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Their eyes lared at Shelly solum They both knehat had just happened They knew that Shelly had taken the record from Kendall And this time, like Coach said, it was official

Coach Greeley patted Shelly hard on the back as she addressed the rest of the team “Looks like we have a new top swied in response

Kendall looked downright furious Her expression sent a cold wave through Shelly The whole reason she hadto her—was that she didn’t want to lose her new friends But the wish hadn’t helped at all In fact, it hadworse Kendall hated her And the tould surely follow suit

“Shelly, where are you going?” Coach Greeley called after her

But Shelly had rushed to the locker roo her vision She tried to change quickly before the rest of her tealoves on and fasten her scarf around her neck She couldn’t risk anyone seeing her without her disguise

She pulled out the gloves and slid one on, but in her frazzled state, she dropped the other on the floor She reached down to pick it up when so down at her She studied Shelly’s bare hand—coers

Kendall’s face contorted in disgust “What’s that? Did you cheat or so?”

Shelly yanked the glove from under Kendall’s foot and slid it on “No Not at all!”

Kendall squinted at her “You’re acting awfully fishy Also, how could you take over my event?”

“What? Why? Didn’t you want me to win?” Shelly said, scared of her friend’s reaction “So that we could beat Little River? I did it We did it! What does it ot the trophy?”

“Who cares about the trophy?” said Kendall “You were just being a show-off And nobody likes a show-off” Kendall eyed Shelly’s now gloved hand “Or a cheat” And with that, Kendall stormed out

Shelly felt as if a jellyfish had stung her right in the heart

Shelly hid in the showers until all the girls had gone, and then she stumbled back into the locker room When she cracked open her locker and pulled out her backpack, she felt the shell lodged in there The nautilus shell that started this wild chain of events That shell and the sea witch were the reasons she was in this s hadn’t been perfect in her life before her wish But they were better than this Fish lover taunts reverberated in her head

Her body was transforo back to normal?

She pulled out the shell and stared at it, and then—almost on impulse—she tossed it into the trash can She waited for so did She let out her breath It felt like a weight had lifted off her shoulders Good riddance, she thought She headed back to the indoor pool All she could think about was the look of disgust on Kendall’s face It hovered in her memory with every step she took Shelly’slot by then to pick her up As Shelly passed the pool, it was dark and shadowy The hts glowed, casting eerie rippling shadows across the walls She walked along the edge of the pool