Cali Plays Fair Read online

  “Let’s look until it gets dark,” Cruise said.

  “We’ll split up and meet back here,” Cali said.

  Everyone swam off, calling for Bitey. Cali wasn’t even sure the eel knew its own name yet. But she lifted rocks and peeked in holes. Eels were fast swimmers and very good at hiding.

  The twins and their seaponies met back at the dorm as the sunlight was fading. No one had good news.

  “We can search again tomorrow. Before the tournament,” Cali said.

  She had a hard time sleeping that night. She flipped and flopped in bed. She didn’t miss Bitey, but she felt bad for Cruise. As much as she wanted to be her own mermaid, Cali didn’t like to see her twin so sad.

  And she couldn’t stop thinking about the litter challenge. She hadn’t asked for that extra bag—and she had cleaned up some of the trash that spilled out of it! So why did she feel like she wasn’t playing fair?

  * * *

  As soon as she woke up the next morning, Cali swam to Cruise’s room. “Did Bitey come back for the food?”

  Cruise sped over to the window and found a jellyfish eating from the plate. “No.”

  They went back outside and searched for an hour, but there was still no sign of the missing moray eel.

  Cruise and Cali swam to Rescue Crew School. Her brother was so sad, he didn’t even try to race Cali there.

  “Good morning, students!” said the principal. “It’s day two of our tournament and our first event is an important one. We’re collecting glow coral for our streetlights. Whoever gets the most in an hour wins ten points. And there’s ten points for whoever finds the biggest piece.”

  Cruise was quiet as he swam away.

  “Good luck!” Cali called after him. But she was still desperate to win the contest, so she saddled up Rio with two bags to hold the coral and swam off. She didn’t even wait for her friends. She’d be able to work better on her own.

  Cali found a few good spots with lots of glow coral. She worked so fast collecting it and found so much, she filled both bags and had an armful of it when their time was up.

  “Excellent work, Cali!” the principal said.

  Cruise swam up with one bags barely filled. Lots of other students had more than he did.

  “What happened?” Cali asked. “You hardly have any.”

  “While I was collecting the coral, I was also looking for Bitey. I didn’t find him.”

  Cali felt bad. Cruise was probably never going to find the eel.

  “Lana found the biggest piece of coral and earned ten points. And Cali collected the most coral,” Principal Vanora announced. “That’s another ten points for you!”

  “Yes!” Cali cried. “Now I’m tied for first place,” she told Rio. But Rio didn’t smile.

  “What place would you be in if you hadn’t been given that extra bag of garbage?” Rio whispered.

  “Come on, Rio! You’re supposed to be my friend.”

  “I am. And friends tell friends when they don’t do the right thing.”

  Cali shook her head. “Let’s go. It’s time for the obstacle course!”

  The teachers timed the students as they raced through the course one at a time. Each merkid had to swim over and under nets, untie a conch shell from a string using one hand, and make their way through a maze of lava tubes. It was so much fun, Cali forgot about all her other worries for a while.

  Nixie came in first place. Cali was a little disappointed, but Cruise didn’t even seem upset. Obviously, he was still sad about Bitey.

  The principal scratched her head. “I can’t believe it, but at the end of our tournament, we have a three-way tie.”

  The class started chattering excitedly.

  “Cali, Cruise, and Nixie all have the same score,” the principal said. “Twenty points. Take a break for lunch and then we’ll announce a tiebreaker event.”

  Nixie grabbed Cali’s hands. “Can you believe it?”

  Cali blinked a few times. “No, I can’t!” Her worries were rushing back: that bag of litter, the way Cruise was so sad he wasn’t even trying to win anymore. She looked over at him, but he was just staring off into the distance. Winning the competition wouldn’t feel as good knowing Cruise hadn’t really been trying.

  She swam up to him. “Why didn’t you work harder in the glow coral competition?” Cali asked him. “You’ve been trying to beat me at everything lately.” Her anger was growing, remembering how he’d been constantly trying to show her up.

  “What? I’ve just been trying to have fun with you,” Cruise said.

  “You’re always taunting me!” Cali said.

  Cruise looked confused. “No I’m not. We always play games—at least, we did until we came to Rescue Crew School.”

  “What are you talking about?” Cali asked.

  “Now we hardly do anything together anymore, Cali. It’s like you don’t want to be around me.” His voice softened. “I miss hanging out with you, I guess.”

  Cali’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to make a name for myself. We’ve always been ‘the Twins,’ like we’re not our own merkids.” She shrugged. “I’ve sort of been trying to prove myself. I never wanted to make you feel that way.”

  “Okay, I’ll stop challenging you all the time,” Cruise said, looking away. “I guess we’re growing up and just won’t be as close anymore. I can hang out with Bitey and Jetty. I mean, if I ever find Bitey.”

  Cali’s stomach fell. Was that really what she wanted? She wasn’t sure. But she knew one thing for sure: They had to find Cruise’s eel.

  “Hey, everyone!” she called out. “Cruise’s eel, Bitey, is missing.”

  “It’s our eel,” Cruise said quietly.

  Cali nodded. “Right. I’m going to go look for him if anyone wants to join me.”

  Most of the students followed her, and Cali smiled, relieved. She could use a break from worrying and competing with everyone—even her brother.

  “The seaponies can get snacks for everyone and meet up later,” Jetty said.

  “Thanks,” Cruise said, looking surprised and a little more cheerful than before.

  “Let’s split up into groups and meet back here in an hour,” Cali said. “If you find him, let us know on our rescue shells.”

  “Sounds good!” said Dorado.

  “I’ll come with you guys,” Nixie said.

  “Me too,” said Lana.

  The rest of the merkids split up into two groups and swam off.

  “I was reading more about eels,” Cruise said. “And I learned they like to live in caves.”

  “Okay,” Cali said. “We should go to the outskirts of the city.”

  “Grab some chunks of glow coral so we can see inside the caves,” Cruise said.

  “Great idea!” Nixie said.

  They each grabbed a piece of coral from the pile everyone had collected and headed off.

  “What happens if we find Kraken’s Cave by mistake?” Lana wondered, sounding scared.

  “That’s just an old legend,” Nixie said. “I’m sure if there was a Kraken around here we would have seen it. The Kraken is supposed to be huge!”

  “And he has treasure in his cave,” Cali said. “So if we did find the Kraken, we’d be rich!”

  Cruise chuckled. “Yeah, because I’m sure he’d just let us take all his stuff. Let’s focus on my eel, guys. Don’t worry about finding the Kraken. That’s never going to happen. If we find him, I’ll eat a bucket of shells.”

  Nixie giggled. “Now I hope we do find the Kraken.”

  They swam along, and Cali spotted a cave ahead. “Let’s go check it out.” But after all the jokes about the Kraken, she was feeling a little nervous. “You go in first,” she told Cruise.

  He took a deep breath, then swam into the mouth of the cave. He held up his chunk of glow coral. “Bitey?”

  Cali peered in. “There are just a few little fish in here.”

  Rio, Jetty, and Rip swam up to them with snacks. “Our saddle
bags are loaded with goodies. Grab a few things.”

  Cali took a kelp wrap and quickly ate it. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Was it a flash? Did something zoom by? Since everyone else was still eating, she grabbed her glow coral. “I’ll be right back.”

  Cali saw the flash again and swam toward it. Whatever it was, it was coming from a cave. A big one. She looked behind her, but she couldn’t see her friends anymore. That’s okay, she thought. I’ll call for help on my rescue shell if I need it.

  Slowly, she got closer to the cave. She held up her glow coral in the darkness. She saw trinkets and things scattered all around.

  And then she saw two huge eyes staring at her.

  Cali wanted to scream. She should have grabbed her rescue shell and called for help. But she couldn’t. She was frozen in fear. She tried to yell, but it came out in a whisper.

  The eyes disappeared, but her glow coral lit up something shiny for a brief moment.

  Cali blinked a few times. Was that the Night Star? She dropped the glow coral and grabbed her rescue shell. “Guys! I need help!”

  Nixie’s seapony, Rip, was there in seconds. His Sea Savvy was swimming faster than seemed possible.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Cali said. “Something … something is in that cave. With big eyes. And there’s t-t-t-treasure, too.”

  “Are you sure it’s not your imagination?” he asked. “We were just talking about the Kraken. You’re probably just seeing things.”

  The other seaponies and merkids swam up to them. “What’s going on?” Cruise asked. “Did you find Bitey?”

  Cali shook her head. “I think you’re going to be eating shells. I think it might be …” She lowered her voice. “The Kraken.”

  “That’s unlikely,” Rip said, sounding uncertain.

  “Bitey has little beady eyes,” Cali said. “I just saw a huge pair of eyes in there. And something shiny. It almost looked like …”

  “Like what?” Nixie asked.

  Cali wasn’t sure she should tell them she thought she’d seen the Night Star. Because if it was in there, she wanted to get it. She wanted the fifty extra points, because then it wouldn’t matter that she’d taken that bag of litter. She’d have more than enough points to win without it. And everyone would know she had found it. That was a way to make a name for herself for sure. They’d probably write about her in the history books.

  “I’m sure it was nothing,” she said.

  “Should someone go in there?” Nixie asked.

  No one said anything.

  “Bitey?” Cruise called. “Are you in there, buddy?”

  Something inside the cave made a noise.

  “What do we do?” Nixie whispered.

  “Rio, can you blow a protection bubble around all of us?” Waverly asked.

  Rio shook her head. “I can’t make one that big.”

  “Cruise, what if Jetty blew some stun bubbles in there?” Cali asked. “Even if Bitey is in there and gets hit, he’ll be fine.”

  “Great idea!” Cruise said. “Do it, Jetty!”

  Jetty shot bubbles into the cave, but they just hit the walls and the ceiling. The noises continued.

  They all looked at each other nervously.

  “We need to figure out exactly what’s in there,” Cali said. “Everyone, toss your glow coral inside so it lights up the cave.”

  The four of them threw their coral into the cave. They saw a pile of odd things, like jewelry, pretty shells—even some of the ones they’d just painted!

  “How did all that get here?” Nixie asked.

  “I don’t know,” Cali said slowly. Then she saw the big eyes again—on one of the tiny octopuses from the other day. She laughed. “Look!”

  “And there’s Bitey, too!” Cruise shouted.

  Everyone cheered.

  “Come here, boy,” Cruise said.

  Bitey hissed at him.

  That’s when Cali spotted it: The Night Star was at the back of the cave. She had to swim inside and get it!

  But before she could, Rip gasped. “Does that look like a crack in the ceiling?” he asked.

  “I wonder if the stun bubbles did that?” Cali asked.

  And just then, a rock fell from the roof of the cave. And then another.

  “The cave’s collapsing!” Rio said.

  Rip, Nixie, and Waverly swam back from the cave.

  “Come on, guys!” Nixie said.

  “We have to rescue the animals!” Cruise said.

  “But you also have to be safe,” Rip said. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “He’s my pet,” Cruise said.

  “And I saw the Night Star inside!” Cali said. “It’s in the back of the cave.” It would be gone forever if the cave collapsed.

  “I can blow a protection bubble to prop up the entrance,” Rio said. “Cali, stay here. The bubble is stronger when you’re with me.”

  “I’ll go in,” Cruise said.

  Cruise disappeared into the cave. Cali knew that if he found the Night Star, he’d get the fifty points. He’d get all the glory, not her. But that didn’t matter anymore. She just wanted him to be safe.

  “Be careful!” she called after him.

  A few more rocks dropped around the entrance of the cave.

  “Hurry!” Rio shouted. “I’m not sure how much longer my protection bubble is going to hold!”

  Cruise zoomed out of the cave just as Rio’s bubble and the opening collapsed. He had Bitey in one hand and the octopus in the other.

  “Did you get the Night Star?” Cali asked.

  Cruise shook his head. “I reached for it, but I heard all those rocks coming down. I had to leave it.”

  Cali’s heart fell. The gem was probably crushed or buried forever.

  Bitey started coughing.

  “Are you okay, buddy?” Cruise looked worried.

  Bitey coughed a few more times and spit out a shiny gem.

  Cali blinked a few times. “Bitey got the Night Star!”

  “Cruise! You’re going to get an extra fifty points!” Jetty said.

  “Let’s go show the principal!” Nixie said.

  Cali thought she’d be upset, but she wasn’t. In fact, she was a bit relieved she wasn’t going to win the competition. Now it really didn’t matter that she’d gotten that extra bag of trash. And surprisingly, she felt happy for Cruise.

  The octopus Cruise was holding wiggled out of his grip and swam over to Cali. It blinked its big eyes. She laughed. “I can’t believe I thought you were the Kraken. You’re such a little thing.” She held the tiny creature in her hands and smiled.

  “Let’s get back to school,” Rip said.

  Nixie picked up her rescue shell. “We found Bitey! And we found something else great, too. Meet us back at school!”

  They rushed back to Rescue Crew School, where the principal and teachers were waiting outside.

  “We’ve come up with a perfect tiebreaker,” Principal Vanora said.

  “You’re not going to need it,” Nixie said. “Look what Cruise found!”

  Cruise handed the gem to the principal. “Is this the Night Star?”

  Principal Vanora studied it carefully, holding it up to the light. She smiled. “I believe it is! Where did you find this?”

  “We found a cave filled with things. And Bitey was there, too!” Cruise said.

  “And this little octopus! She must have grabbed all the stuff,” Cali said. “We rescued a group of baby octopuses last week and put them back in their tide pool. This one must have been separated from the others.”

  “I wonder if she found the Night Star and brought it to the cave?” Nixie asked.

  “Perhaps,” Professor Korla said. “But however it got there, Cruise found it. And that’s an extra fifty points. It would seem that Cruise wins the tournament!”

  The rest of the class cheered, and Cruise took a bow.

  Cali wanted to point out that she’d actually spo
tted the Night Star, but she realized that Cruise had been the one brave enough to swim into the cave. He deserved all the praise. Still, she felt sad that she hadn’t found a way yet to stand out.

  Maybe she never would.

  “Join us in the auditorium in half an hour for the medal ceremony,” the principal said.

  Most of the mermaids and seaponies swam off, laughing and chattering.

  Cali went up to Cruise. “Congratulations. I’m so glad you found Bitey. And the Night Star.”

  But Cruise didn’t smile.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” he mumbled. He looked at the octopus. “Well, I guess I should have picked a pet that was easier to care for. Like this little one.” He tickled the octopus.

  “Careful! She might squirt you with ink.”

  The octopus squeaked a few words.

  “She’s talking!” Rio said. “Put on your Say Shell.”

  Cali grabbed hers from her rescue cape. “What did you say?” she asked the octopus.

  “I said that I don’t have any ink. I wasn’t born with any.”

  Cali’s jaw dropped. An octopus that wouldn’t be messy? “I wonder if Mom would let me keep her as a pet!”

  “I’d love to be your pet!” the octopus said.

  “But we already have Bitey,” Cruise said.

  “Maybe if we talk to Mom and Dad together, they’ll change their minds about us only having one pet.” She nudged him with her elbow. “We’re good as a team. Look what we did back at the cave!”

  She took a deep breath. She and Cruise were better together, not fighting.

  “I don’t want you to stop challenging me to competitions. I do want to stand out, but we’re twins! We’re always going to be close.”

  Cruise grinned. “Cool. Because I like hanging out with you. Plus, you’re the only one who ever comes close to beating me.”

  Cali smirked. “You mean I’m the only one who beats you all the time?”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Laughing, Cali said, “Come on, race you to the ceremony!”

  Cruise sped off to the auditorium and Cali followed. They arrived at the very same time, laughing.