(My apologies in advance dear readers. I know that I've already used "Clearing the Water" once as a title, but I honestly couldn't think of anything else to call this episode.—tmw.)
Julie Stovall stared at her fiance Eric Anderson.
This nervous sounding Eric wasn't the Eric she'd fell in love with and really been getting to know since he became a weremer.
"Eric... are you okay?" Julie asked, "You don't look good."
Eric just stared at her.
The fact that she was still wearing the single pearl necklace he had given her that fateful day they declared their love for each other* gave him hope, but that feeling was fleeting as a voice called out "Hey guys!"
Both turned to see Arthur Curtis coming up the sidewalk toward them.
Eric did not want a confrontation, at least not here on school property.
He looked back at Julie and coldly said, "I'll see you later," before leaving to enter the school building.
Julie was beside herself as she just watched Eric leave.
"Hi Julie. Everything all right?" Arthur, another were-merman, asked as he approached her.
"I'm not sure," admitted Julie, still staring at the direction Eric took.
Then Arthur saw it.
"Oh..." he said, feeling forlorn.
"Oh what?" asked Julie. "I've already had enough mystery this morning. What's going on?"
"I honestly didn't know," confessed Arthur. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" asked a confused Julie.
"That I didn't know that you're engaged. I've always thought you were cute, but have been too shy to say more than hello to you," confessed Arthur. "After all, with your dad being the mayor and my family just getting by..."
"Money has nothing to do with romance. Surviving, sure. But there's more to life than that, or at least, I like to think so," replied Julie.
"Before we get deeply philosophical, all I know is that I've always wanted to get to know you better. We may both be were-mers, but we're not even in the same pod. So when this oral report came up, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. We could have at least become friends, and if something more serious developed between us, I certainly wouldn't have said no," admitted Arthur.
"Oh... my..." said Julie, trying to collect herself, even as she started to feel herself blush. "Trust me, I'm extremely flattered, but my heart already belongs to another."
"I see that now," realized Arthur, pointing at the single pearl necklace Julie proudly wore around her neck. "Who's the lucky fellow?"
"Eric Anderson," she said happily.
"Eric?" repeated Arthur. "Over the last week I've heard rumors around the school about a normal who joined were society because he fell in love, but I never thought..."
"It was truly magical," said Julie, recalling the happy event. "The moment I first saw him in the hallway, I knew Eric was the one."
"That hasn't happened to me yet. Maybe someday I'll find the one I'm destined to fall in love with and marry," hoped Arthur.
"I'm sure your mate is out there, somewhere. Just because you haven't met yet, doesn't mean you'll never meet at all."
"Yeah. Anyway, I hope I haven't caused any trouble between you and Eric," said Arthur, apologetically.
Then realization dawned on Julie.
"Oh no!" she said. "Considering what Eric's told me about his past before moving to Moon Lake, he must have been worried that I'd, that is we..."
"I'm sorry," said Arthur again. "I truly didn't mean to cause any trouble between the two of you. When do you have class with him?"
"The way our schedules are arranged this semester, unless I run into him in the halls, the only time I see Eric for sure is during Freshman lunch."
"Dang, I don't have any classes with him either," said Arthur, recalling his schedule. "I guess the best we can do is the first one who sees Eric lets him know things are still swimmingly between the two of you. Otherwise, we'll all sit down at lunch and hash this all out. I'd still like to be your friend. His too, if he'd let me."
"I'd like that, and I think Eric would too. He does have an older brother, but Nate's a werewolf. I think it would be good for Eric to have a friend who's also a fellow mer, beside me that is," said Julie.
Then the school bell rang.
"Oops. There's the ten minute warning to get to first period. We better get going," she warned.
"Okay Julie. See you later," replied Arthur, after they entered the building and went their separate ways.
MEANWHILE...
Eric was beside himself as he entered the building.
I love Julie, and Julie loves me, right? he asked himself yet again.
Then a voice interrupted his troubled thoughts.
"Hiya stud. How's it hanging?"
Eric looked and saw Spencer Lawson**, the Sophomore who had expressed an "interest" in Eric, staring at him.
When there was no reply to her question, Spencer asked, "Are you okay?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that question?" he said, angrily.
"Whoa. Calm down. Don't bite my head off, unless you're into the kinky stuff," said Spencer.
Eric just stared at her, having absolutely no idea what she was talking about.
"Look. I'm sorry if I came on too strong yesterday***," began Spencer. "It's just been difficult for me to adjust to civilian life after being a military brat for so long."
Eric recalled Spencer saying her father was a Navy SEAL, but had reached the point in his career where he had to retire or risk someone finding out about weres and our elongated lifespan. Her parents were both born and raised in Moon Lake, but this was the first time Spencer had ever been here.
"Truth of the matter is, I don't know my way around or anything. Being a military brat, all I've ever known is this base or that base and whatever lied in-between."
"Must have been rough," realized Eric.
"At times," agreed Spencer. "Anyway, it was fun for awhile, as long as I was careful not to do anything that might let the proverbial cat out the bag about were society. But now that I am here, I'm finding myself wanting to do things that I've never had the opportunity to do before."
"Like what?" wondered Eric.
"Well..." began Spencer, stepping a little closer to him. "You're a man. I'm a woman. I'm sure you're smart enough to add 1 + 1."
Eric actually started to blush at that although—despite now having the typical were sex drive—his strong but conflicted feelings for Julie Stovall kept him from actually contemplating the possibility of him getting together sexually with the lady before him. Yet Spencer couldn't help noticing the physical reaction Eric had to her offer, even if he was unaware of it for whatever reason.
"Don't worry," said Spencer, mistaking the reason for Eric's silence as neither of them wanting to take the risk of skipping school to have some fun. "I faithfully take my were birth control pill every day, so if you ever..."
And that was when the ten minutes before first period bell began to ring.
"I've got to get to class," said Eric, turning to go.
"Hey. Maybe we can just hang out sometime," suggested Spencer, as he started to walk away.
"I could use a friend..." she added, as Eric disappeared around a corner.
Damn it! What the hell is it with these weird urges I've been getting lately? Spencer silently cursed, as she headed to class herself.
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*Between the classic episodes "Marco" through "YES!"
**This is the Earth 1 version of the Earth 2 character.
***In our recent episode "HUH?"—tmw.