(A/N: I've had this event planned for a very long time. Enjoy! I hope...)


We Meet Again

Ch. 6


It had been a few months since Shenzi, Frankie, and their friends started attending Jim Jr. High, and they were starting to really fit in. Santana was recently accepted into the popular crowd, where she and Angelica became best friends. And ever since the Christmas party, Shenzi and Chuckie became closer than they were before, if that was possible. Along with more hugs, she gave him occasional kisses on his cheeks, in public as well as in private, and he did the same for her. The first time he did the latter, she felt so stunned that she was almost late for English class with Ms. O'Keats.

On the bus ride to school, she thought about the first time and Chuckie hung out, one on one, in the mall arcade. She remembered that she had forgotten something that day, but couldn't figure out what it was. She absentmindedly looked in her backpack, and saw the medical mask she put together with one she smuggled from the nurse, and the strap from a Halloween mask. It was just then when she realized: That was what she had forgotten that day! She meant to wear that mask to hide her braces, having a story about having a cough prepared for cover, and she completely forgot! Did Chuckie know that she had braces? If so, were braces a turn-off for him?

She seriously hoped not; Chuckie was the greatest friend she ever had. He understood her like no one else did. She and Maxie were drifting apart a bit, especially since the latter was bonding with Tommy over their love of film-making. According to her parents, they were like counterparts. Same with her and Chuckie.

When they arrived at the school, Shenzi avoided her friends and put the mask on her face. Frankie was stuck at home with a stomach bug, so she didn't have to worry about her trying to prevent this. She kept her cough story in mind for a cover-up, in case any of her friends or teachers asked why she was hiding her mouth.


So far, so good. Her friends and teachers bought her cough story, although Ms. O'Keats almost sent her to the nurse's office. But then, science class came. The teacher, Mrs. Guppie, was expecting her and some of the other students to speak in front of the class, separately. And she wasn't as gullible as the rest of the teachers. Everyone was going to see her braces! Although knowing how smart the tough teacher was, Shenzi was going to attempt to use the cough story for cover; It was worth a try.

"Ms. Tuck." She snapped out of her thoughts by the teacher calling for her. She pulled her mask out of her satin-like purple blouse, but to her horror, the strap was broken!

Hastily hiding it again, she walked up to the desk, her ankles wobbling under her black and purple baggy jeans. "Um, Mi-Mi-Mrs. Guppie, can I uh, u-use the bathroom?" She shakily requested, hiding her teeth from the her fellow students.

"You may," The teacher nodded, "But do hurry."

"Tha-thanks," Shenzi smiled, before she dashed out of the room. She made a beeline for her locker and hastily opened it, but to her terror, she couldn't find her emergency sewing kit. Her backpack wasn't exactly well-organized, so it wasn't surprising.

In the science room, several minutes passed, and the runaway still hadn't returned. "Um, Mrs. Guppie?" Chuckie stood up from his seat with his hand raised up, "I'm a little worried about Shenzi. She's been gone for quite a while; Is it okay if I check on her?"

"Yes you can," She nodded, "But hurry up; You can't waste valuable education time."

"Yes ma'am," Chuckie nodded, before he quickly walked out of the room. Naturally, he made a beeline for the girls' restroom, watching for any witnesses before he walked inside. But to his confusion, his best female friend was nowhere to be found. After walking back out in the hall, he heard scuffling at some of the lockers; He looked and saw Shenzi at hers, digging in her backpack. "Um, Shenzi? You okay?"

She whipped around to face him, clapping a hand over her mouth. "Oh, I-I'm fine," She stammered, keeping her mouth covered. "I, I just uh... I have this cough, and I was looking for a water bottle."

Chuckie raised an eyebrow at her; He didn't buy her story. "Shenzi, if you were sick, I would've known by now. Now tell me the truth; I won't make fun of you."

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart."

"Well, okay." Shenzi hesitantly revealed what she was hiding: Her braces.

"... That's it?" Chuckie raised his eyebrows up in surprise, "That's what you were hiding? The fact that you need braces?"

"Uh huh," She nodded.

"Shen, I already knew that you wore braces. I've known that since we first met; I just didn't want to bring it up, and make you uncomfortable."

"O-oh," Shenzi felt so dumb; He knew this whole time? "It, it's not a turn-off for you, is it?"

Chuckie crossed his arms. "If it was, then we wouldn't be as good of friends as we are. I wouldn't have hung out with you at the arcade. I wouldn't have invited you to my house. I wouldn't have danced with you at the Christmas party," He listed off, "I don't care if you need braces! It's not a freak thing. Just because you have a little metal in your mouth, doesn't mean you're a cyborg or anything. You're a person."

"A-are you sure?"

"Hundred percent," Chuckie assured her. "In fact..." He gently pulled her lower jaw down, so he could see her teeth. "I think your braces make you look pretty... er." Shenzi's face heated up when his fingers brushed her cheek.

"Th-thanks," She stuttered.

Her heart pounded hard in her chest when his head was leaning towards hers, and his eyes were slowly shutting. Plus his lips were parted a bit. With her hands on his shoulders over his green floral buttoned-up t-shirt, she puckered her small lips, leaned her head up, and slowly closed her eyes. Her heart felt like it was going to burst right out of her chest. Since she was around his height, maybe a little shorter, she didn't have to stand on her toes. Her heart leapt when their lips touched; She felt like fireworks were blasting around them. Like a fire was blazing in her chest. Like she was flying. It felt so... right. Maybe their friends and families had a point; Were they really meant to be? It sure felt like it.

After a too-short time, they went to separate, but to their confusion, they couldn't. Shenzi tried to pull away, but Chuckie's face followed hers, his hands gripping her shoulders in surprise. She then realized. "Uh oh."

"Wha?" Chuckie tried to ask her, but his speech was distorted. He tried to pull away, but Shenzi's face followed his, and her hands gripped his shoulders. He then realized what was wrong: Their braces were stuck together! "Uh oh."

"Yea," Shenzi responded; She would've nodded, but she couldn't exactly do that. They thought they saw a camera flash at the corners of their eyes, but figured that it was their imaginations. After a surprisingly short time, Shenzi was beginning to feel a bit light-headed, and short of breath. Was she claustrophopic? Possibly.

"Aw 'ou o'ay?" Chuckie tried to ask her.

"Uh 'uh," She assured him, although it sounded like she said she wasn't okay. "'Ere, uh." Holding onto his shoulders, they turned themselves around with scooting of their feet, before the lockers were behind her. Then to Chuckie's surprise, she started kicking at the lockers with her left foot. She hoped that help would come soon; Her ballet flats weren't exactly good for cushioning any blows, so her foot was getting sore.

Thankfully after a minute, a few of their friends and Mrs. Guppie came rushing in. "Oh my goodness!" Mrs. Guppie exclaimed, "Let's get you two in the nurse's office." Lil and Kimi were trying very hard not to smile. They honestly didn't want to, but they just couldn't believe it. Shenzi and Chuckie kissed! They finally kissed! Did sparks fly? Did their lips burn from the heat? They had to know! As they had these thoughts, Tommy and Bobby were guiding the two friends to their destination. Kimi was carrying Shenzi's medical bag on the way.

Soon they arrived, and like the science teacher, the nurse was alarmed at seeing Shenzi and Chuckie's condition. "Oh my!" She exclaimed; She hastily grabbed a pair of tweezers from a drawer, and came over to them. "Okay, both of you just stay calm; You'll be free in a jiffy." Using the tweezers, she began carefully untangling the wires. Shenzi was trying to stay calm as she was told to, but she was starting to feel nervous. Why? She didn't know. Was it claustrophobia? Or the fact that she was physically closer to Chuckie than she ever had been before?

Thankfully after a minute, they were free. Shenzi looked like she was going to pass out, so as the nurse sat her down on the bed, Chuckie grabbed her medical bag from Kimi, and quickly gave it to her. Shenzi hastily dug through it, pulled out a black asthma inhaler, and took a few puffs. Chuckie was a bit surprised at this. He didn't know she had asthma; Why didn't she ever tell him? After around a minute, the skin on Shenzi's face was almost back to its regular shade of purplish grey.

"You alright, Shen?" Chuckie asked her, "I'm sorry about that."

"Yeah, I'm fine," She nodded, still a bit out of breath, "And don't worry about it; It wasn't your fault."

"Why don't you stay here for a bit, honey?" The nurse suggested to the emo girl, "You're still a little pale. Mr. Finster," She wrote a note for him, "You give this to your teacher, explaining Ms. Tuck's absence, okay?"

"Alright," He nodded, "Feel better, Shen."

"Will do, Chuck."

And with that, the redhead walked out of the office, through the halls, and back to the science classroom, note in hand. He gave it to Mrs. Guppie, who simply told Chuckie to give Shenzi her homework for the class, and hoped that she would feel better. Throughout the class, Chuckie couldn't help but worry about his best female friend; He felt responsible for practically causing her to have a panic attack. Then again, he didn't know that she was claustrophobic, that she had asthma, or that their braces would tangle up together. Still, though; He felt guilty throughout the whole day.

In the nurse's office, Shenzi was laying on the bed, twiddling her fingers absentmindedly. She felt like years had passed since the "Tangled incident", as she called it. She was quite thankful that she was at least excused from gym class because of her panic attack. Mr. Pangborn made her very uncomfortable in every class, ever since her very first day, and she didn't know why. She wanted to stay in shape, but why did she always have the urge to ditch? Now that she thought about it, she did always get the feeling that someone was staring at her throughout almost the whole class. It was puzzling.

Before she knew it, the dismissal bell rang. Just as she sat up, Chuckie walked in, carrying her backpack while the nurse went to write her a note for her parents. "How're you doing, Shen?"

"Fine," She shrugged, before she slid down on the floor.

"She's going to need to rest for a while," The nurse told Chuckie, "Ms. Tuck, I have a note for you to give to your parents, sweetie." She gave the pink sticky note to the short girl.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, now you rest up that pretty little head of yours."

"I will, thanks."

"I'll walk her out," Chuckie offered.

"Thanks Chuckie," She smiled timidly. As they walked down the halls side-by-side, Shenzi had a strange feeling of anxiety again, but it wasn't so strong that it made her feel faint again. Although it did make her feel confused. That desire to be close to Chuckie had slightly diminished. That made no sense to her; They kissed, for crying out loud! Shouldn't the feeling increase instead? It was so mind-baffling. Was it because they got stuck together by their braces? That had to be it. If they didn't get stuck, then her desire would intensify, no doubt about it. She grabbed a newspaper when they passed by the stand. When she blinked out of her thoughts, they were outside. The students piled in the bus, Shenzi sitting in a window seat next to Chuckie, before the bus started moving.

"You okay, Shen? You seem quiet."

"Well, when you're in the nurse's office, there isn't a whole lot to talk about," Shenzi shrugged, "But... that Brett guy was sent in for inhaling tomato sauce."

"Oh," Chuckie's eyes widened, "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Shenzi nodded. There was some awkward silence after that. "Um, h-how'd your classes go?"

"As you would expect," Chuckie shrugged, "Boredom, stress, homework. Oh! Which reminds me." He took out the homework for their science class, and handed it to her. "Mrs. Guppie wanted me to give this to you. It's your science homework."

"Thanks," She smiled, stashing the papers in her backpack. She planned on doing it at home while resting instead of on the bus, like she usually did.

"Mm, y-you want me to stay with you?" Chuckie offered, "I can if you want me to."

"Oh, you don't have to," Shenzi assured him, "I'll be alright; I just have to rest for a while. No biggie."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," She nodded.

"Well, okay," He hesitantly obliged, "Our houses aren't that far away anyhow." When he looked at the window to his left, he saw her house outside the bus. "Speaking of which, here's your stop." He went to kiss her cheek, but stopped when she reflexively flinched a bit. "Sorry," He grimaced guiltily.

"It-it's okay," She adjusted her glasses, "I guess I'm still a little anxious from what happened. Um, we-we're still friends, right?"

"Of course we are," Chuckie smiled warmly at her, "Our friendship can withstand anything." He instinctively went to kiss her cheek again, but stopped when remembering that she was uncomfortable with it. But she looked fine with it, so he cautiously continued his move. When he was close enough, he gave her a quick peck, and she smiled at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Chuck." Hoisting her backpack on her shoulders, she carefully stood on her feet.

"Get well soon," He told her.

"I will." And with that, she exited the bus, and walked in the house as the bus drove off. "Dad? Frankie? I'm home!" She didn't see Friar Tuck anywhere, so she headed straight upstairs after grabbing the newspaper out of her backpack. "Hey sis," She greeted Frankie from her bedroom doorway.

The room had black walls, and a neon purple carpet. Blacklight posters lined the walls, along with a guitar-shaped clock with blue neon lights in it. By her bed, which had a wavy gate frame, was a green cupcake-like table, with a Hello Kitty bluetooth alarm clock and a blue and green lava lamp. The one window had black curtains. On her desk was a silver and pink lamp with a black light bulb in it, and a globe chandelier hung from the ceiling. A red cards table sat at the front of the bed, which had a birdcage comforter and sheets. A round mirror with a round white frame, which had colorful painted flowers, was on the wall opposite of the bed. What stood out most was the small neon lights all around the room, but were currently turned off.

"You feeling any better?"

"Eh, maybe a little bit," Frankie shrugged. She had a small trash can by her bed, where she could easily grab it in case she needed it. "How'd school go?"

"It... went," Shenzi shrugged, "I grabbed a paper for you." She set the newspaper on the cupcake table.

"Thanks," Frankie smiled.

"No prob," Shenzi smiled back, "I-I have to do my homework real quick."

"Uh, Sh-Shen, are you okay?" Frankie asked her, "You look a little pale. Are you coming down with something?"

"Oh um, n-no I'm fine," The emo girl claimed, "I guess I'm kinda tired. I'll just rest a bit, and then I'll be alright." Before any more questions were asked, she hastily ran in the kitchen to grab her backpack. After quickly hoisting it on her shoulders, she screeched to a stop at the doorway upon seeing her father in the living room. "Oh, hi Dad! Sorry, I can't talk now! I forgot to do my homework on the bus! Nothing happened at school! Bye!" She rambled nervously, before practically stampeding up the stairs, leaving him confused. She was never this fired up before, from what he recalled. Frankie flinched a bit in surprise when her little sister sped by like a monorail train.

Figuring that it was nothing, she went to read the newspaper, curious about how the day went. She began sipping her can of Sprite, which she read helped with upset stomachs, through a straw as she read absentmindedly. But what she saw widened her eyes and made her spit her sip back in the can through the straw. Shenzi and Chuckie finally kissed?! She couldn't believe it! She looked more closely at the headline, and saw that it read "Chuckie Finster gets stuck on the new girl, literally!" The author was revealed to be Angelica Pickles. "Um, Dad? You might want to see this!"

In the darker-colored bedroom, Shenzi had just finished her homework, rubbing her temples to get rid of the ache that came from science. She whizzed through the math problems with flying colors, but was feeling the pressure of science. Why was it so hard?!

"Shenzi? Can you come in Frankie's room, please?" Shenzi's head snapped up when she heard Friar Tuck's voice addressing her. She set her papers aside, jumped on the floor, and walked in the said room.

"Wh-what's up?"

"We saw a little something in the paper," Frankie held it up for her to see. To her horror, there was a photo of her and Chuckie stuck together! "Finally, a Sheckie kiss! You little tease, you!" She giggled.

"I, I, I-I don't..."

"Shenzi, can we talk in the living room?" Friar Tuck requested.

"Um, s-sure okay," She stuttered nervously. Frankie winked and clicked her tongue at her, so she rolled her eyes and followed her dad out of the room. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as they sat on the couch.

"Shen..."

"Please don't make me give up my friendship with Chuckie!" Shenzi suddenly pleaded, startling him, "Our friendship means the world to me! And to him! He said so! He's the greatest friend I've ever had! Please don't take him out of my life!"

"Whoa, whoa! Shenzi, calm down!" Friar Tuck gently grabbed her shoulders, so she stopped rambling, "I wasn't going to say that! I was going to say that if you want to date Chuckie, then you should take things slow. You're both only 11, after all. You're a bit too young for dating."

"O-okay," Shenzi nodded.

"I... I just don't want you to grow up too fast," He admitted.

"I'm not," She shrugged, "As you said, I'm only 11. I have plushies in my room," She giggled.

"I know, but... it seems like it was only yesterday, when I was carrying you everywhere we went."

"Wasn't that like, 3 years ago?" Shenzi wondered aloud with sincere curiosity.

"Yeah," He nodded, "I had to stop when you were 8. You were getting too heavy."

"Oh," She giggled, "Well um... thanks for letting me stay friends with Chuckie."

"You're welcome," Friar Tuck smiled at her. She then told him what happened, but left out the part where Chuckie initiated the kiss instead of her. She didn't want him to get in trouble. "A-are your braces fine?" He asked her when she was finished.

"I'm not really sure," She admitted.

"I'll make an appointment with the dentist for you, just to be safe." He went to do just that.

"Thanks, Dad."


"Sheckie kissed! Sheckie finally kissed!" Kimi yelled excitedly, as she and Chuckie walked in their house.

"Kimi!" Chuckie groaned in embarrassment. He was hoping to tell his parents more slowly, but his sister just ruined that plan.

"What?!" Chaz and Kira came dashing in the kitchen.

"Here, see for yourself!" Kimi eagerly handed them the school newspaper she grabbed, and waited for their reactions.

"Oh, I can't believe it!" Kira gushed upon seeing the photo, not seeing the caption, "Our little boy is growing up!"

Chaz however, noticed the caption first hand. "Stuck literally? Chuckie, what happened?"

"It's a... a long story." The young redhead told his parents and Kimi the whole story.

"Are your braces okay?" Chaz asked him after he finished.

"I think," Chuckie shrugged.

"Here, I'll make you an appointment with the dentist." Kira went to the house phone, and did just that.

As Chuckie did his homework at his desk, he became lost in his thoughts while trying to finish the long division problems. When he kissed Shenzi, he felt something weird. Really weird; He couldn't figure it out, though.


(A/N: Yay, a Sheckie kiss! You know the disclaimer. Since Ms. O'Keats was giving a lecture on Romeo and Juliet in "Tommy Foolery", I assume that she's the English teacher in the school.)