Chapter 13: Total Devastation

Ari lay face down on her bed, her shoulders shaking. She couldn't deal with it. It was just too much. Last night had already ratcheted up her anxiety level so high she could barely breathe. And now this?

Now the one and only non-horrible thing in her entire life was gone.

Ari let out a muffled sob into her pillow. It wasn't fair. She was actually feeling better last night after her swim. She'd spent an hour in the water down by Pier 18, and then she'd snuck back home and fallen into a deep, restful slumber. She hadn't set her alarm, intending to sleep late, but she'd been startled back to wakefulness this morning by the sound of her bedroom door banging open.

"Ari! Wake up!"

Her father had thundered into the room, and she knew at a single glance that it was bad. Really bad. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him look quite that angry. At first, she thought he must have found out about the late-night swimming expedition, but it was even worse than that. She'd groped for her phone to text him some sort of explanation, but he launched into his tirade before she had a chance.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he'd yelled so loudly the windows rattled. "Do you have any idea how much damage you could've done?"

The scuba tank.

So much happened yesterday, Ari had nearly forgotten about the stunt she pulled in the aquarium. Her father had found out. She should've known he had all his businesses wired with nano-cameras for security. Her father had gone down to the aquarium this morning to investigate the incident and watched the damning footage of her sabotage unfold on screen.

"Your mermaid career is over, do you understand me? You're DONE."

He'd swept out of the room again before she could respond, slamming the door in his wake.  And just like that he managed to destroy her entire world.

Ari sat up in bed now, sniffling quietly. She heard her phone buzz with a new incoming text. Probably Lucy. Her sister was already at work when the whole ugly scene went down, but she probably heard what happened by now. Honestly, Ari didn't want to talk about it. She ignored her phone a moment longer, but the thought occurred to her that she might be wrong. It might not be Lucy. What if it was her dad? He'd been furious before, but maybe now he'd calmed down. Maybe he would give her one more chance.

She glanced over at the screen. Not her dad. Not Lucy, either.

Her eyes widened at the sight: another text from the boy at last night's party. Zac. She hadn't expected to hear from him again after the way she blew him off, but here he was on her phone. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

Zac: Hey mermaid, how was the swim last night?

Under any other circumstances, the sight of a message from a boy would have filled Ari with panic. She would have sat there agonizing over what it meant, and what she should reply. But not today. She honestly didn't care anymore. At this point, she only felt a numb hopelessness, singed around the edges with long-since burnt-out anger.

She sat cross-legged in her bed, resting her chin heavily against her palm as she texted back.

Ari: Don't call me that.

Zac: Why not?

Ari: Because I'm not a mermaid.

Zac: Aren't you, though?

Ari: Nope. Not even a little bit.

Zac: And yet I could swear I saw you mermaiding just yesterday in that aquarium...

Ari: OK, no.

Zac: No?

Ari: First of all, that's not a word.

Zac: Aquarium? Incorrect...

Ari gave a sad little sniff at the screenshot he'd attached. She could tell he was trying to be funny. He obviously thought this was a different kind of conversation altogether. The kind where people smile. Maybe even laugh.

Like she had anything to laugh about...

She ignored the stupid screenshot and continued her train of thought as if she hadn't seen it.

Ari: Second of all, my dad won't let me work there anymore, so there will be no further mermaiding

Zac: Mermaiding? Pretty sure that's not a word.

Ari: I'm really not in the mood.

Zac: Sorry. Wait. Back up a sec. Did you get hurt yesterday? Because you seemed OK last night, but I seriously thought for a minute there that you were like... dead... or dead-ish...

Ari: Dead-ish?

Zac: I know, I know. Not a word.

Ari: Thanks for sticking around to make sure I was ok btw.

Zac: I'm sorry. I should have. I'm glad you weren't dead-ish, if that helps at all.

Ari: Wow.

Zac: Wow. OK, so this conversation is not going the way I planned.

Ari: Why are you even texting me?

Zac: Good question. I hate texting. HATE.

Ari: So I see a really simple solution to that problem

Zac: What? Voice recognition? Trust me, it sucks worse.

Ari: I was going to say, don't text me. Problem solved.

Ari hit Send on that last message and immediately regretted it. She didn't know why she was being so rude. This was the most attention any boy had ever paid her, and all she could do was tell him to go away. What was wrong with her? It wasn't his fault she lost her job.

Well, technically it was his fault. He was the whole reason she'd gone after that scuba tank with a rock yesterday. Him and those two scary-looking guys in baseball caps. Who were those guys anyway?

Zac: But I have to text you.

Ari: Why? To ruin my life some more?

Zac: Dude, I just met you! How the hell did I ruin your life?

Ari: Whatever. Never mind. I'm just in a really crappy mood today. It's got nothing to do with you.

Zac: Why, because you're unemployed at the moment? That's actually kind of convenient from my point of view.

Ari: Thanks for the concern.

Zac: Come hang out with me. You have nothing better to do. You can tell me all about how much your dad sucks.

Ari: You do know I don't speak, right?

Zac: Yeah, yeah. I know. You can tell me over text.

Ari: Then why do I need to come meet you, if we're just going to text?

Zac: So I can see your face.

Ari scowled. That was pretty much the last thing in the world she wanted. She knew her face must look all mottled and puffy from crying. He obviously didn't understand how upset she was, and she didn't much feel like explaining. Not in words. Some words were just too painful, even over text.

Instead, she toggled over to her phone's memory bank and skimmed her eyes through the thumbnails. She'd accumulated quite a collection over the years—a Little Mermaid illustration for every mood.

This one here should get the message across. She selected an image of a mermaid curled up on a rock with her face buried in her arms, utterly despondent, after her father forbade her to have any interaction with the human world...

Zac: What is that, like your avatar or something? Are you a gamer?

Ari: Are you serious right now?

Zac: What?

Did he really not know what that picture was from? Really?

Ari: THAT'S FROM THE LITTLE MERMAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zac: Woahhhh. Dude. Chill. WTF?

Ari: Have you seriously never seen The Little Mermaid? Not even the Disney version?

Zac: Not really my bag.

Ari: Well, then I guess we have absolutely nothing in common. What a shock.

Zac: Is that the one with the evil stepsister and the glass slipper and shit?

Ari: OMG. Are you for real?

Zac: I mean your sister seemed a little overprotective maybe, but she can't be that evil... she did give me your number...

Ari: Glass slipper? The Little Mermaid?

Zac: No good?

Ari: Mermaids don't wear slippers, Zac. Mermaids don't have feet.

Zac: Hey! You know my name :)

Ari had been glaring at her phone, but she couldn't quite help but crack a smile at that last message. She could just imagine those colorless lips of his, grinning like an idiot on the other end of the line. He really was awfully cute...

Of course she knew his name. He'd told it to her when he texted her last night. "This is Zac. From the party?" After her swim, she'd gone back over that whole conversation at least a dozen times. She'd programmed his name into her contact list, along with an apt storybook-prince screenshot as a visual.

Now she covered her mouth with her hand, determined to wipe away her smile before it could spread too far across her face.

Ari: Don't change the subject.

Zac: You're the one who keeps changing the subject. How many times do I have to ask you out?

Ari: No. I'm not meeting you. Not today. It's not a good time.

Zac: You have to.

Ari: Why?

Zac: Because I really need someone to watch The Little Mermaid with me.

Ari: I thought it wasn't your "bag."

Zac: C'mon Ari. I'm a Little Mermaid virgin. Aren't you gonna do something to fix that?