Chapter 3: Golden Hair of Sunshine

In a small cottage in the woods outside of town where a satellite dish was placed on top of the roof, there lived Rose Briar, a teenage girl who attended Disney Academy. She had a slender figure, with long golden locks, red lips, and doe-like eyes. While her guardians Flora, Fauna, and Mary were asleep, Rose was in her room chatting with Cindy.

"I'm sorry you're not getting along with your stepmother and stepsisters," Rose replied over the phone. "I think you should definitely talk to the student counselor Mrs. Willow."

"Jack and Gus told me the same thing, but I don't know if she'll be able to help me," answered Cindy on the other end.

"Just talk to her," Rose said. "She helped me when I was bothered by Philip's uncanny resemblance to the prince in that dream I had a few weeks ago."

"What did she say?"

"She said I should try to get together with him. After all, he might be the prince from my dream."

"But how could you dream of someone you've never met? Plus, we only saw him during that walk through the woods when he passed us on his horse, claiming it was practice for the Men's Equestrian Club at school. I think you're taking this dream interpretation stuff way too seriously."

Rose sighed, and then said, "But didn't you have a special dream as well? You said it was a wish, and it wouldn't come true if you told me. How is that any different than believing someone you've met once is the prince of your dreams?"

The door suddenly opened, startling Rose. It was Flora, wearing a red nightgown with her gray hair tied up into a bun. She stared at Rose wearily with a silver-colored stick in her hand.

"You should get to bed soon, Rose," she asked. "Don't you have an important test tomorrow in French Class?"

"Yes, Aunt Flora," Rose replied, then she said to Cindy, "I have to go now, Cindy."

After she hung up, Flora closed the bedroom door. Then reluctantly, Rose resumed studying the textbook she was looking at when Cindy called her. It was half-past eleven when Rose decided to quit, got into her two-piece pink pajamas, and went to bed.

The next morning, Rose slowly walked to French Class in room 1990 with sleepy eyes. Some of her classmates noticed, including Ariel, who decided to sit next to her. While Rose reviewed her notes, the teacher took attendance. He was a tall man with light-brown hair tied back in a ponytail, and a long nose.

"Ahem! Monsieur's and Mademoiselles," he said in a French accent. "It is time to begin the first test of the semester. I hope you are ready. Now…begin!"

Everyone immediately opened the envelopes on their desks, and started. Some were doing fine, like the brunette girl with the ponytail, while others weren't, like Rose. She, Ariel, and a couple others were the only ones left when the bell for second period rang.

"Your time is up!" the teacher stated firmly.

Rose and the others reluctantly passed their tests up to the teacher, and left with anxious, or frustrated looks. While Rose sighed heavily, Ariel attempted to smile when she saw Eric coming towards her, with Philip at his side. Like Prince and Char, the boy whom Cindy met the other day, he also had short brown hair, but his was chestnut-colored, with hazel-brown eyes. Rose felt too upset to try to talk with him, so she just passed the boys and went straight for her locker.

"Hey, wait!" cried Philip as he caught up to Rose. "You're that girl I met in the woods!"

Rose attempted to avoid making eye contact with him.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Rose shrugged. "Just a French test."

"With Professor Lumière?"

"Yeah."

"I've heard his tests are pretty hard, even for beginners."

"No kidding," Rose scuffed. "But what's weird is that the questions on the test were completely different from the practice test he gave us a few days ago."

Just then, the warning bell went off, causing Rose and Philip to separate, while Ariel sulked in the other direction. Rose glanced back, and saw Philip looking back at her. This made her remember the prince from her dream, only with Philip's face on it, causing her to blush and hurry downstairs for Choir. On the way, she met up with Cindy.

"So have you talked to Mrs. Willow yet?" Rose asked.

Cindy sighed. "Not yet, but I will at some point this week."

"Good." Rose looked back up. "I wonder what's wrong with Ariel, though. She sat next to me in class today, and she never usually does. Then when we ran into Eric and Philip, Eric tried to comfort her, but she just brushed him off."

"Oh, she must be still worrying about that new girl," Cindy explained.

"The one whom Gaston believed was a classroom ghost?"

"Yeah, that girl, she hasn't shown up since last Friday, and we all know what happens to students who miss a week of school."

"Suspension," Rose said, entering the Choir room.

There, she was winked at by Fauna, her other guardian. Like Flora, she also had gray hair tied in a bun, but was wearing a green dress instead of a red one. Once everyone was seated, she addressed everyone in a quiet, kindly voice.

"Good morning, class, I hope your day is going well," she said, and raised her silver baton. "Now, let's start off by doing our voice exercises. Rose, why don't you lead us?"

Reluctantly, Rose stood up, and Fauna sang a high note. When Rose tried to repeat it, however, it came out terribly. She coughed while a few people giggled in the room, including Ana and Trissy. Cindy glared at them, and then noticed Maleficent holding her ebony-colored wand underneath her arm, while clearly pointing it at Rose.

"Miss Fauna!" Cindy said, raising her hand. "Maleficent used her magic to interfere with Rose's singing!"

Everyone looked at her, and then at Maleficent, who stood up and willingly showed her wand.

"Go to the principal's office right now, young lady!" Fauna said, pointing her baton at the door, which suddenly opened on its own. When she realized what she did, Fauna muttered, "Oh, no."

"Wow, teach, I didn't know you were capable of using magic," Maleficent said sarcastically as she walked out the door. "I'll have to keep that in mind next time."

After Maleficent left, the lessons continued as if nothing had happened. After all, magic was common in the world, but only a few people used it, namely fairies, sorcerers, and witches. But Rose was personally distraught, because throughout all the fifteen years she had known Fauna, she had never seen her use magic before. Now, it was clear that Fauna had been keeping this a secret from her.

I wonder if Flora and Mary know about this, maybe they use magic as well, Rose wondered, turning her head towards the window next to her table during lunch-period.

To her surprise, a small black raven with beady yellow eyes was standing on the window-still outside. It pecked the glass a few times, and then flew away. This incident puzzled Rose throughout the rest of the day, because she could've sworn the raven was looking at her the whole time.

End of Chapter 3