(Happy early Halloween, witches and warlocks!)


We Meet Again

Ch. 13


"You've gotta hide me! You've gotta hide me!" 12-year-old Shenzi dashed up to and behind Tommy and Chuckie on a day in late October. She had turned 12 in late August and celebrated at Slosh Mountain with her friends and family. She and Chuckie rode on Whiplash Gorge so many times, they lost count.

"Whoa, Shenzi! Calm down! Hide you from who?" Tommy asked her.

"Him!" She fearfully gestured to one of the students in the hallway. They looked, and saw a tough-looking black boy with brown, curly, should-length hair, a blue and yellow football jersey with a 6 on the front, blue shorts, white socks, and blue-green sneakers. He seemed to be twice the girl's size, if not a bit more so; Chuckie immediately understood why she was scared, even without an explanation from her. But despite his intimidating vibe, he looked relatively harmless.

"Why? What happened?" Tommy asked her.

"Well..."

"Can't be late! Can't be late!" Shenzi muttered to herself as she was dashing along the halls. "Where's the English classroom aga-oomph!" She crashed into someone, but it felt like she hit a wall, as she landed on her backside. "S-sorry about that Chu..." She started to say by habit, but she stopped when she realized; It wasn't him. "...ckie..." She squeaked out.

The person she bumped into was twice as tall as she was; She felt so... puny. More than usual. Her heart jumped with fear when she heard him growl angrily, and assumed it was directed at her. "I, I'm sorry, I- Bye!" She clumsily stood up and made a run for it. However, he didn't seem to notice her; It was like she wasn't even there at all.

"And that's what happened," She finished explaining.

"Oh; Well I'm sure he understands that it was an accident," Tommy remarked.

"I'm not taking any chances," Shenzi told them, "I value my life too much."

"Well, I'm sure you'll forget your fears at the school's Halloween party," Tommy assured her.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" She smiled, "I'm really excited for that."

"And don't worry Shen, I won't let Fridge or anyone hurt you," Chuckie assured her.

"Thanks Chuck," She smiled, before raising an eyebrow. "His name is Fridge?"

"Yeah, but I'm really sure it's just a nickname," Chuckie replied, "I have no clue what his actual name is, though. But I won't let him hurt you." He then decided to change the subject. "So, what's your costume going to be?"

"Hmm," Shenzi thought for a second, "I've been thinking of doing something related to Alice in Wonderland this year."

"Oh really? That sounds cool," Chuckie smiled, "Kimi was actually talking about going as a genderbent Mad Hatter, so maybe you guys can match."

"Good idea! And you can match with us too!"

"I dunno; Two Mad Hatters?"

"We can say that Kimi is the Mad Hatter's little sister," She suggested.

"Hmm... okay, we can do that," Chuckie decided.

"Yay!" She cheered. He smiled at her joy; Just a minute ago, she was fearing for her life, but now she was ecstatic about the party and what to wear for it. She was truly one of a kind, and had nothing to worry about. He stayed silent as he listened to her excitedly ramble about how they all could shop for costumes at Party City after school. She didn't seem to have a care in the world, and that's why she was his best friend. As long as it didn't get anyone in trouble, she was so carefree and eager to achieve whatever her heart was set on. "You okay, Chuckie?" She asked him when he was just staring.

"Huh?" He snapped out of his trance, "Uh, y-yeah, I'm fine. So, Party City after school and homework?"

"Let's do it!" She exclaimed happily.


"Alright guys, let's get to shopping!" 12-year-old Kimi exclaimed with excitement. She had her birthday earlier that month, so she was caught up with her friends. Well, except Matt and Dil. The Tucks, Finsters, and Carmichaels were the only ones that came, along with their parents; The Pickles had already found their costumes, along with the Zimmeruskis, and the DeVilles. The Goofs had to go out of town to attend a funeral for Goofy's uncle, so they couldn't make it to the school party.

"Hey, how about for our costumes, we just use little pieces we find here?" Frankie suggested.

"Let's do it!" Kimi agreed. The group spent the day browsing through the "little pieces" for the girls' costumes. Chuckie quickly found a Mad Hatter costume for himself, from Alice Through The Looking Glass. "No wig?" Kimi smirked.

"Nah," He shook his head. "Don't worry Chuck, your hair is already perfect for the costume," Shenzi giggled.

"Good point. So Shen, Chuckie said you want to do something related to Alice in Wonderland?"

"Uh huh."

"And I heard that you had this idea where the three of us could match."

"Yeah, I did," Shenzi nodded, "So, what do you think?"

"I love it!" Kimi smiled, "It's a great idea!"

After a while of searching, the girls finally found their costumes, and left the store after their parents paid for the items. Shenzi and Frankie even picked out necessities for cupcakes to make for the party.


Before long, on Halloween Eve, the party was in full swing as the group of friends arrived at the school, which was decorated to the gills with a kid-friendly Halloween theme. The sidewalk was lined with light-up pumpkin stakes, a festive "Welcome" sign was hanging on one of the doors with a candy corn "Trick-or-Treat" sign on the other door, ghost lights were strung all around the building, and yard stakes were scattered in the grass. The two Tuck girls brought festively-decorated cupcakes with a display stand, while Angelica seemed kind of lazy with Pillsbury sugar cookies on an expensive-looking platter.

"This is great!" Shenzi exclaimed, looking around the gymnasium, which was just as decorated as the front door. There was a festive tablecloth and centerpiece on the food table, black and orange fringe curtains at the doors, swirled decorations hanging from the ceiling, string lights all around the room, and festive balloons. The paper plates, paper cups, and napkins had a fun, harmless Halloween theme.

Shenzi's costume had a shirt with two-layered long sleeves, a tiered tutu with a fake apron, ruffled suspenders, leggings, a bow headband, black Mary Jane flats, a turquoise extension, earrings, and eye shadow. Her whole outfit had an adorable Alice theme with black and white harlequin diamonds, a turquoise color, card suits, and black and white stripes. For candy and prizes was a matching bag that Felicia surprised her with. Chuckie was in his costume with brown jeans, and classic Converse high-tops.

Kimi's costume was very similar to Shenzi's, but with a bright Mad Hatter theme in pink, turquoise, and purple colors with a tiered tutu, lapel suspenders, a long-sleeve shirt, leggings, eye shadow, black buckled creepers, a top hat with bunny ears, black top hat earrings, two ponytail bands, and a bow tie. Frankie had a Little Red Riding Hood theme with a strapless bustier, hooded suspenders, a tutu, black and white gingham leggings, red bow tie ballet flats, black and white gingham fabric earrings, a re chiffon bow ponytail band, and a prop basket to hold candy and game prizes.

"There you guys are!" Phil and Lil came running up to the trio, along with Tommy and Dil.

"You guys look great!" Kimi complimented them on their costumes. The twins were dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat. Lil was 1 with a red cropped t-shirt, a tutu, red and blue striped leggings, suspenders, a blue furry headband, a blue extension, arm warmers, and red Converse high-tops. Phil was 2 with a red t-shirt, red jeans, a blue wig, suspenders that matched Lil's, and red Converse low-tops. Dil was dressed as an alien agent, complete with a suit, a full-on green mask, gloves, and lime green Converse high-tops. Tommy was dressed like Martin Costomiris, with a white t-shirt, a grey jacket, a grey beret, dark denim jeans, and black canvas sneakers.

Angelica was a distance away, trying to flirt with Sean, while wearing a pink sexy genie costume with gold glitter kitten heels, gold hoop earrings, gold glitter eye shadow, and pink lip gloss. An amused Susie was watching her, while clad in her Kansas Cutie themed outfit, which consisted of a strapless bustier, ruffled suspenders, gingham leggings, a bustle, red bow ballet flats like Frankie's, a bow headband, a red ponytail band, and red rose earrings.

"Hey, you guys look great!" Roxy ran up to the group with Bobby close behind. She was in a slightly modest Jasmine costume with flats, a necklace, earrings, and a tiara. Bobby was matching her with an Aladdin costume.

"You too!" Shenzi complimented back.

"Hey guys," Susie walked up to them, "Great costumes!"

"Thanks," Kimi smiled, "You too. Angelica's looks great also."

"Everybody here looks..." Shenzi gazed around the room at the guests, before a certain one caught her eye. "Iy'p!" She yelped in fear as she instinctively hid behind Chuckie, her small hands gripping his shoulders.

Phil raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. "What's her beef?"

"She accidentally crashed into that guy, so she thinks he's out for her blood," Tommy explained.

"Him?" Susie saw Fridge a distance away. He was dressed as a sports referee for the party. "He's harmless, Shen; He's in my English class."

"I'm not taking any chances," Shenzi repeated her words from a couple days ago, now hugging Chuckie from behind with her arms around his waist and stomach.

"Shen, I don't know much about him, but I know he wouldn't hurt a fly," Susie assured her, "Or girls."

"Susie's right," Angelica walked up to them, "He only hurts nerds, geeks, and weirdos. So you better watch out, Tuck." She then walked away with pride.

Shenzi buried her face in Chuckie's back, surprising him. "I'm gonna die!" She whimpered.

"Don't listen to her, Shenzi," Susie adviced her, "She's just trying to scare you."

"Yeah, you'll be fine," Lil added in.

"And like I said, I won't let him or anyone hurt you," Chuckie gently grabbed her arms in assurance, "And I won't let Angelica scare you."

"You just did," Phil pointed out.

"Can't a guy make one mistake?"

"He's coming," Susie hastily whispered to them. Whimpering again, Shenzi pulled Chuckie closer by his shoulders for a makeshift shield.

"What's wrong with her?" Fridge asked them.

"She's afraid that you're angry at her for bumping into you a few days ago," Tommy explained.

"And I'm not going to let you hurt her," Chuckie said with determination, "Not with the powers of Armadillo Dave at my side." What? Where the heck did that come from? The others stared at him in confusion, while Phil was stifling laughter. Chuckie flinched when Shenzi's face dropped on his back. "Did I just say that? That was dumb."

"You think?" Phil snickered.

"Can we get back to Shenzi's situation, please?" Susie requested, and they obliged. "Thanks. Now Fridge, she didn't mean to crash into you. It was an accident."

"I was late for English class," Shenzi meekly explained, peeking out from Chuckie's shoulder. "I'll do your homework for you, just please don't kill me!"

"Relax, I don't hurt girls," Fridge told her, "And I didn't know you bumped into me."

"Then why were you angry that time?" Tommy asked him, as Shenzi slowly came out of hiding.

"I was running late for science class, because I couldn't find my textbook," He explained.

Shenzi's eyebrows raised in surprise, her grip loosening so Chuckie stepped away a bit, as she stayed silent. She felt like a cowardly idiot. "... Say what?"

"See, Shenzi? I told you it was all a misunderstanding, and that you had nothing to worry about." Susie chimed in.

"I'm gonna live! I'm gonna live!" Shenzi cheered, hugging an amused Chuckie.

"Yes, you are," Chuckie laughed a bit.

"Fridge, you wanna hang out with us?" Shenzi asked him, now with much more eagerness in her voice, without a trace of fear. "We can eat, dance, play games, and overall socialize! It'll be fun!"

The others were quite baffled at her sudden change in emotion; Barely a minute ago, she was scared silly. "That's my sister," Frankie giggled at Chuckie. She then turned to Fridge, who looked more surprised than all of them. He wasn't used to the emo's quirkiness like her friends were. "She gets excited," Frankie shrugged, "You get used to it."

"Come on, let's go to the bowling game!" Shenzi grabbed Fridge's hand, hers being around half its size at most, and started to run, but he stayed put, not knowing exactly what to do. Frankie stifled giggles when she was practically snapped back like a slinky. "Come on!" She exclaimed, her perkiness not getting tarnished at all. After Frankie gestured for him to abide, Fridge led her to the game. More like she led him; She took occasional sprints, but mostly had to walk because he was much stronger than her.

"I will never understand girls," Dil remarked from under his mask.

"Well, it's easy to understand girls," Frankie shrugged, "It's just hard to understand Shenzi. She's a bit of... a case."

"Chuckie?" Tommy noticed that the redhead was lost in his thoughts, "Chuckie? Chuck Hatter? Hey!" He nudged Chuckie's shoulder, making him flinch. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah," He nodded, "I'm fine. I'm just feeling kind of... weird for some reason."

"Aww, is somebody jealous that Shenni found a new boyfriend?" Kimi teased.

"No!" Chuckie exclaimed, "He's not her boyfriend, and neither am I!"

"Then what's the problem?" Phil asked him.

"It's...!" Chuckie exclaimed, before he paused, "I, I don't know. I love that she's making friends, but..."

"You sound like Dad," Frankie giggled.

"It's just... I don't know."

"Chuck, she won't forget about you," Kimi assured him, "Every girl likes a fooball player at least once in her life."

"True," Chuckie shrugged, "And... it seems like she's having fun."

"Aww," Shenzi mumbled sadly when the small bowling ball missed all the pins for the third time in a row, "What am I doing wrong?"

"Here, I'll help." Fridge grabbed the orange ball, and placed it in her tiny hand, before kneeling to her height. "Just pull your arm back like this." He demonstrated and she repeated his actions. "Then just throw it." He showed her how, and with a cute grunt, she threw the ball as she was instructed.

She didn't get a strike, but she did knock down 4 candy corn-like pins. "Yay! I did it!" She cheered.

"You can have another try if you want, little lady," The history teacher, who was running the game, told her as he set up the pins again. He was in his teaching "uniform" with nerd costume accessories added in.

"Okay thanks," She nodded, before she grabbed the ball. Remembering how to throw it, she did just that, almost stumbling forward, and to her surprise, she got a strike! "Yes!" She cheered again. She jumped in the air with joy, her hair flying all around. The teacher smiled in amusement, while Fridge was a bit baffled again. He didn't think a shy girl like her could act so... spontaneous. Other studens were staring at them, especially her.

"Okay, you pick any prize you want, girlie," The black man shifted the bowl of small necessities towards her after she was calm. After a few seconds of debating, she decided on a cute skeleton wind-up that glowed in the dark.

"Thanks!" She smiled happily, before turning to her new friend. "Come on! Let's play another game!" She stashed her prize in her bag.

Max Banks, the history teacher, laughed as he watched them go. "That girl is really one of a kind," He remarked to himself, "Mr. Finster is a lucky boy."

"Well! Hello, Shenzibeth!" Ms. O'Keats greeted her from her place at the ring toss. She was in a Renaissance princess costume. "Don't you look adorable? You're Alice, right?"

"Thanks," Shenzi blushed timidly, "And yep, I'm a variation of Alice."

"Okay, this is how this game goes: If you throw three rings on the spider legs in a row, you'll win three small prizes. If it's two, then you get two prizes. I shouldn't have to explain the one."

"Alright," Shenzi nodded, and Ms. O'Keats gave her one of the orange rings. "Thanks." She turned her wrist to the side, and tossed the ring. She pumped her fist when it landed on one of the legs. She was able to land another ring on a leg, but missed the last one.

"Okay Shenzibeth, you can pick any two prizes you'd like." Ms. O'Keats nudged the bowl towards her.

She went with a flying bat return ball, and a Halloween-themed pinwheel. "Thanks, Ms. O'Keats!" After he played the game himself, she dashed off with Fridge hastily following her, after she stored the two necessities in her bag.

"You're welcome, darling!"

At the dart board, which had foam balls instead of darts for safety, they caught up with the rest of Shenzi's friends. "Hi, guys!"

"Hey Shen," Chuckie smiled at her, "You having fun?"

"Yep!" She nodded, "How about you guys?"

"Yeah, we are," Tommy told her.

"Has anyone recognized your costume, Tommy?" Shenzi asked him.

"Actually people have," He nodded.

"What prizes have you won so far, Shen?" Lil asked her.

"So far..." She took out her items on by one to show her friends. "I won this cute little skeleton, a bat ball that comes back..."

"A yo-yo?" Frankie smirked teasingly.

"No, there's a distinction," Shenzi told her, before continuing, "And I also won this little pinwheel. Watch!" She held the pinwheel up, and while gazing downward, she gently blew on it, so the wheel spun around. Chuckie smiled as he watched her; He blushed when he imagined her hair blowing back, like she was in a field of flowers holding a dandelion. "What did you guys get?" Her question snapped Chuckie out of his trance, so he reached into his pumpkin bucket.

"Um, I-I got this little pumpkin maze, a sticky pumpkin thingie, a black and orange spiky ball, and... a kazoo!" Chuckie blew into the orange kazoo, making a few students flinch and look at him.

"Cool," Shenzi giggled as he put them back in the bucket.

"I got a little wind-up mummy that glows in the dark, a plush ghost, this little pinball game thing, and a spider bouncy ball," Kimi showed her prizes while taking them out of her surprisingly everyday bag. Since it matched her costume, she decided to use it instead of buying a new one.

"I won a pumpkin stress toy thing, a tiny skateboard with a mummy on it, a candy corn maze, and a little black and green plush cat," Frankie took her prizes out of her basket, one by one.

"I got a little blue alien figure, a kazoo like Chuckie's, but green, and a tiny skateboard with a pumpkin on it," Lil showed her prizes while taking them out of her Dr. Seuss blue fish bag.

"I earned this sticky pumpkin thing like the Chuck man's, a ghost puzzle for when I'm bored, a bottle of slime, and this epic ninja sword," Phil took out everything except the inflatable word out of his Dr. Seuss red fish bag.

"I got a blue alien like Lil's, a pullback ghost, and a blue pumpkin whistle," Roxy pulled them out of her haunted house handbag, "I'm not very good at these party games," She shrugged sheepishly.

"I only got a sword like Phil's," Bobby told them, "I forgot a bag, and I don't want to carry millions of prizes everywhere. And I'm mostly here for the free eats anyway."

"Same here," Tommy shrugged, "Although dancing is fun too."

"You kidding? The games are awesome!" Dil's pockets were filled up with little alien figures of different colors.

When they were up, Shenzi played first. Mrs. Guppie gave her one of the balls, and she threw it at the board with all her might; It landed quite a ways away from the bulls-eye, but she was still happy. She picked out a plush black and pink sugar skull as her friends went to play the game. After she won a small, Halloween-themed football and a skeleton hand back scratcher at the beanbag toss, they decided to hit the dance floor for a change.

As expected, Shenzi and Chuckie were dancing together; He accidentally hit her shoulder with his bucket, but she laughed it off and assured him that it was all good. But while they were having a good time, Nicole Boscarelli came dressed as a pastel-clad doll, and practically dragged him away. Now feeling sad at losing her partner, Shenzi stood in place among the other students, not knowing what to do. She didn't exactly want to dance alone. A gentle hold on her hand made her whip her head around to face them. Or him; She had to look up to see that it was Fridge. "You want to dance?" He asked her.

"O-okay," She smiled timidly, and they did just that. From a distance, Sean clad in an 80's costume, and his friend Justin wearing a vampire costume were baffled at seeing a guy like Fridge dancing, willingly, with a dorky girl like Shenzi. Of course, they didn't know her like her friends, which Fridge was now one of, did.

From his place a distance away, Chuckie saw Shenzi with her new dance partner. He felt a strange pang in his heart, and he had no idea why. They weren't dating or anything; She could dance with whoever she wants. But why did he feel so weird? "You okay, Chuckie?" Nicole asked him.

"Huh? Oh um, y-yeah," He nodded, "I guess I'm just a bit tired."

"Ah," She understood, "It is pretty late, isn't it?"

"Yep," He agreed.

Soon enough, it was time for the students to go home. "Bye, Fridge!" Shenzi waved to her new friend, "I'll see you at school tomorrow! Er, no, after Halloween break!" She then turned to her new friends.

"Come on sis," Frankie headed for the doors, "I'll call Mom and Dad, so they can come get us." Their friends followed them as a group. She smirked at her sister after calling their parents. "Wait 'til I tell Mom and Dad that you got a new boy buddy."

Shenzi giggled timidly. "You say that like Chuckie's not my "boy buddy" anymore, but he still is. That'll never change. You should say "another boy buddy" for Fridge." Chuckie blushed at her second sentence.

"Okay," Frankie's smirk grew.

"So, you um, had fun with Nicole, Chuckie?" She hesitantly asked him.

"Yeah," He shrugged, "I did. What about you with Fridge?"

"Uh huh," She nodded with a timid shrug, "I can't believe I was scared of him before," She giggled.

"Well, I told you that you had nothing to worry about," Chuckie reminded her, "You should learn to trust me," He smirked teasingly.

"Maybe," She teased back. She then kissed his cheek. "This was a fun night."

"Yep, it was," He nodded with a shy blush on his cheeks.

Before long, the gang's respective parents arrived, and they were escorted home. The kids were drained of their energy from the long, exciting night.

Once the Tucks were home, Shenzi started rambling about the fun she had, from receiving compliments on her costume, playing the fun games, the prizes she received, and the part that surprised her parents most, her new guy friend.

She went to bed with a happy smile on her face. She couldn't believe that she made a new friend tonight; And one she was initially scared of, of all people! But she knew that no one could ever replace Chuckie. But... could anyone replace her in his heart? Her smile faded at that; He did seem to be having fun dancing with Nicole. Could Nicole replace her in Chuckie's heart? She hoped not.


(A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! You know the disclaimer. Ever since watching either "Project Chuckie" or Wouldn't It Be Nice?" (Can't remember which), I planned on giving Fridge a role in this story. I hope he's in character! Also, I wanted to give their history teacher a name, so since his first name was already in existence, I gave him his voice actor's surname to complete it.)


Random Fact About BxB

Like with Christmas chapters, I listened to Halloween-themed songs, and creepy ones in general, while writing this chapter.