Attina loved Walt University. She loved her friends, her sorority sisters, and yes, even her classes. But she needed a break. She'd been studying ruthlessly all week, and now that it was the weekend, she decided to give herself something she'd desperately wanted. Time to relax. Since it was a Friday, she still had a class to attend in the morning.
As the motherly individual she was, she made sure that before she left, her sorority sisters had gotten up in time for their own classes. Shortly afterward, she was off to her own.
There had been quite the fuse with several of the girls, which took a good chunk out of her time. Luckily, she'd made it to the class a minute before the lecture had started. Taking her seat, she prepared for the hour and a half long class.
Once the professor's lecture was over, everyone raced out of the class. They were either done for the week, and wished to start the party early, or they had another class to attend. Attina, made her way out to the parking lot, where she knew her baby sister would be to pick her up.
It had been some time since the two sister's had seen each other, what with their busy schedules, but now seemed like the perfect time for catching up. Sitting on a bench near the doors, the brunette set her bags down at her feet. Taking out the recent book she was reading, she opened it to the bookmark, and continued on; waiting for her red headed sister.
Ariel set down her book after checking the time on her watch. Attina's class was to finish in a few minutes, and Ariel knew it was time for her to leave to go pick her up. She had offered to pick up her oldest sister that morning to go to lunch and catch up, since they hadn't seen each other in quite some time.
After putting on her shoes and grabbing the car keys off the kitchen counter, Ariel walked outside and made her way to the car. She strapped on her seatbelt and pulled out of the driveway, beginning the familiar trip to Walt University.
When she pulled into the large parking lot, the redhead scanned the many students walking by, looking for her sister. Sure enough, once a crowd had cleared, Ariel spotted her on one of the benches, reading a book. With a smile, Ariel pulled up to the curb and beeped the horn. "Hey! You ready to go?" she called out the window, knowing she must've surprised her sister, who was seemed to be deeply involved in her book.
Attina was enthralled with her book, not even noticing when the familiar car the belonged to Ariel pulled up. It wasn't until the red head honked the horn and called out to her that she looked up. Seeing her little sister put a huge smile on her face.
Closing the book on the bookmark, she placed the novel back into her back, and shoulder both her backpack and purse. Going over to the passenger seat, she leaned down and looked into the car. "Hello, stranger." With a small giggle, the brunette put her bags in the back seat, and climbed into the front seat.
Before strapping herself in with the seat belt, Attina leaned over and gave Ariel a hug. "I really missed you!" Just then, the brunette's stomach growled. She'd been neglecting her need for food during the week, spending hours on end in her room studying. "Where did you want to go for lunch?"
"Hey!" Ariel giggled as Attina got into the car, embracing her sister. "I missed you, too! How's class going? Do you like it?" Ariel was proud of Attina for spending a few months as a human to go to school. Her sister had once been completely opposed to the human way of life, but once Ariel had told her about the education opportunities, Attina dropped everything and decided to enroll.
Ariel's eyes widened slightly when she heard Attina's stomach growl. With a laughed, she teased, "Hungry?" Attina must've had a lot to do for school in the past few days, that she hadn't had the opportunity to eat much.
As she started up the car again and began to drive off-campus, the redhead replied, "Well, wherever you'd like! We could go to Panera, or Applebee's, or somewhere with a specific type of cuisine." She took her eyes off the road for a brief moment to look over at Attina. "What do you feel like having?"
Attina apologized for her stomach. "Sorry. I haven't eaten been eating lately. There's just so much studying to do." She took a moment, getting comfortable in passenger seat. "Oceanography is amazing. I'm learning so much about the ocean that I never thought possible."
They had been driving for some time, and the brunette had yet to make up her mind about where she wanted to go for lunch. There were just so many possibilities, and only so much room in her stomach. "Applebee's sounds good."
Ariel giggled and rolled her eyes to herself with a smile. Knew it. She turned to her sister and said sincerely, "Oh, Attina, I'm so glad to hear that! Hard to believe there's even more to learn about the ocean. You would think that being a mermaid would tell you everything you need to know." She laughed and shook her head a bit, feeling herself becoming more intrigued in learning Oceanography herself.
"Good, that settles it, then!" she smiled, turning the street in the direction of Applebee's. Thankfully, when they arrived, they were seated and served right away. As she sipped on her strawberry lemonade, Ariel said, "So, overall, you're really liking Walt U?"
"You would, wouldn't you? But, no. There's so much more to it than we ever thought. So many different aspects, like chemistry, and meteorology, and physics. I bet daddy doesn't even know about half the things I'm learning."
Once they were seated, Attina ordered a chocolate milkshake, as well as a club sandwich. Their drinks came first, and the brunette sipped at her delicious milkshake.
"Liking it? I love it!" Her voice had risen in excitement, which caused her to clap a hand over her mouth. No one seemed to be paying much attention to the two sisters, so she quickly dropped her hand. "My sorority sisters are amazing, my classes are great, and the library…so many books. I could spend days locked away in the library."
Ariel laughed, "Yeah, you're probably right. And quite honestly, I don't think he even cares. There's too many other things going on in Atlantica; the last thing he needs to worry about is where the rocks outside the castle came from." She sighed dreamily. "But I don't think I would mind learning about all that… It sounds so.. fascinating."
The waiter came by with Attina's sandwich and Ariel's salad, and after taking a bite, the redhead continued, "I'm so glad to hear that. Imagine if you hadn't taken the opportunity to go there? Think of all the stuff you'd be missing out on!" At the mention of all the books, Ariel thought of her own personal library back at the castle. She loved reading almost as much as Attina did. "Well, if you ever need a certain book for class, come by the castle to see if we have it before buying it somewhere. I heard textbooks are crazy expensive!"
Taking the first bite of her sandwich, Attina's mouth began to water. Once she was able to speak again, she smiled at her baby sister. "You'd love it, I'm sure of that." The brunette took a moment to actually imagine not taking the opportunity. "Oh, that's sad. I don't want to imagine that again." She gave a soft laugh, and then delved into her lunch.
Taking a sip of her milkshake, Attina nodded. "The textbooks I've got now were pretty expensive, but I think it's worth it. Though, I've noticed the university's library doesn't have certain books. Maybe the castle library has some that the school doesn't."
"Oh yes, I'm sure they are," Ariel agreed. "I can only imagine the amount of information in them. They must've taken forever to get written." She chuckled and took another bite. "Well, you know you're welcome any time to come and check it out. I'd be surprised if we didn't have anything you needed."
Ariel and Attina chatted for the rest of their lunch, both enjoying their meals as they talked about things from Sebastian's new orchestra to Hayden's newfound facial expressions. Overall, Ariel had enjoyed herself. When the waiter came along with the check, Ariel offered to pay.
It was great to just sit and relax and chat with her baby sister. The invitation to the castle was nice, though the brunette always knew she was welcome to the human castle at any time she wished.
As they spoke, she wasn't surprised in the least to hear about her nephew's progress. "He reminds me a lot of you. You were just as expressive when you were a baby. Of course, it didn't help any that father liked to make faces at you."
"Sounds just like Eric," Ariel replied with a giggle, knowing that Eric always tried to get reactions out of Hayden. "I have a feeling he's going to be just like him."
Once the check was paid and both girls had finished their meals, they got up to leave. Ariel led the way back out to the car. "Do you have any other classes today?" she asked, turning her head to look at Attina.
"There's no doubt about that." Attina gave a laugh, before finishing off her lunch. As they walked towards the car, Ariel asked about any other classes. "No. My last class for this week was this morning. I'm free for the weekend."
Getting into the passenger seat, and buckling herself in, Attina placed her hands in her lap. "I've been thinking of going to Atlantica this weekend. See how father is doing, and the others."
"Well, that's good," Ariel replied, turning the key in the ignition. As the engine roared to life, she turned to Attina and nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Let me know when you plan to go, and I'll see if I can come. I haven't been gone back in a while." Ariel bit her lip, feeling guilty for not visiting her father and other sisters. "I'm sure he wants an update on his grandchildren."
Attina smiled. "I know he'd want an update." For a moment, the brunette looked out her window at the passing scenery. "I think I'll go tomorrow morning. Early. You know, at sunrise. That when the ocean is the most beautiful."
After a little while, the two sisters were back at the school. Attina had requested being dropped off there, due to a paper she had to research for. She'd be able to get back to her dorm room once she was done.
Unfastening her seat belt, the brunette leaned over and gave her little sister a hug. "It was really good to see you again, Ariel. Give everyone a huge for me, especially Melody and Hayden."
Ariel nodded in agreement, and she sighed blissfully at the image of the sunrise. It was one of her favorite things to do to start out her day. There was nothing more relaxing to see the morning sun peek over the horizon of the ocean. She was happy that her sister felt the same way.
Ariel drove back to Walt University, as Attina had asked her. The sisters continued to make small talk as they continued the journey back. When Ariel pulled into the campus, she embraced her sister. "So glad we got together. Come visit us soon, 'kay?" When Attina nodded and got out of the car, Ariel waved goodbye and began to pull out of the parking lot, feeling refreshed after lunch with her oldest sister.
