Ariana woke up. She was lying in her bed, under the covers. For a moment she wondered if her slip off the dock had just been yet another dream. She felt her hair...it was damp. So she really had fallen into the sea. But how did she end up in her room after blacking out from hitting her head? She got up and brushed her hair, questioning what had happened. She looked outside, it was still sunny out. She went into the hallway and heard her parents talking downstairs.
    "She has a right to know the truth," Ariana's mother was insisting.
    "Absolutely not, Jane," replied her father, Bill. "It's too dangerous."
    "The danger is in keeping this is a secret! After what happened to day, who knows what other kinds of danger she could be in?"
    "What's going on?" asked Ariana, looking down at them curiously from the top of the staircase. Her mother tried to casually change the subject but it was too late. "You guys are keeping something from me..."
    "Ariana, honey, you hit your head," said Bill, "You're not feeling well. Luckily Gregory the fisherman spotted you falling off the pier and knew CPR. You could've died. Why don't I make you some hot chocolate?"
    "No," Ariana was unconvinced. "I want to know what you guys were talking about. About what I have a right to know."
    "It was really nothing," Jane lied. "I was overreacting about something. Your father's right. We'll talk about it when you're older."
    Ariana stormed back into her bedroom. She grabbed some of her things and put them into a knapsack. Quietly, she pulled open her bedroom window and crawled out. She climbed down the side of the house along some vines and got on her bike. The only person she could really talk to was Chase. So she rode over to his house.
    "And then they lied straight to my face!" Ariana said as she put a handful of popcorn in her mouth.
    "I'm sure it's no big deal, Ariana," Chase laughed. "Probably something about dating. You know, where the mom wants to have the sex talk and the dad keeps trying to put it off so you'll be his little girl forever."
    "I guess that would make sense," Ariana considered the idea. "But it really seemed like there was more to it. They mentioned I was in danger because I fell off the pier earlier today."
    "They're your parents! Of course they were worried you almost drowned!"
    "You're so right," Ariana couldn't help but laugh. "Why am I such a drama queen? Maybe because I'm just so up for the idea of having some sort of exciting adventure in my lfie that I create it subconsciously. Anyway, I'd better get home before the parents start freaking out. See you tomorrow."
    As she biked home, Ariana saw a group of young boys on the beach. They seemed to be poking something with a stick and laughing. It was a little red crab.
    "Hey!" Ariana stopped biking and walked towards them. "You boys get out of here and leave that poor thing alone!" The boys stood silently for a moment. "Now!" Ariana yelled. They scurried off. Ariana leaned down and picked up the little crab. "There, you're alright. Sorry about that, some kids just love picking on those of us who are different." She brushed him off and carefully placed him back down on the sand. Ariana got back on her bike.
    "Thank you for that, I must say, human boys strike me as quite immature most of the time," said a voice in a British accent.
    Ariana stopped and turned around. It only took her two seconds to realize that the voice had come from the little red crab.

(End Of Part 2)