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“Nice job, Shelly,” Nor about fish”

Everyone knew that Shelly’s parents owned the Triton Bay Aquariuoing to ith their parents on the weekends, following theirschedules and directed the staffers, or hanging with their father in the office while he handled the bills and dealt with guest relations

But the days of both her parents being at the aquarium at the same time had passed

Shelly followed as Mr Aquino led the class to the next tank on the tour Shelly caught sight of her reflection in the tank’s clear barrier She had long, curly dark hair streaked with blond highlights from all the ti the dolphins Her eyebrows and eyes

were darker brown than her sun-kissed skin Her favorite thing about her appearance was her long, strong legs, which helped her swim fast

Sunlight filtered through the water, casting strange shadows onto her classmates She didn’t need to look at the illustrated placard to knohat this exhibit housed: spiny lobsters, stingrays, barracuda, and garden eels The lobsters, looking like giant red insects waving their antennas, lumbered around the bottoes

Mr Aquino held up a white plastic straw “Now, can someone tell me what this is?”

They all stifled their laughter at the easy question All except for Shelly, who prevented her ar her a nerd again

“Uhhh, I’et extra credit now?”

The class broke into laughter

Our sea sponges here are sht with a head shake

“It’s not just any straw,” Mr Aquino replied, ignoring Normie’s request He slipped into his full-on enthusiastic-teacherthe straw around “It’s a plastic straw I found on the beach this ” He paused for dramatic effect “Did you know that ninety percent of seabirds and fifty percent of sea turtles have been found to have plastic in their stomachs?”

Shelly felt a lump form in her throat She did kno could she not? She used to be the head of the Kids Care Conservation Club at the aquarium Earlier that year, she had spoken to Mr Aquino about starting a chapter at school That was before she became friends with Kendall

“This straw looks har to the exhibit, where a slass “But it’s no laughing ered animal like that turtle—or poison our precious oceans”

“Death by killer straws,” Kendallher iced latte with its two straws at Attina and Alana “Anything but the Killer Straws!” she added, flicking the tops of the straws