Chapter 2 - Back Into the Game

Breakfast at the Cassidy household was as normal as any breakfast with a tiger shark could get, complete with the occasional mess of drool and chum in the corner of the kitchen.

"I heard you got busted last night. What'd you do this time?" Karl asked with a grin. Like his sister, Karl had grown over the years, and was now a feisty seven year old who loved danger and adventure just as much as his older sister—as well as seeing her get in trouble for her own adventures.

"I was out late, that's all. Ya don't need ta rub it in," Kat answered in annoyance while poking her spoon into her cereal.

"Your sister's right, Karl. Just drop it," Peter added sternly, much to Karl's dismay.

"But we would like to know, why were you and Kenny out so late?" Grace couldn't help but ask.

"We were rescuing some captured fish from a fishing boat."

"Kat, you know that they need to catch those fish, so that they can feed other big and domesticated animals like Kenny," Grace pointed out.

"I know, but it's just not fair for them. They deserve their freedom, too."

"Of course they do, Pumpkin. But they also need to play their part in the circle of life," Peter stated.

"And their part of the circle is absolutely delicious," Kenny added with a lustful sigh.

Kat scoffed before excusing herself from the table, and then left the room in a huff. Kenny sensed that the rest of her family would leave her alone to blow off steam, so he volunteered to go after her.

"What's eatin' ya, Kid?" Kenny asked softly once he caught up with her.

"What do you think?" Kat muttered sarcastically.

Kenny instantly knew what she meant, so he tapped a flipper on his chin to think, "Why don't we…I dunno, take a walk or something? Maybe to the beach? That always cheers you up."

"I guess. But I can't go scuba diving with you, remember?"

"Yup, totally got it."

Once Kat and Kenny arrived at the beach, they made sure to visit the least crowded side of the shore to relax. They ended up going to the far east side of the beach, which was just fine with Kenny since there was a reef nearby that always had plenty of fish for him to eat.

"You were right. This does cheer me up," Kat admitted with a sigh of relief, as she and Kenny walked down the peaceful shore.

"Told ya. I am a genius, after all," Kenny boasted, to which Kat chuckled and playfully punched his side.

But just before Kenny could get his revenge, his pupils dilated and his nostrils flared when the scent from last night hit him again.

"There it is again!" Kenny quickly informed.

"What is?" Kat inquired.

"That smell! That Godforsaken smell! I can't get it outta my nose! Wait here, I gotta see what it is!"

"Kenny, wait!"

Kat tried to get Kenny's attention, but it was too late. He had already jumped into the water, and disappeared in a flash. She then sprinted back to her car to grab some lighter swimming gear, knowing that her parents never said anything about snorkeling.

Meanwhile, Kenny darted throughout the colorful reef, but ignored every single fish that swam up to him. He could have caught them easily, but none of them were the source of the smell. He continued to swim as fast as he could, but he stopped abruptly when the smell was stronger than ever after rounding a corner.

Kenny's eyes widened at the sight before him. Swimming out from behind some coral was another tiger shark, and it was a smaller, light grey female. She noticed Kenny instantly, and slowly swam around him with curious eyes.

As the two sharks circled each other, Kat was trying to find them from the surface with a snorkeling mask and a two-piece swim suit. It wasn't long before she found them, and she darted behind a rock that poked out of the water to watch and still be able to breathe.

Kat was amazed by what she was seeing. Sure, she studied Kenny trying to court that one female bull shark back in middle school, but she never thought she would get a chance to watch some genuine interactions between two tiger sharks of the opposite sex.

"Who're you?" Kenny finally spoke, his eyes still wide from the female's beauty.

"I could ask you the same thing," the female argued, her voice smooth and silky.

"Well then, could you at least tell me what you're doing out here?"

"I…I don't know, actually. One moment, I was caught in a big net, and then everything goes black. Next thing I know, I wake up by this beach."

Kat furrowed her eyebrows at that. If this female shark was the source of the smell and Kenny smelled her last night, then was she inside the net that they missed?

The female suddenly lifted her nose and sniffed, and quickly spotted Kat, "Human!"

"Wait!" Kenny called after her, but she was already gone.

He then turned back looked back up at Kat with a deadpanned expression, and she merely responded with an embarrassed look on her face while shrugging.

Kenny remained pretty annoyed with Kat, especially during their trip back home.

"I can't believe you did that. We were havin' such a nice talk," Kenny stated with a huff.

"She was telling you how she unintentionally ended up near that beach. Yeah, great ice breaker," Kat protested sarcastically.

"But I could've gotten to a better topic if you'd just left me alone."

"And what if it you'd gotten caught by a fisherman? You heard what she said, she was caught, too."

"Yeah, but then she was let go."

"We don't know why she was let go, and you might not be as lucky if you do get hunted down. I just can't risk it, Kenny."

The said tiger shark growled, and put the weight of his head on his flipper while glaring out of the window. Kat shook her head and kept focusing on the road, but she couldn't shake the feeling of guilt. She wanted Kenny to be happy, and that included letting him make friends with another tiger shark, but she just couldn't bear to lose him.

After getting home, Kenny didn't say another word as he retreated to the pool in the backyard. Kat wished she knew what to do to help, but she couldn't think of anything that wouldn't get her in trouble with her parents again.

"Hey, Babe," a smooth and familiar voice greeted, and Kat couldn't help but giggle when Oscar embraced her from behind. The two had grown pretty close since they turned fifteen, and they finally confessed their feelings for each other about a year later. They have been a happy couple for two years since then.

"Hey, Ozzy," Kat replied with a smile, but Oscar could easily hear the depressed tone in her voice, despite her using the cute nickname she gave him.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Kenny. He's mad at me because I interfered with his chance at making a new friend today."

"It wasn't with another female shark, was it?"

Kat cocked a brow in confusion, "Yeah. How do you know that?"

"Well, it's no wonder he's pissed off. We're smack dab in middle of April, and her scent must've been driving him crazy."

"Shoot, I completely forgot! Northern tiger sharks mate between the months of March and May, and he must've smelled her pheromones," Kat gasped in shock.

"Calm down, it's not your fault," Oscar reassured while patting her shoulder.

"Yes, it is. That's supposed to be tiger shark basics one-o-one. I'm such an idiot. How am I gonna make it up to him?"

"You could help him look for her again?"

"How am I gonna do that without my scuba gear?"

"You got grounded again, didn't you?"

Kat nodded sheepishly.

"Well, I could go with him if you want."

"You'd do that for me?" Kat asked with a big smile.

"Sure. I don't know how to scuba dive, but I can at least take him to the beach and wait for him," Oscar explained while shrugging.

"Oh, you're the best boyfriend ever, Ozzy!"

Oscar chuckled as Kat kissed his cheek, but they both failed to notice that Kenny had poked his head out from the surface of the pool. He watched in sorrow and jealousy at how Kat and Oscar loved each other, and he wished he could have a relationship like that.

Kenny had never really been interested in those kinds of relationships, especially after he messed up his chances with Elly the bull shark. But after seeing that wild female tiger shark, he felt like he had never known true beauty.

Maybe, Kenny figured, I should get back inta the love game.

Ooh, Kenny seems to have made a new friend. I wonder what her story is. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!