Disneyality

Ariel

"Bye guys!" I called to my family from our foyer. "Have a good day!"

"Bye Ariel!" my sisters called back sporadically.

I threw on my teal letter jacket that matched my converse, shouldered my marine-themed rucksack and headed out the door.

The early spring air felt slightly chilly on the back of my neck. The faint scent of blooming plants hung like a fog in the morning air.

As I began my short trek to the bus stop, several other kids in my neighborhood began to follow me.

"Hey, cuz!" a deep-yet chipper-voice said from behind me.

"Hey, Haley!" I greeted, lightly punching him in the arm.

Haley and I were cousins. My dad was his dad's nephew. We were pretty close, which gave me a rad deal in the popularity scale: having the captain of the basketball team as a cousin.

"Have you seen Meg today?" He inquired.

"I'm not your girlfriend's keeper," I sighed.

"I know, I know," he chuckled. "I was just wondering."

"Hi, Ariel!" I heard my friend Jasmine exclaim as she jogged to my unoccupied right side. Haley, Jasmine, and I were now leading the major athletes of Pride Rock Middle to the bus stop.

"Good morning, Jas," I greeted.

"Hey, Jasmine," Haley piped up. "Have you seen Meg today?"

"Haley, I've been awake for twenty minutes, and I don't seem to have a crystal ball on me."

"Okay, fine," he sighed. "Did we have algebra homework?"

"Yeah," I answered. "I didn't do it, though."

"Go figure," Jasmine replied sarcastically. "Belle will have your head."

"Ariel, you've got to start doing your work!" Haley complained.

"Says the guy who does nothing even in class," I said matter-of-factly. "And besides, the first step to fixing a problem is admitting that you have a problem."

They both gave me an exasperated sigh and we continued with our small talk until we reached the bus stop.

Mrs. Packard showed up within thirty seconds of our arrival at the bus stop.

Mrs. Packard had driven my bus as long as I could remember. She was a sarcastic, old lady who smoked like a freight train. But my friends and I loved her all the same. She was never late to a stop, and today was certainly no exception.

"Good morning, kiddos," she greeted in her croaky, monotone voice.

"Mornin', Mrs. P," Haley replied sweetly as we climbed the steps into the bus.

We all took our regular seats on the bus and resumed our normal conversations.

When the topic of conversation drifted away from my interest, I began to think about the earlier conversation about homework.

I started to slack on my effort put into school when I started to not understand the purpose of what we were learning in school. My desire to explore and understand the ocean was my main priority and frankly my obsession since childhood, and I didn't understand how anything I was learning in school was relevant. Therefore, since I lacked in motivation, I lacked in understanding. Since I took on the new outlook of non relevance, I had extreme difficulty comprehending the work that was being put in front of me. Especially in math, social studies, and partially science. After a while, I guess I just gave up. I hated the feeling that the lack of effort gave me, but I never got the motivation to pull myself back up to be a great student.

This is why it is a marvel that Belle and I are friends.

Belle is a total teacher's pet, and honestly, she's the smartest person I know. She always helps with my homework, even though I never give her anything in return. Whenever I really want to understand a new concept, Belle is the only person who is able to make me understand it. Sometimes it feels like I'm from a whole different place, and Belle is the only person who knows how to speak my language. Each of my really close friends has a different effect on my overall view of life.

Miranda is a girl of extreme beliefs. She strives to be seen as an equal to guys. She is a bisexual tornado of conflict and values. Although her family honor is number one priority, she tends to go to extremes to be seen as a equal to the male gender. I think that it's because of her sexuality that is caused by her family's strict, judgmental, and oppresive values. She is quite the rebellious character.

Jasmine is my athlete friend who is constantly helping me hold steady in my lovesickness over Eric Siren. He is in close association with me, so it's quite hard to keep from falling hard from him. She also helps me deal with my conflicting emotions for my severely overprotective father. His unreasonable measures to keep me under control constantly drive me over the edge, and Jasmine's "not a prize to be won" rants plant a therapeutic and rebellious seed in my personality. Not that I am emotionally ready to go off on my dad or anything, though. He's wonderful, and I love him dearly, but ever since mom died in a car accident when I was really little, he's taken desperate measures to shield his daughter's from the world. It's almost unhealthy, but I keep my chin up with the promise that he will get better. I hope.

So my crew is very interesting. Jasmine and I are actively involved in sports, Belle and Jasmine fill up their time with academic activities. Although they are extreme differences, we all find a common ground in band. We all take part in the concert and marching band. We have since it was available to us. Even though we were friends before we joined band, the program strengthened our bonds. Jasmine is a percussionist, Miranda plays the low brass instruments, Belle does both flute and clarinet (whichever our band director, Mr. Scat, needed her to play), and I play saxophone.

I was ripped out of my reflection when the bus pulled into the school's bus lane and Mrs. Packard bid us a good day.

Okay, I thought to myself. Be nice around Belle so she doesn't go off on my laziness.

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Author's Note:

I know that I am having severe difficulties in choosing a tense and staying in it, but this is a rough draft. I promise that I will edit and revise and maybe add a few details. I've been desperate just to get this chapter finished. I has been a real struggle.

Thanks to all who have stuck with it. I promise to have a character list with the next chapter to help those who haven't yet made the associations.

-MelancholicOptimist