Hey guys, I'm back! I know this is a really weird idea for an AU, but I thought it would be super fun to write, and hopefully for you, to read. Enjoy!

When Timon and Pumbaa transferred to Pridelands High School, they had no idea how soon their lives would change. Walking into the crowded cafeteria, they searched for an empty seat. One table was completely empty except for two people sitting across from each other.

Finding this a bit odd, they headed for the table. The boy, whose back was turned to them, snapped, "I thought we made this clear two years ago!"

The girl, who was look at them with curiosity, said, "Simba, I think these kids are new..."

Simba's demeanor changed instantly. "Oh!" He turned to face them. "Welcome to PHS! I'm Simba, student body president, and this is Nala, my vice president."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"...And she's also my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you!" said Pumbaa. "I'm Pumbaa, and this is my best friend, Timon."

"We just moved here at the same time, but we've been best friends from kindergarten. My uncle actually works here; do you know Max Berkowitz?"

They were now sitting next to the two, finally feeling comfortable with their surroundings, when a female voice spoke up from behind Timon and Simba.

"We know him."

Timon turned around, but Simba didn't have to.

"Shenzi, what do you want?"

"Actually, we want to sit here."

Timon's first impression of Shenzi was that she was very tall, but then again, he had always been short. Plus, she was standing up, and he wasn't.

His second impression was that she was pretty in a rebellious way that almost intimidated him.

Almost, but not quite.

"I don't mind if they sit here, Simba."

Pumbaa was quick to agree with him, and Simba reluctantly allowed Shenzi and her friends to sit at the table.

Shenzi sat down next to Timon, gave him and Pumbaa the once-over, and then, without any trace of tact, asked, "Who are you two?"

Timon opened his mouth, but Simba answered the question.

"This is Timon and Pumbaa," Simba said, gesturing to each one in turn. "They just moved here."

"Cool," Shenzi replied absentmindedly. "What were you saying about Mr. Berkowitz?"

"He's my uncle," Timon said.

"Why did you guys want to sit here, anyway?" Nala interrupted.

"Well, a bunch of freshmen took our table. We tried to get 'em to move, but they wouldn't budge."

The boy next to her added, "Yours was the only table with enough room for all of us."

Simba broke into the conversation. "Timon, Pumbaa, this is Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, and... their friends."

As Shenzi introduced the others, Timon leaned over to Simba and said, "Who are they?"

Shenzi heard him, though, and she began to explain, with Banzai filling in the gaps.

"We're stage crew kids. While the drama kids are acting onstage, we're doing everything behind the scenes."

"So how do you know my uncle?"

Banzai said, "He's in charge of stage crew. Technically, Shenzi's in charge - she's the SM - but he's kind of there as the instigator."

"What's an SM?"

"Stage manager," Shenzi said. "Last year it was another girl, but she graduated, so I got the job."

"I keep asking her to make me ASM," said Banzai, "but she keeps saying she wants to 'survey all her options' first."

"As if I would ever make you ASM anyway," Shenzi scoffed, rolling her eyes. "All you and Ed ever do is goof off."

Timon nodded as if he understood all this. "So how do you guys know each other?" he asked, gesturing first to the stage crew kids, then to Simba and Nala.

"Well, it's actually a long story..." said Simba, but Shenzi and Banzai decided they would finish the thought for him.

"See, back when we were freshmen, two years ago, we were total losers. We were already in with the older theatre kids, but they'd already established themselves as losers."

"Then one day, toward the beginning of the year, this weird loner kid approached us and said he could make us the most popular kids in school."

"He was a senior named Taka, and he was running for student body president. His running mate was this girl named Zira who had a huge crush on him, but he didn't care about her, at least, not that we could tell."

"He ended up winning by a landslide, and just like he said, we sat at the "popular" table the very next day."

"That's this one," Simba told Timon and Pumbaa in a stage whisper.

"Hey, don't give away the story!" Banzai protested.

"Anyway, what we didn't know was that he had actually secured his victory by promising every group in the school that he would make them popular, but we were the only ones who he actually lived up to that promise for."

"We were fine with that at first, until about a week later, this jock came up to us and said his group - and all the other groups, too - were getting kinda restless."

"That was when we realized that even though we were sitting at the "popular" table, everyone hated us. They were jealous because Taka made us popular and not them. What they didn't realize was that he'd broken his promise to us, too. We still didn't have any more friends than we'd started with. All that had changed was the table."

"Student opinion - including ours - turned way against Taka. And somehow, we managed to impeach him."

Timon and Pumbaa gaped at them. "You impeached a student president?"

"Right, but to this day nobody really knows how. So then, there was a re-election, and Simba and Nala were chosen."

"So why don't you guys sit with anyone but each other?" Pumbaa asked.

"Well," Nala answered, "we used to let anyone sit with us who wanted to, but the table got so crowded that we couldn't have a decent conversation."

"So we politely asked everyone to go sit with their friends, instead of with the local legends."

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed looked at each other, trying not to laugh, but they quickly burst out in ill-disguised snickers.

Bemused, Timon said to Simba, "That's a rather cocky way of referring to yourself, isn't it?"

"I know," said Simba. "It was mostly for their benefit anyway." He glanced at Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, who were still laughing.

"Eh, it's no problem. I do it all the time."

"Okay," said Shenzi, choking on her laughter, "but I'll bet you don't actually have anything to back it up with." She poked a finger at him, laughing even harder.

"Are they always like this?" asked Pumbaa.

"Yep. Get used to it."

Just then, the bell rang. "What do you two have next?" Simba asked.

Timon glanced at his schedule. "We have English with Mr. Birdman."

"Oh, I know him. He's kind of a snob, let me be the first to warn you. I can walk you to class."

"Thanks!" said Pumbaa, but Timon was unusually quiet.

As they walked, Simba asked him, "What's the matter?"

Timon looked around to make sure no one else was listening, then asked, "Are Shenzi and Banzai, like, a thing?"

Simba laughed. "No, actually, although you might think so. They've just always been best friends, that's it. Kind of like you and Pumbaa, I'm guessing."

Timon and Pumbaa glanced at each other uncomfortably. "Well, actually..."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I had no idea."

"Yeah, well," said Timon, rubbing the back of his neck, "we dated for a while until we decided we worked better as friends."

"That's pretty cool," said Simba. "Usually when people break up, 'We can still be friends' is just a formality."

"We've put our past behind us."

"And speaking of... do you like Shenzi, then?"

Timon blushed. "I guess... enough to want to join stage crew."

Simba nodded, thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it, that might actually be pretty fun. I'm in if Nala is. We'll have to figure out how to balance that with everything else, but I think we can make it work... Well, here's the room. See you guys later, nice meeting you!"

Thanks for reading! I'm going to have the next chapter up in just a few days, so sit tight. After that, I'm going to head back to You Made Me Change and Thinking Too Much for a while. Please review, see you next time!