Chapter Three: Another Dead Body
As Belle was heading for her math class, she was surprised to see Snow White being dragged through the hallway by Janitor Champe. What on earth? she wondered as she gaped at them passing by. Once they were swallowed up by the crowd, she shook her head and continued on to class. Belle to a seat beside Rapunzel, and the blonde automatically swiveled towards her.
"Did you hear what happened to Snow?" Rapunzel asked, her large green eyes glinting with concern.
"No, but I did see her being pulled through the hall by the janitor," Belle replied.
"She was found locked up inside the boys' bathroom!"
"Does anyone know how she ended up there?" Belle asked, her brow furrowing with worry.
Rapunzel shook her head. "She may have been pushed. Snow doesn't seem like the type of girl to just waltz into the boys' room and purposely lock herself in."
"Yeah," Belle said slowly, suddenly recalling what she heard Claudia say: Come on girls, we've got to catch up with Snow. There's no way she meant anything good by saying we've got to catch up with Snow. The Bimbettes were downright awful and Belle had a feeling they had something to do with Snow being locked up in the boys' restroom. And knowing the grumpy janitor, she was sure Snow was sent straight to the principal's office.
As soon as the bell rang, Belle shot her hand up in the air, and said, "Mrs. Turner, may I go to the restroom?"
Mrs. Turner, and of course, her teaching assistant, Phillip Kingson, gazed at her in surprise. "Belle, class just started. You should have gone earlier," she replied as Phillip began walking around the room collecting the previous night's homework.
"I know, I'm sorry, but I didn't have the time, and it's kind of an emergency," Belle said.
"Very well, you may go, but just this once," said Mrs. Turner writing a hall pass, and handing it to Belle.
"Thank you, Mrs. Turner," she said standing up and leaving the class room. As she began walking down the hall, she failed to notice that Phillip had seen her head right towards the principal's office, instead of left to the restrooms.
When Snow left Ishgram's office, she was somewhat surprised to see Belle Jolie sitting in a plastic chair, waiting for her. Ms. Gilbert was eyeing her suspiciously, but Belle ignored her.
"What are you doing here?" Snow inquired, taking a seat beside Belle.
"Mrs. Turner asked me to see if you were okay," Belle replied.
Snow frowned slightly. She didn't have any classes with Belle. They weren't even in the same grade!
When Snow opened her mouth to point this out, Belle quickly whispered, "Just play along."
"Oh, um, well tell her I can't be in class today, so can you get my homework for me?" Snow said, then added in an undertone, "Why are you really here?"
"Sure," said Belle out loud, then whispered, "Tell me honestly, did the Bimbettes lock you up in the bathroom?"
Snow was surprised. "How did you –?"
"I overheard Claudia say she was going to meet up with you."
"Yes, it was them, but please don't do or say anything! I don't want the situation to get any worse than what it really is," Snow begged.
Belle pressed her lips together for a moment then said, "All right, but if you need help, I'll be here for you." She stood up from the chair and added, "I'd better get back to class. I'll see you around."
"Thanks," Snow said waving to her new friend, "'Bye!"
As soon as Belle left the office, Snow pulled out her homework from her first class and decided to work at it for the rest of the hour.
When the hour was nearly over, Phillip Kingson stepped into the office, with a shoulder bag and his hand filled with paper work. At first he didn't notice Snow as he handed Ms. Gilbert the forms, but the teenage girl was so surprised she dropped her pencil with a clatter. Phillip suddenly spun around and his hand twitched toward his bag as a fierce look crossed his face.
"Hello, Mr. Kingson," she said quietly becoming formal, staring up at him as she picked up her pencil and slipped it back into her bag with her homework.
"Oh, hello," he said, relaxing, "You didn't get into trouble?"
"No," she said, "Just a warning. I'm just waiting here until class is over."
"Well, it's almost lunch time. We can head over to the cafeteria together," he suggested.
"Snow blushed. "Oh, um, I don't have any money for food," she confessed in embarrassment. Regina never gave her lunch money.
"I'll buy you lunch," he said with a smile.
"Oh, no! You don't have to do that! I don't want to cause you any trouble," she cried out.
"It's no trouble at all," he insisted holding his hand out to her.
With a smile, Snow grasped his hand, and he helped her to her feet, "You're very kind." They began heading out, but before they could leave the office, Ms. Gilbert turned on the radio, and they heard the news report.
"Another body was found lacking blood," said the announcer, "This makes the seventh mysterious murder in less than a week. The police are stumped and the autopsy reports –"
"So gruesome," muttered the secretary, changing the station.
Coming to a sudden halt, Phillip's body stiffened. Snow glanced up at him and saw that fierce look return. "Mr. Kingson?"
He looked at her, and pulled something out of his pocket. "Here," he said handing her a five dollar bill. "I'll head over to the cafeteria later. I need to make an important phone call." He shoved her in the direction of the cafeteria, and she stumbled a bit, bug by the time she looked back at him, he was gone.
The bell rang signaling the beginning of lunch, and the halls were filled with students. Snow went to the cafeteria alone, wishing Phillip had gone with her. Arriving in the cafeteria, she bought a Sloppy Joe, and stood off to the side looking for a place to sit. Then she saw a vacant seat towards the back of the cafeteria and started off in that direction.
Snow hadn't gotten far when she tripped, and fell over, dropping her lunch tray. The Sloppy Joe flew off the tray and landed on her, covering her face, clothes and arms with the meaty substance. As laughter began to ring throughout the cafeteria, she looked up to see Claudia standing beside her, her foot extended outward.
"Did you have a nice trip, Snow?" Claudia sneered down at her.
Biting her lip and flushing in humiliation, Snow tried to blink back tears.
Phillip suddenly showed up beside her with a slight frown on his face. "Are you alright?" he inquired kneeling down at her side.
"Yes," she replied, wiping her eyes as best as she could without getting gunk in them. "I'm fine."
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," he said gently grabbing her arm, and helping her to her feet. He led her into the nearest girls' restroom, with every student staring at them in bewilderment. It was pure luck that no other school staff was around to witness this, or he would have been fired on the spot. As they entered the room, several females that were in there gaped at them. Phillip lifted up Snow and set her down on the sink's counter.
The other girls exchanged surprised glances, then scuttled out of the room, whispering to each other, leaving the couple alone. Phillip grabbed a paper towel, soaked it with water, then began wiping the Sloppy Joe off of Snow's face and arms.
"You're so charming," she remarked, her brown eyes raking his face.
"What?" he said, slightly taken aback, wiping the last of the food off her cheek, "Charming?"
"Not many people would bother to help me like you have," she replied, "You're like Prince Charming."
Laughing, Phillip threw away the towel, "If I'm Prince Charming, then you're the fair damsel in distress." He pulled off his sweater vest and handed it to her. "Here, change into this. There isn't any way to clean your shirt without a washer."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Positive. You can give it back to me tomorrow," he replied.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed, leaning forward and kissing his cheek. Snow hopped off the counter and skipped into a stall closing the door behind her.
"So, uh, what's your name anyways?" Phillip asked, leaning against the sink, folding his arms across his chest.
"Snow White," she answered. The door opened and she stepped out of the stall, wearing his sweater vest, and stuffing her filthy shirt into her backpack. The bell rang for the end of lunch, and they left the bathroom, ignoring the gazes of the other students.
"Well, Snow White, it's been a pleasure spending lunch with you. Until we meet again my lady," he said taking her hand and kissing her knuckles with a wink. Blushing, she watched him leave for Mrs. Turner's class.
Mulan Fa and Merida Scott were outside for P.E. class stretching on the grass.
"My dad called me right before lunch," said Merida stretching her right arm across her chest, "She said there was another body found lacking blood, so he's going to go investigate the scene where the body was found."
"Is he going to take you this time?" Mulan inquired.
"I wish," Merida said rolling her eyes and switching arms, "He went right after he called me, and I'm stuck here at stupid school. Bet my mum is happy about that. She hates it when he takes me out to hunt. If it was up to her, I wouldn't even be allowed to carry weapons with me for protection."
"At least you get that much," said Mulan pausing for a moment in her exercise to pull her long black hair into a ponytail, as opposed to Merida who left her wild curly red hair loose. "If my parents knew that I have to wear shorts for this class, they would flip, not to mention remove me from the school and have them homeschool me. I had to beg them to let me come here."
"How'd you manage to do that anyway?" Merida inquired.
"They know you're here," Mulan replied with a shrug, "Even though they disapprove of you being allowed to have weapons, they know I'll be safe with you."
"Okay, people, we're doing archery today," said Mr. Russell, "Everyone grab a bow, some arrows and head over to the targets." The students grabbed their equipment and moved over to the designated area. When Mr. Russell gave the signal, they started shooting at the bull's eye.
Mulan was having trouble shooting. The arrows always flopped to the ground about three or four feet away from her, and with a huff of irritation, she turned to watch Merida who got the target so many times, she had split all of her arrows in half.
Noticing her friend had stopped, Merida turned to Mulan and said, "It's really not that hard. Pull the string all the way back while focusing on the target. Take a deep breath, and let it fly. If it helps, pretend you're hunting a vampire, and only your wooden arrow will kill it."
Mulan did as she was told, and this time, her arrow soared through the air, but instead of striking the target, it flew over it and became embedded in a tree.
"Good," Merida said with a nod, "Just keep practicing."
With a grin, Mulan grabbed another arrow and shot it towards the target.