"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,
"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."
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
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.
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 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.
- 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
"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."
"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
A neon sign blinked HAPPY 16TH BEACH. 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.
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.
CLOSED. 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!
"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 - 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