and a white tail swam into the room. âYoung merboy,â she asked, â what are you doing?â
Rocky grinned. âIâm ⦠Iâm ⦠Iâm seeing if I can turn her into a giant glob of spit.â
Shelly hid a giggle. She was pretty sure she liked Rocky, too. Maybe Trident Academy wouldnât be so bad after all.
Shelly squirmed in her sponge seat. Her parents had died when she was just a small fry, and she lived with her grandfather in an apartment above the People Museum. She hoped heâd taught her all she needed to know, since Trident Academy expected their students to have been home-schooled for two years.
All merkids were taught at home until third grade. Sometimes her grandfather was a little forgetful, and some days he hadnât remembered about Shellyâs lessons. And Shelly hadnât reminded him. Sheâd much rather explore underwater caves or play with sea turtles than sit still for lessons.
âMr. Bottom will teach you math,life-saving, and astronomy,â Mrs. Karp continued.
Rocky snickered at the name Mr. Bottom, but Mrs. Karp silenced him with a glare. âTrident Academy is lucky to have other special teachers that youâll meet later this week. Today we will get to know each other better and start your first project.â
Pearl gasped and raised her hand. âWhat do we have to do?â
Mrs. Karp smiled at the classroom of twenty mergirls and merboys. âIâm glad you are eager to get right to your studies. Your first assignment at Trident Academy will be a report on krill and shrimp.â
Shelly groaned quietly. There were somany exciting things to learn about, like the dolphins and whales she wanted to swim with. Why did they have to learn about silly little shrimp?
âAs you know, many sea creatures, including us, would not live long without krill to eat. Why, even humans are known to eat krill, especially those who live near Kikiâs far-off waters.â Mrs. Karp nodded toward the mergirl who had stood up to Pearl.
Far-off waters? Shelly thought. She was even more curious about Kiki now.
âYou will need to collect at least four types of krill or shrimp and complete a seaweed and octopus-ink study on each ofthem.â Merkids used orange sea pens with their sharpened ends dipped in octopus ink to write on neatly cut pieces of seaweed for their studies.
âHow many pieces of seaweed?â asked a large mergirl in the back of the room.
âAt least one per krill or shrimp,â answered Mrs. Karp.
Groans came from throughout the class. âThe wise merstudent will start right away,â Mrs. Karp told them. âIn fact, we will go to the library until lunchtime so you may begin your reports.â
Echo leaned over to Shelly. âWant to work together?â she asked.
Shelly nodded. This was their firstproject for Trident Academy. She didnât want to mess it up.
As they floated down the hall toward the school library, Echo pointed to the Trident Academy message board. There were notices posted all over it, inviting students to join different clubs.
Shelly noticed a sign written in big green letters:
Â
SHELL WARS PRACTICE
AFTER SCHOOL TODAY
IN MERPARK
Â
Shelly smiled. Shell Wars! She loved playing Shell Wars. Maybe she could make the school team! The rush of water aroundher face when she scored a goal was a lot more exciting than learning about krill. In her mind, she was already smacking a shell around.
âI want to be one of those,â Echo said, pointing to a message about the Tail Flippers, a group that cheered for sporting events.
Shelly nodded. âThat looks great. But I think Iâll try out for Shell Wars.â
âMe too,â Kiki said from behind them, and Shelly gave her a big smile.
Pearl swam up beside the mergirls. âShell Wars is disgusting. Iâd never try out for anything so rough.â
Shelly and Echo ignored Pearl as they passed a
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