Alone With You (Remma)

Lemon-Lime in Love

Cleo had known Lewis for her entire life. She knew his favorite color, place, insect, bird. She knew it all. In addition, she always seemed to know when he was lying or hiding something. Lately, it was written all over his face. He wouldn't look her in the eyes when they were talking, he seemed to drift off in thought every three seconds, and he hadn't been fishing in days. That was extra unusual, considering he didn't seem to leave his house without his pole.

Cleo was smart and perceptive. Lewis always said that people took for granted how clever she could be when she was motivated. She knew that one of the only new things in Lewis's life was his new job with Dr. Perfect and she reckoned that was the only thing that Lewis could be hiding something about. She assumed that he had slipped up and said too much to the woman about what he knew about three certain teenage girls, but she wondered, if that was the case, why he hadn't told her yet. She could have helped Lewis to steer Dr. Denman back into oblivion, and plus, it was her secret on the line after all. She had a right to know if Lewis had given someone even a clue about the truth.

She worked at the Marine Park and had far too easy access to all of the rooms in the Marine Park Work Center. That was how she got Lewis into Dr. Denman's lab in the first place. When he told her that Dr. Denman had asked him to go scuba diving near Mako Island for research, she knew she had an opening to get into the lab when Dr. Denman wasn't there.

She arrived at work early on Saturday and took her time walking into the work center so as to not look suspicious to her coworkers. It wasn't odd at all for her to walk into the building every now and then to use the nice bathroom or escape the Australian heat for a moment. Cleo said hello to the receptionist who smiled and waved in response, not bothering to ask where she was headed because Cleo was regularly in the center. She went up the stairs to the second floor and the lab door was already open. She walked in, closed the door, and took a seat in front of Dr. Denman's computer.

Upon opening it, she saw an article which looked unfinished, the title, "Just Add Water: The Phenomenon Of Spontaneous Cellular Mutation." As Cleo began reading the piece, she became increasingly alarmed. She wasn't positive, but it seemed like the doctor had a unique sample of an unknown substance which transformed when it touched water. Lewis wouldn't be that stupid, would he? she thought. The more she read, the more convinced she was that Lewis had given some sort of mermaid DNA to Denman for her to study. It was devastating to say the least. She wondered if she could even trust him to tell the truth if she asked him about it.

Someone knocked on the door as Cleo was shutting the computer with her new findings and she didn't have time to hide before the door was open, a janitor standing in the hallway.

"Cleo?" he asked. "What are you doing up here?"

"I was just...looking for my friend," she replied, unconvincingly.

The janitor wasn't easily tricked but was very familiar with Cleo and her family so he only told her not to let him catch her on the second floor again. She quickly agreed and said it wouldn't happen again before speed walking out of the building. She had gotten the information she needed but she wasn't sure she was happy with what she found out about the boy she thought she knew so well.

—

Emma and Rikki sat on Emma's bed waiting for Cleo to arrive with her "BIG NEWS!!!!!" Emma faced away from Rikki to text Byron.

Byron: Elliot did really well today! Almost stood fully up on the board

Emma: That's great! I feel bad that we're not paying you for lessons

Byron: I told you I would feel bad taking your money, I've known your family forever

Byron was so kind and tan, but Emma was struggling with her plan to develop a crush on him again. She did like him, just not in the way she wished she did. She wanted to want to kiss him and date him but the only lips on her mind belonged to the girl sitting next to her. The more she ignored Rikki's blue eyes and sarcastic, yet attractive, remarks, the more she fell for the girl, it seemed.