“I can’t believe he said that!” Rainie fumed.
“Calm down Rainie.” Mike tried to be soothing. Rainie’s got quite the temper and frankly, he was a little amused.
“Where could Ariel have gone? I hope she didn’t do something stupid.” Rainie mutter, looking around the Lotus. Rainie and Mike have been waiting for hours for Ariel to show up for her usual Thursday afternoon shift. Except she hasn’t, and Rainie was getting worried.
“Ariel’s more level headed than that. Don’t fret Rainie, you’ll get wrinkles.” Mike teased, then immediately wished he hadn’t when Rainie glared at him.
“Let’s check out her house.” Rainie jumped up and walked swiftly out the Lotus, leaving Mike to pay for the drinks.
———————–
“Ari! Are you ok?” Miranda knocked on the bathroom door. “Ariel, open the door. What happened, are you alright?”
There was no response.
Suddenly, the door bell rang. Giving the bathroom door a look of despair, Miranda went to open the front door.
“Mira, is Ariel home?” Rainie asked.
“Yes she is.” Miranda opened the door up wider. “Do you know what happened? Ariel came home about an hour ago and just shut herself in the bathroom. No matter what I do, she wouldn’t come out or make any noise.”
Rainie plopped down on a chair and rubbed her temples, “You know that accidental kiss yesterday? Somehow Joe’s got a picture of it. He got really mad and punched Mike. Luckily I was at the school to take care of some last minute registration details for next semester. I saw Joe punching Mike, so I went and got Ariel. Joe demanded an explanation for the kiss. Ariel asked him how it was any of his business, and he called her…”
“He implied she was a slut.” Mike, who was still standing, deadpanned. “Ariel slapped him and then left, and we have been looking for her all day.”
Miranda, who had been silent until then, suddenly punched Mike. Rainie looked utterly surprised.
“Ouch! What the hell! Why did you punch me?” Mike groaned.
“I told you that if you do anything to hurt my sister that I’d kick your ass.”
“How is the picture my fault?”
“It’s not, but punching you made me feel better.”
Mike muttered something about a twerpy dictator before moving as far away from Miranda as he could in the small space.
“So what do we do?” Rainie asked.
—————————
Ariel couldn’t feel anything. She was treading water in an ocean of despair. She refused to go under, to give in. But for all her fighting, she couldn’t get out of this endless ocean. She felt so cold; the ocean is luring her in, refusing to let her go. No matter how she tried, Ariel couldn’t stop the barrage of memories that were threatening to drown her.
———————-
==Flashback==
“How do you like my dress Ariel?” Ariel’s mother, Alyssa Lin, asked. She was wearing a green and yellow sun dress with conservative v-neck that showed a hint of her breasts. The dress hugged her curves and flowed down to just above her knees. She looked like a fairy to Ariel.
“It’s really pretty mom.” 11 years old Ariel answered.
“Are you taking us picnicking mommy?” 7 year old Miranda asked, looking in from the doorway.
“Yes I am sweetheart.” Alyssa went to the door and hugged Miranda and Ariel. Ariel could smell her mother’s perfume, she smelled like lilies.
Grabbing the picnic basket, the Ariel, Miranda, their mother, and James, their stepfather, went to the picnic. The picnic was an annual gathering for the families in the area. Before Ariel’s father died, Ariel’s family had gone to the picnic every year. This was the first time they were here since Ariel’s father died and Ariel’s mother remarried. After arriving at the park, Ariel helped her mom sat up the blanket and take out the food. Miranda had gone to play with the other young children and James, being the busy businessman that he was, was calling someone or another.
“It’s great seeing you Alyssa.” Said Kevin Zhou, one of neighbours. Ariel had no way of knowing he was one of her mom’s ex-boyfriends.
“Hi Kevin.” Alyssa sounded pleasant, but kept her distance.
“You look as amazing as usual.” Kevin grabbed Alyssa’s hand and began caressing it.
“Thank you.” Alyssa replied, trying to pull her hand away. “Ariel honey, could you take this plate to the potluck table?”
Ariel nodded, took the plate, and went off. Halfway to the table, she heard the sound of something hitting the ground. Turning around, she saw Uncle Kevin on the ground with James standing murderously over him.
The rest of the day was a blur for Ariel. They went home before the picnic even started. After getting home, James locked Miranda and Ariel in their room. The two girls could do nothing but listen in horror as James hit their mother and called her names such as slut and whore. This went on for what seemed like hours. After James was done, he stormed out of the house, leaving the two girls to comfort their mother.
Everything went downhill from that day.
==End of Flashback==
————————————-
“Ariel? Please say something, we’re worried about you.” Rainie called out.
“Ari? Sis, come out, please.” Miranda followed.
Mike sighed. “This is no good. She won’t answer.”
“What should we do?” Miranda asked, very worried.
———————-
Joe paced back and forth across his room. I can’t believe how much I’ve screwed up. I bet Ariel would never talk to me again, how am I going to apologize to her? Joe winced as he remembered the look she had given him. It was so cold and devoid of feelings. It felt like a punch to the stomach. I am such an idiot. How could I say that?
“Joe?” Anita Cheng poked her head through her son’s door.
Joe was so preoccupied he didn’t even notice her.
“Joe?” Anita waved her hand in front of his face. “Honey, are you ok?”
Joe snapped out of it. “Oh hey mom.”
Anita smiled, “something’s on your mind?”
Joe sighed; he was not very good at lying to his mom. “Girl problems.”
“Ah. Was this the same girl you were going to bring home to dinner on Friday?”
“Yes.” Joe flopped on his bed. “I was going to bring her home, but then a whole bunch of things happened.”
“You did something to annoy her didn’t you?” Anita sat on Joe’s bed as well.
“That’s an understatement.” Joe mumbled.
“So apologize.”
“I don’t think she’s going to want to see me anytime soon. I was being a jackass.”
Anita considered this. “Language.”
“Sorry Mom.” Joe sounded completely insincere.
“Do something creative. Show her you care.” Anita pretended to not hear her son.
“It’s not that easy.”
“No it’s not,” Anita agreed, “but just try it.”
“Alright.” Joe said dubiously. I cannot believe I am taking my mother’s advice.
“What’s wrong with my advice?” Anita asked.
“Mom, could you quit your mind reading for a minute? It is really creepy.”
Anita ginned deviously, “stop showing all your thoughts on your face then.”
“Alright, alright, mom.” Joe got up, grabbed his coat, jokingly shooed his mom out of his room, and ran out. Mom’s right. I need to talk to Ariel.
———————-
“We need to get Joe.” Miranda said resolutely.
“To do what?” Mike asked.
“To apologize.”
“Ariel won’t accept.”
“No she won’t.” Miranda conceded, then sighed.
“Is this how Ariel usually copes with a broken heart?” Rainie asked dejectedly.
“I don’t know.” Miranda answered thoughtfully.
“What do you mean?” Mike asked her.
“Well, as far as I know, she hasn’t ever had a boyfriend.” Miranda frowned. “Ari’s usually pretty ‘anti-male’.”
Rainie looked shocked.
Mike scratched his head. “She is? She’s fine around Joe and I.”
Miranda wanted to punch him again, “She doesn’t have anything against guy friends, but she’s never really been interested in guys either.”
“Well that explains it.” Rainie shook her head. “That’s why we’re in this mess.”
Mike’s feeling more lost by the minute, “what? Why?”
“Because, Einstein,” Rainie looked at him exasperatedly, “that Joe was jealous when he saw the picture of you two kissing, which is why he behaved like an asshole. But Ariel doesn’t know he’s jealous, so she thinks that he really meant what he said.”
“Does Joe like her?” Miranda wondered.
“Hell yeah.” Mike and Rainie said at the same time.
“Oh. He has a weird way of showing it. He doesn’t seem very experienced either… so did he have many girlfriends? He’s pretty popular, right?”
Mike considered her question, “Joe is pretty popular with the ladies. They tend to go for his looks and the fact that’s he’s rich doesn’t hurt either. But really, Joe hasn’t had that many girlfriends. He’s always been really serious about them. Actually, he was engaged once.”
“What?” Rainie looked shocked.
“Yeah,” Mike nodded. “It was two and a half years ago. He was 19, Natasha was 21. Joe really loved her. A month before the wedding, she disappeared without a trace. She was on the front page of a Hong Kong newspaper the next week; apparently she married some hotshot director at least twice her age. There was a lot of hype and buzz about her, how she was completely swept off her feet by the director and how in love they were. It was disgusting. She never said bye to Joe, never explained, and never even bothered to break up with him. Joe was destroyed. He took two years off school because of it, which is why he’s doing second year right now.”
“Wow.” Rainie said softly. “I never knew that.”
“So is Joe over her?” Miranda asked Mike.
“Natasha? I think so. He’s pretty into Ariel.”
“If only he would tell her that.” Miranda sighed.
———————
“Be flexible, find a way around adversity.” Ariel muttered to herself. I can’t believe I’m falling apart like this. Where’s the strong girl that Dad thought I was? I can’t believe I’m sitting here weeping like a child. Snap out of it Ariel.
Ariel stood up, checked her face in the mirror and grimaced. I’m a mess. She splashed cold water on her face. You can do it Ariel. She encouraged herself.
———
Thanks for following this story! I am currently very busy with school, so I appologize for not updating this as often as I (or you) would like. I will do my best with updating, but there will be AT LEAST a two week gap between each update. Please be patient, and thank you so much for reading!
