Free Real Mermaids Don't Sell Seashells by Helene Boudreau Page B

cranium. I pressed the Connect button so Video Gab could load ( if the hotel paid its Internet bill, that is) but couldn’t muster the energy to peel my head off the pillow.
    â€œHallumph?’ I said through squinty eyes, trying to figure out who was calling me so early in the morning.
    â€œJade?” The image finally loaded and it was Luke, looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. And alarmingly cute. There was a lot of background noise so his voice echoed when he spoke, and something that sounded like announcements blared around him, making it hard to hear.
    â€œLuke?” I asked, wiping the drool from the side of my mouth. Charming. “Where are you?”
    I looked over to the other bed, expecting to see Cori, but from the sound of the running water in the bathroom, I guessed she was already in the shower getting psyched for our day at Eutopia’s Teen Club. The brochure said we could swim with dolphins at Dolphin Lagoon in the afternoon so that’s all she’d talked about ever since.
    Oh, right. Dolphins. My dream was starting to make a bit more sense.
    Luke looked like he was adjusting a few settings on his phone to see and hear more clearly.
    â€œMy dad got back from his trip a day early and Mom got someone to cover for her at the flower shop so we got earlier flights,” Luke answered brightly. He looked really excited to be heading our way. It was almost as though we hadn’t had that weird conversation in the elevator where I pretty much told him his brother was a loser.
    â€œWhat time is it?” I mumbled, but I could see it was almost 8 a.m. from the clock radio beside my bed. I vaguely remembered Mom popping her head into our room earlier to let me know they were leaving for their catamaran trip and to get up because Teen Club was expecting us by nine. “Are you at the airport or something?”
    â€œYeah,” he replied but I could already see he was sitting in the airport lounge, with other passengers milling around him. “Our flight is supposed to board in about an hour but we’re connecting through New York so we won’t get to the Bahamas until about three-ish.”
    It would be Luke’s first time flying too. I bet he wouldn’t need deep breathing techniques just to get through takeoff.
    â€œToo bad you’re not here now. Cori and I are going to hang out at something called ‘Teen Club.’” I rubbed my eyes and yawned.
    â€œYou look so excited by the prospect,” Luke said with a laugh.
    â€œCori’s pumped, so I’m sure it’ll be fun,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster that early in the morning.
    â€œHey, how’s it going?” Trey photo-bombed into the video screen and flashed me a peace sign. All of a sudden I felt like a total jerk for saying those things about him to Luke. Trey really was a good guy. He’d helped us out so much that summer, often putting his life on the line to get us through all the mer drama. The guy might be a bit of a goofball, but at least his heart was in the right place.
    Speaking of drama, the dream about Dillon’s speedboat was still fresh in my mind. Should I clue the guys in to everything that had been happening in the Bahamas since we arrived? No. What was there to tell, really?
    â€œHey there, Trey. You want to talk to Cori?” I looked over to the bathroom door and tried to listen to hear if the water was still running. “I can get her if you want.”
    â€œNo,” Trey said quickly. “That’s okay. Just tell her I said hi.” Then he disappeared out of the picture.
    â€œUm, so I guess we’ll catch up when we get there?” Luke asked, looking off screen as though he was trying to catch something Trey was saying.
    â€œYeah. Cool,” I replied, getting up to step outside onto the balcony to get some fresh air. If I craned my neck, I could almost see the ocean, reminding me of our water-taxi ride from