Meanwhile, Michelle had sneaked up to her room, and was digging through one of her suitcases. She found a little stack of flyers and then pulled them out. "Here we go!" she said softly with excitement. Each of the flyers were promoting a different university that Michelle had interest in attending. Now that she and her family were settled in Friendship, Maine, she could make plans and call a campus to begin her tuition and classes. She searched through the flyers until she found one that looked perfect – it was a small campus about three miles north of Friendship, and it had some interesting programs, majors, and courses listed. Michelle smiled to herself with a wink, and then picked up her lavender purse to find her credit card.
In the meantime, at Friendship's local junior and senior high school, Kat had just settled into her new class. Unknown to her, Casper had secretly followed her to see what her life in school would be like. "Okay, gang!" the teacher called to his students as they took their seats, "Settle down! I have a couple of announcements to make." When he put his things down on his desk, the teacher announced, "First, the asbestos removal from the gym is taking a little longer than planned, so we'll have to push back the Halloween Dance back by a couple of months."
All the students softly groaned while hearing this. But then, one girl with light skin and long blonde hair raised her hand. She stepped out of her chair and said, "Well, as most of you know, my parents have finished the new boathouse, so I'm sure it would be no problem having the party at um, my place!"
The other students clapped in a bored manner as the girl sat down.
"Great, that's done," the teacher grinned before he continued, "Secondly, we have a new student today. I'd like you all to meet… Harvey, Kathleen!"
Everyone snickered as Kat just stayed in her chair with an uneasy look.
"Would you like to come up and say hi to everyone?" the teacher asked her.
Kat reluctantly got up from her chair and slowly made her way to the front of the class. She paid no attention to the snickering students, even when the popular blonde girl murmured, "Har!"
The teacher pointed his finger at the blonde girl as Kat looked over to her right. She saw a picture of Mount Rushmore, and a familiar pair of ghostly eyes looking at her.
"So, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, Kathleen?" the teacher asked, getting Kat's attention again.
Kat said nervously, "Um, well… it's Kat."
"Meow," the popular blonde girl snickered, getting everyone else to giggle.
Kat just continued speaking, "Um, well, I guess I just moved here with my older sister and my dad from Santa Fe. And uh, Friendship seems like a… pretty friendly place!"
One of the students pretended to snore, and everyone giggled again.
Meanwhile, Casper was underneath the desks, tying shoelaces together, but not the way you'd think they'd be tied.
"So where are you guys living?" the teacher asked Kat.
"In outer space," Kat said sarcastically, making everyone giggle again. "No! Whipstaff!" she said, making everyone look at her with amazement. "You're heard of it?" she asked.
"You actually live there?" one boy asked.
"Well, yeah," said Kat nervously, "I mean, I know it looks kinda funky and stuff from the outside, but I mean… I dunno, inside, it's kinda cool!"
"Well, yeah, if you drink blood!" the popular blonde girl remarked, making everyone snicker.
A dark-skinned boy spoke up and said, "Mr. Curtis! Check this – there's the Halloween Dance. This girl, here, has a seriously, seriously creepy house with room to spare!"
Mr. Curtis, the teacher, stood up just as the popular blonde girl stood and spoke her mind, "Hey, wait a minute! Wait a minute! I thought we were having the party at MY place!" She looked around before she finished, "Well, okay, we'll take a vote! Whoever wants the party at MY house, raise your hand!"
The girl got no hands for her place.
"Whipstaff?" Mr. Curtis said.
"YEAH!" all the other students cried as they all raised their hands.
Just then, the bell rang. As all the kids (except Kat) got up, though, they all fell down; Casper had tied everyone's opposite shoelaces together!
Meanwhile, back at Whipstaff, James Harvey had just changed into a clean outfit, and was just getting ready to go to the mansion's library when he called out, "Michelle, I'll be in my office doing some work!"
There was no response from his older daughter.
"Michelle, I'll be in my office!" James called out to Michelle's room.
Still no response.
James went over to Michelle's room, knocked on it and asked, "Michelle, didn't you hear me?"
Still no response.
"I'm coming inside, Michelle!" James said with an annoyed look as he opened the room. Inside, Michelle's things were there, but the older girl was nowhere in sight. "Michelle, where are you?" James asked out loud. He then looked down at the girl's sleeping cot and found her open purse and a few brochures lying about. James gave a look of concern as he exited the room to go find a phone; maybe Michelle was kidnapped?
When James reached the kitchen, however, he saw Michelle on the phone. "Yes," she said into the phone, "I'm looking to attend classes at your campus."
"What are you doing?" James softly asked with disbelief; anger was slowly coming to his mind. How could his daughter be making college plans just one day after moving into Maine?
"University of Maine Augusta," Michelle said into the phone.
"Michelle, what are you doing?" James asked in a whisper-yell.
Michelle looked back and glared at her father before she said into the phone, "My name is Michelle Harvey… my birthday is…"
"Michelle, why are you doing this?" James hissed as he approached his daughter, "I forbid it!"
Michelle picked up her credit card, and she was about to continue when James used his finger to push the button on the phone's base to end the call. Michelle clutched her credit card tightly in her left hand as she turned around and glared at her father, was also angry with her.
A few minutes later, James had led Michelle to her bedroom. He took her hand and brought her into the room as he angrily scolded her, "What the hell were you doing, young lady? I thought I made it clear to save your college plans until after we settle completely in this place!"
Michelle started, "Dad! I was just…"
"You embarrassed me right then and there!" James shot at her.
"I'm following the rules!" Michelle argued with him.
"You don't know what you're doing!" James continued, "Why, I'll put that card of yours in a fire, if you don't straighten up!"
Michelle pleaded to her father, "If you'll just listen!"
"I am your father!" James shot at her angrily, "You listen to ME!"
Michelle groaned with anger before she yelled at James, "This is so unfair!"
"Unfair?" James asked with a frown.
"You are NEVER here for me and Kat!" Michelle yelled, "This whole running around the country, trying to cross over and find Mom is what YOU want! Do you ever bother to ask me or Kat what we want? NO! You're especially hard on me – going around telling me what to do, what not to do, trying to make me be an extra parent for Kat, trying to make me be like you! Well, guess what? I'm NOT going to be like you!"
"Michelle, you are acting like a child!" James growled.
Michelle picked up an old family photo taken back when Amelia was alive as she lost her temper and yelled, "And you're a BASTARD! That's what you are!"
Michelle began to tear a piece of the picture at the area where James was posing. "Michelle!" James gasped with anger.
"I will NEVER be like you!" Michelle yelled.
"Michelle, stop it!" her father ordered.
"I'd rather be DEAD LIKE MOM than be like you!" Michelle screamed as she tore James from the photograph.
James gasped at his daughter's behavior and grew very furious. "Michelle, you are a young lady!" he snarled as he reached over for Michelle's college brochures and took them, "And I expect you to behave like one!" With that, he furiously ripped all the brochures in half and threw them away in a wastebasket.
Michelle gasped with anger and shock before she tried to glare at her father, but tears started to form in her eyes. Then, she ran past her father and out of her room before slamming the door.
"Michelle!" James cried to his daughter before his expression turned to regret. When he realized what he just did before his daughter's eyes, James reached into the wastebasket and pulled out the torn brochures. "Oh no!" he gasped, "What have I done?"
"Oh, Doc!" the Ghostly Trio's voices were heard from down below.
"It'll be a few minutes!" James called down to them with a distraught expression, "I need time… to get some things!" He then put his hands on his forehead and shook his head, feeling ashamed for dashing his daughter's dreams.
Author's Note: I borrowed Michelle and James's argument from Brave ((c) Disney/Pixar).