"Uma, wake up!" Uma heard, as her bed suddenly rattled. Uma's eyes shot open, as exhaustion hit her so fast, for a moment, she wasn't sure if she was sleeping at all. But as she sat up in her bed, her eyes blinking closed over and over again, demanding to be shut, she knew that someone, probably her mother, woke her up.

Sure enough, it was.

"What is it, mom?" Uma growled under her breath, her eyes quickly swaying over to her alarm clock. She was so mad because she knew for sure that it was probably the middle of the night.

3:45 a.m.

Uma looked back, pissed off beyond all belief.

"What?" She asked, her eyes touching upon her mother's face, which was something she was starting to hate looking at.

Her overweight mother, with greasy hair and thighs so fat she looked like an octopus.

Uma felt a tiny smile from on her lips.

She didn't know why, but whenever she called her mother an octopus, she couldn't help but laugh. For some reason, it gave her a feeling of funny familiarity, almost nostalgia.

"I need someone-" Her mother started to say,

"Let me guess? You need someone to work the night shift?" Uma asked, her voice wavering on anger. Her mother just smirked, holding a cigarette between her fingers.

"Yup." She spoke, blowing out the smoke.

Uma only stood up, realizing there was no point in fighting it. She would never win.

She had school in the morning. Well, she was supposed to. But on nights like these, where she wouldn't get any sleep, she would just ditch.

"Move it." Uma muttered under her breath, walking out of the room. And as she walked down the hallway, ready to walk into the cafe that her family had attached to their rooms, she saw Harry's room. As she walked passed it, she wasn't sure if she should wake him up or not.

Harry was her best friend and saying he was fond of her was to say the least.

If Uma had to work the night shift, and she needed a hand, he would give her two. And if she didn't go to school, then he wouldn't either. They were an inseparable pair. There was a name people liked to call them. People around the streets.

The captain and her first mate.

Uma didn't understand the name but, like calling her mom and octopus, it brought her a sense of nostalgia.

Since Uma and Harry were actually known around the streets. Uma had always grown up on the streets, and was pretty much the unofficial queen of the ghetto. Harry, however, used to come from a better part of town. But once he and Uma got close, he was ready to jump straight into the street scene.

And sometimes Uma thought Harry was too good at fitting in around the streets.

Either way, he became so devoted to Uma, Harry paid to live there in the spare room. Uma's mother didn't care. Because if Harry lived there, then that meant an easy paycheck.

Uma just walked into the cafe, deciding their was no point to wake up Harry, anyway. Chances are, Harry would wake her up in the morning, asking if she was gonna go. She would say no, and he would just walk in and fall asleep on the chair next to her bed. Which he did every morning she decided not to go. Which was a lot.

The chair used to be far more uncomfortable, but once Harry made a habit of sleeping there, Uma upgraded it. While she didn't understand the random bouts of insanity Harry sometimes had, she understood that Harry would do anything for her.

And so would her other best friend, or mate, as others called him.

Gil.

He wasn't the brightest crayon in the box.

He dropped out of school two years ago when he was fifteen, and needed a job. Uma's mom Ursula said that she already had one good for nothing kid (Uma) working behind the counter, so she didn't want another one.

But as Uma watched Gil walk the down the street, being kind to everyone, even though the world was never kind to him, she told her mom that she didn't care what she wanted. And that Gil was going to be hired. Her mom was mad, but said that as long as Uma worked two extra shifts per week for the entirety of Gil working here, she didn't care.

So Uma took the deal. And Gil moved into the same room as Harry's.

And so Uma and Harry became, "Uma, Harry, and Gil."

As stupid as Uma used to believe companions were, now there's was nothing in the world that could destroy the bond between her and her "mates".

(*)*

Uma used to not be a part of the, "Uma, Harry and Gil" group. There was even a time when she wasn't a part of the "Uma and Harry" duo.

That was when Uma was younger.

And she was a part of a different duo. Which kids around the street called the dynamic duo.

It consisted of her and…

"I hate that girl." Uma spat, sweeping up around the fish and chips cafe. She looked outside, as cars whizzed by. At one point, a limo drove by. Which only reminded Uma of the girl she couldn't stand, even more.

Because "she who shall not be named" was now living in the rich part of town.

"I bet people are just handing that girl chocolate strawberries into her stupid, dumb mouth."Uma muttered, as Gil, who was now working as well, just listened. He and Mal had never met. So he wasn't sure what to say about her. But he didn't like it when Uma was upset.

"I hope someone shoves a strawberry down her mouth and she chokes." Uma continued, as Gil served a customer her food. Usually, people, much less workers, weren't really allowed to talk about such terrible things. But this side of town was crawling with criminals and street toughs. And if you didn't fight someone every day, or at least talk about a previous you've gotten into, then you were the weird one.

"Hey. At least she can't call you Shrimpy anymore." Gil commented, as they both walked into the back. Uma's eyes lit with anger.

'She who shall not be named' gave her that nickname. And now if anyone said Shrimpy, even if they were just talking about the first, she would probably punch them in the face. But after Harry started getting protective over her, she had pick her fights more wisely.

She wouldn't want Harry going ballistic on someone just for calling her Shrimpy. And while she people would assume a street rat like her wouldn't care, she really was the queen of the streets. And it wasn't just a title.

She would do the work.

If a fellow street kid needed money because their parents kicked them out, Uma would either give them money or let them stay with her until they could get back on their feet.

And while there used to be many gangs crawling the streets, once Uma took over, she managed to form one gang that eventually started to look out for each , they didn't need to fight each other. In many ways, not just Uma and her companions were treated like a group. Now, the whole entirety of the gang teenagers were now a part of Uma's crew.

The pirate crew, they would sometimes say. And Uma thought, "Eh. What the heck? Why should I care? We're already being called a bunch of other pirate mumbo jumbo." And if she was honest, the name had a ring to it.

She would rather be called the captain than the queen. Which was what "She who shall not be named" was now called.

And now her crew actually had a job of sorts. They needed to fight the ones who left them behind.

More specifically, the students of Aurodon Academy.

Which was now where, she who shall not be named, or Mal, went.

To put it simply, Mal and her other friends were allowed to be taken to the good part of town to be a part of the most elite school in the country. It was part of a scholarship program the president of the school did.

Any kid who grew up on the streets, who everyone else gave up on, could get the chance to go to Aurodon Academy. And he accepted Mal and her friends to go. And he said that he would accept other kids as more time went on.

But then, one months passed. Then two.

Then six.

So randomly, quite randomly, the president of the school, and the son of mayor, Ben, seemed to have given up on the rest of the poor kids.

Not once did he mention that he was just busy, but not to worry, more kids would be on the way.

He didn't mention anything.

At all.

"The second he got a girl to smack lips with he decided the rest of us weren't worth it." Uma spat, later on in the day. It was around noon, and Gil and Harry were now both with her. Harry was a bit upset at first that she didn't wake him up earlier that day.

"Yes. He was probably just looking for some bimbo to pamper." Harry spoke, his feet on the counter. Meanwhile, Gil was cleaning the table around his feet. And Gil accidentally tapped his foot.

"Watch it, Gilly." Harry spoke, his voice getting irritated. The sad thing was, right now, just by warning him, Harry was already being more lenient than he would be with others. Uma, seeing this, walked over.

"Harry. Feet off." Uma spoke, and Harry then just pushed his feet down onto the floor. Gil then cleaned the spot where his shoes were.

"So. Are we gonna get into any fights today?" Harry asked, looking at the tattoo he had on his wrist. He had a hook as his tattoo. Just like his father did, as well. His father, Harry was also deathly loyal to.

Uma and his father were the only people Harry would like or listen to. And be loyal to. And he had undying loyalty towards both.

"I wasn't planning on fighting anyone. Are we gonna fight? Should i tell everyone?" Gil asked, and Harry looked at Gil.

"If we tell them we're going to fight them, then it won't be all that fun, now will it?" Harry asked, putting his feet back on the table. Uma just threw some slop onto a customer's table, and he gave her a glare because it got on his face.

"You guys know we don't fight other mates. We only fight the rich kids that are dumb enough to crawl down here." Uma announced, although she didn't need to. That was one of the biggest rules in her crew.

"No fighting each other."

Although, maybe she did have to explain it.

Because Gil wasn't all that bright, and Harry just wanted to fight anyone. It didn't matter who.

But there was no way Uma was going to let someone on her crew fight another.

Because if there was one thing Uma hated most in the world it was this:

Betrayal.

Mal betrayed her when she and her friends just skipped off to Aurodon Academy and didn't even send so much as a post card. Mal even dyed her hair blonde and started wearing decked out dresses. Basically stripping away anything that made her unique.

Now she was just a nice piece of eye candy that you always saw hooked around Ben's arm.

Ben.

Just thinking about him made Uma want to punch a wall.

Ben, who promised he would give the forgotten children a chance.

Ben, who could hate at least given the kids some sort of test, to prove that they were smart enough to get into the school, too. But he didn't do anything. He just let the kids who lived in the ghetto, most particularly on Ilse Street, fend for themselves.

Uma balled her hand into a fist.

"I'll show him that we all deserve a better life." Uma grumbled under her breath.

"And I won't do it one kid at a time. It's all of us or none of us..." Uma spoke, repeating the words she said often. Almost every day.

"It's all of us or none of us."

Because if there came a day where Uma could actually get her and her crew into the light, then she would do it.

And no one would be left behind.

Okay. So I know what you're thinking.

I like to get people hooked up with Ben. At least, that's what you might be thinking if you've read my other stories. Sure, I only have a different one where Jane and Ben are the main couple, but in that story I've stated that I do like Ben with Mal.

And now, here I am, shipping him with Uma.

And hey, I'm sure I'm not the only one. I know they didn't have all that many scenes, and she did threaten to shove him into the water. Or as she said, "I'll throw him overboard and let him swim with killer sharks."

But hey! That movie knew what it was doing. It was playing the shipping field. (You can't fool me, movie. -_-) Every character (except for Jay and Carlos...unfortunately) were being shipped so hard you could hear cannon balls flying back and forth. (Sorry for the really bad pun.) But you all know what I'm talking about.

Mal was shipped with practically everyone. She and Ben (obvs) her and Evie had way more moments that her and Ben in the first and second combined, and even with Harry. And Harry and Uma were being shippy. And even Uma and Ben. and as I watched I really, REALLY wanted them to be a thing. But since this is disney we're talking about, I knew there was no chance. Once a couple is made, especially in movies, they ain't breaking up.

But as I saw Uma's face once she gave Ben back his ring, I just knew I had to write their story.

And I'm sorry if I can't do it justice. But I'll try my best. And if you're writing all the time, there's no other way to be than better. So wish me luck! And I'm sorry Ben's not even in this chapter. He was supposed to be, but I thought that where I left it was a good spot. But now my friend, who I offered to let read it, might be a little upset. She'll be like, "WHAT? He wasn't even in the chapter?! That sucks!" But hey. At least she'll want to read chapter two. ;P

Anyway, there's not much else to say except thank you very much, and please review. (And also, Gil's name sucks! Every time I type it my fingers subconsciously makes me type girl or gilr, which SUCKS! Even when I was telling you about how much Gil's name sucks I messed up. I even messed up just now, too.)