“Glad,” Piper echoes.

Venus gives me a thumbs-up.

I smile at them, amazed that Astria actually came through on her promise to help. I guess she realized that the environmental problems facing the mer world are serious enough for her to set aside her childish behavior. Change is definitely in the water lately, and I’ll take what I can get.

I laugh a little too, because Piper and Venus have also dyed the ends of their hair. Piper’s is bubble-gum pink while Venus’s is bright purple. Guess I’ve started a trend.

Doe goes to sit with Quince in the bleachers overlooking the pool. Luckily, Coach Hill gave Brody keys to the natatorium so he could work in a few extra practices. That means we were able to get inside late at night, when no one else is here.

I reach under the beach towel and push down my skirt, leaving me in a tank top and finkini bottom behind the terry-cloth wrap. My legs shake as I bend down to pick up my skirt and throw it out of the shot.

“Okay, Lil,” Brody says, punching buttons on the video camera. “I’m close in on you. Ready whenever you are.”

Shannen holds up the cue cards.

I take a deep breath, force my hands to my sides, and smile.

The red light comes on. The camera is rolling.

“Hi, I’m Lily Sanderson,” I say to the lens, my voice quivering with nerves. “I am a student at Seaview High School in Seaview, Florida. And my friends and I have a secret.”

Shannen flips to the next card.

Brody pushes a button, and I hear the whir of the zoom as he backs out to get all of me in the shot. I reach up and grab the towel, pulling it away and revealing my swim-ready outfit underneath. And farther still to get the other girls.

Then, with a nod at Brody to make sure he’s ready, I turn and dive into the pool. Beside me, Peri and the terrible trio—I guess I’ll have to give them a new nickname now—do the same. I transfigure as I arc through the air, and my finkini turns into a full-on tailfin. As I slip into the water, eyes closed and breath held so I don’t get too much chlorine exposure, I make sure to give my tailfin an extra wave for the camera.

I loop around underwater, turning back to the pool’s edge, and pop up right at the wall. Bracing my crossed arms on the concrete edge, I kick gently below water to keep me level enough to meet the camera lens.

The other girls pop up next to me. We must make quite a picture.

Shannen holds up the next part of the speech.

“Yes,” I say, ignoring the sting of chlorine on my skin, “I am a mermaid.”

With one extrapowerful kick, I launch myself up onto the edge of the pool. Sitting on one hip, still flanked by my girls in the water, I arrange my tailfin so it spreads out next to me.

“And we aren’t the only ones,” I say, hurrying to the rest of my speech so the girls can get out of the pool and we can go rinse off the chlorinated water.

Shannen scrambles to keep up with my pace.

“There are hundreds of thousands of merfolk in the world’s waters. We have lived in secret for millennia, but now”—I give the camera an extrabrilliant smile—“our secret is out. You might be wondering why I’ve decided to reveal my people’s existence. It wasn’t an easy decision. But when I learned that some merfolk, motivated by the environmental changes affecting our oceans, wanted to exact revenge by sabotaging human ships, drilling platforms, and tourist destinations . . . well, I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. I hope that by telling you, mankind, about our existence, lives will be saved.”

Shannen flips to the final card.

I ignore it.

My smile wavers, and I go off script. “I also hope that together we will be able to find solutions to the changes affecting both of our worlds. We all need to work together.”

I hold my look at the camera until Brody says, “Cut.”

The four girls in the pool pop out onto the deck, shedding their tailfins in the process.

I shiver as I transfigure back into legs and a finkini. My exposure to the heavily chlorinated water was brief, but I can still see my skin turning red from the toxic contact. The other girls must be far worse.

“Let’s go rinse off,” I say to them. “We’ll be right back.”

As we stand under the streaming water, I only hope I’m doing the right thing. At least I’m not doing it alone.

“Thank you,” I say to the girls. “For swimming all this way and agreeing to be a part of this crazy plan.”

“The changing oceans affect us too,” Astria says.

Venus adds, “We’re glad to help in any way we can.”

Piper seems to be enjoying the scalding-hot water too much to parrot her friends.

Peri gives me a look that says, “Did I wake up in Opposite World?”

I shrug and smile. I’m not going to question this change for the better.

When we return to the pool area, Quince and Doe are huddled around the camera as Brody shows them the video.

“Did it turn out okay?” I ask.

Brody says, “Yeah, great.”

Doe gives me a sad look. “You’re sure this is going to work?”

“Sure?” I repeat. “No. But I think it will.”

“I wish I could be there to see their faces,” she says. “I bet Uncle Whelk has a coronary.”

“I hope not.” I wring out my dripping hair into the pool. “It’ll be better if you’re not around.”

“I know,” she says.

“I’ll tell you all about it,” I promise.