XXX. Halloween, October 31
Belle poured bags of fun size Reese's, M&Ms and Skittles into a big, orange bowl and set it on a coffee table in the living room. She sat down on the couch and looked around at her handiwork. The room was decorated with orange and purple streamers, and a motion sensitive electronic bat hung from ceiling fan in the center of the room. The lights were dimmed and she'd lit a candle inside a pumpkin she had carved that morning, which sat on the coffee table next to the bowl of candy. She had even set up a playlist of eerie mood music to play in the background.
The doorbell rang, and Belle leapt to her feet. It would be a few minutes still before the trick-or-treating began officially, so she was reasonably sure the person at the door wasn't a child in costume. She grabbed a cat-eared headband sitting on the coffee table and put it on her head, checking her reflection in the mirror over the mantle and adjusting some unruly hairs. She opened the door and found Adam, as expected, standing on the porch before her.
"Hi!" she said excitedly, hopping forward and giving him a big, friendly hug.
He put his arms around her waist and squeezed back. The two had been texting quite a bit since the day they had detention together, but this was the first day they had made plans to hang out outside of school. Belle's father had recently been working on a big project for work that had been taking up a large portion of his time, so she had promised to stay home on Halloween to hand out candy, so he wouldn't be distracted from his work. She had asked her father if it would be okay if a friend joined her, and of course he had said yes, so she invited Adam.
"You look lovely," he said as she let him inside.
"Really?" Belle asked, looking down at herself—all she had on was a black t-shirt and yellow skirt, and, of course, the cat ears.
"You always look lovely," Adam said shyly, not looking at her directly.
"Thank you," Belle said, glad he couldn't see that she was blushing.
"I like the cat ears especially," Adam said.
"Oh, it's kind of silly," Belle said, reaching to take them off. "I didn't have a costume to wear, so I just sort of…"
"No, you should keep them on," Adam said, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a fake mustache, which he stuck to his upper lip.
Belle giggled. After a moment, Adam broke into a smile and started laughing too.
"Cinderella!"
The screech was almost deafening. Well, perhaps that was an exaggeration, but it certainly felt that way to Ella. Sighing, she put her new pumpkin earrings in her pocket and went to find the step-sister who had called for her. She honestly couldn't tell one's screech from the other's. They were both so awful and headache-inducing. She found both the sisters In Drizella's room. Anastasia and Drizella had somehow obtained an invitation to Jasmine's big Halloween party—or maybe they were crashing, Ella couldn't be sure. So many people went to Jasmine's biggest parties, and anyone was welcome to bring along friends, so they were very easy to crash.
"How do we look, Cinderella?" Anastasia asked, twirling.
"Who looks better?" Drizella added.
Frankly, Ella thought both girls looked equally terrible. They were both wearing skimpy French maid costumes, complete with a little white apron, frilly headdress, lacy trim, and feather dusters to carry. And, of course, both were wearing obnoxiously obvious push-up bras.
"Hmm…" Ella said. "Well, I…"
"Obviously she thinks I look better," Drizella said bossily.
"I just can't decide," Ella said. "I think you both look lovely."
"What a cop-out," Drizella sneered. "Well, come over here and zip up the back for me."
Ella walked over obediently, wondering why Anastasia couldn't have zipped it up for Drizella, but didn't say anything. It was a tight squeeze, but with a little work she managed to get the tiny dress zipped up.
"I wonder if Charm will be there," Anastasia gushed. "He is so handsome."
"You do know that Charm and I are dating now, Anastasia, don't you?" Ella couldn't help speaking up—the entire school knew about the pair's relationship, and there was no way this news had escaped the gossip-seeking ears of her dreadful step-sisters.
"It won't last," Anastasia said, waving a hand dismissively.
"Charm just hasn't gotten to know me yet," Drizella said, fluffing her curls in the mirror and pursing her lips. "Once I get a hold of him, he won't be able to get enough!"
Ella suppressed a gag. Knowing what she knew about Charm, Drizella was the opposite of the kind of girl he liked. Well, she supposed, Drizella was the opposite of her, and she was the kind of girl he liked. She found herself smiling in spite of herself.
"What are you smiling about?" Anastasia asked sourly.
"Oh, I'm just… imagining how it would be to go to Jasmine's Halloween party," Ella lied, knowing that answer would appease her step-sisters.
"Ha!" Anastasia said. "Well, you'll never know, will you? We'll be sure to tell you all about it when we get back."
"We'll take some pictures with Charm, too, so you can see his costume—since you won't get to see it in person," Drizella said, smirking.
"I can't wait to see them," Ella said.
The sisters finished getting ready, then hopped into Anastasia's brand new convertible which Mrs. Tremaine had given to her for her recent sixteenth birthday. Of course, she wasn't able to drive it yet as she had failed her first two driving tests, so Drizella was driving them to the party.
"Later, loser!" Anastasia shouted from the passenger seat, cackling.
"Goodbye!" Ella waved from the stoop. "Have a wonderful night!"
She didn't mean a word of it. She watched the taillights disappear down the street and around the corner. Then she took her phone from her pocket and sent a text message:
They're gone. House is empty.
Mrs. Tremaine had gone off somewhere and had told Ella that she would not be back until the following morning. This had been planned for several weeks, but she had not specified where she was going at all, and Ella knew better than to pry. It did seem somewhat suspicious though, and Ella wondered if there might even be someone in her step-mother's life. But that seemed almost absurd. Mrs. Tremaine had tasked her step-daughter with watching over the house in her absence. Ella knew she had to stay. The house, being one of the largest in the town, let alone the neighborhood, was a prime target for teepeeing, and Ella knew she would not be able to clean up the wreckage in time should that happen. But she didn't mind staying here, as long as she had company.
She saw a pair of headlights turn on just down the street, and a car rolled towards the house before stopping right in front of it. Suddenly remembering, Ella took her pumpkin earrings out of her pocket and put them on. Charm got out and Ella ran to him. He picked her up and spun her around when she reached him, then put her down and she leaned forward and kissed him. Then he took her hand and they walked towards the house.
"Sorry I'm such a mess," Ella said, indicating her sweatpants, old heather grey t-shirt and her messy hair, pushed back by a thick headband and pulled into a ponytail. She couldn't dress up the way she would have liked to lest her step-sisters grow suspicious. Of course, they were both rather thick-headed, but she couldn't take any chances of ruining her night.
"What are you talking about?" Charm asked with a smile. "You're beautiful."
"Thanks," Ella said, slightly flustered.
The pair reached the stoop and Charm stopped Ella.
"Wait—it's such a nice night," he said. "We should sit outside."
He was right—it was a beautiful night, especially for late October. It was crisp, but not too cold, and it was clear and still. The moon was full—or at least, nearly—and shining brightly in a dark, star-speckled sky.
"Hmm, okay," Ella responded, nodding. "Let me just get the candy bowl and we can sit out on the bench."
"Okay," Charm said, letting go of his girlfriend's hand. "I'll wait out here."
Jasmine bustled around the Sultan household, preparing for her second big party of the year. She, of course, had parties fairly often, but most of them were closed gatherings of close friends and approved guests, such as the gathering before the big football game when she had disastrously tried to hook up with new guy Flynn Rider, or the pre-gaming before the Homecoming Dance…which had also ended in disaster. But all that was far behind her now, and this year's Halloween party was going to be just as awesome and legendary as the previous ones.
Her father, Waled Sultan, was the President of an enormous mass media corporation, the Agrabah Company, which was why he was away so often. He loved his daughter very much, and trusted her, which was why he saw no issue with letting her stay home alone all the time. Jas was pretty good at cleaning up after herself and covering her tracks, and it didn't hurt that her father happened to be a bit clueless.
Jasmine brought all the drinks out from where she kept them hidden in her room. A couple of bottles of different flavored Grey Goose vodkas for shots, and several cases of beer bottles, which she packed into the fridge as best she could. Of course, she also had purchased several packages of red plastic cups, which she unwrapped and set on the counter. Jasmine headed to her room, passing through the decorated living room where the party playlist was already blasting through the surround-sound speakers.
Her costume was laid out on the bed, a cropped white blouse, plaid red and black skirt, and knee-high socks. She pulled it on and checked herself out in the mirror as she pulled her hair into two long, loose pigtails. She smiled at her reflection as she slipped on her heels and turned, making sure she looked perfect from every angle. Her hand rested on her stomach, and she hesitated for a moment, frowning. Then the doorbell rang.
Aurora was nervous about the party as she walked up to Kuzco's building with Snow and Prince, dressed appropriately as a princess and prince. Though Snow had been to a couple parties with Prince already, it would be Aurora's first college party, and she was understandably nervous.
They're all going to know I'm still in high school, she thought. They're going to think I'm so immature…
Snow looked back at Aurora.
"Don't be nervous," she said sweetly.
"I'm not nervous," Aurora lied, wondering if Snow secretly had mind-reading powers that she'd been keeping from everyone.
Aurora wondered how Snow did it. She was always so poised and calm, and Aurora had even more respect for Snow than she had previously knowing what had happened to her, what she had kept from almost everyone for so long. She had always had so much respect for Snow, but she had never known quite how strong the older of her two best friends was. After finding about what had happened to Snow and what had almost happened to Belle, Aurora felt like she had dodged a bullet when she thought of that date with Gaston that she had escaped from. With this new information, Aurora felt like another layer of meaning had been added to their friendship.
They climbed the stairs to the second floor of the building and walked to Kuzco's apartment door. Aurora could already hear the music pounding inside. She grimaced.
"Don't worry!" Snow said, taking both Aurora's hands in her own. "You look gorgeous, your costume is perfect, and everyone is going to love you. I'll introduce you to some of our friends. I know you'll like them."
She tucked a stray hair behind Aurora's ear and Aurora smiled.
"Okay."
Prince knocked on the door and it flew open, revealing a man in a red tailcoat with gold lining, tight black pants, a red bowtie, and a black top hat. He carried a long, fake whip that he didn't seem to know what to do with. He was certainly enthusiastic.
"Prince!" he shouted, hugging him and then turning to his girlfriend and doing the same. "Snow! And… who is this?"
"This is my best friend Aurora," Snow replied, smiling at Aurora and stepping aside.
"Aurora!" the ringmaster said, taking Aurora's hand and kissing the back of it. "Enchanté. Such a nice name. And what a nice costume! Welcome… to Kuzco's circus!"
He introduced them into the apartment with a flourish, stepping aside.
"He's a bit dramatic," Prince whispered to Aurora. "Loves being the center of attention. But he means well… now."
Aurora vaguely remembered Kuzco from when he still went to WDHS as being a somewhat narcissistic jerk, but according to her friends he had eased up a bit after moving on and growing up. Apparently college had made him realize that the world didn't actually revolve around him. Aurora imagined that must have been quite a shock. Aurora stuck by Snow's side as the two entered the party crowd.
"Snow!" a tan, exotic girl with white hair and a black witch hat pushed through the crowd to throw her arms around Snow.
"Kida," Snow said, hugging the girl back. "How have you been? You and Kuzco still a thing?"
"Nah, we never went on another date," Kida said, waving a hand and rolling her eyes. "We didn't have any kind of spark, we both agreed. But we're totally cool, obviously. And you are?"
"Uh, Aurora," Aurora said quietly.
"Oh, Snow's told me about you!" Kida smiled and stuck a hand out for Aurora to shake.
"She… has?" Aurora said awkwardly, not knowing a thing about this Kida girl.
"I met Kida on a double date, the night before Homecoming," Snow said. "We hung out a couple times after that. She goes to LCU."
"O-oh," Aurora said, then smiled at Kida. "Well it's nice to meet you."
"Come sit over here with me," Kida said, and led the two girls over to a couch.
Snow and Aurora squeezed together in the empty spot on the couch, and Kida sat on the armrest.
"So, are you seeing anyone new then?" Snow asked, and Aurora could tell she was already trying to think of people she could set Kida up with.
"Not exactly," Kida said, but there was a smile playing at her lips.
"But there's someone you're interested in," Snow said, sitting up excitedly.
"Yeah," Kida said, looking at the ceiling and smiling a goofy smile.
"Drinks, ladies?" Kuzco seemed to appear suddenly with a cup in each hand, both of which he was offering up.
"Not for me, thank you," Snow said politely, gesturing to Aurora and Kida, whom Kuzco handed the cups to.
"Thanks," Kida said to Kuzco, and the three watched him saunter off into the crowd of his guests.
"So tell me!" Snow said, losing her patience giddily.
"Well, he's… kind of my professor," Kida said sheepishly.
"No!" Snow said, a hand flying up to cover her grin. "Tell me about him! What does he teach?"
"Archaeology," Kida said with a sigh. "I'm thinking about majoring in it. It's fascinating—or maybe I'm just fascinated with him. Professor Thatch is his name. You can tell he really loves the subject… And he's very intelligent."
"What does he look like?" Snow asked.
"He's pretty skinny, lanky—he wears these big round glasses," Kida said, making circles around her eyes with her hands. "Definitely has a typical nerdy sort of image, but… he's also really cute. Light brown hair, kind of long in the front, like he could use a haircut."
"You really like him," Snow said with a knowing smile.
"Yeah," Kida said, smiling and sighing again. "It'll never happen though, obviously… Him being my professor and everything."
"You never know," Snow said.
"Snow!" Aurora scolded.
"What?" Snow said. "It's college… They're all adults here. It's not like if you or I had a relationship with a teacher."
"Still," Aurora said, still turning the idea over in her mind.
"If you're too scared now," Snow said, turning back to Kida. "Just think… He won't be your professor forever."
Esme pulled up to Jasmine's mansion with Phoebus riding shotgun and Quasi and Meg in the back. Esme and Jas had been close friends when they were younger, especially in elementary school. They were still friends, just rather distant ones. Jas still invited Esme to all her parties, both big and small, and Esme always took Meg along to the bigger ones. Quasi, on the other hand, had never been to a party before. Esme had promised to take him along on her Halloween plans, and she had carried through on that promise. Quasi suspected she was only doing it because she felt obligated to, but that was far from the truth. Esme felt bad that she had not included Quasi very much recently, but not out of any sense of obligation, but because she missed him. He was her oldest and best friend, even better than Meg, and she cared about him deeply. She hoped she would be able to bring him out of his shell tonight and help him to make some more friends. She wanted to show him that there were good people out there besides just her.
"You ready?" Esme reached back and grabbed Quasi's hand, smiling at him supportively.
He smiled and nodded, trying not to show how nervous he was.
The foursome stepped out of the car, all in costume. Esme was wearing a black leotard and matching skirt, along with shining pink ballerina slippers. She had pulled all her thick, long black curls into a bun, but a few loose hairs had fallen out. It looked as though she had done it on purpose, and no one really knew for sure. Phoebus, on the other hand, was dressed as a court jester, complete with bells on his hat and collar. Quasi and Meg stepped out of the back dressed in a knight costume and a long, light purple toga, respectively. Quasi wore a fake chain mail hood, a belt, and a coat of arms plastered to his chest. He had a fake sword sheathed in a scabbard that attached to the belt.
"So, Quasi, you gonna meet a lady tonight?" Meg asked in a somewhat monotone voice, indicating that she didn't actually care about the answer much.
"Well, I—I don't—" Quasi stammered.
"Don't mind her," Esme said. "She's just bitter about… everything."
Meg stuck her tongue out at Esme, and Esme gave her a look that dared her to deny it.
"What are you supposed to be?" Quasi asked as they approached the front doors. "An ancient Greek? A Roman?"
"A Greek goddess," Meg corrected.
"Goddess?" Quasi asked, looking over her costume.
"How do you get goddess?" Phoebus asked, looking amused. "It's just a toga."
"I'm a goddess because I said so, that's how," Meg snapped as the door flew open and they were invited in.
Meg immediately noticed that many eyes were turning towards the group, and a few people were pointing. She knew that it was because of Quasi, and she looked to Esme. Esme was looking a bit worried, but not doing anything. Meg figured she would probably be hovering protectively around Quasi for most of the night.
What a drag, she thought, and looked around the room for something else to focus her attention on.
Her eyes rested on Hercules. Of course, she should have been expecting to see him, but she hadn't really given the matter any thought. He was dressed as a soldier, and Meg found herself admiring how good he looked in spite of herself. She shook it off, looking away from him. She looked back at Quasi, Esme, and Phoebus, who were heading off in an opposite direction from where Hercules was. She considered following them, then thought of how much fun that would likely not be with Esme trying to protect Quasi constantly. She looked back at Hercules.
Well, it's not like those are my only options, she thought finally.
She headed through the crowd in search of a drink.
Alice bounced up and down excitedly in the passenger seat of Aladdin's car as they pulled into the parking lot of the local haunted house. There was a long line to buy tickets, but Aladdin had bought tickets for himself, Alice, and Mowgli ahead of time. Alice was wearing a bright blue dress with red trim and a white apron, along with red and white striped socks and a white bonnet covering a wig made of red yarn. She had red lipstick on and two red circles painted on her cheeks. She was completely transformed, and Aladdin wondered if he would have even recognized her if he hadn't known it was her. He had on a slightly less elaborate scarecrow costume, and Alice had done his makeup—all orangey-brown with a red nose. Mowgli sat in the back in a simple skeleton costume, feeling somewhat outdone.
"Ready?" Aladdin asked the two freshmen.
"Yes!" Alice exclaimed.
"Are you… scared?" Aladdin said, doing his best spooky voice and tickling Alice.
"No!" Alice giggled.
The three got out of the car and headed to the entrance to the haunted house. Wails, screams, and moans came from speakers hidden in the area between the gates to the house and the front door. Alice wrapped an arm around Aladdin's and held on tight as he handed the gatekeeper the three tickets and they went on through. She was grinning madly, and she was ready for things to jump out and try to scare her in the dark labyrinth that awaited them ahead.
"RAH!"
Someone jumped out from behind a bush and tried to scare them, and Alice heard Mowgli jump and make a little noise behind her. She giggled.
They entered the house and were immediately engulfed in darkness. Alice reached forward, groping at the darkness, making sure she didn't walk into something. Aladdin was doing the same beside her. They made their way through the first room, and into a slightly better lit room with a coffin in it. Predictably, the coffin burst open and a women sat up in it, screaming to try and frighten them. Mowgli was looking a little pale, but Aladdin and Alice just laughed.
They moved on to a room full of mirrors and walls with weird, yellow and purple stripy patterns. Under a blacklight, everything had a strange glow, and thanks to the mirrors, it was hard to tell where the openings were and which way they were meant to be going. They eventually found their way through, and the next room found them once again in total darkness. They moved through the room, finding themselves with no walls nearby. They felt around, inching slowly along, looking for some indication of where the room ended.
Then, something jumped out at them, and Alice felt it brush her as it made a terrifyingly animal noise and revved a chainsaw—or at least, made a chainsaw sound effect. Alice screamed in surprise and let go of Aladdin's arm, stumbling backwards through the darkness. She felt herself fall on what felt like a silken curtain. She quickly straightened herself back up, shaking. Feeling wobbly, she felt along the curtain and tried to find her bearings. She walked along until she reached a wall, then followed it.
"Al—Aladdin?" she mumbled shakily.
Moving along, she felt as though she might have moved into another room. It occurred to her that she wasn't sure if this haunted house was a single path or a labyrinth of different choices. She wondered if Aladdin and Mowgli had moved along on a different path without her, not knowing where she was. She heard something rustle.
"Who—who's there?" she asked.
"It's only me," a cartoonish voice answered, then cackled maniacally.
Normally, it wouldn't be frightening, but being alone in the darkness, it kind of was. Alice knew it wasn't real, but she was still frightened and her legs had all but turned to jelly. And then the chainsaw noise came again. Alice shrieked and began to run, despite the various signs outside that had instructed visitors not to. She kept a hand on the wall as she ran to guide her. She could feel that her face was wet with tears and she just felt silly.
"Aladdin!" she shouted. "Where are you?"
Then she ran full-on into someone, and shrieked, thinking it was someone working there as a haunt. Whoever it was gripped her arms with their hands and held her in place. She squirmed, trying to get away, breathing heavily.
"Alice, Alice, it's okay," they said. "It's okay, it's just me. It's okay."
"Mowgli?" Alice said, blinking at the pitch darkness.
"Yeah, it's me," Mowgli said. "Aladdin's a little bit ahead, I came back to see if you were behind us. We lost you back there, we thought you might have wound up ahead of us, but then we couldn't find you. Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," Alice said. "Yeah, of course."
Mowgli pulled her into a quick hug anyway, which she was glad for, and then took her hand to lead her to the next room, where Aladdin was waiting.
Ariel and Tiana sat together excitedly on a couch at Jasmine's party, each taking slow sips from a red plastic cup. The two of them had been talking in the hall at school when Jasmine had passed by, complimented Tia's dress, and nonchalantly extended an invitation to her party to the both of them. The two were excited about their first big high school party with mostly upperclassmen. Both were dressed to the nines. Tia was wearing a dark green flapper dress and had pulled her hair up and stuffed it into a bobbed black wig. Ariel had on a mermaid-inspired outfit, a green skirt that was shimmery and tight on top half and poufy tulle on the bottom paired with a purple bustier top. They looked around the crowd for a familiar face. Tia was the one who spotted Eric and Vanessa.
"Hey, there's Eric," Tia pointed subtly. "And he looks miserable."
Ariel looked. Tia was right. Eric, wearing a black and red cape, was standing next to Vanessa, clearly meant to be an angel in a white gown with wings and a halo. Vanessa seemed to be telling him off about something, but he wasn't even looking at her. He was looking at the ceiling, looking bored and pissed off. Ariel thought he looked absolutely miserable. She wondered why he didn't just end the obviously uncomfortable relationship, but recognized that it wasn't her place to say something like that. Their relationship had never been so publicly obviously strained as it was right now. Ariel was surprised. She watched as Vanessa said one last thing, then huffily walked off in the direction of the bathroom.
"I'm going to go talk to him for a minute," Ariel said, standing. "If that's okay?"
"Yeah, sure," Tia said, waving her off.
Ariel walked up to Eric. He didn't see her until she was right in front of him and began talking.
"Hey Eric," she said somewhat shyly.
"Ariel," he said, looking at her with surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Jasmine invited me and Tia," she said, gesturing back to her friend. "Wait… what are you exactly?"
"I'm a vampire! See?" he pulled a pair of plastic teeth from his pocket, stuck them in and put on a forced smile.
"You don't look too happy," she said as he popped the teeth back out and put them in his pocket.
"I'm not," Eric said in a hushed tone, looking around at who was nearby, then pulling Ariel a little ways away from any other guests. "This is going to sound crazy, but… I tried to break up with Vanessa."
"And?" Ariel asked, wide-eyed.
"She wouldn't let me," Eric said, throwing his hands out in frustration.
"What do you mean?" Ariel said, confused. "She can't just say 'no.'"
"You're new, so you haven't seen what she's capable of," Eric said, looking around the room.
"So tell me," Ariel said, putting her hands on her hips.
"She's basically... blackmailing me," he said. "I don't have time to explain, she'll be back soon."
"Then speak quickly," Ariel said. "Give me the short version."
"Okay, she said she was going to make my life miserable," Eric said. "And I said… whatever, basically, I don't care. But then she said she would spread all kinds of rumors about you, basically ruin your life. I couldn't let her do that."
"So you're stuck in a miserable relationship to try to protect me?" Ariel asked, and Eric shrugged and nodded. "Well, I don't think Vanessa could ruin my life if she tried. If you weren't with her, would we…"
Ariel saw Vanessa storming towards the two of them.
"What do you think you're—" she began.
"I was just leaving," Ariel said, throwing her hands up in surrender before Vanessa could get another word in and walking back to Tia.
Naveen was sitting in the middle of a couch between two strangers, wearing an expression that indicated that he certainly was not enjoying himself. His girlfriend Lottie, on the other hand, seemed to be having a ball, wandering the apartment and socializing with college students in her short, form-fitting pink dress and sparkling fairy wings. The two were at Kuzco's party in Buena Vista. It had seemed like a good idea when Naveen had made the decision, but Naveen was somewhat regretting it now.
Naveen and Kuzco were pretty good friends from high school. They had similar life "philosophies"—if something so simplistic could be described with as lofty a word as "philosophy"—and similarly inflated egos. By some magic, they managed to get along without their loud personalities getting in the way. Though they hadn't seen each other since school started up again, Kuzco invited Naveen to his Halloween party and Naveen jumped at the opportunity. He knew Lottie would be interested, as college parties were, of course, believed to be inherently better than high school parties, and Lottie typically settled for nothing but the best. Naveen's motivation for coming here rather than the obvious choice of Jasmine's party was simply that here, there was less of an opportunity to run into Tia. As strong as his feelings were for Tia, he didn't want to ruin Lottie's night—and mostly, he didn't want to deal with the drama that would come along with breaking it off with Lottie. But it would have to come eventually.
"Shot?"
Naveen looked up to see some guy he didn't recognize holding a tray full of tiny plastic cup shots full of clear liquid. Well, the night wasn't getting any more interesting from sipping on lite beer.
"Sure, why not?" he sat up and took one of the little cups.
Meanwhile, Lottie was talking to Snow and Prince on the opposite side of the room. She had already had a glasses of champagne. It was her first time drinking more than a sip or two, and she was quickly discovering that she was a lightweight.
"But you guys are like, one of the cutest couples I have ever seen," she gushed, looking between the two of them. "Like… You are legendary. Everyone knows how good you guys are together, and oh my gosh you are the cutest. And Snow, you are just… like, beautiful, wow! I want to be just like you in a couple years."
"Thank you, Lottie, that's very—" Snow began, but was quickly cut off.
"I just know you're going to be voted prom queen," Lottie said, squealing and clapping her hands together. "I just know it! I can't wait to see the pictures the next day." Then a thought seemed to occur to her. "Wait—of course! I won't have to see the pictures. I'll be there with Naveen. How silly, I almost forgot my boyfriend is a senior, so we'll get to go to prom. How exciting! I should start looking for a dress…"
"Well, Lottie, maybe you shouldn't—" Prince began, but Lottie didn't seem to even hear him.
"Oh, I sure hope Naveen and I will still be together when I'm a senior," Lottie said dreamily. "It's so romantic, isn't it? I can just tell we're going to be together for a long time. See, he's dressed as a sailor because—"
There was a hand on her shoulder, and Lottie whirled around to find Naveen standing behind her.
"Hey Lottie, can I talk to you?" he asked.
"Naveen!" Lottie squealed, and threw her arms around him and placed a great, big, unwelcome kiss on his lips. "Guys, guys! This is Naveen, Naveen this is—"
"Lottie, I know Snow and Prince," Naveen said. "We all went to school together."
"Oh, of course—duh!" Lottie said. "How silly of me. I—what did you need?"
"Let's talk," Naveen said. "Er… Over this way."
Naveen led Lottie out of the living room and into the tiny kitchen area. It was empty for now. Lottie leaned against a counter.
"So what's up?" she asked with a smile, bubbly and cheery as ever.
"This isn't really… working for me," Naveen said.
"What isn't?" Lottie asked, completely oblivious to his meaning.
"This… thing we have, whatever, relationship," Naveen said tactlessly. "You're… really awesome, Lottie, I just… don't really have feelings for you. Like that. In that way."
"You… are you breaking up with me?" Lottie asked, furrowing her brow, finally beginning to understand.
"I'm… trying to," Naveen said. "Listen, I didn't want to…"
He reached forward and tried to take Lottie's hand, but she tugged it away and ran past Naveen and out of the kitchen.
"Lottie—" he shouted after her uselessly, then followed.
Lottie was pushing through the people in the main room, drawing all the attention in the room to the current situation. Naveen tried to smile it off, sheepishly, as he chased after Lottie. She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door right in his face. Everyone seemed to lose interest and went back to drinking and socializing. Naveen tried the door handle. Locked. He knocked.
"Go away, Naveen!" she shouted
"Lottie," he sighed.
"Is it another girl?" Lottie asked. "There's another girl—isn't there?"
"Lottie, I—"
"Answer the question!"
"There is someone else that I like, yes," Naveen said. "But she isn't interested… right now. I didn't want to lead you on anymore because I think you… deserve someone who… likes you the same way you like them."
He could hear Lottie sobbing inside the bathroom.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"No!" Lottie shouted. "Of course I'm not."
"At least let me drive you home," Naveen said.
"No," Lottie said. "I'll get someone else to do it. I'd… I'd rather walk!"
"Please, Lottie," Naveen said. "Just come out so we can at least talk about this face-to-face?"
"Nope," Lottie said simply.
"Lottie—"
"Go away!" she shouted.
Naveen threw his hands up and finally stormed off, defeated. Kuzco, ever aware of the vibe at his party, watched as Naveen walked out of the apartment. Even if no one else was paying attention, Kuzco knew all the drama that went down at his get-togethers. He could never have someone going off and saying they had a bad time at one of his parties. He had a reputation to uphold. He walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
"I said go away!" Lottie repeated.
"Whoa, whoa, little lady," Kuzco said. "It's not your boyfriend knocking, it's your host—Kuzco."
"Ex-boyfriend," Lottie corrected him through sobs.
"Well, I'm sorry that had to happen to you tonight," Kuzco said. "Mind letting me into my bathroom?"
After a few moments' pause, he heard the lock click. He opened the door and found Lottie walking over to the bath to sit on the edge of the tub. He closed the door behind himself and locked it again so no one else would walk in looking to use the facilities. He walked over and sat in front of Lottie on the ground.
"So," he said. "Tell Kuzco what happened."
"I—I don't even know," Lottie said, hiccupping. "Everything was fine, and then… and then Naveen was telling me he doesn't have feelings for me and all these things, and… and that he likes some other girl, and, and…"
"Well, you know what, Lottie—it's Lottie, right?"
"Uh-huh," Lottie nodded, wiping at her face with the hem of her dress.
"I think you could do a lot better than Naveen," he said.
"You—you think?" Lottie asked, brightening just a little.
"Yeah!" Kuzco said enthusiastically, standing and moving to sit beside Lottie on the edge of the tub so he could put a hand on her shoulder supportively. "You are a beautiful, fun young lady and I think any guy would be lucky to have you. But you deserve better than just any old guy. You deserve a guy who will treat you like… like the princess you are! You deserve a prince—no, a king!"
He reached for a box of tissues that was sitting on top of the toilet and handed the box to Lottie. She took a tissue and dabbed the tears from under her eyes.
"Do you know anyone like that?" she asked, a smile beginning to appear.
"You know, I just might."
A rare ballad had come on on Jasmine's party playlist, and Phillip and Wendy were taking the opportunity, along with a number of other couples, to slow dance together. They wrapped their arms around each other and leaned in. Wendy rested her head on Phillip's shoulder. Phillip had his pilot uniform on, and Wendy was dressed as a nurse. Neither of them seemed to really be into the atmosphere of the party. Each had had a single drink and no intentions of having another.
"You seem like you're somewhere else," Phillip said quietly so only Wendy could hear.
She heard him, but she didn't respond. They both knew it was true. Wendy's mind was elsewhere. Phillip was a wonderful tutor and a wonderful friend. But when he kissed her, she didn't feel any kind of special spark or excitement. The first couple of times they had kissed, it had been special. She had never kissed anyone romantically before Phillip, so of course it had been exciting. But beyond that, she knew that she didn't have feelings for Phillip in any way near the way she had feelings for Peter. She did feel like she was beginning to get past the whole Peter thing—to move on—but she wasn't one hundred percent there yet. It was going to take a bit of time, and she knew now that dating Phillip was not the way there. She just didn't know how to bring it up.
"You like someone else," Phillip said. "You have this whole time. Right?"
"Yes," Wendy sighed, not lifting her head from Phillip's shoulder. "But I don't have a chance with him. I've been trying to get over it. And… I certainly think you're cute, so I thought… why not? I thought something might happen."
"Well," Phillip said, stroking Wendy's hair. "I am attracted to you, Wendy… but I'm beginning to realize that I see you as more of a friend than anything else."
Wendy lifted her head so they were face to face.
"I feel the same way," she confessed, her voice full of relief.
"How about this, then…" Phillip said. "Let's enjoy this night as best we can… But I think we can agree that we should officially consider ourselves as nothing more than friends from here on out."
"Agreed," Wendy said with a nod.
The song ended and the music took a turn for the upbeat. Wendy and Phillip moved away from one another slightly, then Phillip began to dance enthusiastically. Wendy laughed for a moment before taking his hand and joining him.
In the front yard of the Tremaine mansion was a relatively large garden which Ella, of course, maintained. The garden spread along the front of the house on either side of the stoop and front door. Off to the right side, in front of some large bushes, was a stone bench. That was where Ella and Charm sat now. They sat holding hands with their fingers entwined and the bowl of candy next to Ella. All the lights were on in the yard and on the front of the house, so occasionally a family or a couple of older children would wander up the pathway in search of candy.
Two children were bounding up the pathway now, pushing each other as they went. One was skinny and a little bit taller than the other, dressed in teal, and the other, dressed in purple, was slightly shorter and a bit chubby, but neither seemed to have the advantage over the other. Ella released her hand from Charm's and picked the bowl up, standing.
"Now kids, no need to be so rowdy," she said. "There's plenty here for the both of you."
The kids stopped pushing, looked at each other for a moment, then stared at Ella blankly. She laughed and shook her head, then held the bowl out. The kids stepped forward warily, and each grabbed a single piece of candy, then looked at Ella questioningly.
"Well, go on," Ella said. "There's more here than I'll ever need."
The kids smiled twin grins then began to grab handfuls to stuff in the pillowcases they carried. Ella looked back at Charm, who was smiling at her. He had already commented earlier on how impressive her skills with children were. She had retorted with a remark about how she basically lived with two of them anyway. Charm had laughed, and Ella felt immediately bad about the comment, but Charm told her she had no reason to, as it was an entirely accurate observation.
"Now, now, that's enough," Ella said, pulling the bowl back gently. "I might get a couple more visitors tonight."
"Well, well, what have we here?" an adult voice came down the path.
Ella looked up to find a familiar man strolling down the path. These kids must be under his charge. The man was tall and pale with a long face and had fluffy hair that stuck straight up. He had died it blue in what Ella could only imagine was some kind of mid-life crisis. She didn't know him all that well, but she knew he was a neighbor and an acquaintance of her mother's.
"Mr. Olympiou," she said as politely as she could manage.
"Oh, please, Ella, dear," he waved a hand through the air. "Mr. Olympiou is my brother. Call me Hades."
"Hades," Ella said uneasily. "Are these two… yours?"
Ella realized she knew next to nothing about Hades. She knew which house he lived in, but she never saw anyone but him going in or coming out, and she had never been aware of any other activity going on there. All she knew beyond that was that she had overheard Mrs. Tremaine talking about some local business that Hades owned.
"These two? No," Hades laughed and waved them off. "Little brats. No. Ha. Nephews. I'm watching them for the night."
"Ah. I see," Ella said, straining to be polite, though there was something about Hades that made her automatically uncomfortable.
She was beginning to feel that he was overstaying his welcome, standing here and making conversation with her. But then, it was Halloween, when you couldn't really turn anyone away, no matter how uncomfortable they made you feel. She had a societal obligation to stand here and make polite conversation… or at least, that was how it felt. If nothing else, she knew that if she didn't, Mrs. Tremaine would find out and she would never hear the end of it.
"So… Who is this, then?" Hades asked, peering around Ella to look at Charm.
"Oh!" Ella said suddenly, stepping aside a little. "This is my… my friend, Charm."
"Charm? Quite a name to live up to," Hades said.
"I guess so," Charm laughed nervously—he had obviously picked up on the uncomfortable vibes of the whole situation.
"Does your mother know that you have… company tonight?" Hades asked, smirking.
"My mother is dead," Ella said with a sudden uncharacteristic burst of anger.
Hades raised an eyebrow.
"Well," he said, in a voice that could mean nothing good. "My condolences."
He reached for the two children and put a hand on each of their heads, then turned and walked off the property without another word. Ella sat down heavily.
"I really messed that one up," Ella said.
"Why are you stressing over it?" Charm asked. "That guy was being a jerk. He didn't deserve anything better than what you gave him."
"I know, I know," Ella said. "But he knows my step-mom. He'll probably tell her about what happened, and that you were here, and… Ugh, she's going to be so upset."
"But he might not, right?" Charm said.
"What?" Ella asked.
"He might not tell her," Charm said. "Are they good friends, your step-mom and this guy?"
"Well… no," Ella said.
"Maybe it won't ever come up then," Charm said. "Don't worry too much about things that might not happen. Then it's like going through the thing twice. And if nothing ever happens, you won't have to go through it at all."
"That's an interesting way to think of it," Ella said.
"I think I read it somewhere… I can't remember," Charm said, then reached up towards Ella's ear. "Are these new? I've never seen them before."
Ella beamed, glad he'd noticed, "I got them on Friday. I went out with Aurora and Snow to get a costume for Aurora."
"They're cute," Charm said. "Just like you."
Ella smiled and leaned in to her boyfriend, looking up at the clear night sky.
Tia and Ariel were both a lot more sober than they had been expecting, based on the things they'd heard about Jasmine's wild parties. Instead of drinking, they had made a friend. Tia was surprised to find that Quasimodo was in her grade along with Ariel, but that he was not a new student. She had never met him before, which he credited to his uncanny ability to make himself basically invisible sometimes. The girls were completely delighted by Quasi's shy charm and had dragged him away from his friend Esme and her boyfriend to chat with them. Tia felt the cool breeze of the door opening, and looked up to see if someone was making a late arrival. Her face fell when she saw that it was Naveen. Naveen turned immediately to someone and seemed to be asking a question.
"I'll be right back," Tia said gravely, and walked towards Naveen, leaving Ariel and Quasi to talk.
"Naveen?" she put a hand on his shoulder and whirled him around to face her.
"Tia!" he shouted over the music. "Just who I was looking for."
"Outside," she said. "Now."
Once again the pair found themselves standing outside of a building with the muffled sounds of loud bass trickling out. Tia put her hands on her hips and looked at Naveen expectantly.
"Well?" she said. "Shouldn't you be off somewhere with Lottie? She would not stop talking about how excited she was about tonight. So where is she?"
"She is… well…" Naveen gestured, looking for a more delicate way of putting it. "We… broke up."
"You broke up?" Tia asked, raising both eyebrows.
"Yes, yes," Naveen said. "I thought you might be here, so I came, and I am quite glad I did because you look… very beautiful in that dress."
Tia looked down at herself, flattered for a moment.
"Wait, wait, wait," Tia said. "If you two had broken up, I would have heard about it. Something isn't right here."
"Well, ah…" Naveen tapped his fingers together nervously. "We… broke up tonight."
"Tonight?!" Tia was shouting now.
"At… Kuzco's party," Naveen said, now hanging his head a little.
"At another party?" Tia dug for her phone in her purse. "Where is Lottie now?"
"She is… at the party, I suppose," Naveen said sheepishly.
"You left her there?" Tia said, pulling her phone out and seeing that she didn't have any calls or texts.
"She told me to go!" Naveen said. "I tried to get her to let me to drive her home, but…"
"How hard did you try?" Tia asked, giving Naveen a judgmental glare. She realized her phone had no signal here—she wondered if Ariel was on a different service.
"Not…" Naveen sighed. "I could have tried harder."
"You bet you could have," Tia said. "We're done here, I have to go see if Lottie needs my help, since you weren't very responsible."
She headed through the door, and Naveen began to follow.
"Tia, wait, I'm sor—"
"Go away, Naveen!"
Hearing that for the second time that night, from a different girl, was striking. He turned to leave. Jasmine was standing by the door.
"Leaving so soon?" she said.
"Yeah, I have to go home now," Naveen said.
"Well, that's a shame," Jasmine said, stepping forward and putting a hand on his chest. "Because you could stay. After all, you just got here."
Naveen hesitated. On a normal night, as a single man, he probably would. But tonight was not a normal night. And perhaps he ought to rethink those habits, anyway.
"No… Jas, I really shouldn't," he said. "And you shouldn't either."
"Why not?" she asked. "I'm single. I don't have any responsibilities now. Why shouldn't I pursue the things I want?"
"When you put it that way… I really can't argue with it," Naveen said thoughtfully. "But I'm afraid I can't help. Sorry Jas."
He kissed her on the forehead and headed out the door.
It was getting late, and all the children who had been trick-or-treating were now back home and off the streets. Belle put the nearly empty bowl of candy on top of the fridge in the kitchen and then went back to the living room. Adam was still there, mustache still on his face. It had begun to slip off a couple of times throughout the night, causing giggles from a few visiting children. Belle switched off the spooky soundtrack and sat down on the couch next to him.
"I hope this hasn't been too boring for you," Belle said.
"No, it's been… a lot of fun, actually," Adam assured her. "Just being around you is enough to make me happy."
Belle reached toward Adam's face, then peeled the mustache quickly off and dropped it on the coffee table.
"There," she said. "Much better."
"Better?" Adam asked, a bit confused.
"Better for doing this," Belle said, then leaned forward and kissed Adam. He hardly realized what was happening at first, and by the time he had begun to react, it was over.
Belle giggled when she saw the surprise on his face—eyes wide, mouth falling open a bit. He almost looked afraid. She touched her fingers to her lips and looked down.
"Sorry," she said.
"N-no, don't be," Adam said. "Don't be… at all… I just didn't expect… I never thought you… Well."
"What?" Belle asked, looking curiously at Adam now.
"I didn't think a girl like you would ever even… look at a guy like me," Adam said. "Never mind feel that way."
"Why not?" Belle asked, genuinely not sure what Adam's meaning was.
Before Adam could answer, there was the sound of loud stomping feet on stairs coming from the other end of the house. A door creaked open, and the footsteps made their way to the living room and then Maurice LeClair was standing in the doorway. He was a man of small, round stature with white hair and mustache. He threw his short arms up when he saw his daughter and her guest.
"Well, hello!" he said, his voice booming and jolly. "And who is this?"
"Papa," Belle spoke, standing. "This is my friend, Adam. He's in my English class."
"Adam!" Maurice said, bustling over to meet the young man, who stood. "Nice to meet you, my boy!"
"Nice to… meet you too," Adam said tentatively, shaking the man's hand.
"I'm glad my daughter wasn't alone on Halloween," Maurice said, looking fondly at his daughter. "I know she would've found ways to amuse herself, but it's nice to see her spending time with friends from school."
"Well, I … like spending time with your daughter," Adam said. "She's probably the smartest person I've ever met."
"Oh, don't—" Belle blushed.
"Don't be modest, Belle!" Maurice said. "She is a very intelligent young woman, and it takes a real man to recognize that."
"Well, I… think Adam was just leaving, actually," Belle said, growing embarrassed by the combined praise of Adam and her father. "Weren't you, Adam?"
"Oh, yeah, I, um, have to get home," Adam said. "Lots of… homework, you see."
"Focused on his studies, too!" Maurice said. "This one's a keeper for sure, Belle."
"Papa!" Belle said, wanting to cover her face.
"Well anyway, I hope to see you again, Adam!" Maurice said.
"You too, sir," Adam said, stepping outside. "See you tomorrow, Belle."
She nodded, smiled, and waved.
He had a few drinks in him—he actually couldn't remember exactly how many he'd had at this point—and now Eric was climbing shakily up onto the couch. Vanessa, not quite sure what he was doing but thinking he looked like he was about to make a fool of himself, tried desperately to pull him down, but he was strong and determined. And drunk. Her boyfriend's reputation had a pretty serious impact on her own, so she had the most important interests at heart—her own.
"No, Vanessa," he said loudly. "Leave me alone."
At that, she backed off sheepishly. Eric tried to bend all the way over to put his cup down on the ground, but someone apparently in a better state of mind than his own grabbed it to do it for him before he could make a serious attempt. He brushed some hair that had fallen into his forehead back and cleared his throat, raising his arms in the air.
"Can I have everyone's attention? Attention please?" he said. "Please. I'd like to make an… an annou—an important announcement, please."
His words probably didn't mean much at this point, but the severe point of his inebriation was enough to draw the majority of the room's attention. He noticed a blur of bright red hair towards the back of the room. He squinted. She seemed to be paying attention. Good.
"Okay, listen," he said. "Do you see this girl here?"
He pointed at Vanessa, who was standing next to the couch and watching in horror.
"Please, Eric, you're drunk—"
"Hush!" he said, elongating the shushing sound at the end. "This girl—Vanessa—you probably all know her as the… fuckin'… gossip queen of the school, or whatever. Loves to gossip, this one, blah blah blah. And that's fine, I guess. Who doesn't love a good story? Except some of it is lies. She spreads false stories mixed in with the true ones, so there's no way to tell what's what."
The crowd was beginning to chatter a bit, undoubtedly about what was going on right in front of them at this moment. This would be the talk at every lunch table tomorrow.
"Hey, hey, quiet, everybody," Eric said. "I haven't even gotten to the best part yet. So I started to realize what a two-faced, manipulative bitch this girl I was dating was—that's right'was dating'—you heard me. That was some past tense right there. So get out your Twitter and your Faceb—whatever, whatever. So anyway. I realized that and I said to myself, 'Eric, you do not want to do this anymore,' but when I tried to tell her that, guess what? She told me I couldn't! And she said she would spread rumors and shit about me, but I don't give a shit about that. And I told her that, and then she said she was going to make my friend's life miserable. And I couldn't have that. So I didn't know what to do, y'know? And then it just dawned on me. I could just tell you all the truth right here, right now. And why not? Who are you going to believe, me or her? I guess it doesn't matter to me what you believe. All that matters is that… I'm in love! And not with Vanessa."
The crowd made a noise of collective interest, and Vanessa shrunk back into the shadows in embarrassment.
"I'm in love with… with…" he searched the crowd and couldn't see Ariel back where she had been before. Then he noticed that she had made her way up to the front of the crowd to look at him with concern. "This girl! This one right here!"
He hopped off the couch and landed right in front of Ariel. She jumped back a little.
"Eric…" she said, looking at him cautiously.
"Ariel!" he announced to the crowd. "I love Ariel!"
Then he reached towards Ariel, pulled her to him, and kissed her. The crowd cheered. Vanessa seemed to have disappeared from the party. The kiss was short, and Ariel pulled away, laughing.
"You're so drunk," she said, shaking her head.
Eric smiled goofily, "That doesn't change the way I feel about you."
Ariel just shook her head and laughed some more.
Snow realized she'd lost track of Aurora in chatting with some of the other guests, and excused herself to go look for her friend. She finally spotted Aurora chatting with a slender handsome man with a nice tan who was wearing a police officer costume. He looked more concerned than interested. Snow observed the situation from afar for a moment. It was pretty obvious even from a distance that Aurora had had a bit too much to drink, and she had a drink in her hand right now. As she came closer, she picked up bits of the conversation.
"You seem like a cool girl and everything," he was saying. "It's just, I have a girlfriend, and I love her, so—"
"Aurora! There you are!" Snow said as she approached. "You look a little tired. Are you tired?"
"A little," Aurora said, unleashing an enormous yawn.
"Yeah, I thought so," Snow said. "Why don't you go sit in that chair over there near the kitchen, and I'll be right over."
Aurora looked at the chair then back at Snow, "Okay."
Aurora walked off. Snow turned to the guy Aurora was flirting with.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"David," he said cautiously.
"David," Snow responded. "I'm Snow. Sorry about that—and thank you. I owe you one."
"Thank you? For what?" David asked, as Snow walked away.
"Just thank you," Snow said with a smile, as she watched a tanned cowgirl with long black hair walk up to David looking confused.
Aurora was sitting obediently in the chair, looking with interest at something on the back of her hand.
"Aurora?" Snow said. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"
"O…kay," Aurora repeated.
"Alright, I think you need something to eat," Snow said. "Are you hungry? Do you want some food?"
"Mmm, yes please," Aurora said.
"Well, at least you haven't forgotten your manners," Snow said, more to herself than anyone else. "You stay here. I'll be right back."
She went into the kitchen and searched for something quick she could make for Aurora. She found a microwave dinner and popped it in to cook. She'd pay Kuzco back for it later. She grabbed a disposable cup and filled it with tap water, then went back out to bring it to Aurora. The seat where she had left her friend was now empty. She sighed and shook her head. She stood as tall as she could on her tip-toes, but she couldn't see Aurora anywhere around the apartment from where she was standing. She saw Prince standing nearby and went to him.
"Hey, can you help me find Aurora?" Snow said. "She's pretty drunk and I went into the kitchen to make her something and she wandered off."
"Yeah, of course."
Prince began scouring the apartment in the opposite direction of his girlfriend. Kuzco and his newfound friend Lottie joined the hunt and it was soon obvious that Aurora was no longer in the building.
"Come on, Prince," Snow said, her worry fueling her determinedness. "We have to go find her."
Aladdin pushed open the front door to the Sultan mansion, not even bothering to knock. This was not a time for knocking, and no one was really going to care anyway. Alice and Mowgli were behind him, but were less ready to burst right into the house. Aladdin searched the crowd for his ex-girlfriend. She wasn't too hard to find.
"Hey, um, Jas, can we talk?"
"Aladdin!" she said with surprise. "I don't remember inviting you. Come to beg for me back, have you?"
She giggled and stumbled a little.
"Come on, let's go to your room and talk," Aladdin said, moving towards that area of the house but not wanting to force Jasmine to come along against her will.
"But I don't wanna talk," she said. "I want to… dance!"
"Jasmine," Aladdin leaned close to her ear and spoke seriously. "I think what I want to talk about is something that you'd prefer be kept private, so I would really like to speak about it with you in private. So come with me. Or don't, I guess, it's up to you."
Aladdin turned and began walking towards the direction of Jasmine's bedroom, and when he glanced back, he saw that she was following—she seemed to be a bit wobbly, but her expression was serious now. They came to Jasmine's room and walked inside. Jasmine sat on the bed and Aladdin leaned against her vanity. They both were silent for a few moments.
"Jas, what are you doing?" Aladdin said as gently as he could manage.
"Whatever I want," Jasmine responded. "I don't see how that's any of your business."
"You've been drinking… tonight," Aladdin said, wanting her to confirm what he already knew.
"So?" Jasmine said.
"You know what I'm referring to," Aladdin said, stepping forward slowly. "You should be thinking about the baby."
"What baby?" she asked, casting her gaze downward.
"The one—" Aladdin hesitated for a moment. "Wait, Jas, you know what baby… what are you—?"
"I had an abortion, Aladdin," Jas said firmly. "Okay? There. I said it. Thanks for your concern and all, but it is entirely unnecessary. Why are you even here?"
"Naveen texted me," Aladdin said, waving it off. "But that isn't important—you… you had an abortion? Without even telling me?"
"Why should I tell you?" Jasmine asked angrily, standing up. "How is it any of your business? It's not like you're a part of my life anymore. You don't get to have any say in my decision-making. I am a grown woman. I am eighteen years old. You do not get to tell me how to live my life, for better or for worse."
"Yeah, but…" Aladdin sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The baby…"
"Might not have even been yours!" Jasmine filled in for him. "I don't know, you didn't know, Thomas didn't know, and now none of us will ever know. And you know what? It doesn't matter. Even if I knew for sure, I would've made the same decision. Because I am not ready to have a child. I am not prepared to give up eighteen years of my life. Call me selfish, but I'm just not. I've made a lot of mistakes. I'm young. I need to grow up before I even think about having a child."
"What about… adoption?" Aladdin asked, and Jasmine just gave him a look of disgust.
"Look, I made my decision," Jasmine said. "You don't have to like it, because in the end it's none of your business. It's my body. I get to do with it what I please, and it is not up to you to dictate these things. I have my reasons for choosing what I did, and I do not regret it a single bit. And I do not have to justify my decision to you."
With that final point, she sat back down on the edge of the bed. Aladdin suddenly snapped to his senses and rubbed his forehead to try to push away the headache that was coming on.
"Christ, Jas, I'm sorry," he said, and came over to sit next to her on the bed. "Are… are you okay? I shouldn't have been so selfish about this. It isn't my place."
"You're right," she said, looking surprised. "It isn't. And… yeah, I'm okay... or will be. It wasn't an easy decision, obviously, but I know it was the right one, the best one for everyone. And tonight I'm just trying to forget that it happened, okay? Allow me that. It's not really your business, anyway. You weren't invited, and I'm not your property. I never was, actually. I know I did some things that were wrong when we were together. I lied, I cheated. I shouldn't have done those things. But you don't get to dictate my life, especially not now."
"Right, right, okay," Aladdin said, nodding and standing. "I'm sorry. I'll go. Enjoy your party."
"Thank you," Jasmine nodded as he walked out of the room.
He made his way back to the front of the house, searching for Alice and Mowgli. He found them with a short girl with long black hair in a racing suit, carrying a helmet. She was talking to Mowgli, who seemed pretty interested. Alice seemed to be getting ignored, and she looked a little ticked off at it. She seemed to mostly be looking at Mowgli and fuming a bit.
"Hey...?" Aladdin said as he approached the trio.
"This is Vanellope," Mowgli said quickly.
"Hi," Aladdin said warily. "I've never seen you. You don't… go to WDHS, do you?"
"Shh!" Vanellope said. "I'm crashing. Ha! Get it—crashing? That wasn't even on purpose. I go to Marceline High School, but I'd heard you guys had the best parties."
"What year are you?" Aladdin asked, looking a little skeptical of this tiny girl.
"I'm a freshman," Vanellope said. "But so are your friends, so…"
"Yeah, okay, um…" Aladdin looked towards the door. "Speaking of freshmen, you guys have school tomorrow, so we really ought to get going."
"Jas wants you to leave, huh?" Alice smiled.
"Ah… yep," Aladdin shrugged.
"Alright, let's go then," Alice said a little too quickly, grabbing Mowgli by the wrist. "Let's go."
The three headed for the exit.
"See you around, Mowgli!" Vanellope called after them.
Kida was on her way back to her dorm from Kuzco's party. She had stayed out a little later than she would have liked. She didn't care much for walking home by herself in the dark—hardly anyone does, after all. When she saw a tall, decidedly male-looking figure walking in the opposite direction of her, she kept her gaze downward and tried not to draw any attention to herself. As the man came closer, however, she realized that he was familiar to her, and she stopped.
"Professor Thatch?" she said—he was looking downward too, but looked up at the mention of his name. Kida couldn't believe her luck.
"Oh—hi! Kida, right?" he asked, and she nodded, ecstatic that he had remembered her name. "You're in my archaeology class—always in the front row."
"That's me," Kida laughed. "I really love your class. What were you doing out so late? Faculty Halloween party?"
"Not quite," the professor laughed. "No, I've been doing some private research…. I get really engrossed in it and lose track of time sometimes, I'm afraid."
"Private research? On Halloween?" Kida asked.
"I didn't really even think about it, I guess," he said. "Where are you heading? Did you need a ride somewhere?"
"Oh, no," Kida smiled, wishing she could accept the offer. "I'm just going to my dorm, right up that way."
"Well, if you'd like, I can escort you the rest of the way," he said. "It's always a good idea to have someone with you at night."
"Yeah, I try to, usually," Kida said. "Tonight didn't really go as planned. But yes—I would like that, thank you."
The two began heading in the direction of Kida's dormitory.
"So, what's your major, Kida?" Professor Thatch asked.
"Oh, I'm a freshman," Kida responded. "So nothing's set in stone yet. I'm really enjoying archaeology, though. I'm thinking I might even major in it, actually."
"Is that so?" Professor Thatch asked, beaming. "Well, I'm… I'm just glad my class could inspire that in someone."
"It's my pleasure, believe me, Professor Thatch," Kida said, then wondered if that sounded too suggestive—she hadn't intended it to. If it had come out sounding as suggestive as it sounded to her ears, it had gone right over the professor's head. "Anyway, I'm not completely decided yet."
"Well, if you want to talk it over with someone, you know, talk about the different options for archaeology majors and such, you could always come to my office hours," Professor Thatch said. "My email is on the syllabus if you want to set up an appointment, or you could just come in after class one day."
"That could be helpful," Kida said, stopping because they had reached the front of her building. "Thanks, Professor Thatch."
"You are most definitely welcome," he said.
She wanted to hug him, but instead they shook hands, and then Kida waltzed inside, stomach full of butterflies.
Phillip had dropped Wendy off at her house after a pretty good night. They left the party a little early because neither of them was really feeling it, but they had had a fun time nonetheless. But now, Phillip could hear his stomach grumbling, so he decided to drive over the border to Buena Vista to pick up some late-night food at Panchito's, the college town's 24 hour diner. There was nothing with quite the array of offerings at such a late hour in Marcelline.
Phillip was driving toward Panchito's when he saw a girl stumbling drunkenly down the street. He slowed down his car, worried for the girl. As he came close and was about to pass her, the girl fell, and in that moment, he realized it was Aurora. He pulled the car over just beyond where she fell, and jumped out. He hurried over to Aurora and lifted her off the ground. She was still conscious, but certainly very intoxicated. She didn't seem to recognize him, or even look at him. She rubbed at her eyes and groaned.
Less than a minute later, before Phillip had really had a chance to react, another car pulled up behind his. Snow leapt out of the driver's side and quickly crouched beside Aurora. Prince stood behind by the car.
"She left Kuzco's party and we've been driving around looking for her ever since," Snow said, nearly out of breath. "How did you find her?"
"I just… was driving by," Phillip said. "I saw her walking, and then she fell… That's it."
"My apartment's just around the corner," Prince said.
"Our cars will be fine here," Snow said. "Come on."
She began lifting Aurora, but Phillip took charge and lifted her into his arms effortlessly. Prince and Snow quickly led the way down the block to the building. Phillip carried Aurora inside and gently put her on the couch. Prince brought her water and Phillip helped her sit up and drink it while Snow cooked in the kitchen.
Aurora's eyelids fluttered and she seemed to suddenly focus on Phillip for the first time that night. She squinted and blinked a few times.
"Phillip?" she said, confused.
"Hi," he said, not sure what else to say in this situation.
"You're dressed as a pilot," she giggled, looking at his uniform.
"Yes, ma'am, I am," Phillip said, tipping his hat playfully.
"I'm a flight attendant," Aurora said, and giggled again. "We match!"
"That we do," Phillip smiled at her and gave her another sip of water.
"Where—where's Wendy?" Aurora asked, frowning now.
"She's at home, I imagine," Phillip said. "That's where I saw her last. We decided to just be friends… And tutor and tutee."
"Oh!" Aurora said, throwing her arms around Phillip. "Thank you! Thank you."
"For…" Phillip began, then saw Snow mouthing "just say 'you're welcome.'" "Oh, you're… you're welcome, Aurora. You're welcome."
She let him go and smiled, then leaned back on the couch again. She closed her eyes, but Phillip wasn't too concerned this time. She seemed to be getting better rather than worse, at this point. He smiled and brushed a few hairs behind her ear.
"Happy Halloween, sleeping beauty."