Chapter Text
Ariel’s phone was dead.
Normally she wouldn’t have stressed over that. She wasn’t one of those idiot girls who lived entirely inside their screens and forgot that there was a whole wide world out there. But it was seriously inconvenient timing when she happened to be on vacation in one of the biggest cities in the world and had just gotten separated from her family in the crowded streets. Maybe she shouldn’t have had her phone out all day taking pictures and videos of everything in sight.
She wasn’t scared exactly. Being lost was an adventure, in a way. She loved adventures, loved exploring new places and discovering new things. And New York City was the perfect place for adventures. Ever since she was little, it had always been a dream of hers to visit, maybe even move here one day. It was so much more exciting than her quiet California town.
She continued down the sidewalk, taking her time. She had already lost sight of her father and sisters; hurrying would make no difference when she didn’t even know which direction they’d gone. She might as well take in the scenery while she figured out what to do.
If Ariel was honest with herself, it was almost a relief. They’d been in the city a whole week and this was the first time she had a moment to herself. Of course there were the obvious privacy issues that came from sharing three cramped hotel rooms with six older sisters and a dad, but on top of that, their schedule was booked solid with one touristy activity after another. Not that she didn’t enjoy seeing all the famous landmarks, but what she truly longed to do was wander and explore. She wondered, not for the first time, if her dad had done this on purpose – kept them all so busy that they wouldn’t have the time or energy to do anything spontaneous. He was way too paranoid about safety. She always got an earful from him whenever she so much as came home late from school because she’d taken a different street just for the fun of it or stopped to admire a thing or two along the way.
Unfortunately, though, she’d been on her feet all day, and they were starting to hurt. Not good for wandering. She spotted a lively-looking restaurant across the street and decided it was as good a place as any to sit, rest, and see if she could charge her phone. She might not mind being on her own for a bit, but her dad would already be flipping out. The longer she took to contact him, the harder it would be to convince him she hadn’t ditched on purpose. And she didn’t feel like yet another safety lecture.
She found an outlet at the restaurant’s bar and sat down on one of the stools. Thankfully she had a charger and adapter in her purse. She plugged in her phone and then looked at the menu, wondering if she could get away with using some of her emergency cash for a snack. She envied Attina and Alana, her oldest sisters, who already had full-time jobs. It was hard being the youngest, always the last to hit every first. Even Andrina, the second youngest, was about to start college, leaving Ariel all alone for her senior year of high school. Nothing about it made her feel senior. She wished she could skip right past it.
“Hey.”
Ariel turned to see who had addressed her… and found herself face to face with the hottest guy she’d ever seen, sitting right next to her!
“Sorry, I hope this isn’t weird, but…” He held up his phone. “This is dead, and I don’t have an adapter. Would you mind if I shared yours? Since you have two ports there?”
“Um, yeah. I mean, no, not at all!” Ariel could hardly think straight. She was too busy trying to look at him without looking like she was looking at him. Thick, silky black hair… a well-defined jaw… clear blue eyes that she could just get lost in…
…that she had gotten lost in, judging by his expectant look. Had he just said something?
“What? Sorry, I was… zoned out.”
“Thanks,” he repeated as he connected his charger. “You really saved me.”
“Oh. No problem.”
“So… you having a good trip?” he asked, looking slightly amused.
“How did you… Oh.” Ariel realized he was looking at her shirt, which was the stereotypical “I ♥︎ NY” T-shirt. She knew it was corny, but she’d still been excited to buy one and genuinely enjoyed wearing it… until now. Now she wished she was wearing absolutely anything else. “I am, yeah! I just love the city. I really want to apply to NYU so I can come out here next year, but so far it’s a lost cause.”
“Why’s that?”
“My dad. He’s dead set on me staying in state like all my sisters, and he hates the city. He thinks it’s ‘too dangerous’ here.” She used air quotes and a mocking tone. “Which, I mean yeah, but come on.”
“That’s too bad. I’m starting at NYU next week, and I’m sure it’ll be cool, but you already seem more excited about it than I am,” he admitted with a laugh, running a nervous hand through his hair.
“What?! How can you not be excited?!” This came out louder than Ariel intended. Luckily, he only laughed again in response. She’d just proven his point.
“I’ve got nothing against it! I’m just not too sure what I’m doing, what I want to study, where I want to end up. So I figured it would be easiest to stay close to home, at least for now.”
Ariel nodded. “So you grew up around here?”
“Yeah.”
“Lucky,” she sighed.
“What about you?” he asked.
“Me? I’m from California.”
“Wow! Wait, you’re not here by yourself, are you? That’s so far.”
“I wish. I just got a little lost, but no, I’m on vacation with my family.”
Her phone woke up just then and played a charging tone, immediately followed by several text chimes. Her lock screen showed two missed calls from her father amid a bunch of worried texts from her sisters, with new ones still coming in.
“Speaking of.” Ariel rolled her eyes. “Sorry, just a second.” She opened her family group chat and typed quickly.
I’m fine. Got separated and my phone died. Letting it charge for a few mins and then I’ll come to you, just tell me where.
She set her phone down and turned back to – god, she still didn’t even know his name! She’d have to fix that. “I’m Ariel, by the way.”
“Ariel? That’s kind of pretty.” He smiled – of course he would have the dreamiest smile. “I’m Eric.”
Ariel smiled back. But before she could say anything else, her phone rang. She gave Eric an apologetic look before picking it back up.
“Hi, Dad… Yes, I’m fine, I swear!… What? That makes no sense! No, I’ll come to you.” She briefly lowered her phone to glance at the screen. “Listen, I’m on 5 percent now, so I’ll get to 10 or 15 just to be safe, and then I’ll go –” She huffed and turned down the volume. “…Okay, fine. Fine. You win. I’ll send it now.” She hung up without saying goodbye.
“Everything okay?” asked Eric.
“Yeah. Just stupid stuff. We were trying to find a good place to go for dinner when I lost sight of everyone, and apparently they found a place right before they noticed I wasn’t there, but now my dad is making me send my location and he’s going to drag them all back here to pick me up. All because he doesn’t trust me to walk a few blocks! He thinks I’m still a child.”
“Ouch.” Eric shook his head. “If he doesn’t trust you to walk a few blocks, maybe he should have picked somewhere else for a vacation.”
Ariel laughed dryly as she tapped at her screen. “Yeah, actually this trip was sort of thrown together last-minute. My dad was supposed to come here for a business trip with some of his employees, and then the whole thing got canceled, but it was too late to get a refund on the hotel. So I said we should all go with him instead and turn it into a family vacation before everyone goes back to school. He didn’t like the idea at all, but then my sisters loved it and we all just kept asking, and I don’t know if it was that or the fact that he paid so much for the hotel, but he finally caved.”
“That’s really cool,” said Eric. “I wish I could go on vacation across the country. I’ve barely been out of this state, but I’ve always wanted to travel and see new places.”
“Me too.”
Already they had something in common. Ariel liked him more with each passing second. Why did he have to live here, of all places? Already she couldn’t stand the thought of walking out of here and never seeing him again.
A text came in from Attina: Be there in five.
Five. Five minutes left with her dream guy. She tried not to be obvious as she gazed at him, wondering if there was any way, any way at all…
“It’s too bad you have to leave,” he said. “I would have offered to buy you dinner as thanks.”
Ariel’s heartbeat picked up speed. Was he only being polite, or was there more to it? She wished she hadn’t sent her family her location already. She wished she’d turned off her phone. She could have put up with any amount of lecturing afterward if it meant one evening with Eric.
“I wish I could,” she told him – a huge understatement.
A moment of semi-awkward silence followed. She twirled a lock of hair around her finger and utterly failed to come up with something else to say.
“Um, I’m sure you already have plans,” he said tentatively, “but there’s a party tonight at my dorm. Nothing crazy – I think there’ll be pizza, maybe karaoke…”
“I love karaoke!” Ariel exclaimed, hope suddenly swelling within her. “I’ll be there.”
It would be tricky, but she’d make it work. She couldn’t miss this chance.
“Really?” Eric looked pleasantly surprised. “Okay.”
She couldn’t keep from smiling. This had to mean he liked her!
“Oh.” He reached for his phone. “I should probably send you the address.”
“You might need my number first,” she suggested.
“Yeah… that might help.”
He opened a new contact and passed her his phone. She typed herself in, distracted all the while by the warmth that seemed to linger on her hand where it had brushed his. As she handed his phone back, her eyes fell to the time display in the corner.
Three minutes.
“I should make my way outside,” she said reluctantly. The last thing she wanted to do was leave any sooner than she had to, but it occurred to her that her father would be less than thrilled if he found her talking to a strange guy at a bar. She had to play it safe for now so he wouldn’t have his guard up later, when it really mattered.
“Okay.” Eric typed something, and her phone chimed. “There. Now you have mine too.”
“Cool.” Ariel stood up. “Oh! My charger! Do you want to hold on to it?”
He checked his screen. “Nah, I’ll manage. This’ll hold me over.”
She unplugged her charging cord and slowly wound it around her hand, stalling. He unplugged his and handed her the adapter.
“I’ll see you tonight?” he said.
She grinned. “Just try to keep me away.”