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One thought filled her head: she had to figure out a way tothe sea witch wasn’t going to let her forget about their deal that easily She’d escaped this tiht not be so lucky

Shelly biked back to the pool later that evening in a panic The sea witch’s cackles echoed in her head

You forgot our deal! You owe me a favor!

Shelly had to find a way to put an end to whatever the sea witch was playing at She had to fulfill her part of the contract she had signed, or the witch wouldn’t stop haunting her and ruining her life It was the only solution She had to find the nautilus she’d throay—and return to the sea witch’s lair She had to find out what Ursula wanted from her

But she also couldn’t trust the sea witch The “gift” of beco the fastest swimmer had turned out to be a terrible curse Sure, she’d won the swi, but she lost her friends, was still part fish, and had to hide her body And it was only getting worse

She biked faster The sun was just beginning to set A brisk wind made her shiver as she stowed her bike and clambered up to the pool arena by the school But the door was locked She should have expected it would be It was after hours

Shelly crept around the outside until she found thethat led to the girls’ locker rooh, landing in a crouch in the dark She rushed over to the trash bin where she’d tossed the shell—but it was empty

“I’h her teeth “But I can’t give up!”

If the staff had emptied the bins, then the contents would be in the duh the , careful to shut it behind her, then circled around to

the dumpster out back As soon as she lifted the lid, she was hit by the stench Pinching her nose, she rooted through the trash until she saw a soft glow co from the back of the dumpster

Could it be? She reached farther, alusting trash; then she felt the hard outline of the shell As soon as her fingers touched it, she experienced the now fa sucked down into the ocean and into Ursula’s lair She pressed her pallass of the crystal ball

“Took long enough, didn’t you?” cooed Ursula The sea witch didn’t sound happy

In the diure swilimmer of Ursula’s wide evil smile

“I want to take my wish back!” Shelly screamed at the shadows “This isn’t what I meant! I don’t want to be the fastest swis!” She held the nautilus in her hand Her webbed hand She drew her arically passed through the barrier and sailed into Ursula’s lair For ahappened Then it ricocheted back into the crystal ball—along with so else

It was the crumpled coffee cup with the two straws