A/N: A quick note before I start: First off, hello, welcome to my take of the CGI high school AU. XD I hope you enjoy.
Second note: This story will be split into "episodes," much like a TV series; each cahpet is one episode, with its own sonflict, all connecting into one overarching storyline. Be warned: individual episodes may a be a little long. XD So, without further ado, here's my story: This is Our Life. (Thank you to noodlekuki on deviantART for the name.)
Episode 1: The New Girl (and her crush)
The sun shined brightly over the calm forest meadow, reflecting off the dew drops on the trees and grass. Birds began to chirp, signaling the beginning of a brand new day. An old, two-story house sat in the middle of a clearing, looking quite peaceful until-
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!"
Mary Katherine's shrill cry broke the peaceful silence. Stomping down the stairs with her backpack dangling loosely from her shoulders, the girl cried out for her father once more. "Daaaaaad! Where are you? We're going to be late!"
When she received no answer, Mary Katherine (or MK, as she preferred to be called) sighed in frustration. Today was her first day, and now she was going to be late! MK called for her father again while checking different rooms around the house.
Not in the bedroom. Not in the bathroom. Not in the living room. MK stomped in agitation to check the kitchen, when suddenly she spotted her dad in his study. He was leaning hunched over his desk, clearly focusing on something.
"Dad!" MK snapped. "What are you doing?!"
Snapping out of his concentration, Professor Bomba looked up at his daughter with a surprised smile. "Oh! Good morning, Mary Kath-er, MK. What's up?"
MK gaped at him. "What's up?! Dad, let's go, I'm going to be late!"
Bomba blinked. "Late for what...?"
At this point, MK was ready to rip her hair out. "Late for school, dad! Did you forget it's my first day?!"
Her father blinked again, then jumped up in shock. "School!" He shouted in a panic. "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot!" Bomba glanced at the work on his desk, as if sad to leave it, then walked distractedly toward MK. "Come on, let's get to the car! I'm sorry, honey, I've just been so distracted..."
MK's dad continued apologizing until they got to the car. MK just rolled her eyes and plopped herself down in the front seat. It didn't matter now. There was no way she would make it to school on time. Her father drove quickly and distractedly, almost hitting another car, but eventually she was able to make it to her high school in one peice.
MK did not answer her father's goodbye. She simply slammed the door of the car and walked up to the door of the school. As her dad drove off, MK stared up at the school in awe. It was an old-fashioned brick building, complete with four-paned windows and a school bell that looked like it had been sitting there for centuries.
MK sighed, remembering how technological her old school had seemed compared to this one. But she was the new girl here, so she may as well make a good impression. Hands shaking a little, she opened the large doors and stepped inside.
The halls were quiet and empty, since everyone was already in class. Nonetheless, MK was relieved to see that the inside of the school was more modern-looking than the outside. Pulling out the schedule that she had received in the mail last week, MK was eventually able to find her first class: English.
It was quiet when she walked in. Some of the students looked up at her curiously, and MK did the best she could to ignore them as she walked over to the teacher.
"Mr. Fredrickson?"
The teacher looked up at her from his desk. He was a short, grumpy-looking old man with a bow tie and a large pair of glasses. MK fidgeted nervously.
"Um, I'm Mary Katherine, the new girl..." She stammered.
Mr. Fredrickson grunted a little and pulled out his attendance sheet. "You're late," he told her.
"Yes, well..." MK paused and bit her lip. "We had...car trouble."
Mr. Fredrickson nodded a little and pointed to an empty desk. "There's a spot right over there, just pull out your book and start reading at act one."
MK nodded and hurriedly walked over to her seat, trying to ignore the stares that she got from her classmates. As she walked she heard Mr. Fredrickson cough a little and complain about his back. She smirked as she sat down "You've gotta retire, old man," she murmured under her breath.
A girl next to her giggled. "That's what we keep telling him," she whispered. "But he never listens."
MK was hoping that the rest of the day would pass by in a breeze, but unfortunately, it did not go as well as she had planned. She was late to both of her next two classes because she got lost, and now she was sure her teachers already hated her. To make matters worse she had tried to open another student's locker, thinking that it was hers, only to be confronted by the owner of the locker who thought she was trying to "jack" it.
As if that wasn't bad enough, she was knocked into a puddle on her way to fourth period. She had been trying to take a shortcut through one of the outside hallways, but another girl who apparently had the same idea ran into her and sent her sprawling backwards into a puddle of rainwater.
"I'm so sorry!" The girl cried. She quickly ran over and helped her up. "Are you ok?"
MK inspected the girl's face. She was a little shorter than her, with a round freckled face, blue eyes and auburn hair styled in two pigtail braids. She seemed innocent enough. She probably had not done it on purpose. "It's ok," MK replied. "I'm fine."
"Oh but you're all wet!" The other girl pointed out. "Do you need help? I can help you find-"
"No no, don't worry," MK interrupted her. "I have a change of clothes, I'll be fine." MK walked past the girl and into the bathroom, but not before hearing her apologize loudly a few more times.
In truth, MK only had a spare hoodie on her, so she was forced to go and borrow some gym clothes to wear. Embarrassed, she cursed her own clumsiness and she trudged, late again, into her next class.
The teacher, a pretty, slender young African-American woman, smiled up at MK as she walked in. "Hi," she greeted. "Are you Mary Katherine?"
MK nodded. "Yes, but I prefer MK if you don't mind."
The teacher smiled again and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, MK. I'm Ms. Forrest, but you can call me Ms. Tara if you want. And don't worry about being late. I won't count it-I know how tough the first day can be."
MK smiled at her. Finally, a nice teacher to ease things up a little. "Thank you," she said.
Ms. Tara nodded. "No problem. Now, why don't you have a seat, grab some drawing paper and start sketching-we're just doing some doodles to see where everyone's skill level is."
"Ok."
Spotting a seat next to a girl with wavy orange hair, MK sat down and stared at her paper, wondering what to draw. She had expected Art class to be easy and relaxing, but she was already stumped. MK glanced over at the girl next to her, a little nervous, and cleared her throat. "Umm...hi."
The girl looked up and smiled. "Hi."
"What are you drawing?"
The other girl looked down at her artwork and shrugged. "Just my house. I didn't know what else to draw."
MK giggled. "Yeah, tell me about it. I have no idea what to draw for mine..."
"Just draw something you love," the girl replied. "Ms. Tara always talks about feeling in your art."
MK frowned and stared at her paper again. She did have someone that she loved, but she had not thought of her ever since she had moved in with her father...
The other girl was still looking at her. "Hey..." She said. "I'm Audrey, by the way."
"Oh, uh...MK." They shook hands briefly and MK went back to the paper. Her mother popped into her head again and MK choked back the tears. It had been almost a month since she had lost her mother, and she still had not been able to get over it. Taking a deep breath, MK shakily picked up her pencil and began sketching her mom's profile. She could remember every detail: the short dark hair, the green eyes, the soft smile...MK smiled to herself. Oh, if only her mother was still around...
MK was lost in her drawing for a moment before realizing that Audrey was watching over her shoulder. Realizing that she had been caught, Audrey sat up and smiled sheepishly.
"She's beautiful," said Audrey. "Who is she?"
MK hesitated for a moment. "She's...my mom. She, uh..." MK bit her lip before continuing. "She...died this summer..."
"Oh...I'm really sorry."
MK shrugged and wiped her eyes. Looking to change the subject, she noticed that Audrey had pushed her house drawing aside and was working on a picture of a boy.
"Who are you drawing?" MK asked.
Audrey's eyes widened as she covered up the second drawing. "Nobody. It's...it's just...someone..."
MK smirked. "Your boyfriend?" She teased.
Audrey blushed but still smiled. "No, not really. He's just a friend that I sort of...you know."
"Oooh, I see."
MK and Audrey were absorbed in their art for the rest of the class, and they did not talk much. Audrey left pretty quickly after class, which wasn't so good for MK, because she did not have anywhere to go for lunch.
Eh, it's no big deal,MK thought to herself. I guess I'll just be eating alone...
Just as MK walked into the cafeteria, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see the girl who had knocked her into the puddle earlier.
"Oh," MK said. "It's you again."
The girl gave her an apologetic smile. "Hi there...I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I swear I didn't mean it-" the girl cut herself off when she noticed MK's borrowed gym clothes, and her eyes widened. "Eek! Did I do that? Is that because of me?"
"No, don't worry about it, it's-"
"Oh I'm sorry, I'm such a clutz! I can't seem to go anywhere without knocking someone over. Maybe Rapunzel has something better for you to wear, just come with me...!" She grabbed MK's hand and started to drag her toward a table in the center of the cafeteria.
Instinctively, MK pulled her hand back. "No really, I'm fine," she insisted. "And don't worry about knocking me over, it's...it's ok, I won't hold it against you."
The girl looked surprised for a moment before smiling with relief. "Oh, that's good..." She held out a hand and smiled. "By the way, I'm Anna."
MK shook her hand and introduced herself.
"MK, are you new?" Anna asked curiously. "You looked a little lost earlier."
"Oh, um...yeah. I'm afraid I'm not having such a great first day..."
Anna's eyebrows shot upward. "Oh! Well, don't worry! You can come sit with my friends and me!"
"What? Oh, but I can't-I mean, I haven't even gotten my lunch yet..."
Anna grinned. "Me neither! Come on, I'll show you where to get food." Anna motioned for MK to follow her and led her to the lunch line. "Word of advice," Anna told her. "Don't get the beef. I swear to God, it's alive."
MK smiled. While Anna's over-the-top energy level was a little bit annoying, there was something about her that seemed to draw you in. And besides, MK needed some friends. She didn't want to be the New Girl and the Loner at the same time...
"Hey look, it's Kristoff!" Anna squealed suddenly. She stood on her tiptoes and waved across the crowed room. "HI KRISTOFF!"
On the other side of the cafeteria, MK spotted a large boy with floppy blond hair wave shyly back at Anna. Anna turned to MK with a wide grin on her face. "My boyfriend," she explained. "He's a little shy."
Hopefully the rest of Anna's friends would not be as crazy energetic.
The two girls got their food and headed over to a table where three other girls were sitting. Anna waved to her friends and introduced them.
"Guys, this is MK. She's new," said Anna. "MK, these are my friends, Rapunzel, Mavis, and Merida." As Anna pointed to each of her friends, MK inspected each one.
Rapunzel was the tallest and oldest of the bunch. She had short brown hair, green eyes and a warm, welcoming smile. She looked a lot like Anna, but at the same time she had, thankfully, a calmer and more mature demeanor about her.
Mavis' hair was short and jet black, and it seemed to sort of frame her face more than Rapunzel's did. She seemed like a quiet girl and looked a lot like a stereotypical goth, with her dark clothes and lipstick, making her large blue eyes stand out even more. Mavis was the youngest of the group.
Merida seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. Her hair was long, red, and big as a bush. Her smile had more of a devious and sassy edge to it, and she did not look like someone you wanted to mess with. She was dressed in a casual tomboy zip-up hoodie, jeans and sneakers, and seemed generally tougher then the rest of the girls in the group.
MK was a little scared she might not fit in with this group, but contrary to what she had thought, they welcomed her with open arms.
"Hi!" Rapunzel greeted sweetly. "It's nice to meet you!"
"Thanks," MK replied, trying to sound friendly. She sat down with Anna and began picking at her lunch.
"So, MK," Rapunzel prodded. "What grade are you in?"
"I'm a junior...I just transferred here from California because..." She paused, thinking suddenly of her mother and choking back the emotions. "Well, for personal reasons..."
The girls nodded understandingly, and Rapunzel continued. "So, how are you liking our school so far? Pretty sweet, huh?"
Before MK could answer, Merida's voice piped up. "Why are ye wearing gym clothes?"
"Merida!" Rapunzel scolded. "That's rude."
Anna looked down and pouted. "Don't blame her, you guys. I knocked her into a puddle..."
At this, all the other girls laughed. "Seriously, Anna? You don't spare anyone, do you?" Anna continued pouting.
"Well, it's a good thing ye found us, MK," Merida cut in with her thick Scottish accent. "We're the cool kids 'round here-"
"Relatively speaking, of course," Rapunzel interrupted. "Everyone is cool around here."
"Yer too nice, Rapunzel. Anyway, like I was sayin', we're the cool kids, so we'll be givin' ya all the tips ye need to survive. Tip number one:" she held up a tanned finger. "Don't ever get the beef fer lunch."
Anna made some fake barfing noises at the mention of "the beef," and MK nodded.
"Tip number two," Merida continued. "Stay far away from Prince Sideburns."
A collective groan arose from the table.
"Way to bring up a sore subject, Merida," Anna complained.
"What? The lass needed to know!"
MK was confused. "Who's Prince Sideburns?" she asked.
"She's talking about Hans," Anna replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Prince Hans, Anna," Rapunzel interjected, adding a fake swoon for emphasis. "You can't forget his title."
Merida scoffed. "Oh, aye. Prince of Douchebags."
MK turned to Anna. "Wow. That bad?"
"He's the worst," Anna responded. "He acts all nice and charming at first, but trust me, he is terrible." The girl shook her head and went back to her food. "I dated him for a while-don't know what on earth I was thinking. Kristoff is so much better than him."
"Eh, all boys are losers anyway." Merida declared.
"Not Kristoff," Anna retorted.
"Or Eugene," Rapunzel added.
"Do ye even see Eugene anymore, Rapunzel?"
"Of course I do! I go see him at his college every weekend!"
MK perked up. "You're dating a college guy?" She asked. "Isn't that...kinda...weird?"
Rapunzel stared back at her for a second. MK started to worry that she had offended her, but Rapunzel shrugged it off.
"No," the brunette replied. "And he's only a year older than me, so it's no big deal."
"And he goes to the same school as my sister," Anna piped up. "So if he does do anything weird, she'll tell us."
"Anna, stop," Rapunzel responded quickly. She was smiling, but her tone had kind of an edge to it. "You know Eugene would never do anything to hurt me."
MK raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"
Rapunzel didn't look up. "I just know."
"It's ok, Rapunzel. I mean, Kristoff is a year older than me, too," said Anna, changing the subject. She turned to MK. "I have to introduce you to Kristoff," she said. "He's super nice and really sweet, you're gonna like him a lot."
"Oy, here we go again," Merida interrupted. "Anna, ye know Kristoff doesn't like bein' forcibly introduced to yer mates."
Anna frowned. "What do you mean 'forcibly introduced'?"
"I can attest to that," Mavis said suddenly, speaking for the first time. She turned to MK as if she was about to share some irresistible gossip. "Last year, when I came to this school, Anna introduced me to Kristoff. And he's kind of a quiet and antisocial guy, so he doesn't really like talking to a lot of people. And then Anna goes off to the bathroom and just leaves us there together-totally awkward!-and then she comes back two minutes later asking us if we had become best friends yet."
"I did not!" Anna whined as MK and the others laughed. "Mavis, you're exaggerating!"
"I'm really not."
"You are!"
"She's not exaggeratin'," Merida whispered to MK, causing Anna to start complaining again.
MK laughed. These girls weren't so bad. She could get used to hanging out with them. At the same time, however, she felt a little disconnected from them. After only a few minutes, they were already making inside jokes amongst themselves and MK felt a little left out.
It's probably because I just met them, MK thought. It'll get better later, right?
The lunch period soon came to an end, and the girls had to say goodbye. MK's classroom was on the way to Anna's, so she walked her over there.
"Are you going to come sit with us tomorrow?" Anna asked eagerly.
MK shrugged. "Sure, probably. You guys are pretty fun. And well, I don't really have anywhere else to go."
Anna beamed. "Awesome! I'll see you tomorrow!" She left MK in front of her classroom waved as she walked away. Unfortunately, she wasn't looking where she was going and bumped right into a freshman, sending her sprawling onto the floor.
"Eek! I'm so sorry!" Anna cried.
MK chuckled and walked into the classroom. Luckily, she was not late for this one, and she was able to find an empty seat as the other students filed into the classroom. While she waited for class to start, MK pulled out her schedule and looked it over.
Biology. Ugh. This had never been her favorite subject. MK rolled her eyes an hoped fervently that she would not end next to someone immature-the last thing she needed was to sit next to a boy who kept flipping to the Human Reproduction section of the textbook and making obnoxious jokes...
"Hey."
MK flinched a little in her seat, not realizing that a boy had sat down next to her. As she scrambled to put her schedule away, she took a glance at her neighbor and did a double take. Hold the phone. This guy was cute.
"H-hi..." MK replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Maybe this first day was not so bad after all. She had already been able to find a group of friends, and now she was developing a crush.
"Are you new?" The boy asked her with a smile. "I haven't seen you here before."
"Um, yeah, I just transferred here."
She fidgeted a little.
The boy smiled even wider and held out a hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you," he said. "I'm Hans."
MK's eyes widened. So this was Hans. "Oh, uh..." She stammered, "I'm MK." the girl politely shook Hans' gloved hand and quickly pulled back. If this guy was really as bad as the girls said, then she should probably stay away.
"MK?" Hans continued. "That's an interesting name, what does it stand for?"
MK shifted uncomfortably in her seat and didn't make eye contact with him. "Mary Katherine," she replied quickly. "But if it's all the same to you, I prefer MK." She stopped, wondering if she had seemed rude, but Hans didn't seem to notice.
"Ok," he said simply. "MK it is, then."
MK smiled in spite of herself.
At that moment the bell rang and the two of them turned their attention up front. The teacher walked up to the board, and MK was sure she was just about the brightest woman she had ever seen. Short and pretty, she had brown hair with green, purple and blue highlights, and she wore shades of bright green and blue on her shirt an skirt. Her eye color was a little hard to tell, but MK swore they were purple. Glancing at her schedule again, MK looked up the name of her teacher.
Toothiana. Even her name was weird.
Ms. Toothiana waited until everyone was looking at her, then she smiled widely. "Welcome back, everyone," she chimed. "Before we start today, I'd like us all to welcome a new student to our class." The woman looked directly at a bewildered MK and gestured to her. "Would you stand up and introduce yourself, please?"
MK glanced at Hans, as if for reassurance, then slowly stood up and faced the bored-looking students in her class.
"Uh, hi," she stammered. She didn't really understand why she had to do this-none of her other teachers made her introduce herself. "I'm Mary Katherine...but, you can call me MK." Not sure what else to say, she plopped right back down in her seat and tuned out the teacher in her embarrassment.
"Introduce myself in front of the class?" MK muttered under her breath. "What is this, second grade?!"
She heard Hans chuckle a little and turned to glare at him. The boy quickly stopped laughing and instead leaned in to tell her something. "Funny thing," he explained. "Ms. Tooth actually used to teach second grade-so when you see her being all bubbly and bouncy, now you know why."
MK grinned and observed as Ms. Tooth wrote on the board and addressed the students with an over-enthusiastic smile on her face. She was even worse than Anna.
"Are you sure it wasn't kindergarten?" MK jokingly asked. "She seems to fit that more."
"It could have been day care," Hans snickered back. "We just don't know, do we?"
MK found herself giggling. She couldn't help it. Hans was attractive.
"Excuse me," Ms. Tooth's clear voice rang out. "Lovebirds in the back? Pay attention, please."
MK jumped, blushing a little bit, and looked down at her desk. She heard a couple of whispers from other students around her and blushed even more.
"Sorry, Ms. Tooth," Hans piped up. "That was my fault."
Ms. Tooth sighed and walked over to her desk, lifting up a pile of papers to pass out. Hans flashed MK one last grin and turned back toward the front.
Meanwhile, MK continued to stare down at her desk, confused. Anna and the others had told her that Hans was a jerk, but here he was, being friendly to her and even taking the blame when they were caught talking.
Maybe the girls had been wrong? Maybe Hans wasn't really a jerk? MK glanced up at his handsome face one more time, wondering if that could be true.
She really hoped they were wrong.
Ms. Tooth was walking around the classroom, passing out papers as she went. "I'm passing back your chapter one tests from last week," she informed the class. "The class average was 85-and that's great! But keep in mind, it's going to get harder, so keep up with your studying."
At this, Ms. Tooth stopped in front of Hans' desk and handed him his paper. "Nice job as usual, Your Highness," she said with her usual perky smile. "Not bad for a jock."
Hans smiled sweetly up at her. "It's only because you're such a great teacher, Ms. Tooth." he replied.
Ms. Tooth grinned back at him, unfazed. "Don't kiss up to me, Hans," she snapped. "I already know I'm fabulous." With that, she turned and moved on to the next student.
MK looked at Hans' paper and noticed a big fat "A+" written in red at the top. Dang. Handsome, nice, and smart. Suddenly the nickname "Prince Hans" made a whole lot of sense to her.
She looked up at the red-haired boy and smirked. "Were you trying to butter up the teacher?"
Hans gave her a sheepish grin. "Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying, right?"
MK suddenly found herself giggling again. Something was definitely wrong with her.
Oh, how she hoped they were wrong about him.
To her relief, MK's dad actually remembered to pick her up that afternoon.
"So, how was your first day?" Her father asked cheerfully as she got in the car.
"Fine," MK replied flatly.
"...Did you, uh, did you make any new friends?"
"...yeah."
Her father must have sensed that she didn't want to talk, because he said no more after that.
When they got home, MK trudged up to her room and flopped down on her bed, trying to think. She had a whole bunch of homework that her teachers had given her so that she could catch up with her classes, but she didn't feel like doing it right now.
MK thought back to what had happened at school that day. At first she had thought it would a be terrible, that she'd be too busy thinking about her mom to enjoy herself. But then she had met Audrey, and Anna, and the girls...and Hans.
MK felt her heart flutter at the thought of Hans. He really did seem like a nice guy. Why did Anna and Merida tell her to stay away from him? Maybe they just had some grudge against him? MK didn't know; she had only just met them, after all.
Oh, well. She still had the rest of the school year to find out about them. Maybe tomorrow she could confront both Hans and Anna, and clear up this whole mess that was going on inside of her.
But right now, she had a huge load of homework to focus on.
MK walked into her English class the next morning (not late, thankfully), wondering how on earth she would be able to get through the day. The night before had been awful; she had had to stay up until well past midnight to get all her homework done, and to make matters worse, her father had nearly burned down the house trying to cook dinner. That had set MK back about half an hour with her homework, and now she could barely keep her eyes open. She was pretty sure there was no way on earth she'd be able to pay attention to her teachers, which was bad because she still had a lot of catching up to do. Not to mention she still had to deal with the whole Hans issue. She could always put it off until tomorrow, but the way things were looking with her homework load it probably wouldn't do any good.
MK sighed and shook her head a little, trying to wake herself up, when suddenly she spotted him out of the corner of her eye.
"Hans."
Hans glanced up from his phone at the sound of his name, and smiled when he saw MK. "Hey, MK!" He greeted.
"H-hi! I didn't know you were in this class."
Hans shrugged. "Yeah, I had a doctor's appointment in the morning yesterday, so I wasn't here. Oh, by the way..." He quickly reached into his backpack an pulled out MK's favorite red pen. "You dropped this in Bio yesterday. Meant to give it to you, but you left."
"Oh!" MK felt her face turn pink as he took the pen from Hans. "You held on to it for me? That's...thank you!"
"It's no problem."
MK paused for a moment, gazing into Hans' bright green eyes. "You know..." She blurted, "I wasn't really expecting you to be like that,"
Hans frowned in confusion. "Um...what do you mean?"
MK blushed suddenly. Shoot, she hasn't meant to bring this up now! "I-I mean...you're nice," she stammered, trying to correct her mistake, "and they told me you would be a jerk, and..."
"Who told you that?"
"Uh, Anna and Merida and Rapunzel..."
"Ooooh, Anna," Hans rolled his eyes and the smirk returned to his face. "That makes sense. Listen, Anna is just really bitter from our breakup. So now she's trying to convince everyone that I'm a bad guy or something."
MK's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah, and she's got all her friends doing it too," Hans shook his head in disappointment. "I mean, she's an okay girl and all, but when she holds a grudge it's like...yeesh. It can get pretty brutal."
MK blinked in surprise. That did make sense. After all, she didn't know Anna very well. It was very possible that all of Hans' words were true. Before she could say any more, however, the late bell rang and MK was forced to go take her seat on the other side of the classroom.
MK tried to pay attention to her reading that day, but she could not focus. Between Mr. Fredrickson's voice lulling her to sleep (as if she wasn't sleep-deprived already) and the new information she had just gotten from Hans, the last thing she wanted to think about was character analysis of iHamlet. /i Her life was already full of drama, and she didn't need a tragic play to make it worse.
MK put her sleepy head down on her desk, wondering what she would say to Anna that day.
"...and 'e just blew 'is top at meh! What a jerk!"
MK stopped a few feet away from the lunch table, taken aback by Merida's loud rant. She was apparently talking about a guy, but MK didn't know who is was. Maybe it was Hans? She really hoped it wasn't Hans.
"Merida, he's going through a lot," she heard Anna say quietly. "You know him, you know better than to get on his nerves."
No, it probably wasn't Hans. Anna wouldn't defend Hans like that. MK sighed with relief and resumed walking toward the table.
"Alright, I'll fergive 'im this time," Merida grunted. "But if that beanstalk ever sasses me again I'll shoot an arrow up 'is nose!"
"MK!" Anna called out suddenly, probably trying to change the subject. Anna eagerly patted the seat next to her, and MK sat down with a smile.
"Hi guys," MK said cautiously. "Who's Merida so mad at?"
"Nobody," replied Anna, taking a bite of her lunch. This made MK frown for some reason. Anna took no notice and turned to her with a smile. "So what's new? You look beat."
MK groaned. "Ugh, don't get me started! Yesterday all my teachers just gave me all the homework of the semester to do in one night! I barely got any sleep."
"Yikes."
"Yeah." MK quietly took a bite of her food, then began to wonder how to approach the subject of Hans; it hadn't left her mind ever since that morning. "Anna..." She began, "Guys...you know what you guys were telling me yesterday?"
Rapunzel gave her a confused grin. "Which part? We talked about a lot of stuff yesterday, MK..."
"Right," MK blinked quickly and tried to clear her mind. "I mean, the part about Hans. I met him in Bio yesterday, and..." she suddenly trailed off.
The other girls looked at her on shock. "You met him?" Anna whispered.
"Yes, I did. Anyway..." MK paused, wondering how to continue. "Anyway, I talked to him yesterday and...and I think you guys were wrong. He was really nice to me."
"MK, no," Anna warned her, voice still low. "Hans isn't nice-he only acts that way to get girls."
"She's right, lass," Merida piped up. "He be foolin' ya. Playin' games with yer mind."
"No he's not." MK retorted. "I mean, he took the blame when we were caught talking. A-and look, he even held on to my pen for me after I dropped it in class yesterday," She pulled out her red pen as showed it to them while she spoke.
"Ha! I bet that's just some random pen he found in the hall!" Merida reached out and snatched the pen from MK's hands. "Lemme see that piece of-"
"Give that back!" MK cried out suddenly. She violently grabbed the pen from Merida's hands and held to close to her. "This is my pen, I know it's my pen!"
It was only her mom's pen, after all.
The other girls were staring at her in bewilderment. MK gulped and continued. "Look, I like Hans, ok? And I think...I think you guys are being totally unfair to him! I mean..." MK turned and glared accusingly at Anna. "What if Anna is just mad at Hans because he dumped her? Huh?"
Anna looked as if someone had punched her in the gut. "What?!"
"No, that's not what happened!" Mavis argued. "Hans didn't dump Anna, she dumped him!"
"Yeah!" agreed Rapunzel. "He was the one who was being a jerk to her first!"
"Well, did any of you actually see this happen?" MK challenged.
Anna squinted at her. "Are you calling me a liar?" she demanded.
"Well, I don't know you that well, do I?" MK snapped back, crossing her arms. "Maybe you are a liar."
Anna gaped at her while the other girls started at them in shock. "F-fine! Maybe I shouldn't have been so nice to you on your first day, then!" Anna spat.
"Fine!" shouted MK. "Maybe I'll just leave then!" She picked up her tray, stood up and stomped away from the girls' table.
"Fine!" Anna yelled after her. "But don't blame me when he leaves you crying!"
"You guys, what are you doing?" Rapunzel asked in horror. "She's going to get hurt if you let her go!" She stood up and cupped her hands around her mouth. "MK! Come back!"
"Leave 'er," Merida advised. "It's no use. I know how stubborn a ginger can be."
Rapunzel sat back down dejectedly while Anna glared down at her lunch. She wasn't hungry anymore.
Meanwhile, MK stomped aimlessly across the cafeteria, muttering angry words under her breath. A few other students looked up at her, but she shot them annoyed glares and they quickly looked away. MK sighed, looking for an empty table go sit down at alone, when suddenly a loud masculine voice caught her attention.
"Daaaaaang, that was one hell of a girl fight!"
MK whipped her head in the direction of the voice, to see a smirking white-haired boy with a blue hoodie looking right in her direction. MK squinted angrily at him, but he was unfazed.
"Did the witches finally drive you away from their table?" The boy asked. "I was wondering when it would happen. They just kinda have a talent for pissing everyone off."
MK brightened at these words as walked a little closer to their table. "Tell me about it!" She vented. "They just don't listen, do they?"
"No, they do not. Not to anyone-"
"No, Jack," another boy interrupted. "They don't listen to you." The raven-haired boy who was sitting next to Jack turned and looked at MK earnestly. "Nobody ever listens to Jack."
MK glanced thoughtfully glanced at the boy with black floppy hair. She felt as if she had seen him somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where.
Jack loosely wrapped his arms around a large stick that he was carrying and scoffed. "Unfortunately for everyone, I'm usually right." The black-haired boy rolled his eyes and Jack turned his attention back to MK. "You're the new girl, right? I saw you in my Math class."
MK blinked. She hasn't seen Jack in her Math class. If she had, she would have remembered. In any case, she shrugged and nodded. "Yep, that's me. MK."
"You need a place to sit, MK? We still have room for one more." said Jack.
MK hesitated, not sure whether to accept or not. She looked over the people at Jack's table. There was the tall raven-haired boy from earlier, and in addition was another boy and a girl, both of them with dark brown hair and glasses. The boy had his nose stuck in a book (he probably didn't even notice that MK was there), and the girl was super short, with a mess of brown curly hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Um..." MK stammered. She turned to look for another empty table she could sit at. Finding none, she shrugged and walked over to Jack's table. "I guess so."
Jack moved to his side a couple of inches to make room, and then gave the black-haired boy a push. "Move over, man. Be polite."
The other boy didn't look at Jack and smoothly scooted in the opposite direction.
MK sat down between them. "Thanks," she mumbled shyly. She glanced at the black-haired boy again. Where has she seen him before?
"No probs," replied Jack. "What happened over there, anyway?"
MK shrugged again and picked at her food. "Eh, I'd rather not talk about it. They were just being judgey, that's all."
"Judgey?" The black-haired boy raised an eyebrow at her. "Anna? And Rapunzel? That's out of character..."
"Well, you don't need to worry about that here," Jack assured her. "We don't judge anyone...except for Hiccup, 'cause Hiccup's a nerd."
The brown-haired boy, Hiccup, gave Jack a look from over her glasses. He said nothing and just returned to reading his book.
MK cocked her head. "Your name is Hiccup?"
"It's a Scandinavian name," Hiccup responded without looking up. "It means someone who's small or weak. Kinda like 'Pipsqueak' only it's Hiccup."
The curly-haired girl laughed at him before grinning at MK. "Hi, I'm Norma," she said. "I'm the only normal one here."
"She means that she's the only one with a normal name," the black-haired boy cut in. "The rest of us are just unfortunate. For example," he pointed a skinny finger at Jack. "His name just happens to be Jack Frost."
MK laughed in surprise and turned to the white-haired boy. "Jack Frost?" she chuckled. "Wait, are you serious?"
Jack smiled and shrugged. "Yeah. My family name is Frost, so I guess my parents thought it would be funny to name me Jack. Not very original though; there's like ten guys in my extended family named Jack. Don't get me started on what happens when someone calls Jack at a family reunion."
MK burst out laughing. "And what about you?" She asked, turning look the black haired boy.
"Oh, his name takes the cake," Jack snickered.
The other boy just smirked. "They call me The Once-ler," he said nonchalantly. "Or just Once-ler. You can call me Oncie if you want."
"Can I call you Oncie?" Jack piped up.
"No."
MK giggled. "And where did that name come from?"
"Hell if I knew," Once-ler replied. "My mom must have been drunk when she had me."
Jack snickered again. "That explains why you came out so screwed up."
Once-ler reached out a skinny arm over MK and whacked Jack on the head. Jack responded by picking up his staff and hitting Once-ler's head, but he accidentally hit MK in the process.
"Ow!"
"Careful, Jack!" Once-ler scolded playfully. "You hit the poor girl."
MK couldn't help but giggle a little. "It's fine; why do you carry a stick, anyway?"
"It's his security blanket," Once-ler piped up, causing everyone but Jack to laugh.
"It is not." Jack retorted. " It's a safety tool." He smirked at MK. "I need something to defend myself with when all the girls start chasing after me."
Once-ler scoffed and MK rolled her eyes. "Of course," she chuckled. "But I can't believe they allow you to carry that around at school."
"They tried to take it away from him once," Once-ler put in. "It was not pretty."
Jack hit Once-ler's head again, but he didn't deny it. "Yeah, so they let me keep it as long as I don't hurt anyone. Which is cool, because I get to do this," he reached over with his staff and used the hooked part of it to lift Once-ler's fedora off of his head and carry it away from him. Once-ler glared at his friend and grabbed his hat from him.
MK laughed at them.
"Don't worry about them, MK," Norma spoke up. "They're always acting like that. I like to sit here just so I can watch their stupid antics every day."
"I can see that," MK snickered. "Why does Hiccup sit here, then?"
"Hiccup's just a nerd."
"Oh, for God's sake!" Hiccup threw his hands in the air with frustration. "Look, I'm not studying, ok? It's fiction!"
"It's still nerdy," Norma deadpanned, taking an indifferent bite of her food.
Hiccup rolled his eyes and went back to his book as Once-ler and Jack finally stopped fighting.
MK simply continued laughing. These guys were even more fun than the girls' table. She was glad she had left them.
MK's heart was pounding as she stood in front of the door to her Biology class. She was early, probably because she had walked here a little quicker than usual to avoid Anna. MK gulped. Hands shaking, she slowly opened the door and peeked inside. Ms. Tooth wasn't there yet, but there were a few students in there getting their stuff together, and Hans was sitting in his spot staring blankly at his phone.
MK took a deep breath and walked over to her seat. Hans spotted her, put his phone away and smirked at her sexily. "Hey," he greeted. "Saw your little outburst at lunch today."
MK blushed fiercely and almost missed her chair when sitting down. "O-oh, you saw that?" she stammered, trying to sound nonchalant and failing. "Y-yeah, I'm not quite sure what happened...I didn't mean to yell, I just...yeah..."
Hans just grinned at her. "It's fine," he replied. "I know how you feel-it's impossible not to yell at stubborn people like Anna. There's always just something about her that pisses people off."
MK blinked, a little surprised at his remark. She hasn't expected Hans to say something like that about someone. Jack had said the exact same thing, but Hans sounded a little more...aggressive about it. But then again, he had had a history with Anna that MK didn't know much about. He was probably right.
"Anyway," Hans continued, "If you don't have anywhere to go tomorrow, you can always join me for lunch."
MK nearly fell out of her chair. "W-what? Me? Really?" Was she dreaming? She must have been dreaming.
"Yeah, I've got a table in the back, we could hang out, what do you say?"
"Y-yes!" MK squealed, maybe a little too excitedly. "I'd love to!"
Hans grinned. "All right then, I'll see you tomorrow."
Ms. Tooth walked in at that moment, cutting their conversation short. They didn't want to get in trouble again. But MK couldn't really pay attention to Biology that day. She kept stealing glances at Hans, imagining what their lunch date would be like tomorrow (well, maybe it was too soon to call it a date, but that's how Hans made it seem.)
When she went home that day she sped through her homework and jumped into bed, early as it was. She couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.
Lunch time. The moment MK had been waiting for. The girl tried her best to keep herself from bursting with excitement. Hans had said that he'd have an empty table in the back, but she couldn't find a single one the wasn't filled to the brim with people. MK sighed. Maybe if she waited by the lunch line he would find her.
At that moment, she felt a tap on her shoulder. MK whirled around excitedly, expecting to see Hans, but instead she found herself looking into Anna's big blue eyes.
"Oh, Anna, it's you." MK's shoulders dropped a little in disappointment.
Anna looked at the floor in shame. "Hey MK. Look, I know you're not happy to see me, but I just felt really bad about what happened yesterday," she babbled. "I'm really sorry, I was stubborn and I overreacted and I was stupid. Can you please come back?" Anna glanced up at MK with a pleading look on her face. "We can work this out, I promise!"
MK sighed. Anna did seem genuinely sorry, but she didn't have time to worry about it right now. "Sorry Anna, but I can't." She explained. "I told Hans that I'd be eating lunch with him today."
"B-but MK..."
"I'm sorry,Anna..." MK turned and instinctively walked off, leaving Anna standing there alone with a distraught expression on her face. Dang it, MK thought. So much for waiting by the lunch line. How am I gonna find him now? The girl slowed down and aimlessly checked all the tables around her, but to no avail.
MK sighed, leaning against the wall, wondering what to do now. Why hasn't she arranged a meeting spot or something? How stupid could she be? Just as she was mentally slapping herself in the face, she suddenly spotted Hans, standing with his back to her a few feet away.
Sighing with relief, MK walked over to him, ready to apologize for being so late. But as she got closer, she realized that he wasn't alone. There was someone with him, a girl. Upon closer inspection, MK realized that it was Audrey, and she was standing in front of Hans while he talked to her, an annoyed look on her face.
MK's chest tightened with sudden jealousy. What was he doing with another girl? Wait, maybe they're just friends, MK thought to herself. I shouldn't be jumping to conclusions.
As she got closer, however, she was able to listen in on their conversation, and it didn't sound very friendly.
"...Look, I'm not interested, ok?" Audrey snapped. "I already have someone else that I'm into."
Hans chuckled smoothly. "Oh, ok." he said. "Who is it?"
Audrey hesitated and turned her head away from Hans. "Just...someone else, ok?"
Hans laughed again, in total disbelief. "Of course you do," he replied sarcastically. "Hey look, I don't want to sound pushy or anything, but you really caught my attention. My date's not going to be here for a while, so what do you say we just hang out, huh?"
MK just stood there, shocked. What was she hearing? Hans had invited her to lunch. Why was he talking like that to Audrey? Did he even care at all?
Was Anna right?
"No thank you," Audrey was saying, not bothering to hide her snappy tone. "Now will you please leave me alone?"
Hans grinned, unfazed, but he did as Audrey told him. "Ok, ok." He chuckled, backing away from her. "But if you change your mind, you know where to find m-" he was suddenly cut off when he bumped right into someone. Hans whirled around, annoyed. "Hey, why don't you watch where you're-MK?"
MK was still standing there dumbfounded, a little dizzy, trying to keep the tears in her eyes. Hans stared back at her in shock. "How...how long have you been standing there?"
At this, MK straightened up defiantly, though still trying not to cry. "L-long enough," she whimpered. "Hans, what are you doing? I-I thought...I mean, you said I could..."
Hans bit his lip, embarrassed, then he shrugged. "Ok, you got me," he said, but being busted didn't stop him from grinning with conceit.
This made MK mad. "What's the matter with you?!" she raged. "Why would you ask me to lunch if you're just gonna dump me like that?! You shouldn't have asked me, then!"
"MK, seriously, calm down," Hans cautioned her, glancing around to see who was listening.
"No, I won't calm down! You lied to me!"
"I didn't lie to you! I had every intention of eating lunch with you! I was trying to be nice!" He stood up straight and sneered at her, intimidating MK a little. "You're the one who tried to make it seem like a huge deal! Well, I hate to break it to you, but if I paid a huge amount of attention to every girl who showed interest in me, I wouldn't have any time left at all!"
"Wha-?!"
"You should feel lucky I even tried to be nice to you at all," Hans continued, "Most girls would die for a chance like that."
MK gaped at him in bewilderment. How conceited was this guy? "S-so that's it?" She spat. "I'm just another one of your fangirls, that's all?"
"Uh, yeah," Hans chuckled at her as of it was obvious. "I mean, come on, a guy needs all the attention he can get."
MK sneered at Hans and stood up straight, "Alright then," she snapped angrily. "Well, you can kiss this 'fangirl' goodbye, you...douchebag." And with that, she whirled around and walked off.
Hans snickered, unfazed by the insult. "Whatever," he called after her. "One girl isn't gonna make much difference to me."
MK ignored him and continued walking aimlessly across the cafeteria. That...stupid...ugly liar! How dare he trick her like that! She wanted to stuff his head on the trash can. Or smack him over the head with her tray. Or pour her hot soup down his shirt. Or stuff his lying princely mouth with "the beef" and forced him to swallow it whole.
Why didn't I listen to Anna? she thought angrily, still fighting back tears. She was right all along. MK wasn't sure where she was going, but almost inevitably, she found herself standing right in front of Anna's table once again.
The girls were talking about something, but they quieted when MK stopped in front of the table. MK took a shaky breath, preparing herself for the onslaught of "I told you so"s. It was ok. She could take it. Her biggest fear at the moment was that they wouldn't accept her back after what happened.
An uncomfortable silence passed between them, but then Rapunzel finally spoke up. "MK...you're back."
MK shifted her feet. "Yeah..." Her voice was barely audible.
"Did Hans dump ye like yesterday's trash?" Merida blurted, to which she received a shove from both Rapunzel and Mavis.
MK looked at her feet. "Yeah...well, sort of, it's like..." She paused at the sight of Anna patting the seat next to her invitingly. MK sat down next to her and continued. "He invited me to lunch, and I thought...well, that it meant something to him, but he just wanted me to be one of his bit-" she bit her tongue suddenly. "...one of his admirers. You guys were right about him all along."
"Told ya," said Merida. Rapunzel shot her a glare and Mavis groaned.
"Merida, just stop talking please," the black haired girl snapped.
If MK hadn't felt so upset she might have laughed at them, but right now she was too busy trying not to cry. "Yeah," she said again. "I'm real sorry, you guys."
Anna smiled compassionately at MK and wrapped her arms around her in a big hug. "It's ok," she reassured. "I know, Hans is quite the charmer, isn't he? I know how you feel..."
MK nodded gratefully, accepting the hug. Of all the girls, she had expected Anna to hate her guts, but she was relived to see that this was not the case. As she wiped the tears from her eyes, she noticed that the other girls, including Merida, were giving her forgiving smiles. She hadn't needed to worry about them after all.
Just as Anna released MK from her hug, Rapunzel seemed to spot something behind MK and her eyes sparkled a little. "Don't look now," the brunette said with a grin, "but the Sass Squad is here."
"Ugh, Rapunzel!"
MK whirled around in surprise at the familiar voice to see Jack and his crew from yesterday heading toward their table.
"We told you not to call us that," Jack complained. "It makes us sound like a bunch of snooty cheerleaders."
Rapunzel just laughed as the four of them set their trays down on the table. "Besides, a bunch of freshmen took over our table," Jack continued. "So we're here to invade yours. Scoot over." They all squeezed together onto the table as the girls playfully complained about the boys' presence.
"Hey, quit whining," Once-ler said. "This was the only way to keep Jack from hitting all those kids with his stick. He'd be expelled if it wasn't for me." He gave Jack a playful slap on the back and the girls giggled.
Jack rolled his eyes. "I told you, I wasn't going to hit them. But even so, they should have given up their table. As a junior, I have table priority over freshmen."
Rapunzel perked up. "Well, I'm a senior," she pointed out. "Does that mean I can kick you out of here?"
"What? No, that's not fair!"
Even MK started laughing at this point. Mavis poked a pale finger at Jack, shaking her head with mock disapproval. "Don't be a hypocrite, Jack," she teased. "Society doesn't like that, you know."
"Ah, cut him some slack, Mavis," Once-ler cut in. "He's only an idiot most of the time."
"What's wrong with MK?" Norma piped up suddenly. Once-ler and Jack turned and seemed to see MK's tear-stained face for the first time.
"Aw, did you guys make her cry?" Jack blurted. "That's messed up."
"No, Jack..." MK cut in, giggling in spite of herself. "It's just...boy trouble. They were comforting me."
"Boys suuuuck!" Merida yelled out.
Next to her, Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Sexist," he mumbled.
In response, Merida snatched the book in his hands and used it to hit him on the head. "Nerd."
Jack paid no attention to the antics of his friends and rested his head on his staff. "Well then, let's not talk about boys," he declared matter-of-factly. "We'll find something more interesting to discuss...are you all going to the football game on Friday?"
A few whoops an cheers erupted from the table. "I'm definitely goin'!" Merida piped up. "My friend Astrid's gonna be playin' for the other team! Gotta go cheer her on!"
"Wait, what?" Hiccup looked up from his book in surprise. "They let a girl play on their football team?"
"You got a problem with that, Pipsqueak?" Merida snapped.
Hiccup frowned and turned back to his book. "No, I'm just...it's new to me, that's all."
"Heh, well I should tell ye that Astrid is the toughest member of the team-she could take out any of our brutes with one tackle."
"Whoa, hey, Merida!" Jack burst out. "You can't go to our game and cheer on the other team!"
"I'm not gonna cheer fer the other team! Just fer Astrid!"
"That's the same thing!"
While Merida and Jack continued their little squabble, MK turned back to Anna. "So, wait, you guys are all friends?" She asked. "But Jack said you were 'witches'."
Anna giggled. "That's just Jack being Jack," she replied. "Are you going to the game?"
MK shrugged. "Don't know. I've never been to a football game."
"Well then, you have to come. It's a good way to get into the school spirit."
MK smiled and looked around at her new friends. "Ok, I guess I'll go."
Maybe her first few days had been a little bumpy, but hey, it had all worked out in the end. And besides, now she had a bunch of new friends to hang out with...maybe school wouldn't be so bad this year after all.