Even with the insider connection to Seaview Community, I stil have to get a better-than-pathetic score on the SATs. I have to prove myself capable of academic success or something equal y ridiculous. If only I could explain that school hadn’t seemed that important for the last three years because I was going to return to Thalassinia to be crown princess after graduation. Now that I was staying, I would total y focus more on my class work.

But thankful y since the human world is stil unaware that the mer world exists, I can’t exactly provide ful disclosure.

Sometimes I think my life would be much easier if I didn’t have to keep that part of myself a secret. It’s a nice brief fantasy, but then reality returns and I remember why that’s impossible.

Prithi laps at my toe, as if tel ing me she’s perfectly content for me to stay right here forever. At least until Doe wakes up.

“You’re not hopeless.” Shannen grabs a fistful of my frizzy blond hair and tugs me upright. “You’re just behind the curve a bit. Especial y in math. Your writing and critical reading scores are much better.”

“That’s because we speak English in Thalassinia.” At least I’m not from one of the Spanish, Danish, or Japanese-speaking kingdoms. I’d be toast. “If there was a whole test in marine biology, I’d ace it for sure.”

“Don’t worry,” Shannen says, her voice ful of a determination that might be the only thing between me and a life of fast-food jobs. “We’l get you in shape before the real deal in two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” I squeak. My head fal s back to the table.

“You just have to focus,” Shan explains. “Tune out other distractions.”

Easier said than done.

Until I decided to give up my crown and live on land indefinitely, col ege had been the furthest thing from my thoughts. I’d stick it out through graduation, just long enough to make Brody fal in love with me and go with me to Thalassinia when high school was over, so I could take up my duties as crown princess. That had been the extent of my future planning.

Now, there’s Social Security numbers and paperwork and a five-year plan and more things than I can possibly keep in mind at once. And that’s just the future stuff. There’s also the new boyfriend, my eighteenth-birthday bal , and the renunciation.

If I want to help my kingdom from above, through human channels, then I need to succeed. I need to do wel on the SATs and get on the col ege track, or I’l wind up watching my marine biologist plans float away.

Stil , I’m not giving up. I’m a Thalassinian princess, and we’re made of strong stuff. If I need to focus and remove myself from distractions, I can do that.

“How do you sleep on that contraption they cal a bed?” My short-lived optimism vanishes as Doe—aka Very Big Distraction—walks into the kitchen.

Abandoning my apparently less-tasty feet, Prithi pounces at Doe’s hot pink toes. Doe ignores her.

I glare at Doe. “You’l get used to it.”

It had taken me several weeks to adjust to sleeping on a flat surface rather than the curved shel -shaped beds we use in Thalassinia. But now I adore al my fluffy hibiscus bedding and being able to curl up on my side with the covers pul ed tight around me. It’s like being stuffed in a cozy clamshel .

“I won’t be here long enough to get used to anything,” she retorts.

She’s stil being vague about the details of her exile, avoiding any and al questions about what she did to get sent here.

“And just how long will you be here?” I ask, watching nervously as Doe surveys the room.

Her gaze lands on Shannen. Ignoring my question, she asks, “Does this one live here, too?”

I feel my land temper burning my cheeks. If we were in Thalassinia, the water would calm me until I was only mildly annoyed. But since we’re on land, I’m instantly on the verge of furious at her snide question about Shannen. No one disparages my best human friend.

“This one,” I growl, “is Shannen. A very good friend. She’s helping me study because that’s the kind of thing friends do.” Under my breath, I add, “Not that you would understand anything about friendship.”

“Nice to meet you,” Shannen says, offering Doe her hand.

Doe, of course, stares blankly at the hand before rol ing her eyes and stalking into the room. Prithi is fast on her heels. “Where can a mergirl find a glass of kelpberry juice in this place?”

Typical Doe. Walking in like she owns the world, treating everyone like sludge, and expecting them to cheerful y serve her. Wel , if she thinks she can pul off that attitude on land, then she’s in for a very harsh lesson. One I’m not going to teach her. She can sink or swim on her own in this world—I’m not going to be her guiding current. I’ve got my own life to get in order.

Ignoring Doe—and Shannen’s questioning look—I hunker over my study guide and reread the directions for the math section for the fifteenth time. (Note: They stil don’t make sense.)

I’m trying to interpret the meaning of the obscure instructions when Aunt Rachel sweeps into the room.

“Good morning, girls,” she says, her long, flowing skirt fluttering behind her. “Hard at work already?”

“Yes, Ms. Hale,” Shannen replies.

Aunt Rachel’s stopped asking Shannen to cal her by her first name. She’s practical y family—especial y now that she knows my big, fin-shaped secret—but she can’t seem to shake a lifetime of respect-your-elders training.