Even though the music is loud, Shelly's high-pitched voice cuts right through. Someone is singing, "Every breath you take ... every step you take ... I'll be watching you," probably in Shelly's honor.

"There you are, Pierce. I knew I'd find you! What were you doing below deck? Waiting for me? Did you find the Jacuzzi in my dad's room?" Shelly titters. "Before we jump in, you owe me a dance." She grabs Pierce's arm and tries to pull him up the last few steps.

"Shelly," Pierce says firmly, as he peels her fingers off of his arm one at a time. She's wearing a strapless, sheer black gown that I'm sure wasn't in the cabin back at school. It has a slit up one leg that goes practically to her waist, and she is tottering in six-inch heels.

"Yes, Pierce?"

Pierce steps out of the narrow doorway. I am right behind him, and we're still holding hands.

When Shelly sees my head pop up behind Pierce, her eyes turn into big round O's of horror. When she sees we're holding hands, her jaw drops like a viperfish. It's not her most attractive look.

"Waverly?" She's finally able to spit out my name.

Pierce squeezes past Shelly and leads Pickles and me onto the deck. He squeezes my hand, and Pickles comes up on my other side, clutching her wand and looking like a fairy badass. Well, as badass as a person can look in pink tulle.

I could've sworn we came up the same steps we took down from the back deck, but we are now at the front of the ship, in the heart of the party. There is so much going on, I can't even take it all in. It's like being at the boardwalk with Carla, except instead of bumper cars and roller coasters, there are fairies dive-bombing their classmates and gods retaliating with sharp, silvery flashes of lightning. It even smells like the boardwalk—like corn dogs and cotton candy and coconut oil. My stomach growls. I realize I haven't eaten since lunch. Wait, what am I doing? Focus! Shelly first, corn dog with loads of mustard later.

"You look ..." Shelly begins but somehow can't find the words. I catch glimpses of her thoughts (I know it's rude, but we're talking about Shelly here), and let me tell you, she is not happy about my new outfit. "You look ..."

"She looks amazing," says Cupid, sauntering over, sipping something out of a coconut shell. Instead of the toga, he's wearing Hawaiian-print Bermuda shorts and an orange polo shirt with a little 'bow and arrow' emblem over his heart. He is also wearing green rubber boots and a bow tie. I'm flattered by his assessment of my look. I really am, but the compliment needs to be put into perspective. I don't think Cupid is the world's greatest fashion authority.

Shelly glares at Cupid, then regains her composure and puts on her fake smile. "Yeah, I guess it's better than that horrible sweatshirt she had on earlier. Not like my dress. My dad got it for me as a surprise from Paris. It's one-of-a-kind couture!" she boasts haughtily, but Cupid rolls his eyes.

"I don't care how much it costs; Waverly still looks stunning and far better than you."

"Go to Hades," Shelly says.

"I would, but last time I saw him he told me something like, 'never again enter my domain or I'll spear you to a rock with your own arrow for all eternity.'"

"I meant ..." Shelly begins.

"Look, Cupid, I really need to talk to Shelly," I say. "I'm glad you like the dress. Pickles, er, made, zapped, enchanted—well, it's from Pickles. She's amazing."

"Thanks, Wave," Pickles says.

"You're welcome, Pickles. But, as I was saying: Cupid, Shelly, and I have some THINGS to discuss."

"I need to go check on something," Shelly says, looking uncomfortable and backing away.

My hair sparks orange. Shelly obviously has never heard the rumors about my little hair problem because she looks as if she's about to get fire-roasted by a mermaid-eating dragon.

"Don't move! You're not going anywhere!" I must have yelled this because suddenly the music stops, the fairies stop, the lightning stops, and everyone crowds together to see what the uproar is about. Shelly is hemmed in by a wall of supernatural beings—vampires and fairies, werewolves, and minor Greek gods.

She turns and faces me. "Yes, Waverly? What's your problem?"

"Oh, come on, Shelly. You know what my problem is. My problem is that you conspired to keep me away from this party so you could have Pierce to yourself. There are plenty of other guys at this school. You only want Pierce because I want him. But back off, Shelly; Pierce is mine." My hair is sparking so much now that I may actually set the boat on fire.

"You don't even like vampires," Shelly spits back at me. "You think they're vile." She tries to back up a couple more steps.

"I never said that!"

"You thought it!"

"It's bad enough that you read a private note from Pierce to me, asking me to meet him and come to the party together, and then forged a reply telling him I wasn't interested. But the real crime is your audacity in thinking no one would figure out your idiotic plan!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Shelly says, looking over her shoulder, probably for backup. No one moves, but they are all listening. "I forged nothing."

"Then what's this?" Pierce pulls the note out of his jean pocket and holds it up. His fangs drop, and even though he's standing there 'vampire still,' his muscles tense, and I know that in one heartbeat, Shelly could be ... um ... on the menu?

"I got this," I whisper to him.

While he's looking at me, Shelly grabs the note and sprints for the railing. She's ripping the paper into tiny pieces as she runs. As she pulls back her arm to toss the evidence into the bay, one of her 6" heels snags on the deck boards, and she loses her balance. She trips gracelessly and steps on her one-of-a-kind couture dress from Daddy. There's a violent sound of ripping fabric, and then the bottom half of her dress tears off, exposing her totally inappropriate leopard-print thong with the words 'Lucky Me' printed in pink letters on the front. She cannot stop her momentum before she stumbles into the railing, flips over, and falls over the side of the yacht. She's screaming the whole way down and hits the water with a gigantic splash. Everyone rushes to the railing. Moments later, Shelly surfaces, looking totally bedraggled. She's covered in seaweed and spitting more of it out of her mouth.

"Hey, what happened to the party? Let's boogie," says Cupid.

The band starts up again, performing some amazing rap song about the moon. Everyone starts dancing. I can barely hear Shelly yelling from the water. I think she's saying something about a ladder. I'm not sure, though, so I decide not to worry about it, and apparently, no one else does either.

"You told Shelly that I'm yours?" Pierce is grinning at me.

"Don't get any ideas, vampire. I was just making a point."

"The name's Pierce, mermaid. And I believe it's time for a dance." He kisses my hand, all gallant-like and leads me toward the dance floor.

"I'm kind of hungry," I say.

"One dance?"

"Oh, okay," I say, smiling.

Pierce wraps one arm around my waist and holds my hand with the other. I am pressed into his chest. He smells clean and dazzling, like the air over the Pacific after an electric storm. The music changes to something slow and beautiful that I've never heard before. It envelops us in a world of our own. It's just Pierce and me with his hand on my waist and my arm, feeling the muscles in his back. We dance, and there is nothing solid beneath my feet.

When the music stops, Pierce gets me a corndog totally drowning in mustard. It's too early to be totally in love, right? We stroll to the back of the boat where it's quiet. I'm eating my corndog; he's sipping some glass of red fluid. Believe me! I'm not going to ask. Pierce and I are leaning against the railing, the breeze on our faces. We're listening to the night, and watching the stars and the reflection of the moon, distorted by the rippling water. A dark-colored bat ray breaks through the surface and swims away from the ship.

"What's that?" Pierce asks.

"What's what?" I say.

"That glow over the water." He points to a spot in the far distance.

"I don't see anything," I say. Vampire vision!

He steps behind me and pulls me against his iceberg-like chest. He repositions me and points again. I can barely see it, but quite a way off, there is a weird glow over the surface of the water. It's indigo, yellow, pink, chartreuse, orange, and teal, exactly like the colors in that toxic cave where I saved Beau.