Warning: Mature language in chapter.

Chapter 5

Rapunzel Corona

I slowly stepped out of the detention room. Merida followed suit, right behind me. We glanced at each other, then quickly looked away. I had a bad feeling that we might get caught.

The white-haired boy turned around to face us, walking backwards. He smirked. "So, you two ladies ready for a treat?"

I fiddled anxiously with the sparkly pink barrette in my hair. "Honestly, what happened back there was a bit of a blur. I don't really know why I'm following someone I've never even met before."

The boy's smirk grew even larger. "Okay, well for starters, I'm Jack Frost. And that dude over there's Hiccup. I think we introduced each other before, but those were our full names, and we prefer our nicknames, thank you very much."

I twirled a lock of hair between my fingers. "Um, yeah, and I'm Rapunzel . . ."

The boy named Hiccup spoke up. "Y-yeah. Mr. Black read aloud our names at the beginning of detention." Jack nodded.

"Ah don't give a crap ahbout whatcha are doin' 'cause all ah know es that we're goin' ta get intah big trouble. So ya boys ain't gonna lead me down where ah'll get more detention and less practice time," Merida interjected blithely.

Jack grinned hugely. I noticed how white his teeth were. "Calm down, Princess. It's all in good fun."

Merida turned as red as her frizzy red hair. "Don't call mah that!" I knew from the years past that if anyone tried to give Merida a nickname, he would seriously regret it the next day. Merida made sure of that. She lurched forward as if to punch him, but I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back.

Jack put a hand over his heart. "Jeez, Princess, I was afraid you might kill me! But Punzie here made sure that that wouldn't happen, right, Punz?" He turned to her, grinning his insanely handsome grin.

I felt myself drowning in those beautiful eyes of his. "Uh, um, yeah," I murmured, blushing furiously. Why was I acting like this? I had a boyfriend! Flynn Rider, the hottest and most popular boy in Disney-Dreamworks High.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Enough dawdling, guys. So, Frost, what're your MASTER plans for this afternoon?"

Jack smirked. "Well, Haddock, I figured we could pull a few harmless pranks."

I snapped right out of my daze. "What? Was that a joke?"

"Ah course not," Merida snapped. "This laddie here couldn't tell a joke even if 'is life depended on it!"

"Guys, come on," Hiccup said, trying to act like the peacemaker in the situation.

"Hiccup's right," I said quietly. The others looked at me in surprise. "If we're going to do what Jack suggested-pulling a-um, a prank, then we have to work together and NOT argue. Understood?"

"Woo-hoo! YES!" Hiccup cheered. When we stared at him, he put his arms back down to his sides and quieted.

"I'm with Punzie on this one," Jack said, smirking.

"Rapunzel," I corrected him, rolling my eyes.

"That's too big of a mouthful to chew," Jack replied smoothly. "That's why I make up nicknames for everyone. Right, Princess?"

"Oh, why, you little-" Merida muttered, reaching for Jack. This time Hiccup grabbed her, only from the waist. Merida whirled around. "Don't touch meh!" she hissed at him.

I sighed. "Merida, are you in or not?"

Merida considered it. "Ah guess ah'm in," she said reluctantly.

"Yeah!" Jack cheered. "Follow me then, ladies and Hiccup." Hiccup crossed his arms and huffed.

I cracked up at that. For some reason I found it really funny. I clutched at my sides, tears running down my face. After a while, Merida joined in, then Jack, and then even Hiccup was chuckling.

"OK, OK, compose yaselves, lads end lass," Merida ordered, wiping tears off her face. "If we're gonna be doing something, we gotta be 100% focused on it, no matter how crappy."

Jack nodded. "Princess is right. Let's go!" He led us down the hallway to his locker. Opening up his door, I saw what a mess it was. Reaching into the back of his locker, he whispered, "I always keep a few in my locker." With that, he pulled out four cans of Red Bull.

Hiccup's eyes widened, Merida's eyebrows arched, and I buried my face in my hands. Mother would NEVER let me drink that sort of stuff. She barely even let me drink Pepsi or Gatorade!

"Well?" Jack asked. He held the cans out to us. "Don't worry, Hic. These won't kill you. Besides, we're not even gonna drink 'em." Hiccup and I both exhaled in relief. "But, we are going to switch out the coffee in the teachers' lounge with this stuff. The guys will be bouncing off the WALLS with these babies!"

Merida nodded in approval. "That's actually not a bad prank, fer a boy like yah."

"Was there a compliment somewhere in there, Princess?" Jack smiled.

"Don't call meh Princess, and shut up, Frosty."

I felt a thrill of excitement. "Let's do it!" I whispered, bouncing lightly on my toes.

Hiccup sighed, but slowly nodded his head. I squealed quietly and hugged him.

"Let's go, Jack!" I told Jack.

"Uh, okay," Jack said. "But first . . . can you guys tell me where exactly the teachers' lounge is? Remember, I'm new here, so I don't exactly know the ropes yet."

"Of course," I replied, before Merida could insult him and make him look like a fool. I lead the way, through the winding hallways, till we finally reached the door leading to the teachers' lounge.

"Well, here it is," I told my detention mates softly. The teachers' lounge was a beautiful room, decorated with sea-foam green walls, a white shag rug, paintings on the walls, cushy red and black sofas, ceiling lamps, and two large flat-screen TVs. It was ultra-modern, super-luxurious.

"There's the coffee machine." Hiccup pointed to a black metal coffee machine. Quickly and silently, we switched out the coffee that was already brewing and poured in the Red Bull. When the job was done, we tossed the cans into the very bottom of the recycling bin and crept out.

When we were safely out of range of the teachers' lounge, Jack laughed out loud. "See, it was just a harmless prank! I can't wait to see the look on Mr. Crood's face when he drinks it!" Quickly though, he halted.

"Jack?" Hiccup ventured. "What's up?" Jack didn't respond.

I went up to Jack and whispered into his ear, "Jack? What's wrong?"

"Shh," he whispered back. "I hear something." We pressed ourselves against the wall and listened. I faintly heard the low squeaks of shoes on a polished floor."

Jack's eyes widened. "Shit, he's back early."

"Who? Mr. Black?" Merida asked.

Jack nodded, his eyes frantic. "We've gotta get back to the detention room before Pitch does. Or else it's game over for us."

My eyes were wide open. I was scared. Jack reached for my hand. "It's okay, Punz," he whispered to me gently. "We'll be okay." I nodded.

Slowly, the four of us tip-toed through the hallways till we reached the detention room. Hiccup grabbed the door handle and swung the door open so we could run back in. Only to face Mr. Black.

Merida cursed in Scottish under her breath. I felt like crumpling to the floor. "Mr. Black," I whispered.

The teacher grinned wickedly. "Ah, so you four have been exploring the school while I was gone, haven't you? Doing who knows what? Well, that's a serious offense, you know. Which results in all of you receiving another week's detention."

My eyes widened. A week's detention?! Mother would be furious if she found out! Before I'd walked to detention, I had called her and told her that I had joined a first-day-of-school girl group that helped freshmen girls get accustomed to high school. She had believed me, and now I didn't know how to cover up next week's. I felt like fainting.

If I felt weak, Merida felt enraged. "Yah can't just give us a week ah detention! Ah have all ah mah sports auditions after school next week, end ah also have horseback ridin' every other day!"

Hiccup nodded faintly, as if just barely grasping onto reality. I felt the same. Only Jack looked relaxed. "Guys, chill," he told us calmly. "I've been in detention for over 2 months at a time. This'll be a breeze!"

Mr. Black raised his eyebrows-no, wait. He didn't HAVE eyebrows! I just noticed it. Well, he raised the skin where his eyebrows should've been. "Oh, Mr. Frost? Would you like to have even MORE?"

Jack shook his head, still grinning. "No thanks, Pitch. I've got my own stuff to do. But thanks for the kind offer."

Mr. Black swore under his breath, but muttered, "Detention dismissed." We four grabbed our bags and ran out the building.

We slowed our run to a walk when we reached the school's parking lot. We looked at each other. "So, this is it, then," Hiccup said slowly.

"Yep," Merida and I said in unison.

"I guess we'll all see each other tomorrow at school, and at detention next week," I told them.

Jack smirked. "I never had so many buddies in detention before. Usually it was just me and this boring old teacher I nicknamed Dr. Lame-o." I laughed at that.

"Ah guess ah'll just head home now," Merida said after an awkward silence.

"Yeah, I better head home, too," Hiccup agreed.

I nodded. "Mother will be angry at me if I stay too late. She thinks I'm at this meeting where I'm helping freshmen girls get used to high school." Jack hooted.

"That's a riot, Punzie! Did she even believe that?" Jack was laughing so hard he almost fell onto the pavement.

"Of course she did! Otherwise I wouldn't be here now, would I?" My cheeks felt hot and I knew I was blushing a deep red.

Jack stopped laughing. "Seriously?" I nodded. "Wow, she's gullible." He shook his head.

"Well, if ya are all just gonna be chatting, that's fine with meh, but ah gotta get home. See yah, lads." Merida turned on her heel and strode towards a fancy orange Lamborghini. She waved her keys to us as she climbed into her car, then drove away.

"I gotta go, too." Hiccup nodded towards a black Kia. "Bye, Rapunzel. See you tomorrow, Jack." He strode towards the car, leaving Jack and me alone.

"So, we're not going to have detention the rest of the week, right?" I asked Jack, just to make conversation.

"Nope. But we ARE going to have it all of next week, though," he replied.

I groaned. "I've never gotten in trouble before. This sucks."

Jack smirked. "Don't worry. When you're like me, you get used to it."

"But I don't want to get used to it!" I whined. "I hate getting in trouble!"

Jack winked at me. "Don't you worry, Punzie. You will get used to it." And without another word, he picked up his skateboard and wheeled down the block. When he reached the intersection, he stopped, flipped off his board, and turned back to wave to me. I waved back and walked down the street back home. I was dreading having to face my mother when I got home . . .

"Mother, I'm home!" I called, setting my keys down onto the mahogany table by the door. I slipped off my shoes, gently placing them on the rug in front of the door.

"Rapunzel?" My mother's voice floated down the stairs.

"Yes, Mother, I'm back!" I climbed the stairs, hefting my canvas tote over my shoulder.

"Rapunzel?" There was my mother, in a fluffy dark blue bathrobe. "Rapunzel, dear flower!" She rushed towards me, embracing me in her hug. "Oh, flower, I thought you had been kidnapped or worse! I thought you said that little gathering was only for a few hours!"

I glanced at my pink watch. "Yes, Mother, it was only for two and a half hours. I told you that, remember?"

Mother nodded slowly. "Yes, of course, dear."

She looked so frightened I hated to lie to her even more, but I had to. "Mother . . ." I said slowly. "The other girls in the group told me that we have to do it again all next week after school. Is that okay?"

Mother looked at me. "Flower . . .why are you all of a sudden into these sort of things? Before you were only into cheerleading and chorale."

I gulped, keeping my head low. "Well, Mother," I said, trying hard not to mumble. "I remember what it felt like to be new to high school, and I just wanted to help these poor girls out . . . I didn't know about it last year, so I didn't do it then and-and Mother, I just-Ijust want to feel like I'm doing something right!" I burst out. Tears pooled in my eyes.

Mother pulled me into her arms. "Okay, my flower, okay," she whispered. "I know that you're doing the right thing, and I love you for that." Then she held me at arms length and smiled. "Now wash up for dinner then do your homework. We're having hazelnut soup for dinner!"

"Oh, great," I muttered.

Mother frowned. "Rapunzel," she warned. "Remember how I feel about the mumbling."

I remembered. "Yes, Mother," I said. The memory was clear in my head.

The last time I had mumbled, I was in ninth grade. I had been nervous about school and was mumbling so often it had irritated Mother so much that she lashed out, shouting. She slapped me clear across the face. My eyes had widened. The only other time Mother had hit me was when I had been 11 years old. Mother had stared in shock at her hand, and ordered me, in a terrible voice, "Go to your room." I had run up to my bedroom and lay on my mattress, sobbing. The next day we both acted as if nothing had happened at all, though my face had still been pink.

I turned away and walked down the hallway into my bedroom. Carefully shutting my door, I dumped my bag on the floor and grabbed my iPod. I cranked up the volume and laid on my bed as Demi Lovato filled my head. I sat down at my computer desk and turned on my Mac. I watched weird music videos on YouTube until my mother called me down. I took my ear buds out and went down the stairs.

Dinner was uneventful, as usual, with just us staring at the news, then me cleaning up afterwards. I ran upstairs to brush my teeth and change into my PJ's, then dove into what little homework I had. When I was done, I IMed with Mavis about the upcoming Welcome Back Dance next month.

Mavis: so, who do u think i'll go with this year?

Me: I dunno. You go with a blind date EVERY SINGLE YEAR!

True. but u always go with flynn. you guys have been together FOREVS!

No, Mavis. Flynn and I have only been together since 8th grade. :)

Still, longest relationship in our school EVER. u 2 r perfect 4 each other! 3 :D:D:D:D

So what? Mavis, I know you'll find the perfect guy someday.

Someday. but not 2day. or 2morrow. or by the dance. oh, my dad's calling me. he said something about dishes and tables. better go see what he needs help with. *rolls eyes* bye, rapunzel. see u 2morrow!

Bye, Mavis! Have fun with the dishes and tables! xoxoxoxoxo

I shut my phone off and fell fast asleep, my mind filled with dreams about me and Flynn at the Welcome Back dance.

A/N: In DisneyWiki, it listed the nicknames for Merida. One of them was "Princess". It didn't feel right for Jack to call her "lass" or "lassie", 'cause he doesn't talk like that. So Princess was what stuck out the most, and fit Jack the best. Just for you readers to know. :)