Rikki was so lost in her thoughts, that she almost didn't hear her name being called out behind her. She knew that voice, and so logically she ignores it's owner. But of course, the said owner wouldn't stop calling her, and with each passing second her voice gets closer.
Rikki is tempted to ride faster, and loose the caller, but she knew it would be Petty of her. Plus, if it wasn't important that said caller wouldn't have been persistent. So, against her better judgement, she stops her bicycle to the side of the street and waits for her.
Emma stops beside her in a few heart beats.
" Didn't you hear me when I called? " She asks almost out of breath.
" I did. " Rikki responds simply uninterested.
" Then why didn't you stop? " Emma asks.
Rikki goes to respond, but Emma wave her off " never mind that. Cleo says we should meet her on the beach by the rocks " she states
Rikki furrows her eyebrows and looks at her wrist watch.
" It's only 4:35, I thought she told us to meet by 5:00, what's the rush? " She asks
" I don't know but she sounded urgent, come on. " Emma replies, and rides off towards the beach.
Rikki follows.
* * *
When they get there, they see Cleo waiting, and nervously fiddling her fingers.
" Yo! Twiddle thumbs, what's wrong? " Rikki asks as they get closer.
" What took you guys so long, I've been waiting for hours! " Cleo exclaims frantically.
" Chill out will ya, princess just told me not too long ago " Rikki says pointing to Emma.
" Oh so it's my fault we're late " Emma retorts glaring
" Guys! There is no time for that now. We have more serious matters to attend to " Cleo snaps
This causes Emma and Rikki to stare at her in surprise. Cleo never snaps so this must be really important.
" Ok, I'm sorry Cleo, what's the matter? " Emma asks
" Something happened today, and I can't explain it, I didn't mean to, it just happened, I mean he was going to run us over with his bike, and I was scared, so I.... I...." Cleo begins frantic.
" Slow down Cleo, who... What are you talking about? " Rikki asks stepping forward, genuinely interested in what Cleo was saying.
" Let's sit down Cleo, then you can start from the beginning " Emma says, and helps Cleo sit on a boulder.
Rikki follows behind them.
When they sit, Cleo begins to narrate what went down between she, Lewis, and Zaine.
When she's half way through, Rikki interrupts " that stupid retard " she sneers.
Emma shoots her a look and then turns to Cleo " what happened next, Cleo? " She asks gently seeing how shaken up her friend is.
Cleo then explains what happened with the fire hydrant and how she ran away.
" Whoa.. " Rikki breathes
" Wait, you controlled the water in the hydrant..." Emma starts confizzled
" And knocked out that asshole Zaine, nice " Rikki interrupts thoroughly impressed
" Yes, don't make me feel worse than I already do " Cleo says with her face in her palms.
" Don't feel bad Cleo, Zaine deserves everything that happens to him. I really hope he has a concussion after this " Rikki says with a devious glint in her eyes.
Emma looks at her with her eyebrows raised and shakes her head
" Oh gosh, I hope not, I won't be able to live with myself if that happened to him, however much of an idiot he is " Cleo says looking at Rikki in utter horror with tears in her eyes.
It was obvious she legit felt guilty about what she had done.
" Don't worry Cleo, Zain will be just fine. It's going to take more than a hydrant malfunction to crack that thick skull of his. Plus you did say, that he was wearing a helmet right? " Emma asks with a reassuring hand on Cleo's shoulder.
Cleo nods affirmative, her head still buried in her palm.
" Then there's nothing to be worked up about. What we should concern ourselves with is what you did with the water and how you did it, do you know Cleo? " Emma asks prying Cleo's hands from her face.
Cleo looks at her, then at Rikki, then looks down again.
" I can't explain it..." She trails off
" Just try Cleo, what exactly did you feel when this happened? " Emma asks looking intently at Cleo.
Rikki keeps quiet as they wait for Cleo to start talking.
" I... I was scared, that's for sure, and then I started to feel... Something like warm liquid.. flow through my body... Kind of like... Like vines wrapping around me... I felt this power... And then I noticed the hydrant... And well... You know the rest " she finishes with a sigh.
Emma and Rikki remain quiet for a while, until Rikki speaks up
" You know when you guys asked me about what happened this morning with the bitch, I wasn't completely honest with my answer " she says gaining the attention of the others.
" Really " Emma says with an eyebrow raised condescendingly.
" Yes. Really. " Rikki says sternly not in the mood for Emma right now.
" I don't understand. " Cleo says confused.
" Well, when the bitch was talking to me... I felt very angry... And then I felt this heat wrap around my body... I can't quite explain it... But just like Cleo, I felt very powerful like nothing could hurt me, which was why I continued to role her up even though I knew I should've just walked away... But in my defense, she started it... " She begins to defend herself
" Rikki focus! " Emma interrupts bringing Rikki back.
" Right the same thing happened to me this morning at your house too, I guess that's why the snow didn't affect me when I walked in, and this morning, when I woke up, my entire body was covered in sweat, and I had somehow burnt my bed spread almost through to my mattress and maybe that's why the bitch's hand also got burnt... "
" And mine " Emma adds
" And yours " Rikki finishes.
" What about you Em, what exactly happened in your room this morning? " Cleo asks looking at Emma
Emma sighs and begins rubbing her temples a little " I honestly don't know what happened. I just woke up, and my room was like that... But when Rikki and I started arguing, I felt... Angry also, and this chill appeared, and wrapped around my body, like I was wearing an armour made of solid ice... But I didn't feel cold, if anything I felt at ease and... Powerful. It was the same that happened today at school when we were arguing... Again.. "
" Which is why you nearly froze my arm off " Rikki adds quietly
" Yeah, and that " Emma says
They all stay quiet for a moment, lost in their thoughts. They all sigh almost simultaneously
" Well this has been one crazy ass day " Rikki announces
" Tell me about it " Emma mutters
They revert back to silence, until Emma pipes up
" I quit the swim team today. " She says quietly
Cleo's head snaps up, her eyes wide in alarm.
" Oh no, Emma, why? " She asks grasping Emma's hands.
Emma smiles dryly " why else, due to recent developments, I can't exactly get wet in public or else you want me to end up a science experiment " she says her shoulders slumped in defeat
" I'm so sorry Emma. That's why you waited after school isn't it? " Cleo asks, Emma nods.
" This is so unfair. You worked so hard for this, the school, the team, how are they ever gonna make it to Nationals without you, you're the captain! " Cleo exclaims frustrated.
" Was the captain. And please Cleo, don't make me feel worse than I already do. I'm well aware of the consequences, but I don't exactly have a choice now do I " Emma states dryly.
Rikki only stares at the two of them. Although she hasn't known them long, she can tell that quitting the swim team was really hard on Emma, and if she said anything, it may come off as bitchy and the last thing she wanted was another argument. Plus, she isn't really good at comforting people, so she keeps her mouth shut.
" We have to fix this. This mermaid thing can't be permanent. We can't let it ruin our lives this way. There has to be something we can do about it " Cleo says with a hard expression on her face.
" What do you mean by 'fix' this. You're saying it like it's some kind of problem " Rikki finally speaks up rather annoyed by Cleo's comment.
" That's because it is a problem. Rikki being mermaids is going to ruin our lives. It's only been two days, and look what's happened. It's only gonna get worse as time goes by " Cleo says equally annoyed.
" What makes you so sure? The only reason things are seemingly out of hand, is because we are new to this and don't know how to control everything that's happening to us. But I know we can do it, we just have to figure out how. " Rikki explains.
" You sound like you want to keep your tail. I don't blame you tho, you haven't lost anything because of it " Emma snaps bitterly glaring at Rikki.
" That's not the point. Look Emma, I'm sorry about the swim team okay, but you both have been looking at this from a negative angle.. " Rikki states
" What other angle is there? " Emma asks rhetorically
" These powers are a gift. Cleo, you can manipulate water, and make it do whatever the hell you want.. " she says to Cleo " and Emma, I'm pretty sure you can turn the whole of Aqua Grove into Antarctica, considering what happened in your room today. We can breathe underwater, that means that we can swim for however long we want to and to wherever in the world we want to go.. " she takes a deep breath as she has been talking in a frenzy, trying to get her point across " ... You may have lost your captaincy Emma, but that doesn't mean you lost the right to swim, heck, you've been given even more reasons to be in the water, who gives two shits that it's not in front of a bunch of wannabe posers. We've been given something that I'm totally sure anyone out there would kill to have and all you're doing is whine and complain about it... " She stands up to go " I don't know about the two of you, but I'm keeping my powers, cause the way I see it, my life just got a helluva lot more interesting because of it. I'll see you around " she walks away, picks up her bicycle and rides off, leaving Cleo and Emma with a lot to think of.
" Maybe she's right Cleo. These powers, as annoying and messed up as they may be, they are really cool. I would never have thought that I'd be able to make it snow in my room, and probably the whole town. " Emma says thoughtfully.
" But because of this you lost something you worked your whole life to get, and you're just going to throw it all away because you can freeze stuff with your body? " Cleo asks genuinely confused.
" I don't know Cleo " she sighs " look, it's been a long day, and we are all just stressed out, and maybe after a good night's rest, we'll all be able to think clearly and know what to do next. You're flustered because of this whole Zaine incident and... "
Cleo interrupts not willing to hear the end " no Em, I'm not doing this anymore. I hurt someone today, a person, and no matter how awesome it felt, I am never doing it again. Im going to fix this with or without you" she says resolutely.
" And of you can't? What re you going to do then? " Emma asks quietly
" Then I guess I'm never going into the water again... Good night Em. " Cleo says, then stands up and leaves.
Emma sits a while as the evening breeze scatters her blonde hair around her face. She is trying to wrap her head around everything. Needless to say, it was a lot. Emma walks a little ways towards the water, and stops at the edge of the boulder. She watches as the waves crash on the rocks as if fighting to get to her.
There is no stat in the sky, and the moon hadn't come out yet. It was getting really dark tho. Looking at her wrist watch, she can see it's already 6:30. Emma didn't know what to think. On one hand, she loved having powers, it made her feel special, and it was a feeling not even being team captain ever gave her. On the other, she hated the change that came with it. Nothing in her life would ever remain the same, and she couldn't tell whether that was a good or bad thing. Some things, only time would answer.
With a sigh, she reluctantly leaves the beach even though all she wants is to go for a swim, but she had a curfew and missing it was not an option. Emma rides home with the hope that tomorrow might be a better, less stressful day, cause she isn't sure how much more stress she can handle...
# # # #
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I have done it! Over 2000 words! and they said it couldn't be done...
Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter, it is one of my deepest yet, a lot of soul searching is being done right now by our protagonists.
Some want the gift, others don't, while others are yet to decide their lot in life...
Don't be alarmed however, for this is just the beginning... Why do I feel like I've said this before, 🤔 oh well u can't have too many beginnings, but there can only be one end... That was unnecessarily deep....
Please don't forget to vote, comment, and share... Pls spread the fun...
I am less than 400 reads from my prospective target, and I need all your support to get there.
Song suggestion: ON by BTS
That track is so 🔥🔥🔥🔥 but then again, the whole album Map Of The Soul:7 is.
Tell me your favorite kpop band, in the comments and I might just write a fan fiction dedicated to them 😉
Thanks lovelyz
Till next time
Luwiza out ✌️