Deep Trouble II (8 page)

Sheena and I agreed. “I’m scared—and amazed,” I told my uncle. “I’ll never
forget the strange things we saw this week.”

We followed Dr. D. down to help him prepare breakfast. He stopped in his lab.

“What a mess,” he sighed. “I guess I’ll clean it up later.”

Sheena walked over to the cabinet of plankton bottles. She turned to me and
narrowed her eyes at me. “Hey, Billy—you drank a bottle of plankton too.”

I shrugged. “Yeah. So?”

“So why didn’t you turn into a fish like Dr. Ritter did?” she demanded.

“You know why,” I teased.

“I do not.”

“Yes, you do. It’s because I’m not human. I’m superhuman.”

She punched me in the stomach. “Come on. Tell me the real reason.”

Dr. D. folded his arms across his chest. “Yes, Billy. Tell us. I’d be
interested to hear this.”

I grinned. “Well, it’s all thanks to you, Sheena.”

“Me?”

“Uh-huh. I was really angry after you played that trick on me. You know, the
doll’s head in the goldfish bowl?”

Sheena giggled.

“Ha-ha. Hilarious. Anyway, I spent all day and all night trying to think up a
good trick to play on you. To get you back.”

“That’s all you ever do, Billy,” Sheena said. “What’s so different about
that?”

I tapped the cabinet. “I had a great idea. I took one of the plankton bottles
and dumped the plankton out.”

Dr. D. grimaced. “You what?”

“Sorry, Dr. D.,” I said. “I figured you had so many, you wouldn’t miss one.”

“I still don’t get it,” Sheena said. “Then what?”

“I washed out the bottle. Then I poured iced tea into it,” I explained. “I
was going to bring you in here and say, ‘Hey, Sheena! Want to see me drink
plankton?’ Then I’d gulp down the iced tea and totally gross you out!”

“That wouldn’t have grossed me out,” Sheena protested.

“Yes, it would!” I insisted. “You would’ve puked all over the cabin floor!”

“No, I wouldn’t!”

Dr. D. interrupted us. “You planted a bottle of iced tea in the plankton
cabinet? So when Dr. Ritter told you to choose a bottle…”

“Right!” I cried. “I picked the bottle of iced tea!”

Sheena laughed. She laughed so hard, she almost choked.

“I know it’s funny,” I said. “But even
I
don’t think it’s
that
funny.”

She hiccupped and caught her breath. “I don’t believe it,” she gasped. “You
and I are starting to think alike, Billy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I played the same trick on you!” she cried. “The exact same trick! I put
iced tea in a bottle too. Watch!”

She pulled a bottle from an end of the cabinet, ripped off the stopper, and
gulped it down.

Dr. D. and I gaped at her in shock.

Sheena made a weird face. Her eyes bulged. She grabbed her stomach.

“Oh, wow,” she groaned. “Did I drink the right bottle?”

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