She really wasn't lying when she'd told Alana that she had to buy some school supplies. The palace had a lot of what she needed, but there were always those specific items that, as the firstborn, no one would be handing down to her. She didn't mind it; the only thing that hurt was that this was the first time she went school shopping without her mother.

"At least I can go to the marketplace by myself," she mumbled to herself, trying to change the direction of her thoughts. Something in her peripheral vision caught her eye, and when she looked over, her face went slack. "Of course, 'by myself' means that the guards won't quit watching me."

She wash't overly surprised that she was being followed by the castle guards. She could only remember one time, when she and Alana had given Sebastian the slip at the marketplace, that she had truly shaken off her annoying shadows. Still, in the past few years, she had accepted that for the rest of her life, anywhere she went, so would they. After all, that was their job.

However, today she didn't want to be reasonable about this situation. "I am not going to get seashells with them watching," she mumbled to herself. "I'll need to sneak away."

The thought of breaking the rules in such a big way filled her with a rush of adrenaline. Being the Crown Princess meant that she couldn't rebel like this as often as she'd like. It meant that she just had to keep her small rebellions, like refusing to eat any vegetables, quiet.

"Okay, how do I escape…?" Holding close a bag with the things she'd purchased, the girl started to casually look left and right, mumbling to herself in the process.

Just when she was about to give up entirely, she found what she was looking for. A stall that was surrounded by large adults, with just an opening big enough for her to fit through. She didn't hesitate to go through the small gap in the crowd, hardly thinking this through.

Once she was unable to see anything, because of the adults surrounding her view, she silently cheered. If she could not see the guards, they couldn't see her, that much she knew. Now, to keep it this way…

Immediately, Attina dropped down to the seabed. Then, using her arms to swat away people's tails, she started to crawl. The grownups, so concerned with whatever this stall was selling, didn't even notice her on the ground. Though her heart pumped in her ears, the girl did not stop until she reached the other side, managing to wiggle her way out of a narrow exit.

The first thing she did, after coming back to a normal, upright position, was look all around her. Nothing. The guards probably thought she was still at that stall.

"Thank Neptune," she sighed to herself in relief, "I'm free."

With a giddy, almost astonished laugh, the girl started to swim from the marketplace to the shops. Anyone could set up a stall in the marketplace; to have a shop was a big deal. A shop meant quality products guaranteed, which is why the seashell shop was located there.

Attina had gone into this store before, but that only once or twice before, and always with her mother. Back then, like now, this store embarrassed her to no degree. This store didn't just sell seashells, no, it also sold…well, it sold shells that no one could wear out. The type of shells that were made differently, fancier, to show off more of the chest area.

"Keep focused, keep focused," the girl suddenly said to herself, averting her eyes with no small amount of shame from those other shells. Something about them made her feel…uneasy.

In another section of the store, there was, thankfully, the regular shells. Attina made a straight path to those, more than relieved to have found them. Now she could grab a pair and leave this place!

Unfortunately, that would be easier said than done.

A woman, a worker for the store probably, came from nowhere to the girl. "Do you need any help?" Her tone was overly sweet.

Attina chose to ignore that though, determined to get out fast. "Um…I need seashells."

"Alright," the woman looked at her for a moment, up and down, before returning her gaze back to the seashells. "What size does your mother need?"

For a moment, the princess was struck dumb. Her mother? That didn't make any sense whatsoever!

Then, rationality kicked in. She thinks I'm picking up some shells for my mom, the girl mused silently, and she probably doesn't even know who I am. Well, that wasn't exactly as planned…but at the very least, it saved her a heck load of trouble of dealing with the awkwardness.

"No, I need seashells for me," she said with some determination, trying hard not to let it show how embarrassed she was to even say the word seashells.

The mermaid looked her up and down once again, this time frowning in confusion. "You haven't got anything, sweetie."

"Yes, I do!" Attina tried to argue, lying through her teeth. "You just can't tell because my band is…because my chest band is so big!"

"Really?" The woman responded, unconvinced. "It looks fine to me. Why don't you swim along; you're taking up valuable time from customers who actually need something."

"No, you don't understand!" She was starting to grow desperate now, realizing that the woman wasn't going to be helping her after all. "I have to get some shells! I just have to!"

"And I," the woman's lips curled in discontent, "have a job to do. Come back in a few years, when you're not going to waste my time."

"But-" Attina begged, literally being dragged out of the store.

"Goodbye, and have a nice day," the sweet-tone returned, and after the preteen was pushed out of the store, she heard the shell door slam behind her.

For a second, all Attina was able to do was stare at that door. She contemplated pounding against it, making sure that she was heard. Then, she quickly decided against it. The very last thing she needed was to make a scene outside the seashells store.

Hot tears suddenly filled her vision. She suddenly wanted to cry. Like, just cry and never show her face out in public again. And the perfect place to hide away from all the oceans was at the coral reefs, her favorite spot in the whole, wide world.

Suddenly, the girl was sprinting away, swimming at speeds that were probably aquatic records. Her tail sliced through the water with an unprecedented amount of force, and any faces she saw became a blur of bubbles behind her. When an unexpected sob ripped from her through, she put her head down and balled her fists up, pushing herself even faster.

She arrived at the coral reefs not five minutes later, and blindly, she curled against them and started to full on cry.

"S-Stupid store," she muttered, her anger starting to rise. "Stupid s-school, stupid teachers, stupid M-Marin, s-stupid little sisters! It's n-not fair!"

Her fists pounded the sand. It helped, slightly. Furiously, she sniffled and found herself muttering even more.

"It's not f-fair!" She repeated once more, slamming her fist into the sand again. "I d-don't want things to c-change! I don't w-wanna be a princess, or be i-in charge! I'm just A-Attina!"

She pressed her tail closer to her chest, hugging it tight. The bag on her shoulder fell off, falling to the ground, and she did nothing about it. Instead, she found her gaze looking upwards, at the sun shining through the surface. Something akin to heartbreak made her sob again.

"A-All I want is you, M-Momma," she whispered, so soft that a bubble would have stood against it. She sighed.

There are specific moments in life when, no matter how hard a girl might try, she needed her mother. It was just impossible to do this otherwise. And besides, her Momma would have had all the answers to her questions.

After all, how was an eleven year old supposed to know why Tally was now officially dating Joren (he had 'asked her out' right before class ended), when last year she punched him in the face? How was she supposed to explain to adults that even though she had a father, she was the one who was dealing with her sisters? How was she supposed to keep her friends, when they all treated her so different? Or how was she supposed to try to fit in, when she couldn't even buy a pair of seashells?

"Oh, the waves r-roll low," her soft singing voice wobbled slightly from misuse, but she didn't care. "And the w-waves roll high, and so it goes."

Glumly, she started to trace circles into the sand, letting her anxieties fade with the quiet song. "Under a b-bright, blue, endless sky. W-waves try to measure, the days that we t-treasure…"

She looked upwards, into the expanse of sea that lay beyond the coral reefs. She was just beyond the city limits of Atlantica, which should have meant more to her than it really did.

"Wave h-hello, and wave goodbye."

She sighed once more, shaking her head. Her father could pass whatever law he wanted, but she refused to be silenced. She would never sing in public again, but when she was all alone, out here surrounded by the beautiful coral, she was a girl who longed for anyway to connect with her lost mother. He would never take that from her.

"W-What do I do, Momma?" She wondered aloud, seeing all her problems laid out before her like a giant tidal wave.

Then, suddenly, she felt a tug from a familiar memory, a conversation she'd had with her mother about a year before. Gently, the queen had pulled her aside, after she had thrown something at Arista.

"No matter what, you need to take care of your little sisters, Attina. They look up to you, and that means you have to set the right example for them."

Back then, annoyed that she was being lectured, she had brushed it off. Now, however, now it felt like her eyes were opening for the first time. A sudden rush of emotion made the girl sit up straight, and wipe the snot away with the back of her arm.

She understood what her mother had been trying to say now. Her sisters needed someone to take care of them, someone to pretty much raise them, because her father wasn't going to do it. And that person would have to be her.

"They need me, more than ever," Attina mused, sniffling slightly. "I can't let them down."

She was finally starting to understand what she could not fathom a year before. She would have to face multiple challenges, like school, adults, and getting seashells, and she would have to do it alone. That way, when it was her little sisters turns, she would have already set the example and would be able to give them advice. It wouldn't be easy, but the idea of that carefree, cheerful smile from Ariel made her more determined than ever.

Suddenly more sure of her position than she'd ever been before, Attina grabbed her bag and stood up. She wiped at her eyes, sniffling still. Then, she turned to leave, but found herself colliding into someone else.

"Oomph!"

"Oh!"

"Sorry, I was-what are you doing out here?" She was on her guard in a moment's notice, glaring at none other than Marin.

The boy glared back at her. "I think I left my new sponge-ball. What are you doing out here?"

Attina placed both her hands on her hips, giving a definitive 'hmph!'. "That's none of your business."

"Fine." Marin snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. Attina's glare deepened.

"Fine," she said back, adding a bit of a punch to it so that she wasn't outdone by the merboy. He looked at her shrewdly for a moment, before his eyes flickered out uncertainly up at the slowly disappearing sun.

He sighed. "It's gonna be really dark soon, and if I get home late, it's going to be your fault."

Attina followed his gaze upwards, and for the first time in her life, an icy hatred surrounded her heart. She loathed the surface and all who dwelled there. She would until the day she died, she realized.

"Well, I think I missed dinner, standing here dealing with you," she replied, tearing her eyes away from the surface with a frown.

Casually, Marin looked over at her, keeping his voice even. "If you want, you can come over and have dinner at my house. My mom won't mind."

Attina blinked in surprise. That was the first time, in a long time, that someone had used the word 'mom' around her, someone who knew who she was. She found herself almost…grateful, in a way. At least Marin was still treating her normal.

"It's okay," she declined, shaking her head. "I can have the cook make me something else at the palac-at home."

"If you're too much of a guppy, I'll swim you home." Marin declared with that lazy half-smile of his.

Attina found herself looking at his features and determining, once and for all, that he was a little cute, when he wasn't being overly annoying. Hm. Maybe Bria was onto something after all.

"Please, if you swam me home, and the guards saw you, they'd think you kidnapped me earlier. Then they would arrest you, and when you started crying, we'd see who was the real guppy was," Attina declared, smirking when she saw annoyance creep into his features.

"Hey, what's that?" Marin suddenly asked, pretending to be overly interested in the ground. Attina frowned, looking down as well.

"What?" She asked quickly, almost worriedly. Without a word, Marin gave her his own smirk, before reaching over and punching her shoulder…hard. She winced, moaning, "What was that for?!"

"No looking down, remember? It's the number one rule of the game," He stated cheekily, while Attina glared at him and rubbed her shoulder. Then, a truly grand idea entered her mind.

"I thought you weren't allowed to play the game, so you stopped," she replied, narrowing her eyes.

Marin gave a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, I guess I forgot about that."

Attina rolled her eyes, and then sighed theatrically, looking upwards once more, "I better get going."

"Oh." Marin blinked, disappointed for just a moment, before shrugging it off. He followed her gaze upwards, just for a moment, and it was all the girl needed. "Okay, see you at school?"

She grinned at him, reaching over to return a stinging punch to his own shoulder. "That's for breaking the number two rule of the game; no looking up." Triumphantly, she held her head high, smirking with pleasure. "Yup. See you at school."

"Hey!" Marin cried, rubbing his shoulder now. "I thought we stopped playing the game!"

Attina turned around slightly, already starting to swim back to her own home. "You stopped playing. I never said I did."

Just like that, the girl laughed as she sped off. She knew that once she got home, she was in huge trouble for giving the guards the slip. Not to mention, she was coming back after dinner, when she had promised Alana she'd be there way before. However, in this moment, she didn't care. She was just happy to have had a great highlight in this otherwise lousy day, even if it was with him.

"Those guys are crazy," Marin muttered to himself, watching with a grin as the mergirl sped off. "Attina's definitely kind of pretty…when she's not being a pain in the tail."

So how did you guys like it? Tell me in your REVIEWS, please! It just takes a minute to write a few words, and trust me, that goes a long way.