Free Maggie Malone Makes a Splash by Jenna McCarthy Page B

we…measuring?” I ask her.
    Lexi pretends she doesn’t hear me as she slips a strap around her neck that’s attached to a huge camera. “I’m going to get some great pictures of you placing it too, and then in the video you can explain how this is an important part of an oceanographer’s work!” Pictures of me placing it?
    â€œBut wait, Lexi, what are we—” I try to ask again, but she plunges right into the water. I wait for her to pop back up, but she’s sinking—ever so slowly—deeper. Skipper is shaking his head frantically— Let’s go already !
    I consider my options: refuse to get in the water…and have to deal with Captain Jack. And if he’s about to blow up an entire coral reef, I’m pretty sure he’s not someone I want being furious at me. I could “accidentally” leave the box with the timer in it behind…but Lexi would just make me come back for it. Finally I decide I only have one choice: go along with this horrible plan and then find a way to reach the Coast Guard ASAP. It’s all I’ve got. Talk about the least of all evils!
    I adjust my mask and put the mouthpiece end of the tube that’s connected to my air tank into my mouth. I breathe in and out and realize I sound exactly like Darth Vader. I try to whisper “Luke, I am your father” but it’s really hard to talk into this thing. The air feels freezing cold in my mouth and has a weird metallic taste. This is what pure terror tastes like , I think to myself, positive I will never forget it. Pinching my nose and hoping for the best, I slip the strap of the awful otter box onto my wrist and plunge into the crystal-clear water.
    Whooooooooa, this is crazy! I feel like I’m floating in space! I spin around like a ballerina and Skipper is right there beside me, his entire body undulating. One tiny kick of my powerful fins and I fly through the water, just like Skipper. I can see forever down here, and the only sound I hear is my crazy breathing. There are schools of fish all around me—bright blue and yellow ones and little shiny, silver ones and big, brown spotted ones—darting this way and that. A turtle the size of my bed pillow glides right past me, and it’s like I’m in this crazy underwater movie. It’s magical and amazing and I could do this forever—except for the part where you can’t talk, because that would make me bonkers. Oh yeah, or the part where I’m about to blow up a reef. Party over.
    Skipper takes off and I follow him. He leads me over to Lexi. She gives me a thumbs-up and a nod when she sees me, like “Everything okay?” Oh yeah, Lexi, everything’s just peachy! I give her the thumbs-up back—because what else can I do?—and she snaps a bunch of photos. Then she points down with three sharp jabs of her fingers and takes off toward the deep, dark water without even turning around to see if I’m following. Some dive buddy!
    I catch up to her with no problem. We dive deeper and deeper, and it’s like I’ve been a deep-sea diver my entire life. The water gets colder and darker every few feet and the fish get bigger. I do love the feeling of flying through this water! If only I could forget about the box that’s strapped to my wrist. As I swim deeper, I feel my head getting tight, just like it does on an airplane. I plug my nose and blow really hard, and my ears pop right away. That’s a major relief. Not that I can hear anything down here anyway, but it’s no fun feeling like your head is wrapped in a thick cotton sock.
    Lexi suddenly stops. She’s hovering a few feet above the most beautiful bed of coral you could ever imagine. It’s got bright blue fingers reaching up toward the surface and red fan-like arms waving gently back and forth. There are clusters that look like human brains and knotty bits that could be dried lava, and the whole thing is