Waterworks (H2O Just Add Water) 🌊

1. Metamorphosis

After helping my grandma with some errands, I checked out the marina. From what my dad and grandparents told me, it was a popular hot spot for fishermen and folks who lived in houseboats and where many water activities went on. Plus, it was the walking route to the local juice bar, where many teens hung out after school, and some had jobs there.

Dad grew up on the Gold Coast and was highly popular. Everyone loved him like he was a well-known celebrity. He was the golden boy since being a surfer and athletic swimmer. Dad would spend his weekends at the beach catching waves.

Soon, he decided to travel the world and check out various surfing spots in whatever country he was in. That's how Dad met Mom. She, too, traveled the world mainly to spread awareness of cleaning up beaches of trash and pollution. Somehow, they were a match made in heaven. Eventually, I came along.

I was born in Brisbane but grew up on Vancouver Island in Nanaimo. My maternal grandmother lived there, and both my parents and I moved there to help care for her since she was widowed. My maternal grandfather passed away a couple of years before I was born. She needed extra help since there were no other relatives to assist her.

My maternal grandmother died when I was ten. A few years later, Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it took a significant toll on her before dying nearly a year later. Dad moved us back to the Gold Coast to be with Grandma and Grandpa since nothing held us back in Nanaimo. Grandpa ran a drywall business, and Dad decided to help him out of it, especially after the latter wound up in the hospital after having high blood pressure while on the job. Grandma was thrilled to have me around. Whenever we visited, she always spent a lot of time with me.

Since setting in, I started attending the local high school, the one Dad attended when he was my age. Being a major introvert and geek, I felt a lot of pressure whenever one of the teachers asked me to introduce myself to the class since I was a foreigner and the daughter of a well-known alumni. Several others would ask me many questions, mainly if I was a surfer like Dad. He taught me how to surf when I was a lot younger. Soon, I developed a fear of surfing after hearing reports of shark attacks on surfers. However, Dad was an experienced surfer. He knew when it was the right time to get in and avoided times when sharks were active.

It had been nearly a month since I started school. Dad and my grandparents kept asking me if I had made friends whenever I came home at the end of the day. While living in Nanaimo, I had a couple of friends, but I soon moved off the island over a few years and lost contact with them. Since moving, I decided to make some new friends.

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Walking along the marina, I noticed a girl with brown hair pulled back into a braid hanging on one side. I recognized her as Cleo Sertori since I had several classes with her at school. She was nice on my first day and volunteered to show me around the school grounds. So far, we have only said hello whenever we see one another.

"Cleo!" someone called out to her.

I glanced over and saw that it was Zane Bennett, one of the famous guys. He came from a wealthy background and was prone to pulling pranks on others. His dad, Harrison, is a plastic surgeon. I bet that was how they were financially loaded. Plus, Dad was familiar with Dr. Bennett since they went to school together.

From what I've seen, Zane was a jerk. I noticed he was examining his Zodiac, a small red inflatable boat, and it looked like its engine had some problem.

From Cleo's facial expression, I saw some hesitation when Zane called her over to him like she had been the victim of his practical jokes one too many times. However, I detected something else that bothered Cleo. She begrudgingly walked over to him, and Zane told her he needed her to pass him some tools.