Ayumi is regretting her choices

Ayumi and Greg arrives to the first reading session. The first part of being in a play, getting the first touches of their characters.

They all sit around in a circle, so that everyone could see everybody's reactions. Ayumi was sitting between the two guys, her crush Greg and her play-love interest, Liam.

After a couple of lines, Liam stood up.

"Hey, Ayumi," he turned to her. "I think it would be better if you stripped down and wore your costume during the reading. Just to get a feel for it and get used to it. After all, you're gonna spend the whole performance naked. No reason to get shy now. We are all going to see every inch of your beautiful body, sooner on later."

Ayumi stared at Liam, her heart pounding furiously in her chest. Did he just say she'd be naked for the entire performance? She quickly flipped through the script, her eyes scanning the pages frantically. As she read, her jaw dropped in horror. Ariel, her character, was indeed supposed to be completely naked for the entire hour and a half of the play.

In this reimagination, Ariel didn't lose her voice. When she was transformed, she remained naked. And she needed the Prince to give her something to wear. Until that, she was a carefree native girl who roamed the land naked as the day she was born, not a Princess of the Sea. The curse didn't allow her to ask for clothes and to refuse them from anyone who wasn't the Prince.

"I can't believe this," she muttered, her voice shaking. "I thought it was just a few scenes, but this is ridiculous!"