Author's Note: Please enjoy the latest chapter of MAD, its not as long as I wanted it to be, but I like it nonetheless. More to follow.
I do not own anything!
The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. It was just a typical Wednesday afternoon for a group of girls at Eola High School. Classes had just ended for the day and before the clubs and sport practices began, a tan-skinned teenaged female with shoulder length, medium brown hair had called her friends to the courtyard to discuss a newspaper article from the current day's edition of the "Orlando Sentinel", the area's largest newspaper.
The feisty brunette was in her favorite ensemble of olive green capris and a periwinkle polo with brown wedges. She made her way through the large cafeteria to the outdoor seating area known as the courtyard. Upon reaching the courtyard, she made a left and spotted four girls sitting around a large circular grey table. The first girl was wearing a midnight blue t-shirt and black skinny jeans and had short black hair with teal stripes. She was talking to a tan-skinned girl with dark brown pig tails who donned a blue and gold cheerleading uniform with the school mascot, an Eagle, on the front. Next to her was a ponytailed blonde wearing a blue hoodie short sleeve sweat shirt with denim capris and an African American girl with her frizzy brown hair in a bun, wearing an ensemble composed of khaki capris and a pink t-shirt with the words "Fun Freeze" and a dancing ice cream cone on it. The brunette made her way over to the table and sat across from the African American girl. She opened her folder and took out the article. A collective gasp was heard amongst the girls upon reading the headline of the article: "Danger in the Kingdom!"
"No way, this is insane! According to the article, the injuries suffered by the cast members consisted of severe burns and deep gashes. The way they describe the gashes and burns points to only one conclusion, they were attacked by pirates!" the teal-haired girl concluded, shocked.
"Pirates, oh come on, not this crap again. When you guys told me what happened after I left the Magic Kingdom last Friday, I totally thought that you were joking, at least about the end bit. You cannot be serious about this. Those pirates are audio animatronics and they are screwed into place. They do not walk, talk, or try to kill anyone after the park is closed. I wish I could believe you guys, but this is way too bizarre for me, sorry Gwen" Leshawna explained, shaking her head.
"I totally wish we could show you…" the pigtailed girl trailed off, sighing.
"I do to Katie, but there is no way that I am going through that again. Even if Geoff was there" the blonde added, putting her hand on her pigtailed friend's shoulder.
All of a sudden, a phone started to ring. The sound came from the periwinkle-clad brunette's Gucci school bag.
'Unknown number, well, I'll answer it anyway' she thought, accepting the call.
"Courtney Preston?" the caller asked.
"Yes, this is she. May I ask who you are?" Courtney questioned, somewhat suspicious.
"It's Jazzlyn Sanchez; I had said that we would discuss last Friday night's incident at a later date…" Jazz replied, a sense of urgency in her voice.
"Jazzlyn, how are you? We were just looking at the article in the Orlando Sentinel, what happened to those poor cast members was nothing short of horrific" Courtney said, shaking her head.
"I am doing well, and yourself? I was actually hoping that you would meet me at the park tomorrow night with your friends. Like I said, we need to discuss this further and over the phone will not work. By the way, did you guys tell anyone besides your families about what happened?" Jazz answered.
"Well we wanted to keep it a secret; however, we had another friend with us in the park that night. She left after "Wishes" so that she could visit her boyfriend. She forgot to give me back her park pass, so she had went to drop it off at my house around one and she was concerned when we never made it back. The guys also had a friend who left after "Wishes", so my guess is that they told him too" Courtney informed the female cast member.
"That's fine, bring them along too. We will meet at the Main Street Train Station, you will see me looking over the balcony toward the castle" Jazz instructed before she ended the call.
"Leshawna, you are in luck, Jazz wants you to come with us tomorrow night. Ladies, we are going to see Jazz tomorrow night, she wishes to speak to us about last Friday. Oh, and does anyone know how to get in touch with the guys? I have Duncan's chatname, so I can contact him" Courtney informed the group.
"We have the other guys, and Gwen knows how to set up a TrapRoom for all of us to have a private group chat" Bridgette replied.
"Courtney, I am surprised you're not whining about having to go out somewhere on a school night" Gwen joked, making the rest of the girls chuckle.
"I am very upset about it; however, I can pull an all-nighter to make up for the lost study time. Also, Katie, did you tell Sadie anything about last Friday?" Courtney asked, knowing how close Katie was with her cousin.
"Only that we went out to the park and got locked in. Jazzlyn told us not to tell anyone, so I decided that it would be best to give Sadie very little details. Also, Sadie thinks that Noah and I make an adorable couple, squee!" Katie squealed, blushing at the thought of Noah.
"So, are we done here? I have to get to "Fun Freeze" and work a double shift to make up for tomorrow night" Leshawna sighed, leaving her friends to catch a bus. Gwen went with her as her Art Club meeting was cancelled.
"Yes, just meet at my house around six" Courtney called to her.
Courtney, Bridgette, and Katie then started to go to their afterschool activities. Katie had to run as she was late to cheerleading practice. Bridgette, on the other hand, had some time before her swim team practice, so she decided to accompany Courtney to her Student Government meeting.
"I thought you were grounded, Court" Bridgette questioned, confused.
"Yes, I am grounded. Hopefully, I can convince mother to let me out of my punishment early. If not, I will text you to go without me" Courtney replied, entering room 203 and joining her fellow student leaders. Bridgette then made her way to the cafeteria to grab a snack before her practice.
It was close to four before Courtney made back to her house. The meeting had gone on longer than expected as she had gotten into a heated debate with Dakota Milton. Dakota wanted to raise the budget allotted to the annual fashion show; however, the money was "supposedly" already set aside for some charity projects currently in development for the next school year. When Courtney entered her lavish home, the first thing she noticed was two Louis Vuitton suitcases by the bottom of the staircase. The housekeeper named Gretchen entered the foyer with a toiletries bag of the same brand and style.
"Gretchen, what is all of this? May I help in any way?" Courtney asked, finding the scenario to be very odd.
"Your mother is going to be joining your father for a few days. If you could take a piece of luggage that would be lovely" Gretchen replied, grateful for the assistance.
Courtney then grabbed the larger of the two pieces and lugged it up the stairs. Upon reaching the master suite, she saw her mother frantically throwing garments out of her closet while constantly checking her Blackberry for messages from work.
"Mother, Gretchen told me that you are going to visit father for a few days. Is it true?" Courtney asked, starting to fold the clothes on her mother's bed.
"Yes it is, unfortunately. Pierre Nunez, your father's assistant, broke his leg on a ski excursion with his family and I have to step in until Pierre's official replacement can get there. I hate to ask a lot of you, but can you help out at my work until I get back?" Francesca asked while fumbling through her shoe closet.
"Of course mother it's no problem at all, but this mean that I am no longer grounded?" Courtney asked, hopeful.
"Yes, it does. It was your father's choice to ground you, not mine. However, I am still upset how irresponsible you were in reqards to your cell phone. You must always triple check to be sure that you have with you at all times. Oh, speaking of phones here is my old PDA. Since I have a Blackberry for work now, I do not need it anymore. All work messages will be sent to the PDA, so keep it handy at all times. My flight is at midnight so I have to finish packing as soon as possible. Do me a favor and ask Chef Jean how dinner is coming" Francesca explained, frantically looking around for something of importance.
"I'll talk to Chef Jean now" Courtney responded, examining with the PDA as she walked back downstairs. As she made her way to the kitchen, she could smell the delicious aroma of grilled fish.
"Mmm, dinner smells delicious Chef Jean. What are we having tonight?" Courtney asked sweetly.
"Salmon" Chef Jean replied, he was not very social and hated to be interrupted.
"With what?" Courtney asked, she was used to the Chef's shortness with her.
"Roasted vegetables, freshly baked baguette, and mashed potatoes" he replied, again, not looking away from the stove.
"When will it be ready?" she asked, hoping that she was not being too much of a nuisance to the French chef.
"Twenty minutes" he huffed, now starting to get slightly annoyed.
"Thank you" she called back as she ran back upstairs to tell her mother.
It was nearly nine before Francesca left for Orlando International Airport and as soon as she left, Courtney hastily made her way to her bedroom and turned on her computer. She then logged onto aol went to ChatTrap. She logged in and accepted Gwen's request to join her TrapRoom.
C-I-T: logged on Good evening all!
ArTgOtH: Welcome to the party :)
SurferGal: The guys haven't logged on yet - ns where they are.
LeLicious: Hello r we finishing that last convo or not?
ArTgOtH: Yes we are but later.
LuvPinK: I just talked to Noah, he is logging on now.
2smart4u: logged on Hello ladies, so why I am here?
C-I-T: Because Jazzlyn Sánchez called me today.
PARTYdude: logged on Hi Bridge, ladies, Noah.
SurferGal: Hi Geoff, I miss u!
PARTYdude: miss u 2 babe :(
JuVyPuNk: logged on Hey princess, already trying 2 get in touch wth me - I knew u could not stay away ;3
C-I-T: Eww u ogre! This is a very important matter!
MuSic-MaN: logged on Did I miss anything?
ArTgOtH: Nope, we r wating on DJ.
FurryFriend23: logged on Hi guys, sorry mama needed help wth dishes 2nite.
C-I-T: No worries, DJ. Okay everyone the reason I called this meeting is because Jazzlyn Sánchez called me. We are all going to meet her at the Main Street Train Station 2morrow nite after the fireworks. So, that would be about ten pm. Geoff will drive the guys and I will drive the girls. The girls will be using my park passes and I will reimburse the guys. Any questions?
SurferGal: So u r not grounded anymore?
C-I-T: Yes because my mother is going out-of-town tonight to help my father. She will be back by the weekend.
LuvPink: Yay! Squee! logged off
LeLicious: see y'all 2morrow! logged off
Within the next five minutes everyone had logged off of ChatTrap and went about their business else where. Courtney checked her PDA so see if there were any messages. She doubted it because of the lateness of the hour, however, she decided to check anyway. Finding nothing as expected, she plugged it into its charger alongside her I-Phone. She then opened her books and began her homework and finals studying. Luckily for Courtney and her friends, tomorrow was a half day at Eola High School. Once school was done and over with, she planned to go to her mother's office and take care of things until it is time to go to the Magic Kingdom.
The following day had started off well. Classes had ended at noon and Courtney dropped off her friends at Downtown Disney. While Courtney was "filling in" for her mother, the girls decided to head to a café for lunch and a spot to do their homework. They would go shopping during their "study breaks" and for dinner, they decided to go to "Planet Hollywood". Shortly before nine Courtney picked them up and they immediately headed over to the Magic Kingdom.
"So how was work Court?" Bridgette asked, noticing that her best friend looked tired.
"Exhausting" Court yawned, sipping her Starbucks Frappachino. "I had no idea how frustrating a real job could be, her boss and colleagues gave me a really hard time at the meeting today. As a consequence, mother's appointed substitute, Loretta Creste, is going to be coming in tomorrow. Apparently, I am too much of a novice for the position. I was going to have her come in for the morning and early afternoon anyway so that I would not have to miss school. Perfect attendance is very important to be. I contacted Loretta before I left and made her promise to call me before making any important decisions."
"Court you are only a high school senior, and your mother's colleagues are collegiate graduates. I have seen the way you and your mom talk business and I know how much you love helping her, but you really should leave this to the "professionals". Maybe one day you'll have a degree in finance and succeed your mom, but for now, I would leave the finance stuff to your mother and her colleagues" Bridgette advised, trying to help her best friend.
"You're right, Bridge, however, my mother has already made me her intern for the summer. I am not done with that office yet" Courtney smirked, changing lanes.
Less than fifteen minutes later, the girls arrived at the Ticket and Transportation Center. This time around, they parked in the very back of the Simba section as there were no closer spots. The girls got out of the Hybrid and boarded a shuttle. From the shuttle, they boarded the monorail and about eight minutes later they had entered the park.
"It feels weird to be back, almost eerie" Gwen commented as they made their way through the small groups of people sitting on the ground and enjoying the parade.
Bridgette, Courtney, and Katie nodded in agreement. The five then made their way up the stairs and claimed spots against the railing to watch the nighttime entertainment. The parade was already midway through by the time the girls got settled. Most of the girls were not interested in the parade, but Courtney and Leshawna were enjoying it. As the Fantasia section passed by, something seemed off and it did not take long to figure out what.
"Yo Court, did your mom mention anything about the Chernabog float being missing?" Leshawna asked, curious.
"No, she didn't. If she does not know already, I suppose she'll want to know. However, this float has always had more issues than the other floats" Courtney replied, now thinking about said float.
"Even Ursula? I remember your stories about how much trouble that sea witch caused for your mother" Leshawna added.
"Yes, way more than Ursula" Courtney laughed, remembering the stories that Leshawna was referring to.
The parade ended a couple minutes later and that meant that there was fifteen minutes before Wishes.
"Hey girls, how long have you been here?" came a voice from behind them.
"Hello Jazzlyn, how are you?" Courtney greeted.
"I'm fine, its nice to see that you are early, but that means that I am going to have to share my spot" Jazz joked.
"So you do, like, not work during the fireworks?" Katie asked.
"Yep, I use this time as my dinner break" Jazz anwsered, gesturing toward the hot dog, fries, and soda in her hand.
"Smells good, is that from Casey's? Gwen asked, slightly hungry.
"Yeah, if Casey's or any other quick service restaurant makes a wrong order for a guest, it becomes a meal for a cast member. However, most of the time Ijust grab something quick from the cast member cafeteria" Jazz explained, taking a bite out of her hot dog.
Meanwhile...
"Geoff, we weren't supposed to get off the highway! Make a U-turn and go back now!" Duncan yelled, annoyed that Geoff was getting them lost over and over again.
"But my GPS always says to use this exit!" Geoff yelled back, tired of Duncan's back seat driving.
"No man, your GPS never said that. It sucks that it's broken, but if you would just listen to us we would be there already" Trent interjected, attempting to calm the situation.
"Coming from the guy who got us lost the first time" Duncan sneered.
"Duncan back off" defended DJ.
"I am sorry that I got DJ's block confused, but can we please all calm down. I found an old map under the seats, I think it could help" Trent offered, trying to be helpful.
"Can you read it?" Geoff asked, making the U-turn.
"No" Trent replied, sheepishly.
"How helpful" Noah sarcastically added. "Give it to me, I can read it."
Trent passed the map to Noah and soon enough they were back on track.
"Jazzlyn is not going to be happy. We just made it into Disney World a few minutes ago and "Wishes" is nearly half over. WFLA 970 AM (AN: Florida radio station) just said that there is heavy traffic up ahead. Instead of getting stuck in that mess, turn onto Epcot Drive. We can park at Epcot and take the monorail" Noah advised, unhappy that they were going to be late.
"If you're sure that's the best thing to do" DJ double checked.
"I'm positive" Noah replied while folding the map.
It turned out that Noah was right, only they wound up parking at the Boardwalk Hotel because Epcot was just about to close. As the boys walked through Epcot, they could not help but stop and watch the finale of "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth". They stood by the Canada Pavillion and watched the fireworks light up the sky. A couple of minutes later, it was over and they walked as fast as they could to the monorail so that they could beat the crowds of people also exiting the park. The monorail had just pulled in as they arrived at the station and a minute or two later they were on their way to the Magic Kingdom.
Back at the Magic Kingdom, "Wishes" had just ended and the girls along with Jazz were people watching while they waited for the guys to arrive.
"Do any of the guys have a cell phone?" Jazz asked.
"Nope" Bridgette sighed.
"I am going to do a little shopping while we wait. I need to get a birthday present for my six year old cousin, Padro. His favorite thing to do is pretend that he is a pirate. Unfortunately, that means going into dangerous territory" Courtney grimaced.
"I'll go with you, and let's make it quick" Bridgette offered, not wanting her friend to get hurt.
"Thanks, Bridge" Courtney smiled as the two left the train station.
Ten minutes later, the guys finally made it to the Magic Kingdom. They entered the park and saw some of the girls waving to them from the balcony of the train station. The guys then climbed up the stairs and apologized profusely for their lateness - well Geoff, Trent, and DJ did. Duncan had his arms crossed with an 'I don't care' look on his face and Noah was being hugged to death by Katie.
"Wait, where's Bridge?" Geoff asked, noticing that his favorite blond was not there.
"Yeah, and what happened to Princess?" Duncan added, curious.
"They went off to Adventureland while we were waiting for you guys" Gwen explained.
"Should we go look for them?" Trent asked, concerned.
"I don't know, they said they would be quick" Leshawna replied."
"There's Bridge!" Geoff exclaimed, relieved.
"But where's Courtney!?" Katie asked, fearful.
The group ran down Main Street to get to Bridgette. As they got closer, they could tell she was crying. As Geoff approached her, she opened her hand and it was a piece of Courtney's shirt. Everyone gasped and Geoff embraced her, for on the piece of ripped fabric was blood, Courtney's blood.
"C-Courtney's b-been kidnapped!" Bridgette announced through her tears.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I do not love it as it was not what I originally intended, but it is still good. Please, please, please, please review!
