𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃: h2o - just add water
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A KARAOKE EVENT WAS BEING HELD AT THE JUICENET CAFE. the group (including byron and niall) were there to enjoy themselves as well as the free entertainment from the individuals who volunteered themselves to sing. whilst the boys took a silver circled table for themselves, the four girls took a silver circled table beside them so they could watch the people that volunteered to sing.
alexa came from a family where everyone was heavily musically orientated. not only was her family royalty to the mermaids but the entire family were gifted with musical talents. her sisters and herself included were gifted with the ability to sing. back in the kingdom of atlantica, her older sisters would host concerts as a way for the community to come together and to reinforce the friendships in the kingdom. it would also be used as an intervention to assure the mer-folk that the royal family present a strong and unified symbol of hope and peace within the kingdom.
singing was a talent that all the daughters of king triton had yet they had their other talents that they were well known for in the family and in the eyes of the mer-people.
the karaoke event that was being held in the juicenet cafe reminded alexa of the times her older sisters would put on a concert for the kingdom. in one year, alexa would have her debut in a concert when she turned sixteen which was a tradition for the rooney's that had begun many years ago and was still a tradition that continued to this day.
the rooney was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard miriam's singing voice being projected through the microphone, 'angel's to your side to hold and protect you through the night, cause i will send angels to your side to hold and protect you through the night.'
once miriam had finished singing, the crowd clapped their hands together for her. whilst the two blondes did not join in clapping for miriam's performance, alexa and cleo clapped for her as a sign of being polite.
"i've got to admit it, she can sing." emma said in a reluctant tone to the three girls.
"let's hear it for miriam!" wilfred stated to the crowd who followed his instruction and clapped for miriam once again.
all of a sudden, rikki stood up from her seat beside emma and made her way to wilfred. the three girls shared a look at rikki's abrupt departure before they shrugged their shoulders.
alexa questioned the gilbert and sertori curiously, "does wilfred host this karaoke event frequently?"
emma shook her head, "not really. wilfred likes to host a karaoke event every now and then to bring everyone around the city together."
cleo added, "kind of like the 'miss sea queen' pageant event."
lewis stated his opinions regarding karaoke honestly, "i hate karaoke. it's just a bunch of wannabes searching for their fifteen minutes of fame . i think it's quite deluded."
"way to take the fun out of karaoke, lewis." niall commented as he took a sip of his banana smoothie.
wilfred's voice suddenly announced to the crowd, "and our next contestant is cleo sertori!"
the mention of cleo's name being announced caused lewis to choke on his drink, "except for you, cleo cause you'd be real good." he added to reassure the sertori in case she heard the words he uttered previously.
at the mention of her name being called, the sertori turned to look at the rooney and the gilbert in confusion before she flickered her eyes to meet rikki's who had made her way back to the three girls. rikki grabbed cleo's hand and pulled her out of her seat and guided her towards the stage, "i didn't put my name down." cleo said as she shook her head in disbelief at what was about to happen.
"i did." rikki revealed to the sertori, "go on. you know you want to." she smiled brightly at cleo.
cleo nervously shook her head, "i can't..." she anxiously walked backwards towards the stage where wilfred was who calmed her nerves down from spiralling out of control.
rikki assured the sertori, "yes, you can." she added, "go on. make us proud." she sat back in her original seat beside alexa.
alexa turned to face the chadwick, "rikki, are you sure it was a good idea to sign cleo up for the karaoke event?" she questioned.
"of course. cleo just needed a good push." rikki responded with a shrug of her shoulders.
"you're gonna regret this." emma chimed in.
"she'll be fine." rikki waved off the gilbert's worries, not seeing the reason why alexa and emma were worried for cleo.
"you haven't heard her sing." emma pointed out to the chadwick in a knowing tone.
a nervous cleo made her way up to the stage and faced the audience. her eyes travelled around the cafe as she lifted the microphone towards her lips which allowed her voice to be projected around the cafe. she looked down for a moment as she felt everyone's eyes were on her. she took a deep breath before she started to sing off-key, 'we had a good thing, a very, very good thing. and i thought it'd last forever—'
the sertori was cut off by zane who yelled, "boo! get off!"
cleo was adamant on finishing the song after rikki had signed her up for the karaoke event. she ignored zane's words and continued to sing off-key, 'love me for just one other day and i'll make sure i'll make you stay. steal the secrets from my heart.'
whilst some of the audience began to boo at cleo's bad singing, others held a hand over their ear. noticing the sudden change in the audience's behaviour, wilfred immediately stood up from his seat and moved the stand that held the microphone away from cleo and placed it in front of him, "put it together for cleo!" he smiled awkwardly to the audience who laughed before they reluctantly clapped their hands together for the sertori.
"nice one." emma muttered to the chadwick.
cleo slowly made her way down the stairs and towards the three girls and sat back in her original seat in between emma and alexa.
noticing the sunken look on the sertori's face, lewis piped up, "i thought you were ok, cleo."
to comfort the sertori, emma rubbed cleo's arm with her hand whilst alexa gave cleo's hand a reassuring squeeze.
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ONCE THE KARAOKE EVENT WAS OVER, CLEO HAD A SHIFT TO COMPLETE AT THE MARINE PARK. so whilst niall and byron left to do their own thing, lewis decided to continue his study on how cleo, rikki and emma were able to transform into mermaids at the touch of water. this left rikki, emma and alexa so they decided to go for a swim. alexa led the three girls to her secret spot where she would normally leave her stuff before she went for a swim in her mermaid form. the secluded part of the beach was covered with palm trees that allowed the three girls to remain hidden from prying eyes so that they would be able to enter the ocean with no interference.
the girls hadn't gone for a swim in a while due to the events that grabbed their attention as well as the amount of times that their secret had been threatened to be revealed. luckily, the group always found a way to ensure that their secret would not be exposed to the world.
alexa took off her locket and handed it over to emma who clasped the locket around her neck for safekeeping. the rooney dove into the water and began to swim in the direction of mako island with the two blondes following shortly behind the brunette.
soon enough, the two blondes caught up to alexa as the three girls used their mermaid speed to race one another to mako island. emma was the first to swim up to the water's surface of the moon pool with alexa and rikki following shortly behind as the three girls took a moment to catch their breath.
emma informed the three girls, "tonight is the full moon."
rikki questioned to the two girls rhetorically, "does it look like any of us turn into werewolves on the night of the full moon?" which earned an eye roll from emma and alexa. in response to the looks she received from her two friends, she let out a playful howl before she chuckled to herself at her own antics.
"this is serious." emma stated, "the last time the full moon appeared, i was under its influence. any of us could be next to fall under the spell of the full moon."
alexa suggested to the two girls, "maybe we should all stay over tonight at someone's house tonight so we could all watch over each other in case the full moon affects one of us?"
"that's a great idea, lex." emma praised the rooney for her suggestion, "we could all stay over at cleo's tonight. after what happened today, the least we could do is be there for her."
emma's words caused rikki to feel immense guilt for what happened earlier. if she knew that cleo wasn't a good singer then she wouldn't have signed up the sertori for the karaoke event. the chadwick defended herself, "in my defence, i had no idea she was a bad singer."
"even if you were about to sign cleo up for anything, the first thing you should consider, rikki, is asking for consent." alexa pointed out which caused emma to nod her head in agreement.
rikki rolled her eyes in aggravation, "i know that now, lex."
emma clapped her hands together, "well, if we plan to stay over at cleo's, we should probably get our things together and let cleo know that we plan on staying the night over at her house. it will give her chance to get everything set up."
"you have a good point, em. i'll let cleo know that we're planning to stay the night. i'm sure her parents will be fine with us staying for the night." alexa told the two blondes.
"now that everything has all been sorted..." rikki trailed off, "... race you guys back to the gold coast." she yelled excitedly before she dove underwater and swam out of the moon pool.
"hey! that's not fair!" emma exclaimed before she dove underwater and used her mermaid speed to catch up to the chadwick.
alexa chuckled at the gilbert and chadwick's competitive nature, "wait for me!" she piped up even though the two blondes had already left before she dove underwater and swam under the arc that led to the ocean, leaving a path of bubbles behind her as she swam in the direction of the gold coast.
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ONCE ALEXA, RIKKI AND EMMA WERE BACK AT THE GOLD COAST AT THE SECLUDED PART OF THE BEACH, THE THREE WENT THEIR SEPARATE WAYS SO THAT THEY COULD GRAB THEIR STUFF THAT THEY NEEDED FOR THE NIGHT AT CLEO'S HOUSE. the rooney sent cleo a message informing her that the three girls were planning on spending the night at the sertori household which would give cleo the time to clean up the house for her friends to stay over.
alexa had her tote bag that she usually used for school hung over her right shoulder that had all her essentials that she would need for the night at cleo's house. she met up with rikki outside the juicenet cafe before the two girls made their way to emma's house so that the three girls could walk together to the sertori household.
once the three girls arrived outside the sertori household, emma pressed the doorbell outside the door to alert cleo of their arrival. shortly after the doorbell was pressed, the front door was opened by cleo, "hey guys. come in." the sertori greeted her three friends as she held the door wide open for the three girls to enter, "everything's been set up. heaps to drink. pizza's been ordered." she informed the three girls.
"cool." rikki chimed in, "what movies did you get?" she questioned the brunette sertori.
"i thought you were getting the movies?" cleo inquired to her three friends as she flickered her eyes between the three girls in question which earned a shook of the head that implied a 'no' from rikki.
suddenly, the front door of the sertori household was opened by lewis mccartney which surprised the four girls. unaware of the looks of shock upon the four girl's faces, he greeted, "evening, ladies." he added, "now i wasn't sure what film you'd like, so i played it safe and got a chick flick. but i did get two horror movies." he gestured to the dvds he had in his grasp.
rikki questioned the mccartney, "lewis, what are you doing here?"
a look of confusion washed upon the mccartney's face at rikki's question, "what?" he asked.
the chadwick assumed that lewis didn't hear what she asked him previously so she repeated the question, "what are you doing here?"
"duh. i'm here to help." lewis stated as if it was obvious, "remember, i'm the only one who won't be affected by the moon."
emma chimed in with a knowing smile plastered on her face, "you're forgetting that lex wasn't affected by the full moon at all, lewis. she's here to help us." which caused alexa to smile and nod her head in agreement to the gilbert's words.
rikki held a smug smile on her lips, "so, we will let you be on your way now, lewis." she tilted her head towards the front door to indicate that lewis should leave and let the four girls be on their own for the night.
"the point is." lewis continued, "alexa may be immune to the full moon but that doesn't mean that there is no possibility that the full moon would affect her later on. at this point, we have to be cautious. so, if anyone falls asleep, i'll be right beside you."
alexa had remained silent throughout the interaction with the group so far. she had always thought that she would be invincible towards the powers of the full moon. for instance, she was born a mermaid with her own set of powers whilst the three girls were gifted the ability to transform into mermaids at the touch of water and a set of abilities that fitted their personalities.
the full moon was unpredictable. if it was able to gift magical powers, it would only make sense that the full moon would take the powers away. there must always be a balance within the world. a gift must always have a blessing yet there would be a curse hidden beneath the good of the gift. every strength must come with a weakness to balance out the odds.
in addition, the full moon was considered to be an astronomical event. it was known for its significance to werewolves as they could only transform into their wolf forms under the influence of the full moon whilst other supernatural beings such as witches would channel the power of a full moon for rituals and spells.
it was clear that the influence of the full moon caused mermaids to become hypnotised and in awe of the full moon. but alexa never thought that it would happen to her, considering that it had never happened to her family. but if alexa fell under the influence of the full moon, what would happen to her?
"will you now?" don sertori inquired to the mccartney and thus announcing his presence to the group as he stood at the top of the stairs that overlooked the front hall of the sertori household which snapped alexa out of her thoughts as the group turned to look at don whilst cleo held a hand to her head in embarrassment.
"hello, mr sertori." lewis greeted curtly.
"i've got my eye on you." don informed the mccartney as he pointed at the young blonde man to emphasise his point.
"dad!" cleo scolded her dad for his protective nature towards herself and her friends. whilst she loved her dad with her whole heart, she didn't want him to scare lewis away, the person that she had known the longest.
the warning that don had given to lewis must have been heard around the sertori household because bev sertori had announced her presence as she made her way towards her husband, "don!" she warned with a pointed look on her face.
saving her sister's friend from embarrassment of the family, kim made her way towards the group and grabbed onto lewis' arm and tugged him in the direction of the living room, "don't worry, lewis. you can sit with me."
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ONCE THE GROUP GOT SETTLED IN THE SERTORI HOUSEHOLD, THEY DECIDED TO PUT A MOVIE ON. since lewis brought a range of movies consisting of chick flick and horror, the group decided to vote on what movie to put on. whilst don, lewis and rikki voted for horror, emma, cleo and alexa voted for a chick flick movie. since it was three against three, emma thought it was fair to just do a game of rock, paper and scissors so whoever won that would have their chosen movie on.
cleo and alexa voted for emma whilst rikki and don nominated lewis. the gilbert chose scissors whilst the mccartney chose rock which meant that lewis won and that the horror movie would be put on.
whilst lewis and a fast asleep don occupied one couch in the living room of the sertori household, the four girls occupied another couch with a blanket that was shared between the girls.
personally, alexa wasn't a fan of horror movies so she had clutched the blanket in her hands tightly whenever a scene from the movie frightened her whilst emma and cleo were watching the movie with all the bravery they could muster.
an unbothered rikki who was munching on popcorn as she watched the horror movie muttered, "don't open the door. don't open the..." she trailed off. the door was opened in the movie much less to alexa's surprise which caused cleo, emma and alexa to bury their heads in the blanket whilst the chadwick scrunched her nose, "she opened the door."
what surprised alexa was that she heard a frightful yell from kim, "agh!" who was by the entrance of the living room and was curiously watching the horror movie that was playing in front of the group and don.
the frightful scream that kim had emitted had woken up don from his sleeping slumber as he noticed his youngest daughter was wide awake by the entrance of the living room, "kim!" he exclaimed as he hastily stood up from his place on the couch, "you shouldn't be watching this. this is for adults." he made his way to his youngest daughter.
"i am an adult. almost." kim pointed out as she maintained her attention on the horror movie that was playing on the tv in the living room.
"and it's past your bedtime too." don told his youngest daughter as he ushered her out of the living room. he pointed at the mccartney, "you brought the movie, lewis. it's your fault. you should've been supervising." he stated as he guided kim who's attention was on the horror movie that was playing as she was guided up the stairs of the sertori household.
"your dad hates me." lewis said to the brunette sertori with a frown on his face.
cleo pointed out to the mccartney, "my dad hates all boys, lewis. don't flatter yourself."
a woman screaming was heard from the horror movie that was being played and the scene changed to a building of a cathedral with the full moon in the background that was the only source of light.
noticing the scene had changed to a full moon reminded emma of the full moon that was going to appear tonight. she inquired curiously to the mccartney, "hey. what time does the moon rise?"
lewis looked at his watch that was on his left wrist, "about two minutes... ago." he responded which caused the four girls to exchange a look.
"don't look at the moonlight." emma told the three girls as herself and rikki went under the blanket that was shared between the girls to avoid making eye contact with the full moon.
alexa knew that she was somewhat immune to the powers of the full moon but she must remain cautious in case there was a possibility that she could fall under the influence of the full moon due to her mermaid nature so she followed in suit of rikki and emma's actions and buried her head under the blanket.
since lewis was the only one who wasn't a mermaid, he would be the individual who would be the most likely to not fall under the influence of the full moon so he turned off the horror movie before he made his way towards the window in the living room and shut the curtains to prevent the full moon from catching any of the mermaids' eyes.
however, what the group was unaware of was that the image of the full moon had been projected on the top of a glass of water that was placed on the coffee table which resulted in a hypnotised cleo.
meanwhile, alexa remained under the blanket with rikki and emma beside her as they waited for lewis to inform them that they were safe from the influences of the full moon.
all of a sudden, the mccartney questioned the sertori, "cleo? are you alright?" which gained the attention of the three girls as they removed the blanket from their heads and turned to face the sertori in concern.
"i'm fine." cleo replied as her eyes flickered to the three girls momentarily before she turned her head to face lewis. she questioned the mccartney, "why?"
"you just had quite a close call." the mccartney answered as he tucked his blonde bangs behind his ear as it was getting in his face.
"really?" the sertori inquired uncertainly as she had no memory of her encounter with the full moon. lewis didn't reply to cleo's question but he stood up from his place beside her and made his way towards the window where he pulled the curtain over the window to ensure that the sertori household was full-proof of the full moon, "this is really scary, isn't it?" she questioned aloud before she announced to the group, "i have to go to the bathroom." she stood up from her seat on the couch.
"well someone should go with you." lewis told the sertori, not wanting her to be on her own on the night of the full moon.
"lewis, it's the bathroom." cleo pointed out bluntly, "i think i'll be fine." she said before she walked away and made her way to the bathroom.
it was silent in the sertori living room for a few moments until rikki broke it, "karaoke dvd? you guys up for a few laughs?" she questioned the two girls and mccartney with a bright grin on her face. noticing the concerned look on lewis' face regarding cleo, rikki further pressed, "what? you'd prefer to sit here and be morbid?" which caused the group to share a look, quietly debating if they should do some karaoke to pass the time.
"it's not like there's anyone around here that we don't like that will be listening to us sing. let's do it." alexa stated happily which caused rikki to smile widely at the rooney's words.
lewis reluctantly shrugged his shoulders, "why not? let's have some fun." which caused a tired emma to send a small smile as she nodded her head in agreement.
so lewis did all the technical stuff, leaving the three girls sat on the couch, he placed the karaoke dvd into the dvd player that the sertori family had before he plugged the wire for the microphone into the dvd player.
once lewis was done setting up the karaoke dvd and microphone, he held the microphone out expectedly and an eager rikki stood up from her seat on the couch and took the microphone from his grasp.
the backing track began to play and rikki started to sing off-key, 'i'm not making it easy for you because you know you're not making it easy for me.' she jumped up and down in the sertori living room whilst lewis was enthusiastically moving to the beat of the music and a tired emma resting her head on alexa's shoulder whilst the rooney silently chuckled at rikki's cheery behaviour. she held the courage of two-thousand soldiers where she expressed herself through her bad singing.
the chadwick continued singing off-key, 'i'm head over heels, over heels because i'm head over heels in love with you.'
once the backing track had stopped, lewis, being the supportive friend he was, proudly clapped his hands together for the chadwick, "yeah." he cheered.
"good effort, rikki." alexa complimented the blonde chadwick with a polite smile on her face which caused rikki to smile brightly as she held her arms wide open.
"can we possibly do something that's not from 1985?" emma asked which caused rikki's arms to fall down to her side, "let me have a go." the gilbert said to the chadwick who held the microphone out for emma to take.
"i liked it." lewis commented as he came to the defense of rikki. he may argue with rikki but the two would always defend one another to the bitter end no matter how much they would argue.
emma stood up from her seat and made her way towards rikki but before emma could grab the microphone from rikki's grasp, cleo strode over to rikki and grabbed the microphone from her grasp and thus announcing her presence.
cleo's presence caught the four off-guard. what completely surprised alexa was that cleo was singing on-key. her voice held power over many that could easily make individuals fall into a trance that they could never escape. the voluptuous and sweet sounds that cleo made with her singing voice left the three girls wary of their surroundings.
"what happened? she can sing?" emma questioned in disbelief as she and rikki made their way back to the sofa that the girls were originally sat when they were watching the horror movie.
growing up as atlantica's princess meant that alexa required a vast knowledge regarding her kingdom, the mer-people and interventions that must be put in place if the kingdom fell in any danger. she had to be creative yet open-minded with her strategies and she must think on the spot when she was put under pressure.
alexa was sure that cleo had been exposed to the full moon either in the living room when the three girls went under the blanket to avoid looking at the full moon or when she was in the bathroom. and that she must have touched the reflection of the full moon in the water if she had wet hands (because normally, she would've turned into a mermaid after ten seconds of making contact with water). either way, cleo was now under the influence of the full moon and alexa knew that the group would have to do everything in their power to ensure that cleo didn't do anything hectic as well as keeping the mermaid secret a secret at the same time.
alexa had also done her reading regarding sea creatures. and she was definitely sure that the power of the full moon had temporarily made cleo a siren.
before alexa could inform the two blondes about cleo being a siren, footsteps were heard which gained alexa's attention as she looked to her right to find cleo's parents and kim making their way down the stairs.
"who's that singing?" bev asked the group as the sertori family stood by the entrance of the living room in mesmerisation of the scene unfolding before their eyes.
"something is not right." emma muttered quietly to rikki and alexa.
rikki squinted her eyes when she noticed something vital to the personality change in cleo, "look. wet hands... but no tail." she pointed out to emma and alexa.
"this doesn't make any sense." alexa chimed in, "when emma was under the influence of the full moon and she jumped into the water, she remained in her mermaid form. and now, cleo has wet hands but she isn't in her mermaid form. emma's encounter with the full moon was completely different compared to cleo's."
"lex is right. there is something off with this situation." rikki stated.
"we will just have to keep a close eye on everyone tonight." emma told the two girls as they remained in their seats on the couch as they stared at their brunette friend.
so the three girls remained in their seats as cleo continued to sing her heart out to her family and to lewis. emma noticed that lewis was in complete awe of cleo's singing so she nudged her elbow to gain alexa and rikki's attention. when the gilbert had alexa and rikki's attention, she tilted her head to the right to gesture to lewis who had his mouth wide open at cleo's singing.
suddenly. lewis stood up from his seat so that he could sit right in front of the sertori, "wow. she's... amazing." he complimented cleo.
rikki shook her head, "this isn't cleo. lex was right, this has got to do with the full moon."
a knock was heard at the front door of the sertori household which gained bev's attention as she made her way to the front door and opened it to reveal byron, "who's that singing?" he asked bev, "she's incredible." he walked into the living room to notice that it was cleo who was singing, "cleo?" he let out in disbelief.
"she must have had singing lessons i guess." bev replied.
"they really worked." byron answered with a wide smile on his face as he stood beside bev as the two continued to watch cleo sing.
cleo held one final note before she stopped singing. she dropped the microphone down to her side before she smiled brightly at the people in the room, "how did i do?"
don was the first to answer his oldest daughter's question. he began, "you were..." he trailed off, "good."
"i can sing. i can really sing. i mean, it sounded good to me but sometimes, it's hard to tell." cleo told everyone who was in the sertori living room as her father wrapped his arm around the brunette sertori and smiled proudly at his wife and youngest daughter.
the three girls exchanged a look as they knew that the reason that cleo could sing was because she had been exposed to the full moon. they had to get cleo alone so that they could find a way to snap her out of the influence that the full moon had over her.
emma stood up from her seat on the couch and walked up to the sertori, "cleo? we need to talk." she said as rikki and alexa stood up from their seats on the couch and stood beside the gilbert. in response to emma's request, cleo smiled at the three girls before she nodded her head in agreement.
rikki took the microphone from cleo's grasp and passed it to don before the three girls worked together to direct cleo out of the living room and to the kitchen.
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ONCE THE THREE GIRLS DIRECTED CLEO OUT OF THE LIVING ROOM, THE THREE GIRLS MADE SURE THAT THEY WEREN'T BEING FOLLOWED INTO THE KITCHEN BEFORE EMMA GRABBED A TOWEL TO DRY CLEO'S WET HANDS. whilst emma was doing that, the sertori was sat on the kitchen counter whilst rikki attempted to talk to a dazed cleo who was under the influence of the full moon. meanwhile, alexa stood by the entrance of the kitchen in case anyone was walking in their direction so that alexa would be able to easily alert the girls so that they could do what they could to hide cleo from her family and byron. the rooney made sure that she wasn't too far from the girls, just so that she was still able to hear their conversation and that she could chime into the conversation.
"cleo, listen, you touched water and the full moon is doing something to you." rikki said to cleo in a serious tone. she had to somehow convince cleo to snap out of whatever state she was in so that the group could continue their sleepover in peace without their mermaid secret being at risk of being exposed.
not picking up on the serious tone that rikki held, cleo simply smiled brightly and stated, "i can sing."
"cleo, wake up. you're a bad singer." emma told the sertori flatly, wanting her friend to snap out of the influence that the full moon had on her.
cleo shook her head at the gilbert's words, "you're just jealous. but that's ok." her eyes momentarily met emma's before she turned to look at rikki and then alexa, "i still like you. you're my friends. and if you want, you can pick out my next song." she held a radiant smile on her face.
"this is not supposed to be happening." emma muttered to herself as she ran a hand through her hair in frustration, "lex, any ideas on how we can get cleo back?"
alexa had remained silent as she observed cleo's behaviour after she had been exposed to the full moon. she was quiet for a moment before she spoke up, "as long as the full moon remains in the sky, cleo will remain under its influence. for now, we just have to keep an eye on cleo whilst making sure our mermaid secret doesn't get exposed."
"so where do we start?" rikki questioned the rooney.
"first of all." alexa began, "we need lewis. other than us, he is the only one who knows about our mermaid secret. and right now, we all need each other to get through tonight especially if our mermaid secret is at risk of being revealed."
"lex has a point." emma chimed in, "we saw the look that lewis had when cleo was singing in front of everyone. besides, he can keep us all in check in case lex also falls under the influence of the full moon."
"but lex was immune to the last full moon." rikki pointed out.
emma nodded her head. she added, "but that doesn't mean that she need to be careful. all of us need to be careful. if cleo is under the influence of the full moon and we all follow shortly behind cleo, lex won't be able to watch out for us so we need lewis."
"so do we all agree to get lewis?" alexa questioned which earned a nod of the head from the girls.
emma stated, "let's get lewis." which earned a nod of the head in agreement from rikki and alexa.
so the four girls devised a plan to get cleo away from everyone so that they wouldn't question the change in cleo's behaviour. the girls would move cleo to her bedroom and whilst they made their way up the stairs and towards cleo's bedroom, they would get lewis.
emma had a firm grip on cleo's wrist as she tugged her in the direction of the staircase that would lead upstairs which would allow the girls to place cleo in her room. alexa followed shortly behind cleo and emma. meanwhile, rikki was the last to follow the three girls upstairs as she would grab lewis whilst the girls would make their way upstairs.
once the four girls had made it upstairs, they were walking down the hallway that would lead to cleo's bedroom when alexa heard footsteps which caused her to turn around. what surprised her was that it was don that was following behind the girls and not lewis.
"can i talk to my daughter alone, girls?" don asked the three girls.
alexa nodded her head, "of course." she linked her arms with rikki and emma as she led the girls to cleo's bedroom.
once the three girls made it to cleo's bedroom, rikki ensured that the door was wide open so that the girls could listen in on don and cleo's conversation. alexa felt immense guilt doing this but she knew she had to listen in on don and cleo's conversation just in case they had to make up an excuse to get cleo away from her dad in case the mermaid secret was at risk of being exposed.
so the three girls remained by the door of cleo's bedroom as they listened in on cleo and don's conversation.
"don't you like my singing, dad?" cleo asked her dad as the two walked further down the hallway of the sertori household for privacy.
"it's nice, cleo." don reassured his oldest daughter who smiled at her father's words, "but i'm more concerned about you. there are two boys there who seem a bit, well, smitten." he added as he placed his hands on his hips.
"they like me?" cleo questioned with a bright smile on her face which caused the three girls to exchange a look before they focused their attention on don and cleo's conversation.
"that's what it looks like." don replied, "why don't you go down there and tell them to go home right now?" he suggested which earned a nod of the head and a smile from cleo.
the conversation between don and cleo was interrupted by kim, "dad? mum wants to see you." she said.
"i'm busy here." don told his youngest daughter as he gestured between himself and cleo.
"she said now, dad." kim persisted with a look on her face that suggested that bev needed to see don now and that the seriousness of the situation had been further enhanced.
don and cleo shared a look before the former sighed in defeat and reluctantly followed behind his youngest daughter who led the way down the stairs. cleo followed shortly behind her dad and younger sister. meanwhile, the three girls who were eavesdropping on don and cleo's conversation shrugged their shoulders before they followed the sertori family (excluding bev) down the hallway and down the stairs.
alexa had never seen kim look so serious. cleo had always told her stories of her younger sister being a brat. maybe there was more to kim than what met the eye but at this moment in time, kim was not being a brat but she was genuinely serious. it was obvious to alexa from the look on her face and the way she delivered her words to her dad.
so the three girls followed the sertori sisters and dad as they walked down the stairs. the sight left alexa in shock. not only was byron, lewis and bev were in the sertori household but niall and two other boys that alexa had seen around school was there at the bottom of the staircase.
niall had a awestruck smile plastered on his face, "i was just out for a walk and i heard this fantastic voice."
"yeah." sam, a guy that was in alexa's art class added, "who was that girl singing before? she was incredible." which caused all the boys to voice out words of agreement to sam's words regarding cleo's singing.
noticing the group of boys that had been formed due to cleo's singing caused don to feel overprotective of his oldest daughter. he gestured to the front door of the sertori household, "out! now." he ordered the boys.
"aw." the boys simultaneously said in response as bev and don ushered the boys out of the sertori household.
whilst bev and don guided the boys (excluding lewis) out of the sertori household, the four girls slowly made their way down the stairs whilst conversing with one another about what they had just witnessed. cleo's singing had not just gained lewis, byron and her family's attention but it had also gained attention from niall and a range of boys that alexa would usually see around school.
"reckon we will get any ideas out of lewis?" emma asked rikki and alexa.
"forget it, he's a pod person now, just like the others." rikki replied, noticing the look of awe that lewis sent to the sertori was the exact look that the rest of the boys had.
"rikki is right." alexa chimed in, "it looks like we have to handle this situation alone."
cleo suddenly spoke up, "i'm popular." she said, referring to the boys that were previously inside her house, "isn't this great?" she asked which earned a wide smile and a nod of the head from the mccartney.
👑
IT WAS CALM WITHIN THE SERTORI HOUSEHOLD AFTER THE EVENTS THAT HAD OCCURRED. alexa knew that the calm atmosphere that was currently in the air was bound to go down the drain so it gave her, rikki and emma the chance to move their essentials and cleo and lewis into cleo's bedroom. after the three girls moved their essentials to cleo's bedroom, rikki and emma looked around the sertori household to make sure that the rest of the sertori family had no suspicions of what happened earlier. this gave alexa the opportunity to find a pair of headphones so that she could blast loud music into lewis' ears so that he wouldn't be affected by cleo's singing.
once lewis was himself again, alexa typed a message to lewis to inform him of what happened when he wasn't himself on her phone since he had headphones over his ears which played loud music to drown out cleo's singing. the two continued to send text messages to figure out what was happening to cleo.
alexa was sure that cleo was a siren. she just needed lewis to confirm her theory so that they could tell emma and rikki.
eventually, emma and rikki returned after making sure that the sertori family weren't suspicious of the recent events that had happened. they noticed cleo who was singing in the bathroom whilst she brushed her hair before they sat on cleo's bed with alexa and lewis.
rikki asked alexa and lewis, "do you guys know what happened to cleo?"
due to the loud music that was playing in the headphones, lewis couldn't exactly hear what rikki said. nonetheless, he replied, "what? i'm sorry, i can't hear you! but i think alexa and i know what's happened to cleo." he gestured to alexa to explain what happened to cleo to the two blondes since he had been distracted with the music that was playing through the headphones.
"cleo's a siren. in mermaid mythology, a siren's singing would put sailors in a trance so they can kill them." alexa explained to rikki and emma which caused the two blondes to turn their heads to look at cleo who was still in the bathroom singing to herself in the mirror whilst she brushed her hair.
lewis added, "i'm hoping this isn't quite that bad."
emma questioned in desperation, "so what do we do?" she suggested, "keep her locked up?"
"what? no." lewis shook his head, "that'll never work. it's best if we keep her locked up."
"forget it. he's out of action." rikki said to alexa and emma.
alexa chimed in, "we could put him in danger if what the mermaid mythology says about sirens are true."
rikki nodded her head in agreement to the rooney's words and added, "we need to figure this out for ourselves."
"you don't have to do anything." cleo suddenly stated to the group as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom, "this is the best thing that's ever happened to me. people like me. adore me. aren't i adorable?" she asked the group with a bright smile as she placed her hands on her hips and did a little twirl before she walked into the bathroom.
"i'll get back to you on that one." emma responded to the sertori.
kim walked into her older sister's room and informed the three girls, "dad says it's getting late and he wants you guys to pack up all those microphones and stuff."
"we're busy, kid. scram." rikki replied as she tilted her head to the front door as a way to gesture kim to leave the room.
"rikki." alexa scolded the chadwick.
the younger sertori sent a smug smile to the chadwick, "he's not going to like that." she said, referring to her dad before she walked out of the room.
once kim had left the room, rikki asked the two girls, "what are we gonna do?"
emma answered, "let's just get it done quick."
alexa nodded her head in agreement, "em's right, rikki. we are guests in cleo's house since we're staying the night. the least we can do is clean up after ourselves." which earned a sigh of defeat from rikki before the three girls stood up from their seats on cleo's bed and made their way over to cleo who was still in the bathroom brushing her hair.
"stay here. do not move." emma instructed the brunette sertori firmly before the three girls left cleo's bedroom and made their way down the hallway that led to the staircase of the sertori household.
before the three girls could take a step further, they could hear cleo's singing a lot clearer which caused the girls to halt in their movements in alarm. it was like as if fate wasn't on their side as don happened to walk up to the girls as he had been wondering what was taking them so long to get downstairs to pack up the microphone and wires like kim had informed them when he had also heard his daughter singing.
alarm bells rang within alexa's mind. lewis was still inside cleo's bedroom and whilst he still had the headphones over his ears to protect him from cleo's singing, it wasn't a permanent solution. cleo wasn't herself due to her falling under the influence of the full moon and the girls would have to do everything in their power to make sure that the mermaid secret remained a secret and that no one would get hurt.
"is that cleo singing again?" don questioned the three girls, "it's pretty unexpected that someone in the sertori family can sing when no one in the family can sing."
"we should probably check that lewis still has the headphones over his ears in case cleo's singing really does lead lewis to his death." alexa muttered quietly to emma and rikki so that don couldn't hear her.
"are we sure? we could always let cleo do her thing and we wouldn't have to withstand the sexual tension brewing between the two." rikki remarked in a whisper which caused emma to glare at the chadwick and alexa to sigh and shake her head at the chadwick's words.
emma scolded the chadwick, "rikki. they're our friends."
in response to the gilbert's words, rikki rolled her eyes, "fine, whatever. let's go check on them."
so the three girls and don walked down the hallway in the direction of cleo's bedroom. before they could enter the room, alexa had realised that they had walked in on the duo at a bad time. lewis didn't have the headphones over his ears that blasted loud music but instead, his lips was locked with cleo's in a soft kiss which caused alexa's eyes to widen in surprise.
this just demonstrated how powerful the full moon really was. it had given cleo and lewis the confidence to share an intimate kiss which left the three girls and frozen in their spots. alexa was aware that the two shared feelings for one another but she felt bad that cleo and lewis couldn't share their first kiss on their own terms.
after overcoming the shock of the scene that was in front of her, emma spoke up, "lewis! what are you doing?"
don moved past the three girls who blocked the entrance of cleo's bedroom only to witness his oldest daughter was kissing lewis which caused his protective instincts towards his daughter to be enhanced as he yelled, "hey, you! out! now!" he wrapped his arms around lewis' waist and lifted him off his feet and shoved him out of cleo's bedroom. he walked out of the room and followed behind lewis to make sure he didn't try anything else.
"you can't protect me forever." cleo said to her dad who had left the room as she brushed the ends of her hair with a brush.
"no. but we can." rikki chimed in, referring to herself, emma and alexa, "and we will. all night if we have to." she finished as she closed the door of cleo's bedroom whilst emma and alexa sat on cleo's bed.
it was now later on in the night and alexa, emma and rikki thanked the stars in the sky that cleo didn't cause them any more trouble. alexa was grateful that nothing else had happened which meant that all the three girls had to do was put cleo to bed before they could prepare themselves for sleep and the next day, everything would return back to normal. the full moon would be over, and cleo would hopefully return to her normal self.
so whilst emma guided cleo to the bathroom so that she could change into her pyjamas, alexa and rikki got cleo's bed ready for her. afterwards, they set up their sleeping bags on the floor around cleo's bed.
once cleo was out of the bathroom and in her pyjamas, the three girls each took a turn in the bathroom to get changed in their pyjamas and brush their teeth before they got settled into their sleeping bags.
alexa bided a 'good night' to the girls before she made herself comfortable in her sleeping bag and allowed sleep to take over her figure.
👑
CONSIDERING THE EVENTS THAT WENT DOWN YESTERDAY, ALEXA SLEPT WONDERFULLY. ever since the four girls had discovered mako island, it had formed a chain of events that the girls seem to be unable to escape from. with great power came great responsibility. alexa was born to be a princess with the powers of heat and freeze breath and telekinesis which she must use to help the mer-folk.
she left her kingdom to explore the wonders of the human world where she met emma, cleo and rikki who had been exposed to the power of the full moon that granted her friends the ability to transform into a mermaid at the contact of water as well as powers over water.
every blessing had a curse. and the curse was that on the nights of a full moon, whenever a mermaid would look at the full moon, they would fall under its influence until the full moon was gone.
cleo was under the influence of the full moon. it gave her the powers of a siren, to lure men to their death. this sprung rikki, emma and alexa into action as they did everything they could to prevent any damage that cleo may had done under the influence of the full moon.
to alexa's knowledge, last night went smoothly and cleo remained on her best behaviour. this would mean that the three girls could relax and wait out the full moon so that cleo could return back to her normal self.
the four girls woke up from their deep slumber and made their way downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast.
"i never thought we'd make it to morning without something else happening." rikki began as she opened the kitchen cabinet and grabbed boxes of cereal for the girls to eat.
"yeah. thanks, cleo. for not doing anything crazy." emma thanked the brunette sertori as she turned around to make eye contact with cleo before she opened the fridge to grab the milk.
"sure. no problem." cleo replied as she hoisted herself up on the kitchen counter.
"although the full moon had interrupted our sleepover, i'm just glad that we were able to be like regular teenage girls for the night." alexa chimed in as she grabbed four bowls and spoons for the cereal that the girls would have for breakfast.
whilst alexa got the table set up, the radio played in the background to fill the silence, "and now some late breaking news. fresh fm has discovered a new star and you're not gonna believe this voice. her name is cleo sertori. remember it."
"you didn't?" emma questioned aloud in disbelief as she turned to face the sertori.
the radio began to play a backing track of cleo's siren call which only confirmed emma's words, "she did." alexa and rikki simultaneously responded which earned a wide smile from cleo.
emma turned back around and turned off the radio so that the girls didn't have to hear cleo's siren call before she, alexa and rikki stood in front of cleo with blank looks on their faces.
"how could you?" emma asked cleo, wanting the sertori to acknowledge the mistake that she had just made all because she was under the influence of the full moon.
cleo shrugged her shoulders in response, "i'm good." she added, "why not let me share it?"
alexa attempted to reason with the sertori, "cleo, you can't actually sing. when the full moon is over, your ability to sing will diminish. we just don't want you to embarrass yourself in front of millions of people when the full moon goes down and you lose your siren powers."
nothing that alexa or emma said to cleo was working. a surge of anger was what rikki was currently experiencing as she raised her voice to the sertori, "it's the full moon, cleo. don't you get it? it's not you."
cleo nodded her head, "yes it is. that's the thing. this is the real me. the one that's been hidden. why shouldn't i let it out?"
rikki shook her head, "does the word 'deluded' mean anything to you?"
cleo ignored rikki's question by asking another question to the three girls, "why can't you just be happy for me?" she added, "you'd think as my best friends you'd be a little more supportive." which earned an offended look from the three girls. cleo ignored her friends' offended looks that was being sent her way and continued, "i'm a star. you can be my entourage." she placed each of her hands on rikki and emma's shoulders, "i won't forget you." she lightly patted alexa on the cheek with a bright smile plastered on her lips.
before any of the girls could say anything, a knock was heard at the front door which grabbed the attention of the girls, "i'll get it. it might be lewis." emma said before she walked off in the direction of the front door.
whilst emma went to open the front door, alexa grabbed a glass from one of the cabinets in the kitchen and made her way to the kitchen sink to fill the glass with water. once her glass of water was full, she took a sip to soothe her throat before she heard multiple voices shouting which gained her attention.
the multiple voices shouting didn't just earn alexa's attention but it had also grabbed rikki's and cleo's attention too. they made their way towards the entrance of the sertori household where emma closed the front door and held a shocked look on her face.
"is it lewis?" cleo asked emma.
"sort of." emma replied curtly as she took a moment to herself to process what she had just witnessed behind the front door.
alexa furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "what do you mean, 'sort of'?"
before emma could reply to alexa, don walked down the stairs and questioned the four girls, "what's going on? what's all the noise?" he made his way towards the front door.
before don could open the front door to see what the commotion was, emma warned, "no. don't open that."
don stopped his movements and asked the gilbert, "why?" all he received was silence from emma so he turned to face his daughter, alexa and rikki who remained quiet, "is that boy lewis back?" he asked which earned a wide smile from cleo. he turned around and opened the front door with cleo following shortly behind.
from what alexa could hear, she heard exchanges of cheers the moment cleo went to the front yard. the sertori began to sing the siren call which rendered the men in awe. the moment cleo stopped singing her siren call, the boys clapped their hands together enthusiastically.
"this isn't good." emma told the two girls who were still inside the sertori household, "we have to put a stop to this."
"how?" rikki asked, she suggested sarcastically, "duck tape cleo's mouth shut so that she won't lead a bunch of men to their inevitable deaths?" which earned an eye roll from emma.
"whatever we plan on doing, we have to ensure that no one gets hurt in the process and that our mermaid secret remains a secret." alexa stated firmly which earned a nod of agreement from emma and rikki.
before the girls could concoct a plan, don and cleo entered the house. don remain stood in front of cleo whilst cleo made herself comfortable on the red chair in the living room.
don crossed his arms to his chest, "explain, young lady." he stated, referring to the herd of boys that was outside the front door of the sertori house.
cleo simply shrugged her shoulders in response, "they're my fans."
at the mention of the group of boys outside the front door, they began to chant repeatedly, "cleo!" which earned an exasperated look from don as he placed his hands on his hips which contrasted the cheerful smile that cleo had as she tilted her head in time with the repeated chants of her name.
the repeated chants had earned bev and kim's attention as they rushed down the stairs and met the rest of the group in the living room.
bev questioned, "who are all those boys outside?" which caused don to hold his arms out as he shook his head in complete confusion of what was happening.
"they're cleo's boyfriends." kim answered with a taunting smile aimed at her older sister.
it was the final straw for don. it was early in the morning to deal with anything like this and his family plus his oldest daughter's friends shouldn't have to experience something like this at all, "that's it. i'm calling the police." he picked up the telephone.
"no. wait." emma suddenly spoke up before don could call the police.
alexa continued, "the reason why there are a herd of boys outside the front door is that last night, cleo rang the radio and sang for them. her voice must have gained the attention of many boys which explains why they're currently standing outside the front door waiting for cleo to sing some more." which caused emma and rikki to quickly nod their heads in agreement to the rooney's words.
"so why don't we negotiate with them?" rikki suggested as the boys who chanted cleo's name continued in the background. the chadwick walked off and made her way out to the front yard of the sertori household.
alexa made her way over to kim who was stood by the window of the living room that overlooked the front yard. the boys continued to chant, "cleo." repeatedly until the brunette sertori announced her presence once again by satisfying them with her siren call. she watched as rikki conversed with the boys to negotiate a compromise so that no one would get in trouble.
eventually, rikki entered the sertori household with four of the boys who were in the crowd: zane, lewis, byron and niall who made themselves comfortable on the red couch in the living room with don stood in front of them.
meanwhile, bev sat in the red chair, kim sat on the the arm of the chair. this left emma to sit in the remaining red chair whilst alexa and rikki sat on either side of emma on the arm of the chair whilst cleo was upstairs warming up her voice.
zane began, "cleo has a gift. what she needs is a manager. i can do that." he sent don a charming smile that alexa thought that zane never had. then again, alexa hardly knew zane, it only showed that there was more to a person than what met the eye.
"the world needs to hear her sing." lewis added.
with a star-struck look plastered on his face, niall continued, "cleo could easily capture the hearts of many people over the world with her incredible singing."
"please?" byron finished as he stared intently at don for an answer.
don answered firmly with a hand on his hip, "absolutely not." he sat on the coffee table, "i want all your little friends off my grass right now." he stated, "that lawn's only been laid." he explained.
don stared at the four boys who were sat on the red couch as he expectedly waited for one of them to answer. before any of the boys could reply to don's words, alexa could hear footsteps descending down the stairs and she looked up to see cleo who rested her hands on the railing of the stairs, "dad. there's only one thing to do." the elder sertori addressed her dad, "i could put on a concert at the juicenet cafe. for everybody. they'd love it." which caused the four boys to smile widely at the idea whilst the three girls blinked in disbelief.
"fantastic idea." zane complimented cleo for her suggestion with a wide smile.
whilst the four boys was thrilled with the idea that cleo suggested, don was against the idea, "i don't think so." he said.
"think about it mr sertori—" byron cut in, "— you can't keep cleo all to yourself." his eyes flickered to cleo's, "she belongs to the world."
"no, she doesn't. she is my daughter." don snapped as he raised his voice at the four boys.
"oh, she used to be your daughter." lewis corrected don's previous words, "now, she's so much more than that."
don was officially done with the four boys. the whole reason they were inside the sertori house was to negotiate a plan so that the boys were no longer outside its front door. none of the four boys seemed interested in discussing a negotiation with don which caused him to stand up from his seat, "you four are off your collective rockers." implying that he viewed the four boys as being crazy in the head as he walked backwards towards the entrance of the living room.
"so the concert is on?" cleo asked from her place on the staircase.
"yes!" zane answered with a wide smile as his gaze remained fixed on cleo, "leave it to me." he simply said which earned a nod of the head from the brunette sertori.
"cleo, you are not going out there." don stated firmly to his eldest daughter, "you four, conference over. outside!" he pointed at the front door to gesture to the four boys to leave before he picked up the telephone to call the police.
the four boys reluctantly stood up from their seats on the red couch before they walked in the direction of the front door but they stopped directly in front of cleo and stared at her with their mouths wide open in awe.
"police? my house is surrounded by teenage boys—" don stated over the phone to the police. he noticed that the four boys hadn't left the house so he made his way over to them and shoved them in the direction of the front door so they could leave, "— yes, i will hold."
alexa muttered quietly to emma and rikki, "i definitely didn't expect the power of the full moon to cause something like this." which caused the two blondes to nod their heads in agreement.
kim walked towards the window which had a view of the front yard, "mum. dad. they're leaving." she stated.
"she's right." bev agreed with her youngest daughter, "they're leaving." alexa watched through the window as the herd of boys walked away from the front door.
"where's cleo?" emma questioned out loud as she looked at the staircase where the elder sertori was previously which gained everyone's attention as they turned around to look at the staircase where cleo was before only to realise that she was gone.
👑
BEFORE ANYONE IN THE SERTORI HOUSEHOLD COULD GO AFTER CLEO, THEY COLLECTIVELY AGREED TO CHANGE INTO SOMETHING MORE REPRESENTABLE. alexa changed out of her pyjamas and wore a ditsy white floral skirt with a light pale yellow top with a pair of sandals to complete the look. she styled her hair in her usual beachy waves with a headband placed in the middle of her hair to frame the front parts of her face. in addition, she wore her 'a' rose gold heart shaped locket around her neck.
once alexa, rikki, emma and the sertori family were dressed, they left the sertori household and followed the herd of boys which led them to the juicenet cafe. the group ensured to stay together since the cafe was completely crowded of boys who excitedly chattered amongst one another.
don led the way through the crowd of boys that surrounded the juicenet cafe as he made a path for everyone else to follow behind him. he held tightly onto kim's hand to ensure that he didn't lose her in the crowd of boys.
"this could get ugly." rikki told emma and alexa, referring to the herd of boys that were all surrounding the juicenet cafe.
"how much more full moon do we have?" emma questioned the two girls as the effects of the full moon was bound to disappear the moment the full moon went down.
the boys began to chant repeatedly, "cleo!"
alexa answered the gilbert, "the effects of the full moon might stop at any moment."
rikki looked at her watch that was on her left arm. she confirmed the rooney's words, "not much."
the three girls pushed their way past the boys so that they could catch up with the sertori family as they made their way inside the juicenet cafe.
"let me through. i'm her father! watch out!" don stated in frustration as he pushed the boys aside to make a path for himself, his family and the three girls to get through.
alexa witnessed with her own eyes as cleo sang the siren call which entrapped all the boys in the cafe into a trance in which they were unable to escape from. the rooney found herself looking at niall who was stood beside byron in a trance. she couldn't take her eyes off him in case that if what she read about a siren was true then there was a slight chance that niall, alongside all the other boys in the room could get killed.
alexa hated to admit it but niall was slowly growing on her. surely, the two didn't exactly start off on the right foot but they were starting to get along. he saw her at her worse when she refused to let anyone else her delicate state. niall was the last person that alexa would expect to see her in such a fragile state and rather than bickering with her, he sat with her on the beach.
it was obvious that alexa had grown to care for niall. and she would do everything in her power to ensure that he wouldn't face death in the eye.
alexa's eyes flickered from niall's figure and over to cleo when she heard that her siren call had shifted to caterwaul which broke all the boys out of the trance that they had been put in as some boys covered their ears and scrunched their noses in disgust before they walked out of the juicenet cafe.
"wait! don't go!" cleo told the boys inside the juicenet cafe as she continued to sing badly into the microphone.
"it's over." emma told the two girls and the mccartney in relief. cleo could no longer sing which meant that the full moon had officially gone down.
"it sure is." lewis grumbled as he and the two blondes followed shortly behind the herd of boys out of the cafe.
alexa remained in her spot as cleo walked off the stage and up to the rooney with a sulken look on her face. alexa held her arms out and pulled the brunette sertori into a much needed hug. no words were said as the two brunettes remained in a tight embrace.
alexa muttered quietly into cleo's ear, "whatever happened last night and today was not your fault. it was the full moon's doing." she looked over cleo's shoulder and noticed don behind them who sent the rooney a thankful smile for being there for his daughter so she removed her arms around cleo and squeezed her hand gently, "i'll be here when you need me." she sent the brunette sertori and don a smile before she walked out of the juicenet cafe.
but before she could take a step further, she heard an all too familiar voice, "yo, speedy." she turned around and saw niall jogging up to her.
"hey." alexa greeted the henderson curtly, "is everything alright?"
niall's heart immediately began to beat at a quicker pace. it was always the little things that alexa did that made his heart burst. he sent the rooney a small smile, "yeah, everything's fine. i just wanted to ask you something."
alexa nodded her head, "of course, what is it?"
"the last thing i remember, i was at the gym doing my usual workout routine and after that, i took a short walk on the beach and the next thing, i find myself at the juicenet safe." niall informed the rooney, "you were at the juicenet cafe with your friends, by any chance do you know what happened?" he asked.
as much as alexa wanted to tell niall the entire truth, the mermaid secret was supposed to remain a secret. only the girls and lewis knew the secret and they vowed to keep it that way. alexa didn't want to lie to niall but sometimes, you had to do everything in your power to ensure that a secret was well kept so she lied to the henderson, "no. me and my friends saw the commotion that was happening at the cafe and we couldn't help but check to see what was happening."
niall had expected a solid answer from the rooney but he was upset that he didn't get the answer he wanted. rather than further pressing on the matter, he decided to drop it, "so, where are you headed speedy?"
alexa rolled her eyes at the nickname, "you know, you could just call me alexa."
niall shook his head, "nah, that's too formal. 'speedy' is more personalised for you and only i can call you that." he sent the rooney a charming smile.
"lovely. well, if you must know, i'm staying over at cleo's so i'm just heading to her house." alexa told the henderson.
niall clapped his hands together, "well, don't let me stop you, speedy. i'm just on my way to meet byron at the beach. see you around speedy." he sent a fingerwave to the rooney before he jogged away in the direction of the beach.
alexa smiled at the disappearing figure of the henderson before she slightly rolled her eyes at his antics. her phone vibrated in the pocket of her floral skirt which indicated that she had gotten a message so she took her phone out of her pocket to read the message that she had received.
EMMA
we're all at cleo's to discuss the events that had happened over the past twenty-four hours.
alexa typed back a response to the gilbert.
ALEXA
i'm on my way.
the rooney placed her phone back in the pocket of her skirt before she walked in the direction of the sertori household. she knocked on the front door to reveal cleo who had opened the door wider for the rooney to enter. emma and rikki were both sat by the kitchen table when cleo and alexa joined them.
"this whole 'full moon' thing is so creepy." cleo began, "i wasn't that embarrassing, right?" she asked the three girls as she had no recollection of the events that had happened when she was under the influence of the full moon.
emma, rikki and alexa shared a look as they hid their smiles the best they could, "no, of course not." emma replied to the sertori.
"don't worry. before you know it, everyone will have forgotten." rikki reassured cleo.
"she's right." alexa chimed in, "niall came up to me with no recollection of how he ended up at the juicenet cafe. this means that he as well as the other boys won't remember what happened the last few hours." which earned a sigh of relief from the three girls.
the radio that was being played in the sertori household went off, "and back by popular request, the amazing voice of cleo sertori." the dj played cleo's caterwauling after the effects of the full moon had vanished which caused the brunette sertori to abruptly stand up from her seat at the kitchen table to turn off the radio.
cleo turned around to face the three girls with a distraught look on her face, "i'm never going to live this down." she lightly shook her head which earned a light chuckle from alexa and a wide smile from emma and rikki which caused cleo to reciprocate the action.
"about that.." alexa began with a nervous chuckle, "just to let you know that whilst you were under the influence under the full moon, you and lewis may or may not have kissed." she revealed to the brunette sertori.
"what?" cleo questioned aloud in disbelief. she turned to face rikki and emma who both nodded their heads in agreement to the rooney's words, "oh no." she muttered to herself. just then, a knock was heard at the front door which gained the attention of the four girls, "i'll get it." she said before she walked off towards the front door.
"so it looks like emma and cleo have been under the influence of the full moon. it's now up to lex and i to see who's next to fall under the influence of the full moon." rikki spoke up once cleo was gone.
emma shook her head, "we don't know for sure if lex is immune to the full moon. and i'd rather we don't take any chances on that theory."
"at this point, anything is possible. the full moon granted you all the mermaid transformation and magical powers." alexa pointed out.
"dealing with the full moon didn't come up in the handbook of having a mermaid life." rikki retorted.
alexa told the chadwick knowingly, "every blessing comes with a curse, rikki."
rikki rolled her eyes, "yeah, yeah. whatever."
soon enough, cleo returned back to the three girls so the conversation shifted to a more light-hearted topic where laughter was erupted and smiles were plastered on the girls' faces. this just showed that the girls held more capability than what they were given credit for, given the circumstances they were under. and no matter what, they would always find their way back to each other.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: so sorry for not uploading any chapters to this book. i've been incredibly busy and it's only going to get worse but i'll do my best to upload a chapter whenever i get the chance. i plan on continuing this book up to season 2 but i am still unsure if i should continue up to season 3. if anyone thinks i should continue until season 3, please let me know in the comments.
in addition, i can't believe that this book has over 10k views. that is absolutely insane. thank you all for taking the time to read my book, it means so much.
in the mean time, please take care of yourselves and i hope you all have a good day <3.