Judy’s friends giggled and pointed at Shelly, who felt her cheeks burn once more. When Judy caught Shelly’s eye, she sneered at her. The year before, Shelly had lost to Judy in the fifty-meter freestyle at regionals. Badly. And Judy wasn’t about to let Shelly forget it.
“This aquarium stinks,” Kendall went on, oblivious to what had just happened between Shelly and Judy. Attina and Alana desperately dabbed at Kendall’s clothes to soak up the coffee stain.
Shelly tore her gaze away from the Little River swimmers. She had to turn her attention back to Kendall. All it took was one formal complaint to ruin everything. And a formal complaint from Kendall Terran would be the worst. Her family practically ran Triton Bay. Her mother sat on the city council, and her dad was the head of the PTA. If Kendall followed through on her threat, the school could cancel the annual field trip, and other local schools might do the same.
Shelly had to find a way to fix this, for her family’s sake. “Guess what,” she said, forcing a smile. “The concession stand has a new coffee bar. My dad installed it to boost attendance.”
Attina perked up. “Espressos?” she asked.
“Lattes?” Alana chimed in, eyes wide. “Mochas?”
“Yup, yup, and yup,” Shelly said proudly. “Better yet, they make a killer flavored latte this time of year. And it’s a double shot.” She grinned at each of her friends.
Now she had Kendall’s undivided attention.
But then Kendall pulled a face. “Ugh, but my credit card maxed out.”
Shelly dug in her pocket, feeling for the bills and loose change crammed in there. Technically, it wasn’t her money; it belonged to Dawson, her six-year-old brother. He’d worked all summer to save it up, selling lemonade at a tiny stand, and before she’d left for school that morning, she’d promised to buy him a new goldfish on the way home to replace Mr. Bubbles. Now, as she counted the money, she realized that it wasn’t enough to buy lattes for her friends and a new goldfish for Dawson. But a new goldfish wouldn’t keep her friends happy.
Shelly forced a smile and fanned out Dawson’s money. “Lattes on me,” she said.
“Hashtag FTW,” Alana said, pumping a fist.
“Hashtag caffeine fix,” Attina chirped, nudging Shelly’s shoulder.
“Shells saves the day,” Kendall said, linking her arm with Shelly’s and steering her toward the concession stand. “After that tour, I seriously might fall asleep. You’re a lifesaver.”
A short while later, Shelly and her friends claimed their flavored lattes from the counter, then headed to the sundeck for fresh air while their classmates continued raiding the gift shop. Shelly caught Normie shoving a whole cheeseburger into his mouth by the concession stand, which made her queasy. Worse yet, he made a kissy face at her, puckering up his lips like a fish.
“Shells, you’ve got to use two straws to drink,” said Kendall. “It’s way better.”
Shelly usually skipped the lid and straw altogether, sipping straight from the cup—or, even better, brought her own reusable metal cup and reusable metal straw, which she cleaned with a long, exceptionally thin bristle brush. She took the two straws, still wrapped in paper, from Kendall.
“Thanks,” Shelly said, trying to act cool, like she slurped from two straws at once all the time. Feeling a tinge of guilt, she peeled off the paper and crammed the straws through the plastic lid, which made a shrill screech. She could hear Mr. Aquino’s nasal voice echoing in her head: This little straw could kill an endangered animal like that turtle—or poison our precious oceans.
But she pushed it away and sipped her drink. The iced coffee hit her mouth way faster due to the straws, and the sugary drink was bitter and acidic on her tongue, making her cough.
“Cute,” Kendall said with a giggle while Attina and Alana were busy sipping, almost halfway done with their drinks. But then Kendall added, “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it.”
“Hashtag BFFs!” the twins chirped, raising their cups to toast Shelly.
“New BFFs.” Kendall wrapped an arm around Shelly and pushed their cups together.
Shelly basked in Kendall’s words. She finally had friends again. And better yet, they were the coolest girls in school. Shelly had never been popular, and she enjoyed being at the top of the school food chain, like an apex predator.
Kendall, Attina, and Alana drained their cups and tossed them into an inconspicuous eco-friendly bin. Shelly decided to hold on to her coffee after a few more tiny sips. There was no way she could chug it all. Finally, they emerged into the fresh air of the sundeck.
“Check it out! Isn’t it cool out here?” Shelly said.
Although it wasn’t even five o’clock, it had already grown dark. The sun was setting, painting brilliant pink hues onto the sky and ocean. Shelly surveyed the open-air tanks. The water in them sloshed over the thick barrier, mixing with the endless dark waters of the Pacific. It was a unique feature of their aquarium, and one that allowed them to keep larger animals, like beluga whales. Shelly saw one push through the surface and spray air out of its blowhole like a sigh of relief.
Kendall frowned at the ocean. “It’s, like, totally creepy. What’s even out there?”
“All kinds of cool creatures!” Shelly began. “I mean, if you’re into that sort of stuff.”
“Creepy, yucky fish?” Kendall said, arching an eyebrow. “Yeah, no.”
Shelly turned away to gaze at the waves, trying not to cringe. A warm wind jostled her braids, and the briny air smelled like perfume to her. She couldn’t let them know just how much she loved the ocean, or that the sundeck was her happy place.
Shelly spied Judy Weisberg and her friends across the deck, checking out the pod of dolphins with one of the aquarium workers, who tossed fish into the dolphins’ open mouths.
“Check out Little River,” said Kendall, pointing to them.
“Hey, did you hear the news about the swim meet tomorrow?” Attina whispered.
Alana clapped her hands. “Coach Greeley says we’re getting new suits!”
“Yeah, so we can beat Little River in style.” Attina giggled with her twin.
“New suits. New swim season,” Kendall said. “But one thing won’t change.”
“What’s that?” Shelly asked, quickly avoiding Judy’s nasty gaze. She was excited for her first meet at her new school but even more excited to have another chance to beat Judy Weisberg. The swim team was no joke. They practiced a lot more often than the team at her old school. After classes every day, they met up at a big indoor pool, where Coach Greeley gave them drills after warm-up laps. It was the reason she wasn’t starting the Kids Care Conservation Club chapter. Well, one of the many reasons.
“Obvi, I’m still going to be number one,” Kendall said with a grin.
“Oh. Right,” Shelly said. Of course Kendall was the fastest swimmer. At her last school, which was much smaller, it had been Shelly. But they had practiced in an outdoor pool or swum in the ocean. The indoor pool wasn’t the same. The chlorine smelled stronger inside. The water was too still. No breeze stirred it, and no currents pushed her toward the finish line. At indoor practice, her times had been off. Kendall had been out-lapping her in the drills, but Shelly was still determined to try harder. She was used to being a big fish in a little pond, but at her new school, she was a little fish in a big pond. Not to mention Judy Weisberg was still way out of her league.