((Don't worry about it! My first posts are also usually longer than regular posts, and anyways, I don't mind longer posts. c: And again, no worries. I understand about being busy. I've been pretty busy, too- I'm still in school and working on final projects. So, no worries, I understand!))
Attina and Alana would have her head, Ariel decided, if their father didn't have it first. It really depended on who saw her first, but it still didn't change the amount of trouble that Ariel was in. As the youngest of seven daughters (even if things were calmer now that Attia, Alana, and Adella had moved out, and Acuata would be leaving for college that fall), Ariel was a rebellious child, at least at home. Her father, Ariel felt, had sort of forgotten that his daughters were growing, and that even as the youngest, Ariel was still old enough to not be treated like a child. At the very least, her father could hear her out.
While the girl's older sisters were visiting- time off of work, enjoying spring break- Ariel had gotten into a bit of a spat with the rest of her family. She thought that she was old enough to be able to go place and do things with her friends. Her father protested, as they were mostly of the male variety. Attina agreed, taking her father's side; Alana worried it would be a gateway for Ariel to start starving herself in order to impress them (which was absurd); Adella was concerned her friends would try to take advantage of her. It was all absurd. Acuata wouldn't support Ariel on the grounds that she was too possessive of her little sister, and Andrina just wanted to maintain some privileges over Ariel. Arista was probably in support, but she'd stayed out of the whole mess.
The situation eventually dissolved to some yelling and to Ariel being sent to her room. She'd gone and slammed the door, and refused to let Arista and Andrina in, even though the three shared the room. (Attina, Alana, Adella, and Acuata had shared the other bedroom. People were rearranged as sisters went to college, which meant that currently, Ariel and Andrina shared a room, while Arista and Acuata shared the other, but Arista had to stay with Ariel and Andrina while their older sisters visited. Their father had converted the basement into a sort of bedroom for himself, but it doubled as a living area during the day. All of their space had to, with seven daughters, though things had gotten easier as the girls went off to college and jobs.
After everyone else had gone to bed- or at least gone silent- Ariel changed and snuck out. In the dark, she couldn't really see what she was grabbing, but it didn't matter what the girl was changing into. It was dark, no one would see her swimming, and she'd be back before anyone noticed she was missing. At any rate, that had been the plan. When Ariel got out, and saw what she'd changed into- tight, turquoise swim shorts, and a lavender swim top that only held her breasts by being tied tightly around her back- and saw how many people were on the beach, she shook her head and kept walking. Eventually, Ariel made it to a sufficiently empty area of the beach. It was where the more well off people lived, judging by the sizes of the houses, but that was alright, and Ariel walked into the water, and swam.
Ariel had never been good at judging time. It was starting to be decently light out when it finally occurred to her that if it got any later, someone might come looking for her. She sighed and gave one more remorseful look towards the water. She'd love to stay out there but lord that kid's an idiot for not seeing that wave but he still hasn't come up yet but he should have by now and Ariel ran back in, deeper, and pushed herself off the ground and swam over to the surfboard. Then she dove, forced her eyes open under the water, spying for the kid. She saw him, swam to him, grabbed his arm and swam up. The waves had pushed his board nearby, so Ariel put the (attractive) boy onto it, and pushed it to shore. She dragged both him and the board onto the sand, a good few feet away from the tide, and pushed on his chest until water stopped flowing out. Ariel put her ear to the boy's chest; heart beating, and he was definitely breathing on his own. She even thought she could see his eyes moving under their lids. Quickly, Ariel got up, and ran over to the nearby rock jetty. She glanced back, to see if he was awake, before continuing to run off home.
((By the way, this was long, sorry- don't worry about matching lengths or anything.
I imagine that, given this lack of opportunity for interaction, we should skip to school? Do you wanna take care of that jump, or should I edit it into my post here?))