Just for Fins

  The horrified look on her face is a joke. Mostly. But I know I’m right. Because once you start caring about something, it gets harder and harder to stop.

  Chapter 21

  The stench of chlorine in the air makes me choke a little as I emerge from the locker room. They must have treated the pool really recently.

  I shake off the discomfort. A little allergic reaction is a small price to pay if my plan works.

  “You’re sure you want to do this?” Brody asks. He waves the video camera at me.

  “Yes,” I say, feeling more certain than maybe I should.

  Shannen juggles the pieces of poster board that contain the words of the speech we wrote together.

  I tug the beach towel tighter around my chest. I feel like this is the right thing to do, but it goes against every secrecy instinct I’ve been taught since birth.

  Of course, that’s what I’m counting on. That I’m not the only one who will feel this way, that every other mer king and queen—except Dumontia, apparently—has the same instinct.

  “You’re sure you don’t want me in the shot too?” Doe asks.

  “No,” I say. “You’re living on land now. I don’t want you exposed if this all goes wrong. Besides . . .” I turn to the mergirls on either side of me. “I’ve got all the help I need.”

  Peri nods, her chestnut hair falling in silken waves over her shoulders. She tends to keep to the oceans, so I’m really glad she came.

  “We’re glad we can help, Princess,” Astria says.

  “Glad,” Piper echoes.

  Venus gives me a thumbs-up.

  I smile at them, amazed that Astria actually came through on her promise to help. I guess she realized that the environmental problems facing the mer world are serious enough for her to set aside her childish behavior. Change is definitely in the water lately, and I’ll take what I can get.

  I laugh a little too, because Piper and Venus have also dyed the ends of their hair. Piper’s is bubble-gum pink while Venus’s is bright purple. Guess I’ve started a trend.

  Doe goes to sit with Quince in the bleachers overlooking the pool. Luckily, Coach Hill gave Brody keys to the natatorium so he could work in a few extra practices. That means we were able to get inside late at night, when no one else is here.

  I reach under the beach towel and push down my skirt, leaving me in a tank top and finkini bottom behind the terry-cloth wrap. My legs shake as I bend down to pick up my skirt and throw it out of the shot.

  “Okay, Lil,” Brody says, punching buttons on the video camera. “I’m close in on you. Ready whenever you are.”

  Shannen holds up the cue cards.

  I take a deep breath, force my hands to my sides, and smile.

  The red light comes on. The camera is rolling.

  “Hi, I’m Lily Sanderson,” I say to the lens, my voice quivering with nerves. “I am a student at Seaview High School in Seaview, Florida. And my friends and I have a secret.”

  Shannen flips to the next card.

  Brody pushes a button, and I hear the whir of the zoom as he backs out to get all of me in the shot. I reach up and grab the towel, pulling it away and revealing my swim-ready outfit underneath. And farther still to get the other girls.

  Then, with a nod at Brody to make sure he’s ready, I turn and dive into the pool. Beside me, Peri and the terrible trio—I guess I’ll have to give them a new nickname now—do the same. I transfigure as I arc through the air, and my finkini turns into a full-on tailfin. As I slip into the water, eyes closed and breath held so I don’t get too much chlorine exposure, I make sure to give my tailfin an extra wave for the camera.

  I loop around underwater, turning back to the pool’s edge, and pop up right at the wall. Bracing my crossed arms on the concrete edge, I kick gently below water to keep me level enough to meet the camera lens.

  The other girls pop up next to me. We must make quite a picture.

  Shannen holds up the next part of the speech.

  “Yes,” I say, ignoring the sting of chlorine on my skin, “I am a mermaid.”

  With one extrapowerful kick, I launch myself up onto the edge of the pool. Sitting on one hip, still flanked by my girls in the water, I arrange my tailfin so it spreads out next to me.

  “And we aren’t the only ones,” I say, hurrying to the rest of my speech so the girls can get out of the pool and we can go rinse off the chlorinated water.

  Shannen scrambles to keep up with my pace.

  “There are hundreds of thousands of merfolk in the world’s waters. We have lived in secret for millennia, but now”—I give the camera an extrabrilliant smile—“our secret is out. You might be wondering why I’ve decided to reveal my people’s existence. It wasn’t an easy decision. But when I learned that some merfolk, motivated by the environmental changes affecting our oceans, wanted to exact revenge by sabotaging human ships, drilling platforms, and tourist destinations . . . well, I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. I hope that by telling you, mankind, about our existence, lives will be saved.”

  Shannen flips to the final card.

  I ignore it.

  My smile wavers, and I go off script. “I also hope that together we will be able to find solutions to the changes affecting both of our worlds. We all need to work together.”

  I hold my look at the camera until Brody says, “Cut.”

  The four girls in the pool pop out onto the deck, shedding their tailfins in the process.

  I shiver as I transfigure back into legs and a finkini. My exposure to the heavily chlorinated water was brief, but I can still see my skin turning red from the toxic contact. The other girls must be far worse.

  “Let’s go rinse off,” I say to them. “We’ll be right back.”

  As we stand under the streaming water, I only hope I’m doing the right thing. At least I’m not doing it alone.

  “Thank you,” I say to the girls. “For swimming all this way and agreeing to be a part of this crazy plan.”

  “The changing oceans affect us too,” Astria says.

  Venus adds, “We’re glad to help in any way we can.”

  Piper seems to be enjoying the scalding-hot water too much to parrot her friends.

  Peri gives me a look that says, “Did I wake up in Opposite World?”

  I shrug and smile. I’m not going to question this change for the better.

  When we return to the pool area, Quince and Doe are huddled around the camera as Brody shows them the video.

  “Did it turn out okay?” I ask.

  Brody says, “Yeah, great.”

  Doe gives me a sad look. “You’re sure this is going to work?”

  “Sure?” I repeat. “No. But I think it will.”

  “I wish I could be there to see their faces,” she says. “I bet Uncle Whelk has a coronary.”

  “I hope not.” I wring out my dripping hair into the pool. “It’ll be better if you’re not around.”

  “I know,” she says.

  “I’ll tell you all about it,” I promise.

  “If you don’t need us anymore, Princess,” Astria says, “then we should be getting home.”

  “No, you’ve done more than enough,” I reply.

  Maybe I didn’t really need them to be part of the video, but it made me feel better to do this with backup. And hopefully it will have a lot more impact with several of us revealing our mer selves at once.

  “I’ll get going too,” Peri says. “We can swim home together.”

  I watch in awe as Peri and the . . . not-so-terrible trio walk to the door. Together.

  “Good luck,” Peri calls out as they head into the night. “Let me know how it goes.”

  “Thank you,” I shout after her. “I will.”

  I sigh and turn back to Doe, Brody, and Quince.

  “You’re all ready for your meeting, then?” Quince asks.

  “I guess so.”

  “So how about we take a quick ride down the coast?” he suggests. “It’ll clear your h
ead.”

  “That,” I say, stepping close and wrapping my arms around his neck, “is a spectacular idea.”

  “I’ll get the video processed and ready to go,” Brody says. “I’ll leave it on a jump drive for you.”

  “Thanks, Brody,” I say. “It means a lot.”

  “No problem,” he says with that curving smile that used to make me swoon.

  Doe walks to his side and slips an arm around his waist.

  “Everything will go great,” she says. “I just know it.”

  “Thanks,” I say, not sure how to handle her compliment.

  “Besides,” she says with a little of that old Doe attitude, “if you screw up, we can always run away to Antillenes. I hear they have no extradition to other kingdoms.”

  I laugh as I let Quince lead me out into the night. He climbs onto his bike and I take the spot behind him. For a little while, I can forget about all the pressures of tomorrow’s council meeting. For tonight, it can just be about me and Quince.

  Chapter 22

  The open-air cruise up the coast and back refreshes me almost as much as a saltwater bath. Maybe it’s the salty sea air, or maybe it’s spending an hour with my arms tight around Quince’s waist. Either way, I feel ready to take on the mer world.

  When we pull into the driveway between our houses, I see the lights are on in my kitchen. It’s pretty late and Aunt Rachel knew I would be out with Quince, so I wonder why she’s up.

  “I’ll walk you in,” Quince says, stomping down the kickstand on his bike.

  We walk inside and find that Aunt Rachel isn’t the one up waiting for me.

  “Daddy?” I ask, surprised to see him sitting at the kitchen table. I can almost count on one hand the number of times he’s been in this house since I came to live here. Most of them in the past few weeks. “And Calliope? What are you two doing here?”

  “Let me guess,” Quince says, shutting the door behind us. “Time for test number three?”

  Calliope gives me a sympathetic look.

  “Not exactly,” Daddy says.

  “What?” I say. When neither of them explains, I repeat with a slightly higher tone, “What?”

  “You couldn’t have known,” Calliope says.

  Daddy shakes his head. “It was a tiny mistake.”

  “What do you mean?” I look nervously from one to the other.

  “In the first test,” Calliope explains, her expression sad, disappointed maybe, “you gave Quince directions to Thalassinia?”

  “Yeah,” I say. “So?”

  “So,” she says, her eyes softening, “that was technically against the rules of the trial.”

  “Against the rules?” I echo, my voice barely a whisper.

  “It didn’t help me,” Quince says, stepping to my side. “I already knew how to get there.”

  “That,” Daddy says with a frown, “is beside the matter.”

  “What does this mean?” I ask.

  “Do I have to repeat the first test?” Quince asks. “Because I’ll do it if I have to.”

  “I’m afraid that isn’t an option,” Daddy says.

  He drops his gaze to the table, and my heart plummets. If Daddy can’t even look me in the eye, then this must be bad. Really bad.

  “Technically, that counts as a forfeit,” Calliope says. “You have failed the trial.”

  “No way,” Quince roars.

  I shout, “That’s not fair.”

  Daddy keeps his face passive. “I know it isn’t. But it is the rule.”

  My heart is pounding in my chest like it wants to explode. I can feel the tears pooling in my eyes. I step close against Quince’s side, needing to feel him. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and tugs me closer.

  “So . . . what?” Quince asks. “Now I’m stuck forever on land and Lily has to return to the sea? That’s stupid.”

  Daddy and Calliope exchange an uncertain look.

  “The situation is not quite so dire,” she says, unrolling a kelpaper scroll on the table. “Because you failed on a technicality, rather than an outright inability to complete the test, there are contingency consequences.”

  I don’t like the way she says that. Contingency consequences don’t sound like we get to go for cookies and sushi instead.

  “What’s that?” I ask, afraid of the answer.

  “The choice will be Quince’s,” she says, turning away from me and focusing on him. “There is a way for Lily to maintain her freedom, to be able to divide her time between land and sea.”

  My stomach drops.

  “Okay,” Quince says. “What’s that?”

  Calliope takes a deep breath before saying, “You have to give her up.”

  “What?” I cry. “No!”

  “What does that mean?” Quince asks, his voice far more level than it should be. His arm tightens around my shoulder.

  “You can’t seriously consider this,” I say, but everyone in the room is ignoring me.

  “If you agree to never see her again,” Calliope says, “right now, tonight, then she will be able to live in both worlds.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Then she returns to the water,” Calliope says. “Forever.”

  “Done,” Quince says.

  “No,” I shout. “This is ridiculous. You can’t just say ‘done’ and end what’s between us.”

  I pull out of his grasp and smack him on the shoulder. My tears overflow and spill down my cheeks when I see the pained look on Quince’s face. This can’t be happening, not after everything we’ve been through. Not after everything we’ve already overcome.

  “Tell me there’s another option, Lily,” he says to me. “If I don’t, you’re back in the sea and I’m on land and we’re over anyway.”

  “I . . .” Shaking my head, I can’t believe this is happening. “No. I don’t accept this.” I look at Daddy. “There has to be another way.”

  He looks at Calliope, who is studying the kelpaper scroll again. “Well, there is one other option. . . .”

  “What is it?” I blurt. “We’ll take it.”

  “You don’t even know what it is,” Quince says, trying to sound all reasonable.

  I glare at him. “If it means we’ll get to be together, then I don’t care what it is.”

  “You’ll have to give up land, Lily,” Daddy says. “If you agree to never step foot above the surface again, then Quince will be free to come and go in the sea. You can still be together.”

  “Yes, okay,” I say without hesitation. “I choose that.”

  Quince grabs me by the elbow. “Can we talk about this for a second? Outside?”

  Without waiting for my response, he leads me out the kitchen door. And I let him. As far as I’m concerned, though, there’s nothing to discuss.

  He steps down to ground level and turns around, forcing me to stay on the step above him.

  “What is there to talk about?” I ask. “This is a no-brainer.”

  “I—”

  “No,” I say when he starts to argue. “You listen to me. I’m the reason we’re in this situation in the first place. I’m the one who severed our bond, even though my feelings for you were growing. I’m the one who bonded to Tellin when I knew I loved you.”

  “Lily—”

  “I know you like to be all tough and manly and you think you’re the only one who should make sacrifices for us.” I swipe at the tears on my cheeks. “But I’m a big mergirl. I know what I want, and I want to be with you.”

  Quince presses his hand over my mouth. “If you would let me get a word in, princess,” he says, grinning like a little boy, “I love you. And I know this is a sacrifice for you because you love living on land almost as much as you love being in the water. But if this is your choice, I respect it and I’m honored by it.”

  “I . . . ,” I say, breaking into a grin of my own. “Oh.”

  Leaning down, I press my lips against Quince’s and feel the connection, the heat of his mouth on mine. I sigh. There i
sn’t much I wouldn’t sacrifice to be able to do this whenever I want.

  “See,” he says, tilting his chin away so our foreheads are still touching, “if you stop to listen every once in a while, you might hear good things.”

  I am just about to throw back some witty reply when I hear clapping. Twisting around, I see Daddy and Calliope standing in the still-open door.

  “Hey,” I say. “We’re trying to have a private moment here.”

  “So we heard,” Calliope says. The smile on her face is bigger than I’ve ever seen, bigger even than when she first realized that Quince loved me.

  “We could not delay our congratulations,” Daddy says. “We have already put you through enough.”

  “Congratulations?” I repeat. “What are you talking about?”

  “We’re talking about the third test,” Calliope says.

  “I thought there was no third test.”

  Calliope shrugs innocently. “This was the third test.”

  “This?” I shake my head, trying to get the silt to settle in my mind. When it does, my jaw drops. Oh no, I cannot believe they pulled this on us. And I cannot believe I fell for it. “Are you kidding me?”

  “I told you the third test would be emotional,” she says with a sappy grin. “What I didn’t tell you was that it would test both of you.”

  “You both had to make a difficult emotional decision,” Daddy says. “You both had to be willing to sacrifice.” He beams. “And you were.”

  My mind roars at the thought of what they just put us through. The emotional turmoil of thinking that I would lose Quince forever, that he would give me up so I could keep my freedom, and then that I would give up my freedom so I could keep him, was pure torture. Without stopping to think, I punch Daddy in the arm.

  “That wasn’t nice,” I chide.

  “I know,” he says, rubbing at his shoulder. “But it was the requirement of the test.”

  Fine. I know Daddy wouldn’t have put me and Quince through this if he didn’t have to. And at the moment I guess I’m just so relieved that the trial is over that I’m willing to forgive the game.

  “Just promise me one thing,” I say, stepping up so I’m closer to eye level with him. “No more tests.”