Water Girl (Original)

Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Two

----------Avery--------

I stared at my wedding dress and sighed. Why couldn’t my father listen to me? I had specifically said no wedding but he wouldn’t listen. I glanced in the mirror and had to smile. That morning, I had let Allie do my hair. It was beautiful. We had decided together, mainly with my opinion, that since I didn’t even want a wedding, or to get married so young for that matter, everything would be simple, and so I was wearing my hair down.

I was still frustrated however at how I was in no control of anything. It didn’t make any sense that my wedding still had to take place even though Channing had surmounted his (irrational) fear of salt water and risked his life to come stop my wedding. So had he done it for nothing?

I laughed as I touched the French braid which is what Allie had decided to do with my bangs. Oh no, it was completely worth it, he certainly did not do it for nothing. Seeing Channing in merman form made me fall in love with him all over again. God, I just wanted to see him, I wanted to hold him. I didn’t understand why there had to be a wedding. I loved Channing. I was young. Marriage was not necessary!

I ignored my thoughts as I grabbed the dress. Miss Hart had done my makeup and understood me completely when I had stepped cautiously into her kitchen about three hours before I stood in my room.

“Miss Hart?”

“Honey, my daughter!” She cried out happily, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re getting married!” She exclaimed. I smiled half heartedly. Mom. She was my mom. She had adopted me and I was her daughter. My smile grew bigger as I realized that my mother would have wanted someone to be there to help me through things like my wedding. Besides, if I ever had to pick my own mother, I would pick Hailey Hart.

“Listen, I wanted to know if you’d like to do my makeup… you know I never really felt the need to do my makeup since I was never really invited to special events. Oh listen to me! Poor Avery Hart, she’s a mermaid therefore she has stupid powers to make her beautiful, she’s marrying someone very important, everybody talks about her and now she’s whining about how not having a mother had a negative effect on her life. Well if you asked me, I turned out pretty well I mean-”

“Oh Avery, you are simply the sweetest thing. Come here; give your mother a hug!” She exclaimed and I did exactly that. I wrapped my arms around her. Truthfully, having no mother really did affect me. I never got to have that motherly figure to help me chose between being human or stay a mermaid. I never got that woman to intercept my father when he wouldn’t let me go out with Princess Alirae to her post-birthday-party-party. I never got anyone to tell my dad that he should relax and that I was a woman, I should make decisions of my own. And here I was, with my arms around someone who claimed to want to do that for me. I sighed happily but felt a twinge of guilt. Maybe I should have given in earlier. I pulled away and she smiled.

“Alright so, I know this wedding isn’t your idea. You would wait if you could wouldn’t you? Well…” she pressed her forehead against mine and I giggled as she started saying in hushed words, “we’ll just have to make this as simple as possible”.  I smiled and nodded vigorously. Perfect.