Chapter Three: Broken Monotony

Some things just never change, Ariel thought resolutely.

She clutched her brown bag lunch tightly in her palm and continued along the aisles of the cafeteria, observing the interaction between the various social groups. The place was still split into cliques, each of whom occupied a single lunch table. As a whole, these cliques dictated the rules of the school and operated on the boundaries of what was considered "normal."

It was sort of funny, how high school was exactly the way Ariel remembered her mother had told her it would be. The description of the athletes, cheerleaders, and geeks never seemed to falter. But her mother's advice on the matter?

"High school is a vicious place," she had said. "There will be people you love and that love you with all their heart and there will be others who won't give you the time of day and treat you like dirt. But persevere, you will endure it."

Easier said than done, Mom, she thought bitterly. Dealing with social classes meant treading deep waters. Not that she cared. No one even turned their head at her anymore… not that it mattered. They occasionally eyed her as she passed, but very rarely did that ever happen. And on the rare occasion that it did, they probably thought, "Poor girl, her mom's dead," in their heads. Either that, or "Ariel's got servants waiting on her hand and foot, so what's she so depressed about?"

She plopped herself down at her usual table. It was still as empty and dull as she remembered it. She cast her gaze downward at the scratched grey surface and pulled her food out of the bag. For her, this whole staying for lunch thing was a first. Staying at school longer than a few hours was a first for her, too. Normally, following her morning classes, she went straight home and didn't come back. In fact, she could count on one finger the number of times she had eaten lunch in this very cafeteria because she had actually stayed long enough to do so.

She wondered what it was that made her stay for once. As she nibbled at her food, she decided that today was just off. Or perhaps it was merely a day of firsts. The whole emotional break down and the boy following her… it was too much to comprehend in one day. He had said he cared about her, too, so that ought to count for something. And she had sort of hinted that she wanted to see him again. But did she really?

Just because he cared about her didn't mean that he wasn't going to use her like the last guy. Yeah, he only wanted in the palace to steal some valuables and make some spare change. Given the circumstances and her apparent inability to trust another, she wasn't exactly going to throw the palace gates open for Netis. Not that he'd ever do something like that. He seemed too… nice. Then again, that's what she'd thought about the last guy, too.

She heard the shrill chime of the ten-minute bell. Had twenty minutes of her time really passed by that quickly? Oh, time flies, she thought as she stood up to go trash the remnants of her lunch.

"Do you like getting it on during class or what, Princess?" a voice sneered from behind her.

She continued on her way, believing that the voice had been indicating someone other than herself. Some athlete must've been harassing their girlfriend. Plus, she'd spent the morning in Netis's arms and she couldn't imagine why that would have stirred up any controversy, if that was even the proper word. It was a hug. Nobody cares!

Then again, that's what she'd been trying to tell herself all through lunch, too.

So, she let their comments and hushed whispers fall on deaf ears because, quite frankly, she could care less about what or who the popular cheerleaders were looking down upon. One, it wasn't any of her business and, two, anything the cheerleaders had to say wasn't worth her time or energy. They were cheerleaders, for Neptune's sake. Most of the things that came out of their mouths didn't matter.

As she opened the door to her next class, she immediately was swept with the feeling that she had just walked in on an important discussion. She noticed that some of the desks had already been pushed together and the people occupying them had been discussing something with fervor. Their voices escalated as they debated some hot topic.

"No, no I don't believe Ariel could've just come onto him like that. I mean, have you seen her lately? She's always off in La-La Land," a tall boy with sandy blonde hair declared.

"Yeah, when she shows up at school," another person chimed in. "Which is hardly ever."

Tears burning in her eyes, she turned around and left the classroom, slamming the door behind her. She knew Netis was just too nice. He used her to show off to his friends.

"Hey! Hey, Princess! Is it true you kissed Netis and then flashed him?" some kid shouted with a chuckle somewhere behind her.

She took a deep breath in attempt to shield her sobs and buried her face into the books clutched to her chest. She burst out the front doors of the school, finally to a safe haven. But she knew where she'd feel even better.

She knew that letting her fins lead her places was a bad idea. It was just her luck that she had opened up her mother's cove again. She was almost overwhelmed by the emotions that it brought out in her. It was terrifying how she had barricaded these memories away in the deepest crevices of her mind, almost untouched since the day it had happened. She could feel the pain of the past singeing the edges of her heart like an incredibly painful jellyfish sting to the skin.

She wrapped her arms around herself, around her aching heart, trying to hold herself together. She let a few tears slip down her cheeks as she reached her trembling hand forward to grasp a music box, a reminiscent of the past, of so many years ago when her mother was alive…

The hole in her heart, the ache she couldn't soothe, the pain of her entire existence, had been ripped open right then and there once again. She was vulnerable; exposed. It was her own fault, too… and Netis'. If he hadn't gone out and bragged to his friends and spread false rumors, she wouldn't have been forced to return to this very spot.

But, somehow, this cove also provided her comfort. She felt closer than ever to her mother here, even though the thought that the humans who had caused her mother's death had once owned some these possessions was extremely painful.

She lowered herself to the ground, taking the liberty to wrap a blue blanket around her body with shaky hands. She inhaled deeply, noticing that the smell on the blanket closely resembled that her mother's.

She shook her head, as if that would clear away the thoughts she didn't want to hear. Maybe if she didn't acknowledge its existence, perhaps it hadn't occurred in the first place…

She wiped the stray tears away with the back of her arm. She willed herself to breathe, blinking back the rest of her tears. The tears that continued to make their way down her face, despite her best efforts, proved to be her twisted lullaby.

The walls around her blurred before her vision until they faded into black.

She woke up hours later in a sleepy daze, struggling to remember who she was or what she was doing here. She practically lived for this time of the day; it seemed to be the only place where the burden of life could be eased from her shoulders, if only for a few seconds.

She sat up and tried to blink the drowsiness of sleep from her eyes. She pulled herself up off of the floor next and, with a brave face, made for the exit of the trove. It took a great deal of effort on her part to manage to stare straight ahead the entire way out in order to prevent further memories from resurfacing in her mind.

Outside, she rolled the rock back over the entrance, making sure that it was tight and snug. Metaphorically, she performed the same action in her head, sealing off the painful memories from her conscious mind with her own personal rock.

Just from glancing at her surroundings, she could tell it was getting late. She knew that she had freedom at school, but nothing could compare to her father's anger when she arrived too late. She didn't want the vein in his forehead to throb at her as he hashed out his "breaking curfew" speech.

She made her way back to the castle in a daze, willing herself to get home before she became torn at the edges again. She kept urging herself to take more strides as she rounded in on the gates to the palace.

"No! This is important!" a male voice shouted from nearby. "I'm not leaving!" Armor shuddered at impact of a fin nearby.

Panicked, Ariel rounded the corner, ready to make a quick escape into the castle in case the intruder resorted to more dangerous tactics. Sure, violent protestors like this came around the castle all the time, but that didn't mean that Ariel wasn't still frightened of them. But that was before she noticed that the person there was none other than Netis.

Normally, she would've turned away. She would've turned and strode on her fin and let the guards deal with it. She felt a need to speak her mind to this boy. It was now or never.

"It's okay, he's here for me," she said, addressing the guards. They released his arms with an uneasy glance in her direction. They backed off, but only slightly. She noticed they were still ready to spring into action, if necessary. She doubted, however, that it was she they should be worrying about; no, this channeled rage was going straight to the fin she was just about ready to rip off his flipper.

"You know, you really had me fooled," she spat at him. "But the joke's on me, I guess."

"No, Ariel, y-you don't understand-" he started, holding his hands up in self defense.

"Do you really think it's funny to go around spreading rumors like that?" she said quickly, cutting him off. Her voice was gradually rising. "But me? No, I don't really this at all amusing, actually."

"Ariel, I didn't-!" he said, trying to get a word in edgewise. "I would never-"

"I can't believe that you'd manipulate me in my time of need. I mean, I thought you were a nice guy and you made me smile! I don't think you even know the value I place on my own smile, nowadays, since it hardly ever happens," she explained heatedly. "But you know what? Forget it. I'm done," she said, with a tone of finality. She crossed her arms and turned on her fin to leave.

And for the second time that day, he grabbed her elbow to stop her from leaving. He wasn't going to let her get away from him if he had anything to say about it. She had to know the truth.

"Ariel-"

"Don't you dare touch me," she snarled, yanking her elbow away from his palm. "I cannot believe the nerve of you!"

"PLEASE!" he exploded. "Listen to me."

She shrank back at the hostility in his voice. "Hear me out, Ariel. On my honor, I said nothing to anyone. I don't know how to explain it other than someone else must've seen us in the hallway. Please," he pleaded. "If there's one thing that's true, it's that I didn't spread any rumors. You have to trust me."

"Yeah? Prove it to me."

"Fine, I will," he said determinedly. He strode forward so that he was face-to-face with her and, without even hesitating, he full-on kissed her. He could feel her face tighten with surprise; he could sense her eyes widening, her eyebrows shooting up to her forehead. But he put his whole heart and soul into that kiss. If that kiss didn't deem him worthy enough in her eyes, he wasn't sure what would.

She pulled back, seeing stars in her eyes, and turned her back to him.

"If that doesn't prove it to you, I have no other ideas nor options," he stated. He searched her eyes desperately for some sort of hint as to what she was thinking. She then muttered something incoherently.

"What was that?" he said, his lips cracking into a smile. "I can't-"

"I believe you," she mumbled, casting her gaze downwards.

Yeah, I know, that was extremely cliché in every possible way, but what can I say? I kinda love clichés (have you read Where I Belong, haha) and I think it sorta had to happen. BTW, Ariel will stop being emo very soon now. Even I'm getting depressed when writing this. And I think I'm going to cut down the length of this story because, honestly, I think it works better with what I have planned. I only kinda, sorta know what I'm doing right now. Not that it really matters to you, but I hoped you enjoyed, all the same!

:)

-Dreaming Wide Awake