Heavy is the Head

Ariel - 3

Chapter 12

She was drowning again. The combination of the water and cold are always too much, draining every drop of energy she has left. She has always been a strong swimmer, but she is no match for the colossal waves that spin her around effortlessly. In between being tossed around, she manages to stick her head above the waves and inhales a quarter of a lungful before being pushed underneath yet again. And in this moment, she knows what her fate will be.

Ariel sat up in a cold sweat, panting heavily. She patted around on her bed until she found her phone and sighed when she saw that she had around fifteen minutes left until she usually got up. She pulled the covers off anyway, stretching and then tiptoeing to the en suite so she could get a better view of the sunrise. Her phone vibrated and she smiled at Eric's newest message suggesting 4pm for their date. She tapped out a text saying that she was looking forward to it and then got changed into a red tracksuit and grabbed her water bottle before exiting the room, closing the door quietly so as to not wake up Aurora.

Ariel had developed a strong phobia of the sea many years ago. A huge part of that was because her mother had passed away due to a boating incident, and so her father didn't like her or her sisters going down to the beach by themselves (something which Adella continued to ignore on a daily basis). However, Aquata, her sportiest sister, had started teaching her how to swim when she was 6, and the rest was history. She actually loved the water, as long as it wasn't in the ocean, and had actually won the National Young Swimmers competition the previous year. Her coach, Ursula had informed her that she definitely could have a career in becoming a professional swimmer, and while it might very well be an amazing experience to go to the Olympics one day, Ariel still wasn't completely sure. Being the daughter of Lord Triton was already an extremely demanding task, especially having to live up to the sparkling standard that her sisters had set for her. Her sisters had managed to sustain a near-perfect image to the public for years, and Ariel was terrified that she would be the one to mess it all up.

Ariel had developed the exercise routine she was now following the first year she had arrived at Northuldra Academy, three years ago along with Sister Number 6, Andrina and Sister Number 4, Aquata. Sister Number 3, Adella said she had also wanted to join, but never got up in time. Plus, Adella and Aquata weren't on speaking terms at the moment because Adella had borrowed Aquata's motorbike without asking to impress a boy, and then crashed it causing a civil war among them. Sisters 1 and 2 had refused to get involved, since they were the eldest, but the others were all Team Aquata, so it was just as well that Adella could hold her own even when she was clearly in the wrong.

"Hey Andy!" Ariel whispered, waving her water bottle in the air excitedly as she waited by the door to the school's gym. Ariel was definitely closest to Andrina out of all her sisters, which was understandable since they were closest in age. They radiated completely different energy, but that was probably why they got on so well. While Ariel preferred to adhere to pink sparkles and unrelenting optimism, Andrina was grumpy and sarcastic 99% of the time and wore black because anything else was "too bright for her eyes". 

"Must I suffer this much just to get abs?" Andy sighed, drooping on top of Ariel like a wilting flower, "I'm so tired."

Ariel pushed the walking beanstalk that Andy was off and opened the door, "At least it's Friday now though."

There were never many people at the gym this early. Most of the members of sports teams came to do extra exercise after their lessons had finished, and out of the ten people there, Ariel only recognised one girl who had just joined the swim team last week in the year above her. Andy had refused to join any sports clubs, although she was actually a better swimmer than Ariel, and Aquata did kickboxing, recently becoming a teacher since she had obtained her black belt and was 18.