“Group photo, ladies!” said Sirena, taking her cell phone out of a pocket in her swim cover-up. “Lean back on your elbows and lift those tails aloft—jaunty angle now, let’s show them off! Smile and say—”
“Cheese?” I suggested.
“—seashells!”
Looking down the long row of multicolored tails sparkling in the morning sun, I had to admit we made a pretty sweet lineup.
“Wonderful!” Sirena gestured toward the water. “When you feel ready, hop on in. We’ll stay down here at the shallow end to begin with. Please keep a grip on the edge for now. We’re going to take this in baby steps.”
I dangled my shimmertail in the pool, swishing its flukes and testing the resistance. I was used to swimming with my legs and feet close together—the dolphin kick was a staple on swim team, and the butterfly was my favorite stroke—but it was a completely different feeling having them encased in a heavy silicone tube.
Around me, my fellow aspiring mermaids began sliding in. Sirena watched the proceedings closely, standing poised with one of the long rescue hooks that Coach Maynard sometimes used to fish swim team members out when they accidentally swallowed a big mouthful of water and panicked. But Sirena was fairly small and some of the other guests—two of the Sand Dollar ladies in particular—were pretty large. If push came to shove, they might yank her right into the pool with them. I hoped I wouldn’t have to try to put my junior lifeguarding skills to the test while wearing this heavy tail.
But nobody seemed to be panicking so far. Quite the opposite, in fact. All I could hear were shrieks of delight as the others tested out their tails for the first time. Mackenzie held on to the edge of the deck, flapping her flukes up and down behind her. She smiled up at me. “What are you waiting for?”
I shrugged. “Nothing.” Scooting forward, I pushed myself in.
And sank instantly to the bottom of the pool.
CHAPTER 13
I thrashed around in a panic, struggling to heave the tail into a position that allowed me to stand. The water was only four feet deep, but it might as well have been forty. When the pool hook appeared beside me, I grabbed it and let myself be hauled up.
“I’m not so sure this is a good idea, Delphine,” said Sirena when I emerged unharmed but flustered. “This may be beyond her abilities.”
Beyond my abilities, my eye! I thought. I’d show her beyond my abilities.
Lovejoys are competitive. We can’t help it; we just are.
Taking a deep breath, I let go of the hook, pushed off the wall, and launched myself into a streamline. Arms stretched out in front of me, I undulated back across the pool for several lengths, exactly the same way I’d done a few minutes earlier when Sirena tested my breath control. The tail was heavy, there was no doubt about that. I could feel the powerful resistance as I forced the flukes up and down, up and down through the water. But my legs were powerful too, their muscles honed from years of swim team practice.
Suddenly I felt a subtle shift as I found my groove. I was no longer fighting the shimmertail, and in a flash it went from enemy to ally, rocketing me forward with each dolphin kick. I shot to the surface and threw my arms overhead in the classic butterfly arm stroke, the shimmertail propelling me through the air faster and higher than I’d ever managed on my own before. I almost laughed out loud. So this was what flying felt like!
At the far end, I slapped my hands on the pool’s edge, just the way I would during a race, rotated, then pushed off and swam back toward Sirena and the others.
Right before I reached them, I suddenly reversed into a backstroke position, whipped my tail up and out of the water, and smacked my flukes down as hard as I could.
My fellow aspiring mermaids squealed as a tsunami engulfed them.
“Really, Truly!” sputtered Sirena. “Was that necessary?”
Hayden glared at me. “Show-off.”
Everyone else was laughing, though. Delphine grinned as she marked something down on her clipboard. “You have to admit that was quite an advanced move, Mom.”
Sirena, who was mopping her face, grudgingly agreed. “I guess we don’t need to worry about her abilities.” She turned to the rest of the group. “That’s quite enough tricks for one morning. I want to see laps now and plenty of them. Take it slow while you get used to swimming in a tail.”
Sirena and Delphine put us through our paces for the next hour, alternating laps with stretches and basic ballet arm gestures. Nothing too strenuous, but I was definitely getting a workout, thanks to the heavy shimmertail.
“You’ve danced before, haven’t you?” Delphine said, watching Cha Cha.
My friend smiled. “A bit.”
“Her parents own a dance studio,” Jasmine explained. “She doesn’t just dance—she helps teach.”
Sirena beamed. “We are just overflowing with talent this week! This is going be a standout revue. Definitely one of the academy’s best, I can already tell.” She looked at her watch. “Okay, ladies, let’s take a break! We’ll be back in the pool later this afternoon, and meanwhile, I’m going to give you a choice. You can stay in the water for another half hour with Zadie and Lenore, who are keen to share a few of their synchronized swimming moves, or you can enjoy a little free time before lunch.”
The high school girls opted for free time. So did the Sand Dollar ladies. As Delphine headed for the kitchen, Sirena retreated to a seat by the cabana, as she referred to the shed where the pool supplies were stashed, and kept one eye on us and one on
