The conversation that Ondina and Mimmi had was interesting. Mimmi instantly broke down into tears when she saw her best friend, and Ondina sighed in relief. She was so glad that Mimmi was safe. Ondina hugged her and they both forgave each other.
She recounted the encounter with her brother and they both discuss the plan to bring Lauren and Rob to the grotto. They agreed to talk to Rita and get her permission. When they asked her, she of course said yes.
When Friday finally approached, they were ready. After school, Zac would bring his parents over to Rita's house. He told them that everyone wanted to talk to them and allow everyone to get on the same page.
Zac counted down the minuets until the final bell rang. Three more minutes until the weekend. He sighed and looked back at the front of the room and pretended to pay attention to his boring math teacher done on in a monotone voice about something. Was it decimals? Fractions? Zac had no clue.
He dared to sneak a peek behind him. He looked to the left and saw Cam fast asleep at his desk. He was resting his head on the palm of his hand as a steady stream of drool fell from the corner of his mouth. Carly sat next to him and when she met Zac's gaze, she silently giggled.
Zac smiled and looked right behind Carly where Evie sat. She was doodling in her notebook. He watched her move her hand gracefully across the paper. She looked up suddenly and smiled when she saw that she was being watched. She held up her notebook and showed Zac what she was drawing.
Marine life came to life across her notebook. She captured every detail of Mako's reef perfectly. From the stunning coral reefs, to the playful dolphins he often passed when he swam.
He nodded in approval. She blushed deeply and returned back to her work.
The only one who actually was paying attention was David. He sat next to Evie and was writing down everything the teacher was saying. He nodded when he understood what the teacher was saying and seemed to be the only one paying attention in this 8th period class on a Friday afternoon.
"Mr. Blakely!"
Zac jumped and turned back around so he was facing the front of the class. Mr. Wilkson, his math teacher, was standing right in front of his desk. He was so close that Zac could see every detail of his ugly face up close. From his pudgy black eyes, to the lack of hair on his balding head. Zac could even smell the garlic that reeked out of his mouth. What on earth did he have for lunch?
"Yes sir?" Zac asked. Wilkson glared at him.
"Will you please explain to us why we are able to do this?" Wilkson asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He raised his almost caterpillar eyebrows. He loved to pick on Zac. His favorite way of tormenting him was placing him in the front row while all of his friends sat behind him. This semester, he was placed next to Amanda Murphy. The girl who always meowed to herself and smelled strangely of cheese.
Cam always joked that Mr. Wilkson and would be perfect for each other. They both despised kids and had a plan to make everyone around them miserable.
Zac froze. What on earth was he talking about?
"Well…" he began, ready to make up some awful excuse, but by the grace of the universe, the final bell rang.
The students started to pack up their supplies and make their way out of the classroom.
Zac smiled sheepishly at Wilkson. "Sorry Mr. W. I can tell you the answer on Monday. Have a good weekend!"
Wilkson just glared at Zac. He narrowed his black beady eyes at him, before turning away and sulking back to his desk.
Zac turned around to face his friends.
"That would have been a disaster."
David nodded in agreement. "He hates you Zac. I swear, the teachers are out to get you." He pulled his book bag off of the floor and swung it over his shoulder and proceeded to walk out of the room. He paused at the doorway and turned around. "By the way, the answer is -2x+3, just if you were wondering."
Zac rolled his eyes but smiled. Carly caught his eye and pointed next to her. Zac looked and saw that Cam was still asleep. She placed her index finger to her lips and motioned Zac to be quiet.
Evie was trying to stifle her laugh.
Carly lightly grabbed the elbow that Cam's face was propped up against. She mouthed down from three and quickly pulled his arm out.
Cam's face hit the desk with a heavy "thud". They all laughed as he fell in the pile of his own drool.
He jerked awake. "Wha? What's going on?" he asked, looking around wildly. He shook his head and focused on Zac who was laughing his head off. "Very funny." He said bitterly, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
Zac couldn't respond and he just pointed to Carly. "I-It was your girlfriend." He managed to laugh out.
Cam turned to Carly who just hid her face in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself." She said laughing.
Cam sighed. "I guess I did deserve it. I did fall asleep in class. What did I miss?"
Evie giggled. "Zac almost made a fool of himself in class when Mr. Wilkson asked him a question."
"Oh, so nothing new," Cam chuckled.
Carly pulled on Cam's shirt, "Come on. We are going to be late for the movie," she whined.
Cam groaned. "Oh yeah. The new chick-flick everyone is obsessing over. Do we have to go see that one? I wanted to see the new action movie that came out today."
Carly narrowed her eyes at him. "You can go see Space Monkeys 3 at a different time. Besides," she said crossing her arms. "We have already bought tickets. Come on Cam, I already have tissues in the car."
Cam groaned again, but followed his girlfriend out of the classroom.
Zac turned to Evie. "I bet you lunch that Cam will cry more than Carly will at the movie."
Evie smiled deviously. "You are on." They shook hands before exiting the classroom.
"Are you coming over to Rita's house?" Zac asked Evie as they got their book bags out of their lockers. Evie nodded.
"Your parents are driving us there, aren't they?"
Zac smiled as a car horn beeped. "That's them now."
They made their way to the car. Zac opened the door for Evie and slid in after her.
"Hello!" Evie chirped cheerfully.
Lauren, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around.
"How was school?" Lauren asked the brunette.
Evie shot a sly smile towards Zac. "Very interesting."
Zac cleared his throat. "We should go. We don't want to keep them waiting now do we?" He responded and glared at Evie. She smiled innocently.
Rob put the car in drive and they made their way to the Santos residence.
Meanwhile at the grotto, Rita was frantic. Ondina and Mimmi still had not arrived and Weilan did not seem to know the meaning of clean. The grotto was in shambles after Weilan tried to recreate a potion she read about long ago, and ended up setting the pillows on fire.
"No Weilan! Grab the fire extinguisher!" Rita yelled as the Chinese mermaid tried to put out the fire with an old rag. The rag swiftly caught on fire as a result. Weilan screamed and threw the rag on the ground, trying to stamp out the fire.
She huffed in frustration. "This is hopeless! There is no fire extinguisher in here. Mimmi brought it upstairs after Ondina's seafood surprise caught aflame. Just use your moon ring!"
Rita rolled her eyes, but did as Weilan suggested. The fire stopped immediately and the pillows returned back to their original form.
Weilan and Rita sighed in relief and flopped down on the stone bench. They both groaned as the doorbell rang.
Weilan looked over at Rita. "Perfect timing?"
Rita narrowed her eyes and got off of the couch to go and greet the guests.
Weilan scurried after her. They walked fast up the stairs and Weilan waited as Rita opened the door.
"Rob! Lauren! Welcome!" Rita greeted. Rita gave both of them hugs and nodded to Zac and Evie.
Weilan stood awkwardly in the corner. (Weilan is my spirit animal when it comes to social interaction)
Lauren noticed Weilan though. "Hello Weilan. How are you?" she asked.
Weilan perked up instantly. "I'm good. Thank you."
Rita led everyone inside and Weilan went to stand next to Zac and Evie. "You ready for this?" she muttered under her breath. Both Zac and Evie gave tight smile nods.
Rita escorted everyone to the bookshelves and stopped in front of them. She turned and waited for the group to catch up with her.
Rob and Lauren looked around. "Um Rita?" Lauren questioned. "I thought that you were showing us the grotto and not your bookcases."
Rita smiled. "Oh, but I am. Evie, will you please do the honors?"
The brunette grinned. "It would be an honor." She reached out and grabbed the book about mermaids, pulling it forwards. The bookcase clicked and slid open. Evie smiled triumphantly and returned the book to its original space.
Lauren and Robs jaws dropped. Weilan reached out and gently shut them.
Rob shook his head in amazement. "That's incredible! How did you do that?"
Rita winked. "Magic." With that, she turned and descended down the staircase. Rob and Lauren hurried after her. The teens followed, all giggling to themselves.
Lauren and Robs eyes went wide when the saw the grotto. They seemed to be absorbing every detail of the magical place.
"This is unbelievable." Rob whispered under his breath. Lauren nodded, still unable to speak.
Rita smiled once again. "Why thank you. It has taken a while to collect everything."
Rob sat down on the bench with a thud, his eyes still wide. A splash, followed by chatter from the other side of the grotto brought him back to reality.
"That will be the girls." Rita announced. She motioned them to follow her. Rob jumped off of the couch and obeyed. Zac, Evie and Weilan stayed behind.
Rita led the two adults to her own version of the moon pool. Mimmi and Ondina were floating in the pool, talking away. Rob and Lauren gasped when they saw the girl's tails. They forgot how beautiful they were.
"You're late girls." Rita interrupted. The two mermaids looked at her, just now realizing that they were not alone.
"Sorry, we were just discussing the bracelet that Weilan mentioned with the mermaid council. They don't think that it will work." Ondina explained.
Rita waved the thought away. "We can discuss that later. We have more important things to discuss. Now dry off and meet us in the main section." Rita turned away sharply and walked back to the main section.
Rob and Lauren lingered. Mimmi waved hello to them and Ondina just rolled her eyes before pulling herself out of the water.
Lauren and Rob stared at her, and then glanced at Mimmi.
"Go on. We will meet up later." She said.
They nodded and obeyed.
As soon as the other girls joined them, they got down to business,
"Thank you both for being here today. I'm sure you both have many questions." Mimmi began.
"I do." Rob announced. He turned to face Rita. "How do you fit into all of this? Mimmi said that you knew her mother. Nerissa is a mermaid and the only way you would have known that is if she told you or…" he trailed when he saw Rita's smirk.
"No way. You too?"
Rita nodded. "I am a mermaid. I left the pod many years ago and made a life for myself on land."
"A mermaid principal." Rob muttered under his breath.
"So you help them with all their mermaid-y stuff?" Lauren asked.
"Yes, not only do the girls stay with me, but I give them aid when I can."
"And she is helping us now with the water dragon. The full moon is a few days away and we have a plan to stop the water dragon."
"The bracelet?" Rob asked.
They all looked at him with awe. "Exactly. Wow dad, you catch on fast." Mimmi said. She looked at her brother with approval.
Rob shrugged. "It comes with practice. Now the bracelet?" he said, eagerly wanting to help. It seemed like he accepted what had happened without any help.
Mimmi nodded. "We think that it will destroy the dragon just like in the legend we read."
Rob gave them a tight lipped smile. "Tell us everything."
Hello! So if you have seen season 3, you will know the plan about using the bracelet to defeat the water dragon. I really didn't want to go into depth about the plan because they already did. I didn't want to forget about it though so I mentioned it. I'm also not going to put in Rikki. I know, I'm sorry. :( But, next chapter is another spin off and this chapter is longer-ish so hopefully it makes up for the lack of Rikki.
Sorry if the chapter was a little rushed and scattered. I really wanted to start writing ch. 25, so I was just tying up some loose ends.
I'm also sorry that I haven't updated as fast as I normally do. I have been preparing for exams. I don't even have the next chapter started when I post this. I have been too busy studying. I won't be able to update again until a few days. I have to finish exams and then prepare for the holiday season. Try to be patient. I promise you that I am not quitting the story. Breathe, all will be okay.
I hope you liked it and don't forget to review.
Thanks for reading!
~Moonlight Mermaids