Reina of the moon

32. Almost happy ever after

It has been about two weeks and a half since that night on Mako island where we were all gathered by Zane and Caleb to discuss our new plan to bring in Will undercover and become a our eyes inside the science center where evil Dr. Denman is planning to expose us.

It took a lot of persuading to finally make Bella happy again and let her relax about the whole thing.

But nothing much has happen since, other than getting yelled at by my Aunt Carla for missing our weekly calls, catching up with my parents, and getting pushed around by my manager Sophie.

Candy called earlier this week letting us know that she's extending her trip a bit longer. Zane's out of the house most nights, either hanging out Nate or his surprisingly new BFF, Caleb.

So, having the house until late, I have been throwing sleepovers with Cleo, Bella, and Rikki and getting to know each other better.

Especially since I've been here for almost a full month, I still haven't told them absolutely everything about me, and vice versa.

Tonight we'll be having a Charlie's Angels movie marathon. And I think they should be here soon, it's almost 9.

Knock Knock
Ah, speak of the devil.

I walked up to the door to let the girls in. I let them settle in the living room while I grabbed the snacks from the kitchen.

Throughout the movies, I kept on thinking who from the girls is who from the movie. Rikki is definitely Dylan and Bella is a replica of Natalie. I guess Alex would be Cleo, but she still reminds me of Emma a bit more.

While we were watching the sequel, Zane came home with Caleb and Lewis, claiming that they were hanging out.

I looked at the others' faces and saw they were in disbelief as well. That combination just looks odd.

After those two movies were over at around 12:30, we let John Tucker Must Die in the background while the boys were explaining their night.

After a while we just decided to watch a movie. When I came back with popcorn I saw that Lewis took my spot next to Cleo at the end of the couch, leaving me to sit next to Zane at the opposite side.

"Ooh yummy! Popcorn!" Bella said excitedly like it was the first batch of the night when we had already ate popcorn while watching the other movie.

"What's that, Reina?" Asked Zane.

"My water." I replied.

"No, not that." He said.

"Oh, this?" I held up my small plate, "it's hot sauce." I replied.

"For what?" Zane asked in a judgey tone.

"For the popcorn." I demonstrated by grabbing a piece of popcorn and slightly dipping it.
"You want it? Just try it once." I said sticking the spicy popcorn in his face.

He chuckled and then ate it off my fingers. His action surprised me and before my blushed became to noticeable I turned back to the T.V.

"Mmm, it's good." I heard him say.

"Mm-mm." I agreed and nodded my head still not looking at him.

Knock Knock Knock Knock

Four loud knocks made everyone jump except for Bella since she was the only who looked calm and went to open the door to let Will in

She must have called Will so he can hang out with us. That's sweet. But why did he look scared and worried?

He came inside and sat on the white couch next to Lewis.

"You guys will never believe what just happened!" You can he was nervous, he was panting at the speed of his heartbeat.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Cleo asked while pausing the movie.

"You didn't blow you cover, right?" Zane said, "It took alot to get Dr. Denman to trust you enough to hire you." Zane added."

"Huh? No, no, of course not." Will looked offended that Zane thought he can be so  stupid. "I was doing my job." Will said confidently.

"Well, what is it?"  Rikki asked, the suspense was killing us.

He gulped and tried to bring down the adrenaline before he answered. "Today I was with Greg, one of the guys that help Dr. Denman expose you girls. He brags about being a mermaid hunter, like, all the time." This information gave Cleo, Rikki, Lewis and Zane an uneasy feeling.
"Anyways he told me to organize an entire file cabinet in his small office, while he was on his computer answering some e-mails. Nothing looked weird, until he went to the bathroom and I opened one of his e-mails.
It had a date, time, location and a name."

"Okay?" Lewis asked in confusion, "And?"

"At the end it's said 'No Tail'. The location was in a different city. I thought it was weird so I opened a few more e-mails on new tabs. They are had the format, just different names and places.
When he came back I exited it all out and went back to the file cabinet. And guess what I found."

Will continued taking something he had hid in blue jacket. He opened it up to reveal a list printed on the crumpled paper.

"The signs
□ Being wary of water or liquids, even melting ice
□ Running away immediately to hide after touching a liquid.
□ Water or other liquids having changes in behavior while around the suspect.
□No where to be found after the rise of a full moon."

We gasped after we all had turn to read it and passed it back to Will.

"This is a checklist to look for mermaids around  the world." Cried Cleo.

"Sure it's vague but suspicion could easily be cleared by "accidentally" spilling a drink on them." Added Bella.

"Or by befriending them." I whispered, loud enough to get everyone's attention. All eyes were on me but quickly changed to Caleb

He just nodded, "That was the plan in the beginning."

My troubled emotions came crashing back, the feeling of being used and lied to. But had to remember that we were in good terms now, and I unconsciously loosed my fist of anger.