If there was anywhere Ariel enjoyed in the entire school asides the comfort of her duvet was the school's indoor swimming pool.
She knew she should have been tired of swimming since she had been underneath the waters all her life but still. Barely three months away from home and she craved for the feel of the liquid caressing her skin.
Her hair was probably already too soft since her aqua life had taken an effect on her, that was probably the least of her worries. Even she admired the way her red silky threads turned to woolly cotton in the midst of the translucent waves that swam round her head.
Ariel had never been happier.
And it was such a beautiful Saturday to use the pool, though it was restricted on any day that it wasn't used as a school period activity.
Ariel couldn't care less. Moana was present as well, so it could be regarded as a school period, couldn't it?
After over a minute of swirling around in the pool, Ariel regretfully broke away at the surface of the pool, the weight of her heavy hair the only obstruction from coming out fully.
"For goodness sake, Ariel. We could get caught. We've had enough. Let's get going."
"We won't get caught, Moana. Scared-y cat." Ariel curled backward, head first into the pool again.
Moana groaned. She started pulling out her feet from the water. "Okay. You can keep on playing around. I'm going to not get caught, so hasta la -" Moana got interrupted as she felt herself being pulled into the water from a grip on her ankle.
Moana couldn't even yell at Ariel as they were both under the water so she just gave an angry snarl then swam up to the top again. "You just loove playing too much, don't you, huh?" She started to swim away towards the pool ladder.
"Jeez, Moana." Ariel arose again. "What happened to your sense of liquid enthusiasm?"
"We've been swimming for over an hour now. Not only do I really need to pee but I really need to sleep. It's SATURDAY, please. A day when we sleep! Or do homework. And luckily for us, we have none this week. We should sleep."
"Aww!" Ariel whined then dunked back into the water.
"Fine. I'm gone." Moana blurted then walked to the benches then picked up her towel.
"Adios. I'll meet up with you shortly, okay?"
"You should make it quick. If you get caught, how the hell will I make it to Peace and Conflict Resolution classes alone." Moana didn't wait for a response before walking out of the hall.
Ariel smiled and went under once more, swimming to settle down at the bottom of the pool. She laid her body down. Her arms and legs were outstretched as she lay parallel to the tiled flooring of the pool bottom.
It was indeed amazing. She felt so much at peace, felt her watery surrounding seeping all around her, her watery wool hair rising above her face.
Her lucid state was cut short by the noise made from the hinge of the metal doors.
She got startled immediately. Had Moana come back? Well, if she did come back, Ariel was more than ready to follow her.
She started swimming towards the ladder. As she broke through the surface, she gulped in the oxygen. "Wow, I thought you'd leave me here-" she looked up, then paused.
It was only a millisecond she had to look at the face before she felt a weight placed on her head, forcing her back into the pool.
All she could see was a blur view of dark hair before viewing the water once more. Unfortunately, this time around, the water wasn't the peaceful wet cloud she found herself floating peacefully in.
This time, it felt like a traitor, blocking her from respiring.
Still, the weight was placed heavily upon her head, refusing to let go, no matter how constantly she was shaking.
It wasn't until her heart felt as if it would burst did she use an unknown strength to break free from her tormentors grip and search for air again.
She could suddenly feel the air around her, not forgetting to suck in a heavy load of air once more. Only then could her mind correctly register who her attacker was.
Good ol' demonic Vanessa Urchin.
Vanessa looked shocked as Ariel's eyes met hers, probably in surprise that Ariel had gotten out of that.
She was reeling over the tiled bank of the pool, her hand unsuccessfully still dipped in the water.
Ariel opened her mouth to probably say something when Vanessa reached over once more, grabbing the red hair and pushing down as much as possible.
This time around however, Vanessa didn't stay on the bank for long before feeling a grip on her wrist and her being pulled inside the water mass.
Ariel swam backward as she let Vanessa go with the downward thrust of the water before floating upward with the upward force.
When Vanessa suddenly regained herself, she sent daggers at Ariel, even when underneath the water.
Ariel didn't even think twice before swimming quickly to the platform opposite Vanessa's, not caring if it was deeper. As soon as she had her elbows resting upon the bank's platform, she quickly looked over her shoulder, searching eagerly for her attacker.
There the form was, swimming up to her.
The redhead didn't hesitate before jumping out of the water all together. She felt bad that she couldn't conceal her naked form, though it was only a black two-piece suit.
Her towel was on the other side of the pool, she couldn't even reach it if she tried as Vanessa had also gotten out of the pool.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, KILL ME?!" Ariel screamed.
"Unconscious is more of what I have in mind...for now."
"Are you mad?!!" Ariel started taking steps backward but it was towards the entrance of the Pool Room. Vanessa menacingly started following her.
"What is your problem?"
"I hate you, with every bone there is in my body! Reason enough?"
"God-" Ariel kept on moving backwards. "You wanted to bloody drown me. Are you that insane?"
"I just wanted to knock you out, but I'll take any one nature decides."
"And I don't need to guess the reason, do I?"
"Aren't you smart?"
"And aren't you deranged?" Ariel stopped moving suddenly. Maybe as if waiting to see how it would all end.
"What did you just say?" Indeed Vanessa did look deranged. Her wet hair was matted all over her shoulders, her purple gown was a clingy mess and mascara and clumps of powder ran over her face.
"If you can get this crazy for a mere man that you didn't even want--to the point of murder--my dear, you're crazier than satan."
"And who's to say if I want this man or not? You? Oh please. You're such a hypocrite. Coming off as a damsel in distress, getting attention to and fro. Feeding Eric with some sort of poison about me. Thanks to you, I get this side look from idiots I don't even know."
"It's obvious, you psychopath. That's the word for people like you."
"Don't you call me that. Don't you DARE call me that!"
"You're a very confused, insane, jealous, aggressive human being! You're crazy crazy and more crazy!"
"I'm. Warning. You."
"You should have asked Eric for help when you had the chance."
"Why won't you just DIE?" Vanessa lunged for her again. Ariel quickly sidestepped, grabbing Vanessa by her arm and quickly throwing her to the ground.
Vanessa fought to get up but Ariel quickly pinned her arms to the ground with her knees while her hands held Vanessa's cheeks to avoid her fang outrage.
"Let me go! Let me go!" Vanessa kept on fighting, her head throwing itself to all sides. "I hate all of you! I hate ALL OF YOU! Leave me alone!!!"
Ariel looked down at the distressed Vanessa. She couldn't tell if the liquid around the brunettes eyes was from the water or they were tears. Right there, she just looked like a raging lunatic.
"Get a hold of yourself first. Jesus Christ, you're just a handful of crazy." Ariel steadily got up from that spot.
When she noticed Vanessa wasn't getting up, she quickly ran over to the bench to get her clothes.
She turned back to Vanessa. "You need help. You don't know what you want and you're still crazy about what you don't want. You. Are. Crazy. Get help." Then the Atlantian went straight out the metal door.
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