"We're just going to pretend this whole thing never happened. Your father will never know. You won't tell him, I won't tell him, and I will stay in one piece. So far, so good. I don't think he knows. But it will not be easy keeping something like this a secret for long." Sebastian paced across my bedroom floor, his polished black shoes clicking across the hardwood.

I wasn't paying attention to the worried conductor; I plucked petals off one of the daisies from the garden. I frowned, then plucked the last petal and beamed. Oh, Fletcher, he loves me! I knew it! I collapsed backwards, my head dropping off the side of my bed, and smiled at the flower stems dotting my floor. Fletcher, sitting on the window seat, laughed. Sebastian turned and gave him a dirty look.

"Ariel, stop talking crazy."

I sat up and flicked my hair out of my eyes, pouting. I've got to see him again… tonight! I'm sure somebody knows where he lives…

"Ariel- please. Will you get your head out of the clouds and back into reality, where it belongs?"

I know, I'll go back to the cafe! Eric said he went to the University… and there are always students around- or, at least, that's what he told me… Maybe if I-

Sebastian sighed like the world's problems had settled down on his poor, skinny shoulders. "You belong here, among talented youth like yourself. Ariel, average people… they're a mess! Life in your father's house is better than anything they've got out there. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence, Ariel. You dream about going out there, but that's a big mistake. Just look at the world around you- what more are you looking for? It's better over here, separated from the worst evils of the world- take it from me. You've got a wonderful talent, Ariel, and it's taking you places. Now, please, let go of this ridiculous dream you've got."

I rolled my eyes where he could plainly see. His cheeks grew as ruddy as his hair, then he stomped out of my bedroom, muttering, "Oh… somebody's got to nail your feet to the floor."

I stuck my tongue out at the closed door and fell back against my pillows.

...

"Ariel!" Andrina slammed her fist on the bathroom door I shared with her and Atina, my oldest sister. "Get OUT! You've been in there ALL MORNING!"

I pushed the door open, and a muffled growl came from behind it as I squished my hot-headed blonde sister between the door and the wall. I blushed and giggled silently. Oops. Sorry, Andrina. She huffed angrily and stomped into the restroom, fuming.

Father appeared at the junction between Atina's bedroom and the bathroom. I didn't notice him until I'd plowed right into him; he caught my elbow before I fell and gave me an odd look. I grinned and signed, morning, Daddy, before rushing off. Behind me, I heard the squeak of Atina's wheelchair and her soft laugh. "Oh, she's got it bad,"

…

Fletcher, why can't you just tell me what this is all about? I wasn't sure if he was near enough to read my hands, but I asked anyway, just in case. He'd shoved me onto a bench by the maze and told me to close my eyes, then darted into the barn.

"You'll see," Fletcher's unchanged voice floated from the general direction of the barn and I turned my head that way, my eyes still shut tightly. "It's a surprise- don't look!"

I'm not, I promise. His hands, relatively long for such a short kid, wrapped around my forearm and Fletcher yanked me across the lawn. He placed my hands on the barn doors, so I'd know where I was, and disappeared to rustle about a bit more; a match was struck, then blown out, and a soft scent twirled around me, mixing with the sweet honeysuckle that grew over the side of the fence. Is that- I sniffed. Vanilla?

"Sure is. I remember you said you liked it." I smiled, touched. "Okay... " He pulled me further into the barn, right next to some little flame that flickered through my eyelids. I assumed the vanilla scent clouding the air came from the same place as the heat and gentle light. "Now! Open your eyes!"

I gasped. Taped to the wall, lit by the flame of a small candle, was a picture of Eric, presumably printed offline. He grinned mischievously at the photographer, his cheeks dimpled and his eyes slightly unfocused, caught unaware by the picture. Black paint flecked his skin, and dripped from the paintbrush in his left hand onto his jeans. Oh, Fletcher… I shuffled closer to the photo in a daze and brushed my fingertips across Eric's still cheek. I turned back to my best friend with tears brimming in my eyes. Fletcher, you're the best. It looks just like I remember him- it even captures his gorgeous eyes… I plucked it from the wall and pressed a kiss to Eric's still face, then held it close to my chest, spinning in a giddy circle.

And froze, horrified. The picture fluttered to the ground.

"I consider myself a reasonable man," My father said, his usually warm voice low and dangerous. I clutched the hem of my shirt in my fist in an attempt to hold back the tears threatening to spill over my cheeks. "I set certain rules, and I expect those rules to be obeyed."

I bit my tongue so hard blood spilled over into my throat.

He turned to the door and I noticed Sebastian lurking there, uncertain. My heart sunk into my toes. "Is it true, Ariel," And his stormy blue eyes were back on me. "That you rescued some boy?"

I frantically unclenched my fists, freeing up my hands to do my speaking for me. Daddy, I had to.

"I've forbidden you from leaving this property without supervision. Ariel, you know that! Everyone knows that!"

He would have died! I begged him with my eyes to believe me, to trust me, putting the emotion into my expression that I couldn't give to my fingers.

He snorted. "One less useless idiot to worry about!"

My sorrow turned to indignation and my lip curled unconsciously. You don't even know him.

"Know him?" Father snorted again, his disdain evident in his dismissive tone. "I don't have to know him. They're all the same. Spineless, talentless, pathetic-" He bit back whatever word he was planning on using and managed to reel himself in slightly, then I made everything worse by blinking back furious tears and signing: Daddy, I love him!

He burst.

"Have you lost your senses completely?! You two belong to two different worlds, Ariel! You're of a higher class; you have POTENTIAL! He's a waste of air, and not worth the dirt under my foot."

I don't care. I crossed my arms.

Father's face tightened into an impenetrable mask. "So help me, Ariel, I am going to get through to you. And if this is the only way… so be it." I grasped what he planned a half-moment before he took action, and tried to leap in front of him, but he simply shoved my small frame out of the way and seized the first object he came to: my precious conch. He threw it to the hardwood with all of his considerable strength and it shattered, shards of the pink shell rocketing to all corners of the barn. Fletcher cowered behind one of the beanbags. Next was a snow globe filled with sparkling glitter, then he started ripping my drawings off the walls and shredding them to bits. He yanked a shelf of odds and ends right off the wall and tossed it to the ground. I screamed silently, tears streaming down my face, my hands quivering.

He stooped and came back with the picture of Eric clasped in his hands. "This is what happens when my rules are disobeyed, Ariel." He tore the photo in two and let the pieces drift, broken, onto the dirtied floor. I disintegrated; at least, that was how it felt. I collapsed onto my hands and knees, gasping for breath through the sobs that wracked my body. I mouthed, "No, no, no, please…" over and over, soundlessly reaching for words that I'd never hear come from my lips again.

Father's footsteps faded away. I hardly noticed the sharp glass and shards of shell pricking at my skin, or the puddle of glittering water staining my leggings. Salty tears dripped onto my thighs.

"Ariel, I-" Sebastian muttered from just over my shoulder. I turned my head away and he left as well, hesitating at the edge of the barn before vanishing into the yard.

I dropped my face into my cut hands and cried.