Trouble at Trident Academy by Debbie Dadey Page B

and a white tail swam into the room. “Young merboy,” she asked, “ what are you doing?”
    Rocky grinned. “I’m … I’m … I’m seeing if I can turn her into a giant glob of spit.”
    Shelly hid a giggle. She was pretty sure she liked Rocky, too. Maybe Trident Academy wouldn’t 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 he’d 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 hadn’t remembered about Shelly’s lessons. And Shelly hadn’t reminded him. She’d much rather explore underwater caves or play with sea turtles than sit still for lessons.
    â€œMr. Bottom will teach you math,life-saving, and astronomy,” Mrs. Karp continued.
    Rocky snickered at the name Mr. Bottom, but Mrs. Karp silenced him with a glare. “Trident Academy is lucky to have other special teachers that you’ll meet later this week. Today we will get to know each other better and start your first project.”
    Pearl gasped and raised her hand. “What do we have to do?”
    Mrs. Karp smiled at the classroom of twenty mergirls and merboys. “I’m glad you are eager to get right to your studies. Your first assignment at Trident Academy will be a report on krill and shrimp.”
    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?
    â€œAs 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 Kiki’s far-off waters.” 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.
    â€œYou will need to collect at least four types of krill or shrimp and complete a seaweed and octopus-ink study on each ofthem.” Merkids used orange sea pens with their sharpened ends dipped in octopus ink to write on neatly cut pieces of seaweed for their studies.
    â€œHow many pieces of seaweed?” asked a large mergirl in the back of the room.
    â€œAt least one per krill or shrimp,” answered Mrs. Karp.
    Groans came from throughout the class. “The wise merstudent will start right away,” Mrs. Karp told them. “In fact, we will go to the library until lunchtime so you may begin your reports.”
    Echo leaned over to Shelly. “Want to work together?” she asked.
    Shelly nodded. This was their firstproject for Trident Academy. She didn’t 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.
    â€œI want to be one of those,” Echo said, pointing to a message about the Tail Flippers, a group that cheered for sporting events.
    Shelly nodded. “That looks great. But I think I’ll try out for Shell Wars.”
    â€œMe too,” Kiki said from behind them, and Shelly gave her a big smile.
    Pearl swam up beside the mergirls. “Shell Wars is disgusting. I’d never try out for anything so rough.”
    Shelly and Echo ignored Pearl as they passed a