for yourself.â
Pearl flipped her blond hair, stuck her pointy nose up in the water, and said, âI know how to do plenty of things.â
âName one,â Shelly said.
âHow to be on time for school, for starters,â she said. Pearl spun around and flicked her gold tail, knocking seaweed juice all over Shellyâs new Trident sash!
Splash!
Pearl giggled and swam off toward school.
âOh no!â Shelly squealed, dabbing green juice off the gold-and-blue sash. âShe did that on purpose!â
Echo glared after Pearl before helping her friend wipe the sash. âItâs fine now. You can hardly see it,â Echo said. That wasnât exactly trueâthere was definitely a green blob on Shellyâs sash.
âWeâd better get going,â Echo said, adjusting the glittering plankton bow in her dark curly hair. âWe donât want to be late on our first day.â
Shelly groaned. She wasnât quite so excited now. âIf Trident Academy is filled with merpeople like Pearl, then I donât think Iâm going to like it.â
âThereâs only one way to find out,â Echo said, taking a deep breath. âLetâs go.â
Burps
W OW,â SHELLY SAID, staring up at the ceiling of the huge clamshell. âThis is amazing.â Only a few shells in the ocean had ever grown as large as Trident Academy. The front hall alone could fit a humpback whale, and the ceiling wasfilled with colorful old carvings that showed the history of the merpeople.
âItâs awesome, but weâd better get to class,â Echo said, grabbing Shellyâs elbow. âThird graders are down this way.â Echoâs older sister went to Trident Academy, so Echo already knew a lot about the school.
Shelly didnât think sheâd ever seen so many merpeople in one place. Hundreds of students swam quickly through the massive shell, looking for their classrooms. Each wore a different-colored sash for their grade, from third to tenth.
âHereâs our room,â Echo said. She shoved aside a seaweed curtain and disappeared inside.
Shelly gulped and followed her friend.She hoped Pearl wouldnât be in their classroom, but as she entered the class â¦
âOh no. Did a stinkfish just swim in?â Pearl snapped as she sat at a rock desk.
âNo,â said a merboy with a big head. âBut a burpfish did.â He let out a big, long burp right in Pearlâs face.
âThat is so disgusting, Rocky,â Pearl said. âDidnât your parents teach you any manners?â
âIâll tell you whatâs really disgusting,â Rocky said. âThat jewelry youâre wearing.â
Pearl shook her head. âMy pearls are sooooo beautiful.â She ran her fingers over the long necklace.
âActually,â a tiny, dark-haired mergirl said, âpearls are sort of disgusting. Theyâremade when an oyster or mussel secretes nacre around an irritant.â
Pearl sniffed at the tiny mergirl. âSo what?â
âSecretes?â another merboy asked. âWhatâs that?â
âKind of like spitting,â the mergirl explained.
âI knew that,â Rocky said with a grin. âThat means sheâs wearing puke around her neck.â Several merboys and mergirls in the class giggled at the joke.
The small mergirl nodded, and Shelly took a closer look at her. She had long black hair that reached all the way to her tail; wide, dark eyes; and the palest of skin. Her mertail was a brilliant purple, unlike any Shellyâd ever seen. Shellyâs own tail was blue, and Echoâs was pink. The mergirl with the purple tail didnât look even a little bit afraid of Pearl. Anyone who could stand up to Pearl was awesome. Shelly knew she was going to like this mergirl.
âWatch this!â Rocky said. He spit into the water around Pearl. At that momenta tall, thin teacher with green hair
C. J. Cherryh
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