Real Mermaids 2 - Don't Hold Their Breath by Helene Boudreau

Alcatraz. Was it even the tidal pool at all? What if the trip was actually a dead end and the sentries were hiding something else past that culvert? Now Reese and Renata were both in big-time trouble and it was all my fault.
    I sighed in relief when I recognized the spot where I’d kicked off my flip-flops at Toulouse Point. Only problem was Luke was nowhere in sight.
    Okay, universe! I rang out into the ocean, beyond caring who could hear me at that point. I could really use a break right now, you know!
    Tell me about it.
    I spun around in the water, trying to spot the source of the voice. It wasn’t until I’d swum around the point to the other side when I finally saw Luke standing on the rocky shore. And Cori was with him.
    Oh no. What is she doing here? I rang out.
    Cori held a cell phone to her ear and looked like she was trying to make a call. Luke kept tugging at her arm, trying to reason with her, but Cori held firm.
    I lifted my head out of the water just enough so I could hear, doubting Cori could see me through the choppy waves.
    â€œYou found her wallet and her cell. What other proof do you need?” She shrugged Luke’s hand away. “Something’s wrong here, Luke. We have to call someone!”
    â€œI’m sure she’s fine.” Luke grappled with her in a comical display of arm flapping and hand flailing, trying to get the phone away from her. “But here, let me call.”
    â€œI think I know how to use a cell phone, Luke.” Cori held the phone up in the air and squinted at the screen like she was trying to get reception, but thankfully it looked like the sand dunes and boulders were blocking her phone signal. “When are they ever going to put another cell tower in this town?”
    We’d better do something before she gets the whole Port Toulouse Emergency Response Team out here, Luke rang.
    I should get out—should I get out? I hesitated, remembering what Dad had told me about telling other people about my mermaid secret. Cori would freak if she found out about me. I’d told her a little about what I was going through back at her pool party. I even admitted that it had something to do with Mom, but there was no way she would ever guess the real reason behind all my freakiness. Did I really want to open that can of worms? Maybe she’ll leave soon.
    Um, she doesn’t look like she’s going anywhere. Luke scrambled after Cori as she climbed a large rock jutting partway into the ocean, looking for better reception. I laughed as she stretched up on her tippy-toes, turning this way and that way while Luke urged her to get down. She waved him away but in the process, managed to slip off the rock.
    â€œHel-uphtt!” Cori yelled. But her cry was muffled as she hit the water with an impressive splash.
    Cori! I rang out, but of course she couldn’t hear me. A powerful force took over, making me forget everything my dad ever told me about keeping my identity a secret. I had to get to her!
    Within seconds, I had Cori around the waist and I was dragging her to shore. She lay limp in my arms as I swam with all my might to get her to safety.
    You got her! Luke rang.
    I think she banged her head. My face broke the surface of the water just as Luke splashed into the ocean to meet us.
    I coughed up a lungful of water and gasped as the early evening air burned my lungs. Luke dragged Cori to shore and checked her pulse and breathing, which was good, because I was as useless as a beached tuna from where I was sitting, waist deep in the ocean.
    â€œIs she okay?!” I called out between sputters and coughs as Luke turned Cori over to her side just as she was coming to.
    â€œJa—?” Cori’s eyelids fluttered as she put her cell phone to her ear, which she (amazingly) still had clutched in her hand. Leave it to Cori to stay connected through a near-death experience. Luke pried the phone away from her and waved his hand for me to hide