Chapter 4: Nothing Like a First Date

Lewis had been gnawing on his fingernails for at least five minutes, as he stood by the door to the biology class that he knew would be finishing imminently. The sun shone bright and clear - it had been another beautiful day in a week full of them, and he gave himself yet another mental pep talk on how today would be the day. Today he would do it. He had no reason not to! And besides…

Just then, the door opened and he had to hop back to avoid his nose getting smashed as a stream of students poured out of the class. And there, trying to shrink herself down so as not to be seen by anyone, was Cleo. She had stopped putting her hair up this last week and she looked more tired and anxious than usual, but to Lewis, she was simply radiant. He was about to call out her name, when he saw that Emma and… the other one… were flanking her, walking in lockstep, as though protectively surrounding her. Not for the first time, Lewis had to wonder what the hell had happened last week that caused this sudden, swift change in their old dynamic. He had gotten up the nerve to ask for Emma's 'blessing' to ask Cleo on a date, and after she finished laughing, she had told him that she wasn't really in a position to accept on Cleo's behalf, but that he should go ahead and go for it. He thought things were going to be just fine. Then, came the incident where Cleo, Emma and the new girl, Rikki, had ended up stranded at sea somehow on a boat that had been stolen from Zane Bennett. That story quickly made the rounds at their school, not least because it seemed to make a fool of Zane, who, despite his wealth, was not exactly popular. And for this last week, Cleo and Emma had both avoided Lewis, clearly intentionally, choosing to spend their time with Rikki, of all people, instead. It was maddening!

But not today. They could pretend not to see him, but he wasn't going to just let them go past as he had done the last few days.

'Cleo!'

His voice rang out clearly, even amidst the buzz of students, and he saw Cleo look over at him, make eye contact, and then duck her head. She seemed to be conferring with Emma and Rikki. The former eyed her nervously while the latter shrugged and seemed to push her towards him. Lewis figured he should be grateful for that, at least, whatever it was. And then, somehow, Cleo was walking towards him, without her blonde bodyguards. He leapt with joy internally, then balked as he realised it was now or never if he was going to ask her out.

'Hi, Lewis,' Cleo said meekly, and gave him a wan smile.

Lewis might have been focused on his own anxiety and internal turmoil, but even he could read the waves of anxiety and unhappiness radiating from Cleo.

'What's going on?' he asked abruptly. He had forgotten his intention for a moment, and knew that right now, Cleo needed him to be her best friend, not her prospective boyfriend.

Cleo just gave a grimace and looked away.

Now feeling much more anxious, Lewis grabbed Cleo's hand and led her away towards what he knew to be a lower-traffic corridor, where the only classrooms were unused. She let him lead her and this, to Lewis, was progress at least.

'I'm not saying you owe me an explanation,' Lewis began, when they were mostly alone, the sounds of footfalls and chatter just background noise, 'But don't I at least get a final warning before you cut off years of friendship?'

Cleo's eyes went wide and she looked utterly stricken.

'Lewis, no, that's not what–'

But he was on a roll and he cut her off.

'I mean, I get that we're getting older and maybe you want to spend time with someone who's actually cool, but do we actually think that's Rikki? The girl who saw Heathers when she was 10 and decided to make it her whole personality?'

Cleo let out a slightly startled laugh, and a small part of Lewis' tension dissipated. He could still make her laugh.

'Lewis, I'm sorry,' Cleo said, finally, making eye contact and holding it. 'I know this has come out of nowhere and I wish I could tell you everything.'

'So tell me!' Lewis exclaimed. 'We've always told each other everything!'

'Not this,' Cleo said sadly. 'Trust me, it's better this way.'

'It's not better if I lose you,' Lewis retorted hotly.

Cleo didn't have much to say in response to that.

'Look,' Lewis plowed on, wondering where all this courage to speak out was coming from. Maybe he saw things as they really were and realised that this was the fork in the road. If he let Cleo get away from him now, he would never get her back. 'Look, the reason I wanted to talk to you is that I actually wanted to ask you out. On a date.'

Cleo blinked rapidly at him then looked away, and Lewis realised that she was blinking back tears.

'I know,' she said, sniffling. 'Emma told me.'

Lewis wasn't exactly expecting that, but he also wasn't expecting (or very happy about) a crying Cleo, so he decided to keep talking.

'If that's what this is about, that you don't want to turn me down without making things awkward–'

'That's not it, Lewis,' Cleo said. 'I promise it's not. I just… can't right now. There's a lot going on.'

'Cleo,' Lewis decided to try one last approach. 'I'm not asking for your hand in marriage here. I just want you to come out for a couple of hours with me, somewhere in public, where nothing has to be anything unless you want it to be and I–'

'You're babbling, Lewis,' Cleo said with a half-smile. 'I know what you're trying to say and I appreciate it, but–'

Lewis' heart sank at that, but a third person joined in the conversation, quite suddenly.

'She'd love to,' Emma said briskly.

'Emma!' Cleo exclaimed, looking shocked and annoyed and, Lewis thought optimistically, maybe a little bit pleased.

'We're all tired of watching the two of you moping past each other,' Rikki said, making Lewis realise with annoyance that she had followed him and Cleo along with Emma. 'Seriously, the amount of whingeing this one does about how much she misses you–'

'Thanks for helping, Rikki,' Cleo muttered through clenched teeth.

'Pleasure,' Rikki said flippantly, grinning at Cleo. Lewis decided then and there that whatever was going on with this new relationship between Emma, Cleo and Rikki, it wasn't exactly a deep bosom friendship. Both Emma and Cleo looked furious with Rikki.

'W-well, in that case, meet me at the JuiceNet Café on Saturday? Noon?' Lewis asked Cleo into the charged silence.

Cleo was biting her lip, and Lewis was about to suggest picking her up from her house, but she suddenly, quickly nodded.

'OK,' she said, as if she needed to get the words out as quickly as possible or they would vanish.

'OK!' Lewis said, finally allowing himself to feel excited about the prospect of taking Cleo out on a date instead of dreading asking her out or worrying that she was cutting him out of her life entirely. He wasn't going to let himself worry about the fact that she seemed to need support from her two blonde chaperones. Whatever was going on there, he was sure it would turn out fine. He just needed to take Cleo on this date and everything would be perfect.

He caught a glimpse at his watch and mumbled out an explanation that he was late for his bio lab, then gave Cleo a final huge smile and wave and walked away.

The week went by too slowly for Lewis, but finally it was Saturday and it was 11:55, and he was sitting at the café where he and Emma and Cleo often found themselves in their downtime, along with seemingly half the school. Every rustle of the bead curtain at the doorway had Lewis frantically looking up, and he realised he was feeling positively giddy. Today was going to be absolutely perfect.

Lewis had just gotten to his feet to grab a menu for Cleo, when he suddenly heard Emma's voice cutting through the ambient noise.

'...so against it!'

'I told you,' he heard Cleo reply. 'I'm perfectly happy with my bath.'

Rikki's voice retorted, 'But it's more effective if you–'

Lewis' heart sank. Cleo was here, yes, but so was her entourage. Was this going to be a group outing, after all?

He turned around to greet the three girls, but Emma and Rikki had seemingly vanished and Cleo was standing there, wearing a summery purple dress and smiling at him.

'Cleo!' he exclaimed.

'You said noon, right?' she clarified, raising an eyebrow.

'Yeah!' Lewis said, although he cast his eye around to see where the other two had gone.

'Looking for someone?' Cleo asked him archly, and he couldn't help but laugh.

'No, sorry, must be hallucinating,' Lewis replied sheepishly. 'Thought that you'd brought Emma and Rikki with you and I only got tickets for the two of us.'

'Tickets?'

Lewis clucked his tongue.

'It's a surprise,' he said in an undertone. 'Come on, you don't think that the whole of our monumental first date would take place at the café that is practically our second home?'

'Well, I did, actually,' Cleo said, making Lewis involuntarily pout, which in turn made her smile.

'Never suspected you were a great romantic, Lewis,' Cleo told him, sitting down at the table.

'I don't know about romantic,' Lewis replied, slightly abashed. 'Just wanted to put some effort in, you know?'

'I know,' Cleo said. 'I'm winding you up.'

'Never suspected you were the sort of person to wind people up,' Lewis shot back, relaxing slightly. Things were already starting to feel more normal, this kind of banter between them the usual state of affairs.

'Not people, Lewis, only you,' Cleo said with a grin, taking a casual sip from the water glass on the table. She looked askance at it for a moment and Lewis felt that same anxiety radiating in waves from her, but then she was back to smiling at him and asking what he was going to order, and things felt normal again.

By the time they had ordered and consumer their burgers and juices, Lewis felt that things were completely back to normal. The anxiety that had plagued him ever since he had first thought it was time to ask Cleo on a date was practically gone. He could just feel how right things were between the two of them. Lewis and Cleo. The perfect pair, the fairy tale romance. Maybe Cleo was right, and there was something of a latent romantic in him. And with that…

'So, any guesses where we're going next?' he asked her, grinning broadly.

'Tell me. I hate guessing games.'

Lewis reached into his shirt pocket and flourished the tickets.

'Ta da!' he announced. 'We're off to see the dolphins!'

'Lewis, I…'

Cleo's face had paled in spite of her golden tan and she looked utterly lost. Lewis immediately tucked the tickets away in his pocket.

'What's wrong?' he asked. 'You always loved seeing the dolphins when we were kids. As far as I know, the only reason we haven't been back to the marine park in a while is that we just haven't gotten around to it.'

'I do love the dolphins,' Cleo insisted, biting her lip. 'It's not that, and it's a really wonderful and thoughtful idea, but…'

'But you don't want to go with me,' Lewis finished for her, trying not to sound bitter. Maybe lunch and a drink at the café where they always spent time together was one thing, but an actual date venue was too much for Cleo.

'No!' Cleo insisted. 'Lewis, I promise that's not it, it's just that…' She looked around her a little frantically, as if searching for someone, and then just shrugged sadly. 'I just can't, OK?'

Lewis nodded slowly.

'Come on, I'll walk you home,' he said, trying not to let his disappointment show too much. He had been so excited to take her to see the dolphins. He had even organised a special dolphin encounter with one of the researchers, but that was going to be a surprise. But he should have known.

'Lewis, just give me a minute, please,' Cleo said quietly, and then slipped out of her chair and ran off towards the toilet. Lewis sighed to himself.

'-you didn't see him, he looked so disappointed,' he suddenly heard Cleo's voice as the café, which was starting to empty in preparation for closing, went quiet.

There was a pause, and Cleo seemed to be listening. Lewis strained to hear. He didn't want to get up and walk over to her to eavesdrop, but maybe this way he would at least understand why she'd turned him down.

'Because it's risky!' he heard Cleo hiss, and then groan. 'This is all too much. I hate it.'

Another pause, and finally, Cleo said, 'Fine. I'll go. You're right, there is no chance anything happens. Basically zero. Right?'

She didn't sound like she was asking for validation of her statement so much as she was begging for permission. Lewis refocused on his nearly-empty juice and waited for her to make her way back to the table.

'It's fine,' Cleo said, attempting to smile, although achieving more of a grimace. 'Let's go see the dolphins!' Lewis, who knew all her moods well (or at least he thought he had), understood perfectly that something was off.

'Are you sure?' he asked, somewhere between hope and apprehension. Why was she acting this way? What is she hiding?

'Absolutely!' Cleo said, a little too enthusiastically, and grabbed his arm to drag him towards the till.

Lewis looked at her askance as he pulled out his wallet and paid for their meal, then inwardly shrugged and decided that if Cleo said it was fine, he was not going to contradict her.

To both Lewis' and Cleo's evident surprise, the marine park visit turned out to be brilliant. The sun was shining but it wasn't too hot, the crowds were miraculously reasonable for a Saturday arvo and Cleo was clearly enjoying herself, admiring the sea life and chatting endlessly about her passion for the various animals. Lewis felt himself relax again. He could feel like there was hope yet for a second date, and a third. Maybe next time, he might manage to work up the courage to kiss her. He could feel Cleo getting comfortable with him again. He knew that everything would be just fine. Until he decided to take her to her extra special surprise. Later, Lewis would call himself every name in the book for not just taking Cleo home after a few hours. But he wasn't psychic, after all, and how was he supposed to have known?

'Come on, you're going to just love this,' he assured her, taking her down a path that seemed to be reserved for employees only.

'Are we meant to be going this way?' Cleo asked, all smiles. Lewis didn't want her to get the wrong idea or turn tense on him again, so he decided to spell it out a little more for her before they got to the dolphin pen.

'You know how I did that summer programme at Griffith University?' he asked her.

'Uh-huh.'

'Well, it was in partnership with the park here, among a few other places. So I got to know some of the caretakers.'

Cleo looked at him expectantly.

'Aaaaaand,' Lewis said, not bothering to hide his excitement, 'One of them is helping me arrange a special meeting just for you!'

'What do you mean?' Cleo asked, still smiling, but now with a question in her eyes. 'I'm meeting your friend from school?'

'Not quite,' Lewis said, in what he hoped was a slightly mysterious way.

By this time, they had come up to the gate where he had arranged to meet Mark, and sure enough, there he was.

'Hey Lewis,' the young dolphin trainer greeted him, and gestured to both of them to come through the gate as he opened it.

Cleo grabbed Lewis hand and he felt himself flush. Mark must have noticed, as he looked away with a grin.

'Come on, there's someone very excited to meet you,' Mark said over his shoulder to the pair, as Lewis led Cleo towards the little platform extending out into the dolphin pool. He could already see a fin poking out of the water and Cleo must have seen the same as Lewis heard her give a small gasp.

The platform was tiny, so Mark stayed back on the shore while Lewis and Cleo walked towards where the dolphin was waiting. Lewis grinned as he turned to look at Cleo, who was still holding his hand quite firmly. She was smiling broadly at the dolphin, who was swimming little circles, moving closer to the platform. Lewis had a small moment of satisfaction again - he knew his Cleo.

'This is Selina,' Mark told them from where he was standing further back. 'She's one of our rehab cases, we'll be releasing her next week. But she's very friendly for a wild dolphin.'

Cleo didn't seem to take in what Mark was saying, but she was beyond delighted by the swimming dolphin, kneeling down closer towards the water while still holding Lewis' hand. Her grip on him had tightened. Lewis knew that although she adored marine animals, Cleo was no fan of water or swimming. Still, she wouldn't be swimming with the dolphin today, so he hoped this wouldn't get her back up.

'I'm going to go get some fish for you to give to her,' Mark said. 'Sorry, should have grabbed it earlier. I'll be right back.'

Lewis was grateful to Mark, as he suspected that he hadn't forgotten at all, but wanted to give them a moment in private. It would have been quite lovely, really. Cleo grinning at the dolphin, holding Lewis' hand, the sun shining and birds singing. It would have been perfect.

Cleo turned her eyes away from the dolphin for just a moment, still grinning, towards Lewis. He couldn't help but notice how close her face was to his and he was sorely tempted to ignore decorum and just kiss her, first date or no.

'Oh, Lewis, thank you so–'

But before Cleo could finish that sentence, a massive splash sounded from the water directly in front of them, and Lewis watched in what seemed like slow motion as the dolphin knocked Cleo into the water with her fluke.

'No!' Cleo managed to burble out, and Lewis was already getting ready to jump into the water after her. He knew how terrified she was of pools and the ocean, so this was far from ideal, even if the water was reasonably shallow here. However, he found he could already see her floating in the water, her hand gripping the edge of the platform as she stared up at him with absolute terror on her face.

'It's ok, I'll get you out of there,' he reassured her. 'I'm so sorry, I can't believe this–'

Lewis didn't finish what he was saying, because just then he saw that the dolphin was swimming around Cleo, her grey fluke splashing them both playfully. And he saw, in the water stretching out behind Cleo where her legs should have been, a long golden fishtail.

'Lewis, please,' Cleo said softly but urgently. 'Please help me. Get me out of the water before he gets back.'

Lewis felt himself collapse onto the platform. He couldn't think, couldn't react. There was Cleo's beautiful, familiar face. And yet, it wasn't Cleo at all. It couldn't be. It was a myth, a monster! Something that couldn't be real. He shook his head slightly, willing this vision to vanish and sanity to return, but all that he could see was the thing that had been Cleo moments ago, pleading with her eyes for help.

And somewhere in the recesses of his mind, something snapped into place. Whatever was happening here, whatever had happened to Cleo (and something had certainly happened to her), she was still Cleo. And she needed him now more than ever. He grasped her hands, pulling them up from the platform and pulling with all his might. She was much heavier in this form. But he managed to get her almost fully onto the platform and something shifted very quickly. She was lying stretched out on the platform, completely soaked, but otherwise back to normal. She quickly folded her legs under herself and looked up at Lewis with a gentle smile.

'We'll talk about this later,' he told her, kicking himself almost immediately when he realised how he must have sounded from the frightened look she gave him.

'What happened?'

Mark was back and he didn't sound happy.

'I told you this wasn't a "swim with the dolphins" sort of thing,' he continued.

'I'm sorry,' Cleo said, her voice slightly shaky. 'I didn't jump in or anything, but I was leaning over and I lost my balance. I'm so sorry.'

Mark didn't seem impressed with the explanation. For a second, Lewis wanted to speak up and defend Cleo by explaining that the dolphin had knocked her into the water, but then realised that there must be a reason Cleo wasn't saying anything like that.

'You should probably go,' Mark said sternly. 'I could get in a lot of trouble, and if anything were to happen to Selina–'

'We'll go,' Lewis said quickly, pulling Cleo to her feet (thank God she's got feet!, he thought desperately) and leading her back the way they had come.

'Sorry,' he muttered as he passed the trainer. Lewis knew he wouldn't be getting any more favours from Mark, but right now he really didn't care. There were bigger fish to fry.

Lewis led the way towards the marine park exit, a sopping-wet Cleo following. Thankfully, the day was so warm and sunny that the water was already starting to dry off. Neither had said a word since they had left the dolphin enclosure and the silence between them was practically tangible, a solid mass of fear and worry. Lewis remembered that there was a smallish outcropping of rocks and a spit of sand nearby, surrounded by trees - nothing worthy of being called a beach, but he liked to go shore fishing there as it wasn't a well-known spot. They could be quite alone.

'Where are we going?' Cleo asked, her voice barely above a whisper and so full of fear that for a moment, Lewis' heart seized.

'Someplace private,' he told her, without looking at her and continuing to walk. He was startled to hear her give a little hiccoughing sob in response to this. He immediately stopped and turned to look at her. It was not a pretty picture.

Her hair was drying off in a frizzy cloud around her head, her purple dress clung to her and was covered in saltwater stains, but worst of all was her expression. Her whole face was scrunched up as though she were trying desperately to hold back tears and she had gone so pale that she was nearly grey.

'Oh, Cleo, please,' he found himself blurting out. 'I'm not– I mean, I–'

He composed himself for a moment, reached out to take her hand and when she didn't pull away, took it in a warm grasp and met her wide, scared eyes.

'You're safe with me, Cleo,' he promised her. 'No matter what.'

She nodded, though she still looked like she was about to explode, and Lewis mentally scolded himself for not being gentler with her since… since it had happened. Then again, how else was he supposed to react when his prospective girlfriend turned into a mythical sea creature on his first date?

When they rounded the corner and found themselves standing next to the lapping waves, Lewis finally allowed himself to turn around, and sit down. He indicated to Cleo that she should sit on the sand, too, and she did, carefully lowering herself down to sit next to him.

Neither said anything for a minute, and just let the sounds of crashing waves and crying gulls wash over them.

'So I guess this is what you couldn't tell me about,' Lewis finally said, numbly.

Cleo didn't reply, but then again, she didn't have to.

'How?'

Lewis was staring at Cleo, hoping to catch her eye again, but she was looking anywhere but at him.

'Mako Island,' she finally whispered. 'We got stuck out there last week.'

Who is 'we', Lewis wanted to ask. Then, something slammed into place. The incident with Zane's boat. The sudden closeness between Cleo and Emma and… Rikki. This was it. But what exactly was it?

'I still don't understand how–'

'Neither do I!' Cleo said with a sob. 'My life is over and I don't understand why this has happened to me or what I did to deserve it!'

She dissolved into tears, then, and Lewis found himself deeply regretting everything that had happened in the last hour, but most especially his inability to manage his own emotional state. Whatever was going on, Cleo needed him far more than he needed explanations.

'Nicely done,' a voice muttered next to his ear, and he looked up, startled, to see Rikki brushing past him. Emma leaned in to embrace Cleo, and Cleo in turn buried her face in Emma's shoulder, while Rikki glared at Lewis.

'Have you been stalking us?' Lewis demanded angrily, happy to have an outlet for all of the emotions currently flooding him.

'Of course we have,' Rikki answered simply. 'We weren't about to let Cleo go on a date with a swotty little nerd like you without being around to help.'

Lewis didn't know what precisely to be more outraged about, but before he could shout at Rikki, Emma turned to him with a familiar look.

'This is bigger than you, Lewis,' she said simply. 'It's bigger than any of us. We don't know why this has happened, we don't even know exactly what has happened.'

'You don't know what has happened?' Lewis scoffed. 'I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm no cryptozoologist, but I could wager a guess.'

Cleo let out a wail, and Lewis instantly felt remorseful for losing his temper. Rikki was glaring daggers at him.

'Listen, nerd,' she said, fury in every syllable. 'I barely know her, but you need to stop talking before I rip out your tongue. Got it?'

Lewis was going to retort with something else but Rikki wasn't waiting for a response. She turned to Emma and, with no hesitation or a hint of sarcasm, simply said, 'So, do we drown him?'

Lewis felt his face lose colour and he put out a hand to steady himself. What the hell was happening?!

'Nobody is drowning anybody,' Emma said, over Cleo's raucous crying. 'But we need to know that our secret will stay a secret. I trust Lewis.'

Emma hesitated for a moment and looked over at him.

'I've always trusted Lewis. We've been friends for almost as long as we've been alive. We can trust him to keep our secret.'

'For your sake, I hope so,' Rikki told him, not bothering to hide her venom. Lewis was beginning to wonder what he had done to earn her hatred to such a degree. Cleo had stopped crying audibly but she said nothing in all of this.

'I'll keep your secret,' he said, when he saw that all three were looking at him expectantly. 'Of course I will.'

Cleo smiled wanly at him through her tears, and Emma nodded briskly. Rikki's demeanour did not change.

'For your sake, I hope so,' she said.

Lewis wasn't thinking about Rikki in that moment, though. He was thinking about Cleo, and how she had said her life was over. This was no small thing, of course, but Emma and Rikki seemed to be taking it in their stride. Cleo was in a damn decline. If this was what was happening to her one week on, what would happen if nothing were to change in the next two weeks? Month? Year? Would she just wither away?

No. He couldn't let it happen. Not to his Cleo. He couldn't deny that the sight of her with a tail repulsed and frightened him. He also couldn't deny that he was ill-equipped to deal with whatever this was. But if he thought about this like some kind of strange disease, that made it a little bearable. He would do what he could to find a solution for Cleo, and hopefully they would all make it through together. He could only try.