A/N: Hi everyone, first of all I am so so sorry for updating later than usual. As some of you may have guessed, the reason for that is because of school starting once more. The schoolwork is stressing me out along with having no friends in any of my classes. My nerves have been all over the place which isn't an excuse but hopefully you guys can understand that. Good news though, I might be getting homeschooled somewhat soon, I'm really hoping for that. If I will be homeschooled obviously I will still be swamped with schoolwork but at least my nerves will be much better and calmer and I'll be able to actually make a writing and updating schedule for this fic! I have not abandoned this fic whatsoever (even though this chapter was especially hard to write). Please just be patient with me!
As for this chapter, I really hope you all like it. This is actually my third draft of this chapter. The first one was all just filler and the plot didn't actually move forward, so I scrapped it. The second one I got halfway through but it was too rushed and I also scrapped it. If you think this chapter is absolute rubbish I apologize, I want to get something out to you all but obviously I don't want it to be trash. I do hope you all like it! I tried to make it longer than usual without having it drag on, so hopefully the length and content makes up for the long pause between this chapter and last chapter, especially since I left on somewhat a cliffhanger. Okay, enough with my rambling, let's get on with the story!
Disclaimer: All Nintendo characters are owned by Nintendo. I only own Abigail and Lindsay. All other characters belong to their respectful owners.
It was the Monday after the extremely eventful party that the royal Koopa family had hosted, and there was a lot of tension in the air. Almost the entire school had attended, so they all either were thinking about their own drama at the party, or they were worried about the incident that had ended the party.
The incident being that someone had set the Koopa's house on fire. Nobody knew who did it of course, but there were quite a few theories, and all of them made a bit of sense depending on how much you knew about everyone's nights.
The first one was that Abigail had set it. People knew that she not only had started a fight, but she was acting strange afterwards, like not defending her 'best friend' against a bully. When you look at those facts, it did look believable, but Abigail tried telling people that she had spent the whole night after the fight in the bathroom crying, and Candy tried backing her up. Some believed her, but some were still skeptical.
The next theory was that Zip T. had been the one to start the fire, the theory was started by Abigail who was trying to take the blame off of herself. She told everyone that Zip had been acting strange all week and was feuding with Roy, so maybe he was the one who started the fire to try to get back at Roy. However, Zip's manager cleared this all up on various social media accounts. He said, and showed pictures, that Zip had been filming an upcoming movie throughout Friday afternoon all the way to Sunday evening, which did explain why he didn't show up for gym class but had been there in the morning.
The final theory was that it had just been some random drunk teenager; it was a party after all, so maybe someone really had just stumbled into Iggy's highly flammable room and accidentally set a fire. It was possible, but Iggy had a bad feeling about that one - he swears he locked his door, so how would a drunk teen know how to pick a lock?
Those were the rumors spread around social media, but everyone's morning was about to twisted and turned upside down. First period hadn't even started yet, but everyone was already seated and ready to begin class. Abigail sighed, rolling her pencil back and forth on her desk. Her nerves were especially bad, she knew how much of a fool she made herself on Friday night, and she planned on apologizing to Amethyst that lunch period. Well, until she got a certain text.
'From Dreamy mimi: "abigail check this out! a random number just sent this to me… apparently they saw who started that fire the koopas".' An image was attached to her text, and Abigail was immediately relieved. She was glad to know that someone got actual evidence of who started the fire so she wouldn't be accused anymore. With a tap on her phone, the image opened up, and she gasped.
It was a picture of Amethyst sneaking into Iggy's room - unmistakable from her raven-black hair and - slightly dull? - pinkish purplish eyes. She looked a bit off but it was definitely Amethyst, Abigail frowned at the sight of her black eye in the photo. She had thought Amethyst left the party after the brawl the two girls had, but she supposed she returned for revenge.
Just a second later, everyone's phones had simultaneously dinged, signalling that they had received texts. Abigail had a feeling she knew what the text was of, and she was right. Everyone immediately started gossiping about it, sharing the photo around with others.
"Oh my grambi, did you get that text too?" "Yeah, the one of that slimeball Amethyst sneaking off to start the fire?!" "She was just salty she lost that fight." "But why get revenge on the Koopas?"
Meanwhile, Amethyst was strolling through the halls, a bit late for her class, a McDonald's soda in one of her hands. She was minding her own business, until she saw some other late students giving her rude looks. What was their problem? Amethyst scoffed and rolled her eyes, opening the door to her homeroom class, and it went dead silent.
She awkwardly stood at the doorway for a second, then went to her seat right next to Gabby, who stared at her with wide eyes. Amethyst furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and nearly slammed her drink down on her desk. "Okay, Gabby, why is everyone looking at me like I murdered King Bowser?"
"Well, you potentially could've."
"Wha- wait, what?" Amethyst was beyond confused - what the hell did that mean?
"If he had been home… you probably could've." Gabby was deep in thought - her friend wouldn't be the type of person to do that. "I don't get it, why'd you do it?"
"Do what?" Amethyst's voice shook a bit here. "Will you please just tell me what's going on?"
Gabby was silent, and then showed Amethyst the dreaded picture. It was clear what she was doing in this photo, her face was turned to the camera, and she was clearly holding a green lighter with red accents on it, making her way into Iggy's room. Amethyst was even more confused now. "That's not me."
"Amethyst it's literally you!" Gabby was confused as well. "That's gotta be you… right?"
"No! It's not." Amethyst narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Who took this?!" She grabbed the phone from her friend's hand and zoomed in. "That- that looks exactly like me… but it's not me. I left right after that fight I had with Abigail. I went home and ate my feelings - that wasn't me Gabby!"
Shakily, Gabby took her phone back and narrowed her eyes at the unknown sender of the photo. "I think I believe you." After a second of silence, Gabby coughed. "I mean, of course I believe you! I didn't think you'd set a freakin' fire. But, who the hell is that then?"
The haunting photo made them feel uneasy, and Gabby shut her phone off. They'd figure it out at lunch.
Period one seemed to drag on forever until the lunch bell finally rang. Amethyst felt like she was living a nightmare; everyone she turned, people were hating on her. And she knew she didn't do anything. "Pyromaniac," hissed Mimi as she strutted by. "Psycho," Zip T. called out. With a heavy sigh, she turned another corner and bumped right into Abigail, who cried out in shock.
"Oh- you." Abigail rolled her eyes and shoved past.
"Abigail-" Amethyst reached out, but Abigail retracted.
"Don't touch me! I was going to apologise to you for being such a jealous jerk on Friday, but now? I have no regrets," Her green eyes seemed to darken a bit before she turned away. "Freak."
Amethyst was left standing in the hall, and her stomach felt like she was on a rollercoaster that was going straight down and wouldn't stop. She wasn't sad though - no, she was angry. Someone had set her up, and she didn't know how it was possible. She stormed over to the lunchroom and sat at an empty table, fuming. Someone hated her enough to somehow light an entire castle on fire and make it seem like she did it. And she was going to find out who.
She was all alone, until she heard a chair move in front of her, and saw a flash of yellow. She looked up and it was Lindsay, wearing a yellow sweater and blue jeans, different than her usual outfit. She also wore her hair differently, in a messy ponytail rather than her usual bun. Amethyst didn't know this, but that was because this was Lindsay's favourite look, not her usual outer-space themed shirt and bun. That was Abigail's favourite look on her.
"Hi." Lindsay gave a shy smile. "Um, mind if I sit here? I don't exactly have anywhere else to sit." The two girls glanced over at Lindsay's old table and grimaced - seated there was Abigail, Mimi, Wendy, and Luvbi.
"Aren't you gonna sit with them?" Amethyst had no idea what had happened afterwards at the party, so she was a bit confused and skeptical.
"No," Lindsay looked a bit sad and lowered her eyes. "Roy was a jerk and said they didn't really care about me, and they didn't protest. So I'm not really bothering with them."
Amethyst scoffed. "Of course they would. They're just jerks, okay? Including Roy. Also, uh, for the record - I did not set his house on fire to get back at him."
Lindsay's eyes lit up, and she nodded hastily. "Oh no, I knew that. I figured, it's super easy to frame someone for something when you know what others are capable of." She shrugged, but Amethyst was once again confused. She noted that she'd been confused a lot today. Lindsay noticed, and elaborated. "There's two shapeshifters at this school, and both of them don't exactly like you. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them took your form to frame you for the fire."
"Wait, what?" Amethyst leaned forward, not noticing Gabby and Vivian also joining the girls at the table. "You're saying that some shapeshifter turned into me, got their picture taken, and set a fire all to frame me for it?"
"What?!" Gabby exclaimed, a little confused. "Um, hi, yeah what's going on?"
Lindsay frowned a bit. "I'll explain. Take a seat and gather around children, I'll tell a little story." A smile broke out on her face, and Vivian rolled her eyes at her goofy friend. "The two shapeshifters, at least that I know of, are Doopliss and Mimi." The other three nodded their heads, showing that they're following along.
"Well, Mimi is best friends with Abigail. She likes to think she's 'second-in-command' in ranking the group, which is why she's so bossy but always goes along with whatever Abigail does. She can be… well, really nasty. I wouldn't put it past her to change herself to look like you and then set a fire in the Koopa's house so everyone would hate you instead of feel bad for you after the fight."
Her theory did make sense, but it still seemed like a bit of a reach. Gabby shook her head, "I don't know… would Mimi really set a fire just to make people hate Amethyst?"
"Well, yeah." Lindsay leaned back in her seat. "Mimi wants everyone to love her and her friend group, and they were pissed off at Abigail and Roy for practically bullying Amethyst. So Mimi made sure that instead of having the school go against them, she made them go against Amethyst."
Amethyst was practically red in the face now - she had a feeling Lindsay was right. Her deep pink eyes found their way to a certain table once again, and she quickly stood up, nearly knocking her chair over before storming over there.
"Uh - oh no," Vivian was a bit nervous, she hated conflicts and had a feeling Amethyst was about to start one. "Shouldn't we stop her?" As she said this, Norman came up to the group with a cheery smile, picking up Amethyst's discarded chair and sat down on it.
"'Sup guys," He greeted them, and followed their gaze towards Amethyst. "Well, what's going on over here?"
"Amethyst's gonna go punch Mimi out." Gabby chuckled a bit, and Norman joined her before leaning back in the chair.
"This should be fun."
Amethyst was seeing red at this point, her eyes narrowed on Mimi. She stormed right over to the table and slammed her fists down on it. The girls all jumped, and Wendy scoffed.
"If it isn't the pyromaniac that set my house on fire! Good to see you." Sarcasm was laced in her voice, and Amethyst growled a bit.
"You should be saying that to someone a bit closer than you think." She made eye contact with Mimi, who looked just a bit nervous. "Isn't that right, Mimi?"
The other three girls now looked at Mimi too, and Wendy spoke up. "Mimi, what the hell is she talking about?"
Mimi scoffed quietly, "If you're accusing me of setting Wendy's house on fire, you're wrong, okay? I don't even know where you got that idea! It's you in the picture, Amethyst."
"Oh, really? Because I seem to recall leaving the party after someone," Her eyes glared at Abigail. "Fought me. She gave me a black eye, but she also cut my cheek." The girls didn't know why Amethyst was talking about this. "Look at the picture - my cheek's perfectly fine in it."
The girls all whipped out their phones and looked, and of course, Amethyst's cheek was in fact fine. There wasn't even a dried up scratch. Mimi looked a bit more nervous now, and Amethyst's anger only grew. "You mimicked me, didn't you Mimi? You're a shapeshifter, so you imitated me for whatever messed up reason and lit your friend's house on fire, but you seemed to forget one minor detail about me."
Wendy's eyes narrowed at Mimi, hoping she'd protest, say she was crazy for even suggesting something like that, but she didn't give a huge protest. "It wasn't me." She seemed a bit smug saying this, as if she was truly sure it wasn't her. But if not her…?
"Okay, look!" Abigail waved her hands around in the air. "Amethyst, we'll talk to Mimi about this. Can you give us some space?"
By now everyone in the cafeteria was watching the drama unfold, and Amethyst only took notice of this now. She heaved out a sigh and crossed her arms, standing up straight. "Fine. But don't think I'm going to forget about this. Not until whoever did it apologises." The table group waved her off, and she returned to her table.
"That sure went well." Norman giggled a bit and stole one of Amethyst's fries, who for once didn't mind that someone was taking her food.
"Well," She pondered over what to say. "That didn't go exactly how I wanted it, but at least they know it wasn't me in the photo." She was finally calm and ready to have a relaxing lunch with some new acquaintances and her best friend, until Gabby stood up along with her bag.
"I'm off," She adjusted her glasses and all eyes were on her. "Larry, Morton and I are gonna chill for a bit outside, we kinda bonded at the party I think. Plus, Larry's bringing one of his new friends, Wolfe I think her name is."
The table nodded, and resumed their lunch before the bell would ring. Gabby left the cafeteria, only to be immediately pulled into a janitor's closet. "Ah!"
It was pitch black, and she couldn't see even a silhouette in front of her, but she was angry at whoever it was. No one had the right to roughly grab her and pull her into a dark, enclosed area! She felt a little scared at the same time - what if this was the psycho who started the fire? "Who are you?!"
A female sighed and turned on a dim light - Gabby knew who she was, it was Electra, she was in her classes. "Electra? What's your deal?"
"You're hanging out with Larry? And Wolfe?" Electra looked a bit angry at Gabby, who took notice of that right away.
"Uh, yeah, and Morton. How is this even any of your business?" She was annoyed now - who did Electra think she is?
"It's all of my business!" Electra burst out, her eyes going wide. "I was just wondering, okay?"
"Oh really?" Gabby crossed her arms and sized Electra up. "Okay, I'm gonna be blunt here. Electra, all you do is stalk Larry and you constantly want to find out what he's doing. Don't you find that a bit… oh, I dunno, creepy?"
The magikoopa was a bit taken aback. Creepy? Electra didn't think she was creepy, and she really didn't think she was that obvious when stalking Larry. "I'm not creepy."
"Do you like him or something? Is that why you always watch his every move?"
"No!" Electra protested, but she knew that Gabby knew the truth. That made her think - did everyone know the truth, that she really liked Larry? Did Larry himself know? "Okay. Maybe I do. So what?"
Gabby groaned loudly, putting a hand on her forehead. "Electra, that is not how you get a guy to like you. You don't stalk him!"
"Well what do I do then? Gabby, you have to help me! I know Wolfe likes him too, and I don't want to lose him to her."
That was more of a shock to Gabby, since Wolfe wasn't as obvious with it, but she shook her head. "Alright, okay! Just… I dunno, talk to him about literally anything but do not make pointless small talk, actually have things to say. Like, talk about homework or upcoming events, like homecoming."
"That's it! I'll ask him to homecoming!" Electra clapped her hands together and grinned a bit too much. "Thanks Gabby!" She ran out of the janitor's closet and slammed the door behind her with a soft click.
"Wait- wait, Electra!" She hastily grabbed the doorknob, but as she suspected, it locked behind her from the outside. She was locked in a closet. "Oh great. Just what I needed in my life."
She was about to yell for help, until she heard two voices walking down the hall - one of which was Mimi's voice. "Look, the point is, we almost got caught! What are we gonna do now, huh?!" She was nearly yelling, but didn't want to attract attention. A male voice spoke up.
"I told you Mimi, you should've had me steal Zip's identity because that literally would've been so much easier and more expected, but 'oh no, Doopy, I wanna make that annoying little girl pay!' Yeah, great plan." Doopliss sarcastically imitated her voice, and Gabby rolled her eyes. So Doopliss was the other one behind it, what a surprise. He was practically in love with Mimi, so of course he'd do anything for her. She made a mental note to tell Amethyst of it afterwards.
"It was, but you ruined it! You somehow forgot to have a scratched cheek - great job, genius!" Mimi's voice was shrill and Gabby cringed at the sound of it. "Now, all my friends don't trust me. After the stupid crybaby left our little clique I was sure to be Abigail's second-hand girl, but no! Now, it's all ruined. I can't tell if they hate me or not." Her voice was extremely bitter; Mimi was a very envious person. Gabby couldn't tell if she truly cared about her friends or just wanted to use them for popularity.
"Look," Doopliss' voice was soft towards the green pigtailed girl. "It'll be fine. We'll make sure that your place in your kick-"
"Clique."
"Whatever- is secured. Just chill, Mimikins. Relax." And with that, the two walked away. Gabby almost vomited at the sound of 'mimikins' - god, they were lovey-dovey one minute and hating each other the next. With them gone, she started to bang on the closet door for help, she didn't want to miss her next class.
Meanwhile, Cheryl was leaving the cafeteria a bit sadly. Homecoming was this upcoming Friday, and she really wanted to ask Iggy, god did she ever want to ask Iggy. But she couldn't find the courage in herself to do so. She knew her close friend Candy liked him as well, and she knew Candy would be heartbroken if her crush was going with her best friend.
She turned around and glanced back at her usual table, Francis was gazing lovingly at Candy, and Candy and Iggy were in the middle of discussing some kind of science-related topic. They already looked like a couple, and Cheryl was a bit saddened. She really cared for the both of them and wanted the best for them, but she also had to think of what the best would be for herself.
A sudden yell broke her out of her thoughts - seemingly coming from the janitor's closet. She walked a bit closer, and quietly asked, "Hello?"
"Oh!" Gabby was surprised, someone finally heard her. "Hello! Hi! I'm stuck in here, please unlock the door!" She waited for a second, and the door flung open. "Thanks, Cheryl!" Gabby grinned at her, who was a little confused.
"Um, no problem. How'd you even get in there?"
"Oh," Gabby shrugged, it wasn't like she had been kidnapped and then forcibly locked in a closet. She assumed Electra accidentally locked her in. "It was just an accident, it's no big. But thanks again! What time is it?"
Cheryl quickly checked her dark green watch, and read the time aloud, "11:45. Class starts in 15 minutes."
"Damn!" Gabby cursed. "Sorry, I just- I was supposed to meet up with some people. Shoot." She walked away quickly, grumbling under her breath. Cheryl felt a bit bad for her, but decided not to give it much more thought. She had her own issues to deal with - like homecoming. She couldn't get it off of her mind - betray her one close friend and ask the guy she liked to it, or sit back and watch the guy of her dreams go with her close friend? She didn't have the slightest clue what to do.
Outside, near the bleachers in front of the football field, Larry, Wolfe, and Morton were still waiting for Gabby. "Jeez, where is she?" Larry complained, fanning himself with his hand from the heat.
"I dunno," Wolfe pulled out her phone and checked the time. "Class is gonna start soon, maybe she's just not coming."
"She probably got held up by someone," Morton pondered. "Maybe Amethyst?"
Larry made a face of annoyance - he believed Amethyst was the one who lit their castle on fire and could've nearly killed their baby brother, especially thanks to their idiotic employees who left Bowser Junior alone and partied instead. Thankfully Bowser did end up firing those employees, but still, Larry was bitter about it. He really did care about his youngest brother.
Wolfe shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe. We should get going though, class will start soon. I heard today we're learning what play we'll be practicing and performing for our final exam."
"Ooh, I'm excited! I hope it's a classic, maybe not Shakespeare though… his work is kinda hard to understand in my opinion." Morton muttered. He then noticed a figure running towards them in the distance. "Who the heck is that?"
The other two looked at who was running towards them, and surprise, surprise, it was Electra. She looked almost ecstatic and very confident. She kept running until she stopped right in front of them, and let out a huge grin. "Larry!"
Larry raised an eyebrow, a little confused. "Uh, hey Electra, what's up?"
"Will you go to homecoming with me?" She blurted out, and Wolfe was stunned. She looked at Larry desperately - she had been hoping to ask him that same question after school, and she was praying that he'd say no right now.
"Um," Larry was stunned as well. He had a feeling Electra liked him, but he didn't think she'd be so bold with this. Maybe she meant it in a friendly way? And why was Wolfe fuming? She looked as if she was about to explode, and if looks could kill, Electra would be dead. "Sure."
Wolfe tried not to audibly gasp, but it was hard. And it did hurt her a bit. Did Larry think of Electra as more than a friend?
Well, no. Larry didn't think of anyone that way, at least not yet. It was only the second week of school after all, and he was the kind of guy to take things slowly. But he figured, what could possibly go wrong by going with Electra to homecoming?
Electra grinned widely, but tried to remain cool. "Great! Cool, cool. Um, so, I'll see you later to discuss this further! Bye!" She ran off as quickly as she came, and the air was filled with tension.
"So, that happened." Morton was trying not to laugh, he was great at reading people's emotions. He knew that Larry was in the middle of a love triangle, though oblivious to it right now. Homecoming was sure to be messy. He was glad he didn't have to worry about his love life. Okay, that was a lie. He did like a certain nimbi just a tad bit, or as he would put it, a 'teeny-tiny tinsy winsy microscopic crush'. But that would be discussed at another time.
The warning bell rang to signal ten minutes until class, and Wolfe groaned loudly. "See you guys in class." She quickly stormed off, and Larry was a bit confused.
"Morton? What's happening?"
"Oh dude, you have no clue."
Class soon began, and the drama class was buzzing with excitement. By now everyone knew that today would be the reveal date of the play they'd perform, and everyone had high expectations. Madame Flurrie floated into the room and arrived on a small stage she had set up in the classroom for solo performances or whenever she had an announcement. "Ahem! Hello darlings!"
The class immediately settled down, though a bit nervously. Which play had Madame Flurrie chose? "Now! I know, I know, all of you are excited to hear about the play I've chosen for you all to perform, and I'll let you know without further delay. The one I've chosen is..."
She waited, making a dramatic pause, and noticed how each of the students reacted. Some, such as Ludwig and Gabby, were a bit annoyed at her unnecessary pause. Others, like Wolfe, Lindsay, and Norman were on the edge of their seats. Finally she decided to reveal it.
"Romeo and Juliet!"
The entire class let out a huge groan. One of the most unique teachers chose such an overrated play to perform? Yes, it was a classic, but come on. Everyone was a bit disappointed.
"Oh come on!" Madame Flurrie was also a bit disappointed, but in their reaction. "It's such a classic, and full of romance, and tragedy-!"
"And it's boring as hell." Larry chimed in, and Wolfe shushed him for being rude.
"Hmph!" Madame Flurrie was annoyed now - how dare these students hate on her choice? She'd have to show them how good it really was. "It all depends on the actors and actresses. I'll show you how amazing it can really be, with a bit of help."
Just a few minutes later, a certain cosmetology teacher entered, and everyone got a bit more nervous. Madame Flurrie was happy though, "Ms. Birdo!"
Ms. Birdo batted her lashes and struck a pose. "Hello, all." The students all cringed. Ms. Birdo was… something else.
"Don't tell me…" Electra mumbled to Norman, "That she will be reading a scene as Juliet." Causing Norman to chuckle at the thought. That couldn't possibly be what she was doing!
Oh, but it was.
The class sat through half an hour of Ms. Birdo dramatically reading many scenes as Juliet, and it was awful. Some students fell asleep, and others were envying those students. Finally, she finished, and Madame Flurrie was the only one clapping for her.
"Now!" She took the stage once again. "Do you all see how interesting this play can truly be?" She was met with silence. "Ugh! Seriously, do none of you appreciate classic literature?"
"How about we put a twist on it?" Wolfe piped up, and everyone turned to her. "Okay, so we do the same play and everything, but if we just do the play as it is, let's be real. No one will come to the performance." Madame Flurrie immediately frowned, but Wolfe continued. "But! If we add a twist, say… uh, zombies come into the mix, everyone would be so much more interested!"
"Nice idea!" Larry nodded towards her, and Wolfe smiled at him, giving Electra a side glance.
"Well…" Madame Flurrie pondered over the idea. If it would attract more people… "Okay. Let's do it!"
The class erupted in happiness, finally excited to be performing Romeo and Juliet. They spent the rest of the day brainstorming who would be which role, but ultimately it was up to Madame Flurrie to make the decision; she told them she'd let them know tomorrow at the beginning of class.
As for the gym class, they weren't as happy during the period. There was quite a bit of tension, and Coach Daisy hated it. Everyone was snapping at each other, and she didn't know how to teach them to be more polite.
Most of the girls - Wendy, especially - kept making passive-aggressive remarks towards Mimi, who had Doopliss to stick up for her. Zip was trying to talk things out with Abigail, potentially get back together with her, but she was ignoring him. Roy was trying to defend Abigail, but she was ignoring him as well. Cheryl was trying to distance herself a bit from Candy and Iggy, which confused them a bit.
Coach Daisy had enough of it - how was she supposed to teach a class that wouldn't stop bickering or causing drama long enough for her to even give out instructions? She knew who she had to call to teach them some discipline and how to act like an adult.
Not even twenty minutes later, a pink limousine rolled up just outside of the school, and out stepped none other than the ruler of the neighbouring kingdom - the Mushroom Kingdom. She quickly made her way to the gymnasium, and as soon as she walked through the large double doors, the room went silent.
"Peach!" Daisy called out, running for her best friend and wrapping her up in a hug.
"Daisy!" Peach separated herself from Daisy for a second, "I came as soon as I could. Traffic was a bit harsh, but I made it!" She grinned widely, showing off her perfect smile. Her sparkling blue eyes then darted towards the students, who were stunned. "Now, what's this I hear about some teens not knowing how to behave like adults?"
In just two minutes, she got everyone sitting on the bleachers, all facing her. She looked extremely out of place in the gym - she was in a baby pink blazer accompanied by a matching pencil skirt. It was her principal attire - she had left her secretary in charge of running the school just for a few hours so she could come teach these students a lesson.
"So, let's start off slowly. Who here has an issue with someone in here?"
Immediately everyone started talking, causing Peach to wildly wave her hands around. "Ah! I didn't say I wanted to know your issue. I just wanted to see a show of hands - who here has an issue with someone else in here?"
Majority of the class raised their hands, and Peach sighed.
"Okay. Now, who here can tell me how to properly deal with having a problem with someone?" Roy raised his hand, and Peach sighed once again. "Yes, Roy?"
"Ya fight 'em!"
"No, Roy." She delicately placed a hand to her forehead in annoyance. "That's not how you deal with having a problem with someone. Anyone else have a different answer?" Wendy raised her hand. "...Preferably not another Koopa?" Wendy lowered her hand.
Nobody else raised their hand, and Peach gave a disapproving look to all of them. "Really? Good gracious, this'll take a while." She looked at Daisy, who gave her a pitying look.
Her speech took up the whole class. She told them that adults don't fight each other when they have a problem, or ignore them, or turn everyone else against them. She said that they should talk about their problem with each other civilly, and ignored the question 'but what about Mario and Bowser?'.
The final bell rang, signalling the end of class, and Peach dismissed them. She looked exhausted and turned to Daisy. "I have no idea how you deal with these kids every day. They're so… cruel to each other. They all seem like stereotypical mean girls!"
"Peach, you were totally the mean girl when we were in high school."
"Psh, no I wasn't!"
"...Mhm."
All the students rushed out of the school, mentally exhausted. Cheryl was making her way home until she heard her name being called. She quickly turned around, and there was Candy running, trying not to trip over her cat tail, her blonde hair flying everywhere. "Hey! Are you okay? You seemed down today. Something happen at the party?"
Cheryl shook her head, she didn't know what to say to her. "No,"
Candy sighed. She knew Cheryl was hiding something from her. "Listen… I know we haven't been friends for too long, but you know you can tell me anything. I'm here for you. Did I do something wrong?"
"Are you going with Iggy to homecoming?" Cheryl blurted out, then immediately covered her mouth. "I- I'm sorry! I didn't mean for that to sound mean or blunt-"
"No, it's okay." Truthfully, the blonde was a bit taken aback, but she brushed it off. "Um, no, we're not going together. Did," She knew she would regret her next words. "Did you want to go with him?"
She felt a bit sad when Cheryl nodded her head, but didn't want to be rude to her friend. It was tough trying to keep a friendship when you both like the same guy. Yes, she really did want to go with Iggy, but she knew Cheryl would be crushed if she went with him. "Well, ask him."
Cheryl's green eyes widened. "Are you sure?"
With a nod, Candy smiled. "Yeah. Maybe I'll go with Francis or something? It's alright. You better have fun though!" She giggled a bit, trying not to be too sad about this, but it was hard. Cheryl was ecstatic though. She hugged Candy tightly, her eyes watering a bit.
"Thanks, Candy. You're a good friend." She grinned happily, and Candy tried to return it. 'Yeah, and at this rate, a good friend is all I'll ever be to Iggy.'
"It's no problem. See you tomorrow!" She smiled and turned around, waving to her friend. Well, she was disappointed, but she tried to shrug it off. Things would play out, and however it did, she was determined not to ruin her friendship with anyone - not with Iggy, not with Cheryl.
The week seemed to already be going by slowly and dramatically, but one thing was for certain, things would be even more dramatic at homecoming. For better, or for worse? Will Gabby make the decision to tell everyone that Doopliss was the one who started the fire, and will anyone believe her? How will the two current love triangles play out, will someone get hurt in the process? And finally, who else will go together to homecoming - will new relationships blossom, or will past ones return? It's hard to tell - anything could happen in the kingdom of Darklands.
A/N: It's after 1 am and I'm finishing this up now - so I hope you guys like it, leave a review if you'd like but no hate please - I'm fine with constructive criticism and suggestions for later chapters, here are my ideas for the next few chapters: homecoming, picture day, halloween themed chapter. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!