After their day’s adventures by the pool, Lagoona and her siblings were totally worn out and ready to eat. With the surf pool and lap pool closed for most of the afternoon—thanks, most likely, to Toralei’s kitty chaos—Lagoona spent the last bit of the afternoon playing on the waterslide with her brothers. When they’d all had enough rides, she bundled her brothers up in a huge, fluffy towel and squeezed the water off their little bodies. As soon as they were dry, all five kids dressed up for dinner and met their parents in the dining room. Lagoona felt like a princess in her new aqua dress with magenta platform sandals. Her hair was long and loose, extra wavy from the sea air, and her skin was sun-kissed from a whole day outside.

“So how’s the ship treating everyone?” Lagoona’s dad asked, relaxing back into his chair. “Pretty fancy, yeah?”

“It’s so fintastic, Dad,” Kelpie said. “Today, Lagoona taught us all to surf!”

“Gonna catch some waves out in the deep water with me when we get home, Kelpie?” he asked with a wink.

“Uh…” Kelpie said, glancing at Lagoona for support. “Yeah, maybe.”

Lagoona squeezed her sister’s hand under the table. She knew Kelpie had enjoyed surfing a whole lot more today, when there was no risk of the Kraken coming to get her. She hoped someday her little sister would get over her fear. “They were all fintastic,” Lagoona told her parents. “You’ve definitely got a school of naturals here, Dad. We can show you some of their great new moves tomorrow.”

“About tomorrow,” Lagoona’s mom said, putting down her chopsticks. “I spoke with the cruise director this morning about the upcoming activities and found out there’s a scuba excursion planned for tomorrow morning. Our ship’s course will take us right past a beautiful reef, and apparently there are some interesting shipwrecks you can explore. Would any of you be interested in getting off the ship for the day to swim in the ocean?”

“Would I?” Lagoona said brightly. “Count me in! The pools on the cruise ship are totally amazing, of course—and I’m seriously loving the pampering and poolside drinks—but this ghoul would give anything to stretch her fins in a bigger body of water!”

The other Blues laughed. “I take that as a yes?” Lagoona’s dad asked.

All five kids nodded eagerly, and they spent much of the rest of the meal planning the next morning’s outing. Lagoona couldn’t wait! As much as she loved this fancy cruise, she was feeling a bit homesick for the huge, wild expanses of the ocean. And a trip off-ship would definitely give her a break from Toralei. There was no way the water-fearing cat would venture off the high decks of the cruise ship!

As Lagoona thought wistfully about the next day’s adventure, Kelpie tapped Lagoona’s arm and whispered, “Will the Kraken get us?”

“No,” Lagoona promised. “The Kraken hides out in the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean, mate. If we’re visiting a reef, you don’t have anything to worry about. It’s shallow, and there will be tons of beautiful fish around. It’s going to be fintastic.”

Kelpie’s face broke into a relieved smile. “If the Kraken is far away, I’ll do it! It sounds fun!”

While the triplets bragged about their surfing skills—exaggerating rather dramatically about their talent for standing up and doing tricks—Kelpie and Lagoona dug into their desserts. The rich, sweet chocolate mousse was a perfect ending to a great day. Lagoona sank back in her chair, letting her eyes drift closed. She was so happy here, chilling with her family, eating great food, surfing… and now a day to explore the ocean. Life couldn’t get much better.

“Hello…” a voice purred, and Lagoona’s eyes popped open. She spun around, and there was Toralei, looking uncharacteristically sweet. “I hope you’re enjoying your dinner.”

“We are,” said Lagoona’s dad, smiling up at Toralei. “Thank you. Are you a new friend of Lagoona’s?”

“I’m a…friend… of Lagoona’s from school,” Toralei replied. “Such a funny coincidence that we’re on the ship together this week.”

“Crikey,” said Lagoona’s dad. “That is a fun coincidence. Would you care to join us?”

Lagoona cringed. Then she remembered her vow to be kind and welcoming toward Toralei. She pushed out an empty seat and gestured for Toralei to sit down with them.

“Oh, no thank you,” Toralei said sweetly. “I was just coming over to say hello and to make sure your family knows about the talent show! Everyone on board has been talking about it nonstop, and I wanted to make sure you all knew about the family competition part of the show.”

Lagoona narrowed her eyes. What was Toralei up to now?

“I don’t know about the family competition,” said Lagoona’s mom. “I’d heard about the talent show, but we haven’t gotten any of the specifics yet.”

“I would give anything to be a part of the show myself,” Toralei said, grinning mischievously. Lagoona thought she saw Toralei give her a wink. “But my family isn’t into it. But there’s a family sing-off in the talent competition. I thought your family would be purrfect for it. You could all get up onstage and sing a song together.… Wouldn’t that just be clawesome?”

Lagoona tried not to glare at Toralei. Getting up in front of all the other ship passengers to sing? Crikey. That was her worst nightmare.

“That does sound fun!” Lagoona’s dad said, gazing around the table at the rest of the family. The triplets were all bouncing happily in their seats, and Kelpie’s eyes were wide at the prospect of a brief shot at fame. “When is it?”

“It’s tomorrow night,” Toralei said. “You just have to pick a song you’re all comfortable singing together, and then you get up onstage and sing it for the rest of the passengers. I’m sure you’d have a much better chance of winning if you put together a little dance routine too. That would give your performance the extra oomph to win, don’t you think?” She winked at them.

“Can we?” Dewey asked his parents.

“Please?” Tadpole begged.

“We love to sing!” Squirt added.

“Of course we’ll do it,” Lagoona’s dad said.

“Is there a prize for the winner?” Kelpie asked, looking up at Toralei as if she had suddenly turned into the cruise activities director.

“Of course there’s a prize. The winning family will get a big shiny trophy and have their photo taken with the captain!”

“That’s the best prize ever!” Squirt squealed.

“Oh, one more thing,” Toralei said, letting her gaze linger on Lagoona. “Everyone in the family has to participate. Otherwise, you’ll be disqualified.” She waved at the Blues, then sauntered off, tossing a casual wave over her shoulder. “Ta-ta.”

As the rest of the family chattered excitedly about what song they could sing and what they could do to make their performance extra special, Lagoona felt her good mood float away. She wanted to make her siblings happy, of course, but the thought of getting up onstage to sing was… well, terrifying. While Lagoona loved the thrill of performing on her surfboard or during swim meets in the pool, singing and dancing onstage was a whole other thing. An other thing that was definitely not her thing.

“What’s wrong, Lagoona?” Kelpie asked softly, noticing that her sister was quieter than usual.

“Nothing,” Lagoona mumbled, picking at the last of her dessert.

“You’re going to sing with us, right?” Tadpole asked from across the table. “We want to win!”

Lagoona took a deep breath. She couldn’t let her family down. Especially not during their big family scarecation. She hoped that a day in the ocean tomorrow would be just what she needed to relax about getting up onstage. With a tense smile, she nodded. “Sure, mates. I’m in.”