feel guilty about you and Ben spending time together, it's what you both want as long as you are happy and we understand, well except Kim Kardashian otherwise known as Anna!
She has been really pippy that Ben has been spending time with 'the mute girl', rather than with us but who cares, Grace and I are starting to get really sick of her.'
'Yeah, I'm getting sick of Anna too, she's just like Kim except she has a smaller bum but has the same attitude! She deserves every insult she gets!' Ben said and all three of them laughed, thought silent on Lily's part.
'Mia, I want to go home,' the little girl whined and tugged on Mia's hand, 'I'm missing Sofia the First! It's the episode with Rapunzel on it and she's my favourite princess! Mia, Mia, Mia, I want to go hoooomee!'
'In a minute, Samantha and only if you stop whining like a spoilt brat,' Mia reassured her and then turned back to Ben and Lily, with a 'See what I have to put up with every day?' look on her face.
'Little sisters,' she said and Lily smiled at the little girl, remembering her own sisters saying the same thing about her.
Samantha looked up at the strange girl in front of her and looked at Lily, like she was one of the many sea creatures at Sea World.
'Who's she?' she said.
'Samantha, that was really rude!' Mia scolded her sister, 'this is Lily, our new friend and she's not something you gawk at at Sea World! She's been through an awful lot and I want you to apologise to her.'
'Sorry,' Samantha said, 'but where did she come from? Is she from around here? What happened to her?'
'I found her on the beach two days ago, Sam,' Ben said, 'but we don't know where she came from or what happened as she hasn't said a word since she's been here but we think that she was in a shipwreck of some sort.'
'Do you like her?' said Samantha, 'if you do, are you going to marry her or that girl that saved your life?' which made Ben blush and Lily tilt her head to the side.
'Samantha!' Mia scolded again, 'don't ask such silly questions!'
'Well, are you, Ben?' Samantha persisted again, 'are you going to marry Lily? Because you were telling Mia that you wanted to marry the girl who saved you and everybody was talking about you and Lily and that you were in love with her, that she reminded you of her..'
'I want to, Sam but I have to find her first,' Ben said.
'And if you don't, you'll marry Lily, right?' Samantha asked. Lily looked up hopefully while blushing but tactfully pretended that she was looking out at the ocean and watching Ruby paddle in the water.
'Maybe, I really like Lily but I have to think about it,' Ben said, with a slight blush creeping on his cheeks, although he knew deep down that he was falling more and more in love with Lily and her eyes lit up when she heard what he said but quickly looked back at the ocean, fighting back the urge to kiss him right there.
From Lily's pocket, Senna smiled and clapped her claws together above her head at this encouraging sign. All she needed to do was to make Ben realise that the blonde girl and the voice were the same.
Samantha tugged at Mia's arm again and she said, 'Alright, Sam, we'll go home now so you can watch that stupid show you love. I'll see you around, Ben and have a great day with Lily.'
'Sofia the First is not stupid, Mia!' Samantha protested.
'Yeah, we better get going too, I promised Lily that I would take her to Dreamworld today,' Ben said and Mia smiled as she and Samantha left, with her chattering non-stop and Mia rolled her eyes and waved back to Ben and Lily, as they waved back and headed back home.
After some breakfast and Melinda giving them all the basic necessities for visiting theme parks such as sunscreen, water bottles, food and hats, Ben and Lily were soon heading to Dreamworld and Ben had wanted to show her some more things on the way there that he hadn't gotten round to yet.
Lily's excitement at every new thing that she saw hadn't waned one bit, as Ben first showed her Skilled Park where the Gold Coast Titans played, which made Lily's ears perk up as it had been on the 'passamawhatchit' that she had found and shown Sandy and what the seagull had told her was very valuable.
But she learnt that they were the local league team and not a particularly good one to her disappointment but she looked at the stadium eagerly and at Bond University, where Ben was going to study business later in the month and at Carra Stadium where the Commonwealth Games were going to be held in three years' time.
She also enjoyed the long ride to the suburb where Dreamworld was, taking in every new sight and sound like she did in town and loved listening to Ben's music that was blaring from his car stereo, in particular, one song called Breaking Free that was by a singer called Ariana Grande and one of Ben's favourites.
Although she couldn't sing along (she wished again that she had her voice) she nodded her head to the music, which was far different to what she had listened to back in Aquaria.
The music that Aquarians listened to were the Aquaettes, an all-girl group that many of the mermaids liked and the Shell Hoppers, a band that played at the Blue Clam, which was Aquaria's nightclub but she liked the human world's music even more.
Senna, peeking out from Lily's pocket, screwed up her face for the second time that day at hearing the strange music which she thought was far inferior to what she composed and conducted and what she and her band and the Shell Hoppers played at the club and wondered why humans liked it so much.
Ben told Lily about Ariana Grande, who had also been an actress and had been on TV shows called Victorious and Sam and Cat, which was one of his favourites and that he liked Ariana's character, Cat who was a sweet but ditzy girl (ditzy meaning stupid).
But Lily wasn't really paying attention as she listened to Ariana singing about being stronger than before and breaking free which Lily felt she could relate to as it was the very thing that she had done and she had felt stronger and more free since she left her life under the sea behind.
A few minutes later, they were soon at Dreamworld and Lily, like she did when she saw the town for the first time, twirled around and gasped in amazement at seeing the bright, colourful and large place, which was far more exciting than the Neptune Carnival and better than she imagined it would be.
She dragged Ben by the hand, wanting to ride every ride and roller coaster, even the scariest ones, as she heard people screaming with joy and some terror from them and saw kids hugging and posing with large cartoon characters but he was used to it by now and Lily's enthusiasm never ceased to amaze and amuse him.
She felt the same thrill and excitement of her adventures and discovering new treasures as she and Ben saw all the attractions and went on all the rides and rollercoasters (except the ones that were for little kids, Ben ruled the line at that, thinking that it would be too embarrassing) whooping and laughing and having the time of their lives.
She wasn't even scared of the Giant Drop and Tower of Terror, although Senna was feeling the opposite as she sat in Lily's pocket and felt queasy at being bumped around by the rides and turned a pale shade of green.
Lily also had her photo taken with Ben on his phone and with a large cartoonish sponge in square pants, which was very different to the sea sponges she had seen in the ocean even though he WAS one but resembled a kitchen sponge, like the one Melinda had back at the house.
She also thought it was odd that he was wearing a shirt, tie and pants but she liked his goofy smile and how happy and sunny he looked, especially when he gave her a hug and Ben grinned as he took the photo.
He also loved how Lily was eager to go on every ride and how she enjoyed his favourite theme park and he too was having a good time, since everyone was just having fun to take much notice of him and Lily as they went about on their day.
Apparently his name was Spongebob Squarepants (such a funny name! Lily thought) and he was a very popular cartoon character in the human world and Ben did a very good impersonation of him laughing, saying his catchphrase 'I'm ready!' and his high-pitched scream, which made Lily smile, even more so when Ben bought her a T-shirt with his face on it and a little Spongebob plush toy.
'Spongebob's a funny guy, isn't he?' Ben said, when they sat down to lunch and Lily nodded as she sipped her Coke and ate her hamburger, 'you can see why he's so popular around the world and I love the show but I think that since the first movie, it's gone downhill and the new episodes aren't as good as they used to be.
Everyone reckons that series 1-3 are the best there is. I like Spongebob but my favourite character has to be Patrick, the starfish because he's so dumb in a funny way and he reminds me of Cody, since he is like that sometimes!' he said, laughing.
Lily smiled and nodded, as she knew that starfishes weren't particularly intelligent, having seen that for herself back at home and she remembered a starfish called Pascal who had been part of her mother's royal court but had been dismissed due to his stupidity, clumsiness and laziness, much like the character that Ben liked so much.
'Have you had fun so far in Dreamworld?' Ben said and Lily nodded again, for all the wonderful things she had seen and done in the Gold Coast so far, her favourite was being in Dreamworld and riding all the rides.
'I'm glad, I've had fun too, as I always do here and you certainly look like you've been enjoying yourself! You were really brave to go on the Giant Drop and Tower of Terror, far braver than my old man, that's for sure!' Ben laughed.
Later in the afternoon, Ben and Lily went to Dreamworld Corroboree, which was a zoo of native and barnyard animals, that Lily had never seen before and her eyes lit up as she explored the wildlife attractions and saw many land animals such as koalas, dingoes, kangaroos, emus, wombats and wallabies, which Ben told her were native to Australia and an important part of their culture.
Lily even got to cuddle a koala and feed and pat a kangaroo, which was like petting and hugging Ruby and she enjoyed it greatly.
She also saw bilbies, crocodiles, turtles and animals in the Daintree Rainforest that lived in tropical climates, saw a sheep shearing show and rode on the Avis Vintage Cars, a fixed track car ride on a small circuit.
She also learned about the indigenous people of Australia through a film about the history of the Gold Coast and their culture and stories which fascinated her as she looked at their artwork and the floor map of the indigenous tribal boundaries throughout Australia.
Ben kept taking photos of him and Lily outside the various locations and attractions around the park and they went on some more rides and saw a movie in a theatre before deciding to call it a day, since it was getting late and Ruby would be waiting for them to take her on her afternoon walk.
And as they drove back to Mermaid Beach, Lily smiled as she reflected on all the exciting things she had seen and done in Dreamworld, such as riding rollercoasters, cuddling a koala, petting a kangaroo, meeting a giant cartoon sponge and seeing Aboriginal culture and art and she felt that the cherry on the cake would be the moment when she would kiss Ben and she hoped that it would be tonight.
Senna was thinking the same thing as she rested in Lily's pocket while trying to get over the nausea she suffered from the rides and she knew of the perfect place.