Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. Between writer's block and being busy I haven't had any time to write. Also thank you to everyone who's reviewed/favorited it/alerted it, as well as for your enthusiasm and patience. It is very much appreciated. :D
Ugh, I hate Mondays, Jodi thought as she walked down the hallway. She opened up her locker when a piece of paper fell out with her name on it. "What the…?" she said as she opened up the paper.
"Jodi, you are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. For the longest time I've had feelings for you, only I've been too afraid to tell you. I want to finally talk to you and get to know you, so here's my number. Love, your secret admirer." On the bottom of the paper was a phone number.
Jodi could feel her heart skip a beat; she'd never had someone like her before. Immediately she felt her whole world brighten up around her at the idea of being in love. She didn't want to tell anyone though, especially her parents because of how overprotective they are.
As soon as she got home, she pulled out her phone and texted the number on the note. "I got your note this morning. I can't wait to get to know you. "
She put her phone down for two minutes before it vibrated. She couldn't help but smile when she turned it back on. "I'm so glad. I can't wait to get to know you too. "
For the next couple of weeks she kept in contact with her secret admirer. Every day they would text each other, sometimes for hours on end. Despite all of this though they never once talked on the phone. He never called her, and she didn't want to call him to make him feel uncomfortable.
Finally she got the text that she had been waiting for. "Jodi, I want to meet you in person. I feel ready to finally be with you."
Jodi hadn't been this excited since she first got the note. "I want to meet you too."
"I want our first time to be special. Which is why I want you to join me on my yacht tomorrow night."
Jodi's eyes widened. "Of course, I would love to!"
"Awesome! Meet me at the docks at around 7. My boat will be the one playing music. I can't wait! :D"
As she turned off her phone for the night, something just occurred to her. Crap, my parents! She thought. She didn't like lying to them, but at this point she felt like she had no choice.
"Mommy, Daddy," she said sweetly as she went into her parents room. "Can I spend the night at Vanessa's tomorrow?"
"Sure, I don't see why not," Jodi's mom said.
"How are you going to get over there?" her dad asked.
"Well since I just got my license, I thought that this would be the perfect chance to practice driving by myself."
"She does have a point," her mom said to her dad.
"You're right. Okay you can go."
"Yay! Thank you Mommy! Thank you Daddy!" She practically pranced back to her room, her heart beating with each step. She could barely sleep because she was so excited for the following night.
When the time came she made her way to the docks and walked around. Finally she saw the boat; it was the only one with lights on. As she made her way closer, the music became louder. "Wait a minute, I know this," she quietly said to herself, referring to the music. It was the opening credits music from The Little Mermaid. All of a sudden she could feel her childhood flash before her eyes.
The Little Mermaid was her favorite movie growing up, as well as Ariel being her favorite Disney princess. She loved how they both had long red hair and big blue eyes, and it was because of Ariel that Jodi wanted to pursue her love of singing. It was also because of Ariel that Jodi had hoped that she would find love at the age of sixteen. Listening to the music from the boat, she suddenly realized that her dream was finally coming true. In fact she almost started tearing up because of how overwhelmingly happy she was.
Not wanting to waste another minute longer, Jodi ran up onto the boat. "Hello?" she called out when she saw that the boat was empty. Suddenly out of nowhere, she felt an arm grab her waist and a hand cover her mouth. Before she could fight back, she passed out.
Jodi finally woke up feeling the sun shining down on her. As she regained consciousness, she looked down to see that she was no longer wearing her outfit from the night before. Instead she was now wearing a purple seashell bra and green fins. Her wrists were tied behind her back, as well as feeling her ankles tied together as well from inside the fins. The fins were extremely uncomfortable, considering how tight they were around her waist and pressing her legs together so that she couldn't move if she tried. She looked around to see that she was still on the boat, only now she was in the middle of the ocean.
She looked up and gasped when she saw a man appear from inside the boat. He knelt down in front of her, while she couldn't help but breathe heavily and look away as he lightly grabbed her neck. "Well, well, well, look what we've got here. It seems as if I've caught me a little mermaid."
"Who are you and what do you want with me?"
"Simple, I want you to sing for me."
"Really, that's it?" she asked, surprise at how simple his request was. "If I do, you'll let me go?"
"Of course. I'll let you go back home to your family, and you could forget that this whole thing ever happened."
As all of this was going on, Jodi could feel her heart break, knowing that there was no secret admirer all along. "If this is what you wanted from me the whole time," she said tearing up, "why did you do this to me? Why did you make me believe that I had someone who loved me?"
Something in his face changed. "It hurts, doesn't it?" he said sternly. He stood up, towering before her as she lay there helpless on the ground. "Fine," he said. "After all you came here looking for love, why should I deprive you of what you want?"
"What are you saying?"
"You want someone to love, well how about me?"
"Oh no, I didn't mean…"
"You didn't mean what?"
"Well I thought…"
"You thought what? That the only possible way for you to love someone is if he were young and handsome, someone to sweep you away and for you two to live happily ever after together?"
"Well…"
"I knew it. You're just like the rest of them. We're going back to our original deal. Sing for me and I will let you go."
Jodi thought for a moment. Considering all that was happening, it wasn't as if he were asking for too terribly much from her. All she had to do was sing and then she could go home, so the sooner she did this the better. She took a deep breath and sang the melody Ariel always sang throughout the whole movie. When she finished, she looked up at her captor. As much as he tried to hide it, she could see that he had teared up.
As soon as he regained a straight face, he lifted her off the ground, grabbing her shoulder with one hand and her waist with the other. "What are you doing?" she demanded.
"I'm keeping my end of the deal. I said that I would send you home if you sang to me. I'm now sending you back to Atlantica where you belong." With that he threw her into the water. "Oh, and make sure you have your little fish friends untie you!"
Jodi tried as hard as she could to move her legs, but it was no use; they were stuck too close together. She could fell herself sinking lower into the ocean when all of a sudden she felt a blast of water push her away even deeper from the yacht sailing away. She tried to untie the rope around her wrists and push the fin off from her waist, but after minutes of struggling, she couldn't hold her breath anymore. With that her dead body sank to the bottom of the sea.
