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Chapter Text

Ariel’s phone was dead.

Normally she wouldn’t have stressed over that. She wasn’t one of those idiot girls who lived entirely inside their screens and forgot that there was a whole wide world out there. But it was seriously inconvenient timing when she happened to be on vacation in one of the biggest cities in the world and had just gotten separated from her family in the crowded streets. Maybe she shouldn’t have had her phone out all day taking pictures and videos of everything in sight.

She wasn’t scared exactly. Being lost was an adventure, in a way. She loved adventures, loved exploring new places and discovering new things. And New York City was the perfect place for adventures. Ever since she was little, it had always been a dream of hers to visit, maybe even move here one day. It was so much more exciting than her quiet California town.

She continued down the sidewalk, taking her time. She had already lost sight of her father and sisters; hurrying would make no difference when she didn’t even know which direction they’d gone. She might as well take in the scenery while she figured out what to do.

If Ariel was honest with herself, it was almost a relief. They’d been in the city a whole week and this was the first time she had a moment to herself. Of course there were the obvious privacy issues that came from sharing three cramped hotel rooms with six older sisters and a dad, but on top of that, their schedule was booked solid with one touristy activity after another. Not that she didn’t enjoy seeing all the famous landmarks, but what she truly longed to do was wander and explore. She wondered, not for the first time, if her dad had done this on purpose – kept them all so busy that they wouldn’t have the time or energy to do anything spontaneous. He was way too paranoid about safety. She always got an earful from him whenever she so much as came home late from school because she’d taken a different street just for the fun of it or stopped to admire a thing or two along the way.

Unfortunately, though, she’d been on her feet all day, and they were starting to hurt. Not good for wandering. She spotted a lively-looking restaurant across the street and decided it was as good a place as any to sit, rest, and see if she could charge her phone. She might not mind being on her own for a bit, but her dad would already be flipping out. The longer she took to contact him, the harder it would be to convince him she hadn’t ditched on purpose. And she didn’t feel like yet another safety lecture.

She found an outlet at the restaurant’s bar and sat down on one of the stools. Thankfully she had a charger and adapter in her purse. She plugged in her phone and then looked at the menu, wondering if she could get away with using some of her emergency cash for a snack. She envied Attina and Alana, her oldest sisters, who already had full-time jobs. It was hard being the youngest, always the last to hit every first. Even Andrina, the second youngest, was about to start college, leaving Ariel all alone for her senior year of high school. Nothing about it made her feel senior. She wished she could skip right past it.

“Hey.”

Ariel turned to see who had addressed her… and found herself face to face with the hottest guy she’d ever seen, sitting right next to her!

“Sorry, I hope this isn’t weird, but…” He held up his phone. “This is dead, and I don’t have an adapter. Would you mind if I shared yours? Since you have two ports there?”

“Um, yeah. I mean, no, not at all!” Ariel could hardly think straight. She was too busy trying to look at him without looking like she was looking at him. Thick, silky black hair… a well-defined jaw… clear blue eyes that she could just get lost in…

…that she had gotten lost in, judging by his expectant look. Had he just said something?

“What? Sorry, I was… zoned out.”

“Thanks,” he repeated as he connected his charger. “You really saved me.”

“Oh. No problem.”

“So… you having a good trip?” he asked, looking slightly amused.

“How did you… Oh.” Ariel realized he was looking at her shirt, which was the stereotypical “I ♥︎ NY” T-shirt. She knew it was corny, but she’d still been excited to buy one and genuinely enjoyed wearing it… until now. Now she wished she was wearing absolutely anything else. “I am, yeah! I just love the city. I really want to apply to NYU so I can come out here next year, but so far it’s a lost cause.”

“Why’s that?”

“My dad. He’s dead set on me staying in state like all my sisters, and he hates the city. He thinks it’s ‘too dangerous’ here.” She used air quotes and a mocking tone. “Which, I mean yeah, but come on.”

“That’s too bad. I’m starting at NYU next week, and I’m sure it’ll be cool, but you already seem more excited about it than I am,” he admitted with a laugh, running a nervous hand through his hair.

“What?! How can you not be excited?!” This came out louder than Ariel intended. Luckily, he only laughed again in response. She’d just proven his point.

“I’ve got nothing against it! I’m just not too sure what I’m doing, what I want to study, where I want to end up. So I figured it would be easiest to stay close to home, at least for now.”

Ariel nodded. “So you grew up around here?”

“Yeah.”

“Lucky,” she sighed.

“What about you?” he asked.

“Me? I’m from California.”

“Wow! Wait, you’re not here by yourself, are you? That’s so far.”

“I wish. I just got a little lost, but no, I’m on vacation with my family.”

Her phone woke up just then and played a charging tone, immediately followed by several text chimes. Her lock screen showed two missed calls from her father amid a bunch of worried texts from her sisters, with new ones still coming in.

“Speaking of.” Ariel rolled her eyes. “Sorry, just a second.” She opened her family group chat and typed quickly.

I’m fine. Got separated and my phone died. Letting it charge for a few mins and then I’ll come to you, just tell me where.

She set her phone down and turned back to – god, she still didn’t even know his name! She’d have to fix that. “I’m Ariel, by the way.”

“Ariel? That’s kind of pretty.” He smiled – of course he would have the dreamiest smile. “I’m Eric.”

Ariel smiled back. But before she could say anything else, her phone rang. She gave Eric an apologetic look before picking it back up.

“Hi, Dad… Yes, I’m fine, I swear!… What? That makes no sense! No, I’ll come to you.” She briefly lowered her phone to glance at the screen. “Listen, I’m on 5 percent now, so I’ll get to 10 or 15 just to be safe, and then I’ll go –” She huffed and turned down the volume. “…Okay, fine. Fine. You win. I’ll send it now.” She hung up without saying goodbye.

“Everything okay?” asked Eric.

“Yeah. Just stupid stuff. We were trying to find a good place to go for dinner when I lost sight of everyone, and apparently they found a place right before they noticed I wasn’t there, but now my dad is making me send my location and he’s going to drag them all back here to pick me up. All because he doesn’t trust me to walk a few blocks! He thinks I’m still a child.”

“Ouch.” Eric shook his head. “If he doesn’t trust you to walk a few blocks, maybe he should have picked somewhere else for a vacation.”

Ariel laughed dryly as she tapped at her screen. “Yeah, actually this trip was sort of thrown together last-minute. My dad was supposed to come here for a business trip with some of his employees, and then the whole thing got canceled, but it was too late to get a refund on the hotel. So I said we should all go with him instead and turn it into a family vacation before everyone goes back to school. He didn’t like the idea at all, but then my sisters loved it and we all just kept asking, and I don’t know if it was that or the fact that he paid so much for the hotel, but he finally caved.”

“That’s really cool,” said Eric. “I wish I could go on vacation across the country. I’ve barely been out of this state, but I’ve always wanted to travel and see new places.”

“Me too.”

Already they had something in common. Ariel liked him more with each passing second. Why did he have to live here, of all places? Already she couldn’t stand the thought of walking out of here and never seeing him again.

A text came in from Attina: Be there in five.

Five. Five minutes left with her dream guy. She tried not to be obvious as she gazed at him, wondering if there was any way, any way at all…

“It’s too bad you have to leave,” he said. “I would have offered to buy you dinner as thanks.”

Ariel’s heartbeat picked up speed. Was he only being polite, or was there more to it? She wished she hadn’t sent her family her location already. She wished she’d turned off her phone. She could have put up with any amount of lecturing afterward if it meant one evening with Eric.

“I wish I could,” she told him – a huge understatement.

A moment of semi-awkward silence followed. She twirled a lock of hair around her finger and utterly failed to come up with something else to say.

“Um, I’m sure you already have plans,” he said tentatively, “but there’s a party tonight at my dorm. Nothing crazy – I think there’ll be pizza, maybe karaoke…”

“I love karaoke!” Ariel exclaimed, hope suddenly swelling within her. “I’ll be there.”

It would be tricky, but she’d make it work. She couldn’t miss this chance.

“Really?” Eric looked pleasantly surprised. “Okay.”

She couldn’t keep from smiling. This had to mean he liked her!

“Oh.” He reached for his phone. “I should probably send you the address.”

“You might need my number first,” she suggested.

“Yeah… that might help.”

He opened a new contact and passed her his phone. She typed herself in, distracted all the while by the warmth that seemed to linger on her hand where it had brushed his. As she handed his phone back, her eyes fell to the time display in the corner.

Three minutes.

“I should make my way outside,” she said reluctantly. The last thing she wanted to do was leave any sooner than she had to, but it occurred to her that her father would be less than thrilled if he found her talking to a strange guy at a bar. She had to play it safe for now so he wouldn’t have his guard up later, when it really mattered.

“Okay.” Eric typed something, and her phone chimed. “There. Now you have mine too.”

“Cool.” Ariel stood up. “Oh! My charger! Do you want to hold on to it?”

He checked his screen. “Nah, I’ll manage. This’ll hold me over.”

She unplugged her charging cord and slowly wound it around her hand, stalling. He unplugged his and handed her the adapter.

“I’ll see you tonight?” he said.

She grinned. “Just try to keep me away.”

Chapter Text

Dinner seemed to drag on forever. The food was great, but Ariel could hardly eat. She just wanted to skip right to the party. After Eric texted her the details, she typed and deleted a bunch of different replies before settling on a simple See you then! with a smiley face emoji. She figured she should just talk to him in person as much as she could while she had the chance, but more importantly, she didn’t feel like explaining to her sisters why she kept smiling stupidly at her phone under the table. She would probably tell them later, but not in front of their dad.

At least he wasn’t mad at her for getting lost, shockingly. Instead he blamed it entirely on the big, bad city. If it had been earlier in the trip, she would have worried about this sending him into overprotective overdrive, but it was Friday night and the majority of the activity was already behind them. Their only remaining plan was to spend Saturday unwinding at the beach before flying home early Sunday morning.

To Ariel’s relief, when they finally arrived back at the hotel, her dad announced that he was tired and retired to his own room almost right away. Sometimes it was annoying that he was such a morning person, but tonight it was extremely convenient.

The second he was gone, Ariel turned to Adella. “Can I borrow your sparkly black halter top?”

“What for?”

“All my clothes suck.”

“But what are you getting dressed up for?”

“I’m going out.”

Across the room, Aquata looked up from the book she was reading. “You’re kidding. After what you pulled earlier? Dad will kill you!”

“Only if he finds out.” Ariel made a face at her. “And for the thousandth time, I really did get lost!”

“Where are you going that’s so important?” Adella asked curiously. “Tell me, and you can borrow the shirt.”

Ariel hesitated. “Fine, but you can’t tell Dad. That goes for all of you,” she added, looking from sister to sister.

Adella mimed zipping her lips, Aquata shrugged, and Andrina lazily gave a thumbs-up.

“It’s a party. Just a little one.”

“A party?” echoed Andrina. “There are parties at home. What makes this one so special?”

“It’s not a what,” Ariel replied, and paused dramatically. “It’s a who.”

“It’s a…” Adella’s face lit up. “Oh my god!”

“I know.” Ariel let slip the smile she’d been suppressing. “I met him when I got lost. I know it’s crazy, I know I have no chance with him, but I just…”

“Say no more!” Adella pulled Ariel down onto the bed next to her. “Actually, no. Say a lot more! This is so exciting!”

“Exciting?” repeated Aquata. “Are you insane? Ariel, you can’t go to a party alone with some rando you just met.”

“Well, then I’ll just have to go with her!” said Adella. When she received only stares, she added, “What? There’ll be other guys there, right, Ariel?”

“I mean, it’s at his dorm, so… yeah.”

“Ooh, a college guy,” said Andrina. “Impressive.”

Ariel rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. “He’s a freshman. Only one year older than me. Anyway, no thanks, Adella. He invited me, not you.”

“Come on, I’m dying of boredom,” whined Adella. “You can’t hog all the guys to yourself.”

“I don’t care about the other guys.”

“More for me, then.” Adella pouted. “Take me with you, or I’m telling Dad.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Try me.”

Ariel sighed. “Whatever. Just hurry up.”

Sometimes having six sisters was a nightmare, but other times it was a blessing. Fashion hadn’t been Ariel’s top priority when she’d packed for this trip; instead she’d mostly opted for comfortable walking clothes and left ample room in her suitcase for souvenirs. So, in addition to Adella’s halter top, she ended up borrowing a pair of low-rise jeans from Andrina, big gold hoop earrings from Arista, and makeup and hairspray from Alana. She was aiming for a sophisticated look. For one night, she wanted to pretend she was a college girl, a city girl… a girl worthy of a guy like Eric, yes, but more than that, a girl who belonged in his world.

Adella found her in front of the bathroom mirror wearing a bright purple bikini top. “Is this a pool party?” she asked skeptically.

“No, but I just realized I don’t have a strapless to go with the halter top, but these come off,” Ariel explained as she unhooked the removable shoulder straps and tossed them on the counter. “Plus, it’s got good padding.”

“Whatever works, I guess.” Adella passed her the halter top she’d brought, then struck a pose. “How do I look?”

She was wearing a snug yellow long-sleeved dress and navy blue faux leather boots. Her dark brown hair was in its usual high ponytail, her bangs curled softly over her forehead, and she wore a yellow beaded necklace and matching earrings.

“Those boys don’t stand a chance,” replied Ariel with an approving nod. A general murmur of agreement came from their sisters, who had all congregated to watch them get ready.

Ariel pulled on the halter top and turned from side to side, watching it glitter in the light and making sure no purple was showing through. Then she turned back to the mirror and fussed with her side bangs, using a ton of hairspray in an attempt to give them more volume and lift.

“I’ve never seen her spend this long on her appearance,” Andrina remarked from the bathroom doorway.

Beside her, Attina nodded. “Oh, she’s got it bad.”

Ariel pointedly ignored them.

“You sure you don’t want to come?” Adella asked the rest of the group, and they all shook their heads. “Okay, then you’re all covering for us. If Dad comes in, we’re asleep under the covers, or in the bathroom, or down the hall at the vending machine.”

Aquata crossed her arms, a skeptical look on her face. “What do we get in return?”

“You get to not spend the whole five-hour flight home listening to Dad yell at us,” supplied Ariel.

Aquata paused. “…Fair enough.”

Chapter Text

The dorm was just close enough to walk but just far enough that Ariel’s feet were beginning to hurt again by the time they reached it. She’d worn a pair of wedge sandals, more stable than Adella’s stiletto-heeled boots but also taller, and she wondered if she should have gone with sneakers instead. Oh well.

Here, she texted Eric.

I’m inside, came his reply.

She stepped up and knocked on the door.

“Well, hel-lo, ladies,” intoned the guy who opened it. He made a show of leaning against the doorframe, pushing back his thick brown hair, and brushing imaginary dust from his denim vest (he was the only guy Ariel had ever seen who could actually pull off a vest). “What can I do for you?”

Ariel could hear loud music and conversation from inside. They’d found the right place. “We’re here for the party,” she said. “Can we come in?”

“Are you kidding? Two beauties like yourselves? You need not even ask.” He stepped aside to let them in, and they followed him into the thick of the party.

Adella giggled and whispered to Ariel, “He is so hot! Isn’t he?”

Ariel shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

“Ooh, I see how it is,” teased Adella. “No one’s as hot as –”

“Eric!”

“Yeah, that’s what I was… Oh.” Adella hurried to keep up as Ariel pushed her way across the room toward Eric. He was standing off to the side, dressed in a plain white shirt and jeans – probably his same outfit from earlier, though Ariel hadn’t been paying enough attention then to be sure – but to her he was still the most striking person in the room.

“You made it!” he said when she reached him.

“Yeah!” She wanted to hug him but wasn’t sure if it was too forward, which left her hovering awkwardly just a little too close. She took a tiny step back and disguised it by gesturing to Adella. “This is my sister Adella. She insisted on coming. I hope it’s okay.”

“I don’t think anyone will mind.” Eric looked around as if jokingly searching for anyone who might object. “I’m glad you came. What do you feel like doing?”

“Out of the darkness and into the sun,

But I won’t forget the place I come from; I gotta

Take a risk, take a chance, make a change,

And break away.

Break away.

Break away!”

Applause and cheers rang out as Ariel drew out the last note of the song. She returned the microphone, then sought out Eric in the crowd and made her way back to him, beaming with exhilaration.

“That was amazing,” he told her as she approached. “You have the most beautiful voice.”

She blushed. “Thanks.” Then she stumbled over something on the floor, fell forward… and landed right in his arms.

“Whoa, you okay?” he asked softly.

She nodded, gazing up at him. His eyes were wide in the dim light. This was the closest she’d ever been to him, or any guy really. Her hands were on his shoulders, his arms around her waist. She held still, despite having regained her balance, for fear that he would let go.

“Aw! You guys are so cute!” cried Adella, coming up beside them.

Just like that, the spell was broken, and his arms fell away. Blushing furiously, Ariel glared at her sister.

Sorry, Adella’s eyes seemed to say. Out loud she said, “I’m going to find a snack. Want to come?”

The three of them went and found pizza, paper plates, and napkins. What they couldn’t find, though, was a place to sit down and eat. The party had grown in size, and every chair, couch, and secluded patch of floor seemed to be taken.

“We could…” Eric began, then shook his head.

“What?” asked Ariel, shifting her weight and wishing yet again that she’d worn flatter shoes.

“Well, I was going to say we could go up to my room to sit down. But that would mean leaving the party.”

Ariel didn’t care too much about leaving the party. It was fun, but it wasn’t the reason she was here. “Can we?”

“If you want.”

Adella nudged Ariel and winked conspicuously at her, then said to both of them, “You go ahead. I’d rather stay. I think I just saw one seat way over there.”

Ariel was very tempted. “Will you be all right?”

“Girl, I’m in my element!”

“Okay.” Ariel turned back to Eric. “Let’s go.”

“Room 809, if you need us,” he said to Adella as they turned away, and she nodded.

Ariel followed him into the hallway. Before they rounded the corner and passed out of sight, she glanced back over her shoulder. Her sister was already deep in conversation with the guy from the door. “I’ve got a thing for brunettes,” he was telling her, while she coyly batted her eyelashes at him over her paper plate.

In her element, indeed.

“Don’t judge me,” Eric said as he opened the door. “I just got here and I’m not unpacked at all.”

The room was small and plainly furnished. Two beds, two desks, two dressers, all very rectangular and brown. Off-white walls and cold tile floors. It was the quintessential dorm room.

Ariel loved it.

She’d seen many others like it when she sometimes accompanied one sister or another to their campuses to help them move in each year, and she couldn’t wait to have her own. In her wildest fantasies it would be here, in this city – maybe even in this very building.

“Ooh,” she said, walking over to his dresser – she knew this one was his from the framed photo of him with a very shaggy dog. She leaned closer to admire what was sitting next to the photo: a little decorative ship in a bottle. “I love those things!”

“Ships, or ships in bottles?”

“Um… I guess both? I’ve never been on a boat, but it sounds like fun.”

“It is.”

Ariel spun around to stare at him with awe.

“Yeah, I learned how to sail a few years back. It’s great. The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face – there’s nothing like it.”

She tried to imagine that. It sounded wonderful. “It must be so… so freeing.”

“Definitely.” Eric sat down on his bed, the only surface not covered in boxes or other things, and kicked off his shoes. He set his plate on the desk and leaned back against the wall with a faraway look in his eyes. “Sometimes I dream about getting a little sailboat and traveling the world in it.”

Ariel sat next to him and did the same. “Can I come with you? That sounds like heaven.”

“Sure. As long as you can swim.”

“No problem. I used to win medals.”

He turned toward her, looking impressed. “Really?”

“Yup. I quit after a while, though.”

“How come?”

She shrugged. “I guess I just got sick of swimming. It’s all back and forth, back and forth, over and over… never getting anywhere. I want to get somewhere.”

“Like where?”

“Like somewhere exciting. Like here! There’s just this energy here that you can’t find anywhere else. I feel so connected to everything. Everyone. I want to be where the people are! You know?”

“Yeah. That’s city life, all right,” he agreed. “It can be a lot, but it’s invigorating. Not everyone can handle it, though.”

Ariel nodded, absently tracing the pattern of blue stripes on his bedspread. “Like my dad. He just doesn’t get it. And he doesn’t trust me to make up my own mind about where I want to go. He thinks it’s all a phase.”

Eric looked thoughtful for a moment. Eventually he said, “You know, I think I have the exact opposite problem you have.”

“Hmm?”

“Now that I’m starting college, everyone expects me to be totally grown up already. But really I have no idea what I’m doing. So I get treated like I’m a lot older than I feel like I am – and you get treated like you’re a lot younger. Why can’t they just let us set our own pace?”

“Exactly!” Ariel could tell he understood her perfectly – two sides of the same coin. “Although honestly, I never got the impression that you don’t know what you’re doing. You’re here, aren’t you?” She gestured vaguely to suggest that she meant college.

“I’m here now, but that doesn’t mean I know where I’m going.” His eyes met hers, and in that moment he did look a little younger, a little lost. Then he spoke more slowly. “I’ve never been good at figuring out what I want.”

“I always know exactly what I want,” she said, feeling a little lost herself in his gaze. “The hard part is… going after it.”

Ariel had been fearless her whole life. It wasn’t that nothing scared her (although very little did); it was more that she’d never had a whole lot to lose. If she tried and failed, even with big things like convincing her dad to let her apply to colleges out of state, usually the worst that could happen was things staying the same. So she took risks all the time, and sometimes that ended in a lecture or grounding, but other times it livened things up.

But now, for the first time, she suddenly felt like she had everything to lose. Sitting here with this sweet, sincere, incredibly gorgeous guy only inches away – when had they gotten so close?! – was more exhilarating than a whole week in New York City. And she wanted more.

Eric was gazing at her with an intensity that matched the sudden pounding of her heart. Gazing at her like he’d just finally figured out what he wanted and it was right in front of him. Like he had a thousand things to say to her and no voice to say them with. Like he was just as scared as she was to follow these feelings, because they both knew tonight was all they had.

Or was she just projecting, grasping for what wasn’t there?

It was just another risk, Ariel told herself. And whatever happened, there was nothing she would ever regret more than a chance not taken.

She leaned in closer.

And, after a heartbeat, so did he.

Chapter Text

His lips were featherlight at first, almost questioning. She pressed tighter against him, and then he wrapped his arms around her, and she did the same, and the kiss deepened a little, and then a little more. Her heart was singing, and she felt as if she were on that sailboat he had described, swaying with the waves and moving faster than the wind.

They broke apart with soft gasps to gaze at each other anew. He reached up and gently brushed a fiery lock of hair out of her face. She held on to him, both her lifeline and the tide that was pulling her under. His blue eyes were as wide as the sea, and she was drowning.

He moved to kiss her again. She melted against him, tangling her fingers in his hair, losing all sense of herself… of time… of balance. They fell sideways and landed softly on the pillow. She clutched his shirt and kissed him harder, heart racing. This was better than she had ever imagined. It was everything she wanted… it was everything she needed… it wasn’t enough.

She felt his hands sliding over her back, his touch almost reverent. One hand slipped under her shirt, and her breath hitched. His fingertips found the strap of her makeshift bra – oh god, maybe she should have tried harder to find a real strapless; there had to be one between her six sisters – and then he withdrew his hand and pulled away, leaving a cold spot on her back.

Confused, she opened her eyes. His face was flushed red. “Sorry,” he breathed, looking truly ashamed. “I shouldn’t have…”

“No.” She tightened her grip on his shirt. “Don’t… don’t stop.”

He blinked in surprise, then half sat up, propping himself on an elbow, to look at her better. “Are you… Do you really…” he stammered. Then he took a deep breath, and his voice grew quieter. “Uh, you should know I’ve never…”

“Me neither,” she assured him. She half sat up as well, and slid her hand down his arm to lace her fingers with his. “But we only have tonight, Eric. Let’s make it a night to remember.”

His eyes betrayed a desperation that matched her own, but she could tell he was hesitant. Scared, maybe, or just worried about regrets. She squeezed his hand and held his gaze. Although she was definitely nervous – who wouldn’t be?! – she wasn’t scared. Still, what came next was up to him now.

After a moment, she saw something shift in his eyes. He sat up straighter. Then, slowly, deliberately, he put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her to him, bringing her lips to his once again. As she kissed him back, she felt his hands move to the strap of the halter top around her neck.

Okay, maybe she was a little scared – but in a good way.

Carefully, he pulled the strap back, then up and over her head, breaking the kiss to do so. All of her hair came up with it and fell over her face. She broke out in nervous laughter as she pushed it back. He laughed too, and then, with some of the tension eased, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again. As he ran his hands through her hair and down her back, she fumbled for the hem of his shirt and began to pull it up.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

Startled, they broke apart. A few seconds passed, and the knock came again, louder.

“Ariel?!”

Ariel groaned. What the hell was Adella doing up here? Didn’t she know better? Especially after the way she’d practically contrived all this?

Adella knocked again, insistently.

Eric looked at Ariel, his eyes plainly saying I know – believe me, I know – but we’d better find out what she wants. “Come in,” he called, sliding a little farther from Ariel and pulling his shirt down.

The door handle was already turning when Ariel suddenly remembered her own shirt. Panicking, she grabbed the strap and yanked it over her head, stretching it wide so it wouldn’t get caught in her hair.

She heard a sharp tearing sound as it snapped right in the middle, where the fabric was narrowest. The two halves fell and dangled uselessly from the front of the shirt, just as Adella walked into the room.

Ariel felt like a deer in headlights. Her hair was a mess. She was sure there was lipstick all over her face – and Eric’s. His hair was a mess too, and his shirt was all rumpled, and her bikini top was visible where the upper hem of Adella’s shirt was weighed down by the broken straps.

She expected her sister to tease her relentlessly. She expected her to be upset about her ruined shirt. She wasn’t looking forward to those things, but at least she was somewhat prepared for them.

Instead, Adella’s lip quivered, and she said in a shaky voice, “Can we go?”

Ariel stared at her. “What?!”

Adella stared back. Only now did she seem to really take everything in. Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh. Oh… Oh god, Ariel, I didn’t think.”

Something was very wrong if Adella, one-track-minded Adella, hadn’t thought… of that. Ariel slid off the bed, went to her, and laid a hand on her shoulder. “What happened?” she asked softly.

Adella shook her head. “It’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not. Or you wouldn’t be here.”

Adella’s eyes flicked over to Eric and back to Ariel. She took a breath and blurted out, “Some jerk put a hand up my dress.”

Ariel gasped. “Are you okay? Did he…?”

“I’m fine. I slapped him and walked away,” Adella said in a hollow voice. “But he tried to follow me. I took a few turns until I lost him in the crowd, and then I came up here.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ariel said, hugging her. “I shouldn’t have left you by yourself.”

“Who was this guy?” asked Eric. “What did he look like?”

Adella thought for a second. “Tall… really buff… cleft chin… stupid black ponytail. I thought he was hot for, like, a split second, but then he opened his mouth and I wanted to die. He’s a real pig.”

Eric frowned. “That sounds like this one French exchange student everyone’s been complaining about. The semester hasn’t even started yet and already he’s managed to get on everyone’s nerves. I forget his name, but I’ve seen him around. I’m going to make sure he gets confronted about this.”

Ariel looked at him worriedly. “Be careful,” she urged.

“I will,” he promised. “I won’t do it alone.”

Adella leaned close to Ariel and whispered in her ear, “What a keeper!”

Ariel gave a half smile in response. Could she really call him a keeper if she couldn’t keep him?

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Eric asked Adella.

She nodded. “Yeah. Just… I kind of don’t feel like partying anymore.” She gave Ariel a deeply apologetic, somewhat pleading look.

Ariel heaved an enormous sigh and threw Eric an apologetic look of her own before squeezing Adella’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

Eric gave them some cab fare to make sure they got back safely. Ariel stayed quiet for most of the ride, afraid of saying something she might regret. It was hard not to blame Adella, even though Ariel knew it wasn’t her fault. Of all the people who generally ruined Ariel’s fun, Adella was pretty low on the list. But of course it had to be tonight that Adella’s own recklessness had finally caught up with her.

No, Ariel reminded herself sternly, it wasn’t Adella’s recklessness that had ruined things – even if she almost wished it was, just so she could have someone to yell at.

They were swarmed by their sisters as soon as they entered the hotel room. But Ariel whispered in Attina’s ear as she shepherded Adella past the group, and Attina solemnly whispered to the rest of them, and they all quieted down immediately and began to help Adella get ready for bed.

Ariel stood in front of the mirror, slowly rubbing at her makeup and searching her reflection for some trace of the girl she had been less than an hour ago. She felt like Cinderella after the ball, except even Cinderella must have had reason to hope that she might see the prince again. Sure, Ariel still had Eric’s number and there was nothing stopping them from staying in touch, but she wasn’t stupid. She had seen how many beautiful, sophisticated college girls were at the party. She’d had one chance with him, and now that it was over, he was bound to move on sooner or later.

Alana came up beside her. “Hey, you know that stuff’s waterproof, right? You need this.” She soaked a cotton pad with makeup remover and set to work scrubbing the lipstick smears from Ariel’s face. “So… do you want to talk about it?”

“What’s to talk about?” muttered Ariel. “I had one night with Eric, one night, and I finally had him alone, and then Adella just had to go and get herself in trouble.” She drew a shaky breath, fighting the sudden urge to cry. “And now I’ll never see him again.”

“Oh, Ariel,” Alana murmured soothingly. “He must really be something special, huh?”

Ariel nodded, squeezing her eyes shut against the threat of tears. One tear escaped anyway, and Alana gently wiped it up with the cotton pad before moving up to Ariel’s eyelids.

“If that’s true, if he’s really the one, then maybe things will work out somehow,” Alana suggested.

Ariel didn’t reply. She was an optimist, but she wasn’t an idiot. Three thousand miles would test even the most solid relationship. There might be a small ray of hope if she could look forward to joining him at NYU next year… but she knew better than to count on that.

Chapter Text

Adella felt terrible all morning. She’d more or less recovered from last night – after all, it could have been a lot worse, and it helped having several supportive, rightfully outraged sisters to vent to – but she hated what she’d done to Ariel. She’d seen her little sister in some pretty awful moods before, but this was not her familiar fiery temper. Instead, Ariel was completely withdrawn. She hardly spoke a word to anyone, and they practically had to pack her beach bag for her. When their father inevitably noticed, Adella quickly stepped in and lied for her, saying she’d had terrible insomnia. She wasn’t even sure it was a lie. One look at Ariel’s face and he bought it entirely.

By the time they laid their towels down on the sand, Adella had made up her mind that she was going to make it up to Ariel somehow. But what could she do? She quietly consulted her sisters.

“Buy her a present,” suggested Arista.

“Chocolate never hurts,” said Andrina.

“Just let her be,” said Attina. “There’s no shortcut for this.”

Alana nodded. “And you aren’t the reason she’s hurting, Adella. I’m sure she was already feeling down about leaving the city and this guy, even before their date got cut short. And on top of that, I don’t think he’s even talked to her since last night.”

“Really?” asked Adella. That surprised her.

“Maybe it’s better this way,” Aquata said solemnly. “If he’s already ghosting her, she needs to start getting over him as soon as possible.”

Adella frowned. “No way. You should have seen the way he was looking at her all night. He’s not ghosting.”

“If only you could prove that to Ariel,” Andrina remarked dryly.

Adella brightened. She glanced over at Ariel, who was lying on her towel, mindlessly scrolling on her phone. “I have an idea,” she said. “Can one of you distract Ariel for me for just a minute?”

Ariel hadn’t thought she could possibly feel any worse, but the perfect sunny weather and cheerful atmosphere at the beach only served to highlight her misery. Last night’s events were on constant replay in her mind – every single blissful moment, followed by the abrupt and awkward ending. Eric had kissed her goodbye – rather stiffly, as Adella had been pretending not to watch – and told her that he hoped she got to follow her dreams. It was a sweet thing to say, but it was also a very final thing to say. He hadn’t even offered to walk them down to the door.

She’d considered trying to strike up a conversation with him again over text, but things had already ended on an unsatisfying note and she was worried about making it worse. Instead, she would open her messages app every so often and just stare at their very last interaction.

That was it. She was sure he would have said something else by now if he really wanted to keep in touch. And the last thing she wanted to do was come off as clingy and immature. If she texted him again and he didn’t respond… she would completely break.

She was trying unsuccessfully to distract herself, idly scrolling through some app or another without actually absorbing anything that crossed her screen. After a while, a shadow fell across her, and she looked up to see Arista kneeling beside her.

“Ariel, can you help me put sunscreen on my back?”

Ariel groaned. “Can’t you ask someone else?”

“You’re the only one I can find with dry hands. Please?”

“Fine,” Ariel sighed, and put down her phone.

Adella hid behind a nearby chair while Ariel followed Arista to her towel. Then she crept over and picked up Ariel’s phone. She quickly brought up Ariel’s contacts, found the entry she wanted, and copied the number into her own phone. After closing the contacts app, she carefully laid Ariel’s phone back down exactly where it had been. By the time Ariel returned, she was long gone.

That part of her plan had been simple enough, but the next part she couldn’t predict. She reread her message a few times after she typed it, wondering if she was overstepping her bounds, before committing and firmly pressing send.

Hey! This is Adella. Do you have a minute?

The sun beat down on Ariel as she half dozed on her towel. She didn’t have the energy to get up and go cool off in the water. She just wanted to go home already – not because she would be any happier there, but because everyone would stop expecting her to be happy there. She was used to being miserable at home. Being miserable at a beach in New York, two things she normally loved, just felt wrong.

“Hey,” she heard someone whisper. It was Alana. “There’s something you have to see.”

“Not now.” Ariel rolled over and turned her back on Alana, only to find herself facing Adella and Andrina. They all took hold of her arms and pulled her upward. Despite her best efforts at resisting, she was no match for all three of them, and they soon had her on her feet.

Adella pulled a blue sundress from Ariel’s bag and shoved it into her arms. “Come on. Put this on.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve been roasting in the sun for two hours.”

Two hours? Had it really been that long – or that short? Ariel felt disconnected from time entirely. She put the dress on over her bikini, mainly to shut Adella up.

But Adella wasn’t done. “Now, grab your bag and come walk with us,” she insisted. “I know you don’t feel like it, but I promise it’ll be worth it. Trust me.”

Ariel looked at her sisters’ determined expressions and knew it was no use resisting this either. Sighing, she gathered her things in her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Where are we going?” she asked in a resigned tone.

Andrina grinned. “It’s a surprise.”

They set off walking along the shoreline, Adella in the lead, Andrina and Alana flanking Ariel and engaging in sporadic conversation as she trudged silently between them. Adella was a little less talkative; she kept checking her phone and looking off into the distance ahead.

After several minutes of uneventful walking, Adella stopped. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked off into the distance one more time. Then she turned around to face Ariel and said, “Are you ready?”

Before Ariel could ask what for, Adella stepped to the side, and Andrina and Alana gave her a small push forward. She took a few obliging steps and looked around in confusion. Sand to the left… water to the right… this part of the beach looked exactly like any other part of the beach.

“What are we –” she began, but the words died on her tongue when she looked straight ahead and saw what was fifty feet in front of her.

Or rather, who.

She glanced back at her sisters, agape. They were all grinning now. Adella took her bag from her, pointed her forward again with a push on her shoulder, and said simply, “Go.”

Chapter Text

Eric slowly walked toward her.

She started toward him, so dazed she almost forgot how to walk. She wanted to hug him, kiss him, make the most of this precious, unexpected gift, but she wasn’t sure where they stood or what was even happening. When she finally stood before him, she didn’t know what to say – she could hardly think straight. How did he still have this effect on her? For heaven’s sake, she’d had his tongue in her mouth yesterday. She should be well past that.

“What are you doing here?” she asked incredulously.

“I came to see you,” he replied with a smile.

“But I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“I know.” His smile faltered. “Did you not want to see me again –”

She threw her arms around him, cutting him off. He returned the embrace, and all at once she felt completely revitalized. She must have been wrong – he really did still care about her!

“I thought you had plans all day,” he said, “but then your sister told me you were here.”

“You’re welcome,” said Adella, coming up behind her along with Andrina and Alana.

“This is our plan all day. I just can’t sneak away so easily in broad daylight,” Ariel told Eric. Then she turned to Adella and asked, “What about Dad?”

“I told him we were going to take you for a long walk, try and perk you up. He made us promise to stick together. And we will – but you made no such promise.” Adella winked as she passed Ariel’s bag back to her. “As long as we stay out of his sight, he’ll never know.”

Ariel almost felt like crying. She hugged all three of them fiercely.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Hand in hand, Ariel and Eric walked along the edge of the water.

“Adella has some nerve, doesn’t she?” remarked Ariel. “But I guess I owe her for that. She was braver than me today. I thought you wouldn’t want to hear from me again.”

“Why would you think that?” Eric looked genuinely puzzled. “Last night was the best night of my life! I kept thinking about texting you this morning, but you said you’d be busy all day, and when I texted you last night, all your replies were really short. I thought you would just rather forget about me since you won’t be here much longer.”

Ariel planted her face in her palm. “I didn’t mean I’d be too busy to talk. And I could never forget you! I thought… I thought you changed your mind about me. I kept waiting for you to text me again and you didn’t – I guess I was just way overthinking that. But your texts were short too. And you didn’t even walk me to the door last night. You practically pushed us out of your room! Did I misread that? What was I supposed to think?”

“I didn’t… Oh god, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize how that came off. I would have walked you down, but, uh…” He suddenly turned bright red. “Ariel, you left me in a bit of a… a predicament.”

She stared at him, not understanding. “What does that mean? You were too upset to walk me down?”

“No… Sort of the opposite.”

“What kind of –” She stopped and burst out laughing as she suddenly realized why he was being so evasive. “Seriously?” she gasped, her cheeks burning. “A predicament?!”

He burst out laughing along with her. She shook her head in mock disapproval and let herself fall against his chest as they both tried to catch their breath. After a moment, her spirits buoyed, she tilted her head back and stretched up on her toes to kiss him.

They wandered the beach for a little while and then found their way to the boardwalk alongside it. Ariel had run out of souvenir money two days ago, but she still loved browsing through all the little shops filled with random trinkets and hidden treasures.

“Oh my gosh! Look at this!” She pulled Eric over to a display of jewelry and pointed to a delicate necklace with a little golden charm shaped like a nautilus shell. “Isn’t it beautiful? I think it’s the most beautiful thing in this store.”

“The second most beautiful thing,” he countered.

“Oh? What’s the first?”

“You.”

Ariel giggled as she drifted away to explore the next aisle. She knew nothing was any more certain than it had been before, but she was so giddy in his presence that it was becoming easier to put aside her worries about tomorrow and just enjoy the time they had.

After window-shopping, they got ice cream cones and raced to finish them before they melted in the hot sun. Then they slowly walked back down to the water’s edge. The sun was dipping lower in the sky. Ariel got a text from Aquata warning her that their dad wanted to start packing up at sunset. She tightened her hand around Eric’s.

“If we had more time, and money, I’d take you sailing,” he said. “You’d love it.”

She gazed out over the ocean, imagining being on a little boat with him, the only two people for miles. For some reason this was just as appealing as the bustling city life she’d always dreamed of, if not more. Maybe it was because it was just another kind of adventure. Maybe it was because she would have him to share it with.

“Do you think we’ll ever get to?” she asked tentatively.

“You know what? I do.”

As Ariel gazed up at him, hoping with all her heart that he was right, he slipped his hand out of hers and pulled a little white box from the pocket of his swim trunks. Her heart skipped wildly as he placed it in her hands. She knew it couldn’t be… but what if…?

She opened the box. “Oh!” she cried in delight. It was the golden shell necklace she’d pointed out to him. When had he managed that? She must have been too absorbed in her browsing to notice.

“Ariel?” he said, drawing her gaze right back to him.

“Yeah?”

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

Her heart leapt. Somehow she hadn’t seen this coming. But she didn’t need to waste any time thinking – for once, she knew exactly what to say.

“Yes!” she exclaimed, and watched his apprehensive expression dissolve into pure joy. “But are you sure? You know it’ll be really, really –”

“I know.” He freed the necklace from its packaging and clasped the chain around her neck. “But I don’t care. The way I see it, you’re taking my heart with you to California either way. I might as well give it to you willingly.” He held her gaze a moment longer, hesitating. “I… I love you.”

“Oh, Eric…” Tears of joy blurred her view of his beautiful face. “I love you too.” She surged forward, and he caught her and lifted her off the ground and kissed her.

She knew it might sound crazy to anyone else, but she’d never been more certain of anything. She did love him. Time would tell if they would actually make it in the end, but this was only the beginning, and it was the best beginning she could have asked for.

“We have a little time left,” she said when they finally drew apart. “And you know what we still haven’t done?”

“Uh…”

“Gone swimming! This is a beach, after all.”

“Oh. Of course.”

She stared at him, trying to parse his expression. “Wait – did you think I meant…?”

“Shut up!”

She laughed. “You can’t talk to your girlfriend like that.”

He looked both flustered and deliriously happy. “Then I guess I’ll have to shut you up myself,” he teased, and pulled her in for another kiss.

They did go swimming after that. Ariel swam circles around Eric as they raced each other past the breaking waves.

“And I thought I was a decent swimmer,” he joked. “You must be a mermaid.”

“Oh! Watch out, then. I might use my siren powers on you,” she said dramatically.

“With that enchanting voice of yours? I think you already have.”

Ariel sighed, glancing over at the rapidly sinking sun. “If I had powers, I’d stop time right here.”

“If only,” Eric replied softly. He floated backward, stopping beside a large boulder jutting out of the water. “Hey, check this out. It’s shallow enough to stand over here.”

She joined him in leaning against the boulder. She laid her head on his shoulder, and he put his arm around her.

“This was a perfect day,” he said.

She looked up at him, suddenly fearful. “Don’t say that. The day’s not over yet.”

“Not quite. But it will be soon.” He pressed his forehead to hers and looked deep into her eyes. “This isn’t over, though.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Ariel felt both her strongest and her weakest as she gazed into his eyes, trying to memorize them. Even if everything worked out the way she hoped, she wouldn’t see him again for a whole year. Texting, calling, video chatting… none of that could replace the warmth of his skin or the softness of his lips against hers. She could see and hear him well enough from three thousand miles away, but she needed to feel him now, while she still could.

Desperately, she pressed her lips to his. He folded her in a fierce embrace, crushing her close, lifting her off her feet. He tasted like the saltwater that surrounded them, and his kisses were more insistent than the rising tide.

A rogue wave washed across their faces, and they both opened their eyes in surprise, spluttering and laughing. Meeting his eyes again, Ariel saw a look she recognized all too well from the night before. She slid her hands through his wet hair, down his bare back, biting her lip and wishing they were somewhere else, anywhere that was out of sight, away from…

…away from…?

There was no one in the water around them, she realized, no sound except the constant rush of the ocean. The shore was merely a distant stripe of beige. In every real sense, they were completely alone. And she could tell by the sudden intensity in his eyes that he had realized it too.

He lifted her higher, pinning her against the surface of the rock, trailing kisses across her skin. She tightened her arms around him, closing her eyes against the faint orange glow that was just beginning to reflect off the water’s surface. Sunset was imminent.

Her heart pounded and her breath hitched, wants and needs tangling together, as he traced the thin lines of her bikini straps over her shoulders and around her back.

This time, he didn’t stop.

Chapter Text

Ariel had never seen a more beautiful sunset.

She knew she should feel devastated as she walked alone across the sand, every step carrying her farther away from Eric. But she could still feel him across every inch of her, almost as if he was still with her, keeping the sadness from fully setting in. She felt like the whole world had subtly shifted around her. The colors of the sun-kissed clouds seemed impossibly vibrant, the cries of seagulls ringing like music in her ears, her footsteps featherlight over the soft sand.

The shift was within her, she knew. She no longer felt like Cinderella. This time she felt like… like…

Like herself. More than she ever had before.

It was an invigorating feeling – made even more so by the fact that for once in her life, she wasn’t last. She finally had a first that not all of her sisters did. And yet, to her surprise, as soon as that thought crossed her mind, it suddenly seemed incredibly trivial.

Was this what it felt like to become more mature?

She checked her phone and saw a couple texts from her sisters, luckily only a few minutes old, asking where she was and telling her to hurry.

Otw, she sent.

How’d it go? asked Alana.

Ariel fingered the delicate chain of her necklace as she tried to decide where to even start. Some things were impossible to condense into a text; others she wanted to keep to herself. After double-checking that this was indeed the group chat with only her sisters and not her dad, she turned on caps lock.

I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!!!

The message exploded with likes. A barrage of hearts and surprised emojis came in underneath.

She found Adella, Alana, and Andrina a moment later. They swarmed her excitedly. “How you holding up?” asked Adella.

“Okay, for now. I know it’s going to suck later.”

“Well, we’ll be here for you,” Alana assured her. “Come on, we have to get back.”

Ariel took the lead this time. As they headed back to meet up with everyone else, she showed the three of them her necklace and, with minimal prompting, shared everything that had happened with Eric.

Well, almost everything.

That night was lonely, even with three of her sisters in the same room. But at least she had Eric’s company over text. She lay awake talking to him far longer than she should have, considering the ungodly hour she had to get up the next day.

What time do you have to get up again? he asked eventually.

4 am, she replied, and threw in a dead-eyed emoji.

Ariel stood shivering in the hotel’s parking lot, waiting to load her suitcase into the taxi, which was really more of a large van. Traveling as a family of eight always came with unique logistical challenges. They were all well accustomed to that, and yet she always forgot just how long it actually took to get everyone’s luggage loaded and get moving. She regretted not wearing a sweatshirt.

Her phone chimed. She pulled it out of her pocket, wondering who could be texting her at this hour, when her whole family was right here.

It was just two words, from… Eric?!

Turn around

Baffled, she turned, now facing the hotel. The building was a patchwork of bright lights and deep shadows in the predawn darkness. Beside a pillar by the entrance, one of the shadows shifted… and waved at her.

She had to restrain herself from breaking into a dead run, instead speedwalking across the parking lot as quietly as she could. A quick glance over her shoulder told her that her dad, at least, had not looked up from the bags he was rearranging in the trunk. That was all that mattered. She kept walking and didn’t stop until she was in Eric’s arms.

“I can’t believe you,” she mumbled into his chest. He’d dragged himself out of bed in the middle of the night just to see her off? If he wasn’t worth waiting for, she didn’t know who was.

“You’re freezing,” he said. “Do you want my sweatshirt?”

Ariel wished she could say yes. It was a white hoodie with “NYU” in bold letters across the front, and it was thick and soft and smelled like him. “Don’t tempt me… I can’t possibly wear that around the house.”

“Right.” He started rubbing her back to warm her up. “Are you ever going to tell your dad?”

“Yeah… in a year and change, when I’m hopefully a few thousand miles away from him. You should have seen his reaction when Arista first brought her boyfriend home.” She glanced over her shoulder again. “I can’t stay long. It looks like they’re almost done.”

“That’s okay. I just needed one more minute with you.”

She spent that minute wrapped in his arms, soaking in all the warmth she possibly could. It would have to last her a very long time.

Chapter Text

SEPTEMBER

“All my friends at school are jealous,” Ariel said into her phone. “Well – not all of them. Some of them think I’m making you up.”

Eric laughed. “Have you shown them pictures?”

“Yeah, lots. But I don’t have one of us together. I think I’ll just have to introduce you sometime.”

“Sure.”

“I wish I could put you on my lock screen.” She couldn’t do that for the same reason she hadn’t taken a photo of them together: in case her father saw it.

“I have your picture on my desk,” said Eric. “Sometimes you motivate me to do my work. Other times you seriously distract me and I can’t concentrate on anything.”

“Hmm. What a predicament.”

“Ugh, are you ever going to drop that?” he groaned.

“Nope!”

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

“I’m proud of you, Ariel,” her dad said as he studied her progress report. “You’re finally applying yourself.”

Ariel was proud of herself, too. She had been working harder than ever in school so that there would be one less obstacle between her and NYU. “Thanks, Dad. I’m hoping this will be good for my college applications. They do ask for your senior grades so far, don’t they?”

“Hmm, I can’t remember. You’d think the seventh time would be the charm.” He lowered the paper to look at her. “Have you started on your applications yet?”

“Um…” She took a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you about that.”

Her dad looked like he knew what was coming. It had been a while since she’d last brought it up – she’d been dreading to reopen the conversation now that living in the city wasn’t her only motivation anymore. It meant there was so much more at stake.

But it also meant she had even more reason to stand up for herself and be brave. She knew how to be brave. In the end, this was just another risk.

“I still want to go to NYU,” she said firmly.

Her dad sighed. “Not this again.”

“Why not?!”

“Ariel, how many times must we go through this? It’s dangerous there, and you’d be so far away from me – from all of us.”

“What does it really matter how far away I am? I’ll still keep in touch and come home for breaks. And you can’t tell me there’s nothing dangerous about any other place I could go.” Ariel tried her best to keep her voice level and present herself as mature and reasonable. “Dad, this is really important to me.”

“It’s important to me that you stay close.”

“Because you want to protect me, right?”

“No.” He was quiet for a minute, and when he spoke again, his voice had lost its usual authoritative edge. “Because I’m not ready to lose you.”

Ariel had rarely seen her father this vulnerable. He actually looked like he might cry. For the first time, she considered what it must be like for him to face his last daughter leaving home. Maybe this had never been about controlling her like she’d always believed. Maybe they weren’t on opposite sides.

“Oh, Daddy,” she said softly. “You’re never going to lose me.”

He studied her for another minute, seeming deep in thought. Finally he said, “Very well, Ariel. I have noticed a change in you lately. You’ve been working harder, and this is the first time we’ve had this conversation like two adults. Whether I like it or not, you’re growing up. Wherever you want to apply… go ahead. I only have one condition.”

Ariel could hardly believe her ears. “What condition?” she asked slowly.

“Apply to some local schools, too. Keep your options open. You still have plenty of time to make your final decision.”

She suspected this was meant to give him time to talk her out of her final decision, which was already made. But she kept her mouth shut. It was really a small price to pay, and she knew there was no harm in having a few extra backup schools.

“Thank you,” she breathed, and stepped closer to hug him.

DECEMBER

The house was livelier than it had been in months. Everyone was on vacation from either school or work, and presents were quickly piling up under the tree. Ariel was glad for the distractions – with all her sisters at home, she could usually find at least one to hang out with and take her mind off how much she missed Eric.

On Christmas Eve, Adella pulled Ariel aside. “I have an early present for you,” she said, and handed her a box wrapped in shiny blue paper with a velvety red ribbon.

“Aw, thanks –”

“It’s not from me,” Adella interrupted with a grin. “I’m just the delivery girl. He mailed it to me at school before I came home, to keep it away from certain eyes. And I figured I should give it to you in private for the same reason.”

Ariel beamed. “Well, then… thanks for delivering it!” Now she was glad she’d decided to send him a present even after warning him not to send her one. Leave it to him to think of another way to get it to her.

She hid the present under her bed and opened it as soon as she woke up in the morning. There were several things inside, layered in a bed of tissue paper. First she pulled out a bag of Hershey’s Kisses, with a little note taped to it that read: “A poor substitute.” Smiling, she unwrapped one and put it in her mouth.

Next was a small box containing a pair of pearly pink barrettes. They were beautiful. She put them on immediately.

Last was a soft little blue plush octopus with a cute smiling face, and red on the undersides of the tentacles, and – wait a minute, this was one of those reversible plushies! Ariel grinned in delight as she turned it inside out and discovered an adorably angry face on the red side. She loved how whimsical these things were. She loved anything whimsical really; Eric must have figured that out by now. She could tell he had put some thought into these gifts.

Her phone chimed, and she saw that Eric had sent her a selfie of him wearing her gifts: a new pair of headphones and a red scarf. In response, she sent him one with the barrettes in her hair, the plushie cradled to her chest, and a Hershey’s Kiss between her teeth.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

On Valentine’s Day, Ariel received a dozen red roses in the mail. The card read: “From your secret admirer.” She left her dad guessing as to who this admirer could possibly be, and raced to her room to thank him.

They had a video date, like always, talking and laughing and doing their best to pretend it was enough. This was every bit as hard as they’d known it would be. It had been almost six months now since their last in-person date, and it would be another six months before their next one – and that was assuming she got accepted. But they’d made it this far. Ariel had to believe they would find the strength somewhere to make it the rest of the way.

Not long after that, she received another piece of mail. She was too scared to open it by herself, but her dad was out and Eric wasn’t answering his phone, so she sat in her room, turning the envelope over and over in her hands.

She put it down. Picked it up again. Put it down, reached for her phone, and texted Eric to call her as soon as he could. Picked it up again and stared at it for another five minutes.

Then she tore it open.

She slid the letter out and slowly unfolded it. She caught a glimpse of her name at the top.

Suddenly, her phone rang, startling her. She picked it up with a shaking hand.

“Hey.” Even her voice was shaking.

“Hey. I saw your text. What’s up?”

“Oh, I just…” Ariel’s eyes drifted right back to the letter. “I just…”

“What is it?”

She gasped loudly and shrieked. “I GOT IN!”

Chapter Text

MARCH

One afternoon, Ariel came home to a package on the doorstep with her name on it. It was finally here! She grabbed it and hurried inside.

“What have you got there?” asked her dad from across the room.

“Just something I ordered from NYU’s online store,” she lied, messily tearing right through the return address so it couldn’t be read. “I’m getting into the school spirit early.”

Her dad came over to look as she pulled out the white NYU hoodie. “Did they make a mistake? That looks much too big for you.”

“No, I wanted it this way! It’ll be cozy.”

He gave her a skeptical look before turning away. She knew he was thinking that it contradicted her usual fashion sense. But he would get used to it. This was the exact hoodie she wanted, and now that she had a good excuse, she was going to wear it all the time.

She buried her face in it and inhaled deeply.

APRIL

MAY

He picked up right away. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she whispered. “So… are you worried about your final? Is that why you can’t sleep?”

“Eh, not really. I mean, maybe a little, but I don’t think that’s why.”

“Why, then?”

“I don’t know. Probably a little of everything, or nothing at all. Also, I really miss you.”

“I miss you too,” she sighed. “Is there anything I can do?”

“No, I just wanted to hear your beautiful siren voice.”

She laughed lightly. Then inspiration struck. Sitting up straighter, she began to sing softly into the phone.

“In the sea of lovers without ships

And lovers without sight,

You’re the only way out of this

Sea of lovers losing time

And lovers losing hope.

Will you let me follow you?

Wherever you go,

Bring me home.”

She continued on through the rest of the song. When she finished, she waited for his reaction. The line was silent.

“You still awake?” she asked.

A pause. “Barely.”

“Then I’ll let you go.”

“You are… magic,” he mumbled. “Good night.”

She smiled. “Night.”

JUNE

JULY

Chapter Text

AUGUST

Ariel’s armload of boxes was the only thing keeping her from running and skipping through the halls of the dorm. With a spring in her step nonetheless, she reached her new room well ahead of her dad, which ended up being a waste because he was the one carrying the key.

There was no sign of her roommate yet, so they had plenty of space to get her things set up. Ariel wasn’t surprised, considering her dad had insisted on getting here the minute the dorm opened. She would have preferred to leave the unpacking for later and see him out right away, but he was determined to take care of her in the only way he still could.

She went to the window and pulled up the blinds to see what kind of view she had.

“That’s a shame,” he said from behind her. “You can’t see anything but buildings.”

She shook her head in amusement. To her, it was a magnificent view.

They worked until her dad could not find a single thing left to tidy up or put away. She’d been dying for him to leave so she could be on her own at last. Still, she couldn’t help feeling a little panicked now that the moment was actually here. Everything was about to change, and suddenly the world felt just as big as she’d always dreamed, and it was almost overwhelming.

“Be safe, princess,” her dad said wistfully as they stood beside the taxi that would take him away. “You don’t know how much I’m going to miss you.” He folded her into a big hug.

“I love you, Daddy,” she whispered.

And then, before she knew it, she was standing alone on the sidewalk, watching the taxi disappear.

After a quick shower and a change into nicer clothes, she stood on the same sidewalk again, alone again – but she wouldn’t be alone for much longer. When she wasn’t looking off into the distance or turning her head at every little sound, she was staring down at the three miraculous little letters on her screen:

Otw!

Since move-in day was a week earlier for freshmen, Eric wasn’t actually on campus yet, but he wasn’t far away. He’d just been waiting for her to give the word that she was free. And now that he would be here any minute, every minute that went by felt like another year.

She adjusted the barrettes in her still-damp hair and straightened her necklace. She had been meaning to try and polish the seashell charm somehow – it had lost a lot of its shine since she’d been reaching up to touch it every time she missed him.

And then, finally, finally, he appeared around the corner, and suddenly she was running, and he was catching her by the waist, and lifting her high in the air, and twirling her around and around. The whole of the past year dissolved in her mind like a forgotten dream, and for one infinite moment, nothing was real except the haven of his arms and the solidness of his mouth on hers.

She didn’t know where they would go or what they would do next – there was no plan, other than to spend as much time as possible together over the next… well, forever. But she knew it would be an adventure worth waiting for.