Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret by Liz Kessler

since you and I became friends again, right?”
    “Right,” I agreed.
    “And how did you make that happen?”
    I looked down. I still didn’t know if I could trust her, but I didn’t exactly have much to lose.
    “Neptune has this thing called a memory drug,” I began. Then I told her about the verse, and why it meant that Aaron and I could overturn Neptune’s magic when we held hands.
    “That’s it, then!” Mandy jumped to her knees, her eyes wide with excitement. What exactly there was to be excited about, I wasn’t so sure.
    “That’s what?” I asked flatly.
    “You undid the memory drug!”
    “That’s what I just told you,” I said. “That’s why you remembered we were friends when Aaron and I held hands.”
    “Not just on me! You undid the memory drug on the whole town of Brightport!”
    “I — we —” I began. Then I stopped and stared at her. Of course! As soon as she said it, I realized that it was the most obvious thing in the world. So obvious that I hadn’t even thought of it!
    Aaron and I must have been even more powerful than we’d realized. Mandy was right. It was the only answer that made sense.
    “One thing I don’t understand, though, is why there are so many mermaids around here,” Mandy said.
    “Shiprock,” I said simply.
    “Ship what?”
    “It’s a mermaid town,” I replied. “There aren’t many mermaid places near where humans live, but this one is close by, so it’s quite risky. I guess there’ve been a lot of accidental sightings over the years.”
    Mandy looked as though she were going to say something. For a second, I thought the old Mandy was going to come back and laugh in my face. But she didn’t. She just nodded.
    “What are you going to do?” she asked after a while.
    What was I going to do? All I knew for sure was that I had to get away from Brightport. My first thought was to head for Shiprock, but I wasn’t even welcome there now! Then I remembered I was supposed to hang out with Shona today. It was Sunday — the day we said we’d go out looking for the lost sirens.
    I leaped up. The lost sirens! Maybe I could hide away with them!
    I shook the sand off my clothes and headed down to the water’s edge. Mandy was behind me. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Where are you going?”
    “Look, just cover for me, will you? Tell my mom I forgot to tell her I was spending the day at Shona’s. I had to get going and I didn’t want to wake her.”
    Mandy nodded. “So you’ll be gone all day?” she asked. She sounded disappointed. I’d be out at least all day, I thought. This problem wasn’t going to have gone away by tomorrow. But I’d worry about that later. At this point, all I wanted to do was hide.
    “Yeah,” I said.
    “What about Aaron?”
    “Tell him I’ve gone to see Shona and I’ll catch him soon, OK?”
    “OK.” She turned to walk away.
    “And, Mandy?”
    She turned around. “What?”
    I smiled at her. “Thanks. I like being friends again.”
    She held my eyes and nodded. “Yeah, me too,” she said.
    And with that, I glanced around one last time, whipped off my sandals, and slid into the sea.

    “So the whole town knows about you?” Shona asked as we swam along. I’d filled her in on the news in Brightport, but I didn’t want to tell her about Aaron — yet. I felt weird keeping a secret from Shona, but I felt even weirder telling her that Aaron and I had a special power — stronger even than Neptune!
    “Well, not exactly about me, ” I said. “At least, I hope not.” Maybe it would blow over soon. People would throw their newspapers out in a few days and forget all about it again. The picture was pretty blurred, after all. Perhaps it would be safe for me to return in a couple of weeks.
    Yeah, and perhaps sharks would walk across the moon.
    I might as well get used to the idea of living as a recluse.
    We swam on, gliding over pastel-pink bushes and lime-green rocks. Sea urchins littered the seabed, still and spiky