Junior High

Chapter 10

After the shock and amazement of my discovery faded, I thought about what I needed to do now. Chris had told me to use my seashell necklace to call him once I reached the other side of the cave, but I didn't want him to feel rushed to find me or anything. But then again, if I swam all the way back and brought him along with me all over again, it would take even more time, and I was almost 100% sure that my mom was looking for me.

Or if I wanted to take even less time, the fastest way would be for me to swim back to Chris and continue this adventure later, maybe tomorrow.

I decided that the last option would be the fastest and most reasonable, so I took one last look at the colorful dolphins and crystal waterfalls and dove back into the deep water to swim back to the other side of the cave.

I hoped Chris wouldn't be too mad at me for not calling him to see my magical discovery for himself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Chris?" I called as soon as I reached the surface. I was, fortunately, back at the swimming pool. It felt good to be near people again, ironically.

"Bree!" Chris jumped toward me with a huge splash. He looked overjoyed to see me again.

"Chris, it's so good to see you again! Good thing I didn't kill myself today," I joked, grinning.

"Bree, I'm so glad you're all right! Why didn't you use the seashell necklace? Did you reach the end of the cave? Was there anything there?" Chris asked, his blue eyes glowing eagerly.

"Anything? Anything? Chris, I made a magical new discovery! I wouldn't be able to tell you what it was really like even if I wanted to," I exclaimed.

"Oh, my gosh! You actually found something!" Chris said.

"There were colorful dolphins everywhere! And I don't just mean blue ones! I mean pink, blue, purple, and green dolphins! And crystal waterfalls! It was like something straight out of "The Little Mermaid" or something!" I cried.

"I can't believe it," Chris said, shaking his head in awe. "I really need to see this for myself. And knowing the reasonable person you are, I'm assuming you came back so we could explore it together tomorrow?"

"Exactly. I didn't use the seashell necklace because I knew you'd come for me without knowing what my plan is," I grinned. "Now, enough about me. Did anything happen with my sisters?"

"Actually, they left early. They came up to me and asked where you were, and I just said you were exploring some caves. They rolled their eyes and said they were going back to your hotel room," Chris explained.

"Okay, good, so they're not suspicious of me. But anyway, what were you doing while you were waiting for me?" I asked.

"I was trying to find any other portals that might be in this swimming pool," he replied. "But so far, I've got nothing other than the one we discovered."

"Thanks for trying to find other portals, though. So . . .  now, do we just head back to our hotel rooms? We'll continue this adventure tomorrow, if we have a chance to return," I said.

"I guess so," Chris said. "It was really fun today, Bree. Beyond fun. I mean, we just discovered more magic! How epic is that?"

"My thoughts exactly!" I said. "I had a really good time today as well. We make a great team, Chris."