Chapter 4

EPOV

I had an itch, and it was a good one. It had taken up residence just under my left eye, above my cheekbone. This always happened. Just when I had almost finished up with hair and makeup, and was about to leave the swivel chair of torture, it would begin. Innocuous at first. Just a little tickle, as if my cheek had been brushed by one of those tiny particles that you can only see in a beam of sunlight. Then it would intensify, and I would contort my face and wrinkle my nose in some futile attempt at relief. It would fester and snowball until nothing, save for quadriplegia, could prevent me from scratching off half of my face to relieve it. Still, I had no desire to sit through thirty minutes of touch ups, so I tried to blow a stream of air up towards my left eye, to no avail. I had an itch, and it needed to be scratched, period. I let out a tortured sigh and looked pleadingly at Jane, who was standing in front of me, poised to apply a final coating of translucent powder to my face, effectively sealing in her last two hours of work. She glared at me, and I swear the daggers coming from her eyes wouldn't have just killed, they would have maimed and tortured first.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, flashing her the Lassie eyes.

I raised the index finger of my left hand and Jane sucked in a breath, and then seemed to stop breathing all together. I paused, my finger suspended one centimeter from my heavily made up face, and wondered how long I could make Jane deny herself oxygen. I chuckled a little and the movement of my facial muscles brought some relief, a few seconds passed, and the itch was gone. I looked at Jane and noticed that she was staring at me intently, as if someone had just told her she would die if she couldn't count all the pores on my face. I knew that this meant she had somewhere to be, and so I decided to draw the moment out, just a little bit longer. I allowed my finger to move ever so slightly forward, until it was just grazing my cheek. Her eyes widened. Then I abruptly dropped my finger and smiled at her crookedly.

"Humph," I shrugged. "False alarm I guess." I waved my hands at her, indicating for her to continue. "Carry on."

Jane regarded me coolly as the color returned to her cheeks. She began to apply the powder rather roughly, sighing and muttering something about maturity levels.

My eyes were closed, and I heard the lumbering footsteps of one of my best friends coming up from behind me. I braced myself as a massive body slammed into my side. Jane cursed under her breath at the interruption caused by the physical jarring of her human canvas.

"'Sup Jane," Emmett said, nodding in Jane's direction.

Jane ignored the greeting and began to remove the clips from my wig. She stepped back and made a final inspection of her handiwork. She nodded her approval, and glanced at her watch.

"Dude," Emmett began incredulously. "I think you actually wear more makeup than all three of my sisters combined." With that said, Emmett raised his arm and ran his index finger roughly down my cheek, removing a perfect line of Jane's hard work. He glanced at his finger, and casually regarded Jane, who was glaring her death daggers in his direction.

"Emmett, run," I whispered, as a fuming Jane grabbed her freshly sharpened liner pencils and lunged forward with honest to God intent to do bodily harm in her eyes. Emmett's laughter echoed through the room, and he held his hands out in front of himself to deflect her blows. Just then, two slender arms grabbed Jane from behind, holding her back by her shoulders.

"Now darlin'," her captor cooed. "Let's not do anything you're going to regret in the morning." Jasper's voice was a slow melodic southern drawl that brought most girls to their knees, and he had directed his words mere inches from Jane's ear. She shook her head wildly and twisted and turned in an attempt to free herself.

"Damn you Jasper," she spat. "He did that on purpose." She nodded her head in Emmett's direction. Emmett flashed his irresistible dimpled grin, and gave her a wink. Jane struggled harder against Jasper's capable hold, and we all looked at Emmett, whose face had taken on a thoughtful expression. You could practically see the light bulb moment. He again eyed his index finger, and stepped forward towards Jane. Then, he unceremoniously wiped his finger on the sleeve of Jane's white shirt. Her eyes blackened with fury as she struggled even harder against Jasper. Emmett smiled at her devilishly.

Jasper began shaking his head, and laughed quietly under his breath. He bent and whispered something into Jane's ear. Whatever it was made the evil smile return to her face, and when Jasper released his hold on her, she bolted towards Emmett, who shrieked like a girl and stumbled over my swivel chair.

"What the fuck, Jasper," Emmett yelled, as he regained his footing and turned to make his escape. Jane was tangled in various cords, and she cursed under her breath as she tried to get free.

"Sorry, man," Jasper shrugged. "You always take it just one step too far."

Jane had freed herself, and was resuming her attack on Emmett, as he turned and ran, shouting at Jasper over his shoulder.

"Traitor!" he yelled, as the two of them disappeared into the labyrinth of tunnels hidden beneath the Magic Kingdom.

Jasper and I were doubled over in laughter as we heard Emmett's pleas echoed back to us from down the hall.

"Think she'll put an eye out this time?" Jasper asked, flopping across one of the other swivel chairs.

I shook my head, trying to regain my ability to speak. "I doubt it," I choked out. "Remember when they slept together? He survived that debacle, I'm sure he'll manage to get out of this one relatively unscathed." Jasper nodded his head, and I turned mine, surveying the damage, and then glanced at my watch. It wasn't too bad, nothing I couldn't fix myself, if I could do it quickly. I picked up a makeup sponge off of the counter and began blending. If I didn't hurry, another make up artist would come in and utter something truly horrifying like, "Wash his face and start again." There was no way my understudy was going to take over the 4-7pm time slot. I hadn't been out all week, and Jasper and Emmett were both off tonight as well. Jasper cleared his throat. I turned my head to look at him, mid-blend.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to watching you do that, man," Jasper laughed, shaking his head. I dropped my arm and looked down at the makeup sponge in my hand. I felt myself redden slightly, but I managed to laugh it off, and continued blending. I had done a pretty good job. You almost couldn't tell I'd been attacked by a 24 year old ex-linebacker who couldn't see past his own amusement. I inspected my work in the mirror and nodded once. I threw the sponge away, and turned to face Jasper. My friend was right, applying makeup, let along wearing it myself, was not something I ever imagined myself doing. I didn't even get into theater until my senior year at the University of North Carolina, and only then because some chick I was dating was a drama major. What I had subsequently discovered about myself, however, had been life-changing.

I had discovered that I loved to act. For me, it was like having permission to live in a land of make believe, and I had thrown myself into my new found passion with everything I possessed. One year later I had performed in five different onstage productions ranging from Romeo and Juliet to Evita to The Real Inspector Hound. Emmett and Jasper had been amazingly supportive, only jokingly questioning my sexual orientation for the first few months. They cheered wildly during curtain calls, volunteered to build scenery, and flirted with all the leading ladies. They attended cast parties, and marveled at drag queens who could perform standing back flips in 6 inch stiletto heals. The three of us were in the business management school, because that's what good southern boys majored in. We dreamed of one day owning a business together, and that dream was the only thing that sustained us through the boring lectures, networking luncheons, and bank president guest speakers, that made up the bulk of our college experience. I think we all enjoyed the excitement that the drama department brought to our lives. As graduation approached, and the pressure to find real jobs reared its head, I discovered employment opportunities for amateur stage actors at Walt Disney World. I applied, and three auditions, and two interviews later, I was offered a dream role, and I jumped at the chance. My father was more than a little mortified by my career choice, and I'm pretty sure he now avoids all inquiries as to my current whereabouts. Jasper and Emmett followed me to Florida a few months later, desperate to hold on to their youthful enthusiasm, and to put off the 9 to 5 world just a little longer. Two and a half years later, we were all still here. I don't think any of us ever regretted our decision to leave the real world behind.

Emmett was hired as a ride attendant, which was perfect for his larger than life personality. Everyone who passed through his line was treated to a hearty helping of wit and good 'ol southern boy charm. He was a shameless flirt, and he seemed to be making an honest attempt to sleep with every available female employee in the park under the age of 60. Jane had been one of last month's conquests, and my stints in her makeup chair had become increasingly uncomfortable ever since. He was a loyal friend, and the best big brother that his 3 little sisters could ever have asked for. I was lucky to call him a friend, and I knew he'd always have my back.

Jasper was the only son of a prominent politician from Charleston, South Carolina. Having been born and raised among the southern gentility, Jasper had acquired all of the charms befitting a southern gentleman. From his impeccable manners to his Gone with the Wind accent, Jasper was the unequivocal ladies man of our little outfit. We often placed bets on how fast he could convince a sober woman to go home with him. His record was just under 4 minutes. Jasper was a trust fund kid, who worked just to have something to do. Disney World proved to be just the ticket for his chosen lifestyle, and he kept us all in liquor and good food, and totally pimped out our shared 3 bedroom apartment. Jasper's dream was to compose scores for Disney movies, and his inspiration was John Lassiter, the CEO of Pixar who, legend has it, got his start as a Jungle Cruise operator at Disney Land in California. Jasper was hired as a greeter because of his good manners and charming personality, but he eventually became the Disney World "go to" man for celebrity tours. He had met many celebrities during his time here, but the one featured most prominently in his bar room anecdotes was Tom Cruise.

"You can't go wrong with Mr. Cruise. He's almost timeless. Once a girl knows you've conversed with that man, it's on. It's never failed me."

This was usually mine and Emmett's cue to roll our eyes and call bull shit, but Jasper continued to insist on the validity of his method. Emmett tried this out once, but failed miserably when he told the girl that he and Tom were actually related, but then failed to remember the names of his wife and child. Anyway, it seemed like Jasper was given more than his fair share of panty peeling abilities when God was handing out talents. His accent, his looks, and his musical aptitude all combined to make him an almost unstoppable force of nature with members of the opposite sex.

So, Emmett had his humor and happy-go-lucky personality, Jasper had his looks and his music, and I had my job. When I was offered a position portraying a character at Disney World I hadn't known what I was getting myself into. My character was so popular, I wasn't even allowed to do meet and greet sessions like Mickey and Winnie the Pooh. The few times it had been attempted, things had erupted into chaos. So instead, my character performed several shows a day, geared towards small children, but often attracting large crowds of eager women, and appeared in all of the daily parades. I loved my job, and not just because it helped me out with the ladies. It was so fun to perform everyday and get paid for it. I did enjoy the attention however, and I was determined to ride it out for at least one more year. That meant, simply put, that I was NOT a relationship man. I was having too much fun, and I figured I had the rest of my life to commit to one woman. I was the only one of our group who had an official dating rule, or rather, a rule against going out on multiple dates with the same woman, but we were all enjoying the lifestyle that we were lucky enough to be leading. Nothing seemed to be missing. We were living the good life.

I was pulled out of my reverie by Jasper's impatient sigh.

"Where the hell is Emmett?" he asked, checking his phone, stuffing his hands in his back pockets, and then pulling them out again. He stopped moving and turned to look in my direction. "Hey, don't you have a show in like.....," he checked his watch, "five minutes." He held his arm out to me. It was 3:50, and I was due at my entrance at 3:55.

"Shit, I'm ought of here man, I'll see you guys tonight at the club okay?" Jasper was dialing Emmett's cell phone and nodded in my direction as I bolted down the tunnel towards Adventureland.

BPOV

The castle. I couldn't believe I was actually seeing the castle. In person. Alice, Rosalie and I were standing on the ferry gliding slowly towards Cinderella's castle, and it was even more beautiful than all of my childhood dreams combined. I was grinning from ear to ear, and Alice was jumping up and down, watching my reaction to my first view of the Magic Kingdom.

"Stop watching me Alice," I sighed, "It's creepy. Watch Rose, it's her first time here too you know." Alice stopped bouncing and linked arms with Rosalie and I.

"This is it girls. This is where we get to spend our entire summer. I would just like to take this opportunity to point out who is responsible for that fact. Me." She smiled broadly and took a dramatic bow. Rose and I wrapped our arms around her in a group hug that she most definitely deserved.

"Thank you Alice!" we sang, at the top of our lungs, as the ferry began to dock, and I was mere feet from the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. The thrill of the moment overtook me, and as soon as we were properly docked, and the chain was dropped, I raced towards the entrance at breakneck speed. I felt like a kid again as my Chuck Taylors slapped the concrete, and the hot, sticky southern air blew my hair back from my face. I could hear Alice and Rosalie just steps behind me, and we all came to a stop at the security tables to have our bags checked.

"Who the hell would bomb the happiest place on earth?" Alice muttered as she surrendered her bag to the uniformed man standing in front of her. He smiled and handed her bag back after checking for contraband.

"Sorry, ma'am, just trying to keep you safe," he quipped.

"Oh, just ignore her officer," Rosalie smiled, "we do."

Alice punched her in the arm, and the three of us emerged from security and proceeded to the admission turnstiles. We produced our ID badges and were promptly ushered through the gates and into the land of princesses, fanny packs, and the almighty dollar. Alice became all business again, grabbing a map at the information desk and assembling the three of us for a huddle right next to the statue of Walt Disney.

"Now girls, we all know that the first order of business is to get Miss. Bella Swan to her favorite pirate captain. So it's off to ride Pirates of the Caribbean!" She raised her fist in the air triumphantly, and stuffed the map into her bag. "Let's go, let's go," she shouted, grabbing Rose and I by the hand and dragging us down Main Street. I tried to take in the scenery as we raced past a horse and buggy and Piglet signing autographs in front of the castle. I gazed at the Castle, towering above me, but was quickly pulled to the left. I looked over my shoulder and promised to return to this lovely spot sometime soon. Assuming I didn't spend the rest of my summer in traction from Alice's manhandling.

"Okay Alice, I can walk, just let go of me." I extricated myself from my overly enthusiastic, sprightly tour guide, and stopped to snap a picture of her annoyed expression. I turned the camera around to show her the picture. "Where's the magic Alice?" I asked, eyeing her disapprovingly.

"Where's the fire?" Rosalie sighed, as she stopped to take a sip of her water. She wiped her forehead, and surveyed our surroundings. "I don't think the ride is going anywhere."

Alice began to pace around, watching us with a disgruntled expression.

"Bella, you practically knocked elderly people out of your way running in here, and now you're stopping, less than half a mile from a ride featuring your fictional pirate lover?"

"I'm stopping to take in the sights, Alice. You just completely bypassed the castle, and I haven't even seen Mickey yet," I poked my bottom lip out at her. "Rose," I whined, "Alice won't let me see Mickey Mouse."

"Trust me Bella, you're gonna want to see this." Alice held her hand out and I took it, eyeing her warily. We walked to rest of the way hand in hand as Alice pointed out interesting details along the way. She and Rose began lamenting the rule against dating cast members as they checked out the guys working the food stands and gift shops we passed.

"I don't know how I can possibly be expected to go twelve weeks without sex," Rosalie sighed. "I mean, we're all adults here. What difference does it make to Greg who I choose to sleep with?"

"I for one am grateful for the arrangement," I started. "It's nice to think about taking a break from guys for awhile," I nodded my head resolutely, and Alice winked at me and smacked my butt. I giggled and winked back. "In all seriousness, I think a little break is just what we all need. A chance to enjoy just having fun without the pressure to impress guys." Alice and Rosalie were clearly not convinced, but I, for one, was happy to have a twelve month hiatus from romance. It seemed like so much energy was wasted trying to look good for guys, find a good guy, and keep a good guy. I was exhausted just thinking about it.

"We're here, we're here," Alice squealed behind me, but I was looking ahead of me where a large crowd had gathered. From my current position I could look down on the action inside the circle of spectators, and what I saw made my heart race, and my hands sweat. I stared, open mouthed ahead of me, unable to make sense of the scene before me.

"Bella, what are you doing? The ride is back here," Alice grabbed my arm, but stopped to see what I was staring at. "Ohhhh...," I heard her say, and then Rosalie was beside me, also staring straight ahead.

"Well, well, well," she whispered, "what have we here."

Standing before us, surrounded by spectators, was a very convincing Captain Jack Sparrow putting on a sort of street show. I tried to remember to breath, as my heart continued it's assault on my chest. It was him. The hair. The eyes. That voice. I was starting to get dizzy. I sank into a nearby bench, and tried to slow my breathing.

"Alice, you didn't say a thing about a Captain Jack," I muttered distractedly.

Alice began rifling through her guidebook, a frazzled expression on her face. "I didn't know Bella. This book tells you the best bathrooms to use, but it doesn't bother to tell you that Captain Jack Sparrow is one of the characters represented?"

The three of us continued to stare toward the crowd. "Wow," we all muttered simultaneously. Just then I remembered the rules and my quest to swear off boys for the summer.

"Alice?" I muttered. "What land are we in?"

She didn't hesitate giving her answer. "Adventureland," she answered distractedly.

"Oh shit."