Far-off waters? Shelly thought. She was even more curious about Kiki now.

“You will need to collect at least four types of krill or shrimp and complete a seaweed and octopus-ink study on each of them.” Merkids used orange sea pens with their sharpened ends dipped in octopus ink to write on neatly cut pieces of seaweed for their studies.

“How many pieces of seaweed?” asked a large mergirl in the back of the room.

“At least one per krill or shrimp,” answered Mrs. Karp.

Groans came from throughout the class. “The wise merstudent will start right away,” Mrs. Karp told them. “In fact, we will go to the library until lunchtime so you may begin your reports.”

Echo leaned over to Shelly. “Want to work together?” she asked.

Shelly nodded. This was their first project for Trident Academy. She didn’t want to mess it up.

As they floated down the hall toward the school library, Echo pointed to the Trident Academy message board. There were notices posted all over it, inviting students to join different clubs.

Shelly noticed a sign written in big green letters:

SHELL WARS PRACTICE

AFTER SCHOOL TODAY

IN MERPARK

Shelly smiled. Shell Wars! She loved playing Shell Wars. Maybe she could make the school team! The rush of water around her face when she scored a goal was a lot more exciting than learning about krill. In her mind, she was already smacking a shell around.

“I want to be one of those,” Echo said, pointing to a message about the Tail Flippers, a group that cheered for sporting events.

Shelly nodded. “That looks great. But I think I’ll try out for Shell Wars.”

“Me too,” Kiki said from behind them, and Shelly gave her a big smile.

Pearl swam up beside the mergirls. “Shell Wars is disgusting. I’d never try out for anything so rough.”

Shelly and Echo ignored Pearl as they passed a dark gray merman with a huge frown on his face. He looked so sad, Shelly felt like crying. “Who is that?” she whispered.

“I bet that’s Mr. Fangtooth,” Echo whispered back. “My sister told me all about him. He works in the cafeteria.”

“I heard he’s a grouch,” Pearl said, “and he hasn’t smiled in forty years.”

“Maybe he just needs cheering up,” Shelly said, immediately feeling sorry for Mr. Fangtooth. “I bet Echo and I could make him smile.”

“Okay,” Pearl said. “It’s a bet.”

The Bet

IF YOU WERE GRUMPY, WHAT WOULD cheer you up?” Shelly asked Echo as they ate their lunch later that day.

Echo thought about it for a few minutes. “If I found something human,” she admitted.

Shelly sighed. She didn’t understand her friend’s fascination with anything that had to do with humans. Shelly thought killer whales were much more interesting.

Echo swallowed a handful of tiny octopus legs before licking her fingers. “Maybe we could try making funny faces at Mr. Fangtooth. That always makes my dad smile.”