A few days ago…TrinityI scoffed as I stared into the crystal ball, “First she squirms her way into our father’s heart, and now she wants to cozy up next to this guy and play savior?! Not if I can help it…”
Perfect Ariel would finally know lose this time. There had to be something. There had to be some way. I searched through texts and dabbled with potions well into the night, but to no avail. I simply couldn’t find anything I thought was suitable, but I couldn’t give up. By morning, exhaustion was setting in and my concentration was shot. “Just one more…”
I said as I began to pour a vial of liquid into a potion with a shaky hand. 
That’s when I heard someone bang on the door, “Trinity! The bus is here you are going to be late!”
In my current state, the banging was enough to startle me, and I dropped the entire vial into the potion, causing it to explode onto my skin and hair. The tyrant who I now recognized as Ariel spoke up again, “That’s it, I’m coming in.”
In rage, I used all the power I could muster to throw her back and slam the door. The effort earned me renewed agony and pain from the explosion. I looked down at my hands and saw in horror that my skin was turning purple. I rushed over to the mirror to find that my hair as well changed to a pale white. My mouth hung open as I stood silently screaming, because I refused to let her hear me. Not her…THE ENEMY. “What kind of vitamins have you been taking?! Fine then, be late, and see if I care!”
I heard her shout.
I had to get control! I clutched the sides of the mirror, eyes turning bloodshot from the concentration and lack of sleep, and pushed past the pain. I pushed and pushed until my skin and hair were ‘normal’, at least temporarily, and I pushed until I felt nothing but the rage. I stood up straight, absentmindedly touched my hair, glanced over at the clock, and muttered a curse. It was already well after school hours. How long had I been staring in that mirror?
I quickly made my way to the school and spotted Ariel in the library with Eric. Annoyingly, Palmira Medina was in the hall behind me going on and on about boys and nonsense. I had a mind to punch her, but then I had a better idea. When Ariel got up to leave, I cast a spell to remove one of her books from her backpack, and just as she returned to collect it I cast a love spell on Palmira and Eric. I honestly couldn’t stand Palmira, but I’d rather her have him than Ariel. When I got home I handed the ‘lost’ book to Ariel, “What’s wrong? I found your book in the library.”
She looked at me with the most satisfyingly, sad eyes, “Oh. It’s nothing…thanks.”
TodayArielMy hand began to sweat as I gripped the door handle to the library, “I can do this,”
I said quietly to myself. It was the first day I was supposed to start tutoring Eric. Seeing him earlier with Palmira wrapped all over him was difficult, but this should be easier right? At least she wouldn’t be here. I took a deep breath, and finally allowed myself to enter the library. He greeted me with a bright smile, and I cursed myself as my heart did flip-flops. Stay focused on the work I told myself over and over again as he frequently got off topic to talk about swimming or sailing. As this trend continued over the next few weeks, I slowly began to realize that staying focused while he was around was simply impossible. So most times I just found myself swept away in the conversation. 
One weekend Tristian came rushing into my room to wake me up. “What? What?”
I said rubbing my eyes groggily. “There is going to be a capoeira tournament today that the whole swim team is competing in! You have to come. It’s going to be awesome!”
Before I could manage to ask him why I had to go just because they were competing, he had already bounded out the door. I punched the pillow, and begrudgingly got dressed. The competition took place at the beach. Much to my dismay, I spotted Palmira and her posse, Cristobel Collins and Liliana Ichtaca, cheering ridiculously. She was dressed in a leopard print bikini, and kept yelling Eric’s name. I scanned the group of competitors to find him, curious to see his reaction. He smiled back at her and nodded slightly, but when our eyes met he waved enthusiastically and ran over to me.
“Hey! You made it. Tristian told me you would be coming.”
I didn’t bother to mention that it wasn’t by choice. “Yeah I heard it was going to be ‘awesome’.”
We both laughed at my brother’s overuse of the word. “Why capoeira by the way?”
He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. We saw the flyer a couple of months back, and well it seemed like a good idea at the time. You’ll cheer for me right?” “I don’t know,”
I said sparing a glance at Palmira who happened to be giving me a death glare, “It seems like you already have a cheering section that you might want to go talk to.”
Noticing the glare himself he suddenly looked uneasy, “Oh…yeah. But hang around afterwards ok? I want to hang out some more.”
I just nodded my agreement.
Apparently all it took was a kiss to pacify Madame Leopard Print, but I noticed she continued to shoot me dirty looks. Despite that, I actually had a really good time. The matches were really exciting. And more than once I found myself cheering at the top of my lungs for various members of the team. Somehow Eric managed to win the tournament. As he went up to collect his trophy, I shouted his name loudly along with the rest of the crowd, but catching me in the act, he looked at me practically beaming with pride. I just blushed and looked at my feet. After the tournament a ton of people crowded around him. Natural instincts kicking in, I decided I would just see him at our next tutoring session, and thought about going for a swim. 
Before I could make it to the docks, however, I heard Eric running after me. “Hey! I’m glad I caught you. Sorry about that. I didn’t expect all those people to want to chat.”
I looked around with surprise, “Aren’t you going to celebrate with Palmira?” “Oh she went to hang out with her friends. You want to go for a walk?”
I was still confused, but I decided to let it go, “Sure.”
We went down by the water, which I made sure not to get in contact with. “So when you aren’t reading, being amazing at school, tutoring me, or at our swim practice…what do you do?” “Swim.”
I answered automatically, but then wished I hadn’t. He perked up, “Oh yeah? I guess I should have figured. Tristian did mention that he gets a lot of tips on his swimming technique from you. Hey do you want to go for a swim right now?”
I really did, but I couldn’t risk him seeing what happened if I touched the water. So I shook my head, quickly forming an excuse, “Um…no. I actually didn’t bring a swimsuit.” “Oh I see. Tristian is always wearing his, so I just thought you might be the same,”
he laughed and I had to laugh as well, partly because Tristian was like that, and part because I was always prepared to swim as well. As we continued to chat a battle raged between my head and my heart. I knew that it was foolish to have these feelings for someone who was already taken, but I just couldn’t help but be helplessly in love with him. 
With graduation rapidly approaching, I found that my coveted library was now full of students suddenly buckling down on last minute studies for finals. Thus…“And this is my room.” “WHOA!! Is that…the REAL Pangu’s Axe?!”
he asked me while staring at it in awe. “Yes. My grandparent’s do a lot of exploring, and they send me relics like that. There’s a picture of them over there.”
I pointed to a picture on the wall, but after I saw the puzzled look on his face, I wanted to smack myself for putting my fin in my mouth...again. “Um…is the date wrong on this picture? Why are they so young? You did say grandparents right?”
I just laughed awkwardly and waved him off, “Long story.” “Alright…Hey, who are these little guys?”
He went over to admire my pets. Where most people would take their dogs out for walks, I took my hermit crab and fish out for a swim at least three times a week, “This is Sebastian and Flounder. I found them pandering about while diving at Pearl’s Deep, and there was just something about them that I loved.” “Pearl’s Deep has pretty treacherous waters… Nobody dives out there anymore, because it’s too dangerous Ariel.”
Coming up blank, I tried to get by with my prior alibi, “Long story?”
He crossed his arms, “I’m starting to really like long stories.”
I turned away and said firmly, “It’s boring. You did come to study right?”
He didn’t answer for a while, and I started to worry that he would leave, but finally I heard him sigh, “Yeah, I did.”
He didn’t joke around like he usually did while we studied so I assumed he was upset with me. So when he lingered after we finished I was surprised.
He leaned back against the couch looking around the room, “You really like all this stuff huh? I mean lost treasures, swimming, sailing, diving, and adventuring?”
I didn’t know what he was getting at, but I owed him the truth at least here, “Yes. I’ve dreamed of traveling to far off destinations since I was a little girl. To solve all the mysteries of the Chateau du Landgrabb, to make my way down to the tomb of Dong Huo, and maybe even get cursed by him so that I may experience the great healing powers of the Great Sphinx.”
To this he laughed. “But to all these great worldly adventures the ocean connects me. When I am in the water I feel like I am connected to all things, even when I don’t necessarily feel like I belong. I guess swimming is--” “--freedom,”
we both said at the same time. “See. That wasn’t a boring story. You should tell me more.”
I smiled and looked down, “Maybe next time.” “I’ll look forward to it.”
“There,”
I said as I spotted a treasure chest that might have what I was looking for. Graduation was tomorrow, and I wanted to get Eric something special. I saw the way he admired the treasures in my room, so I figured I would find him one of his own. The Mermaid Grotto seemed like the perfect place to search. The treasure chest was a little hard to pry open at first, but I was determined. I looked inside and smiled brightly, “This is perfect!”
The only thing that dampened my mood was that I knew tomorrow was probably the last time I would ever see Eric. He was going off to a fancy university in Dragon Valley to study archaeology. He wasn’t very happy about it though. He said he’d much rather study marine biology at a local college like I was here, but Palmira’s father had gotten him into that university so his parents insisted that he went. I had gotten into that school as well, but every time I even mentioned Dragon Valley my father blew his top.
Graduation itself was a blur. I fumbled through my valedictorian speech, and kept my brain trained on how I was going to get a moment alone with Eric. I knew with the combined effort of Palmira’s claws and his usual swarm of drones that he would be surrounded, and as I saw the growing crowd around him vying for pictures and hugs, I started to think my plan was a lost cause. Falling into my usual pattern I began to walk away, but something inside made me stop. If this was going to be the last time I saw him it wouldn’t be from a distance. 
Squaring my shoulders I started to make my way through the group of people until someone blocked my path. “What do YOU want?”
Palmira fumed, staring down her nose at me. Eric was the one to reply to her though with a serious look on his face, “You are being rude.”
She gave him a look of shock as if she couldn’t believe that anything was wrong with her actions. Then like a child throwing a tantrum she stomped off with her posse in tow. He just shook his head, “Sorry about that. I’m glad you came over actually. I’m leaving pretty soon after this, and I wasn’t sure I’d get a chance to say goodbye.”
Remembering what I came to do in the first place and not wanting to lose my nerve, I just nodded and held out my present. He looked surprised, “For me?”
I nodded again, “Think of it as a congrats on doing well on finals/graduation/going away present. It’s an ancient fish fossil of the Dendorsimius Spiniferi, known to be an extremely deadly fish in its time. I found it while diving again, and my grandparents told me it was rare find. Also I noticed you liked my collection of assorted treasures, so I thought you might want to start a collection of your own.”
He stared at me in complete shock for a long moment, and then hugged me. I was sure my heart stopped.
Pulling away he smiled at me, “I don’t know what to say other than this is the best gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you Ariel.”
He suddenly smacked his forehead, “I should have gotten you a gift too. I feel like such a jerk now!” “Oh no. I don’t need anything,”
I said waving him off. We just looked at each other for a moment after that until he finally spoke up, “Well I better get going.” “Yeah.” “But I’ll definitely visit this place. You know for holidays and stuff.” “Of course.” “Well, see ya.” “See ya.”
I heard my mother calling my name somewhere behind me, but all sounds and sights dimmed except the image of his evanescent figure growing ever smaller in my world. 
