Chapter Five
Ariel was walking around the block with her best friend, Flounder, and her chaperone Sebastian, when she saw Ursula with her cousins, Flotsam and Jetsam. She rolled her eyes. "Hi Aunt Ursula." "Hello, Ariel, I hear you are having boy problems. I have a way to solve them." Her aunt laughed. "I have a deal: Flotsam, Jetsam!" They brought a suitcase with money. "If you convince your 'Daddy' to quit his job, I will convince him to let you be with lover boy. If not, you don't get this money or your boyfriend." She looked at her with mad eyes. "What? No! I wouldn't do that Daddy!" "Fine, suit yourself. You have three days to change your mind. Or else, Daddy becomes shark bait."
Ursula laughed as she got in her car. She rolled her eyes. "Stupid, how can she try to do that to me?" She tried to shake it off and be happy. She was going to secretly meet Eric and Sebastian was still a little shocked she was actually going through with this. "Ariel, is Eric better than me?" She smiled. "No, not at all, flounder."
Once they got to the beach, she met Eric. She smiled. "I missed you.""I missed you, too." He grabbed her hand. "You look pretty as always," She blushed. "Thank you."
They built a sandcastle, had some gelatos, and walked down the beach hand in hand. He helped Ariel find some sea shells, and whenever he found one, he would give it to her. They sat down. "I love you, Ariel." "I love you too." He leaned in, and so did she. He kissed her.
Her lips on his lips were like the ocean and the waves: perfect. She pulled out first. She blushed. He pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear.
Then, there was music. He pulled her up to dance. "Eric, I don't know how to dance." He smiled. "Just move your feet side to side. Dancing is like talking." She smiled. They danced for a few minutes.
Eric didn't want the moment to end. He kissed her. "Ariel, we don't have to leave now, do we?" She hugged him. "No, not at all, Eric, not at all." She stroked his hair, and pecked him on the lips.
Ariel knew that if her father saw her now, he would kill her. He didn't want his little girls to grow up, but she wanted to. She wanted to get married, have children, and just be a normal girl, something her father didn't allow her to be. "Ariel, what's wrong?" She sat down in the sand. "My dad, he just is so cruel and tense."
"Why?" "Because well, my mom had cancer, I told you. And doctors haven't found a cure for that, so my father came to the conclusion that people are lazy and horrible, he has had that theoretical grudge ever since I was three. Therefore, my whole life I have only had two friends, Flounder and Scuttle, and my sisters."
Her eyes welled up with tears. Eric pulled her in for a hug. "Shh, Ariel, its okay, don't worry." She loved that her boyfriend was trying to make her feel better, but it wasn't helping. "I just wish my father was different. I wish he was the dad I knew he was when I was three, not the one that has been like this since I was three."
Eric cupped her chin, and dried her tears. He looked at her with caring eyes. "Ariel, everything's going to be fine." "It can't be! I try telling him I'm 16 and I'm not a child anymore, but he doesn't listen! I wish my mom was here! She made everything better." Then, she remembered her mother's lullaby.
"Oh, the waves roll low
And the waves roll high
And so it goes
Under the bright blue
Endless Sky
Waves try to measure
The days that we treasure
Wave hello
And wave goodbye"
She smiled. Just remembering that made her feel better. She started to hum the song. "See? That song you're humming makes you feel better." "That's the lullaby my mother sang us to sleep, and I remember it every time I'm sad."
Eric smiled. He didn't like to see his girlfriend sad, and he would do anything to make her happy. "Did your mother sing you to sleep?" "Yeah, she used to sing a song about dancing." He had a flashback on the night before his mother died.
"Dancing is a language that is felt instead of heard
You can whisper, sing or shout without so much as a word
Try it, go on, like so...
Just let your emotions tell your body what to do
See how much a single gesture can reveal!
And ev'ry little step
Ev'ry single step
Is one step closer
To saying what you feel
Once the music hits you, inhibitions fall away
And you find that you're expressing things
Your voice daren't say
Don't be afraid, let go!
Soon as you surrender, what's inside will sweep on through
As the boundaries between us disappear!
And ev'ry little step
Ev'ry single step
Is one step closer
To talking loud and clear
A dance is like a conversation
Except you never need to make a sound
And once you've begun
You speak as one
Give and take
Back and forth
Round and round
A dance is like a conversation
Except your lips don't ever need to part
And once you've begun
You speak as one
Cheek to cheek
Toe to toe
Heart to heart
Dancing is a language that is felt instead of heard
But it says much more than language ever could
And ev'ry little step
Ev'ry single step
Is one step closer...
One step closer...
One step closer
To being understood"
He smiled. "Eric. That's a beautiful song!" She hugged him. They soon left, but they were to see each other the next day.