Part of Your Nightmare

by Vera Strange

  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.

  “Definitely,” Alana said. “Nobody can beat you at breaststroke, Kendall.”

  “Yeah, Kendall. You’re totally the best swimmer at Triton Bay,” Attina added.

  “Exactly. And being the best swimmer also means being the most popular,” Kendall said. “We have to beat Little River and win the Bayside Regional Trophy this year. My parents promised to throw us the biggest championship party if we win!”

  If that was true, Shelly was nowhere close to being on the popular list.

  While her friends continued chattering excitedly about the big swim meet the next day, Shelly nursed her iced latte and wandered to the catwalk that spanned the barrier dividing the aquarium’s enclosed tanks from the open ocean when something in the water caught her eye. She clambered onto the raised platform a few feet over the sea, looking down at the blue-black waves churning below. She peered harder at the sloshing sea. Two eyes popped open in the dark water.

  The eyes glowed with a strange yellow light.

  What is that? Shelly leaned closer to get a better look, jamming her feet against the edge of the catwalk. It was narrow with no railing. Technically, she wasn’t supposed to be up there, but she did it all the time, despite her father’s warnings that it was a safety hazard. Shelly squinted. The eyes locked on to hers. They glowed brighter. She started and reeled back. She’d never seen anything like it before. She blinked hard. When she looked again, they were gone.

  Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her. After all, it was getting darker out, making it harder to see. She ran through her mental list of sea life, but none had eyes that glowed. Sure, some, like certain species of jellyfish, had bioluminescence—a chemical reaction that let them produce their own light—but they didn’t have eyes like those. Not glowing yellow eyes. She looked down at the nearly drained iced latte in her hand. Too much coffee, she concluded.

  Just then, something latched on to her arm.

  Shelly jumped and wheeled around, almost losing her balance on the catwalk.

  But it was just Kendall, who had grabbed Shelly to keep her from falling over.

  “Whoa there, I thought you were a total goner,” Kendall said, steadying her. “What were you thinking, leaning over like that? We don’t want anything happening to you.”

  “Aww, thanks. I—I thought I saw something out there,” Shelly said, struggling to catch her breath. Her heart hammered against her rib cage as she thought about the eyes in the water.

  Attina and Alana wobbled over in two-inch wedges that threatened to slip on the catwalk.

  “I mean, I don’t blame you for wanting to live a little, Shell Bells, b
ut there are other ways to feel a rush of excitement,” said Kendall, clacking her nails against Shelly’s coffee cup. She then aimed a manicured nail at the ocean, where waves pushed up against the barrier, misting the friend group with icy salt water. “Go ahead, chuck it out there,” Kendall said.

  “Wait . . . what?” Shelly said, caught off guard. She must have heard her friend wrong. Her eyes darted from the plastic cup, with its two straws, to the signs posted all over the sundeck.

  NO LITTERING. $500 FINE.

  Kendall narrowed her eyes. “Go on—throw it out there. I dare you.”

  The twins giggled. “Do it! Do it!” they chanted.

  But Shelly shook her head. “No, it’s cool. I’ll just recycle it inside.” She knew the moment the word recycle left her mouth that it wasn’t going to go over well with her new friends.

  “Wait, you’re going to carry that gross thing around?” Kendall said. “Like, what are you afraid of—getting busted? Can’t you do whatever you want? Don’t you, like, own this place?”

  “Her folks totally own it,” Attina confirmed with a perky nod.

  “Yeah, it’s your aquarium,” Alana added. “Everyone knows it, Shelly.”

  “Nobody owns the ocean,” Shelly said in a soft voice. She clutched the cup tighter in her fist. The flimsy plastic crinkled, poking painfully at her skin. “It belongs to everyone,” she said.

  Kendall rolled her eyes while the twins snickered. “Don’t tell me you actually care about those stupid fish? Besides, it serves those disgusting creatures right. Just look at my new tank top.” She stretched the fabric out, exaggerating the dark splatters on her expensive yoga clothes.

  Shelly frowned, feeling protective again.

  “Ha! I knew it!” Kendall said with a triumphant whoop. “You do care!”

  “No, I don’t,” Shelly said, but her protest sounded weak even to her ears.

  “Then prove it.” Kendall’s words rang out.

  Attina and Alana watched Shelly with mischief in their eyes.

  Shelly swallowed hard, tasting bitter coffee at the back of her throat. Her friends’ eyes all looked her way. She held the plastic cup over the ocean. Several feet below, the waves swirled and frothed, beating up against the barrier between the aquarium’s tanks and the untamed sea.

  A million thoughts raced through her head. It’s just one little cup, right? What harm could it cause? Doesn’t everyone litter sometimes, even accidentally? Besides, she’d never do it again. Just this once. But still her fingers wouldn’t release the cup. She thought of Queenie, and the leatherback sea turtle, and the dolphin pod, and all the sea creatures in their care, but then she pushed the thoughts away. She glanced at her friends, watching her with twinkling, eager eyes.

  “Hurry up, fish lover,” Kendall said, puckering her lips. “Chuck it out there already!”

  When Shelly still didn’t budge, Kendall sighed, turned, and headed down the catwalk. The twins wobbled after her. The moment was slipping by Shelly. Her heart raced.

  Fit in at all costs. With that reminder, Shelly forced her fingers, one by one, to release the cup. It dropped from her hand, catching on the breeze and sailing to the sea. It landed on a wave, where it floated and bobbed. Shelly looked at her friends, who broke into hearty, genuine smiles.

  “Nice job, Shells!” exclaimed Kendall, hugging her. “Knew you had it in you.”

  “Uh, thanks,” said Shelly, giggling.

  Attina and Alana also hugged Shelly, and the girls all whooped and cheered for her.

  She’d done it. She’d achieved true friendship status.

  “Maybe we can make this a tradition,” said Kendall. “Visiting the aquarium the day before our first meet.”

  Shelly’s stomach lurched, but she felt hopeful: this meant Kendall wouldn’t send in a complaint after all and risk discontinuing class field trips to the aquarium. Shelly nodded at her.

  “All right, let’s head back,” said Kendall, leading the twins across the catwalk.

  But Shelly couldn’t fight her guilt, and she glanced back out to sea. There, atop a white-capped wave, bobbed the cup before something reached up . . . and pulled it under. It looked like a black tentacle. Shelly blinked. But the cup was gone, along with whatever thing had grabbed it.

  “Did you see that?” Shelly asked, but Kendall and the twins were already by the door.

  “Let’s jet,” Kendall called back to her, “unless you want to stay out here with the fishes.”

  Before Shelly could follow, she heard a strange noise. It sounded like someone was laughing. And not in a nice way. Then the cackle was drowned out by another noise: roaring water. The roaring grew louder. Shelly jerked her gaze back to the ocean, just in time to spot a huge wave that had materialized out of nowhere. It was ten feet tall and moving toward the catwalk.

  Moving fast.

  Shelly yelled as the wave hit her square in the face. It knocked her off the catwalk and sucked her toward the open ocean. Then it pulled her down into a swirl of fizzing bubbles and dark water that crashed into her nose, mouth, and ears.

  She tried to swim for the surface, toward the dim light overhead, clawing through the cold water, but the undertow latched on to her like a vise. Still she struggled against the strong current, gulping salt water. Her lungs burned and screamed for air. She was going to drown.

  Then she felt something curl around her ankle.

  Something slimy. Cold.

  It tightened its grip.

  And pulled.

  “Shelly, wake up!” cried a familiar voice.

  The first thing Shelly noticed was that she was freezing. Shivering, teeth-clatteringly cold. The second was that it felt like she’d just swum five hundred meters. Every muscle ached. She coughed, bringing up a jet of salt water, then flipped over onto wet sand and cracked open her eyes.

  A worried face peered down at her. Enrique. “Shelly, are you okay?” he asked with a shake of his head. His curls sprayed salt water, and his clothes were drenched and clung to him.

  “Y-yes,” Shelly choked out. Her voice sounded hoarse.

  “I thought I lost you.” Enrique’s eyes flashed concern as he helped her to her feet.

  Her ankle buckled as he propped her upright. He’s stronger than he looks, she thought. She glanced down at her foot. Her pants were torn by her ankle, and a circular red welt marred her skin. How did that happen? she wondered. Her thoughts spun. “Wait . . . w-what?” she uttered. She took in her surroundings. Waves rolled in the dark, moonlit sea beyond the beach.

  How did I get on the beach? she thought.

  “What were you doing on the catwalk? Miguel doesn’t let me go up there. It’s not safe.”

  Shelly searched her foggy memory. The catwalk . . . the plastic cup in the ocean . . .

  “You’re lucky I was nearby,” Enrique went on, wringing the bottom of his sopping shirt. “I was helping with the dolphins on the sundeck when I heard your friends scream. Well, more like shriek. And when I turned around, I saw a huge wave come out of nowhere and hit you.”

  That’s right, Shelly thought. The wave.

  “Don’t worry, your friends are fine,” he added with a lopsided grin. “Just a bit shaken.”

  Her memory snapped back into focus. The glowing eyes. The wave sweeping her off the catwalk. Shelly trying to swim back to the surface and being pulled down, then . . . nothing.

  “Y-you saved me,” Shelly stammered. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t mention it,” said Enrique. “Lucky I’m in training to be a lifeguard next summer.”

  “Right . . . really lucky,” she said, in shock that she hadn’t suffered a worse fate. “Thank you again. Hey, where are Mr. Aquino and the rest of the class? Are they still here?”

  “No sweat,” Enrique said. “Everyone’s at the bus. Oh! I almost forgot!” He dug his hands into his jeans pocket. “When I pulled you out, you were holding this. You didn’t want to let it go.” He held out a nautilus shell. It was about the size of her fist
and gleamed in the moonlight.

  Shelly took it from Enrique. She ran her fingers over the nautilus’s edges. The smooth enamel was yellowish, and it wound inward to a perfect pink spiral. “That’s really weird,” she said.

  “What is?” he asked.

  She bit her lip. “I—I don’t remember picking it up,” she said.

  “You’re okay!” Kendall wobbled up the beach with Attina and Alana.

  Shelly quickly pocketed the nautilus.

  “Did you see the size of that wave?” Attina added.

  “Shelly, you’re lucky you didn’t drown!” said Alana.

  “Yeah. It came out of nowhere,” Shelly said, grateful that her friends cared.

  “Enrique, like, totally saved you, Shells,” said Kendall.

  He nodded. “Sometimes big waves appear, caused by a big boat, or an underwater earthquake, or a volcano. Anyway, she’s lucky I was nearby. It could have been much worse.”

  “See, girls? This is why we only swim in pools,” Kendall said with a shudder. “Told you the ocean was dangerous. I’m telling my mom to cancel the aquarium field trip next year.”

  Shelly didn’t have the energy to argue about it. Everything that had happened hit her at once, and all she wanted was to lie down. Her shoulders sagged and her knees buckled.

  Just then, Mr. Aquino ran up to them on the beach. His eyes fell on her and widened in concern. “Shelly, what happened to you? Why are you soaking wet?”

  “I was on the sundeck . . . and a giant wave swept me out to sea,” she said, her voice still raspy. “But Enrique saved me. He works here sometimes.”

  “This field trip is dangerous, like I said,” Kendall snorted.