~Jasper's POV~

I was chilling at the cafe, waiting for Erik to finish his shift, when I overheard Zac and Evie talking. She was saying something about Cam and Mako. Sometime after, Cam and Evie left and I heard David talking about it again. Mako Island. From what I heard, Zac and Cam went camping there a lot, but that suddenly stopped. He also said something about how Zac seemed to change overnight, which I guessed would be when he became a merman. Curious, I got up and left, telling Erik I would catch up with him later, and followed Cam out to the beach.

"Hey, you finally decided to join up?" he asked, referring to when he asked if Erik and I were interested in working as lifesavers the day we saw the mermaids.

"Still thinking about it," I respond, "actually, I wanted to talk to you about Zac."

"What's there to know?" Cam said, "We're ex-friends. End of story."

I had expected him to say that, but before I could say something else, a boy came over to us.

"Hey, Cam. I was out of line before." he said.

"See? That's what I like about this job. Respect." Cam says, "wanna say sorry, mate?"

"Yeah, sorry you got all wet." the boy says before pulling out a water gun and using it on Cam. I then used my powers to make the water to splash the boy instead until Cam took the water gun away.

"You can have this when you dad gets back. Now make yourself useful and bring those surf skis up."

The boy reluctantly walked off and I turned to Cam. "What was that about respect?" I asked, folding my arms.

Cam just gave me an annoyed look before placing the water gun in the chair and finished drying himself off.

"Anyway, I heard David say you and Zac used to be buddies." I say.

"Well, David's got a big mouth." Cam says.

"So what happened?" I asked, but Cam walked past me. I turned to see that the boy had returned with one of the surf skis. I didn't see what happened, but Cam didn't seem so pleased.

"All right, I'm finished. What do I do know?" the boy asks.

"How about you help that kid rebuild his sandcastle." Cam responds.

"Why?"

"Because you knocked it over... and because you can show him how it's really done." Cam says when the boy gave him a look. "You're an expert right? Didn't you win a sandcastle building competition last year?"

"I beat 30 other kids." the boy proudly answers. "I guess I could give him some tips." he adds before going to help the kid.

"Putty in my hands." Cam says, which given what I've seen so far, I had to try not to laugh. After a while, we started walking on the beach, while Cam was talking about his job. "You need to be easygoing in this job," he says, " I try to be everybody's friend."

"Except Zac's. What happened between you two?" I ask again.

"You'd have to ask him." Cam says.

"Not exactly easy to do when he's always out on Mako." I say. "What's so special about that place?" I knew it had something to do with the mermaids, but there had to be something more.

"I don't know," Cam answers, "seriously, you'd have to ask him."

The boy one again returned with a small box filled with water.

"What are you doing with that?" Cam asks.

"I need it to fill the castle's moat." the boy responds.

"Well, you can't just take it." Cam says as he tries to take it back. They fight over it for a bit before Cam gets it, splashing the water on me in the process. "Sorry Jasper." Cam says as I rush into the water and swim a bit farther out from everyone else at the beach.

'That was a close call.' I thought to myself. I was about to leave when I heard a voice calling my name. I looked up and saw Cam on his surf ski, and surfaced next to him. "Looking for me?" I asked.

"You! What is this contagious? You've got a tail too. How?" Cam asks.

I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. "I've always been like this." I say.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cam asks.

"Just calm down, Cam. Or I'll be the one rescuing you." I say.

"Get down," Cam says looking at the beach then back to me, "people will see you."

"Don't worry, I've been doing this a long time." I said, "and Erik," I quietly add.

"Him too?" Cam asks, "am I the only one who doesn't have a tail?"

"Like you keep saying," I respond, "you have to ask Zac. Catch you later." with that, I dove under and swam off until I found a place I could pull myself out and dry off. I then headed back to the cafe, and I heard Zac talking with David and Erik about someone disappearing in the beach aka me. They were about to leave to investigate when I called them over.

"Hey guys, don't worry about it," I said, "it was me. I got splashed and had to dive in. Cam paddled out after me. He saw me."

"So he knows you're a-" Zac starts.

"More like we are-" I say, looking at Erik.

"You told him about me too?" he asks.

"I didn't want him to worry about me, and he would have figured it out sooner or later." I say.

"You know there's a full-scale search going on?" Zac asks.

"But Cam knows I'm alright." I say, "Why didn't he call the search off?"

"How can he call the search off?" Zac counters, "You have to get back down there."

"Why?" I ask.

"As far as anyone else knows, Cam let a guy disappear on his watch." Zac says.

"He'll get in trouble if you don't show up." Erik adds.

"Why do you care?" I asked Zac, "I thought you weren't friends anymore."

"What happened between me and Cam is none of your business." Zac says before leaving.

"You need to get down there." Erik says, and I reluctantly head back out.

When I found Cam's surf ski, I surfaced next to him again.

"Do you know how much trouble I'm in because of you?" he asks.

"I can fix it." I tell him.

"How?"

"Follow me."

I swam back to where I pulled myself out the first time, stopping occasionally to make sure Cam was following. When we stopped on the beach, I started to use my powers to dry off while Cam started pacing next to me.

"If I'm not back, they're gonna send a chopper after me." he says.

"A few more seconds and I'll be dry." I tell him.

"My first time in charge and it's a disaster." Cam continues.

"They'll forget about that." I assure him.

"Why?"

"Because you'll be a hero."

When I dried off, we started heading back to the main part of the beach. The boy from earlier was there, along with Zac and Erik, telling someone that Cam and I were here.

"Where did you find him?" the man asks Cam.

"Well-" Cam starts, but I cut him off.

"It's my fault. I was swimming too far out and got caught in a rip, them the storm hit. I thought I was a goner, but Cam found me. Dragged me to shore around the bluff... he saved my life."

"I guess we owe you an apology," the man said to Cam.

"Any lifeguard would have done the same." Cam responds, before Zac leaves and he follows.

"Thank you for doing that." Erik says.

"Yeah, no problem," I respond. "See ya soon?" I ask, and he nods. I then follow where Zac and Cam went until I see them. "Hey hero," I say, "can I buy a juice for the man that saved my life?"

"Sure," Cam says. And we head back to the cafe.

"Are things cool between you and Zac?" I ask

"Long story." Cam answers.