Real Mermaids Don't Sell Seashells

by Helene Boudreau

  I laughed and listened for any more squeaks or calls from the dolphins, but they were either full of fish or tuckered out from their day of shows. All I could hear were the whistle of the wind and the sound of waves lapping up on shore.

  “Hey, guys!” I heard a voice behind us.

  I turned to see two very familiar guys walking down the beach toward me.

  “Luke! Trey!” I ran up to Luke and gave him a big hug. “You guys made it!”

  “Yeah,” Luke said, nodding back to the Eutopia. “Our mom and dad are just checking in. The Teen Club people said we’d find you guys here.”

  I turned to look for Cori by the water’s edge, but she was taking her time rinsing out her flip-flops.

  “Hey, Cori. Look who it is!”

  Cori looked back from the conversation she was having with Macy. They’d connected in a big-sister, little-sister way ever since we found out about Nick and the Sparkle Wish Club.

  “Hey, there,” Cori said. She took a little while to put on her flip-flops and say good-bye to Macy before heading up the beach to us.

  “Um, hi, Cori,” Trey said, giving her an awkward hug. I’d never seen him so unsure of himself. Where was the happy-go-lucky Trey we all knew and loved?

  “Hey,” Cori said.

  “So,” Luke said enthusiastically. “Your parents texted mine, and we’re supposed to meet for dinner at a place called the Crab Shack at six. They asked us to walk you back to your hotel so you could get ready.”

  “Perfect. I need to send an email before we go anyway,” I said.

  “The Crab Shack, huh? So, like a date?” Cori asked. She snuck a look at Trey.

  “Should I have brought a corsage?” Trey joked, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Argh…” Cori stalked away, en route to the Asylum.

  “Hey, wait up! Cori…” Trey said, following behind. “I was only kidding!”

  “Is it going to be awkward like this for the rest of the trip?” I asked Luke as we followed them in the direction of the hotel.

  “Looks like things are heading that way,” he replied.

  “You’re not going to get Internet here,” Cori whispered as I held up my phone on the off chance I could pick up a stray Wi-Fi signal at the Crab Shack. “You might as well put your phone away.”

  I’d sent an email about Dillon’s boat to Rayelle back at the hotel, but she hadn’t replied yet. Mom caught my eye and shook her head, giving me the signal to put my phone away too, so I stuck it in my bag and grabbed a french fry from my plate.

  “I think I’m officially stuffed.” Dad wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled contentedly as we finished our meals. “How did I survive this trip without coming here before now?”

  The Crab Shack was a cozy restaurant overlooking the ocean, a mile or so down the beach from the Asylum and the Eutopia. Delicious garlic and oil smells wafted from the open kitchen where sounds of clanging pots and pans and sizzling food echoed through the restaurant as chefs cooked the evening’s meals. It was about eight in the evening, and we sat by a wall of windows overlooking the ocean where the sun hung low over the horizon.

  “The food is rather delicious,” Mom agreed, popping a last forkful of crab cake in her mouth. “I’ve really missed my seafood diet, so this week has been a treat.”

  I wasn’t as much of a seafood nut as Mom, but I’d had the deep-fried shrimp and french fries, and I had to admit it was probably the best meal I’d had since we touched down in Nassau. Hard as it was to believe, this was Wednesday night. We were already halfway through our vacation. Now that the Martins were there, Mom and Dad looked even more relaxed.

  Cori, me, Mom, and Mrs. Martin lingered at the table to discuss the wedding, while Dad, Trey, Luke, and Mr. Martin took their desserts to the bar area to catch the football game on the big screen.

  “And so like I was saying,” Mom said as she finished telling Mrs. Martin about the troubles they’d had with reservations, “we got the marriage license and have the gazebo booked, but without anyone to marry us, the wedding won’t be much of a wedding, I’m afraid.”

  “Oh, that’s really too bad,” Mrs. Martin replied, setting down her dessert fork. She looked so relaxed and healthy compared to earlier that spring when she’d been in the hospital for epilepsy. In fact, this vacation seemed to be having a positive effect on everyone in our group. “But honestly, we’re just happy to spend this time with you. It’s a relief after the spring and summer we’ve all just had.”

  “You’re not kidding!” I said, and everybody laughed.

  “Yeah,” Cori agreed, stealing a french fry from my plate. “We had to fly partway across the globe but I think it was worth it.” Then she scanned the bar area where Trey was throwing darts with Luke and muttered to me. “Well, for the most part anyway.”

  “So how was the catamaran sailing today, Mom?” I piped up before anyone could catch on to what Cori had said.

  “Amazing,” Mom said. “We fished for part of the morning then sailed to a remote island where they had a grill with a chef to cook our catch.” I could tell Mom and Dad had had a great time, and I was relieved they were getting to enjoy their vacation, despite the pain of not being able to find someone to perform their wedding ceremony.

  “Oh, that sounds lovely!” Mrs. Martin said. “I’ve never been on a catamaran.”

  “Maybe you guys can all go out again tomorrow,” I suggested as an evil plan began to form in my mind. I needed a way to get this vacation back on track for Cori and Trey, and I was determined to do it even if it meant locking them in a room together. “Cori and I can just hang back and chill out with Luke and Trey around the pool, right, Cori?” I asked, giving her an encouraging look.

  She didn’t look convinced.

  “I’m not sure I’m ready to let the Martin brothers loose in the Bahamas twenty-four hours after touching down,” Mrs. Martin said with a laugh.

  “As long as you don’t drag them around the local shipyard, they should be fine,” Cori said under her breath to me.

  “Shh.” I nudged Cori’s arm.

  “Oh, they have this great thing called the Teen Club at the Eutopia,” Mom said. “Cori and Jade had a wonderful time there today, didn’t you, girls?”

  “Yeah, we helped train dolphins today—it was so much fun!” Cori said, coming back to life.

  Perfect. I looked at Cori and smiled, coming up with a plan to get her and Trey talking again. It had been kind of tense since we’d all gotten back together earlier. I wasn’t quite sure if they were speaking or not, but if Cori and Trey didn’t get it together, the next few days of fun in the sun might turn out to be a bit of a bust.

  “The Teen Club is really well run,” Mom assured Mrs. Martin. “If you’re okay with it, they can do that and we can go out on the catamaran together.”

  “What are we doing, exactly?” Trey asked as he and Luke came back to the table to sit down after their round of darts.

  “We were just saying we can do Teen Club again tomorrow while our parents take a catamaran ride,” I suggested.

  “Sounds good to me,” Luke said.

  “I’m in,” Trey agreed.

  “Okay, that actually sounds great,” Mrs. Martin said, then turned to Mom. “Micci, if you book the catamaran, I’ll take care of the kids’ registrations once we get back to the Eutopia.”

  “Were you guys planning on heading back to the hotels now?” I asked.

  “Well, it would be cruel to leave at this stage in the game.” Mom glanced over to the bar where Dad and Mr. Martin were. Someone scored and they both cheered. “I think we’ll wait until the fourth quarter’s finished if you don’t mind.”

  “Is it okay if we all walk back and meet you guys at the hotel?” Luke asked his mom.

  “Yeah, we’ll be at the arcade,” Trey said rubbing his hands together. “I still need to beat
my high score at King Kong Krush.”

  Cori rolled her eyes.

  “As long as you stick together,” Mom said.

  “Yeah, okay with me too. We’ll see you there in an hour or so,” Mrs. Martin said.

  •••

  Luke and I hung back a few dozen feet behind Cori and Trey as we walked along the beach on the way back to our hotels. The sun hung low in the sky and reflected pink and orange ripples along the water. The wind had picked up, and it blew my hair across my face.

  Luke looked over and pushed my hair back behind my ear as we waded ankle deep through the water. “Did I tell you I like your braids?”

  “Thanks,” I replied. “Trying to soak in the local culture and all. Our new friend Rayelle’s cousin did them for us.”

  “I hope this wind is good for sailing,” Luke said. “We talked to my grandpa yesterday, and he and Bobbie should be getting here on Friday night.”

  If we could get Cori’s parents here and Bobbie and Eddie, our wedding party would be complete.

  “Oh, good. Mom wasn’t sure if they’d make it on time,” I said. “Speaking of Bobbie—what was the water like in Florida when you were there last spring?”

  “It was warmer than the water around Port Toulouse, if that’s what you’re asking,” Luke said.

  “I figured that,” I said, whacking him in the arm. “I mean are there tropical fish and coral like around here? Oh, and did you see any dolphins?”

  “We were on the Atlantic coast so there were plenty of cool fish, but I didn’t see any dolphins. I’ve actually never seen one,” Luke said.

  “What’s up with that, anyway? I hadn’t seen a dolphin before today either. You’d think one of us would have come across one, given our secret identities,” I said.

  “Bobbie once told me that mers and dolphins don’t usually live in the same habitat,” Luke said. “Apparently, mer rings are like kryptonite to dolphins so they just evolved to stay away.”

  “The dolphins at Dolphin Lagoon were weird with me at first, but then I think one of them called me ‘dude,’” I said.

  “Dude?” Luke said with a laugh as we continued to splash through the water along the edge of the beach.

  “That’s what it sounded like, anyway.” All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a fin emerge from the water a few hundred feet offshore. “Oh!” I said, stopping in place and pointing for Luke to see. “Did you see that?”

  Luke shaded his eyes against the setting sun and looked out over the horizon.

  “Is that a dolphin or a shark?” he asked.

  “I hope it’s not a shark!” I froze for a moment. Should we get out of the ocean? Could sharks swim in ankle-deep water? It took a second but instead of a shark, to my relief, a long, slim, silver beak surfaced, followed by a fin. “Cori showed me this video from one of the shark dives they do around here. It was gruesome!”

  “Oh, dolphins! Hey, cool—I think there are two of them,” Luke said as another fin surfaced.

  “I wonder if I can hear them again.” I strained my ears to listen, but all I could hear were the whistling wind and the sound of the waves lapping around our ankles.

  “Hear the dolphins?” Luke asked. “Do they make much of a sound?”

  We listened together a bit longer, and I thought I could make out a few squeaks and squeals but nothing that sounded like a word.

  “What did you say?” Luke turned to me.

  “Huh?” I asked. “I didn’t say anything.”

  I listened to see if I could hear what Luke heard.

  Free…swim…free…

  “That’s them!” I exclaimed, hearing the dolphins’ voices.

  “Who?” Luke asked.

  “The dolphins,” I said with a wide smile. “Like when one of them called me ‘dude’ earlier. I can understand them.”

  “That’s amazing!” Luke said, and he listened some more.

  Help…swim…free…

  “Hey, that’s cool. I think I can understand them too.” Luke shaded his eyes again to watch the dolphins but they soon swam off into the distance.

  “I wonder what they’re trying to say,” I said.

  “Not sure. Maybe they’re being chased by the sharks?” Luke took my hand again and we continued down along the beach. Trey and Cori had gotten a little ahead of us so we picked up the pace.

  “Well, at least we know there aren’t any mers around the Bahamas if it’s chock-full of dolphins,” I added.

  “It’s kind of cool being in a mer-free zone for a change,” Luke said, squeezing my hand. “Present company excluded.”

  “Of course,” I agreed.

  It was nice to know that Luke and my Video Gab conversation back in the elevator was a thing of the past. Now we could just talk and hang out in a no-stress, no-drama way.

  I actually thought we were about to have that moonlit kiss we’d talked about, but the moment was ruined by a ruckus from farther down the beach. Cori and Trey had stopped and were facing each other.

  “You just don’t get it!” Cori yelled.

  “Get what?” Trey said. “Because if there’s some kind of boyfriend rule book I don’t know about, please clue me in.”

  “Clue you in? That’s the whole problem!” Cori replied.

  There was a lot of arm waving and shouting; then Cori turned and stalked away and Trey was left standing at the edge of the water, shaking his head.

  “I thought they were getting along.” Luke nodded toward Cori and Trey.

  “Right,” I said offhandedly, “until your brother makes another boneheaded move.”

  It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. I couldn’t help it—Cori was my girl. She’d had my back so many times in the past year that I owed her my life, more than once, so when it came to Cori, I was like a mama bear and her cub.

  Luke looked at me with a crushed look on his face.

  “Sorry, I should go check on Trey.” He dropped my hand and ran ahead. “Hey, bro! Wait up.”

  So much for that moonlit kiss.

  I got out of bed on Thursday morning hoping this was the day everything would finally come together. Good news on the wedding front, less weirdness on the Luke front, and some kind of cease-fire on the Cori and Trey front would have been pretty darn awesome just about then.

  The night before had been a dud. Cori, Trey, Luke, and I had hung out at the arcade, speaking in one-word sentences until our parents got there, and everyone went to bed early. Talk about partying it up in the Bahamas!

  The only silver lining was that Cori spotted Taylor ’n Tyler getting into a limo when we were on our way back to the Asylum, and she convinced me to get an autograph for Macy’s little brother, Nick, as a souvenir of his Sparkle Wish trip while she hid behind a plant at the front entry so the bodyguards wouldn’t recognize her as the crazy, cell-phone-waving beach stalker.

  I listened to see if Mom and Dad were up in the room next door. I could hear them talking, so I hopped in our shower before Cori woke up, beating her to the punch for once on this trip.

  “Yeowch!” Only problem was that the scalp between my braids was tender and sunburned, and the spray of the shower stung so badly that I had to keep jumping in and out of the water. I was half tempted to take out the braids just to give my scalp a break, but I knew Cori would kill me because she’d wanted to get braids together ever since she found out we were coming to the Bahamas.

  Plus, Kiki’s braids really were works of art and I wanted to make sure I still had them when we got back to Port Toulouse so everyone, including the rude ladies at Dooley’s Drugstore, would remember where we’d gone and why we’d been there. Just the thought of their smug faces made me hope everything worked out for the wedding so we could come back to Port Toulouse and rub the “scandal” in their faces.

  I was standing in front of the bat
hroom mirror smearing aloe vera gel on my scalp after my shower when my phone buzzed on the counter with an email alert. Yes, I’d gotten stuck in the Elevator of Doom and it was like a twenty-four-hour frat party at the Asylum, but thank goodness for hotel Wi-Fi. Odds were, Luke had Internet at the Eutopia too. Was he emailing to smooth things over after he’d pretty much abandoned me on the beach the night before?

  I picked up my phone, hoping it was him, but it was Rayelle.

  “Oh.” She was probably emailing about Dillon.

  Hi Jade,

  Sorry for taking so long but I wanted to check out a few things before I got back to you. Apparently, Dillon hasn’t been around for three days but his mom thinks he’s crashing at Kiki’s boyfriend’s house—not that she usually cares where he is as long as he brings home money, but that’s another story. If he’s not there and actually doing something stupid, I’m afraid he’s going to get into a lot of trouble. He doesn’t have the best track record but I owe him so I really need help. Problem is, I have school and I can’t get hold of Kiki. Could you please see if you can find Kiki on the beach and ask if her boyfriend has seen Dillon?

  —Rayelle

  I did the mental math. Three days meant Dillon had been missing since we had that run-in about the Wonderment cruise ship on Monday. He hadn’t been at the Straw Market on Tuesday when I went looking for him either, but Rayelle had seen Officer Ensel talking with the guy from the cruise ship, hadn’t she? The police were obviously on the case. So what was Dillon’s deal?

  One way or another, Rayelle had been super nice to me and Cori. The least I could do was go check things out with Kiki. I looked at the time on my phone, and it was 8:02 a.m. If we hurried, we could scoot down the beach, talk to Kiki, and make it back for breakfast before Teen Club.

  Hi Rayelle,

  I’ll see what I can find out and get back to you as soon as I can. My email only works in the hotel, though, so it might take me a while to reply. Try not to worry. I’m sure Dillon is okay.

  —Jade

  I finished getting dressed and went back into the room. Cori was sitting up in her bed staring at her phone.