The Princess Sisters (The Princess Sisters Series) (10 page)

Snow
White sniffed, but she nodded her agreement.  Cinderella wanted desperately to
go back to sitting beside Scott, but Snow White seemed pretty upset, so she
stayed by her side.

As
soon as the fireworks show ended, Scott and his friends got up and gathered
their things together.  Cinderella was disappointed.  She was hoping for a
chance to talk to Scott some more.

“Taking
off already?” Dave asked.

“Yeah,
we got a drive ahead of us,” Scott said.  “It was nice meeting you all.”  He
held a hand up, waving to the girls.

As
they walked away, into the crowds, Cinderella overheard one of Scott’s
friends.  “I think she likes you,” he said, nudging Scott.  Scott turned and
waved one last time, before disappearing into the dark.

Chapter
Sixteen

Tuesday,
July 27th

Ariel’s
hands shook as she slowly pulled on her new bathing suit.  The dark brown base
balanced nicely with the bright pink flowers.  The cut was perfect for showing
off Ariel’s tall, slender figure.  Ariel never thought she would use it; she
hadn’t even tried it on in the store.  But her mom insisted on buying her a new
one when they were at the mall, purchasing a swimsuit for Aurora.  Even though
Ariel had said over and over that she didn’t need a swimsuit and had refused to
try any on, her mom had grabbed one anyway, going with the same size as Aurora’s.  Now, here she was, nervously pulling it into place.

When
Dave called and asked if they wanted to go to the Surf N’ Swim with him later
that afternoon, her cousins all enthusiastically said yes.  Ariel only agreed
to join them after much coaxing and prodding, especially from Aurora.  And with
four promises that she could work on her tan, far away from the pool, without
any pressure to get in.

Once
Ariel had the bathing suit in place and all tags removed, she pulled a large
T-shirt over her head and stepped into her well worn, pink flip-flops.  At one
point, there had been a small flower on each of them that was formed by tiny
little jewels.  But the jewels had fallen off one by one and her flip-flops no
longer contained any signs of a flower once being there.  She pulled her long,
blonde hair into a ponytail without looking in the mirror, slipped her
sunglasses into place, and sighed very loudly.  Ariel then gave herself a
once-over in the bathroom mirror on her way downstairs.  She sealed a couple
stray hairs into place with some hairspray and then proceeded slowly to meet
the others.  The trip down the 13 stairs was like a death march as she thumped
heavily on each step.  As soon as Ariel reached the front room, Aurora looked at her sister in exasperation, having watched the dramatics before.  Aurora grabbed her wrist tightly, so she couldn’t change her mind and escape, and yanked
Ariel out the door.

“What
took you so long?” Belle asked as soon as they got outside.

“Scaredy-cat
here was taking her sweet time,” Aurora replied, pointing her thumb in Ariel’s
direction.

Ariel
wanted to say something back, but she knew she’d never make them understand. 
The water terrified her!  Every time she got near the stuff, her mind would
flash back to those terrifying moments when she was trapped beneath it.  The
bright sunlight getting dimmer as it waved good-bye, a wall of water growing between
her and the sun as she slowly sank to the bottom.  Then she had watched the
dancing light above and the dark figures move around, while her lungs burned
for air.  But somehow she could never tell them these things, so she kept
silent.  Ariel followed the others in climbing into the black SUV that sat
waiting for them at the end of the complex.  Dave said it was his dad’s, though
none of them had ever seen it parked near their house before.  Once all six
seatbelts were securely in place, Dave tore out of the parking lot and they
were on their way.

The
Princess sisters used to come to the Surf N’ Swim with their moms when they
were little, but they hadn’t been there for many years.  As they stepped
through the women’s locker room into the bright sun, their eyes met quite a
sight.  The path led down a slight cement slope toward the huge wave pool in
the center.  The large crowd of assorted ages were currently enjoying the up
and down of a new wave cycle.  The colorful tubes that dotted the water looked
like a giant bowl of Fruit Loops against the foamy, white waves.  Tiny children
with weighted swim diapers bounced up and down in the shallowest part of the
water that barely reached their belly buttons.  And from there, the bodies got
bigger with the deepening water.  Directly against the back wall, where the
huge waves were beginning, floated several teenagers on enormous intertubes;
their hands grasped each other’s black handles to form a giant ring. 
Occasionally one would lose their grip and spin from the group, screaming and
laughing as the water carried them away.  They would then spend the next
several minutes splashing and fighting the current to return to their friends.

There
was a scuba diving class going on in the smaller and much deeper pool off
toward their right.  Adults and older kids stood, in full costume, by the edge
of the water peering in.  On the left of the wave pool was a large, green lawn
dotted with trees.  Many mothers and small babies sat sprawled on their towels
as the older children enjoyed the water.  Tucked in the shade of a few trees
was a small playground for the children who didn’t like playing in the water. 
This had been Ariel’s favorite spot when she was younger.

More
women emerged from the locker room, forcing the Princess sisters to move
forward.  Cinderella was the first one to spot Dave, who stood knee deep in the
water and then dove headfirst into an oncoming wave.  The girls laughed as they
hurried to the grass so they could drop their stuff on the ground in a massive
pile.  With the exception of Ariel, they all ran toward the water after Dave.

Ariel
carefully laid out her towel on the ground and peeled off her T-shirt before
settling on the grass for a nap in the sun.  Two minutes later, her face was
covered by a shadow and someone was dripping cold water all over her.  Ariel
sat up quickly, throwing her sunglasses aside, and looked up into Dave’s
smiling face.

“Why
aren’t you swimming?” he asked, helping himself to a seat on her towel.

“I
don’t do water.”

“Come
on, it’ll be fun!  I’ll stay by your side the whole time.”

“I
don’t do water,” Ariel repeated.  Without looking at Dave again, she slipped
her sunglasses back into place on her nose and lay back down on her towel. 
Dave just sat there, watching her for a moment, unmoving.  “Have you ever seen
Jaws
?”
she asked.

“Yeah,”
Dave replied.

“I
don’t do water,” Ariel said again.

“Hold
on!  I’ll be right back!”

As
Dave left, taking his shadow with him, Ariel felt the sting of the bright sun
on her eyes once again.  Ariel had almost just fallen asleep when the shadow
and the dripping returned.  She glared up at Dave and growled ever so softly.

“Did
you just growl at me?!”

“Yes. 
It’s what animals do when they are giving a warning to be left alone.”

But
Dave just laughed.  A very loud, single-note laugh.

“Here,”
he said, hanging the tube over her head.  “I want you to sit in this.”

“You’re
funny,” Ariel said unmoving.

“Not
in the water!  Just sit in the tube on the grass.”  Dave set the tube in the
soft grass at her feet.

“And
what good is that gonna do?” she asked.  Ariel still looked up at him, but
showed no sign of moving.

“Just
try it!” Dave said.  “Baby steps.  Before you know it I’ll have you swimming
like a fish.”

“You
know, I never liked fish much.”

“Oh
come on, you can do it!”

“Not
gonna happen.”

“Please?”

“No
thanks.”

“Just
take one step towards the tube,” Dave reached out and tried to pull her closer.

Ariel
jerked away.  “If you touch me, I’ll scream.”

“What?
Why?”

“My
favorite kind of water is the kind you drink.  Or better yet, the kind I can
watch on a movie screen.  Safe. Dry.”

“You
like movies, yes?”

“Heck
yeah!  They’re like my lifeline.”

“I’ll
tell you what.  If you do this for me, then I’ll back you up tonight on the
movie choice.  We can watch any movie you want.”

“My
pick?” Ariel raised her eyebrows.  She was intrigued.”

“Whaddya
say?”

“It’s
too hard to decide!  I don’t know if I can handle that much power.  Ariel began
listing possible movies, counting them off on her fingers.

“I’ve
never even heard of any of those, are they new?”

“Oh
gosh, no!” Ariel said.

“How
do you know so many old movies?” Dave asked.

“It’s
what our moms raised us on.  Most of my favorite movies and shows were out
before I was even born!” she exclaimed.  Dave looked at her, his eyebrows
raised together.  “We have some serious educating to do!” Ariel went on.  She
put a hand up to stop Dave’s criticism from coming out.  “Okay, we have a deal. 
I’ll sit in this tube and play your little game if you watch my movie choice later.”

“Deal!” 
Dave nodded.

“This
tube is cold.”

“That’s
because I got it good and wet before bringing it to you.”

“How
sweet.”

Dave
smiled at her and then pulled out a small cup of water and poured it right over
her head.

“What
was that for?” Ariel sputtered, jumping to her feet.

“It’s
all part of your training.”

Ariel
gave Dave a dirty look before allowing him to pull her down into the tube again. 
Dave kneeled next to her and bounced the tube up and down by pushing on one
side, using his upper arms to do all the work.

This
must look ridiculous!
Ariel thought.

“How’s
this?” Dave asked.

“I
h-hate to br-eak it to-o you, b-but I’m not-t scar-red of th-the tu-ube,” Ariel
answered, as Dave continued to bounce her up and down.

“I
know, but I have to get you used to what it’s going to feel like in the water.”

“Whoa! 
Whoa!  Whoa!  I said nothing about getting in the water!”

“Come
on, trust me.”

Ariel
folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes, refusing to look Dave
in the face.  She then let out a scream as Dave scooped her up, still inside
the tube, and held her in his arms.

“What
are you doing?!  Put me down!”

Dave
ignored her and began swaying back and forth like the rocking of gentle waves. 
His muscular arms were flexed around either side of the bright rubber.

“Close
your eyes,” he whispered.

Ariel
did as she was told, mainly because she had noticed how close his muscular arms
were to her bare skin and her mind had gone blank from any smart come-backs.

“Where
are the girls?” Ariel finally asked, realizing Dave had been with her for quite
some time now.

“Shhhhh. 
They’re in the deep end enjoying the biggest waves,” he whispered.

Ariel’s
eyes flew open when she felt Dave begin to walk, but he reassured her that he
was only moving back and forth across the grass.  She peeked a few times to
make sure he wasn’t going near the water, and finally shut them tight and
relaxed after she felt secure.  Ariel was almost asleep with relaxation from
her “wave ride” when she felt her butt touch something cold and wet.  Ariel
opened her eyes wide with panic and was about to scream when she felt Dave’s
lips cover her own.  She was so surprised; all thoughts of water trickled from
her mind.  Dave finally pulled away and Ariel realized she was floating on
real, wet waves instead of her safe, pretend ones.  Her heart began to quicken
and her breathing grew frantic, but Dave was there again just in time.  His warm
lips against hers seemed to clear her mind.  He pulled away slowly and Ariel
looked at him for a long time, not sure what to say.

“Ari?!”

“You’re
in the water!”

Ariel
glanced over to see her four excited cousins, splashing and screaming as they approached.

“How
did you do it?!” Belle asked, looking admiringly at Dave.

Dave
quietly moved behind the other girls so they could all congratulate Ariel on
her moment of triumph. 

“Don’t
tell them,” he mouthed, shaking his head.

Ariel
looked at him quizzically, but Dave just continued to shake his head.  Then he
brushed his index finger across his lips and disappeared into the oncoming waves. 
Ariel sat floating on her tube, still unsure of what had happened.  But she
didn’t say anything to her cousins.  She kinda liked having a secret with Dave!

Soon
the waves died down, and her underside collided with the hard ground.  The
waves had pushed her to the very shallow end.  Legs shaking, Ariel stood up and
walked through the ankle deep water back to her safe towel on the grass.