WHERE DREAMS ARE MADE OF

by iPodapalooza

Ever wonder if all those people working at Disney World are really happy? Yeah, they're not. *Rated M for language. Think of it as a stong t*

WHERE DREAMS ARE MADE OF…..

Well, that's what the brochure said.

It's the summer before college begins, and a certain 'lucky' few have been given the 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to work for the Walt Disney World Theme Parks. However, the Happiest Place on Earth isn't always, well, the happiest place on Earth.

This is the story of five roommates and their summer together. While I cannot say that the five are friends, or even like each other, for that matter, you get to know people when you spend three months together.

My inspiration from this story came before the movie 'Adventureland' came out, but the off-beat humor helped my story to develop into this wonderfullness.

This story is also based loosely on 'Dream Factory' by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler. It's a great book. You should read it.

Anyway, the first couple chapters are just for you to get familiar with the characters. It's basically like the pilot episode. I also wrote this a very long time ago, so I had to go back and update a few things. Honestly, the best scenes in this chapter are Franki and Mae. I had to rewrite all of Reena's and the original Claire and Ari chapters were written when I was thirteen. I'm seventeen now, and as you can imagine, I've changed since then. I'll let you know when the real fun begins.

*THIS STORY IS RATED A STRONG 'T'. THERE IS PROFANITY, BUT THAT'S ALL. IT'S RATED M BECAUSE THE F-BOMB IS THROWN AROUND TO SHOW CERTAIN CHARACTERS' PERSONALITIES. THE RATING MAY BE LOWERED SOON.*

Before the story begins, you'll probably want a little background information on the five main characters.

CLAIRE DURAN- Claire is from a small town in Missouri. Not much really goes on there. Claire is barely five-four, with blonde hair and blue eyes and freckles, like any Midwestern girl would. She's pretty smart, probably the smartest one in the group, and it shows. Her best friend is her neighbor, McKenzie Dunlap. The two are inseparable. However, Kenzie wasn't invited to Orlando. Oh well…

ARIANNA 'ARI' CRENSHAW- Ari was born in Appalachian Valley, Tennessee. That should say it all. Ari has flaming red hair, green eyes, and more freckles than Claire. She also has a bunch of brothers, who will be referred to as 'The ManClan.' Naturally, Ari is somewhat of a tomboy. But, her polar-opposite Boston-native cousin, Amy, is not about to let the Crenshaw name to be bashed in Orlando. The Crenshaw's all live in Miami now, where Ari has met her best friend ever, Greggory Brown, who will also be in Orlando this summer.

FRANCESSCA 'FRANKI' GRAGNANI- Every group has one: the Beverly Hills brat. This time, it's Franki. Franki's been living in the BH with her mother, step-father, and two older stepbrothers, Richie (who's more of a father than her actual father) and Junior (who is her hell-bending lesser-liked stepbrother). She cares a lot about her appearance and it shows- she never looks bad. Despite being a brat, Franki's not an idiot. She knows who she is and wouldn't change it for the world. Franki also swears like a sailor and always seems to have a way to get out of trouble, and those ways basically punch ethics in the face.

JASVINDER REENA DHILLON- Oh, Reena. Reena's probably the sweetest girl in the group. Living happily in San Antonio, she's only in Orlando to get away from her mother and Hadley & the Steps (her step-siblings), and she's the one that believes in the Disney Magic the most. Reena's also an avid runner and follows sports, but also cares a great deal for the environment. Her older sister, Kassie, is one of her closest friends. Or was, but that's the least of her problems now.

AMELIA 'MAE' ALEXANDER- Loud. Brash. Rude. Yep, that's Mae. Mae's clever as hell. She says anything and everything and usually gets away with it, considering how it's a) true and b) funny as she-yat. Mae's the only one in the group that had no desire to be in Orlando that summer, but Asian power-lawyer mom isn't going to let Mae wreak any more havoc in the streets of NYC.

Once again, the beginning chapters won't be too exciting. So, without further ado...

6:15 pm , MISSOURI

CLAIRE

"Claire, sweetie, are you already packed?" My overly concerned mother asked, standing in my doorway.

I nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to say goodbye to Kenzie before I leave tomorrow."

Tomorrow I was heading off to sunny Orlando, Florida for a twelve-week 'experience of a lifetime.' Disney World was offering a young adult leadership class. Me, being a type A person, was instantly accepted. Unfortunately, my best friend was rejected.

Mom didn't budge. "I can't believe my little girl is growing up. And going to Florida!"

"It's only Disney World, Mom. I promise you, nothing bad will be going on," I assured her, closing my plain TJMAXX suitcase. "Now, can I please go to Kenzie's? I'm sleeping over there. Dad already knows."

I stood up, brushing back my overgrown blond bangs from my eyes. I could not wait to get out of suburbia. Maybe something exciting would happen in Orlando. I mean, I've been there before, every suburban kid has, and I saw a whole lotta stuff that would never happen in Missouri.

Mom's eyes misted over.

"Mom, Kenzie's?" I reminded her before the 'remember when' session began.

She snapped out of it instantly. "Oh, yes, sure. Make sure to come home early tomorrow, your flight leaves at…"

I was already gone.

McKenzie Dunlap is my best friend. I've known her since I was born, which was the day that we became best friends. Our mothers were friends before and were neighbors in the maternity ward. Kenzie and I were born on the same day, but she's six hours older than me. Because I'm an only child, she's like my sister.

I walked into Kenzie's house. I have a key, so it's not like it really mattered.

"Hey, Kenzie," I shouted. "Hey Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap." They nodded their hello's at me.

"Claire, Claire!" Kenzie stumbled down the stairs and embraced me. "I can't believe that you're leaving me!"

Kenzie was several inches taller than me with long, dark red hair and dark blue eyes. She was my polar opposite.

"Relax, Kenz, it's only for three months," I murmered from her choking hug. I coughed, hoping she would get a hint.

She didn't, and hugged me tighter. "What am I going to do without you? This'll be out first summer apart! What am I gonna do?"

Finally, I broke free from her grasp. I'm 90% sure that my face was blue. "It'll be cool, Kenz. There are plenty of exciting things that you can do in St. Charles. Like… like the library! Or the Lewis and Clark Trail! That's a fun one, lots of guys love the L&C Trail." Yeah, these lies are not getting any better.

Kenzie wiped her eyes, smudging her eye make-up. "But Lewis has Clark and Clark had Lewis and one of them had Pocahontas-"

"Sacajawea," I corrected automatically.

"See? Who's gonna correct me when you leave?" She wailed.

Suddenly, I didn't feel as bad about going to Orlando anymore.

ARI

7:06 PM MIAMI, FLORIDA

"Soooo…Orlando?" My best friend, Gregg, asked me.

"Orlando," I sighed dreamily.

"What's in Orlando again? I mean, besides Mickey Mouse, Dream Date." Gregg snickered, I shoved him.

"Shut up! It's just for the experience," I told him.

We were at the beach, as we usually are. It's a waste to stay all bottled up inside when Miami weather cannot be beat.

"Besides, what's so bad about Orlando?" I asked him.

Gregg shrugged his tan shoulders. "Well, they don't have a CSI: Orlando, do they?"

I frowned. "I don't get it."

"I'm just saying, do you really think that this-that- Orlando scene is really what you want?"

"Are you calling me white trash?" I gasped, jumping off the table we were sitting on.

"No, no!" he shouted. "I think that Orlando is your calling."

"Gregg, will you please tell me what in the world you're talking about? Because you're making no sense and I'm started to get offended," I crossed my arms angrily.

"I'm just saying that everything you need is here in Miami. That is, unless you have some kind of secret Disney World Dream. And do you really want to go get commercialized?"

"It's me, Gregg! Ari! The worse that'll happen is that I'll get on the wrong bus or whatever. I'm not going to run away and get married or anything. I'm not that commercialized."

I'm the only girl in my family. Well, other than my mom. Really, it's kinda awful. I've learned how to climb trees, keep my ground, surf, and know all of the college and professional football and basketball teams, only for survival among the ManClan.

Still, it wouldn't kill for me to go somewhere where people actually appreciate the smell of soap. My parents felt bad for me and my lack of girl friends so my mom's brother moved next door. He's gotta daughter my age named Amy. She's a lil' uptight for me.

And there she was, standing in my room with an armful of swimsuits. Really tiny swimsuits.

"How'd you get into my house?" I asked.

"Where were you? Hanging out with Greggorious?" Amy rolled her eyes in my direction. "One'd think you'd have better taste."

"His name is Greggory, he goes by Gregg. Why are you here?" I watched her throw clothes around my room.

"Do you not have anything here that does not have a sports logo on it?" Amy held one of my many Florida Gators shirts with disgust.

I grabbed the shirt from her. "I'm going to build character, not a fashion career. I have plenty of feminine clothes, but none of them will be needed."

My curly red hair was plastered to my forehead thanks to the lovely sea breeze. Amy immediately closed my window.

"Hey!" I protested.

"I just straightened my hair. No salt water is touching it," Amy threatened me. Amy's flaw: her hair gets bigger than mine when it's wet. Her curls could rival Little Orphan Annie's.

"It's almost eight o'clock. Shouldn't you be going to whatever party you straightened your hair for?" I asked, trying to get her out of my house.

"'The party starts when the day stops,'" Amy quoted.

"Huh?"

"Doesn't matter. Your mom wanted me to come and help you pack. Do you really think I'm here by choice? I'm supposed to make sure that you get your woman on in Orlando," Amy informed me, fixing her bangs in my tiny mirror.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, so, I bought you some of my old bikinis. I mean, they'll probably look better on me but I'm not going to wherever you're going, thank Gawd…"

"Huh?"

"Oh my God, you're worse than she told me…"

FRANKI

8:07 pm BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA

In Beverly Hills, some people use every excuse to throw a party. Your quarter birthday, a new recipe, a dead goldfish, it doesn't matter. Everyone's willing to roll out the red carpet and spend a fortune on a 'special' event.

Tonight's formal event was my older brother's transferring of schools from USC to the University of Miami and my slightly less formal going away party. Because we need two parties for everything.

I was hanging around my stepbrother's gift table, trying to guess what people had bought him.

"Coffee maker," I whispered to him.

"I don't drink coffee," he whispered back. "I'm going for a blender."

"The Mastersons love coffee. It's a coffee maker," I stood my ground.

"They also love smoothies. Blender."

I sighed. "Whatever. I know for a fact that it's a coffee maker. That's what they got me for my eighth grade graduation."

"You're just jealous that you don't get a gift table of your own," Junior smirked.

"Yeah, what am I going to do without a coffee maker?" I took a sip of water.

"Blender!" Junior said a little too loudly, causing people to stare. He lowered his voice before continuing. "I mean, blender."

My oldest, and favorite, stepbrother, Richie, casually walked over to us. "Aren't you two too old to be guessing what people bought you?"

I turned to face him. "Mastersons," I pointed at the finely wrapped present on the table in front of us.

"Oh, definitely a coffee maker," Richie said instantly.

I slapped him a hi-five.

"You guys suck. It's a total blender. Why would they give me something that I'd never use?" Junior pouted.

"That's right, they never gave you a brain or a book or a girlfriend-" Richie gave me a warning look. "I mean, quit being such a fucking baby. The Mastersons only give one gift. I have enough coffee makers to open my own chain of Starbucks'," I rolled my eyes again.

"I bet a claim of herpes being found on the cups would clothes those Starbucks' on up…"

"Francessca!" My mother called me away before Junior could finish threatening my future.

"Yes, mother?"I asked sweetly, slowly walking over to her.

"Francessca, darling, don't you think that you should finish packing?"

Ugh. I hate when my mom talks in soft voices. We all know that the beeetch is from Staten Island. And we totally have housekeepers to do that packing shit. Of course, my mom loves to make people believe that I do manual labor. It's annoying, really.

I was too tired to argue with her. "Of course, Mother," I replied as sweetly as before. I gave a wave to the people at my own party and turned to the stairway. Junior ran up to me.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To pack. Do you think that I should pull a Von Trapp and sing my way out?" I asked sarcastically.

"But I haven't even opened my gifts yet!" he whined. "How are we going to solve the coffee maker/blender battle?"

I looked at my mom. She was casually jerking her head at me while talking to a friend. Cute. "I gotta go. Night," I walked up the stairs and to my room.

My stuff had already been laid out in it's labeled Louis Vuitton suitcases. I flipped on my tv while changing into my pajamas, leaving the dress on the floor. Someone would pick it up

"Francessca Gragnani, you have just left your own party three hours early," I muttered to myself as my phone went off.

JUNIOR- Blendr. Suk ittt

REENA

9:16 PM SAN ANTONIIO, TEXAS

Visiting my dad was my mom's idea.

Well, technically it was the court's, because they made me spend all of my summers with him.

Except it wasn't Twilight. It was more like a cheap summer day camp, even though I'm, like, way too old for that. So I decided that it was a good time for me to tell everyone that I was taking the paid internship in Orlando for the summer.

"I don't know, Reena," My mom tapped her upper lip impatiently. "Florida is a long way from here."

"It doesn't matter. You already paid for it," I ignored her, tossing more clothes into my Betsey Johnson suitcase. "And I'm going to be the only person here, anyway. Bradley's going to train the new recruits, you work double shifts at the hospital during the summer, Kassie's going to Spain, and Hadley and the Steps are gonna be doing whatever little kids do."

"They are your step siblings!" My mother tried to correct me.

My older sister, Kassie, stormed into my room.

"What the hell, Weiner! We have to be out of here in twenty minutes! I'm not about to miss my flight to Spain just because you waited all day to throw shampoo in a suitcase. Oh my God, Reen, are you not bringing clothes with you? Are you going to a nude camp? Ugh, you are so weird. And gross. You're just… wrose," Kassie sneered.

"You're wrose," I scowled.

"You're wroser."

"Oh yeah? Well, you're the wrosest!" I screamed.

My mother threw her hands in the air. "My Lord! I don't care where you go, just please get out of my house and don't come back until August. And Reena, put some clothes in that suitcase, okay? We wear clothes in this family," she shuddered and walked out of my room.

"Gassie, pack my bags," I instructed my older sister.

"Why the hell would I do that?" she asked, confused.

"Because I need to call Dad. I might stay with him in Florida. He does live in Florida, right? It'd save me a fortune on board," I explained.

"Don't do that," Kassie said quickly.

"Do what?"

"Stay with Dad. I mean, it's your summer. And… uh, well, it's Dad. He just does all of that weird dad stuff and he's barely even there anymore. He has some new hobby or whatever. He's never home. You'd have to vacuum the carpets because he won't be there to do it himself," she rambled.

"A hobby?"

"Just shut up and pack, okay? God, you're so wrose," she shook her head.

"You're wrose times thirteen…"

MAE

10:20 PM NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

J: WHR R U? DA PARTY IS THE AVE

MAE: Home. I'm being deported.

"Mae-Lynn!" My mother snapped. "Put that phone away, I am talking to you!"
I snapped my phone shut. "Permission to speak, your honor?" I asked sarcastically. My mom's a lawyer. She was asking for it.

I was sitting at the dinner table with my parents in our apartment in NYC. My mom, tiny, Chinese, and serious, was sitting next to my dad, who's white, balding, and fun. They were in the process of impeaching me. My dad's a politician. He's asking for it.

"Permission granted," Mom played along.

"Your honor," I began, "why are you impeaching me? You cannot do this. Two thirds of the Senate have to agree before impeachment."

"Good job, Mae," my dad said proudly.

"It's Congress," Mom corrected quickly.

I kept going. "I need Congress to come and vote on it. Permission to bring in Janey and Tate, your honor."
"Permission denied."

I slammed my head down on the table. "Mo-om!"

"I will send you on the first flight to Tibet if you do not accept this offer," she threatened me."What happens in Tibet stays in Tibet because you can't get out of Tibet!"

"Well if you can't get out, you can't get in," I said, satisfied.

"I will make you climb Mount flippin' Everest if I have to!" she retaliated.

"Wait," my dad interrupted. "Where is Mae supposed to be going?"

"Disney World," my mom scowled.

My father was clearly confused, "But Mae, you love Disney World."

"Yeah, but I didn't have to work there!" I snarled.

""We're sending Mae to work?" Dad was still confused. But good job on the 'we' part. Mom hates it when Dad says that only one of them makes a major decision.

"Yes, Gary!" Mom was annoyed. Bad signs. "Now, can we please get back to the problem here?"

Oh, so I'm the problem now?

"Um, why are we sending Mae to work at Disney World?" Dad ignored my mother. "I forgot."

"To help her build character."
"Character? She's got enough of that. They should make a Disney character out of her!" Dad laughed at his own joke. Fun one!

I slapped him a hi-five.

"Order in the court!" My fifteen year old brother, Tate, pounded his way into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and rummaged through it. The one person who doesn't support me.

"Go away, Nathaniel," I sneered.

"Make me, Amelia," he sneered back, taking out last night's pasta.

Sensing my uncomfortableness, mom swooped in like a hawk. "Tate, do you think that Mae should leave for the summer?"

"Hecks yes!" Tate was shoveling the pasta down his pie-hole.

"Irrelevant, your honor," I interjected.

"Objection!" Tate shouted, just to hear his own voice.

"Overruled," Mom yelled over us. "For both of you. Mae, go pack your bags. You're leaving for Orlando tomorrow. Gary, thanks for helping. And Tate, don't eat that shrimp in the pasta cold. Salmonella, okay? And chew your food!"

"Wait! What about the jury deliberating? This court process is complete and total bull... shevik!" I decided not to swear in front of my mother. That wouldn't help much.

My parents had already left the room, leaving Tate and I.

"I hate you, Tater Tot. I hope they deport you, too," I hissed at him.

"Well, Maple Syrup, I don't care where I am, as long as I'm far, far away from you," he smiled at me, moving on to eating a carton of rice.

"Well Tate," I began, standing up, "that's not soy sauce you're putting in that rice."

He spat it out immediately. "MAE! What the fu-"

CLAIRE

5:00 AM LAMBERT INT'L AIRPORT

Since I had to get up at 3 o'clock the next morning, I decided not to go to sleep. But then Kenzie bailed out on me a little after midnight and I decided to catch a few minutes of sleep. Except I didn't wake up in a few minutes like I'd planned.

When I woke up, I was at the airport with my parents. I screamed bloody hell when the first thing I saw was McKenzie Dunlap, singing 'Here Comes the Sun' by the Beatles.

Then, my best friend insisted on following me through security, which not even my parents wanted to do.

"Claire, fix your bangs," she instructed.

"Kenzie, it's five o'clock in the morning. I don't think anybody cares how I look,"I grumbled, stubbornly fixing my bangs.

She shook her unnaturally straight maroon hair. How did she look so nice so early? "Let's review this one more time."
"Let's not."

"Orlando is not like Missouri," she began.

"Kenz, spare me the obvious," I snapped, fighting to stay awake. Sometimes I don't even know how we're friends.

"I told you to get a tan before you left. You look pasty, Claire. I don't want people to treat you differently because you're white-"

I snorted and gave my BFF a hug. "Goodbye, Kenzie."

ORLANDO

"Name, please."

"Uh, Claire. Claire Duran," I stammered, after the plane ride from hell (one word: laxative), I could barely keep my eyes open.

"Duran…Duran… where are you from, Claire?" the friendly receptionist in a black Mickey Mouse hat asked me as she scanned through the computer registration list.

Geesh. How many Durans are out there? "A small town in Missouri. You've probably never heard of it," I responded quickly.

"Give it a shot," she insisted.

It was getting hard for me to keep the smile on my face. "You've never heard of it, trust me."

"Ah, found it. Claire Duran," she never heard my last sentence. "St. Charles, huh? Never heard of it."

I was going to slap her in the face, I was that tired.

"What was that, dearie?" She asked as a red-head walked by.

I blinked. Now I'm hallucinating. "Oh, uh, I'm just really tired."

"Me too. I've been working at Disney for…." Her voice trailed off.

An Asian girl walked past us, too. I squeezed my eyes shut. I don't know, but I think that having extremely detailed hallucinations is a problem. I don't need a doctor to tell me that.

The lady printed out something and handed it to me. "This is your room key, a map of the parks, and your room number." She slapped an encyclopedia down in front of me as well. "That is the Disney character book. During business hours, there should be no reason to ever break character. Ever. That's how the magic stays alive. Not even if you're a pirate, you can never swear like a sailor." She handed me another book, this one slightly smaller. "And that's the rule book. Can't have a bunch of minors anywhere anymore without one of those."

I already seemed to hate Florida.

ARI

8:47 AM DISNEY WORLD

The bus ride to Orlando was good. I read a lot of old ESPN magazines and checked game stats on my phone the entire way.

Once there, I wheeled my Florida Gators suitcase inside the meeting room that was slowly filling up with tired teenagers. I picked a seat in between no body, but I was still real close to an Asian girl playing with some sort of technology. She looked at me when I sat down.

"Hey," I said nervously.

The girl sat the game down. "Red heads are the rarest form of white people. How to you feel about being one in a million?"

I had nothing to say. "Uhhhh…. Thanks? That was interesting. Tell me another white person fact."

"What do you think I am? The BBC? " She rolled her eyes. "Have you never met another person before? That was an ice breaker. You're supposed to change the subject to the weather or something. No wonder why nobody likes red heads."

I still didn't say anything.

The other girl let out a sigh. "What's your name, kid?"

Kid? We're the same age. But I didn't say that. I needed some more girl friends. The ManClan can only interest you so much.

"I'm Ari," I smiled. "From Orlando."

"Mae. I'm from New York, by the way. The City. And I missed an awesome rave last night because I was being deported. Why are you here? I bet you stole something. Probably a car. You look like a thief. In that 'Dukes of Hazard' type way."

I backed up like a cat about to jump. "I'm not a thief. I came here by choice so I could learn about cooperation and teamwork," I quoted.

"Puh-lease. You live an hour away from here. You probably come here twice a month. That's like saying you're a New Yorker that's never been to the Bronx Zoo."
A blonde girl stumbled in and collapsed into a chair, slammin' her head on the table.

"Should we help her?" I whispered to Mae.

"Two words: Pineapple Express," she shook her head. "Hey, that guy over there is looking at you."

My face turned red. "Oh mah gosh, who?"

"The one with the dark hair in the corner. The one who looks like he showers in baby oil."

Mae was right. The guy on the other side of the room was looking at me. And he was cute. He had the prettiest blue eyes.

I didn't know what to do, so I waved.

He waved back.

I giggled.

"What the hell is this? Are you twelve? Get your ass up and go over there and talk to him. Looks like Man Candy found his Splenda."

FRANKI

9:13 AM DISNEY WORLD-ISH

I took my dad's private jet.

Actually, it was my step-dad's private jet.

But I was not about to fly commercial. It was bad enough that I had to miss my own party. There was no way in hell that I was about so spend four hours on a plane with a bunch of whiny, snotty nosed kids that touched everything in a seven foot radius. Besides, it's not like Richard ever used the plane anyway. He had other ones.

And so the entire thing wouldn't be blamed on me, I dragged Junior along with me. It seemed like stealing a plane would be something he would do.

"My-amy," he sighed happily.

"And the best part? You have a private jet to take you to all of the best parties along the Florida coast," I sipped my Diet Coke through a straw. "I bet you could pass for a celeb if you put some sunglasses on." Ugh, I nearly threw up on that lie. You can only say so many words to Junior before his ego explodes.

He flexed his biceps. "Can't deny that one."

"I bet you could even get into Puerto Rico," I continued.

"Bonjour," he nodded.

Stupid, stupid boy. "Bonjour," I repeated.

"So where are you going again?" He asked, lying down on the couch across from me.

I sat my glass down and rolled over on my side to face him. "Orlando, you idiot. Disney World? Ring a bell?"

He laughed. "Orlando? You're kidding, right?"

I scowled. "Why the hell would I joke about doing manual labor?"

"Franki, Franki, Franki," he shook his head slowly. "I think it's time for a good stepbrother- stepsister talk."

"Go for it," I nodded my approval. This should be interesting.

He took a deep breath. "Franki, you're a bitch."

"HEY!" I sat up angrily. "I am not!"

"Are to. And Franki, bitches like you don't belong in Disney World. It's a friendly place, not the Real World house."

UGH. I smoothed my hair down. "Junior," I began sweetly. "I am one of the nicest

people you will ever meet."

"I must know more people than you think," he smirked.

I threw a pillow at him, which he caught.

"See?" He waved the pillow at me.

I was not about to be dissed by an idiot like Junior. "I'm as pure as frickin' snow," I continued.

"As pure as New York snow a day later."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Why the hell are you here again, dear brother?" I asked sarcastically.

"You mean besides taking the blame for you bringing Dad's jet to Florida?" He asked and my jaw dropped. "Yeah, don't think that I didn't know all about that," he looked at me smugly.

Nice thoughts, nice thoughts.

"Answer my question," I said through clenched teeth.

He grinned. "It's my last chance to party before school begins. Plus I thought it would be nice to meet the neighbors, if you get what I mean."
Manwhore.

The plane landed and my stepbrother and I unloaded our suitcases and waved to the pilot. Two cars waited for us: one to take Junior to get Chlamydia and one to take me to Disney World.

I turned to face my annoying stepbrother for hopefully the last time that summer.

"I guess I should say something meaningful to you," I thought out loud. "Something you'll remember in a drunken midnight flashback."

"Yeah, that's gonna be a tough one," he nodded.

"Something casual."

"Something short."

"Coffee maker."

"Blender."

REENA

10:42 AM DISNEY WORLD

There was a hurricane spinning around in the Gulf, making my plane to Orlando wayyy late.

It ruined everything.

I dragged my suitcases to the check-in desk.

"You're late," the woman growled at me.

Oh no, she's angry! "Um, yeah. See, there was this hurricane…"

"Yeah, I hate it when that happens," this shaggy haired guy about my age said from behind me. He opened the door to the counter and walked behind it.

"Andrew, you're late," the crabby lady snapped.

"See, there was this hurricane," he mimicked, slapping a stick-on nametag to his chest. "And it's Drew."

"You're late," the woman turned her attention back to me. "Name, please."

"Reena."

She typed my name in and then scrolled for what seemed like forever, and then turned back to me with an angrier look on her face. "There aren't any 'Reenas' in the system," she eyed me suspiciously.

Crap.

"Uh, try Jasvinder Reena Dhillon," I told her my full name.

"Found you," she gave me a dirty look. "Why didn't you give me your real name when we first started?"

"I've always gone by Reena?" I tried. "And that's the name I registered with?"

Drew laughed. "Good answer, Dhil."

I ignored the fact that he called me 'Dyl' as in 'Dylan' and grabbed the two books and packet from the desk before turning around and practically running through the doors.

"Way to give an answer, Dhil. That took balls," Drew followed me in.

"I don't want to talk about body parts," I said nervously. "And it's Reena, by the way. In case you didn't pick up on that back there."

"Mmm, I think I'll stick with Dhil," he shrugged. "And brilliant on the whole hurricane thing. I don't think I've ever heard that one before."

"That was real," I stopped in my tracks. "Where am I going?"

Drew plucked the sheet of paper from my hands. "That happens to be a secret. Confidentiality."

"I'm already late," I stomped my foot angrily.

"Wow, what are you, five?" Drew raised an eyebrow at me. "I can help you. I'm late, too."

My eyes opened wide. "I thought you worked for that scary lady! I didn't know that you were part of the summer thing as well!"
He nodded. "Yeah. My parents thought it would be good for me. And that scary lady is my aunt."

Way to blow it, Reena. "Oh. Um, awkward."

Drew, thank God, laughed. "It's cool. I'm not too fond of her either. She was the biggest influence on my new summer job. And she really seems to have it out for me. I am fully prepared to have the worst job in the park. "

"Janitor?"

"No, Prince Charming." I laughed, Drew grinned. "No, she'll probably make me one of the fur characters. It gets so frickin' hot in there, it's like hell in the form of Disney cartoons. Anyone under four feet tall is practically impossible to see, and they take advantage of it. Little kids, 112 degree heat, and long hours. My advice, Dhil, is to get out now."

I shook my head. "That means quitting. I don't like quitting."

"I think that she actually wants to kill you and suck your blood. She's part vampire, by the way," he informed me.

"Really? I thought it was crack or something. Because you have to be on crack to wear Mickey Mouse ears over the age of thirteen." I also noticed that we weren't really going anywhere.

"She has a collection of them for different holidays. She's a festive woman," he shook his brown hair out of his eyes.

I paused. "Should I feel bad about bad-mouthing your aunt?"

He smiled. "Dhil, this is just the beginning."

MAE

11:27 AM DISNEY WORLD

A skinny black girl and a shaggy haired white guy stumbled into the room where we were being held. The lead woman in Mickey Mouse ears scowled at them both. Wow. It was a little early for such a defined hate.

Following them was the stereotypical ritz bitz (rich bitch) who successfully avoided the stink eye.

"And you are?" the woman asked her.

"Francessca Gragnani. But you can call me Franki. All of my friends do," she said smoothly.

"And Franki, why are you late?"

"I went to take my brother to college. He transferred schools," Franki looked bored. Definitely a ritz bitz.

"I was in a hurricane!" The black girl- well, she looked a little mixed, when you think about it,- blurted out.

"I don't want to hear it, Jasvinder. Andrew, why are you late?" Lead Woman crossed her arms angrily.

"Are we going to go through everyone's excuses for being late? Because if we are, I'm taking a rain check. Don't wanna rain on your parade," I leaned back in my chair. It drives old people insane when you do that.

The woman narrowed her eyes at me. "And your name, young lady?"

"Mae. You'd better remember it, because I'm one of those trouble makers. You'll probably want my parent's phone numbers while we're here… and a copy of all my previous encounters with the law," I continued. "I'm fascinating, really. They should have a Mae Day. Just for kicks."

My consistent rambling had a point. I had to test the waters of this place. The crowd and the rules. I wasn't about to stay in a complete hell hole for three months.

"Do you know where I can get some good weed around here?" I asked suddenly, successfully silencing the entire room. Oh, the sheltered type were here. "I'm kidding. I've always wanted to be a narc. It speaks to me. But, you do have to wonder how all of these Disney folk stay so happy all the time. I mean, those aren't just vitamins they're taking. We all saw 'Alice in Wonderland,' right? The caterpillar is definitely smoking a hookah. Why would Walt put that in there if he wasn't trying to throw us a hint or two? Was this a secret cry for medical attention? Where was Dr. Drew when we really needed him?"

"Mae! That. Is. Enough!" The woman snarled.

"Well, thank you. I was running out of ways to stretch you to your breaking point," I put all four of my chair legs safely back on the ground.

She was confused. "This was a test?"

I nodded. "And I found your kryptonite, Superman. Bad mouthin' Walt Disney. He's like the Buddha around here, huh?"

"Mae, there will be no tolerance of bad-mouthing religions in this park."
I snorted. "I'm Chinese. I know all about two things: underage gymnasts and Buddha. If anything, you're bad mouthing me. Aren't I protected by an amendment or something?" I leaned back in my chair again. "Do you want to call my parents yet? If you're lucky, you might get to talk to my mom. She'll cuss me out in two different languages!" I wiggled two fingers in the air.

"I don't want to call your parents on the first day," she mumbled.

"You'll be missing the best season premiere in history," I warned her.

"MAE!" Angry Woman finally erupted. "Get out of here right now, young lady! You may wait outside until the meeting ends. Not a good way to start your summer, young lady."

"Amelia rises to a thunderous applause," I said in my best announce voice.

Silence.

"Tough crowd. Hasta la vista, homies," I lazily saluted my new coworkers and walked out of the room.

Bzzzzzt.

My phone.

MOMINATOR- You are in big trouble, Amelia Lynn.

CLAIRE

12:44 PM DISNEY HOTEL

My new roommates were Ari, Franki, Reena, and Mae. None of them were really like Kenzie, which wasn't exactly a bad thing.

Our new house was really just a large hotel room. It was two doubles and a single.

"I call the single," the one with the long curly brown hair shouted as soon as we learned of how the rooms were set up.

"Why should you get the single?" the redhead demanded.

Curly brown motioned to her stack of designer suitcases. "I have all of these. I couldn't fit anyone else's clothes in the closet. Why do you need the single? You look like the type who's used to sharing things," she wrinkled her nose at the other girl's suitcases.

"That's exactly why I deserve the only bed that's alone," Red snapped.

"Not caring," the curly brown haired girl dragged her stuff into the single room and locked the door behind her.

"That's Franki, right?" Mae snorted.

I took charge. "That means the rest of us are going to be rooming together."

"I call Hurricane Girl!" Mae called out.

So, by default, that is how I ended up sharing a room with Ari.

A few minutes later, I had gone to a costume fitting.

Costume fittings are a pain. I wasn't hoping for anything exciting to happen. I'm pretty short, so I was assuming I'd be Tinkerbell or Alice in Wonderland or something like that. The next thing that happened was my first dose of the Disney World magic.

"Here, try this on," the stylist handed me a garment bag.

"I thought we agreed that I would just take the Tinkerbell coustume…" I said as I slid the dress on. I stepped out to get her opinion.

The powder blue Cinderella dress fit like a glove.

Silently, the stylist tossed me a see through slipper. Not sure of what else to do, I placed it on my foot.

Again, another perfect fit.

"Oh my God," the stylist breathed.

Great. I've only been here for six hours and I've already been deemed hideous by the stylist. I turned around to see myself in the three way mirror, and the image was astounding.

I was Cinderella.

Someone whistled behind me.

I whirled back around, but the weight of the dress nearly knocked me over. I was surprised to see a tall, attractive Hispanic guy about my age.

"I thought this was the girls' dressing room." Way to go, Claire. You might as well just die alone.

He ignored me. "Are you the new Cinderella?"

I looked at the stylist nervously. "I don't think so. Cinderella is such a big role for such a small person." What? That's really all that I could come up with?

"I'm Prince Charming," the guy pointed out, as if that would win me over. "It's like destiny."

"It's like fate," the stylist agreed.

"It's like no," I took the shoes off and put them back in the small turquoise box.

"You're to only person that fits in both the dress and the shoes without any alterations," the stylist pleaded. "You have no choice but to be Cinderella." She looked at the guy behind me. "And Brett is Prince Charming."

"Because Brett is charming."

I didn't know what else to say, and the stylist mistook that for a 'yes.'

"I'll deliver the shoes to your room later on!"

This day had gone from bad to me marrying a douche bag.

ARI

1:13 PM DRESSING ROOM

I kinda figured that I would be Ariel from the 'The Little Mermaid.' It only made sense. I had red hair and I could swim. I was meeting my new cast members while tryin' on my new outfit. Reena was sitting next to me, eatin' a bag of gummy bears.

"Can Ariel wear a bit more clothes?" I asked. "I feel a lil' exposed."

"You look great," the stylist assured me. "Doesn't she, Reena?"

"These gummy bears taste like dirt," Reena made a disgusted face.

"They're nonfat," I told her.

"That explains a lot," she crumpled the back up and tossed them on the mirror. "Oh, um, what were you asking me?"

"Nothing," the stylist said and plugged up some weird heating stick.

"What on Earth is that?" I gasped.

"A straightener. Unless you want to wear The Wig," she snapped the straightener closed and back open again.

"Why would I straighten my hair if I'm going to be around water all day?" I asked slowly.

"To look the part. At least for a little while." The stylist was getting annoyed. "Did you read the character book?"

"Is there anything else to eat around here?" Reena still had that disgusted look on her face.

I still had to answer the stylist. "I didn't get to that part yet."

She let out a sigh. "Do you even own a straightener?"

I actually had to think about that one. There's no point of really straightening your hair in Miami because it'll either get wet by the ocean or by one of those random hit-and-miss rainstorms.

But my mother owned a straightener and so does Amy, and I'm pretty sure that I still have one left in my suitcase from that wedding in Tallahassee a few months ago…

"Of course I own a straightener! Who doesn't?" I said after a few moments.

"Do you know how to use it?" she asked me, waving the red-hot hair burner in my face.

"Duh." I figured that I might as well openly lie about this so the stylist wouldn't burn my eyebrows off.

"YES!" Reena skipped back into the room with a bottle of Gatorade and a bag of Doritos. "Does anybody eat around here? There are diet pills in the vending machine."

"It's a wardrobe studio. All of us had some sick, innocent dream about making it big and yet somehow we all ended up making everyone else's dreams come true," the stylist's face clouded over. She cleared her throat. "So, if we can't be happy, we shouldn't have to get fat, too."

"Touching," Reena tore open the bag of Doritos. "Is it even legal to sell diet pills in a vending machine? Like, what if a baby eats one?"

"Good point," I reached out to grab a chip.

The stylist slapped my hand away and my chip fell to the floor. I jerked my head, causing the heated death trap to burn my scalp.

"HEY!"

"Do you wanna fit in that tail of yours tomorrow?" she retorted.

"Do ya want me to die of starvation?" I groaned, rubbing my burning scalp.

"Do you want to do your hair and make-up by yourself? Or get one of those other stylists that'll make you wear The Wig? And that would beat you until you absolutely aren't hungry anymore?" she threatened.

"Maybe these Dorito fumes are getting to your brains," Reena slowly stood up and walked to the door. "I'm just gonna leave."

Dagnabbit, she took the Doritos with her.

This is why I was never in drama club. Dress rehearsals were a waste of time. Why would I do my hair if I was just going to take a shower as soon as I left.

"My dream didn't come true. I deserve to be bitter."

FRANKI

2:37 PM DRESSING ROOM

"Do you know how to straighten your hair?" That was the first thing the stylist asked me.

I gave her a strange look. "Am I a girl?"

That pretty much summed up our dress rehearsal. I was Belle, of course. I left the dressing room and stepped outside, looking for someone that I know. I only saw Claire. Then I remembered my little spat with Junior either, and suddenly, Claire was the best thing around.

I lowered my Dolce & Gabanna shades and marched over to her.

"Cher, right?"

"Actually, it's Claire," she corrected me.

I tried my best not to roll my eyes. "Yeah. Claire. I'm horrible with names." I bit my lower lip. "We should take a picture together."

"I'm not really photogenic," Cher tried to back away from me, but I grabbed her arm.

"Is that a Tiffany's box?" My eyes lit up when I saw the little blue box in her arms. There was hope for this one after all!

Cher shook her head. "They're shoes."

I knew her having a Tiffany & Co. box was too good to be true. I pulled out my cell phone. "Our picture, remember?"

"I don't think that-" the camera clicked in the middle of her sentence.

"Thanks," I muttered and sent the picture to Junior.

Cher chased after me. "Wait! Can I see the picture?" she asked.

"No," I responded, picking up speed. "You were right, you aren't really photogenic."

"Franki, that was really mean of you!" her light blue eyes watered. I did not sign up for counseling; she would have to fix that on her own.

JUNIOR: Who da hell Iz dat?

FRANKI: My new BFF. Havin a blast. I 3 Disney.

"You said it first," I reminded her. Man, where can I shake this girl off?

Claire was still trailing behind me. "Just because I say it, it doesn't mean that it's right for you to agree with me! You're supposed to encourage me!"

Finally, I spotted a familiar face. "Hey, Brett!"

Claire's pale skin got even paler. Ah, so I see she has some issues with Brett. He walked over to us, causing most of the girls around to swoon.

"Francessca. It's been awhile," Brett nodded at me.

"Actually, not long enough," I nodded back at him.

Claire cleared her throat.

She's still here? I thought she would've split by now. "Uh, Brett, this is my roommate, Cher."

"Claire."

"Cher, Claire, what's in a name?" I rolled my eyes. If I wasn't so busy trying to ditch Claire, the third Olsen twin, I would've congratulated myself for the Shakespeare reference.

"We already met. She's my Cinderella," Brett announced.

Oh. Well, that explains the too-large-for-a-Claire knockoff Tiffany box. "I'm Belle from 'Beauty and the Beast."

"I'm Prince Charming," Brett flexed his muscles. God, he's worse than Junior.

Maybe now I could finally ditch the two of them since they now worked together.

JUNIOR: Bull, Frank, she ain't yo friend

FRANKI: Just ran into Brett Campos from Laguna Beach 3 yrs ago. It's all goin downhill. & da blonde is my buddy.

JUNIOR: Ur frownin in da pic u sent me

FRANKI: the sun was in my eyes

JUNIOR: the sun saw right thru those lies. I bet u don't kno her name

FRANKI: Doesn't matta. She's not gonna sleep witchu

"Franki, who are you texting?" Brett interrupted my very important convo.

"I just remembered that I'm not allowed to talk to Bretts or Chers. Sorry. Buh-bye," I smirked and walked away.

REENA

3:07 PM DRESSING ROOM

"This is so unfair!" I sobbed.

I used to be Pocahontas. I used to be able to prance around the park with deer in a suede dress and save the life of my Simon Baker lookalike John Smith. Now I'm stuck with the worst job in the park: Chip the Chipmunk.

"Why do bad things always happen to good people?" the stylist was sobbing too.

"What makes you think that you're a good person?" Drew asked us.
Drew. The Dale to my Chip.

"You!" I whirled around to face him, the trail of snot and tears closely following. "This is all your fault! If you wouldn't have gotten me lost and made me late I would not have to be CHIP!"

"I never told you to go marching off in the middle of the park. You're lucky that I even decided to help you!" he snapped back.

I cried harder. "Stop yelling at me!"

The stylist looked uncomfortable. "Well, I'm sure some good will come of this," she said hesitantly.

"Like what?" I demanded.

She paused. "Like the fact that I don't have to do your hair or make-up every morning and evening. You'll never have to see me again."

"But I want to see you!" I wailed. "I'm one more person that you get paid for! Think of all the money you just lost because I'm… I'm… I'm HIDEOUS!"

"Why didn't my dreams come true?" The stylist starting crying again. "Where did I go wro-ong?"

"I think it was when you applied for a job here," Drew said.

The stylist threw down her mascara wand and ran out the room.

"Way to go, Drew! You made the stylist cry!" I hollered.

"You're the one that's having a midlife crisis because you're no longer 'Jasmine Dancer #3!" he shouted at me.

I stopped. "I was Jasmine Dancer #3?"

"Yeah, before they upgraded you to Pocahontas," he shrugged.

"I never knew that. Wait," I wiped away my tears. "How did you know that?"

He shrugged again. "My aunt has the original parts taped on her fridge. Then she sends it to wardrobe for approval and they make edits. They send that copy back and she puts it back on the fridge. Then she mails that one to the bosses, and they finalize it. And then the final list goes back on the fridge. She only has it so she can memorize names."

"Oh," I nodded. "So what was your original part?"

"Dale."

"Really?" my shoulders slumped. "I thought your aunt would at least give you the best job out of all of the fur characters."

Drew snorted. "We've never seen the people inside the original Mickey and Minnie and them. I think they're robots. It's some big secret around here."

"So why are you Dale?" I asked.
"Why am I not Dale? You ask too many questions, Dhil."

I ignored him. "I'm never going to be able to show my face in the park again."

"You won't have to. You'll have the Chip head on," Drew got up and walked to the door. "Oh, and Dhil?"

I looked up. "What?"

"You might want to wash the Chip head. The last guy who wore it had some sort of stomach problem. And lice," he patted my shoulder and laughed his way out of the dressing room.

MAE

4:23 PM DRESSING ROOM

My mom chewed me out over the phone about how it was not nice to put a cockroach on Tate's toothbrush. Really, she should have congratulated me, because did she have any idea how hard it was to find a cockroach in our apartment? I had to go all the way down to the subway station to find a nice, juicy one.

My character was Mulan.

It suited me. All I had to do was jump around in cutoffs, sneakers, and a ponytail.

So, I walked into the wardrobe room and saw no one there, and then I left. I decided to go back to our dorms in an attempt to try and bond with my new roommates.

"Here's the star of the show," Franki announced as I walked in.

"OMG, it's Francessca Gragnani, but you can call her Franki like all of her friends do," I retorted, kicking off my flip flops.

"Yeah, I know. That was really smooth of me, huh?" Franki beamed.

"Because my excuse about a hurricane wasn't good enough?" Reena moaned, laying face down on the sofa.

"My friends really do call me Franki," Franki said, confused. "I'm sorry that no one else believes you."

"Yeah, I think that woman has it out for you," Ari pointed out the painfully obvious.

"Were you raised by wolves? I don't think Reena is in the mood to hear what she already knows," I told Ari. They all turned and stared at me. "What? I'm what they call 'brutally honest.'"

"I thought you were just a bitch," Franki smirked.

"Ladies, let's not fight here," Claire butted in. Yeah, really? She's, like, three feet tall. I could step on her. "Why don't we solve this differently?"

"If they both forfeit, you don't have to do anything," Reena lifted her head up.

"I'm not giving up for the Grag- Queen," I crossed my arms defensively.

"I don't want to quit. My ma's Italian. It's all or nothin', baby," Franki shot me a dirty look.

"Well, I'm from New York. I've got a bad attitude about everything," I remarked.

"I'm from San Antonio-"

"Reena! Go back to being a vegetable, okay?" Franki snapped.

"Don't be mean her her!" I shouted. "She's trying to lighten the mood!"
The brawl began. Franki jumped on me and I fell on top of Reena. Claire, tiny Claire, tried to pull us off of each other. Ari just stood there, crying about something.

"Guys, guys, cut it out!" Claire cried.

Finally, Reena sat up, sending Franki and me crashing to the floor. "Who wants takeout?" She asked like it just hadn't been WWE in our living room.

Claire was examining her arm for bruises. "Ari, why are you crying?"

Ari was still sobbing in the corner of the room. "I don't know! I… I … think it's… because… I've beh-… en around so many… fe… MA-A-ALES!"

"Wow. Maybe she was raised by wolves," Franki agreed with me.

I nodded, trying not to look too smug.

"Can we still get take out?" Reena asked. "I need something to balance out those stale Doritos from earlier."

Franki looked like she was going to take another jab and Ari, but changed her mind. "I'll go get the phone book."