I might not be a jellyfish, but I have been acting kind of spineless. I have an opportunity to bond with a merperson for the next few weeks and I’m letting my feelings for D ruin that when he didn’t consider my feelings at all before ripping the rug out from under me. He’s never once asked if I was okay, never gave me a heads-up. Why am I giving him so much consideration before he begs for me back?

“You’re right,” I say, and move my fingers just so, so that Ross’s fall in between mine. “I’ll work on that.” I turn back to the screen, where Daryl Hannah is flopping around in a bathtub, her fin out and proud. “Hey, your tail comes out when you get wet too. Are you sure no human has ever seen a merperson before?”

“Mmm, doubt it. At least, not in recent history. It had to be a lucky guess. And if you turn my Journey into some lame movie when I’m gone, I’m going to crawl out of the ocean and drown you.”

I walk home alone, taking a detour to the school pool to think. It’s where I have the clearest head, but even after staring into the green water for the better part of an hour, I’m still buzzing. Maybe it’s Ross, maybe it’s the idea that this plan might actually work, maybe it’s—

Buzz buzz buzz

The phone ringing in my pocket.

Kavya’s name and cross-eyed face beam up at me.

“Hey.”

“So you and that cutie you’re fake dating are just going to leave me out of everything, is that it?”

The buzzing in me instantly turns to guilt. “Sorry, K. I think I got a little caught up in this whole scheme.”

Kavya blows a raspberry, laughs, and says, “I get it. New hot person in your life can be distracting. But just don’t forget the people that are in your life for real, okay? I’m playing the Bestie Card.”