“Yeah, it’s only Kendall’s life goal,” Alana said, exchanging glances with her twin.
“Yup, hashtag winning,” Attina said. “We’ve been planning it all summer. We’re going to throw, like, the biggest party to celebrate if—I mean when—we win.” She flashed a big smile.
“That’s right,” Kendall said. “My parents promised us. So don’t ruin it, Shelly. Got it?”
They all stared at Shelly expectantly.
She forced a smile. “No problem. I’m just having an off day. I’ll do better next time.”
She would do whatever it took. She never wanted to feel this way again.
Nothing was worse than letting her friends down.
“We’ll meet you outside,” Alana said.
Without another word, Kendall, Alana, and Attina took up their backpacks and left, along with the other swimmers. But Shelly stayed behind and sat alone on a bench as a million terrible thoughts circled through her head. She kept envisioning the next swim meet and Judy’s purple swim cap, bobbing farther and farther out of reach. She had to find a way to swim faster. She had to find a way to beat Judy and win her race. She went to the sink and turned on the taps, splashing water on her face. But then something strange happened. The water tasted salty. Like seawater.
Not only that, but it smelled like the ocean when a breeze wafted off it and onto the shore. But that was impossible! The smell grew stronger. She even heard seagulls squawking.
Slowly, she backed away from the sink, still tasting salt on her tongue.
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the locker room, even though it was deserted.
“Ticktock, ticktock, my dear!”
Shelly spun around. Her heart thudded. “Who . . . who said that?” she asked.
“Twenty-four hours,” Ursula said. “That was our deal. Time’s almost up.”
But this is impossible, Shelly thought. It was only a nightmare! It wasn’t real!
“You may feel like a fish out of water now,” Ursula said. The taps turned on their own, water gushing from them fast and flooding the sinks. “But I can change that—I can help you win your next big race. Remember your wish?”
The water sloshed onto the floor, pooling around Shelly’s feet. She felt the urge to run, but something kept her rooted there. The sea witch in her nightmare had promised her one wish, hadn’t she? Was it possible that it hadn’t just been a dream? That it had really happened after all?
She remembered the contract, printed on parchment paper in ornate golden cursive, tempting her to sign it. Three words from the contract came to mind: the fastest swimmer.
Maybe it was a silly thought, but then again, hadn’t her day been odd without explanation? Maybe this was her chance.
No more losing to Judy Weisberg and Little River. No more Kendall being disappointed in her. Better yet, if Shelly became the fastest swimmer on her team, she could actually help Kendall achieve her goal to win the Bayside Regional Trophy and throw the championship party.
This wish could fix everything.
“You . . . you can help me win my next race?” she stammered.
“Of course, my dear,” Ursula said. “You’d better visit me again before it’s too late.”
“But . . . how do I find you?” Shelly asked, staring at her own reflection in the fogged mirror. She felt crazy for talking to a sink, with nobody else around. “How do I get back there?”
But the voice fell silent.
Then the sinks abruptly shut off. The water that had cascaded onto the floor ran down the drain. No smell of the ocean anymore. No more strange, disembodied voice talking to her.
But drawn in the condensation on the mirror was a simple swirl. It reminded her of something. . . .
The nautilus! Of course!
If Shelly touched the nautilus again, it would transport her back to the undersea lair.
Feeling excited, Shelly fixed her gaze on the swirl. That was the answer. That was the way to solve all her problems. She could keep her friends—and win her next race. She could pay Judy back for the embarrassing prank. They’d get the trophy and have the celebratory party!
Shelly took a deep breath. She knew what she had to do.
She just had to hurry—before her time ran out.
* * *
After dinner out with the swim team, Kendall’s mom dropped Shelly off. As soon as she’d closed the door behind her, Shelly darted through the townhouse, zigzagging around the furniture, through the kitchen, down the hall, and into her room. She needed to get that shell and get back to Ursula’s lair before her time to make her wish ran out. She dove for the hamper, which was shoved into the closet and stuffed with her dirty clothes, and started pawing through it, feeling for something hard. But her hands only sifted through soft, crumpled clothes. She dug deeper, reaching the bottom of the hamper. But nothing.
The nautilus wasn’t there.
“Where is it?” she said in frustration, wheeling around. This was her one chance to fix everything in her life. She had to find that shell. Her eyes darted to the clock. Over an hour had elapsed since she was in the locker room. She searched her memory. She’d been upset from the nightmare—the nightmare that apparently wasn’t a dream but was real after all. But she clearly recalled tossing the shell into her hamper before leaving for school.
Then she saw a note pinned to her mirror.
Scrawled in crayon was Dawson’s terrible chicken scratch: I KNEW YOU STOLE IT, SHELL-FISH! YOU’RE NEVER GETTING IT BACK NOW!
“Dawson, where did you put it?” she yelled at the mirror, ripping off the note. Her cheeks felt hot with anger. Sure, she wasn’t supposed to have the shell. Technically, it belonged to him. She had given it to him as a gift. But he wasn’t allowed to enter her room without her permission. Dawson was many things, but he wasn’t very creative. It had to be in his room.
She had to find it. She couldn’t let Kendall and her friends down again. She needed the sea witch’s
