“Cleo. Cleo, wake up.” Someone said urgently, shaking Cleo on the shoulder.
“Wha…?” she asked, still half-asleep.
“Wake up, it worked!” Cleo opened her eyes to see Charlotte standing next to her bed. She had almost forgotten that they were roommates. Cleo got back from the lagoon last night and fell asleep before Charlotte returned.
“What worked?” she asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
“The new Moon Pool!” Charlotte answered excitedly. “I tested it in the bath this morning!”
Cleo was out of bed in a flash. “Prove it.”
Ten minutes later, Cleo was helping Charlotte dry off on their bathroom floor. It was lucky that each dorm room had its own bathroom, otherwise they risked exposure every time they wanted to get clean.
There were more important problems that Cleo should have been thinking of, instead of how lucky they were to have separate bathrooms. Namely, Charlotte’s tail. And if Charlotte had a tail, Sophie did, too.
Cleo texted the others about the bad news. As much as she didn’t want to, she had to explain things to Sophie and be nice to Charlotte.
Charlotte’s legs appeared soon enough, and she hopped to her feet happily. Cleo frowned. She didn’t swear much, but she sure felt like it now.
“Do you want to get some breakfast and catch up properly?” Charlotte asked her. Cleo nodded, but was unsure. At least in a big crowd of people Charlotte couldn’t hurt her.
The breakfast hall at U of C was spacious and elegant. It was a huge difference from the cafeteria at her high school. There were many different options for tables, from two-seats to long, stretch tables. Windows covered one entire wall, offering a spectacular view of the ocean. And the smells…
Cleo got a bottle of coconut water, two pancakes in blueberry sauce, and a large piece of bacon. She needed to indulge after such a stressful night, so she also grabbed a chocolate chip muffin. She met Charlotte at a two-seating table next to the window.
Charlotte also had a large breakfast, Belgian waffles soaked in syrup, bacon, scrambled eggs, and orange juice. Perhaps she was celebrating a perfectly executed plan.
“So…” Charlotte began, sipping her juice. “How was senior year?”
Cleo wasn’t sure how to answer, so she tried “friendly”. “Uh…pretty good. A few mishaps here and there, but we made a new friend and I got my grades up.”
“Bella’s the new friend, I’m assuming?”
Cleo nodded. “How was Townsville?” she asked. She had heard that’s where she moved after transferring schools.
“I was sad at first, because of Lewis and losing my powers, but time goes on. I made new friends, a new boyfriend, you know how it is.” Charlotte replied nonchalantly.
“Are you still together?” Cleo asked between bites.
“No, we broke up before I came here. Neither of us were committed enough for a long distance relationship. How’s your love life?”
Cleo tensed and waited a long time before answering. “Lewis is in America at the moment…he should be coming back soon.”
She judged Charlotte’s face to see her reaction. She didn’t look particularly happy to learn Cleo and Lewis were still together, but she didn’t seem angry, either. Maybe she really had moved on.
They chatted about a few other things like their majors, how they wanted to decorate their room, and senior year. Their breakfasts were over by the time Cleo got around to the important topic: last night.
“So how did you meet Sophie?” she asked cautiously. She didn’t want to sound too accusative, not while Charlotte was being nice.
“She’s on our floor, too. She came up to me after I ran into Rikki, and we got talking. She told me about a comet that was about to hit, and it magically got destroyed. I knew you, Rikki and Emma were involved somehow. Then Sophie and I started talking about you guys—not the nicest things, I’m afraid.” Charlotte said apologetically. “We saw you guys leaving into the water and Sophie thought it was the strangest thing, you all diving into the ocean fully clothed. Then your heads didn’t pop up…”
Cleo finished her coconut water. Had they really been that reckless? Had other people seen them take off to the lagoon?
Charlotte continued. “I tried to keep her away, but I was afraid she would call the police and report four drownings. And by the way, four? You’ll have to tell me more about Bella sometime. Anyway, Sophie found a boat and we tried following you guys. I was a little curious about where you would go, but of course we couldn’t exactly follow you. We got a little lost, but found an island. Right in the center of it was that pond. Sophie told me she recognized the crystals from the moon pool and I knew it was special. It was a full moon, I wanted to see if I could get my powers back, and you know the rest.” She finished with a smile.
“But Sophie doesn’t know.” Cleo replied. “She could be exposing her secret right now! We have to find her.”
“Relax, Cleo. On the boat ride home last night I told her what would happen. After seeing you four, she believed me.”
“Then we have to help her…there’s so much she doesn’t know.” Cleo was getting angry now. “I think we should find her, and the other girls, and have a little training session.”
“Okay.” Charlotte agreed serenely. “Let’s go.”
Cleo and Charlotte walked out of the cafeteria together and Cleo realized just how strange it was about to be, working with Charlotte instead of against her.
