H2O: Just Add A Merman

Betrayal

I gripped Lewis's arm and dragged him inside my house to the living room. Everyone was in there waiting for him. They all had the same scowls towards him. "You think I wouldn't notice you guys spying on me?" Lewis asked with annoyance in his voice. "I mean where's the trust?"

Emma was the first to answer him. "I think it died when you accidentally gave our DNA to a world renowned marine biologist!"

"Or maybe it was when Lewis decided to take Doctor Baywatch Babe on a date to Mako Island!" Rikki added.

"You've gone too far Lewis," Cleo said with a serious look on her face.

"Yeah Lewis," I agreed. "You might as well hang us all up on a wall! Denman is getting too close to our secret!"

"Lewis I thought we could trust you!" Lauren said with anger clearly slowing in her eyes.

"You guys don't trust me?" Lewis asked with disbelief. "After everything we've been through? I've spent so much time trying to solve basic questions on why you guys are the way you are and this is what it comes down to?"

"They're our lives Lewis!" Rikki said. "We're being careful! Maybe you should be too!"

"Do you want to know what I think?" Lewis asked in a quiet voice. Oh joy, I couldn't wait to hear what Lewis had to say. "I think you guys are a bunch of kids!" Did he really just say that? Man if I wasn't going to hurt him before, I was itching to do it now. "At least Doctor Denman is a woman, and a little bit more... mature." After he said that, he walked out of the front door. My jaw dropped so far that it felt like I had to pick it up from the floor.

"Did he really just do that?" I asked with wide eyes.

"Yep," Rikki replied. "It looks like we completely lost Lewis now."

"I can't believe this!" Emma said.

"This isn't happening..." Cleo breathed.

"Since I can't contain my frustration right now," Rikki began. "I'm going to leave now." As she said that, she stomped her way to the front door, yanked the door open, and left my house slamming the door shut behind her.

Yeah, Rikki's pissed. I thought.

"We gotta go too Will," Emma said motioning to her and Cleo. "We have a lot to think about."

I waved to them as they too, walked out of my house. Lauren and I were the only ones left in the room. Kyle and Kaylie left earlier because they saw how heated the conversation with Lewis was getting. I walked over to my couched and flopped onto it. I rubbed my temples tiredly. This whole situation is really taking its toll on me. "This isn't good," I said quietly to Lauren. "Should I consider this an early birthday present?" I asked sarcastically.

Lauren took a seat next to me on the couch. Her fingers joined mine. "We'll find a way out of this somehow," she whispered. "I just know it."

"I hope so." I said with only an ounce of hope in my voice. Lauren then leaned into my side and not long after, Lauren dozed off into sleep because she was exhausted. I looked at her sleep with a smile on her face. This brightened my attitude up by a mile. Maybe things really were going to be okay. I suddenly felt my eyelids become heavy as I slowly closed my eyes. Before I knew it, I fell asleep with Lauren wrapped in my arms.

I was awoken by the sound of my mom chuckling slightly at the sight of Lauren and me. I suddenly remembered that my mom or dad didn't know that I had a girlfriend. I slowly opened my eyes to see my mom looking at me with a huge grin on her face. Uh oh. Here comes the barrage of questions. I thought. "Who's this pretty girl?" mom asked quietly because Lauren was still asleep.

"This is Lauren," I said. "She's my girlfriend." As I said that, it seemed like my mom was grinning from one ear to the other. Suddenly, Lauren stirred and finally awoke and sat up. As soon as she saw my mom, her cheeks flushed with red. I laughed a little. "Lauren, meet my mom."

"Pleased to meet you!" Lauren said happily as she shook my mom's hand.

"The pleasure is all mine!" my mom replied. "So tell me all about how you two met and got together!"

"Seriously Mom?" I asked under my breathe. Even though I was against it, Lauren was more than happy to talk about how we met. Of course she left out about how we first met on Mako Island because that would make my mom suspicious. And trust me, when my mom thinks something is up, she won't stop asking questions until she pries the truth right out of you. I've seen that happen to Kyle on many occasions. Instead of telling my mom that we met on Mako, Lauren told her that we bumped into each other on the beach. By the end of her story, my mom was jumping up and down in excitement.

"That's so adorable!" my mom cooed.

"Oh wow look at the time!" I said looking at an imaginary watch on my wrist. "Lauren and I have to be somewhere!" I didn't want to be around my mom for much longer because she was embarrassing the heck out of me. "I'll be back soon Mom!" I called as I Lauren and I started to walk out the door.

"Okay!" she called back. "Stay out of trouble!"

I rolled my eyes. Lauren and I started to walk into town. "Where are we going?" Lauren asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I just had to get out of there."

"Your mom's really nice!" Lauren said happily.

"Don't I know it?" I laughed. Suddenly both of our phones vibrated at the same time. When I looked at my phone, I saw that it was a group message from Cleo. It looked like she sent it to the girls and me.

From: Cleo

Bad news guys! I talked to Lewis earlier and he said that he was going with Denman on a scientific expedition! He's leaving here tomorrow morning! This is really bad!

I almost dropped my phone out of my hand. Lauren and I locked eyes. This situation with Denman just got worse. Much worse.