Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels (9 page)

I sank low in my seat and peeked over my monitor. I hadn't really spoken to Lainey since going to her mother's boutique the week before. Sure, I got why Lainey was always so angry, considering everything she had to deal with at home, but I couldn't get over the fact that Lainey hadn't let Cori know that Mrs. Chamberlain wanted to do the mentorship with her. How could I be friends with someone like that?

Thankfully, Lainey didn't notice me as she sat with her back turned at another computer a few rows over, flanked by her entourage.

“There's just something not right about that girl,” Lainey muttered. Her nails click-clacked on the keyboard as she chattered with her friends. “She shows up here like she owns the place, and everybody falls all over her like she's some kind of celebrity.”

Well, she definitely wasn't talking about me, though I had a feeling Lainey's little rant had something to do with Serena.

“And why does she even
get
to run for class president? She's not even registered for this school. I went to Principal Reamer to lodge a formal complaint but she said that since her registration was still pending, she was allowed,” Lainey continued. “How is that fair?”

Yup. Definitely Serena.

“Don't worry,” Lainey's friend said. “I asked around and everybody says they're voting for you.”

“Well, that's not the point,” Lainey said. “She's not even
from
here. She's from some weird tropical place I've never even heard of.”

Never heard of it because I wasn't exactly sure if Tonganesia was a real place. What if Lainey found that out? What if she used it against us? What if we were forced to send Serena back to Talisman Lake, and Finalin got ticked off and kept sabotaging boats or worse? He'd pulled Mom underwater while she swam in the lake last summer. What was keeping him from doing it again?

“Oh!” I heard Lainey exclaim as she focused on something from her screen. “That's interesting…”

Oh-oh. That didn't sound good.

“In it to win it. Dive, dive, dive! In it to win it. High, high, five!”

Things were still a little awkward with Cori after our mentorship talk, but she'd come out for our first underwater hockey game and made up a catchy cheer. She had all the fans in the stands joining in and high-fiving each other as Serena and I stepped onto the pool deck with the rest of our team.

When I say “all the fans,” I mean Cori, Luke, Trey, Gran, Tanti Natasha/Mom, and about a half-dozen other people. When I say “stands,” I really just mean two of the long wooden team benches they used in the school gym during basketball and volleyball games, which Trey and Luke helped carry onto the pool deck. Underwater hockey didn't exactly draw big crowds, especially since the team had only won two games the season before.

The team from IMDH walked onto the pool deck with their fancy unitardy swimsuits and matching swim caps. They looked like they were on the fast track to the Olympics with those get-ups. Meanwhile, I scanned our mismatched outfits and old equipment and wondered if there had been some kind of scheduling mistake. The IMDH girls definitely looked like they were in a whole different league.

“Is this the same team you played last year?” I asked Marcelle under my breath as we slipped into the pool to warm up.

“Yup,” Marcelle answered, her usual cheery smile dissolving into a frown. “That's Georgia Frum with the equipment bag.”

“The one with the massive feet,” Devon said as she dunked underwater to test her mask.

Georgia's Speedo flip-flops clip-clopped across the pool deck, and the sound reverberated through the pool.

“She does have huge feet,” I marveled.

“And hands,” Marcelle's own hand went automatically up to her throat. Her brown eyes squinted as she looked across the pool at Georgia's large hands gripping the equipment bag.

“In it to win it!” Cori kept chanting. Honestly, I appreciated her enthusiasm but I wasn't so sure we were going to win anything that day. Our practice the week before had started off well enough with Serena outswimming everyone, but she lacked focus.

Coach Laurena had put us on the same team for the three-on-three scrimmage, but Serena kept swimming back and forth underwater and basically ignored the puck, so the other team kept scoring on us.

“Serena,” I said, swimming up to her. “Remember, this is a sport, which means we need to try to win.”

I'd been wondering all day whether Lainey Chamberlain had uncovered something at the library that would put Serena's school registration at risk. It would help if I could figure out a way to make Serena indispensable to the school just to be on the safe side. Taking one of our teams up in the regional standings would be a good start. She just needed to focus.

“I need you to imagine that the puck is the key to a lock, okay?” I continued as I treaded water. “You need to help the rest of the team get the key to the net to unlock it. Then we score a goal.”

“Like lock at canal? To free Freshie friends of Talisman Lake?” Serena asked thoughtfully.

Oooh, I may have hit on something without even realizing it.

“Yeah—if that helps, then yes.”

“All right, team. Hustle!” Our captain, Devon, called us to the side of the pool where Coach Laurena was kneeling so she could give us our last-minute pep talk.

“Okay, so remember”—Coach Laurena took a puff from her inhaler before continuing—“keep feeding the puck to Devon, Charlotte, and Serena on offense. Serena, you have the best speed so I'm counting on you to help Jade, Ella, and Marcelle on defense when you can, too. Jade, you hang back and guard our goal like your life depended on it.”

The referee's whistle blew and everyone swam to the middle of the pool to take their places for the face-off.

Like my life depended on it? Yeah, I was kind of getting used to that concept.

• • •

“In it to win it. Dive, dive, dive! In it to win it. High, high, five!” Cori kept chanting, bless her optimistic little heart.

The rules of underwater hockey were actually pretty simple for anyone who knew anything about sports. Six players per team, one puck, two nets—and stay underwater long enough to pass the puck or score in the opponent's net. Sounds simple enough? Not really. Even though I technically should have been a better swimmer than most of the people on my team, given I was a
mermaid
and everything, that was so far from the truth it was almost a joke.

I spent most of my time coming to the surface to clear my snorkel and catch my breath, while Devon, Ella, Marcelle, Charlotte, and Serena passed the puck back and forth, trying to get it to the other team's net to score a goal. Since underwater hockey wasn't exactly a popular sport, we didn't have any spare players to trade off and had to play the whole game no matter how tired we were.

Oddly, Serena couldn't hold her breath any longer than I could and had to come up for air just as often, but she made up for it with how fast she could swim.

“Go, Serena!” I yelled, whenever we surfaced at the same time.

“Stealing the key!” she yelled once, waving the puck in the air.

“No, no!” I called back. “The puck needs to stay on the
bottom
of the pool!”

So, yeah. We still hadn't worked out all the rules of the game. In fact, we hadn't managed to score an actual goal by halftime and were down by two, but at least we were giving the IMDHers a run for their money, judging by how they were panting for breath while we took our halftime break at the side of the pool.

“Good hustling down there,” Coach Laurena said as we climbed out of the water. “They may have gotten a few goals on us but their team is wearing down.”

“Yeah,” Devon agreed. “Georgia looks like her head is about to pop off.”

It was true. Georgia and all her teammates were red-faced and huffing and puffing, just like us, which I guess was a good sign.

“That's a good look for her,” Marcelle said.

“This half, I want you to focus on passing,” Coach Laurena said, putting a hand to her chest and pausing for a breath. “And we need a little more hustle out there from some of you.”

She obviously was talking about me since I was the one spending the most time above water.

“Ella and Marcelle, tighten up the defense, and Jade, hang closer to the net,” Coach Laurena said to us as she wrote on a small whiteboard with a dry-erase marker to demonstrate. “Serena, keep the puck on the bottom of the pool and pass to Devon and Charlotte whenever you get a chance so they can get some shots on net.”

“Yeah,” Devon chimed in. “Let's get a goal on these guys!”

“Remember, this is a game of offense
and
defense,” Coach Laurena continued. “Each position is as important as the other.”

The whistle blew to start the second half, and we all swam to the middle of the pool to take our places.

Coach Laurena's pep talk about passing the puck must have lit a fire under Serena's tail because the girl was a stick-handling whiz, scooting the puck along the bottom of the pool, passing it to Devon and Charlotte, and assisting with Devon's first goal of the game partway through the second half.

“Yay!” I sputtered as we all came to the surface for the next face-off after Devon's goal.

“Great pass!” Devon high-fived Serena as she swam over to us, while Georgia Frum sulked with her teammates at the edge of the pool.

Our fans on the bench went wild, and I could see Cori, Trey, and Luke jumping up and down and high-fiving each other. I wondered, was this what being part of a team felt like?

With five more minutes left in the half, we dove back down to the bottom of the pool to continue the game. IMDH took possession of the puck right away so I hustled to our end to guard the net, but by the time I got there, I'd run out of breath and had to resurface.

“Dive! Dive! Dive!” Cori chanted.

Through the water, I could see Georgia and her teammates making a drive for our net. I cleared my snorkel and adjusted my mask, then popped back down into the water and swam to the bottom with all my might just as Serena was swimming to the surface mid-field.

IMDH still had control of the puck, but Marcelle was digging in, trying to get possession, while Ella came to help. Marcelle's hair came undone from under her bathing cap and swayed in front of her face, blocking her sight long enough for one of the IMDHers to steal the puck and break away toward me.

She came at me like a nuclear submarine, but thanks to my, ahem, larger size, I was able to block her shot and clear the puck away to my right. I hoped someone from my team was able to grab it because by then my lungs were about to burst and I pushed off the bottom of the pool to resurface.

I smiled around my snorkel as I saw Serena dive past me on a mission for the puck. Georgia Frum was down there, too, trying to gain control of the play, but quick as lightning, Serena slapped the puck away and swam after it as it rolled along the bottom of the pool. We got lucky and caught the IMDH defenders off guard—they were either at the surface or at the wrong end of the pool.

Serena caught up to the puck and looked for someone to pass it to, but she was the most open.

Go!
I rang to her as I dove back underwater to take my place on defense.

Passing?
Serena rang back to me, then looked for Devon, who was way behind her.
Passing
the
puck?

Just
go, go! Score!
I replied.

Serena looked to the other team's goal and took off, pushing the puck ahead of her as she swam.

One of the IMDH defenders dove down to the bottom just as Serena got to their end, but Serena faked right, then left, leaving the defender in a fizz of bubbles. She flicked the puck into the goal just before the buzzer rang, ending the game.

We all swam back to the surface with such force and enthusiasm that the whole school probably heard our yells.

“Serena! Serena! Serena!” our fans chanted from the stands. Serena's face broke into a huge smile, realizing what she'd done.

“You did it!” I grabbed her around her shoulder as we bobbed in the water. “You tied the game!”

“Key in the lock!” Serena exclaimed.

“Key in the lock,” I agreed.

Our underwater hockey season was off to a splashy start.

Thursday, September 17, arrived like a double final-exam day. Not only was Tidal Law supposed to take effect tonight, but it was also Election Day, and the school cafeteria had been turned into a polling station during lunch hour. Our homeroom teacher had given me permission to help Serena fill out a ballot, since she'd never voted before.

“Just put an X in the box of the person you want to vote for in the different categories.” I pointed to the different sections of the ballot to explain how it worked to Serena.

Serena marked her choices for school president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary after having heard their speeches at that morning's general assembly. For the ninth-grade class rep, though, she hovered her pen over the choices.

Lainey Chamberlain

Serena Finora

Raymond Fresco

After a few moments, she checked the box next to Lainey's name.

“You're voting for Lainey?” I asked, not believing what I'd just seen. “Haven't you noticed she's done nothing but be rude to us?”

“But she hard worked on her signs,” Serena said.

I laughed. No wonder so many people liked Serena. There was no way I'd be able to vote for Lainey after how mean she'd been. I still couldn't get over the fact that Lainey hadn't let Cori know about the mentorship, and since Cori hadn't mentioned whether Mrs. Chamberlain had gotten in touch yet, I was having trouble letting that go.

“Okay…if you're sure,” I checked off my choices, including Serena's name.

“Serena!” Devon walked over to us with a bunch of other eleventh-grade girls and put an arm around Serena. She addressed her friends. “This is the girl I was talking to you guys about. She helped us finally tie a game against IMDH on Tuesday. You should see her swim!”

“Awesome.”

“Cool.”

A group of ninth graders looked up from their table and turned our way. As luck would have it, one of them was Lainey Chamberlain.

“Pftt,” Lainey said under her breath and rolled her eyes. “Don't get used to it. She's not going to be here for long.”

Devon nodded Lainey's way. “What does that girl mean? You're not moving, are you?” she asked Serena. “You just got here.”

“No, no—nothing like that.” I shot a glance at Lainey, then turned to Devon. “We're just having a little trouble getting Serena's old school records so she can officially transfer here.”

“Well, I hope it all works out,” Devon said before she headed to the cafeteria line with her friends. “Because I have a feeling we're going to have a great season. See you at practice!”

“Just a little mix-up,” I said to the table of ninth graders. “She's still running for School Council rep, so make sure you vote!”

A few of the girls whispered among themselves. They looked from Lainey to Serena, then went to the voting station to pick up their ballots.

“Mix-up, right.” Lainey narrowed her eyes and stood up from the table. Then she stalked off in the direction of the library.

This wasn't good. Not good at all.

• • •

Serena took forever to brush through her super-long hair and get dressed after our underwater hockey practice after school. Everyone had pretty much cleared out of the dressing room, yet there I sat, waiting for the aquatic goddess to finish packing all her things in her swim bag. She kept rooting through the bag, arranging and rearranging things.

My cell phone buzzed. It was a text from Dad.

@geeksrule: gran and ‘tanti natasha' are on their way. tonite is the nite! faraday to the rescue!

“Will you hurry up?” I asked. It was the night of the supermoon and we were going to put Dad's foil-lined Faraday room to the test. “Gran and Mom are on their way, and Coach Laurena is waiting for us in her office.”

If Dad's plan worked, we'd avoid being forced back to the ocean to help the Mermish Council squash the political uprising. If it didn't, me, Luke, Serena, Mom, Bridget, and Coach Laurena could be sleeping in a very soggy bed.

“Flip-floops!” Serena cried, searching in her bag.

Oh, her beloved flip-flops. She'd collected six pair so far and had been wearing them morning, noon, and night since we had the conversation about her going barefoot in school.

“Didn't you have them when you came in?” I searched all the small cubby lockers to see if she'd stashed them in a different spot.

Serena looked at me hopelessly.

“Maybe they're back on the pool deck,” I suggested. Honestly, it was like getting a five-year-old ready for kindergarten. “Come on, I'll help you look.”

Just then Coach Laurena called out from the rec-center hallway.

“You ladies almost done in there? I need to lock up the dressing rooms.”

“Yeah, almost,” I called back. “Serena forgot her flip-flops, so I'm helping her look for them.”

“I'm just going to get the equipment bag in my trunk for next week's game,” Coach Laurena replied. “Come to the office to find me once you're done, okay?”

“Got it,” I said.

It was eerily quiet as we stepped onto the pool deck. I kicked off my street shoes by the door. The soles of my feet made a flapping noise that reverberated through the empty space.

“You look over by the diving board, and I'll check by the lane markers.” Charlotte and Marcelle were
supposed
to have been in charge of replacing the lane markers after our practice, but they were still lying along the deck at the side of the pool. Sure enough, Serena's flip-flops were hidden underneath.

“Got 'em!” I called out. “Help me get these things back in place, then we can meet Coach Laurena.”

The door to the girls' dressing room squeaked open and someone walked onto the pool deck.

“We'll be right there,” I called out as I pulled a blue and white lane marker out and over the surface of the water to get the pool ready for lane swimming.

I heard the “toc, toc, toc” of high heels behind me and my stomach cramped. Lainey Chamberlain. What the heck could she possibly want?

“Lane swimming isn't for another hour,” I said, turning toward her.

Lainey kept walking toward us, her face set in a determined scowl. “I'm not here for the lane swimming.”

“You don't say?” I tried to stay cool. Serena and I hooked the lane marker in place and crossed the deck to get the next one. Lainey's heel slipped a little, but she kept her balance. “Oh! Be careful there—you're not really supposed to wear shoes on the pool deck.”

But Lainey just kept toc-tocking toward us.

“You're the one who should be careful,” Lainey said smugly. “Especially considering the circumstances.”

Today of all days was not the time to get into it with Lainey Chamberlain. If the Mermish Council got its way, Serena (and the rest of us) would be out of the picture for good anyway. Not that I was planning on that happening.

“I have no idea what you mean, Lainey.” I glanced at Serena and then at my watch. It was already past five o'clock. The days were getting shorter, and we needed to get to Gran's cottage before the sun went down because once the supermoon was in full force and Tidal Law took effect, we'd be like sitting ducks.

“Well, I've been doing some digging around,” Lainey said. “And you'll never guess what I came up with.”

She
knows
something,
Serena rang to me. Her English comprehension was getting quite good. Even she could tell that Lainey was getting ready to go for the kill.

Maybe
she's bluffing,
I rang back. But Lainey knew something—I just wasn't sure what it was yet.

“If you've got something to say, Lainey, just spit it out,” I replied.

“Well, as you know, Serena can't become a student here unless she gets all her school records.”

“Wow, that's some really excellent investigative reporting, Lainey.” I tugged at the end of another lane marker to get the rope untangled. “Especially since that's the same thing you overheard while I was talking to Ms. Wilma.”

“Oh, there's more,” Lainey said as she continued to pace along the pool deck.

Serena looked from Lainey to me, trying to follow the conversation as best she could.

Am
I
in
trouble?
she asked in her mer voice.

Just
play
it
cool,
I rang back.

“There is no possible way of getting her school records,” Lainey said, “because the school you claim Serena used to go to doesn't exist.”

My insides cramped into a tight ball of agony. Had Lainey actually snooped around to find all this out?

“Furthermore,” Lainey continued, “I had Daddy's attorney look into it, and apparently there's no record of a Serena or Natasha Finora traveling into this country for the past six months. So, how exactly did they get here? Seems to me that's a question for the immigration officials.” Lainey came to a stop by the remaining lane markers and adjusted her shoulder bag over her shoulder. Her knuckles grew white as she grasped its handles.

“There must be a mistake.” I struggled to keep my voice from wavering. “My grandmother is getting all the paperwork straightened out. This will all be taken care of next week.”

“We all know that's not true!” Lainey stalked toward me, waving a finger in the air. But before she could make it two steps, her high heel slipped on the wet deck and got caught in the loose rope at the end of the lane marker. She tumbled forward, whacking her head on the side of the pool. Lainey hit the water with a sickening plash and sank to the bottom of the pool in a tangled mess.

What Bridget had said about how ancient mer laws controlled us was true because just then a powerful force took over me. Before I knew it, I dove into the pool after Lainey. Serena did the same, and we both zipped to the bottom. The rope was wrapped around Lainey's neck and arms and had gotten snagged on the hockey goal under water. I tried to set it free from around her neck, but it held tight.