The Creature from Club Lagoona Read Online Free PDF Page A

happened!
    â€œOkay, everyone!” a Club Lagoona lifeguard shouted through a megaphone. “For the Sink or Swim race we’ll be separating into groups. Afterward, you’ll be put into smaller groups according to your skill. Ladies, follow Tina!” A woman with a long blond ponytail waved.
    â€œGentlemen, you’ll be swimming with Philip!” the lifeguard continued. A dark-haired guy raised his hand.
    â€œGirls, with Dave. Boys, with Barry,” the lifeguard finished.
    My family would be down at the other end of the pool, I realized. I was so relieved, I almost kissed Polly.
    Almost.
    â€œSee you, squirt!” I told her cheerfully. I jogged over to join my group.
    Barry wore his “Barracuda” top again. Something about the guy bugged me. I thought back to theday before. Why would an instructor shove a poor, unsuspecting kid into the water?
    Barry nodded at me, then blew a whistle. My group jumped into the pool. Even me.
    Ugh! I hate getting wet.
    I clung to the side of the pool. I watched as the others splashed away from me. I figured I would do my usual trick of walking on the bottom and stroking my arms as if I were swimming. It always worked before!
    But not this time! As soon as I let go of the side of the pool, I realized we weren’t in the shallow end! I frantically stretched my legs, trying to touch bottom. It was no good. I was in way over my head.
    I thrashed my feet. I doggie-paddled. It was awful. Everyone was ahead of me and I kept swallowing the water they were kicking up.
    Then I realized I wasn’t alone. There were two other guys doing the doggie paddle too. We were the last in the group to make it to the other side.
    â€œYou three,” Barry called. “You’re in my class—the Guppy class.”
    Oh, well. At least we didn’t sink.
    We crawled out of the pool and slunk to the shallow end. I sat between the two other Guppies. One of the guys was tall, even taller than me. The other kid was kind of chubby. He had on trunks exactly like mine. I guess his mom hit the gift shop too.
    I smiled at them. “I’m Tad,” I said.
    The tall kid grinned. “Let me guess. They call you Tadpole.”
    I nodded. “Yeah. That’s my stupid Club Lagoona name. What’s yours?”
    â€œEven worse.” He lowered his voice. “My name’s Neal. So they call me Eel.”
    â€œDon’t worry,” I reassured him. “I’ll stick to Neal.” I turned to the chubby kid. “How about you?”
    â€œMark,” he replied.
    â€œShark!” Neal and I guessed together.
    â€œYou got it,” Mark the Shark admitted. He sighed. “This place gives me the creeps.”
    â€œMe too,” I agreed. “Hey, has a weird little guy with a bucket—”
    But before I could finish, Barry shouted, “Okay, Guppies, let’s get wet!”
    Neal, Mark, and I glanced nervously at one another. Then we slowly slid into the pool.
    Very slowly.
    Barry started by having us stick our faces in the water. “Get used to getting wet! ” he explained.
    The next step was to open our eyes underwater.
    â€œOkay, Tadpole, your turn.” Barry stood in front of me. “When I say so, go underwater. Then open your eyes and count how many fingers I’m holding out. Got that?”
    I nodded.
    â€œGo!” Barry commanded.
    I ducked underwater and opened my eyes. I blinked a few times. The saltwater burned, but after a moment I got used to it. Barry’s hand came down. He held out three fingers.
    I was about to push back up, when something behind Barry caught my attention. Something moving. Something green.
    I peered past Barry’s hand. The water made everything a little blurry.
    Whatever it was had vanished.
    I was running out of air. I surfaced, gasping for breath.
    â€œHow many fingers, Tadpole?” Barry asked.
    â€œThree,” I replied.
    I scanned the pool. What was that green