~*~ Chapter 3 ~*~

When they finally got through the mirror to the 10th Kingdom, they landed right in Central Park. Fortunately, Virginia had made Liz change into some of her clothes before they left. There was something going on in the park that day, some sort of game. Liz thought she faintly remembered David calling it baseball or . . . some kind of "ball." There were many people David's age there, and every single one of them heard the thud as she--who had less experience going through the mirror (since David, Virginia, Wolf, and Tony had been through several times, they knew how to "land" without making noise or causing a scene)--fell to the ground. She looked up and saw Chas running over. She blushed terribly as everyone started whispering and pointing at her as she scrambled to her feet. There were other boys starting over as Chas got to her.

"Liz? Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"Chas! Hello. I . . . er . . . I am staying here with my . . . cousins. You know David," she said, nodding over to the crowd of girls surrounding her "cousin".

"Yeah. So, are you still mad?"

She laughed. "No."

"Good. I was starting to think you came here just to hunt me down and kill me."

She laughed again, but he was half right. "No, I don't think so. Of course, if you really think--"

"Nope!"

She grinned. "So what are all of you doing here?"

"We're playing baseball. You wanna play?"

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Baseball? I don't think so."

"Are you sure? It'd be fun." He smiled at her, and she thought she'd melt.

"I . . . I wouldn't know how," she whispered. "I've never even heard of it before."

"You've never heard of baseball?" he whispered back.

"No. Not until just now."

"Well, I'll teach you then."

"I don't think so. I'm not a very athletic person. My father never lets me play any sort of game in which you have to actually move."

"Well, your father's not here is he? C'mon, you'll get the hang of it." He kept grinning at her, and she was just about to give in.

"Liz, c'mon! We've gotta get goin," David shouted, already heading towards her.

She silently thanked him. One half of her mind was being sincere, but the other half was sarcastic. "Well, I suppose I ought to go, Chas. It was nice seeing you again. Goodbye!"

"Yeah, see you later!"

They smiled at each other one last time, and Liz walked off with David.

~*~

When they got to Wolf and Virginia's summer home, Virginia decided to cook them all dinner. Liz begged to help, but Virginia wouldn't let her.

"Oh, it can't be that hard, Virginia! Just let me do something! It's boring here. Or, I could take a little walk?" she asked, smiling innocently.

"A walk? Since when do you--Ohhh, were you thinking about taking a walk, to, oh, I don't know, say, the park?"

"Well, I might stop by," Liz grinned as she said this. They both knew that Chas and the others would still be there. Then she remembered that Chas had wanted her to play . . . what was it called? Baseball? Yes, baseball. "On the other hand, I think I'll just stay here."

"What? Why?" Virginia was so surprised that she nearly dropped her chef's knife on her foot--which would have really been a tragedy.

"I . . . I . . . have a headache."

"Uh . . . huh. Are you feeling all right?"

"I told you, I have a headache."

"Yeah. Just like I told David I would clean his room for him."

"Yeah. No. I . . . I just can't go see Chas, that's all."

"Why, Liz? You're in love with him, but you can't go see him? Why?" Virginia was still so confused that when she normally would have finished chopping up vegetables, she kept chopping them smaller and smaller and smaller . . .

"Uh . . . Virginia, if you keep doing that, we aren't going to have anything left," Liz told her as she pointed to the cutting board.

"Oh! Thank you Liz. But answer me, don't change the subject. It's a simple question, really."

"Well, he wanted me to play baseball with them, and I was about to say yes because I just couldn't say no to him, but David came over and said we had to go, and did you see how everyone was staring at me? It was rather embarassing."

"Liz, it's not like you're not used to people staring at you."

"Yes, but these are different people. They're Chas's friends, and I don't want to play baseball, either."

"All right, all right. Now, I think I know what you need. Tomorrow, we'll go to the mall and we'll get you some new clothes and some makeup. Of course, you don't need makeup, but look in the mirror, Liz. If you look like that without makeup, imagine what you'll look like with makeup."

"Really? Do you mean it? That would be wonderful!" She paused for a moment. "Virginia, when do we start school?"

"Whenever you want to. Monday through Friday."

"What's today?"

"Sunday."

"So tomorrow's Monday?"

"Yep."

"Let's start Tuesday! That way, we can go to the . . . What did you call it, Virginia? The mall?" Virginia nodded. "So, Tuesday?" Liz asked excitedly.

"Yes, but I better warn you, David's not going to like it."

"Oh well."

They laughed and Liz finally talked Virginia into letting her help. She did a surprisingly good job, and Virginia told her she'd have to work for her at the restaurant she and Wolf owned there.

~*~

"Class, we have a new student today. This is Elizabeth White. Would you like to tell us a little about yourself, Elizabeth?"

"Myself? Uh . . ." Liz trailed off, seeing Chas's face in the classroom. He was staring at her, wondering what she was going to say. "You may call me Liz. I'm staying with my cousins, David Wolfson's family. I've just turned sixteen and . . . I'm a bit new to the city."

"Country girl, huh?" one of the boys in the class said. Another whistled. Liz blushed and saw Chas glare at them. They shut up.

"I also met Chas before I came here."

"Really? Would it be okay with the two of you if Charles showed you around, Liz?"

There was a long pause while they stared at each other, contemplating what Mrs. Roberts, their first hour teacher, had asked. Finally, Chas broke the silence. "It'd be okay with me, if it's okay with you and David."

"Really Chas? Would you?" she couldn't hide the delightment on her face and in her voice.

"Of course!" he remarked, realizing his obvious excitement only just after he said it. "I mean . . . . shouldn't you talk to David first?" Some of the girls glared at Liz.

"Why would I need to talk to David, Chas? He won't care."

"Well, it's just that he's kind of overprotective of you. He is your cousin, after all."

"Yes, but I know he won't mind you. Trust me," she replied with a smile.

"Okay. You can be my lab partner if you want to. I wasn't here yesterday when they picked, and everyone else already has somebody," he said, smiling back at her, and she almost melted.

"All right. Thank you Char--Chas."

"Well, then, that's settled. Liz, you can take that seat next to Chas, and we'll get started."

As Liz walked toward the back of the room where Chas was sitting he winked at her. She smiled, and as she was walking by, a girl stuck her foot out and tripped her. Liz was shocked. As a princess, people weren't rude to her. Ever. Fortunately, a millisecond before she hit the ground, she felt someone catch her. She looked up into his eyes. "Thank you, Chas."

"My pleasure, Liz." He helped her to her feet and glared at the girl who had tripped her.

~*~

"Chas, may I inquire about something?" Liz asked shyly, as she stared at the strange food on her lunch tray.

"Shoot babe."

"What. Is. This . . . 'stuff', as you say?"

"You've never had pizza before?" he asked, shocked.

"Pizza? Is that what you call it? It's very peculiar. How do you eat it?"

"With your hands," he said, as if she'd just asked him if half-wolves were real, or if trolls still existed. Obviously--and of course trolls don't still exist. She would have suspected that they had never existed, that they were just something Tony and Wolf had imagined up for hero stories--if she hadn't seen the medals and Virginia and her father hadn't backed up their story. "Liz, you gotta be careful."

She looked up at him, concerned. "What do you mean?"

"The guys, they don't care. They just know you look good. But the other girls are starting to suspect something."

"Oh," she said, sighing. "What are they beginning to . . . suspect?"

He nodded subtly toward a group of girls that had been in most of her classes. She noticed the girl who had tripped her before, and several others who had been very rude to her that day. Chas had pointed them out as the "popular girls". They were whispering and occasionally one of them would look toward her, glaring.

"They know something's up, Liz. Look at them. They're so jealous of you, if there weren't really something going on, they would find some way to make you look bad."

"Why would they ever do that?"

"Well, they're girls, that's what they do," Chas said simply, as if that explained everything. "No offense, I mean, you aren't like that, but you know." She shook her head, feeling very confused. "Oh. I guess when you're a princess, you don't really get a lot of that, do you?" She shook her head again. "Listen, just stick with me and you'll be fine. And if anyone gives you any trouble, just tell me, okay?" She nodded, smiling, and he added, "Especially if it's a guy."

They laughed, and Liz finally caught on to the concept of pizza. That there was no concept, and it was meant to be eaten with your hands.

~*~

A/N: Yeah, I know, it's not very good. But give me a break, please? I'm just getting over a bad case of writer's block. I'll try to work more, but you know how it goes. I promise, I really really really will try.