1 Chapter 1

Umi ran down the hall and into a room. She leaned against the doorway, panting. "Sorry I'm late," she panted.

"Couldn't find your way around?" the teacher asked. Umi nodded and sat down.

"Back to the discussion, we have a new girl today. Her name is... Umi? Did I pronounce that right?" he asked. Umi nodded and looked down. She hated introductions. Especially when it's her they're introducing. She shrunk in her seat as everyone turned to look at her. One girl next to her leaned close to Umi and whispered, "What type of hair dye do you use?" Umi's hair was a deep ocean blue that fades into sea green. It was her natural color, but no one would believe her if she told them.

"Splat hair dye," she lied. The girl smiled and took out her phone to look it up. Umi turned her attention back to the teacher as he started the lesson. After class, she bumped into someone on her way to her next class. They both dropped books.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed.

"No, you're fine! It was my fault for not paying more attention," he replied. She noticed he had a heavy Irish accent. It was heavier than all the other students here. They started picking up their books when Umi noticed one. It was a marine biology book.

"Marine biology? Is that a class here?" she asked. She looked up and saw the boy had black hair and light blue eyes.

"N-no. I checked it out at the public library. I've always been interested in marine biology," he answered. She smiled.

"Me too! I love the sea and its life!"

"Really? I've never met someone interested in it," he replied. Umi heard the five minute bell ring.

"Hey, there's a beach nearby. Want to meet up there after school?" she asked.

"Sure. I'm Dave, by the way."

"I'm Umi, it's nice meeting you!" she replied. She waved as she walked away.

After school, she road her bike home and changed into a coral bikini and put her sweatshirt on over it. She threw on her sandels and walked to the beach. Thankfully, it wasn't too far from her house. She walked along the shoreline and saw Dave sitting on the sand, reading his book.

"Hey Dave!" she called. He looked up and smiled at her. She sat beside him and looked at his book.

"Jellyfish?" she asked.

"Yeah. Their sting is really painful. I should know. I was stung by one when I was younger."

"They've never bothered me. I swim with them all the time," she replied. This was true. Even sharks won't touch her. Dave gave her a dumbfounded look. She took off her sweatshirt and started walking towards the ocean.

"Wait, aren't you scared of getting hurt?" he asked.

"What's the point of studying marine biology if you won't get close to the ocean life?" she asked. She waded in the water until she was chest deep. She took a deep breath and dove under. She swam around until she found a cave. She swam inside and saw jewels, gold, and a chest. There was a strange sound coming from it. Like a music box.

Umi swam up to the chest. It had barnacles and coral growing on it. She tried opening it, but there was too much growth on it. She felt she had to breathe soon and noticed a shallow part of the cave wasn't filled with water. She swam up to the pocket and took deep breaths of air. She took a deep breath and dove back under. She tried prying the chest open in vain. She took note of where the cave was located and swam back to the shore. She surfaced and swam back to Dave.

"I was about to call the police! You were gone for so long!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry! I found a cave and went exploring. Why don't you come swim with me? Nothing's going to hurt you," she said. Dave thought for a moment before taking his shirt off and walked into the water. One could tell he doesn't get out much. He was pale and scrawny looking.

"I'll show you to the cave. It's not too far from here. If you ever need to breathe, stop me and we'll go up to the surface," she said. Dave nodded and they dove under.

After a few stops, they made it to the cave. She showed him the pocket of air and explained the music coming from the chest peeked her interest.

"Umi, even if there was a music box there, it'd probably break from the water coming in when we open it. Let's take it to the shore first," he explained. Umi nodded and dove under to get the chest. Together, they swam with it back to the shore. Once they got there, they pushed the chest onto the sand and tried prying it open.

"Hold on, I have a putty knife back at my house. I'll be back," Umi said. She ran to her house and grabbed the putty knife and a screwdriver. She ran back to the beach and started scraping the barnacles and handed the screwdriver to Dave. They scraped coral and barnacles off the chest and managed to open it. Water poured out and they saw what was making the music.