Ari and Zac

Chapter 1: The Aquarium

Chapter 1: The Aquarium

Summer 2019 (one year earlier...)

People were staring.

A slow blush of heat crept downward from Ari's face to stain the flesh below her collarbone. She flicked her tail and swam in a graceful figure eight. Her veil of crimson hair swirled around her, hiding her face, as she made her way behind the tall rocks at the far end of the oversized aquarium.

She probably should be used to the attention by now. Normally, she didn't mind. She actually enjoyed the feeling of being on display. She loved seeing the looks of admiration on the people's faces – especially the little girls, the way their eyes lit up the moment they caught sight of her.

It was nice to feel like something other than a freak for once in her life.

Ari had begged and pleaded with her parents to let her have this job. Her father insisted that she and Lucy spend their summers working in one of the Callahan-owned businesses that lined the Seabreeze Point boardwalk. Lucy chose the ice cream parlor a few doors down from here – unofficial hang-out of the entire Seabreeze Point teenage population. Ari would sooner die than work there herself. She'd announced her own decision to her parents after dinner one evening this past May, speaking to them by text message through her cellphone, even though they were all sitting around together in the same room.

Ari: I think I'm ready to work in the aquarium this summer.

"No," her father had answered aloud, crossing his arms across his chest. "Absolutely not."

Ari: But I'm 17! You've had girls my age working there before!

"You can work at the ticket counter if you like, Ari, but not in the tank. No way."

He'd waited patiently while she tapped an angry reply into her phone.

Ari: Yeah, that wouldn't be weird at all... People will be like "two adults, two children," and I'll just whip out my phone and respond by text: "that will be 17 dollars please." Totally normal.

"Tom." Ari's mother had laid a soft hand on her father's arm. "It might not be the worst idea..."

Ari had seen the look that passed between them. She could tell her father was wavering, and she knew how to press her advantage. She'd softened her expression and looked up at him with wide, imploring eyes as she sent off another message.

Ari: Please, Daddy?

He'd hesitated, drumming his fingertips against the kitchen table.

Ari: I'm a strong swimmer. I know how to use the scuba gear. And it's all underwater. There's no speaking whatsoever!

"Ari," her father had sighed. "You know what the doctor said."

Ari: Daddy, it's the one job in the universe that I would actually be good at!

It was Lucy who finally settled the argument though. "Don't be such a hypocrite, Dad." Lucy had flounced down in the kitchen chair at Ari's side and gave her arm a sisterly squeeze – a non-verbal signal between them, whenever Ari needed Lucy to speak on her behalf. "Ari gave you the whole idea to have mermaid-impersonators in the first place. Now it's one of your biggest revenue streams. People come all the way from New York and Philly to see the live mermaid show at the Seabreeze Point aquarium!"

Her parents had relented in the end. Ari had started working here a few weeks ago, and everything was going swimmingly so far.

She tittered to herself at the pun, pressing her hand against her mouth, and a stream of bubbles escaped from her nose. Her lungs were starting to burn now. She needed another puff of air. A scuba tank rested in the sand, hidden from public view by the rocks back here. Ari slipped the regulator into her mouth and sucked in a few deep breaths.