“Did Mrs. Chamberlain say anything about Lainey? Did she tell Lainey about her dad? Did Lainey say anything about us?” I asked.
“Honestly, it was a quick phone call,” Dad said, rubbing his hair with one hand as he steered with the other. “I had to call Daniel to let him know where to meet Laurena, then call Bridget to see how she was doing, and then there were Luke’s parents—”
“What if Lainey still doesn’t know?” It had been over twenty-four hours since Lainey Chamberlain had confronted us on the pool deck and discovered our mer secret. A lot could have been going through her scheming little brain since then. “What if she put these guys up to this and they’ve got a news reporter in the backseat or something?”
“Let’s just play it cool,” Dad said as he gripped the steering wheel to drive around them.
Dad parked the car in our driveway and we got out. I snuck a peek back down the street, but it was too dark to see anything.
“Maybe it’s just a slow day for corporate takeovers,” I joked, trying not to freak out as the motion sensor turned on our porch light and we climbed the front steps to our house.
Dad fumbled for his keys, dropping them to the ground in the process.
“Here, let me,” I offered, picking up the keys so I could unlock the front door, but I could see the car’s headlights turn on out of the corner of my eye. “Oh, no. Dad, they’re coming down the street…they’re at the end of our driveway right now…”
One of the tinted windows rolled down halfway to reveal a passenger in the backseat.
“We’re fine.” Dad sighed in relief. “It’s just Mrs. Chamberlain.”
“Mademoiselle Jade?” she called out to me. “Voilà!”
“Why does she want me?” I whispered to Dad, but he looked just as confused as I was.
Mrs. Chamberlain leaned out the window and held out a box. Dad and I walked to the end of the driveway together.
“What’s this?” I asked, taking the box in my hands.
“Une surprise,” Mrs. Chamberlain said with a wink. “Open it once you get inside so you can see it properly.”
I looked past Mrs. Chamberlain into the darkened car. Lainey was there, her eyes wet and swollen.
“Lainey.” I hugged the box to my chest. “Are you okay?”
Lainey nodded but said nothing more.
“We have been discussing Lainey’s father,” Mrs. Chamberlain said quietly, “and you and the other girl, of course. It’s all still new right now but we shall see our way through. Isn’t that right, chérie?”
Mrs. Chamberlain took Lainey’s hand and squeezed it. Lainey looked at her mom and smiled, then laid her head against her mother’s shoulder.
“Well, we must go,” Mrs. Chamberlain said quietly. “You must rest after your ordeal.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Chamberlain,” my dad held out his hand to shake Mrs. Chamberlain’s, “for coming by and setting our minds at ease. You don’t know how much it means to us to know our secret is safe with you.”
“And likewise,” Mrs. Chamberlain said, patting Dad’s hand.
“Yeah and, um, thanks for this, too, by the way—whatever it is.” I held up the box.
“Oh, it is not from me. I just put the finishing touch.” She signaled for her driver to go.
“Wait. What?” I asked as the car pulled away.
“Call Mademoiselle Cori,” Mrs. Chamberlain said as she raised the tinted window. “She will tell you the rest.”
I stood at the bottom of the driveway with Dad, trying to piece together what had just happened. Lainey hadn’t blabbed about Serena and me, other than to her mother. And she wouldn’t. Not now—not ever—considering her dad had the same secret.
Was life actually going to get back on track? For real this time? It had to.
We were safe. And home.
And famished.
“You hungry?” I asked.
“Starving.” Dad put an arm around me and we headed up the driveway. “Let’s order pizza.”
It was nice to know some things never changed.
• • •
I’d called Cori and she insisted on coming over before I opened the package.
She looked like she was about to jiggle off the couch as I pulled the coral blue dress from the Boutique Chambre Laine box. It was the same color as the tankini I’d bought with her at Hyde’s Department Store four months before. The one with the Michaela tag that had reminded me so much of Mom.
“What on earth?” I stood and pulled the dress toward me and looked down.
“Do you like it?” Cori asked in an excited voice.
“I…I love it.” I’d never been a dress-up kind of girl, but the fabric, the color, the details were all so amazing that I couldn’t help but gasp. Plus, the dress looked about my size. I looked up at Cori. “Is this for me?”
“Of course it’s for you, you dope!” Cori said.
“But how did you—did you make this? When did you have time?”
“Well, it’s not like I whipped it up last night. I’ve been working on it for quite a while,” Cori replied.
Dad came from the kitchen with the pizzas that had just arrived. He placed them on the coffee table with our sodas. I hung the dress’s hanger high along the living room’s curtain rod for safekeeping while I grabbed a piece of pizza, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
“Your mom gave me your bathing suit and a few pieces of clothes so I could get the fit right,” Cori said as she took a slurp of soda.
“Did you know about this?” I eyed Dad.
“Maybe,” Dad said with a sly smile as he munched on his pizza and clicked on the TV.
“No wonder I couldn’t find my tankini for underwater hockey! That was cruel and unusual punishment, you know, making me go back to the mall for a new bathing suit.” I whacked Cori in the arm.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Cori said with a laugh, holding up her soda so it wouldn’t spill and wiping her mouth, “but it was the only way I could pull it off without you knowing. I wasn’t sure how the dress would turn out, and I kept waiting for you to finally ask Luke before showing you.”
“But I was too chicken,” I said sheepishly, pulling a string of cheese from my pizza slice.
“Then, I messed up the zipper, which almost ruined the dress,” Cori continued, “and I started to really doubt whether I was cut out to be a fashion designer. When you told me you’d talked to Mrs. Chamberlain for me…I guess I kind of freaked out.”
“Yeah, sorry for going behind your back like that,” I said.
“I’m the one who’s sorry. I guess my pride got in the way. But after you disappeared, it felt like if I didn’t finish the dress, it would mean you weren’t coming home.”
“But how did you have time?” I asked.
“Well, it was just the zipper, so I sucked it up and called Mrs. Chamberlain,” Cori admitted. “Plus, I wanted to find out whether Lainey had said anything about you and Serena. By then, Lainey had spilled her guts to her mom about you guys, and Mrs. Chamberlain was freaking out about her husband, so I filled in a few holes about Tidal Law.”
“That’s why you asked me if I’d seen Mr. Chamberlain in that text!” I exclaimed. “I thought you meant he was in the news or something!”
“Oh, sorry!” Cori said with a laugh. “Well, anyway, Mrs. Chamberlain and Lainey and I had a good talk about everything, and Mrs. Chamberlain offered to fix the zipper in time for the Fall Folly. Which is tomorrow night, remember?”
Remember? I’d been obsessing about finding the right dress for the past two weeks. And then there it was, just like in a surreal Cinderella moment, only the field mice and birds hadn’t sewed and mended my dress. Cori had. Like the true friend she was.
“But, I might not actually have a date, remember? He’s at the bottom of the ocean.”
“Well, Serena won’t have a date either, but I can share,” Cori said. “Trey will be our date. Oh, and he finally got his driver’s license—maybe he can drive!”
“No, no, no-no…” Dad said, putting down his pizza and wiping his face with a napkin. “Three young ladies in the same car with a brand-new driver? I don’t think so. I’ll drive!”
“So, it’s settled then?” Cori asked, grabbing a piece of pizza for herself.
I stared at the dress hanging from the curtain rod, lit up by the living-room lamp. It sparkled like the ocean in the moonlight. I couldn’t believe I owned something so beautiful. But what about shoes? I doubted my tattered sneakers would be a good look.
“You don’t happen to have a pair of glass slippers to go along with this dress, do you?”
“Got that covered, too.” Cori put down her pizza and wiped her hands on her jeans. She pulled three pairs of silver flip-flops from a bag she’d brought with her, each of them hand-decorated with seashells and plastic flowers. “Flip-floops!”
“They’re perfect,” I said.
Maybe I could do this Fall Folly thing after all.
“I bet I’m the only guy here with three dates plus a brand-new driver’s license.” Trey smiled broadly as Serena, Cori, and I walked arm-in-arm with him into Port Toulouse Regional High’s Fall Folly dance on Saturday night.
“It’s a learner’s permit, not a driver’s license—big difference, by the way,” Cori said. Trey had obviously neglected to mention that teeny bit of information. “It’s lucky Jade’s dad drove us so we didn’t have to skateboard over here.”
“Details, details,” Trey joked.
Cori had loaned Serena a funky, ankle-length dress from her collection, and our Cori Originals swooshed over our bedazzled flip-flops as we entered the gym. We’d all gotten ready at my house once Mom finally made it back home and helped us do our hair. Mom even convinced me to wear a little makeup.
“Should be fun!” I said with as much conviction as I could muster while seeing everyone else paired off in couples in the darkened gym, dancing, chatting in corners, or sitting at tables.
“Should be awesome,” Cori agreed just as Trey made a beeline for his friends at the snack table. “And…we lost our date. So awesome.”
“Oh, pretty!” Serena marveled as the DJ turned on the colorful stage lights. The disco ball hanging from the rafters sent sparkles of color dancing along the gym walls.
Serena walked to the middle of the gym floor and twirled in place, mesmerized by the colors, her long golden brown curls swaying around her.
“I can’t believe she might get kicked out of school on Monday,” Cori said as we grabbed a few seats at an empty table.
“I know,” I replied, thinking of Principal Reamer’s deadline. “I’ve kind of gotten used to her.”
“I think a few more people might be disappointed to see her go,” Cori said.
A couple of guys had walked up to Serena and asked her to dance over the loud music, but from what I could tell, she didn’t notice any of them.
“Ah! I can’t think about that right now. Not tonight, after everything we’ve been through. Let’s just enjoy ourselves in our awesome dresses.” I smoothed the fabric of my dress as I sat down. “Thanks again, by the way. It really is perfect.”
“Well, I may not be an underwater mythical creature but I do know my way around a sewing machine,” Cori whispered. “And a seam ripper.”
“So, does this mean you’ll be doing your mentorship with Mrs. Chamberlain after all?” I asked.
“As a matter of fact, yes!” Cori replied.
“Oh, good,” I gripped her arm and gave it a squeeze, “because I was so mad at Lainey for not telling you to call her mom.”
“Yeah, about that…” The look on Cori’s face was confusing. She was smiling but she also looked a little embarrassed. “Lainey actually did tell me Mrs. Chamberlain wanted me to call but—”
“But what?” I asked. Cori shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Spill!”
“Well, I kind of blew Lainey off.”
“You what?” I cried. “Why would you do that?”
“She’d just been so mean to you. Then all the stuff that happened this summer—”
“And you thought it would help the cause if you gave up your mentorship? You dope!” I laughed. “This is your dream, Cori. I wouldn’t want you to do anything to ruin that.”
“Okay, okay,” Cori replied with a smile. “I get it. I actually apologized to Lainey and sorted things out with her mom so it’s all good, but what about you? Did you decide what you’re going to do for your mentorship?”
“Not yet.” I spotted Coach Laurena chaperoning the dance with a few other teachers on the other side of the gym. “But I’m working on something.”
“Cool,” Cori said as she stood up. “I’m gonna go find Trey to get some drinks. Are we good?”
“We’re good,” I replied as she headed for the refreshment table.
Suddenly, I felt a shift in the crowd. One by one, people turned just as Lainey Chamberlain entered the gym. She looked beautiful in a pale yellow, off-the-shoulder dress with a chiffon skirt. Her hair was swept into an updo, and her bangs were flat-ironed to the side in a sleek, sophisticated style. Her eyes sparkled and she smiled in a way I’d never seen her smile before.
And on her arm was Mr. Chamberlain—looking dapper in a suit and tie, much like I’d remembered him from before. This time, though, his face was relaxed and smiling.
Lainey spotted us. She seemed to hesitate, but then she stood on tippy-toes and whispered something in her father’s ear. He nodded and followed her as she headed our way.
“Hello,” Lainey said as she approached. Cori looked at me warily from the refreshment table on the other side of the gym, and Serena drifted back to my side from the middle of the dance floor.
“Um, hi, Lainey.” We hadn’t really had a chance to talk since our quick chat through the car window the night before. “You brought a date? It’s good to see you up and around again, Mr. Chamberlain.”
That meant Lainey’s dad, Coach Laurena, Serena, Mom, and Bridget had all made it through the Merlin 3001, but there was still no sign of Luke.
“Oh, I can’t stay,” Mr. Chamberlain said. He motioned to the stage where his two aides were helping to mount the bell from Fortune’s Folly next to the speaker’s podium. “We got it all cleaned up to donate to the school like your mother requested. I wanted to come by with my men to install it. And to give you this.”
He pulled a yellow business envelope from under his arm. He was about to hand it to me but then noticed Serena. “Actually, this should go to you. I emailed a copy to Jade’s dad, but I thought you’d like one, too.”
“Thank you.” Serena took the envelope but didn’t seem to quite know what to do with it.
“Open it,” I whispered.
“Oh!” Serena ripped open the envelope. She pulled out a couple of official-looking documents and handed me the envelope so she could inspect them.
“They’re school records…” I said slowly as I read over Serena’s shoulder while she flipped through the pages, “for you, Serena!”
“For me?” Serena’s eyes widened.
“It even has a letter of recommendation from an actual principal,” Lainey added as she pointed to one of the papers.
“Lainey thought that would make it seem more official.” Mr. Chamberlain smiled at his daughter.
“How did you do this?” I asked, not believing what we were seeing.
“Eddie put me in touch with his sister in Australia,” Mr. Chamberlain said. “She connected me with a charity that does remote learning via Internet to some of the smaller South Pacific islands. I made a sizable donation to their cause and, well—”
“It means you can stay at our school,” Lainey said to Serena. “Officially this time.”
“Wow!” I wasn’t sure what had me more speechless—the fact that the whole “school registration” nightmare was over or that Lainey Chamberlain actually had a hand in making it happen. “I really don’t know what to say. This is going to change everything.”
“W
ell, not everything,” Mr. Chamberlain replied. “I’m still working on passports for everyone, but that will have to wait until I get back to the office on Monday.” Mr. Chamberlain put his arm around Lainey’s shoulder. “Until then, I was thinking of taking the rest of the weekend off.”
Passports? That would mean Laurena and Daniel could actually get married, and Mom and Dad, too.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Chamberlain,” I said breathlessly.
I only wish I could do more, he rang to me. You and your family have given me my life back. And saving Lainey from drowning like you did? If there’s anything else I can do—
Well. Actually, I might have a teensy favor to ask, I replied. I caught Coach Laurena’s eye across the gym and waved, and she waved back with a big smile. All of a sudden my mentorship plan seemed crystal clear.
“I was wondering if I could help Coach Laurena with your Safe 2 Swim program for my ninth-grade mentorship,” I said.
“I couldn’t think of a better candidate. Send the paperwork to my office,” Mr. Chamberlain said with a wink as he kissed Lainey good-bye and headed for the door. “On Monday!”
Just then the music stopped and the screech of the microphone filled the air. The regular gym lights were turned on, blinding us with their fluorescent white glare.
“Awrraah…” A groan rippled through the crowd.
“Test, test…Can everyone hear me?” Principal Reamer called out from the gym stage as everyone quieted to hear what she had to say. “Welcome to the Fall Folly, everyone. A time when we celebrate strength of character and bold choices—while being supervised by a twenty-to-one student-to-adult ratio, so don’t get any funny ideas.”
She nodded to the parent and teacher chaperones stationed strategically around the gym floor.
“We have a few announcements,” the principal continued. “First, we’d like to thank the Baxter Family for donating the bell from the ship Fortune’s Folly. It truly is magnificent and will be enjoyed by generations to come.”
There was a round of applause. Trey actually whistled from the other side of the gym as he and Cori walked our way.
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