You and Charlotte sat on a bench in the gym while you waited your turn to audition for Cheer Squad. Everything was riding on this. If you two didn't get in, you couldn't spy on Haylee Irons and discover what shy was doing the other clubs' magic. You began to worry about what might happen if Haylee saw through you, but you tried to push those thoughts out of your mind. This was no time for panicking.
To distract yourself, you started watching the other auditionees at the tryout. To your surprise, you noticed Fatima al-Bahr and about six other girls from the Mermaid Club warming up. "Lottie, look," you whispered, pointing Fatima out to Charlotte. "Isn't that Fatima from Mermaid Club? What's she doing here?"
"No idea," Charlotte shrugged. "Let's ask her."
The two of you waved to Fatima, and she walked over to you. "Ruby! Lottie! Hi!" she said. "I see you're trying out as well, huh?"
"Yeah, but why are you, Fatima?" you asked. "Why would a mermaid who can only have legs for up to an hour a day want to join a sport that revolves around jumping, dancing, and tumbling in support of your school?"
Fatima's eyes watered. "I... I have legs for a lot m-more than an hour a day n-now," she said, her voice trembling. "Try... try 24 hours a day. I... I don't have my tail anymore."
"Not the Mermaid Club, too!" Charlotte groaned. "That's at least three clubs affected now. Who's next? The Fairy Club?"
"Probably," you sighed. "If they haven't already started losing their magic. Well, the only thing to do is fix it." You turned to Fatima. "That's why we're here, actually. We wanna spy on Haylee and see how she did this to us. You can help if you get accepted."
"Wait," said Fatima. "You said 'how she did thisto us.' Did Haylee take the Futa Club's dicks, too?"
"Sure did," you sighed. You lifted up your skirt to reveal your bulgeless panties. "Empty, aren't they?" you laughed, trying to put on a brave face for Fatima.
"Oh, you poor thing!" The Middle Eastern ex-mermaid gasped as she ran her light brown fingers over your emptied panties. "Don't worry, I'll definitely help you gather information if I get accepted."
"Okay, people!" Haylee Irons' voice boomed through the gym. "Next up is Fatima al-Bahr!"
"That's me, girls," Fatima said as she ran up to audition. "Catch ya later!"
You and Charlotte watched Fatima and the other ex-mermaids audition. Fatima (who had taken ballet classes before becoming a mermaid) was the only one of the mermaids-turned-humans who stood a chance. The others were all stunningly clumsy and graceless on land. They tripped over their new feet, crashed into each other, and fell flat on their faces. Fatima, on the other hand, gave a fairly strong if mildly rusty performance.
"Okay, I guess you're in, al-Bahr," Haylee said to Fatima as she scribbled down notes. "Will the other ex-fish kindly get lost? I'm looking for cheerleaders, not circus clowns!" As the ex-mermaids other than Fatima left, Haylee looked at her clipboard. "Next up are Ruby Alan and Charlotte Cummings, auditioning together."
Charlotte took a deep calming breath and looked at you. "That's us, Ruby. Let's do this!"