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Rita was exhausted. This had to have been the hardest day she had ever gone through at the high school. First, three new students had arrived that day, and scheduling was nearly impossible. Then the school board had requested a meeting on a night when she already had two other conferences booked. Then a math teacher had announced his retirement, and a biology teacher had quit–––in the same day! She hadn't had time to eat lunch, and had an enormous amount of work to file for the superintendent. And finally, as she had been walking out through the doors at the end of the day, a student in the office had thrown up all over her shoes.

As she drove home, all that was on her mind was a refreshing swim, and maybe a nice long nap…

Her phone rang, jolting her out of her sleepy haze. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Rita!" It was Sirena's voice at the other end. "Hi! Look, I'll just… tell you. Cam's a merman."

The words didn't register. "What?" Rita said tiredly.

"Cam. He's turned into a merman. He has a tail, Rita. Nixie and Cam somehow got affected in the moon pool, and apparently he didn't mean to get powers, but now he has them. Zac's here already."

Rita's head was spinning. Without another word, she snapped her phone shut and pressed on the gas pedal.

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It was an odd scene inside the grotto. Cam and Nixie sat in the corner, half in each other's arms. Cam looked apprehensive. Nixie looked guilty. From across the room, Zac stared at them, eyes flicking back and forth, his brow furrowed in confusion. Lyla stood behind Zac, one hand on his shoulder, the other in her pocket. She looked at him, deciding how to phrase the news correctly.

"Zac, on the full moon," Lyla began, "Cam and Nixie were in the Moonpool."

"Yeah, I remember that. Vividly," Zac said tonelessly.

Lyla looked pointedly at Nixie. "Right. Well, somehow, they were affected. Cam?"

Cam stood up and walked by them. Quite calmly, he stepped off the edge of the floor and into the pool. The water began to churn and bubble. He resurfaced and swam to the edge of the pool. Spread out behind him was his tail: thick and graceful, and a deep turquoise in color.

Zac made a small noise, and walked slowly over to the pool.

"What did you do?" He said to Cam, who looked him in the eye.

"Nothing," the other boy said, heaving himself out of the water. Nixie threw him a towel. Zac stepped back.

"This is nothing? You have powers. So, what, you were sick of being the regular human being? Got jealous?"

Cam stood up on his newly formed legs. "It was an accident. I didn't intend to be a fish."

Behind him, Nixie seemed to become very interested in her shoelaces. Lyla stared at her, narrowing her eyes.

"Oh! That must be why you've been so jealous for the past few months," Zac said sardonically. "Why you've been such a self-absorbed idiot! How could you let this happen?" he said, turning to Nixie. "I thought you were against 'landboys.' Guess it just depends on who the landboy is, right?" Zac said accusingly, glancing from Cam to Nixie. Lyla felt a small twinge of triumph at that.

"Look, you're not the center of the world, Zac! There are other people here who aren't telling me I was jealous of them! And you know nothing–––nothing–––about me and Nixie. Get a grip, Zac," Cam said. Their faces were close. "I wasn't even trying to be a fish. And even if I had, having a tail isn't just your thing."

Zac moved so fast he blurred. The next thing Lyla knew, Cam was sprawled on the floor, one hand clapped over his eye. Nixie cried out. A voice rang out behind them.

"Zac!" Rita shrieked. "Stop this instant. Honestly, you two!" She moved between them as Cam, who was looking ready to return Zac's punch, stood up.

"So, Cameron," Rita said calmly. "I understand you gained powers. Please, someone tell me how this happened."

So, gradually, the entire story was related by Cam and Nixie–––how they had floated above the Moonpool, how they had missed the peak of the full moon, how they had swum out of the cave immediately.

"Well," Rita began when they had finished. "Regardless of whether you wanted to become a merman, you have the same secret as all of us now. Cam," she said, looking him straight in the eye. "Welcome to our pod."

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