Warning: A LOT of mature language all in one place (thanks to Miss Heather XD She's SO AWESOME!) so beware if you have sensitive ears-er, eyes, I guess.

Chapter 11

Rapunzel Corona

"I'm so sick and tired of this!" I screamed at Flynn. "You acting like you freaking idiot know-it-all! Couples are supposed to tell each other everything! I didn't even know you're real name until now!"

We were behind Flynn's house. I had just met his mother. "Oh, you're Eugene's girlfriend?" she had asked, pumping my hand in a warm energetic handshake. "I've heard so much about you!"

"Eugene?" I had repeated, looking at Flynn questioningly. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm dating Flynn, not Eugene."

Flynn looked uncomfortable. "Yes, thanks Mom," he had said, shifting from one foot to the next. "Rapunzel, would you like to go for a walk outside with me for a few minutes?"

I had nodded wordlessly and followed him out back. That was when the fighting began.

"Well, am I supposed to like my name?" he shot back. He was getting angry, too. "I've hated the name Eugene since I was little!"

"You just-well, I was named after lettuce!" I shouted, throwing my arms up in the air in exasperation. "My mother was in love with lettuce when she named me! If you think your name's bad then-"

Flynn grabbed my hands. "You don't understand, Rapunzel," he said in a low voice. "When guys have screwy names, they change them. I wouldn't be as popular as I am now if I were Eugene Fitzherbert, now would I?"

I took a step backwards in shock. "Y-you changed your whole name just for the sake of popularity?!" I gasped.

"No, no," he was quick to correct. "I mean, who would want to be friends with a guy with a nerd name? Nerds and geeks and dorks would!"

"It doesn't matter! It's not about how cool you are, it's about how people like you for who you are!" I was so angry I felt my face turning red. "I thought you were different from all of those stuck-up jocks and gangs, but I was wrong! You're not the man I thought I was in love with!" I jabbed a finger at his chest.

Flynn's face hardened. "Listen to me, Blondie," he said firmly, holding me tight in his arms. "I don't give a shit about the world around me. I love you, and that's it." But he said it so expressionlessly, I didn't believe him.

"No." I yanked myself from his grip. He stumbled backwards in surprise. "I am not your toy and I am not your 'Blondie' and I most certainly am NOT your girlfriend!" I practically spat out the word "girlfriend". It disgusted me how a man could hide behind a mask for so long.

Flynn yelled, "All my life, I wanted to be this amazing, dashing guy. I used to read the tales of Flynnagin Rider! I wished to be him with all my heart, Rapunzel! He was my dream! You, of all people, should know how to dream!"

My voice got very low, very quiet. "Yes. Yes, I know how to dream, Eugene. But pretending to be someone you're not and wishing for a dream are not the same thing." Then I walked away, leaving Eugene-and our past selves-behind.

"Fine!" he called from behind me. "We're breaking up, then!" Then he stormed inside his house, slamming the door behind him. I felt tears forming in my eyes, and tried to blink them away as rapidly as I could.

"'E WHAT?!" Merida exploded with fury when I told her. We were sitting at a table outside of Starbucks and were drinking iced coffees. Well, I was. Merida was glaring into the whipped cream.

I sighed. "Mer, he just ended it. I feel like such an idiot for believing that he was a true man. I've lost my boyfriend now." No boyfriend, loss of connection with his group of friends. It happened all the time: a girl and boy start dating, and then their groups of friends become friends, then when they break up, they're no longer friends anymore. I had invited Heather, Mavis, and Ruffnut to join us for iced coffee, but they'd all declined, saying they each had stuff to do today. And Merida had nothing better to do since her athlete friends were ignoring her outside of sports ever since she, Jack, Hiccup, and I had become friends.

"Ah can't believe 'e would just do somethin' like that," she said, using her straw to pick up the whipped cream and suck it into her mouth. "'E's got some major issues. 'E es as bad as Macintosh!" She sucked more whipped cream up. "An' that's sayin' a lot."

I laughed. Even when I was said, Merida could always make me laugh.

She gave me a goofy grin. "Well, now that that's over . . ." she looked a little nervous. "Ah have somethin' ta tell ya."

I leaned closer. "Yes, Merida?"

She sucked in even more whipped cream, faster now. "Uh, ah had mah first kiss."

"WHAT?!" Now it was my turn to be shocked. "Who was it? When?"

She smiled shyly. "Yah'll just have tae guess. Al ah'm sayin' es that it happened sometime on Friday." Then she got up. "Sorry, Punzie, but ah've got horseback ridin' lessons en half an hour. Ah'll see ya tomorrow at school."

"OK, bye, Mer!" I called after her vanishing figure. I stirred my straw around in my coffee. Hmm. Who could Merida be talking about? I was contemplating over it when a figure on a skateboard wheeled up to me.

"Hey there, Punzie!" Jack said cheerfully, hopping off his board and deftly catching it with one hand. "Why are you sitting there alone?"

"Oh, Merida just left for her horseback riding lessons," I replied, brushing his question off. "Listen, Merida got her first kiss on Friday!"

Jack stared at me. "No way!" He slid into Merida's seat across from me. "Spill, Punz."

"All she said was that it was a guy and when her first kiss was." I shrugged.

"I think I know who it is." Jack got that mischievous look in his eyes and a smirk played on his lips.

"Really? Who?" I asked him excitedly.

He leaned in closer to me and whispered in my ear, "Hiccup."

I shrieked so loudly everyone looked at us. And I mean, everyone. Even the people across the street turned to stare at me. A busboy who was wiping down a table a few feet away asked me, "Are you all right, miss?"

I blushed a deep red. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you." Jack practically fell out of his seat, he was laughing so hard he was crying. I shoved him and he grabbed the arms of his chair to keep from falling off. I scoffed, then remembered what had happened today. My glares subdued and I glanced down at my espadrilles.

Jack noticed my sudden silence. "Rapunzel?" he asked, not using my nickname for once. "Are you okay?"

I sniffled, trying to contain my tears that were now trying to overwhelm my eyesight. "Fl-Flynn broke up with me," I choked out.

"Oh, Punzie." He walked around the table to hug me awkwardly. "I'm sorry."

I nodded. He was hugging me from behind, so I tried not to bang my head with his. When he released me, he looked me in the eye and asked, "Are you okay?"

I nodded again. "I'll be fine." I wiped my nose and dabbed at my eyes with a tissue. I laughed a little. "I must look like a mess right now."

"A beautiful mess," Jack said, smiling at me. Then he averted his eyes and cleared his throat. "That was just to make you feel better, by the way," he added. "Don't tell Elsa I said that, okay?"

I laughed some more, a real laugh that only my friends can bring out of me. "What's in it for me?" I teased.

"The privilege to be called Punzie for the rest of your life," he replied matter-of-factly. I grinned at him and he grinned back.

"Thanks, Jack," I told him, my smile growing even wider. "You always know how to brighten my day."

I slammed my locker door shut and faced Fl-Eugene. "I didn't end our relationship just for you to come back, blubbering like a baby, for us to get back together," I snapped.

It was Monday and I was wearing what my old foster councilor had called "confidence clothes". "Confidence clothes," she had explained, "are things that you have that boost your self-esteem. They don't even have to be clothes! It can be a saying or a picture. Anything, really that gives you confidence!"

My "confidence clothes" were different every time. I wore a light blue t-shirt, a dark blue cardigan, black jeans, strappy gold sandals, and a blue lily in my hair. I had lately started a trend among the girls of wearing a flower in my hair every day.

"Look, Blondie-" he began.

I cut him off. "Shut up, Eugene," I shot. "We're over. You just want your popularity back, don't you?"

He glared at me, but didn't say a word, so I knew I must've been right. Then, Heather walked up to us.

"Hey, Rapunzel!" she greeted me, flashing a dazzling smile. She glanced over at my ex-boyfriend. "Hi, Flynn," she cooed, giggling. He winked at her and she giggled even more. I wanted to remind her she had a boyfriend, Snotlout, when she spoke again. "So, you guys broke up?" she asked, looking at me sympathetically.

"Yep," I confirmed. "And Heather, just so you know, I did the breaking up, not him. I found out that he was a complete jerkhead and didn't want to be with him anymore."

Heather was done flirting with Flynn and became one of my best friends again. She glared at him and poked him in the chest. "What did you do to my best friend?" she demanded.

Flynn just rolled his eyes and walked away from her, hands in his pockets.

"HEY!" Heather ran over and grabbed his collar, yanking him onto a set of lockers. "I wasn't done talking to you!"

Fl-Eugene sighed. "Fine. But make it quick 'cause I gotta go to Tech Ed."

"You are a complete fucking stupid idiot son of a bitch, asshole, slut, and deserve to die in a fucking hole where jerks and freaking crappy assholes like you are!" she cried, using all of the swear words in her curse word dictionary.

Eugene yawned. "You done?" he asked, bored. But his voice trembled slightly.

"Yes. Now go." Eugene turned and practically ran away. Heather turned to me and slung her arm through mine as she casually walked away, dragging me behind her. She touched her green day lily to make sure it was still in her hair, then continued walking. Her dark blue miniskirt swished slightly as she sashayed to Music and I to Art. I couldn't stop shaking my head in wonder, though, of how my normally sweet friend could be capable of such strong language.

"Mavis, you look so good!" I laughed. Mavis, who normally chose dark colors, like black, was wearing a bright reddish-pink azalea in her hair. I was talking to her about her new look to distract myself from what had happened a few moments ago.

"Thanks, Rapunzel." Mavis smiled at me nervously, and lowered her voice. "Actually, I'm trying to impress someone."

"Johnny, right?" It was no secret among our friends that she used to have a huge crush on him before he stood his bright orange hair straight up and dyed his skin blue and claimed himself a monster.

"Ha ha ha, no. Guess again."

"Hmm . . . who was your date to the dance again? Oh yeah, Once-ler! Is it him?"

Mavis blushed scarlet. "Yes," she whispered.

I shrieked with laughter and giddiness as I tackled her into a hug. "Mavis! This is great! At last, one of those stupid blind dates finally worked!"

Mavis laughed along with me. "I know. I'm waiting for the right moment for him to notice me-actually, I think he might like me, too."

I grinned. "Aren't you glad I started the new trend of wearing flowers in your hair? Now I hope it'll go all the way to the Spring Formal!" Then a lightbulb went on over my head. "Ooh, ooh! What if the guys wear flowers, too? Like, on their lapels!"

"I think that's already been invented, Rapunzel." Mavis rolled her eyes. "Come on, we gotta go to the art room now."

I swirled paint around on my palette, then made gentle strokes on the canvas.

"How lovely," a deep, musical voice said. I glanced behind me to see the art teacher, Miss Esmeralda. She leaned in closer to my painting. "Are those lanterns?"

I nodded. "It's been my dream ever since I was little to go see the floating lanterns by Guardian Harbor. It's said to be the most magical place of all. Someday I will go see them!"

"Well, that's a wonderful dream." Miss Esmeralda smiled. She clapped her hands. "Okay, everyone! Time to clean up your supplies! Quickly, quickly! I have a music lesson to teach to the freshman in less than 5 minutes!"

Everyone hurried to clean up. When the room was empty of students except for me and Jack, Miss Esmeralda left the room.

Jack walked over to me. "Hey, can I see your painting?" he asked. I nodded, then showed him it. He whistled. "Wow. It really is good. Wanna see mine?" He held up his canvas. I burst out laughing.

"Wait-is that a stick?" I gasped, doubled over with laughter.

"Yep. As a matter of fact, it is," Jack replied, cracking a grin at me. "I guess it's technically a staff. I grew up in the city, and one day, when I was little, my dad took me to this weaponry store. He was going to buy a gun, 'cause we heard that a terrorist had attacked and killed a family in their sleep. So he asked me to choose any weapon in the shop but a gun and I chose a shepherd's staff. It seemed dangerous at the time. But it was important to me. And it was a reminder of my father when he left the family."

"Oh, Jack," I sighed. I walked over to hug him tightly.

"Hey, Punz, it's all right." He smiled at me. "But thanks for cheering me up." He hugged me back and I rested my head on his chest.

Someone behind us cleared their throat. The two of us glanced at the door and leapt apart.

"Oh, hey, Elsa," Jack said uncomfortably.

"Hi, Jack," Elsa replied, glancing between him and Rapunzel. "I was just coming by to see if you wanted to help out with the dance committee again, maybe become a permanent member."

Jack glanced at Rapunzel, who nodded enthusiastically. "It's really fun, Jack!" Rapunzel told him. "Especially if you're on the planning committee!" She winked at him and laughed.

"Sure, why not?" Jack replied, smiling. "Whichever job's the most fun, I'll join."

Great!" Elsa smiled, but she seemed distracted. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Jack looked back at Rapunzel again. She smiled, and motioned for him to leave. "Okay, see you later, Punz. Maybe we can meet up with Hic and Frizzy-Head this afternoon?"

"It's a plan," Rapunzel said.

Jack left with Elsa. Rapunzel sighed and gathered up her books. She scribbled a note to herself about meeting the others.

Yay! Another chapter done, another chapter closer to more Jackunzel action! I have a surprise for you readers next chapter, heh heh heh. :D And be sure to check out the poll on my profile!