We’re told all our lives to go with the flow and trust the Blue knows what it’s doing. So if it pushed me in Sean’s direction, if it’s giving me these satisfying bubbles in my belly with his hand on my hip and those jellyfish tingles when we kiss, that must mean I’m supposed to feel it. That I’m supposed to swim into this contact. Maybe it’s to ensure I help Sean and that when we kiss in front of Dominic, it’ll be even more believable and strike up even more jealousy. Maybe it’s so I know for sure what it feels like to be human and will never doubt that I didn’t get the full experience when I’m back in the Blue.

But no matter the reason, I decide to let this current take me where it will.

I turn to Sean. His eyes are so wide as he takes in the whale and calf floating side by side, their blowholes making rhythmic huffs as they breathe. Meanwhile my heart matches the steady drumming of their conversation.

“Hey,” I say, and Sean meets my eyes. His amazement immediately shifts to worry.

“You okay?”

I nod. “More than okay. This—what you did—I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

And since I can’t tell him, I show him.

I put a finger into one of his belt loops and tug so his body turns toward me. Then, with the calming sounds of home in the background, I kiss him. I feel his heart beating against my chest, just as frantic and frenzied as my own. The beat matches mine and the whales’ and the water lapping against the boat. Everything feels in sync. Everything feels right. This is what the Blue wants, even if I can’t understand how I can feel so fulfilled thanks to the warm, soft pink lips of a human.

As Sean kisses me deeper, the mother whale’s gentle gurgling gets louder, echoing through the speaker and from their spot just a few yards away.

Safe. Breathe. Flow with the current. Go with the Blue.

Which is exactly what I’m doing. I’m swimming into this temporary relationship, just like the Blue wants.

Kavya clears her throat, loudly, right next to our faces.

Sean pulls back, his cheeks flushed, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“This doesn’t look so fake to me,” Kavya says. “Are we forgetting about Dominic?”

The dazed expression falls right off Sean’s face. “No, not at all, it’s just . . .”

“Practice,” I finish for him. “Dominic won’t get jealous if he doesn’t actually believe we like kissing each other.”

“Well, Mummy’s right over there, so if you could keep it in your pants until we’re back on land, that’d be great.”

“Kavya!” Sean hisses.