Banished Mermaid (Mako mermaids Fanfic)

Chapter 7: Rainy day

"There's a big storm coming," Rita stated as she stared out of the window of the kitchen, turning to the three who stood behind her and saying, "You guys better get home." I mentally cheered at her words from where I sat on the couch, looking down at my book that I was pretending to read. "But we only just got here," Lyla protested. "It's gonna rain. All day by the looks of those clouds," Rita said as she walked around the three and grabbed her purse from the kitchen counter, swinging it onto her shoulder. "I need to get to school for a Saturday staff meeting and you guys need to get to Mako, where you'll be safe," she ordered, ascending the stairs and walking over to the closet. "We'll make sure we don't get wet," Sirena assured, causing a snort to unintentionally escape my lips. Lyla sent a glare my way but I only continued to stare down at the open book in front of me. "You think that's easy? I've had years of practice. I know how to live my life around rain, you don't." Rita grabbed her raincoat and umbrella from the closet before descending the steps once more. "If you leave now, I reckon you've got 20 minutes before you get caught," she stated. "What about Kyla?" Nixie asked, motioning her hand towards me. "Well, I've lived here for about a year now and learned that if I stay inside, I'll be kept safe from any and all rain. Fascinating, isn't it," I said, my voice laced with sarcasm as I shut the book and put it on the coffee table, turning to face them. Nixie simply rolled her eyes at me. Rita smiled at my comment before turning to the girls again. "Bye," she said, her voice tight, before walking down the stairs that lead to the front door. Moments after she left, my phones ring tone went off, Zac's caller ID flashing on my screen. When I swiped my screen to answer and put it against my ear, Zac's panicked voice immediately came through the speaker. "Kyla, I'm in trouble!" My eyebrows knitted together as I sat up straight, my interest peeked. "What's wrong?" I asked him. "My dad and I are supposed to go camping this weekend but I can't go out when it's raining!" He exclaimed. "Can't you just tell him that you don't want to go?" I stated, trying to come up with a solution. "We do this every year! He's gonna drag me along if I want to go or not!" I pinched the bridge of my nose, knowing there wasn't going to be a easy way out of this. "Sit tight. I'll be there in a bit," I told him before hanging up the phone. "Where are you going?" Sirena asked me when I stood up and started to walk towards the stairs. "To Zac's," O stated simply, not even looking at them as I grabbed a raincoat from the closet. "What happened to staying inside?" Lyla questioned with her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her lips. "Well, then I'll just have to stay inside at Zac's," I snapped back, going down the stairs and out the door before they could say anything else.
I ran the entire way to Zac's place, not wanting to be caught in the rain. I made it just in time because as I walked under the roof of his porch, a downpour started. I opened the door and stepped inside, taking off my raincoat that I was thankful I didn't use, seeing Zac pace back and forth in front of his couch. "I take it you’re worried," I joked, throwing my raincoat on a nearby chair. "Kyla, this is serious!" He half yelled as he fiddled with his hands. "Okay, I get it! Maybe you could-" before I could finish, the door opened again and Cam stepped inside, his raincoat drenched. I sidestepped a bit to avoid getting wet. "There's no need to panic," he stated to Zac as he took of his coat. "Are you kidding? There's every need. We've gone camping every year! Dad's gonna be crushed. I can't tell him that if I go out like this, I'm gonna turn into a fish boy!" he panicked. "Okay, then let him down gently," Cam suggested. "Tell him you're feeling woozy and running a temperature. It's full proof. Works on my parents every time." Zac went to sit down on the couch. "Except, your dad isn't a doctor," I stated matter-of-factly, causing Cam to go silent as he fell deep in thought. "Any other bright ideas?" Zac asked sarcastically. "I'm working on it!" Cam exclaimed. "We're screwed," I mumbled as I plopped myself down on a couch. 
"So until this pressure drop moves, we can expect lots of heavy rainfall and severe weather warnings for coastal regions," the weatherman reported as we watched it from Zac's computer. "That's not good news," Zac said, Cam and I shaking our heads to agree. We all jumped up when a knock sounded from the door, Mr Blakely stepping in shortly after while shaking his umbrella dry. "You ready Zac?" He called and placed his umbrella down, before turning around and spotting Cam and I. "Oh, hey Cam, Kyla. Sorry, this is the father-son camping weekend. Any other time I'd ask you two along," he apologized but I began to shake my head. "No, its fine. We wouldn't want to go out in this weather anyway," I began. "Yeah, if it were me and my dad I'd hope he'd cancel, to be honest. The forecast is terrible," Cam finished for me. Mr Blakely looked between the two of us before turning to his son. "Nice try Zac. Let's go." My face fell, feeling disappointed that we failed. "Sorry, Dr Blakely," Cam began, drawing Mr Blakely and my attention to him. "Look, you're just gonna have to tell him the truth," he said to Zac, causing panic to build up inside of me. He isn't really going to tell him, is he? "What?!" Zac exclaimed. "Dr Blakely, the real reason Zac doesn't want to camp is-" Zac and I yelled out his name to make him stop. "-he's sick." I let out a breath of relief that I didn’t even know I was holding. Zac quickly and I quickly began to play along with Cam's excuse. Zac cleared his throat and squinted down at the floor, trying to look as if he wasn't feeling well. "He just didn't want to bother you with it," I said to Mr Blakely as he turned his head to look at Zac. "Oh, really? How long have you felt off?" He asked, placing his hand on Zac's forehead to check if he had a temperature. "You don't feel hot," he commented before moving to feel Zac's pulse. "Pulse isn't up." He stepped away from Zac. "You seem fine." My head dropped when I knew he wasn't buying the excuse. "Why are you doing this? Don't you want to hang out with your old man anymore, is that it?" Mr Blakely asked Zac. "Of course I do-" Zac tried but his father continued. "If this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny, Zac. Get your act together and pack your gear, alright." With that, Mr Blakely turned and walked out the door, leaving the three of us as we exchanged worried glances. 
Not long after Zac's dad has left, his mother came in, walking up to Zac who sat on his couch, trying to look as sick as possible. "What's going on, Zac? You know your father loves these camping trips," she asked him. "If you don’t want to go anymore, don't play games. He deserves better," she scolded. "But he's not, he really is sick!" Cam exclaimed. "Cam please! If his father says he isn't sick-" "It's true, Mrs Blakely! Touch him now, he's burning up," I stepped in. We had come up with a plan that Zac would use his powers to raise his temperature so that their lie would be more believable. She shook her head, not seeming to believe it, but did as she was told anyway. Her hand barely came in contact with his forehead before she pulled away shocked. "You really are running a temperature." I tried to hide my smile as best I could, but the corners of my lips still twisted up a bit. "Darling, I'm sorry. I feel terrible," she apologized. "Well, at least this explains a few things. Your father made a mistake. You're definitely not well enough to go to camp." Mrs Blakely turned to look at Cam and I, the smiles instantly dropping from our faces, replaced by fake sadness for Zac being 'sick'. When she turned around to face Zac again, Cam gave him a wink while I gave him a small thumbs up. His mom grabbed her phone from her pocket and called Zac's dad to let him know that Zac was really sick while I helped Zac into bed since he was too 'weak'. I sat at the foot of his bed while Cam brought a fan closer to his bed to help cool down his 'temperature'. Zac smiled at me, knowing that we had pulled it off. His smile never failed to send butterflies through my stomach. "Now we just have to wait for the storm to pass," I whispered to him so his mom wouldn't hear, returning the smile. 
Not long after, Cam went to look through the blinds when the sun started to shine through the window. "All clear, man. Storms gone," Cam informed. "Really?" Zac asked while I stood up to check through another window. "It's true. All I see is blue skies. You can start packing," I confirmed with a wide smile on my face. That caused Zac to pull the covers off of himself and jump out of bed just as another knock sounded from the door. We heard his father call Zac's name as he entered, Zac's mom closely following. "How're you feeling?" He asked as he placed the bag in his hand on the floor. "I'm so sorry for not believing you before," he apologized. "You are?" Zac asked shocked before simply saying, "It's okay dad." Mr Blakely shook his head. "No it's not. I'm a doctor, I should've listened to my own son." He went over to check on Zac, seeming to be searching for something. "Seems to be something going around," he stated before feeling Zac's forehead again. "Fever's gone," he noted. "Really?" His mom exclaimed shocked. "I feel fine now," Zac said and shrugged. "I just saw the same thing happen to principle Santos' nieces too. It was the weirdest thing. It came and went so fast." My eyes widened. What have those three been up too? Mr Blakely turned to address Zac once more. "Next time you feel sick, say something. Am I that hard to talk to? And if you don’t want to go camping, tell me that too," he said with a small smile. "No, dad, I really do," Zac stated. "We can go camping anytime, son. What's important is that you feel you can talk to me," Mr Blakely said and placed a hand on Zac's shoulder. "I do, honest," Zac reassured before giving his father a tight hug. I smiled at the heartwarming father-son exchange. "Good," his father said when the pulled apart, before he and Mrs Blakely walked out the door. Zac turned to us and let out a relieved sigh. "Zac, next time you find yourself in a situation like this, please don't call me," I joked before letting out a small laugh, Zac only smiling down at me and shaking his head. "Hopefully, I won't have to again."