At lunch, Ariel made sure Adella sat next to King Triton. Then she ushered her other sisters into the seats they’d had yesterday.

“I’ve been practicing the solo for ‘Sea to Shining Sea,’” Alana announced.

“That’s my solo!” Aquata protested.

“There’s still time to change,” said Alana.

“No, there’s not.”

“Yes, there is.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Will those two never stop bickering? Ariel wondered. She rose to sit between them. But then she sat back down. Alana and Aquata had been seated next to each other yesterday. So they had to sit like that today, too.

The merchildren brought the bouquet of lavender. Then the chef carried in seaweed noodles, piled high on plates, just like the day before. Then came the kelp cake, decorated with tiny shells.

“My favorite!” Adella cried.

King Triton gave Adella his present again. She squealed happily. “A coral necklace. Just what I wanted!” She put on the necklace at once.

Ariel grinned. Adella was as excited today as she’d been yesterday! It was almost as if she’d forgotten she was pretending.

“Now!” Adella smiled at Ariel. “Don’t you have something for me?”

“Of course!” Ariel held out a box. Sebastian had taken the music box from Adella’s nightstand earlier.

Eagerly, Adella opened the gift. “It’s a music box!” she squealed. She gazed at the tiny mermaid on top. “I have the same one!”

“It is the same one!” hissed Sebastian.

“Oh, right. Sorry,” Adella said.

Soon lunch ended. “Well, time for our beauty treatment!” said Adella.

More than anything, Ariel wanted to keep an eye on things and make sure her sisters did everything they’d done yesterday. But right now she needed to go exploring with Flounder.

The sisters left, giggling. Ariel glanced at the clock. It was 1:01. Perfect.

“Do you know where Sebastian is?” Ariel asked Flounder.

“Coming, coming,” Sebastian said, scuttling over. “Don’t worry, I’m going to the spa. I was just checking my timetable. We’re right on schedule.”

“Good. But can you sneak away from Adella and report back to me about the spa? I’ll be near the new shipwreck with Flounder.”

Ariel and Flounder swam toward the shipwreck. But Ariel kept looking back. She couldn’t stop wondering, What is Adella doing now? Is everything the same?

The friends paddled around the shipwreck, looking in all of the nooks for treasure. Then they swam to meet the sea horses and dolphins.

“Anyone for a game of keep away?” called Flounder.

Ariel was chasing the sponge ball when she heard a loud “Pssst!”

She turned around. She saw a strange crab with long curly hair. She looked at him, puzzled.

“Ariel, it’s me!” The crab lifted its hair.

“Sebastian?” the little mermaid said, shocked.

“Yes, of course it’s Sebastian. I am wearing a wig. Thanks to the Sea Swirl Spa, I’m in the middle of a makeover.”

Ariel giggled. “You look lovely. Did you do this yesterday, too?”

Sebastian turned an even deeper shade of red. “I an sorry to say that they made me. At least then I didn’t have to parade all over the ocean!”

Ariel turned serious. “Thank you for helping, Sebastian. What is Adella doing right now?”

“She’s trying on wigs, too. They all are.”

Ariel nodded. “Good. That’s exactly the same.” She shooed the crab away. “Now go back to the spa!”

Sebastian swam away. The game continued. Ariel and Flounder tossed the sponge around.

A little later, Sebastian returned. He still wore the wig. But this time, he had on long fake eyelashes and the tips of his claws were purple.

“They’re getting their eyes done!” he whispered.

Ariel giggled and pointed at his claws.

“It’s manicure time,” he explained before swimming off.

After a while, Sebastian returned. “Your sisters are having facials,” he reported. His own shell was now almost completely covered with deep-sea mud. “Everything has been exactly the same. This is the last part of the beauty treatment.”

Sebastian swam away with a wave. “Now for my massage!” he called back. “Please do not disturb.”

When Sebastian didn’t return, Ariel knew she had to do something to get the sisters back on track, even if it was a little different than yesterday. “I’m going to the spa,” she told Flounder. She took a deep breath, hoping this wouldn’t affect the spell.

Ariel dashed through the water. Minutes later, she neared the Sea Swirl Spa. Her sisters lay back in clamshell beds, their faces covered with hot towels.

The mermaids were so quiet. In the silence, Ariel heard a soft noise.

“Zzzzz.”

“Zzzzz.”

Her sisters had fallen asleep! Ariel pulled Sebastian off his massage table.

“Ariel! What are you doing? I was finally relaxing!”

“We have to wake up my sisters!” she whispered. “We’re going to be late for the rehearsal.” She pulled at a vine and gave another one to Sebastian. “Hold on to this. Come on!”

Ariel and Sebastian floated above the sisters. Their vines trailed in the water.

“One, two, three,” whispered Ariel. They dangled the vines around the sisters, brushing the mermaids gently.

“Hey, stop tickling me!” Aquata said to Alana.

“No, you stop tickling me,” Alana told Aquata.

“You stop!”

“No, you!”

“Oh, no!” Adella sat up with a start. “We need to hurry! We have to rehearse!”

Ariel grinned. But right away, her smile faded. The rehearsal! That was when the shark almost attacked.

She knew her father had ordered shark patrols. Fish, dolphins, and more were swimming along the borders of Atlantica. The shark couldn’t just wander by the concert hall the way it had before.

Of course, Ariel could lure the shark to the hall. But should she put her sisters in danger?

All day long, Ariel knew she’d have to make this decision.

Then she realized she’d known what she was going to do all along. She wouldn’t bait the shark. She couldn’t ask her sisters to face that kind of danger—again! After all, what if they got hurt? She’d never forgive herself, even if it meant she couldn’t be human.

“We’ll do this rehearsal like we did before,” Ariel told the mermaids as they swam to the hall. “But this time, without the shark.”

“Oh, but Ariel!” said Adella. “That’s not how it was at all. You said everything had to be exactly the same.”

Ariel nodded. “I did say that. But it’s too big a risk. What if the shark attacked us this time?”

She thought of Eric. Of Max. Of their last breakfast…and how they might never be together again.

Ariel’s voice caught in her throat, and a tear trickled down her cheek. “The danger is too great.”