Teenage Mermaid (7 page)

 

“That was incredible!” I said to Spencer as the attendant let us out.

“Thank you…for my life…for coming here. I hope we can do it again sometime,” he said. “Too bad you have to go.”

“Yeah. Too bad.” I glanced along the boardwalk. “What's a fun house?”

“You've never been to a fun house, either? Man, you've had a deprived childhood!”

We looked at each other.

“Five more minutes?” I asked.

“Not a second longer, I promise!” Spencer said enthusiastically.

He quickly led me into the creaky house. The floors were bumpy, curvy, and shook from side to side.

I grabbed onto the rails with all my might, my stuffed swan dangled from my shaking fingers. Spencer crossed to the other side and laughed at me. I remained motionless, unsure how to proceed. He extended his hand, and led me safely across the shaky boards. I gave him my swan for safekeeping, and he stuck it securely in his back pocket.

In the next room we stood in front of life-size mirrors. But I didn't look like myself. And neither did he.
Something was terribly wrong! We were stretched, tall and skinny. My length had doubled and my waist decreased to the size of a twig. I felt no pain, but the sight frightened me and I screamed.

Spencer laughed again. He was really enjoying himself at my expense. He must have thought I was a complete idiot. I began giggling to cover my embarrassment. In the next mirror my head and body were short and fat. No longer frightened by these weird reflections, I forced another scream, just to make him think my first scream had been faked as well.

The walls of the next room were painted with flowers. I had read a book about Earth flowers and was trying to identify them when the room went black. Ghosts appeared, flying over our heads. A hairless man, covered with blood, extended his arm toward me, only the hand was missing!

“Spencer!” I reached out for him, but he wasn't there. I hurried away from the ghosts and found myself in another hall of reflections. This time I looked normal, but I was everywhere. A thousand frightened Lillys staring helplessly back at me.

But where was he?

“Hello!” I called again. I couldn't see where I'd come from, or the way to the exit. I felt trapped. I began to panic. “Spencer?”

There was no answer.

“Spencer! I'm over here!”

All I saw was myself, growing redder and redder with fright.

“Where are you?” I shouted.

“Candy?” I finally heard him call.

Suddenly I saw a thousand Spencers. I reached for his outstretched hand, but instead I touched glass.

“I'm over here!” I screamed, totally frightened. I felt a sharp pang in my veins. The moon was rising, and I feared I'd be left for the rest of my life to stare at not two legs, but two thousand.

“Find me!” My hands shook uncontrollably. Water mysteriously dripped from my palms, streaking the reflections as I continued to search for Spencer's hand.

I finally felt something grab me and I screamed.

“It's okay, Candy. You should have told me you were claustrophobic,” Spencer said, stroking my arm.

I hugged him with all my might, not letting him go. He stroked my hair. My heart pounded. I'm sure he could feel it pulse out of my chest and beat against his own. I almost didn't want to calm down—it felt so good, being so close to him.

“Now you've saved me, too!” I exclaimed, as we exited the fun house, my pink swan now swinging from my fingers. “We're even.”

“It's hardly the same thing,” he said. “Anyway,
you've been through a lot today. A new town, a new school.”

“I had the best day—ever!”

“Seriously? Me, too. Well, the second best, if you're counting yesterday morning,” he added sweetly.

I felt another sharp pang. “I gotta go!” I said urgently, clutching my stomach.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

“It's just a cramp.”

“Let me walk you home,” he offered, taking my arm and leading me toward the beach.

“You can't—”

“It's no trouble.”

“It's a lot of trouble! More than you know.”

“I can call a cab.”

“I have to go alone.”

“I wanted to take you to a fancy dinner—to a restaurant with a view,” he blurted out. “I wanted to present you with roses, a white one for the color of your skin, a yellow one for the color of your hair and a pink one for the way you glow when you smile.”

Something moved me deep inside, but I wasn't sure if it was the pulse of the moonrise or the pulse of Spencer.

“I know I sound like a geek,” he said, nervously running his fingers through his hair. “But I hope tomorrow…What am I saying? Tomorrow you'll be with Calvin.”

“Calvin who?”

He smiled, but his eyes were sad. “Thanks again for saving my life—” he said. “I just want to ask you—Listen…Seaside's Annual Festival of Fireworks is tomorrow right here on the beach. I guarantee you'll like it more than the hall of mirrors.”

“I can't,” I said hurriedly. The cramps in my side were killing me.

“I shouldn't have asked,” he said, looking at his shoes.

“I don't have time to explain. I have to go!”

“It was cool hanging out with you, Candy. Under the water and out,” he teased.

“My friends call me Lilly,” I blurted out.

“Lilly.”

I smiled. My name flowed like a waterfall from his lips. He awkwardly leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

I was being pulled in two different directions. My stomach was rumbling from the imminent moonrise. But there was the ache of belonging to Spencer and not wanting to leave. He was totally scorching. Different from Beach, Tide, Calvin, and any Earth-or merdude I'd ever met. I could feel his soul in mine, as if my heart was in my open hands, reaching out to him. I took in his presence, his beauty, his wacky midnight blue hair, his intoxicating scent. I wanted to be
with him forever, to ride the tremendous wheel again, to see the fireworks, to dance beneath the moonlight.

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him into me. His lips melted against mine.

I knew I'd never see Spencer again. I missed him already, as he stood pressed against the other end of my lips, unaware that we could never meet again.

I had come for one heart, but was leaving two behind.

S
he kissed me! I felt higher than the top of the Ferris wheel! Then something dropped behind me, as she ended our embrace. I turned around to see what it was.

It was the swan. It had fallen from her gentle grasp while we were kissing, into a puddle. I wiped the stains from its pink fur. But when I rose to hand it back to her, she was gone.

Where could she have gone so quickly?

My heart sank as I searched the arcade, Starbucks, and the rest of the pier.

Candy—I mean Lilly—had left me again, as if she had mysteriously swum off like the day she had saved my life.

I leaned on the railing for several minutes, the swan dangling from my hand, and stared out at the waves splashing up against the shoreline.

I realized I still had some tokens left. Might as well crash some speedboats while waiting for Chainsaw. I reached into my pocket, but I found an infinitely more valuable token. The necklace! I had forgotten to give it back. But more importantly, and mysteriously, she had forgotten to take it.

I walked into the dark arcade in high spirits. I was still in the game.

I'
m in love!” I shouted to Waverly. I twirled around in her pastel pink bedroom that evening as we dressed for Beach's party. I told her everything—about waking up naked, about my new clothes, my new legs, my new name. But I told her mostly about the dreamiest dude I'd ever met. “His kiss was way more magical than anything Madame Pearl could have sold me.”

I still felt dizzy, from Spencer, and from my transformation back into a mermaid. At first, my tail moved in slow motion, but as I talked to Waverly, I grew stronger.

I had missed school, but that wasn't unusual for me. What was unusual was that instead of hanging
out at my secret cave, I had gone to Earth.

“You can't be in love with an Earthee! It's prohibited,” she said. “But at least you got the necklace back!”

“Oh, no!” I gasped. “I forgot! I was having so much fun, the necklace was the last thing on my mind.”

“Lilly!” Wave scolded.

“I've never felt so alive! The pier, the wheel, the candy. Spencer.”

“Well, if you play your cards right at Beach's party tonight and your mom learns you're dating a primo heartthrob with a trust fund, maybe she'll let you off easier. And you and Beach can live happily ever after.”

“Beach? No way! Spencer is way dreamier. He gave me a swan and he invited me to watch fireworks!”

“Fireworks?”

“Yeah, those colored explosions that fill the sky every year.”

“The only colors you should be thinking about are the ones on your outfits.”

“You have to understand, Wave. The way you feel about Tide is the way I feel about Spencer. I can't help it if he lives on Earth. That's just logistics.”

“You just met him, girl.”

“But I feel like I've known him all my life. I know now that something in my life was missing. Love.”

“That's the potion talking. It's screwed with your head.”

“He's interesting, intelligent. He's totally glacial.” I let out a sigh of love.

“Forget him!” she said, putting shell clips in my hair.

“Why can't you be on my side? Don't you want me to be happy?”

“Yes, but here. In the Pacific. If word gets out of your antics, you'll be sent to the Atlantic. Then you'll really be far away from Spencer.”

The Atlantic? I felt far enough away from Spencer as it was, and we were only separated by a few miles and an Earthly atmosphere. The Atlantic would be like living in the core of the Earth.

“You're right,” I said reluctantly.

“Of course, I am. We'll go to Beach's party. You'll become his girlfriend. And you'll stay in the Pacific,” she said, brushing my hair. “And now and then we'll hang out on the rocks at the edge of the pier and look up at Seaside High.”

My stomach ached as if an octopus were turning around inside it. I knew Wave was right. I must forget Spencer.

 

Wave and I arrived at Club Atlantis totally decked out—Wave dripping in an opal dress and I in a
skintight lion-fish print top and tail with golden glitter sprinkled in my hair. Club Atlantis was an open-water dance club fashioned after a historical outdoor Earthee Roman city that had succumbed to the water. Arched columns lined the entrance, and Earthees carved out of rock lined the walls.

A neon sign blinked H
APPY
16
TH
B
EACH
. Merkids hung out everywhere—on the steps, in the gardens, over the statues—practically the whole school was there. We floated to the amphitheater where the Screaming Eels were playing “Electric Sunset.” I found Beach in the first row. He did look scorching—in a hunky sort of way. And he was flexing for everyone. He was showing off his Shark tattoo to two babes when we arrived.

“I didn't see you at school today,” he said very sternly.

“I was studying for tonight,” I replied. “Here's your present.”

“You can put it over there,” he said, pointing to a table just below the stage covered with a mound of presents.

I returned from Present Island to find Wave and Tide dancing with Beach. Beach pulled me close, weighing me down as he hung his thick arm on my shoulder.

“It's good to see you two so snuggly!” Wave said.

I glared at her.

Suddenly the Screaming Eels stopped playing and the lead singer announced a special guest.

“Surprise!” a sexy mermaid in heavy blue eye shadow, a very low-cut red-laced top and matching fin tail called, as she floated to center stage. “Who's the birthday boy?”

Beach floated over Present Mountain and swaggered onstage. “Me! It's me!”

“Well happy birthday, baby!” she sang, giving him a huge hug. The Screaming Eels jammed and the mertart danced. His finball mates hooted and hollered, while pristine mergirls giggled out of embarrassment. Wave turned to me with a cheesy smile.

“Why did you bring me here?” I shouted above the music. I swam up the aisle through the gardens and out the front arch.

“Wait!” Waverly called, following me.

“This is what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life? Beach and his finball friends?” I untied Bubbles' leash. “I don't fit in here! I never have, don't you understand?”

“Lilly—”

“I have to get my heart back—and I'm not talking about that stupid necklace this time.”

“But you can't! You can't!” I heard her plead as I sped off.

 

I woke up early the next morning for the first time in my life. Three cans of shark mace and bundles of clothes filled my backpack. I raced Bubbles straight to the Underworld. If a shark spotted me, I'd have him for breakfast! That's how fueled by passion I was to see Spencer again. And fortunately for the sharks, there were none in sight.

C
LOSED
. The stone sign hung heavy on Madame Pearl's shop like an anchor weighing down my dreams. No clarifications. No “on vacation,” or “back in five minutes,” or “out to lunch.” The word was simple but made my life complicated!

“Madame Pearl?” I yelled. “Madame Pearl?”

There was no response.

“Have you seen Madame Pearl?” I asked a beggar outside her window.

“Madame who?”

“Pearl…”

“All the madames are down the street,” he said. “Can you spare some change?”

“Have you seen Madame Pearl?” I asked a tattoo artist in the next store. He was painting a sea dragon on a merman's back.

“You're too young to come in here,” he scolded, waving his tattooing pen at me. But I held my ground.

I was afraid he was going to paint a serpent on me!

“I'm looking for Madame Pearl.”

“Next store.”

“She's not in. Do you know where she lives?”

“No one knows where she lives.”

I let out a sigh of despair.

I hurried back and banged on her door. Maybe she'd slipped in while I was gone. The heavy door slowly opened with the current.

“Madame?” I called, peeking in.

No one answered.

“Madame, it's Lilly from the other day. The girl who wanted legs.”

I looked everywhere. I pulled back the curtain on her potion room. If only Madame Pearl was psychic and sensed how much I needed her! But did I really need her? I noticed the stacks of books and shellboxes on the shelves.

Did the potion call for the eye of a shrimp or a frog? The tongue of a lizard or a turtle?

I looked at the stacks of stone-bound books.
Mood Potions. Party Potions. Just Plain Magic.

I picked up
Just Plain Magic
and scanned the pages.

“SPELLS—Employer, Spouse, Neighbor. ILLUSIONS—Disappearing, Card tricks, Conning. TRANSFORMATIONS—Transgender, Anti-aging, Earthee.”

There it was! It should be as easy as following a
recipe. I've done that before—I make a killer seaweed stew. I lay the heavy page on a stone bench. It read:

EARTHEE

1 eye of shrimp

1 tongue of frog

1-inch leg of octopus, unfrozen, no skin

Dash of seaweed

Pinch of sea salt

Sprinkle of magic

 

Combine ingredients and shake vigorously.

Drink under a crescent moon.

Return to sea before following moonrise.

400 calories

 

Could it be that easy? Thank goodness Madame Pearl was well organized. She had labeled all her ingredients. I grabbed and cut, dashed and pinched, combined and shook the contents. But what about the magic? I found an unmarked box of gold dust—surely that must be the sprinkle of magic. I added it to the horrible yet heavenly sweet mixture and sealed it with a cork. My Earthee potion was ready to go. Hey, I was pretty good at this. Maybe I could open my own shop.

“You forgot the magic!” a voice shouted.

Startled, I dropped the bottle, but before I could
reach it, a thick hand grabbed it.

“Madame Pearl!” I said, breathless.

“Didn't you read the sign?” she asked sternly, floating before me, my bottle clutched in her hands.

“I was desperate! I need another bottle.”

“The first potion didn't work?” she asked skeptically. “I don't do refunds.”

“It worked perfectly! But I need to make one more trip.”

“I thought you spent all your savings?”

“Well…”

“So were you going to leave me your lunch money?”

“I was going to write an IOU. Please, Madame Pearl!” I pleaded. “I'd explain, but you wouldn't understand—”

“Wouldn't I?” She glared at me hard. “You're in love!”

“I thought you weren't a psychic.”

“You don't need to be a psychic to spot love. You have all the signs. Irrational behavior. Defiance. And that special sparkle in your eyes.”

“It shows?”

“It's oozing out of your heart. Besides, no one would go back to Earth, with its polluting cars, salty codfish, or those painful high heels—unless they were in love.”

“How do you know so much about Earth?” I asked, amazed.

She paused. Then she pushed back a stack of boxes marked E
DIBLE
H
ERBS
, dug her thick hands into the sandy floor and pulled out a photograph protected by clear plastic. It captured a handsome man in a sailor suit, holding a white flower.

“I spotted him on a ship while I was swimming one day a long time ago,” she confessed in a dreamy voice. “We stared at each other for miles—he on the boat, I in the water. He invited me aboard, but of course I couldn't go. But I followed his ship to dock and I met him early the next morning as an Earthee. He was like a Greek god, and in those days I had a slim figure and golden curls. That was so long ago,” she said, tugging at her bulging black skirt. “We were passionately in love. We wed within hours. But I stole away in the night. And I never went back.”

“Why not?”

“I wasn't brave—I mean—foolish enough.”

“But don't you regret it now?”

“I wasn't much older than you,” she said, trying to convince me I was being immature.

“Please, Madame Pearl, let me have the second chance you've always wished for! Don't let me make the same mistake!”

“I could lose my shop!”

“I could lose my soulmate!” I exclaimed.

The word touched her heart and she gazed thoughtfully back at the picture. “Sometimes, when I hear a boat go by, I hear his voice call my name.”

“Madame Pearl,” I said, looking at her shell clock.

“But you won't take any steps with this potion you made,” she suddenly declared in her normal, practical voice. “You need magic!”

“But I already put it in.”

“You added golden dust. I can see it shimmering. It won't hurt you. It might make you tired. But it won't give you legs.”

“Then what do I do?” I asked desperately.

“Hold the bottle to your heart,” she said, handing it to me.

I held it fast.

“Now close your eyes and think of him.”

“Is that what you did last time? Think of your old love?” I felt a sudden connection with the old woman.

I closed my eyes, and a huge smile came over my face.

“That's enough,” she said.

I uncorked the bottle and gulped the potion down before her eyes. This time I didn't even flinch. “How much do I owe you, Madame Pearl?”

“You're not going to come back just to pay me,” she said, gazing again at her sailor, so I quietly drifted away.