Strange Combustions

Natalie stormed straight from the front door, up the stairs, and to her room, letting the door slam loudly behind her as the tears fell from her fearful blue eyes. She never wanted to talk with Dylan Piper ever again. Not only had he humiliated her and pretty much said she was ugly, but he had made her fall in love with him over the past few days.

She wiped the tears away and jumped on the bed in the middle of the room as more tears trailed down her pink cheeks. She had been told all her life how beautiful she was. But that was only on the outside. She thought Dylan had showed her she was beautiful on the inside as well, but that blew up in her face when she unleashed her true self. Like every other guy she had ever been with, he was attracted to her outward appearance and that's what made it all cut deep.

Yet for some reason, no matter what her parents had said, Natalie wanted to stay in the human world. It was something about Dylan Piper. He intrigued her. Intimidated her. And not many humans were intimidating to her. Not many creatures were intimidating to her even. Ethan was probably the only other person in all of Halloween Town to intimidate her the way that Dylan Piper did. But then again, Ethan and Natalie's parents pushed them together. Dylan was different from Ethan though.

Ethan had been the reason she was so distant from everyone in the first place. He had caught the genius's eyes at her fourteenth birthday party, when he had appeared at her party and then proceeded to ask her to dance with him. She had generously accepted in anticipation of it just being fun, but when the song slowed, he leaned in and kissed her. That's the night that changed her forever.

Granted everyone still looked at Natalie as an overachieving beauty queen, she still made everyone's minds blow when she had accepted Ethan's proposal to get married, even Ethan's. Little had she known, Dalloway, Ethan's father, had made Ethan propose to him. He had cheated on Natalie with her best friend, Cassie. She had never trusted anyone again. Then she had met Dylan.

Natalie moved her pink hand to wipe away the tears covering her beautiful warm skin. Her stomach churned at the feelings Dylan had given her the chance to feel. The feelings of love, want, lust, regret, and of all of these feelings she was most thankful for the feeling of hate. Hate for humans! Hate for her supposed friends and family! Hate for him! And hate for herself! She no longer thought she was beautiful. She thought she was ugly. No matter what Pete had said to her on the car ride home. He had reminded her how lovely she was and tried to make her feel special. It didn't work.

"You—you're a big, fluffy, pink troll!" Dylan's words had hit her deep. It was worse than went she was cheated on. She yearned for what they were becoming and she wished it would have continued. But something happened today that she didn't understand. How did that smoke appear? And she never took off her brilliant disguise. What had really happened at the mall? She didn't understand it. If that had never happened, she and Dylan would have probably been together by now... But they weren't.

"Natalie?"

Natalie wiped her eyes once again and turned around on her bed, letting her pink locks fall in her blue eyes as she gazed upon her witched friend. Cassie strolled into the room, closing the door behind her with a point of her finger. She lay on the bed next to her friend and wrapped her in a hug.

"Oh, Natalie," Cassie whispered gingerly in the troll's ear, stroking back the long, frayed pink hair. "He didn't mean, Nat'. He was just in... in shock." Natalie closed her eyes and turned away from the witch.

"He thinks I'm hideous, Cassie. He won't go anywhere within a thousand feet of me," Natalie cried as Cassie ran her fingers through the bright pink mane and making her laugh.

"He doesn't know how many beauty pageants you've won back in Halloween Town," she joked, placing her head in between Natalie's head and shoulder and wrapping her arms around the troll's lower abdomen. Natalie just let a few more tears spring lose from her eyes. "Okay, okay... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said that. But I promise you, Natalie, everything will be okay."

"He hates me, Cassie. He absolutely hates me," Natalie sobbed, turning back to her friends and digging her head in her neck as the tears fell like rain from her eyes.

"Natalie, I wish I could help you. You know I do," Cassie groaned, brushing back more of Natalie's hair as it fell in her eyes again. "But I can't okay? I don't know what's in Dylan's head! If you want to know... go find out. I'm leaving." With that, Cassie left the room.

Natalie felt her stomach churn again. She then made a mad dash out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom, shoving Dylan out of the way. He turned around to shout, "Watch it!" at her, but instead he peered into the bathroom and watched Natalie throw up into the toilet over and over. He then just ran down the stairs, trying not to cry.

He ended up brushing shoulders with Marnie, muttering, "I'm going out for a walk."

Marnie saw the look on his face and ran upstairs to hear Natalie still puking her guts out. Marnie raced into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

"Natalie," she sighed, pulling all of Natalie's hair back into a scrunchie. She then grabbed a wash cloth and dampened it before dabbing Natalie's sweating brow as she collapsed against the toilet. "Natalie... what happened?" Marnie's concerned features were sincere and Natalie noticed as she wiped her mouth.

"I love Dylan, Marnie," she admitted and then as soon as she said it, she vomited once again into the toilet.

Marnie sighed heavily. This was going to be a long night. At least until the strange combustions inside of Natalie's heart convinced her she wasn't really sick and she was just heartbroken. But it probably wouldn't be for awhile, since she had just started getting sick.