Disney Dreams

Chapter 1: Ariel's POV

Chaper 1: Ariel's POV 

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Taking a quick look at the clock mounted on the wall of my living room, I stopped running my fingers over the worn black and white keys and stood up from the piano. I closed the little book that was propped open, the book that held the song lyrics I thought up. As I stood up, I slipped it into the backpack to the right of the piano along with all of my notebooks and binders.

"Ariel?" I turned and saw my sister, Alana, leaning against the doorway as she spoke again, "Ariel, Daddy wants to talk to you before Attina takes us to school. I'll see you in the car." She turned quickly and walked down the hall to join two of my other sisters in the car. I'm the youngest of seven girls, and an incoming freshman at Disney High this year. Alana's a junior and Adella and Attina are seniors. My three other sisters are already in college and living away from home, but close enough to visit often.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and gathered my thick red hair to the other side. Down the hall from the living room was a door almost hidden behind our enormous fish tank. As I strolled down the hall I ran my hand over the cool glass, watching as a dozen fish scattered. The door was a jar so I peered inside. My father was sitting at his huge mahogany desk looking over a stack of papers, his white beard neatly trimmed as usual. I knocked on the door frame and he glanced up from his work, a smile illuminating his face.

"Hi Daddy," I grinned walking over and perching on the corner of his desk.

"Hello Princess," he beamed as he noticed my ready to go backpack. I wasn't the most prepared person so seeing me all with everything packed up was unusual. 

"You wanted to see me?" He nodded and I watched as he opened one of his drawers and pulled out a couple papers.

"These are an overview of the swim season this year; tryouts are next week." I took the stack from him and slipped it in my bag. I've been swimming for as long as I can remember, and I have big shoes to fill. All six of my sisters are super successful swimmers and so were my parents. My dad stopped swimming long ago; after my mother's death, he didn't have enough time to indulge in his passion and raise seven daughters. Even though he doesn't swim often he's been cheering on the sidelines at all of our meets and being a constant source of encouragement. I've already been training with the high school for the past couple years so I'm familiar with the setup.

"I am so proud of you." I looked up from my bag to my father. Without saying a word, I gave him a hug and a smile and left his study. When I made it out to the car parked in the driveway, Attina is sitting behind the wheel and Alana and Adella are on their phones typing away. Past them I saw a boy with light blonde hair in the yard next door.

"Ariel! Hi!" Flounder called excitedly. I waved to him as I climbed into the cluttered backseat of the car next to Alana who briefly glanced up from her screen as I slammed the door shut. He was about four years younger than me but probably the most loyal person I had ever met. When we were younger he would follow me around everywhere. One time I was at the pool with some friends and decided to do a trick off of the diving board. Flounder was so confident walking up to the diving board after me but after climbing up the ladder and walking to the edge of the board, he started freaking out and floundering about, teetering at the edge of the board, so afraid to jump. Ever since then I started to call him Flounder and it just sort of stuck. Now almost everyone calls him that, but he likes it that way. Much better than Clinton. Once he got my attention he picked up his backpack and made his way over to his mom's car. 

As soon as I put my seatbelt on, Attina whizzed out of the driveway. As the oldest at home she was given a new job as chauffeur. On the bright side, she was happy to have gotten a car out of it. As we drove up our street, Alana began to give me tips about my first day at high school while Adella put in her earphones and tuned us all out. 

"Ariel, there are certain girls at our school you have to steer clear of. Don't try to impress them, don't mess with their daily routines. If you do, they will target you. And trust me, that's the last thing you'll want to worry about," Alana warned with a steely glint in her eye. I frowned at this new bit of information, but before I could process it any further, we had pulled into the parking lot at Walter Elias Disney High School, or W.E.D. High as all of the students called it. Attina parked in her designated spot, and we all got out of the car. Groups of students walked toward the front of the school, and already I was seeing a ton of familiar faces.

"Ariel! Hey!" I heard a cheerful voice call from behind me. I turned to see Cindy running up to me, her shoulder length blonde hair streaming behind her. She had minimal makeup on, but the exercise gave her cheeks a rosy finish. The duffel bag filled with her soccer gear slung over her shoulder seemed random paired with her satin-y blue dress and silver ballet flats. Cindy flung her arms around me and beamed. 

"Oh my god Ari, I haven't seen you in like a million years! Where have you been this summer!" She cried, pulling and giving me a once over. 

"Going to the lake, swimming; what else?" I laughed. She shook her head and smiled, "Of course you were. I love your outfit by the way. Something tells me these aren't hand me downs?" I glanced down at my flowy purple tank top that I had tucked into my shiny green pencil. For once I had actually been able to go shopping and buy some new clothes. Being the youngest of a whole lot of girls had its disadvantages.

Cindy knew my struggle well. She lived with her dad, step mom, and two step sisters that were a grade older than us. Her dad is really close with her, he's almost always on business trips. Cindy does not get along with Mrs. Tremaine, Drizella, or Anastasia though. They constantly look down on her while Riz and Stasia are spoiled rotten. I've seen her list of chores before and it is insane. The only times she gets new outfits is when she's made enough babysitting to go out with friends and that's probably where her current dress came from. I was about to answer her when I realized she was clutching my arm tightly.  

"Oh my god. It's him," she squeaked. I followed her gaze then laughed as I saw him. "Come on, Cindy," I said practically dragged her forward until she began walking my pace.

Henry Charming, aka the golden boy of our town, was standing by the steps flashing his dazzling smile as he told a story to his friends, ignoring the stares of half of our school's female population. Cindy's step sisters giggled nearby, teetering on their stiletto heels, and even my sisters cast a few glances at the younger sophomore.

"Cindy!" I couldn't help but laugh. "Ari-" she started to say but I continued, "I can't believe you've fallen for him too!" "Ariel-" "No, no this is too good!" "ARIEL!" I stopped mocking her and looked closely at her. "Ariel," she began again, "Why is that guy looking at you?" I turned to see a guy with thick, dark hair staring at me, his brow furrowed as he tried to place my face. In an instant I realized who he was and my jaw dropped slightly. 

"Oh my god." 

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(All characters and storylines used belong to or are based off of content by Disney)