The morning sunshine penetrates through Ariel's cream-colored curtains. The sunlight complementing her blue-colored bed sheets. Her morning alarm causing a fuss. Ariel, a 17-year old, who is turning a junior in high school, doesn't look forward to her first day of school. She turns off her alarm and sits on the edge of her bed. "What am I going to do?" she says in her head.
Down the hall, her Aunt Mary is cooking breakfast.
"Hurry up sweetie, get changed so you can eat some breakfast." Aunt Mary shouted from the kitchen. Her yell echoing throughout the hallway and landing in Ariel's room. From her room, she can hear her brother, James, barely waking up. Aunt Mary shouting from the kitchen, waking up James.
Ariel looks through her closet, picking and choosing her outfit. Getting her top ready, her jeans ready. Her sister, Emily, walks past her room. She can't help it, she needs to intervene.
"Little sis, you need to learn better fashion," Emily says in her high, squeaky voice. Ariel is infuriated. Emily thinks she's better than everyone, it's getting under her skin. Ariel growls quietly. Her face getting hot, redder, and angrier. Emily can sense her irritation, so she walks away from Ariel's room, leaving a trail behind of her floral perfume that stinks up the room.
Ariel then looks at her closet, choosing her blue jean jacket, some black leggings, and her semi-dirty black converse. Rushing to put her clothes on, Aunt Mary comes to her room to yell at her because she wants her to eat breakfast.
"ARIEL! Your food is getting cold and you're almost late for school," Aunt Mary shouts while leaning in Ariel's doorframe.
Ariel sighed, tossing herself onto her messy bed and covering her face with her hands.
Ariel walks to school as always, carrying her egg sandwich, wrapped with aluminum. The sun, harmonizing with her peach-colored skin. When she approaches the front of the school, she can see two of her best friends, Diana and Xiaba. Diana has been Ariel's best friend for as long as she can remember. Xiaba was a Chinese-American that came to the same middle school as Ariel and they have been best friends for a long time. Ariel became more open-minded to different cultures and styles because of Xiaba. She never wanted an English name because she didn't want to hurt her parents' feelings and also she wants to carry something from her heritage.
Diana and Xiaba come running to Ariel, flooding her with questions.
"Ariel, how was your summer?!" Diana asks.
" Hello, bestie, how was your summer," Xiaba says.
Ariel takes a deep breath. She is overwhelmed with the number of questions she was asked in a short amount of time. What they didn't know is that Ariel's grandmother, Krystal, died last month. She fell into depression with no escape. Ariel wouldn't reply to Diana's messages or calls. Ariel even canceled the concert she and Xiaba were going to go to. Ariel sobbed during Krystal's funeral, not even as much as her parents' funeral.
"Summer was alright. Diana and Xiaba, I'm so sorry for not answering your calls or messages. Krystal died. I wanted to attend her funeral instead of going to the concert," Ariel said while trying to hold in her tears. She ran to her best friend's shoulders.
"It's okay Ariel, were not mad at you," Xiaba said. Diana nodded with agreement.
"I can't believe Krystal's gone, nothing will ever bring her back. I loved her and still do," Diana said while a tear ran down her cheek.
Ariel grabs a slip from the main office, containing her schedule. Looking over her schedule, she nods with excitement. She meets up with her best friends, trying to match the classes they have with each other. They all have P.E., Math, and Chemistry together.
The first bell of the day rings over the intercom. The first class has started and Ariel walks to Mr. Doda; the History teacher. She walks in, takes an empty seat right next to Jacob.
Jacob is another best friend of Ariel, who is kinda popular, but that doesn't concern her. Ariel thinks he's super nice and they've been best friends since middle school.
The room is decorated neatly. Mr. Doda loves Greek Mythology, based on the decorations. The first thing that Ariel sees on the whiteboard is a painting of Aphrodite.
Ariel is compelled. All she can see is the painting of Aphrodite, but darkness all around. A beautiful trail of rose pedals is leading to the painting. All Ariel can do is stare, like in a trance.