And smile.
- There you go! - Thank you!
You know, it takes fewer muscles to just say no.
Had to do something whilst I was waiting.
- OK, yep, sorry. I got a little caught up. - I'm surprised you even showed at all.
All right, OK, yep, I get it. I've been a little… inconsistent lately.
It's OK. I'm sure you'll tell me about it when you're ready.
Emma!
Byron. Hey.
I knew it was you. I saw you back there and thought, Emma. Hey, Rikki.
Hi, Byron.
So, I stand out, do I?
Of course you do. You're dependable. Always the same look. The same vibe.
It's like you can count on the sun and Emma.
Anyway, later.
Was that a compliment or an insult?
It's a toss-up.
Do you think I'm predictable?
Let me answer your question with a question.
Do you count how many times you chew each mouthful?
That's not being predictable, that's just good health sense.
And my role in this conversation ends now.
You know what I think?
I think our lives have gotten so nutty lately,
it's nice to have a normal person we can rely on.
- I'm predictable. - That's not what I meant.
"The sun and Emma." I know what this is about.
- This has got nothing to do with Byron. - Uh-huh.
You two just confirmed it for me. I'm sick of being "dependable Emma."
I need a change. I'm gonna color my hair.
Girls. I am so glad I bumped into you.
Miss Chatham, hi.
How are you, Miss Chatham? - In all honesty, Emma, I'm very concerned.
I just wanted to tell you that you must stick together.
No matter what, you must be there for one other.
Promise me.
Miss Chatham, I don't know what you're worrying about,
but as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing I wouldn't do for Cleo and Rikki.
Absolutely. The three of us are like best friends. No secrets. Right?
- Right. Right.
I'm glad.
Rikki!
OK, so when?
- When what? - When are we gonna go out?
The two of us? Forget it.
Oh, you're kidding me. We can't disappoint everyone like that.
- Disappoint who? - Your friends.
How are they ever gonna tell you I'm no good for you if you won't go out with me?
And what about my mates?
They're just waiting for the chance to hassle me about
hanging with the freaky, weird chick.
Come on, a lot of people have a lot riding on this.
Wow, you have friends?
- Rikki. - Zane, we can't. Forget it.
You might be saying no today, but the other day when we kissed,
your lips, they were saying yes.
Zane, the list of reasons why we should never, ever go out is endless.
On top of it is the fact that, up until a few days ago,
the thought of you made me wanna hurl.
And now?
I… find you less repulsive.
Progress.
What's up?
Miss Chatham.
- What's she looking at? - Us.
Is she hassling you? No. She's harmless.
Are you sure? - I'm sure.
She's weird. There's something about her—
I'm sure.
- So, about my offer. - Let me think about it.
- Really? - No.
Are you sure you know what you're doing?
It's easy. I've done this a thousand times.
Really?
No, but I've seen it being done before. Let's go.
Let's wait for Rikki. You know how she is, always feeling like the odd one out.
You're backing out, aren't you?
Because it sounds like you're wavering here.
I'm not backing out. Let's do this.
Wilfred, give me a wheatgrass, carrot and papaya juice.
Comin' up.
Ooh, one day, Wilfred, I am gonna create a combination so gross
it is gonna stop you in your tracks.
Better men have tried, Lewis.
What do you know about that old Chatham woman?
Nothing. No one does.
Why are you Googling her name?
Lewis, the day I tell you my business is the day I care what you think.
Zane, right now people just think you're an obnoxious, thoughtless,
spoiled little rich kid. Let us not add stalker to the list.
Who is it?
If you're gonna bother to ask, you should probably lock the door.
Especially looking like that.
Sorry about the tail. I forgot water was involved.
- You wanna keep going? - Of course. I'm not stopping now.
Whoa! Are you really going this red? "Scarlet Fever"?
What? I thought you said it was "Indian Sunrise."
Don't worry.
It'll look great.
The boat lurched like it hit somethin' under the water.
Something big.
The boat tilted. I go in the water.
I'm tellin' ya, I thought I was a goner.
I am a rotten swimmer.
But then somethin' grabbed me. I passed out.
The next thing I know, I'm on the beach.
I thought you were looking up Miss Chatham?
I am. This came up. A newsreel from the fifties.
Ah. Any excuse to get back to your monster hunting. This is a hoax.
For your information, there were other witnesses to this guy's story.
Zane, it was the fifties. Reds under the beds.
People imagining there were communist subs everywhere. All kinds of stuff.
- Back off, OK? - All right.
- Hey, Zane, what ya doing? - Busy.
Too busy for me?
I'm going shopping for belly button rings and I wanted a guy's opinion.
The fisherman was dragged ashore by a local girl,
- Sixteen-year-old Louise Chatham. - What?
How does it feel to be a hero, Louise?
I don't feel like that. I just saw him in the surf and dragged him ashore.
Mr. Hancock told us something big, a monster, saved him.
But his boat sank about 20 miles offshore.
How did he make it back?
I'm not sure, but I didn't see any sea monsters out there.
The fisherman, Mr. Hancock,
provided me with a drawing of what he saw.
So for the time being anyway, this reporter is keeping an open mind.
It's her, isn't it?
- What? - Miss Chatham.
Uh, no.
That's her.
I'm onto something, Lewis. This is big.
Well?
Well…
You're a red clown nose away from selling burgers.
I look awful. What have you done to me?
Look, we have to dry your hair and get you back to normal as soon as possible.
It was supposed to dry lighter.
It better.
I want a change, but this is…
I know. You should think of this next time you feel like an impulsive act.
Why me?
I'm running late for work. Here.
What do I do with this?
Cleo!
Hey!
Wait, what do I do? What if it doesn't dry lighter?
How should I know? Just… tell her it looks OK.
But it doesn't.
Hi, Zane. Bye, Zane.
Um, I'm actually here to see Emma. I need to see her urgently.
You can't.
She's not home?
Well, yes, she is, but, you can't… Zane. Wait, Zane, you can't go up there.
- Emma! Where are you?
- I need to talk to you. - Zane, no!
- Is she in the bathroom? - Yes. You can't go in. It's private.
Emma!
Emma! I just need to talk to you for two seconds.
Emma? Emma, come on. Come out.
There you are.
Emma, I need to talk to you about something really important.
What do you want, Zane?
- Where did Rikki go? - Does it matter?
Look, the thing is,
I know you're not gonna approve of this,
and I don't wanna compromise your feelings for her in any way, OK?
But that old woman, Miss Chatham?
I need to talk to her and I don't know where she is.
Miss Chatham?
You might wanna talk to her, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't wanna talk to you.
We've had our differences. Sure.
But I think she knows more about that sea creature thing than she's letting on.
Why do you think— I remember I was on her boat
and there was all this really, really weird stuff
that she'd collected from all over the place.
But before I could get a proper look,
the old rust bucket started sinking and I panicked.
I was trapped…
and I was going down really fast.
I had no chance of escape.
I started to black out…
and that's when I saw what I saw.
Emma.
I need answers. This is all I can think about.
She knows something about the sea creature.
Look, Zane, I don't know what happened to you,
but Miss Chatham's my friend and it's your fault her boat sank.
You're not gonna help me, are you?
OK, it's always a pleasure. I'll find her myself.
Thanks for the help.
So, what are we gonna do?
I dunno, but I feel really uncomfortable about this.
And your hair. The red. Where did that go?
It must have been the change.
I was a mermaid when we dyed it, and now I'm back to normal, so is the hair.
So, when you're a mermaid it's gonna be red again?
I don't know. But I can't believe we went through all that trouble for nothing.
So what are we gonna do about Zane? He's onto something.
- Maybe I should talk to him? - You? Why would he listen to you?
I know your secret, "Louise."
In the '50s, you rescued a fisherman from a boat wreck.
Back then you said you didn't see anything, but you did, didn't you?
I saw you sink my boat.
Stop playing games.
You know something about the creature. You've seen it too.
I know a lot of things.
- But you don't. - Zane!
You're young. And stupid.
- Leave her alone. You're scaring her. - I'm just asking her questions.
I want you to leave her alone.
Either that or you can come and help me feed the sharks.
You'd be the entree.
Fine.
If you don't wanna talk to me,
I'll have to have another look at your boat.
Are you OK?
But he's going to my boat.
But there's nothing on the boat, is there? He'd be wasting his time, right?
Right?
There's a photo? - There's a photo.
- But wouldn't the sea water— - It's in an old metal chest.
So? It doesn't mean he's gonna be able to open it.
Do we really wanna take that chance?
- What's the photo of? - Three girls.
- Miss Chatham and her friends. - So, it proves she had friends.
With tails. It's the same as the one in Miss Chatham's locket, only bigger.
Oh, no. This is bad.
Look, I have stuff to do. Bye and good luck.
What was that all about?
We don't have time to worry about it at the moment.
Cleo's gotta get back to work and we need to find Zane, now.
Done.
Excellent. What did you do?
- Know anything about motors? - No.
Well, then think of it as magic.
This is only gonna delay Zane for a while, so you should get going.
No…
No more monster hunts. Especially around Mako Island.
- Why not? - Because I'm allergic to shark bites.
We'll be fine. Look, I'm onto something, something big.
I swear.
And I don't wanna have to share the royalties with Lewis.
- Lewis? - Yeah.
I kinda promised him a cut.
OK, well, if there's money involved, real money, I'm in.
OK.
Zane.
- Hey. - You wanna know why
I won't go out with you? Because you're obsessed.
This sea monster thing is nuts.
- OK. Thanks for sharing. - I mean it.
Drop it and maybe we can talk.
- Yeah? When? Are we going?
Yeah. Look, I've gotta see this thing through.
I'm sorry. I'll see you later.
I am gonna sue those service guys.
Settle down.
OK, kick it again.
- Nice one.
Yeah, let's see Lewis do that.
This is it.
See any sharks?
We'll be fine, Nate. Come on, let's dive.
You think they look happy? - Spectacularly, stupidly happy.
You think we ever look like that?
I hope not.
What do you think it was?
- What? - That split them up?
What happened to the other two?
Maybe that's why Miss Chatham
always gives us all that stuff about sticking together.
Maybe something happened to her friends that she doesn't want to happen to us.
You know, secrets can tear people apart.
We've all got secrets.
Just a particularly big one. Which luckily is still a secret.
One that Zane isn't going to get.
So, we can trust each other, right?
Right. - Right.
And people who trust each other do things for each other.
I smell something coming.
I want my hair back to normal.
No one even knows you're a redhead, it's only when you're a mermaid.
Yeah, I know. That's enough for me. I hate it.
What about change? What about good old dependable Emma?
Change is overrated.
Hi, Emma.
- Hey, Byron. - Hi, Byron.
- Byron. - Something's different.
You look good. Have you done something to your hair?
No, but thanks.
Now that was a definitely a compliment.
I am telling you, this was more than just a shape or a shadow.
I saw her as clear as day.
- A mermaid.
This mass of red hair followed by this long tail. Nate?
What? You're asking me?
Look, I'm going back out there. This is real now.
There is a mermaid out there and I'm gonna prove it.
Who's coming with me?
A mermaid? Have you gone completely insane?
He saw something out here, cos when he came out of that water,
- he was like a scared little boy.
Nate, do me a favor, and don't help. OK?
So what exactly did this "mermaid" look like?
She had red hair.
- Was she cute? - I didn't see her face.
- Old? Young? I don't know.
But I told you there was something about that old woman.
Miss Chatham has grey hair, Zane. She's not your mermaid.
Maybe not, but she's somehow connected.
What about you, Nate, what exactly did you see?
Well, nothing. I was on the surface by then.
Zane, I think the oxygen got cut off to your brain.
Look, babe, maybe you need to chill for a while.
- He saw me. - How?
Out on Miss Chatham's boat.
I was careless. I'm an idiot.
Don't beat yourself up about it.
I mean, look around. No one's gonna believe him.
He's not gonna let it go either though.
All right, look, as long as you don't go in the water, he can't find you.
Wait. Where's Rikki?
What's up with her lately?
Zane, wait!
What, do you wanna humiliate me some more?
- No audience. No point. - Oh, that's very big of you.
I wanna go out with you.
But the mermaid talk stops.
Look, I like you. Don't ask me why because I have no idea. But I do.
- No mermaids? - That's the deal. Take it or leave it.
OK, no mermaids.