The next morning, Ariel swiftly maneuvered the hallways, doing her best to avoid everyone. She tried to get to school early, but Andrina had taken too long in the bathroom and Ariel left later than she planned. The hallways were already crowded, but, fortunately, the underclassmen didn't know who she was or what she did. They ignored her as she bustled passed them on her way to the senior hallway.

Only eight more months left of school, Ariel thought when she reached her locker. The janitor had to repaint her locker, but at least now that ugly word was no longer splayed out across her locker door. Of course, there really wasn't anything stopping Vanessa- or anyone else- for tagging her locker again.

As the other seniors started to fill the hallway, Ariel kept her head down and worked her combination. When she opened her locker, a half a dozen bloody baby dolls fell out of her locker and landed at her feet. Ariel gasped and stepped backwards. With a shaky hand, Ariel picked up one of the dolls. Up close she saw the dolls didn't have actual blood on them- just paint. Ariel gathered up the dolls and dropped them in the nearby trashcan.

"Tell me, Ariel," Gothel said from her locker on the other side of the trashcan. "After you killed your baby, did you throw it away, too?"

Hades came up to Gothel. "What's going on?"

Gothel motioned towards Ariel. "Just Ariel throwing away more babies."

Hades peered into the trashcan, then looked at Ariel. "That's messed up."

Ariel blushed and hurried back to her locker. She gathered what she needed for her morning classes, then got out of the senior hallway as fast as she could. She kept her eyes on the floor as she ran to her next class, so no one would see the tears forming in her eyes.

Ariel suddenly crashed hard into someone and they both stumbled to the floor.

"I'm sorry," Ariel whispered.

"Ariel?"

Ariel looked up and couldn't believe her eyes: it was her childhood best friend, Urchin. The two of them had been super close as kids and did everything together. But, then one day in grade school he and his parents moved away and she never saw him again. Until now.

"Urchin? It can't be!" Ariel exclaimed, suddenly forgetting all about the dolls that had been left in her locker. "What are you doing here?"

Urchin held out his hand and helped Ariel to her feet. "My mom got a job at Andalasia University, so we moved back to town."

Ariel was overcome with joy, not only to see her friend again, but also just to see a friendly face. She couldn't refrain from giving him a big hug. Urchin laughed and hugged her back.

"It's so good to see you," Ariel told him.

Ariel took a step back and really looked at him. Urchin still had the same handsome face he had as a boy, but his now muscular body was a far cry from the skinny little boy he used to be. And instead of his blonde hair being neatly tamed like before, it was now shaggy and tousled.

"You look great," she told him.

Urchin gave her a crooked grin. "So, do you. You grew up nice, Ariel."

Ariel blushed. The first bell rang, startling her back to reality. "I have to get to class."

"Me, too. I'll catch you later, Ariel."

"See ya."

XXX

"I didn't know you smoked."

Meg looked up as Gaston approached her in the courtyard, then looked down at the unlit cigarette between her fingers. "I don't."

"Ah. Let me guess: it's a metaphor."

Meg arched an eyebrow at him. "A metaphor? What the hell are you talking about?"

Gaston laughed, then shrugged. "I don't know. It was in some movie Vanessa made me watch. I thought all you girls liked that movie."

"I don't know what movie you're talking about. But, no, this isn't a metaphor." Meg rolled the cigarette between her fingers. "Hades says smoking is a stress reliever. So, I've been considering it."

"So is drinking," Gaston said.

Meg shook her head. "I don't want to lose control of myself. I just want to relax."

Gaston sat down on the low wall next to Meg. "What's goin' on?"

Meg dropped the cigarette in her backpack; she'd give it back to Hades after school. "Hercules cornered me after lunch yesterday." She lowered her voice. "He said he only started dating Helga last year because she was blackmailing me."

Gaston laughed again. "Blackmailing you? With what?"

Meg bit her lower lip. "She was threatening to tell Vanessa that you and I hooked up."

Gaston became serious. "I wasn't with Vanessa when we-"

"I know. Still, Hercules didn't want to jeopardize my friendship with her, so he let Helga control him in order for her to keep what you and I did a secret."

"Huh. And here I thought Hercules was just a jerk."

Meg nodded. "Yeah. Me, too. Now, I don't know what to do about him."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he did cheat on me. But, he did it because he thought he was protecting me. His intentions were good, I guess."

Gaston rolled his eyes. "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Maybe he was trying to be a good guy, but he still cheated on you, Megara. You can't let that slide."

"Believe me, I'm not." Meg sighed. "But, maybe I should let up on him a little and at least go back to being friends."

Gaston shrugged. "If that's what you want."

"I don't know what I want. Except, I don't want Vanessa to find out about you and me. I know we didn't do anything wrong, but she'll be pissed at both of us for keeping it from her all this time."

"I agree. I don't want to be on Vanessa's bad side. She admitted she was the one who spray-painted Ariel's locker."

Meg frowned. "I don't know why she insists on bullying that poor girl."

Gaston was quiet for a moment before saying, "Between you and me: I don't think she's ever gotten over Eric."

"Ha! Please! You're a hundred times more man than that sap."

"I am," Gaston agreed. "But, I think it's gotten under her skin that he's the only guy who has ever broken up with her."

Meg rolled her eyes. "The drama never ends with her."

"Hey. She's your friend."

"She's your girlfriend," Meg retorted. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Gaston laughed and jumped down from the wall. "Fair enough. So, do you guys have practice after school today?"

"Yeah. Every day until the gig on Saturday."

The bell rang and everyone gathered up their lunch trays and headed back inside.

"All right," Gaston said as he and Meg followed the crowd inside. "Maybe I'll stop by."

"Sounds good. Try to stay out of trouble until then."

"Ha! Not likely."