"Good afternoon, Thumbelina!" Belle called out when she got to work after school.

There weren't any customers in the book store and Thumbelina was doing her homework at the counter. She looked up when Belle came in and greeted her with a smile. "Hello, Belle! How was your second day of school?"

Belle joined Thumbelina behind the counter and dropped her backpack on the floor. "Uneventful. I had a lot of homework, but I managed to get most of it done in study hall."

Thumbelina groaned. "You're lucky. I don't have study hall this semester. Like an idiot, I waited until senior year to take applying for college seriously; so now I have to take a bunch of classes that will look good on applications. Like trigonometry." She tapped on her trig textbook with her pencil. "I completed the graduation requirements for math credits and totally wasn't planning on taking math this year at all; but my parents insisted, so here I am."

"I feel for ya," Belle said. "Fortunately, I worked hard all through high school so I don't have to cram anything in this year. Just the basics."

"I envy you, Belle."

"Don't. It came with a price. I barely had a social life the last three years."

"But, you still managed to get a boyfriend," Thumbelina pointed out.

Belle smiled and reached up to where she had Adam's class ring hanging from a chain around her neck. "That's true. Ya know, I spent every single day of the summer with him and I saw him at school today, but I still miss him right now."

"Of course you do, Belle; you're in love." Thumbelina leaned over the counter and rested her chin in her hand. "What I wouldn't give to have a boyfriend."

"It'll happen for you. Isn't there someone you like?"

"Well, sure. But it'll never happen. He's hot and popular and I'm completely average in every aspect."

"That's not true. You're adorable."

Thumbelina smiled at her. "Thanks. But, boys don't want adorable. They want hot and beautiful."

"If this boy that you like is that superficial, then he's a loser and you don't want to be with him anyway."

Thumbelina laughed. "That's easy for you to say, you haven't seen him." She sighed. "I just need a way to get his attention."

"Just ask him out, Thumbelina," Belle told her.

The small red head gaped at her. "Have you lost your mind? I can't just ask him out! What if he says no? I'll be totally humiliated."

Belle shrugged. "It was just a suggestion."

"It's easy for you to be confident, Belle. You're beautiful. But us normal girls struggle when it comes to dating. We have to compete with girls like you and guess who the boys always choose…"

"You're being over dramatic."

"I'm not."

"I don't think you're giving boys enough credit," Belle stated. "There are boys out there who want more from a girlfriend than just a pretty face."

"Ha! What planet are you living on?"

Belle rolled her eyes. "Well, you certainly aren't gonna get anywhere with that attitude."

Thumbelina waved her hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter, anyway. I've got, like, twelve hours of homework to do every night. I won't have time for dating."

"There are always study dates and private tutoring. Tutoring is how Adam and I got together."

Thumbelina tapped her pencil against her lip as she thought about that. "That could work if Cornelius wasn't barely squeaking by on a D-average."

Belle laughed. "I guess that won't work. But, I still think you should just ask him out. Homecoming is in a few weeks, isn't?"

"It is."

"So ask him to the dance."

Thumbelina wrinkled her nose, then groaned. "Fine. But, if he says no, I'm coming over to your house and forcing you to watch sappy rom-coms with me while devouring ice cream and cookie dough."

Belle laughed again. "Deal."

XXX

Aurora was just getting home when her phone rang. It was Phillip. Again. She thought about not answering it; after her altercation with Ariel, she wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone. But, it was his third call since school let out and he seemed urgent to talk to her.

"Hey, sweetie. What's up?" Aurora greeted.

"There you are. What happened to you after school?"

Aurora shifted her backpack and purse to one hand and cradled her phone against her shoulder as she tried to unlock her front door. "I'm at home."

"Oh good. I'm about to pull on your street. I'm meeting with the class president of Camelot High and I'd like to have you there for support."

Aurora sighed and dropped her backpack on the floor, then walked back outside and locked up. "All right. I'll see you in a minute."

As soon as Aurora hung up, she saw Phillip's car driving down the street towards her house. She met him on the street so he wouldn't have to pull into the driveway.

"Where are we going?" Aurora asked when he turned off her street.

"Mickey's. I think he's bringing the VP as well."

Aurora nodded. "What's his name again? The president?"

"Proteus," Phillip reminded her. "I don't know who the VP is, though."

"Why didn't you bring John? He's your VP, right?"

"He is. But, you know John; he's too hard-headed and stubborn to go along with this."

"Good point."

Mickey's was crowded with the usual after school crowd. Most of the students were filling up the outside tables, so Phillip and Aurora chose to sit inside. Phillip scanned the diner, then headed towards a table in the back where two guys were sitting. One had light brown hair with a muscular body under a tight t-shirt; the other had short black hair, tan skin and a thin body under a white button up shirt.

"Hey, Phillip," the boy with the brown hair greeted.

Phillip nodded a hello as he and Aurora sat down across from them. "Proteus, this my girlfriend, Aurora."

The boy with brown hair smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, Aurora." He motioned at the boy next to him. "This is the vice president, Ramses."

"Thanks for meeting with me," Phillip told them. "Since we talked last night, I've actually been giving some thought to an event to bring our schools together."

Proteus smiled. He smiled a lot, Aurora noticed. And it was a nice smile. "Good to hear," he said. "I think trying to bring our schools together is great idea. I wish I had thought of it first."

Phillip beamed. "I'm glad we're in agreement. Now, at first, I thought of having a dance. But, with that chances are there wouldn't be a lot of interaction among the students from the different schools. Plus, I'm not sure if either school's gym would be big enough to fit both senior classes."

Proteus nodded in agreement. "I see your point. Did you come up with another idea?"

"I did. And I think a lock-in would be fun."

"A lock-in?" Aurora repeated.

"Yeah. Both senior classes will be locked in one of the high schools and stay the night. It'll force everyone to interact with each other."

Proteus laughed. "That's brilliant!"

"Thanks, Proteus."

"Which school should host the lock-in?" Ramses asked.

"Since it was your idea, Phillip, I think it should be held at AHS," Proteus said.

"Wait a second," Aurora interjected. "What if no one goes for it? How are you going to get all of the seniors from both schools to agree to be locked in the school over night with each other? And even if you do, who's to say they're all gonna get along? This has the potential to be a disaster."

"She has a point," Ramses said.

"You do, babe," Phillip agreed. "If it doesn't go the way we plan, then we won't try to force it again."

"I say we go for it," Proteus announced. "At the very least, it promises to be an interesting night."