“Spill,” Shyanna told her.
Rachel swallowed and looked at me. Then she lowered her eyes.
“Rachel,” I said. “Please tell us.”
“Regina saw me watching the dress rehearsal,” Rachel whispered. “She told me to leave. She told me half-humans couldn’t represent a mermaid kingdom, and she didn’t want me ruining her practice.”
My mouth dropped wide open. I glanced at Shyanna, who looked shocked too.
“She actually said that?” I asked.
Rachel nodded. She looked miserable.
“I’m quitting the Spirit Squad,” Shyanna said. “If that is how the leader is treating merpeople, I don’t want any part of it.”
“Me too,” I said as my heart twisted. It hurt to think about not competing, but it wasn’t worth all of this unhappiness. “Happiness and friendship are what being a mermaid is all about,” I told Rachel. “Not meanness or discrimination. Nobody should have to deal with that.”
“You can’t quit,” Rachel insisted. “It’s okay. I’m fine. Maybe I took it wrong. I’m just feeling sorry for myself. It doesn’t mean you two are going to give up your dream.”
Shyanna looked at me. We both knew it was more my dream than hers. But I shook my head.
“No. What Regina said is not okay. It’s not okay. I can’t believe the others feel this way too.”
“Neither can I,” Shyanna said.
I jumped up with a new determination. “I can’t let this happen. I need to figure things out.”
“Cora?” Shy called and swam quickly after me.
“It’s okay,” I whispered to her. “You stay here with Rachel. She needs one of us. I’m going to have a special meeting with Cassie. If anyone can help with this, she can.”
Shy nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Good luck.”
Chapter Eight
I swam straight to Cassie’s cave. She answered the door.
“Why didn’t Rachel Marlin make the Spirit Squad?” I asked, not wasting any time.
Cassie glanced around the kitchen, looking really uncomfortable. “I guess some of the other merkids didn’t think she was good enough for the team?”
I pressed my lips tight and spoke slowly, trying not to be too angry at Cassie. “Are you aware of how talented Rachel is?”
Cassie sat down across from me, wrapping her long blond hair around her finger, and avoided looking at me. “I know. Trust me, I wanted to have her on the team. I was outvoted.”
“By Regina?” I asked.
“I don’t think I’m supposed to say,” she said.
“Well,” I said angrily, “tell me this. Is it because Rachel’s mom was human?”
Cassie’s cheeks turned bright red. “I don’t know, Cora. She didn’t come right out and say that.”
“What other reason could there be? She’s got a great voice and great attitude. Plus, she’s a great mermaid,” I said.
Cassie sighed and shrugged. “I think maybe you should talk to Regina,” she said. “There’s not much I can do.” She blinked at me with wide eyes, and I saw the sympathy in them. As if she wanted to help.
“Could you arrange a meeting for the whole Spirit Squad right away?” I asked. I wasn’t going to let it go. I couldn’t ignore it.
Cassie swam up. “Regina isn’t going to be happy, but I’ll see what I can do,” she said.
* * *
Within an hour, Cassie had managed to get everyone over to her cave.
“I’ve called a special meeting,” I said to everyone gathered in Cassie’s kitchen.
Regina swam to my side. “I’m not sure why you’re calling a special meeting when you’re clearly not the team leader,” she said.
Cassie swam to my other side. “Let her speak, Regina.” She glanced out to the Spirit Squad. “Raise your hand if you want to hear what Cora has to say.”
Shyanna’s hand shot up first. Slowly, other hands went up in the air. It wasn’t everyone, but it was enough for me to continue.
“I don’t think I need to remind you that we are a team,” I said. “The qualities we are trying to display are pride and joy for the Mermaid Kingdom.”
The merkids around the kitchen nodded and a couple even whistled their approval.
“We’re competing against the best singers and dancers and performers in the entire Mermaid Kingdom,” I went on. “And we should have the most spirited merpeople representing us.”
“We all know that, Cora,” Regina said, rolling her eyes. “That’s why we picked everyone here. And that’s why I’ve been nagging you about your performance. We want to win.”
“Exactly,” I said. “And if we really want to win, we need Rachel Marlin on our team. She has one of the best voices in the entire kingdom, and she lives here in Neptunia. I’d like to know why she wasn’t selected to be on our team in the first place.”
The room was totally silent for a moment.
“Her voice isn’t the problem,” one of the mergirls blurted out. Everyone looked at her, and her cheeks went as red as lobster tails. She glanced at Regina with fear in her eyes.
“What exactly is the problem, then?” I asked, staring directly at Regina.
“Oh, come on.” Regina rolled her eyes again. “She’s — well, she’s different.”
“We’re all different,” Shyanna said. She swam to the front and floated close to me.
“Rachel is half-human,” Regina said. “No one else is different like that.”
“So Rachel really was excluded from the Spirit Squad because she’s half-human?” Shyanna asked.
No one was brave enough to say anything or stand up to Regina.
“Why would that even matter?” I asked.
I didn’t want to believe Rachel had been right. But no one was denying it.
I looked around the room. “I’m so ashamed,” I told them. “This is no way to treat anyone.”
“Well, if that’s the way you feel …” Regina held out her hand and studied the glitter on her nails.
“You bet that’s the way I feel,” I said.
“Me too,” Shy said. “Come on, Cora. Let’s go.”
We swam out of there together.
“I can’t believe everyone in our school feels this way. It’s just not right,” Shyanna said sadly as we swam away.
“I don’t believe everyone does. We have to go to the Queen,” I told her. “We have to talk to her. This isn’t right.”
Chapter Nine
Even though we showed up at the castle unannounced, the Queen agreed to see us right away when we told her guard it was about the Neptunia Spirit Squad.
We told her the whole story. “And that’s why we decided to come to you,” Shy finished.
“Oh dear,” said the Queen. “Rachel is such a lovely mergirl. And a beautiful singer too. You three did such a great job at my concert and at the talent show. I wondered why she wasn’t selected to represent our castle. Her father must be upset.”
“I don’t think he knows yet,” I told the Queen.
She tapped her finger on her chin, thinking.
“Well,” she finally said. “I can’t force the team to add Rachel.” She smiled. “But there may be another solution.” She paused for effect. “You could form a new group.”
Shyanna and I looked at each other. “A new group?” I repeated.
The Queen nodded. “Each castle is allowed to enter more than one team. We never have before because we’re one of the smaller castles. But …” She tilted her head slightly. “It can be done.”
Shyanna and I smiled at each other. That just might work!
“We could recruit all the merkids in Neptunia who wanted to be on the Spirit Squad, but who didn’t make it or were afraid to try out because of Regina,” Shyanna said.
I nodded my agreement. “We could do it!”
“It sounds like a good idea,” the Queen said. “A Spirit Squad that won’t exclude anyone.” She lifted a finger in the air. “I hereby appoint Cora Bass as the team leader for Spirit Squad 2.”
“This is amazing!” I yelled.
The Queen smiled. “Okay, off with you two.” She spoke in her more regal voice. “You have work to do. And it’s time for my diving lessons.”
We swam up, thanking her for her time and her great idea. She waved her hand in the air and another mermaid appeared. We both immediately recognized her. The swimming instructor was the Sea Olympic Champion, Sydney Lincoln!
“Oh, and girls?” the Queen called as we swam down the Royal Hallway.
We both turned back.
“Make us proud!”
Shyanna and I swam away and didn’t say another word until we were outside the castle. We both stopped at the same time, let out big breaths, and started to giggle uncontrollably.
Just as quickly as I started laughing, I stopped. “Oh my goodness.” I put my hand on my chest. “What did we just agree to? Can we even do this in such a short time?”
“I don’t know,” Shyanna said. “But we have to go tell Rachel the news.”
We swam as fast as we could back toward Rachel’s cave. “We have some quick recruiting and lots of practicing to do,” I added as we raced to her neighborhood. “And I have to call my mom and see if she’ll even give me permission to do this.”
“You know she will,” Shyanna said.
“I don’t know,” I replied, suddenly worried. “My sisters are a handful, and she needs my help a lot. I hope she understands.”
“When she hears the whole story, she’ll understand how important it is,” Shyanna said. “You know your mom will support you.”
* * *
When we got to Rachel’s cave, Mr. Marlin answered the door. Shyanna spilled the news, including an exact playback of our conversation with the Queen.
“She’s a great Queen,” he said, and then the grin on his face stretched wide. “And Rachel deserves to be on a Spirit Squad. You girls are such good friends, and I am so happy she has you.”
“Rachel!” we all yelled. “We have work to do!”
Rachel was thrilled about the new group. Her dad even offered to help coach us once we got more people together.
Shy and I called our mothers, and as Shy predicted, my mom was more than happy to give me the night off from babysitting for emergency recruitment for the new Spirit Squad. She said she’d manage without me as long as I needed to make my new group work. I heard the pride in her voice, and my heart swelled.
Shyanna’s mom was happy too, and promised to make our entire group matching seashell headbands.
“By the way,” Rachel told me, “that top you borrowed isn’t magic. The magic comes from believing in yourself. Your singing was all you.”
“No way!” I said. “You are pretty sneaky, Rachel.”
“Magic or not, we have lots of work to do,” Shyanna said. “Let’s get started!”
We sat down and came up with a list of everyone who had tried out for the Spirit Squad but hadn’t made it. We added a few names of merkids who we knew would love to be on the team, but were afraid of Regina.
Once we had our list, we swam through the entire castle, going door to door to personally ask the mermaids and merboys on our list if they wanted to join our group.
“It’s going to be lots of work,” we warned each of them. “We’ll have to put in extra hours to be ready in time for the swim meet. We only have a few days.”
Some mermaids and merboys didn’t want to do it. But many did. By the end of the night, we had an enthusiastic and complete team. As team leader, I had to figure out what to do with them in a very short time.
It was up to me. I wondered if I could handle it.
Chapter Ten
Regina laughed when we told her we were resigning from her team and starting a new Spirit Squad.
“I have the entire gymnasium booked,” she said with a toss of her hair. “I can’t afford to share it. You’ll have to find somewhere else to practice.”
“No problem,” Rachel told her. “We don’t need it.”
The team agreed to meet at Walrus Waterpark after school to practice. Our first practice proved we had a team with a lot of heart and oodles of spirit. Everyone was focused and willing to work hard to learn a routine in a short time. The only trouble was, I couldn’t get everyone to agree to sing the song I’d chosen. I knew it was a hard song, but it was one of my favorites.
Instead of wasting time arguing about it, we agreed to work on the dance routine while we thought the song over.
I showed everyone the choreography I’d come up with. Together we adjusted the moves to fit the skills and limitations of our team members. We all worked together, improvising and improving the moves.
The results were astonishing. It was obvious the dance routine was going to be our biggest strength as a team. All the merkids worked together. Our willingness to help each other shine and show off our differences was a definite advantage. We left our first practice with a solid routine that everyone loved.
Shyanna, Rachel, and I left together. As soon as we were out of the park, I burst into tears.
“Cora? What’s wrong?” Shyanna asked.
“I’m happy, tired, and a little stressed,” I said as I cried like a little baby. “I can’t even get everyone to agree on a song, and we only have three days left to learn everything.”
Rachel swam in front of me. “Don’t be silly, Cora. You put together the most amazing routine I’ve ever seen. You had everyone taking ownership and working together. You were great.”
“I’d like to help,” a soft voice said.
I sniffled and looked up. It was Cassie Shore.
“I quit the Neptunia Spirit Squad.” She looked at Rachel. “I knew it was wrong — why you didn’t make the team. I’m sorry I didn’t stick up for you sooner. I think it’s awesome that you’re half-human.”
“It’s okay,” Rachel said quietly. “And I appreciate you saying that.”
Cassie nodded. “I’m on your side.”
Rachel smiled. “There shouldn’t be any sides. We’re all merpeople.”
Cassie turned to me. “I saw you practicing, and I couldn’t help noticing that you were having trouble with your song. I would love to help.”
“That’s right! You’re a songwriter!” I shouted.
Cassie nodded.
“On one condition,” I said. “I think our group will do better if Rachel is our team leader. Can you work with her to rewrite the song and help her teach it to the rest of the group?”
Rachel gasped. “Really, Cora? You want me to be team leader?”
“You’re the best singer,” I said. I glanced at Shyanna. “Well, you and Shy.”
Shy laughed. “It’s okay. Rachel is good. And she’s much better at performing than I am. It’s a great choice, Cora!”
The four of us put our hands out and piled them on top of one another in a perfect team huddle.
“We still have lots of work to do,” I said. “But I’m glad we’re all doing it together.”
Chapter Eleven
“Mermen and mermaids, merboys and mergirls, welcome to the Mermaid Kingdom Festival to celebrate our one-hundredth anniversary,” yelled the King of Caspian Castle. “First to compete, from Neptunia Castle, Spirit Squad 2!”
The crowd cheered. I glanced at Shyanna. She looked like she was about to be sick. Stage fright was hard for her.
“It’s okay, Shy. You’re far from alone. And you always do great,” I whispered.
She nodded, took a big breath, and swam out into the giant field we would be performing in. From the opposite end of the field, Rachel swam to meet her in the middle. As rehearsed, we were all quiet and still, and then the two
of them opened their mouths and started to sing.
The rest of the team swam in fast, doing flips over each other like a giant game of leapfrog. Then Rachel rolled out a big ball of glowing plankton that went off like fireworks. The effects were amazing, and the crowd roared with approval.
The whole team started singing the song that Cassie had composed and Rachel had taught us, and we moved together in a giant wave of motion. We had even added special effects to our routine by using lots of glowing creatures.
There were a few mistakes in our performance here and there, but the crowd was cheering so loudly that I don’t think anyone noticed the glitches. I could not believe it was happening.
The finale came quickly, and we all worked together and jumped and sprang off each other like we rehearsed. The final roar of our team could be heard throughout the entire kingdom. “Neptunia!” we shouted as one.
After the crowd settled down, the swim meet got underway. There would be a few more events, and then the other Spirit Squads would perform their routines. I was excited to see what the other groups had put together.
Our team huddled together once we swam off the field. “I’m so proud of every single one of you!” Rachel said. “No matter what happens!”
Merpeople from every castle flocked over to congratulate us. Regina swam by, her nose in the air. “I noticed so many errors in that first performance. How embarrassing,” she said to her new co-captain, loud enough for us to hear.
“Yeah, but the performance was pretty spectacular,” the co-captain said. “All those special effects and moves were ambitious for a group that just got together. And those mermaids can really sing!”
Rachel giggled. “She won’t be co-captain long,” she whispered to me.
Our entire team was sitting together when they announced the winner. It was the team from Hercules Castle. Their routine had been the best.
Shyanna swam over to us then. “Rachel! Guess who showed up to surprise you? He was in the crowd and saw our performance.”
“Owen’s here?” Rachel asked, grinning.
Cora's Decision Page 3