Drabble for future ideas:
*home-schooled until high school
*father has a diving business and wreck dives for fun
*he moved his family to South Africa about a decade ago after Ari's mother died
*Ari unexpectently moves to Monterey, CA after a huge blow-out with her father
*receives money and help arranging her passport, papers, etc. in exchange for putting her collection of antiques that she, her father, and (unbeknownst to her) her mother have accumulated over the years on loan to Ursa, a woman who knows they're worth a ton of money (but Ari's family keeps anything that museums aren't interested in for purely sentimental reasons)
*if Ari doesn't pay Ursa back in cash within three months, she doesn't get her collection back (that's worth around a million dollars)
*she knows that her father will be trying to find her, and only moved to Monterey because that's where her aunt lives (in case she needs any help)
*however, she won't tell her aunt that she's there and tries to disguise her South African accent, which she mostly does by just not talking
*"fish-out-of-water" situation
*preconceived notions about high school
*naive due to inexperience, not idealism
*not exceptionally street-smart
*realizes that a guy (Eric) who she helped rescue duing a diving lesson accident attends the same high school, but she's already established an alter-ego and can't reveal herself
*while he recovered on a beach off the coast of South Africa, she was assigned to watch him and make sure he stays conscious while her dad went to get help, since Eric had badly injured his leg and sliced her head above his eye. However, after a bit of awkward chit-chat about her collection of "treasure," Ari started singing (the one thing she wasn't reserved about) and told Eric to sing along with her, although he stopped shortly after when she switched to Hawaiian lullabies that her mother used to sing her.
*Since Ari had a different accent and sunglasses, and Eric's eyes were covered in blood, he never really knows what she looks like, but is nonetheless entirely smitten
*after three weeks of school and no job, Ari realizes that she'll never be able to pay Ursa back and unleashes her problems on Eric when he notices that she's distracted and upset while staying after school for a photography project
*Eric invites her to stay in his family's guest house by the sea for as long as necessary, since his parents are always away on business
*an older male cousin and a younger sister live with him in the main house, along with his Old English Sheepdog
*Eric eventually brings up the girl he met in South Africa, and how he's a bit enamored with her despite considering it completely foolish since he hardly knows her; he just remembers the feeling of them both letting their guard down and how safe he felt with her, plus her voice, collection, and where her dad works (but when Eric calls him, Ari's father obviously has no idea where she is and doesn't give him an answer)
*Ari is conflicted, since they definitely start to develop feelings for one another, but hates that she lied to Eric, especially since he's admitted to barely being able to trust people
*Eric's family has a big work-related event in Napa coming up, and Eric asks Ari to go with him
*Ari gets a job and finally makes enough to pay back Ursa, but she's mugged on her way to the bank
*Ursa (who's actually a brilliant con artist) planned the mugging and had been in town for a week, occasionally checking up on Ari herself, but mostly having her two thugs to the work.
*Knowing that she doesn't have the money and Ursa is going to keep her collection, she finally reveals herself to Eric and asks for a loan from him as well
*Eric, confused and hurt, leaves for a long walk on the beach the evening before they're supposed to leave for the event
*in a fit of spite, Eric leaves Ari the money she needs, but has already left for the small, private plane to Napa with none other than Ursa, who he met on the beach and figured his parents would approve of (these events were the only time they could really check in); plus, there was an extra room in the hotel and seat on the plane without Ari
*Ari wakes up, discovers the money, assumes Eric has already left, but hears a clanging next door; hoping that it's Eric so she can apologize, she rushes to him but discovers that it's the same guys who mugged her. She overhears them talking about how Ursa has paid someone to pilot their plane and land Eric in the middle of nowhere, where he'll be tied up and held for ransom
*Ari knows that Eric's older cousin can also fly and refuses to attend anything where his family might be present, so she finds him at his work, tells him what's happening, and they take off to save Eric
to be continued...
