CHAPTER 21
“This week has gone by so fast!”
I cracked open an eyelid. Mackenzie was sitting on the edge of her bunk across the room, swinging her legs back and forth. Was she finally talking to me?
No such luck.
“I know,” Jasmine replied, padding out from the bathroom. She perched beside my cousin and put an arm around her. “I wish we could all stay here forever.”
I pulled the pillow over my head. Not me. I was ready to go home. On the whole, mermaid camp—excuse me, mermaid academy—hadn’t been as bad as I’d expected, but I was eager to salvage what was left of my perfect summer. Bird-watching? Couldn’t wait. Swim team? Ditto. Working at the bookstore? Top of my list. And even if I’d missed the film festival, maybe I’d still get a chance to go to a movie or two with Calhoun. Plus, there was the missing trophy to find, and I was itching to try to solve the puzzle of my ancestor-who-might-be-a-pirate.
At breakfast, Zadie and Lenore and Sirena surprised us by announcing that our morning pool session was canceled.
“There’s such a thing as over practicing, ladies,” said Zadie. “Trust us, you’re ready.”
There was another surprise too.
“It’s part of graduation day here at the academy,” Sirena told us. “Along with the diploma that you will receive, of course, suitable for framing.”
A mermaid diploma? Seriously? Who’d want to frame that?
One look at Hayden’s face told me that she would. Mackenzie too.
Sirena’s surprise turned out to be a professional photographer.
Oh great, I thought when she introduced him. More embarrassing photographs! I’d had my fill of them already this summer, thanks to the Gifford Family Reunion. But everybody else seemed thrilled at the prospect.
The cabana, which was providing the backdrop for our photos, was almost unrecognizable. Sirena and Delphine had stayed up late decorating it, and the little shed was glammed to the hilt, complete with fishnets, seashells, and buoys covered in glitter.
The photographer, a local friend of Sirena’s who was used to ladies in full mermaid garb, put us each through a series of poses.
“Nobody better post these pictures on the Internet,” I muttered when it was my turn.
Delphine passed me a tiara. “I’ll make sure Mom doesn’t use yours on our website,” she promised. “Now suck it up and look royal.”
After the individual photos came the big group photo, and then it was time for the smaller group photos. The girls from St. Louis went first, then Hayden and her mother, and then the Sand Dollar ladies, who had bonded over the past week and were already making plans for a mermaid reunion in Atlanta, where one of them had a pool.
After Zadie and Lenore posed together, it was our turn. As Mackenzie and Cha Cha and Jasmine and I wiggled into position beneath the fishnets, I couldn’t help noticing that Mackenzie made sure to put Cha Cha and Jasmine between us.
“Let’s get one with just the cousins, too,” said Sirena, after our group shot.
Mackenzie gave me a look. And not one that said, Boy, I can’t wait to be in a photo with you. Delphine must have seen it, because she came over and quietly offered some advice.
“Look, girls, I don’t know what’s going on, but I know best friends when I see them,” she murmured, making a show of arranging our flukes. “Don’t let anything spoil that.”
There was a long pause, and then Mackenzie looked over and gave me a sheepish smile.
“Sorry,” she said. “I guess I shouldn’t have spilled the beans at the Brewster Store.”
“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” I put my arm around her, and we both smiled for the camera.
Afterward, we changed back into our regular clothes, leaving our undersea finery in the cabana as Sirena had instructed.
“Graduation day will continue shortly with our farewell banquet,” she told us. “We always have it at lunch instead of dinner. You’ll be too nervous to eat anything tonight before the revue, and afterward there won’t be time before you all head home.”
As much as I was eager to sleep in my own bed again, and see Hatcher, who was also due home from wrestling camp tonight, I wasn’t looking forward to the long bus ride back to New Hampshire. At least I’d be able to nap. I had a feeling I’d be tired after the revue.
We spent some time back in our cabins packing before the gong announced that lunch was ready. Place cards had been arranged around the dining room table with our mermaid names on them. I was seated next to Mackenzie/Neptunette, and Cha Cha and Jasmine—Nixie and Pixie—were across from us. Zadie (Isla) and Lenore (Merissa) were next to Cha Cha. We all took our seats and reached for our diplomas, which had been printed on parchment paper, rolled into a scroll, and placed on our plates. Each scroll was tied with a blue ribbon, from which dangled a silver shell charm.
“It’s so cute!” gushed Mackenzie.
“One last bit of bling,” said Sirena, smiling at her.
I unrolled my diploma and read the fancy script:
Sirena’s Sea Siren Academy
By the powers of neptune invested in this institution,
I hereby proclaim that Truly Lovejoy
Has proved herself worthy of the name “Grania”
And is officially inducted into the sisterhood of mermaids.
Around the border was a colorful motif of mermaids and dolphins and shells, and Sirena had signed it at the bottom with a flourish.
“Isn’t this just the bees’ knees!” said Zadie. “Don’t you think so, Lenore?”
Lenore nodded, adding her seashell charm to the bracelet that encircled her wrist and jangling it with satisfaction.
Delphine had pulled out all the stops for our farewell meal.
“Can you believe it?” crowed Mackenzie when she spotted the platters that emerged from the kitchen. “Our second clambake in a week!”
As much as I loved lobster and steamed clams and corn on the cob, even they couldn’t chase off the herd of leaden butterflies that were stirring in my stomach. I
