hey everybody! I had a wonderful vacation, and I'm thrilled to say I'm nice and tan. Cimmy and I started this chapter before I left, it just needed editing and stuff. here it is, we hope you like it. hit the review button when you're finished!

Cheers!
-Kristine and Cimmy

disclaimer: The Ducks, as well as Disney World and everything in it, belong to the Walt Disney Company. Fred and Cecilia belong to Cimmy. Lex, Jeff, Anna, Anthony, Sammie, Chris, and Matt belong to NYgoldfish54.

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Chapter 18: Haircuts Can Be So Disruptive
By Cimmy and NYgoldfish54

Cecilia's POV

I have this nasty habit of escaping whenever there's a problem. I happen to think that conflicts are really horrible. I think I began to play hockey because I needed somewhere to be violent and physical. Without getting a note from school to go to the school counselor.

It's all sunny outside when I go down the stairs towards the lobby. I decided to go for a run. I usually never work out, unless we have practice, but I feel like running. Either I wait until Fred wakes up so I can avoid him by running, or I do something less insane and put on my running-shoes so I can run for real instead.

I even have my sweats on, usually I run in my regular clothes. And when I run, it's because I'm late or because someone's chasing me for something bad I did. Now I just want to run.

There is one reason for me to be up this early. I don't want to meet anyone I know. Of course I do anyway. And it just has to be my nemesis. Stupid Portman.

"Hey," he shouts at me from the elevator. "Psycho?"

I hate that nick-name. "What are you doing up?" I mutter and walk towards the door.

"Fulton snores," Portman complains. "I couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured I'd go and get some food. Where are you going, dressed like that? Don't you usually wear black? And why aren't you wearing your jeans?"

"Oh, the third degree," I snort. "I really want to be left alone."

"Well, tell me something else that's not news to me," he says and follows me. "Are you going running? I thought you hated to run."

"Go to hell, and leave me alone!" I exclaim. "I don't need this right now! I don't need you to be mean to me, and I don't need your pathetic insults!"

Portman stares at me in disbelief. "Wow, you're biting back," he laughs. "I'll go with you."

"What part of what I just said don't you understand?" I ask fiercely and walk out, down the stairs and over towards the street. He's still on my tail.

"I need to get food anyway," he grins. "Why are you so bitchy? Did you find Fred and Lex together in bed this morning? Again?"

"Screw you," I say.

Portman shrugs. I just don't seem to get him to understand how much I hate it when he's terrorizing me like this. "So, what's with the attitude?"

"Why do you care? You're supposed to hate me and leave me alone," I point out and cross the street without looking.

"But you're the only one up right now," he grins and runs after. "You're not hung-over again, are you?"

"No."

"Because you and Fred disappeared all day yesterday, and we all sort of wondered what happened. You didn't kill him, did you?"

"No."

"Well, too bad. That would've made this trip even more interesting," he smiles. "May I ask what's wrong?"

"I'm just tired," I say. "Mostly of myself."

"Get a haircut," Portman says and smiles. "You never change your appearance. Or even better, change your personality."

"Gee, thanks. Go drown somewhere."

"I like that comeback. It makes my comebacks sound so much more brilliant."

He leaves me alone when he finally finds a food-store that's open. I run the fastest I can away from both him and the hotel. I'm going to keep running until I'm so wiped that I pass out.

When I'm on my way back, my whole body aching from the effort I made, I stop to look at myself in the window of a shop. Maybe I SHOULD cut my hair? It's always been this long, maybe I should cut it? Just like Felicity did, but I don't think I'll cut it that short. And I think I'll do it myself. Not that I know what I'm doing, but I don't have any money to pay for a real cut.

I borrow some scissors at the front desk and sneak into the bathroom. I don't think Fred will appreciate this idea. But I'm just going to cut it a bit. My hair reaches a little longer then to my shoulders, so I could cut it so it's just above the shoulders instead. That's not a lot, right? And maybe I should make it un-even, because I can't cut it straight off.

When I'm done, I think that maybe I should become a hair-dresser when I grow up. Because I like my hair this way, it's a bit more different then before. Wilder and shorter, somehow. Even though I like it, I put my hair up into a tiny pony-tail.

I open the door and hurry towards the elevator. I don't know where I'm going, really.

"Psycho?"

Oh, no.

"Yeah?"

"I didn't mean for you to REALLY cut your hair!" Portman shrieks. "I was kidding. What did you do? It looks pretty good, actually. But it's TOO short! Can you change it back?"

"Of course. That's the concept of a haircut."

"But it's not straight, it's got these sort of... levels! You always have straight hair!"

"What's with the obsession about my hair? You never cared before!"

"It's just different," he whimpers. "Don't tell your boyfriend that it was my idea."

I see that the rest of the team is gathered by the couch, waiting to get breakfast. Fred is there too. He's probably going to notice this at once, take down my pony-tail and say lots of things.

Fred's going to kill me.

***
Luis's POV

Cecilia comes walking into the breakfast hall with Portman, and she's got a different haircut. We're all here; Connie woke us all up at some unearthly hour again. I'm watching Fred. He hasn't spotted Cee yet.

Charlie, Adam, Goldberg, Averman, Lex, Julie, and Guy have seen her though. Stunned silence is slowly taking over the table, and the others are looking up one by one. Fred is still talking to Lex, but Lex is obviously not paying attention anymore.

Fred looks up and sees Cee. He smiles, waves, and then focuses on her hair. His smile vanishes, his face pales. He's just staring at her.

"Hi everyone," says Portman cheerfully, sitting down next to Sammie on Fulton's left.

"I cut my hair," Cee announces, as if we couldn't tell. She's looking around for approval, and her eyes stop on Fred. Fred just continues to stare, as does everyone else, including myself.

"Well, what do you think?" she asks us. I think the question is directed at Fred, but his silence and his shameless staring continues.

"Well?" Cee asks again, a bite of frustration in her voice now. It's still directed at Fred, but he's not doing anything. Instead Lex replies, breaking the shocked silence.

"It looks great, Cee," she says, smiling and standing to get a better look. "Who cut it?"

"I did," Cee answers.

"Really?" Lex asks, sounding deeply impressed. "It looks really great!"

"Thanks," Cee says, flashing Lex a rare smile.

"It does look good," I add. Hell, it does look nice, and I'm supposed to be the charming one, right?

"Yeah," Anthony jumps in, "very pretty."

"You really cut it yourself?" Connie asks from her position next to Guy. "It looks professionally done!"

I guess now that Lex has broken the silence the others are having no trouble finding their voices. For everyone was now voicing their opinions, and they were positive ones...even Portman's.

The complimenting continues, and I understand why. Once the original shock that Cecilia actually changed her appearance wears off, you have to admire how good it looks. It does look good...attractive even.

Fred is the only one who hasn't said anything. "Fred?" Cee says.

"What did you have to go and do that for?" he snaps at her. He gets up and starts to walk away, calling "Come on Lex," as he goes.

Cecilia's eyes fill with tears, and seeing this, Lex doesn't instantly follow. She sits, looking torn, with something that looks strangely similar to sadness in her eyes. Instead, she gets up and walks across to Cee. She wraps her arms around Cee's body and just hugged her. Lex isn't that much bigger than Cee is, but Cee looks incredibly small sobbing into Lex's shirt. The silence is back.

Fred, aware that Lex is not at his side, turns back to look, and sees the two of them standing there. "Fine!" he hollers, throwing his hands into the air and taking off out the door.

"Go after him," Cee says to Lex, pulling away, and wiping her eyes. "He'll drink, he'll get himself into trouble, go."

"But-"

"Just go. It's you he wants anyway."

Lex just stood there, confusion written all over her face. "Are you sure you want me to?"

"GO!" Cecilia bellows at her. Lex backs away, as if frightened, then turns around and walks, somewhat reluctantly, out the doors and after Fred.

Cee just stands there, tears leaking from her eyes until Anthony takes Lex's place as the human tissue. "Come on, Cecilia, come on," he pulls here away toward the dance room, and Cee, who usually squirms when being pulled anywhere, is led away with no form of resistance.

"Fabulous," Jeff mumbles. "Fabulous."

"Maybe we should finish and try to fix this mess?" Dwayne asks, sounding incredibly intelligent about the whole thing.

"Yeah," says Goldberg. "Good plan, Cowboy."

"What plan!?" Adam asks angrily. "That's a plan for forming a plan!"

"Oh give it a rest, Banks," Charlie growls.  Adam and Charlie begin their constant bickering again.

"Could you two please shut up? Please?" Kenny begs and Adam and Charlie stop. They glare at each other, and look around, but remain silent.

"I can't believe those two," says Russ sound exasperated.

"Which two?" Fulton asks. "Fred and Cecilia? Cecilia and Anthony? Or Fred and Lex?"

"Fred and Cecilia. They were so happy yesterday, and today, Fred's back to being a bastard because Cee cut her hair? Does that make sense to anyone?"

"Not really," says Averman, looking somewhat sad. Anna, sitting beside him, nods in agreement.

"Those haircuts can be so disruptive to everyday life," says Goldberg, rolling his eyes. "I mean, how could Cee change her hair? How dare she!?" he continues, sarcasm in his voice.

"It's Lex and Anthony who're breaking them up," says Guy. "They aren't really respecting that relationship at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asks Matt, standing up to face Guy.

"It means that since we got here Lex throws herself at Fred and Anthony just flirts continuously with Cecilia!" Guy exclaims, rising to his feet.

"Bullshit," Jeff says, abandoning his place beside Julie and moving to Matt's side. "Fred and Cecilia have been having problems since before this trip! Don't try to pin this on Lex and Anthony!"

"Well, they're not helping matters!" Fulton says, and while I don't think it's not their fault, I must agree that they're not helping much. Sammie, however, clearly thinks differently. She gives Fulton a very dirty look, and walks over to stand near Matt. Anna and Chris follow, forming something like a protective barrier, picking their side...the same way we would if someone was threatening one of the Ducks.

"Lex has never, ever been 'the other woman.' She would never do that to her friends, and neither would Anthony," Sammie says.

"Stop it, kids, don't get out of hand," Averman says, gazing at Anna.

"Oh be quiet," says Portman.

"What don't all of you shut up?" says Julie angrily.

"Would you get Jeff's dick out of your mouth long enough to think about what you're saying?" snaps Guy. I'm surprised. Guy's not usually that mean. Jeff makes a furious move toward Guy, but Anna grabs his arm, shaking her head.

It doesn't really matter that Jeff never got a chance to punch Guy, because as soon as Anna stopped Jeff, Guy got hit anyway. Connie slaps Guy hard, an angry look on her face. It's the first time I've seen Connie anything but happy on this trip.

"Whose side are you on?" Guy hollers at her, and she doesn't even bother to look at him when she hollers at us.

"You're idiots, all of you! We're in the happiest place on Earth and all you fucking do is argue and fight! There are no 'sides' here!" she glares at Guy and continues, "We're all friends remember!? Ducks! Or have you all forgotten that?" she says the last part calmly, but there's a hint of frightened sadness just below the surface.

It's kind of scary how all it takes is someone's angry words to point out something that's right in front of your face. Nobody's saying anything. Lex isn't here to break the silence this time, so it might as well be me, right?

"You're right, Connie," I find the words as they come. They're not planned. "We've sort of forgotten that, haven't we? We have been fighting like idiots, haven't we? We wouldn't even be here if wasn't for Lex and Jeff. Think about what you're saying...especially you, Guy. Lex O'Leary, the same girl who wouldn't go near Charlie because he was still with Linda, is trying to break up Fred and Cee? Come on."

"What do you mean Lex wouldn't go near me when I was with Linda?" Charlie asks, looking confused. Adam and Jeff roll their eyes.

"You know Lex better than I do, Jeff. She won't murder you the way she would me, so would you care to explain to clueless over here?" Adam says, looking at Jeff.

"Glad to, Banksie, glad to," Jeff says, grinning at Adam. Then, turning to Charlie, he says, "Lex adored you from September through March, but she didn't want to approach you, because you were still dating that Linda girl."

"Why didn't she come to me after I broke up with Linda?" Charlie asks Jeff.

"Because, Captain Oblivious, she liked you from September to March. You broke up with Linda in May. She didn't like you anymore," Jeff says, rolling his eyes again.

"How'd I miss that?" Charlie asks Adam.

"You were so wrapped up with Linda and hockey. It was sick and scary and any time either of us-" Adam pointed at himself and Jeff "-tried to approach you, you went into some rant about hockey or this mushy gushy love rant for Linda. The love thing was gross, so we just gave up...all three of us. Me, Jeff, and Lex."

"Oh," says Charlie, looking slightly annoyed with himself. I'm fighting the urge to burst out laughing, and I can tell that Fulton, Portman, Russ, and Goldberg are too. Charlie went through this phase after the JV/Varsity game where he was possessed about hockey and Linda, and it was sort of disturbing at the time. We all knew about Lex's crush on Charlie, and how she refused to break them up. We all knew, including Guy.

I look at Guy, and he seems to be considering this information. He sighs loudly, and holds his hand out to Jeff. "Sorry buddy. For what I said about Julie and for what I said about Lex," he says. Jeff nods understandingly and shakes Guy's hand. Guy offers his hand to Matt and Chris, and they shake too. Guy now turns to Julie. "Sorry Cat Lady," he says to her.

"Yeah I know," she smiles and hangs her arm around his shoulders.

"Friends again?" he asks.

"Of course," she smiles.

You have got to love that about Guy Germaine. He fesses up when he's wrong. If he knows it, he just admits it and apologizes. Sometimes he loses his temper and self control, but he always makes up for it, and when he finally realizes he's wrong, he doesn't let his pride stand in the way of his apologizing or accepting an apology when the other person is wrong. It's something you really have to admire about him, and when you think about it, you realize one thing. He's a good guy, that Guy Germaine.

"Sorry I smacked you, Guy," Connie says, looking slightly ashamed.

"It's ok," he kisses her. "I deserved it, didn't I?"

Fulton and Sammie slap hands, grinning, and Anna rejoins Averman at his side.

"So what now?" asks Kenny tentatively, as if afraid to break the peace.

"Ya know, I'm not sure," says Goldberg, looking confused.

"My guess would be go chill out by the pool," Dwayne grins. "After all, Ducks love water, don't they?"

We all look at him. His display of logic is incredible.

"Yeah, they definitely do," says Kenny. "Good idea, Dwayne."

We all head for the pool, including Jeff, but Chris, Matt, Anna, and Sammie look hesitant, and hang back toward the back of the group. The only ones behind them are me, Charlie, and Banksie. They stop at the door, where two brooms are standing, waiting to be used.

"What's the matter?" I ask, because I just don't know when to leave well enough alone.

"Well," says Matt, "we're not exactly Ducks, are we?"

"Don't let that stop you!" Charlie says coming up from behind me. "Neither is Banksie. He's a Hawk."

Adam, who's standing next to Charlie, smacks him in the back of the head. "Just kidding," Charlie adds, rubbing the back of his head and grinning sheepishly at Banks.

"Ass," Banks mumbles.

"But in all seriousness," Charlie continues, "Lex and Jeff are pretty much Ducks now. They hang out with us at school, and they're our friends, they just don't play hockey. If you're friends with them, that's good enough for us."

Matt, Chris, Sammie, and Anna look at each other, and then they smile at us.

"I knew there was a reason Lex liked you. She doesn't waste her time on losers" Chris says to Charlie.

"Well, I'm not sure that's true," says Adam, looking Charlie up and down.

"Go find a bridge and jump, Banksie," Charlie says to him, in his sweetest voice.

Banks grins, and says "Just kidding, of course." He and Charlie then slap hands. Those two are friends. It's hard to tell, because they're always arguing...but they are friends...best friends, probably.

"Exactly. Lex is a Duck and a smart girl," I say, as Charlie, Adam, Matt, and Chris walk away, discussing the NHL. "Now which one of you two lovely ladies would like to escort me to the pool?"

Anna and Sammie both look at me, each wearing this combination look of amusement and disgust.

"Well?" I push a little farther. Big mistake. For they look at each other, at the brooms standing nearby, back at each other, and they grin. Anna grabs the brooms, and handing one to Sammie, they both start swinging.