A/N: Long chapter this time :)
Disclaimer: Don't own Merlin.
Pretending like nothing was wrong turned out to be surprisingly easy for Morgana.
"And Nimueh wanted me to tell you that she was trying to hook you up with Merlin, but he was just interested in getting her back. And that's not Nimueh's fault," Sophia babbled, on her Queen's behalf.
"No, I know," Morgana reassured the petite girl.
"OK, so you're not mad at Nimueh?" she asked, almost as if she was trying to get Morgana to bitch about Nimueh. She shivered; she didn't need that again after the four way call attack.
"God, no!" she scoffed, smiling.
"Oh, OK, good. Because Nimueh wanted me to give you this," Sophia replied, pulling Morgana into a hug. The latter patted the former girl's back awkwardly.
"It's called the South Beach Fat Flush, and all you drink is cranberry juice for hours," Nimueh explained her new diet method to her boyfriend. She began to drink from her glass.
"This isn't even cranberry juice. It's cranberry juice cocktail. It's all sugar," Merlin remarked, from her left. She instantly put the glass down.
"I wanna lose three pounds," she declared.
"You're crazy," he replied. She saw Sophia and Morgana approaching their table so she decided to touch his hair.
"Why do you wear your hair like that? You hair looks so sexy pushed back," Nimueh said, pushing his hair back. "Morgana, will you please tell him his hair looks sexy pushed back." Nimueh was dangling Merlin in front of Morgana on purpose. She knew how this would be settled in the animal world. A scene of Morgana jumping onto Nimueh and fighting with her on the ground, popped into her head, along with Merlin and all the other boys shrieking like monkeys. Unfortunately, this was Girl World.
"Your hair looks sexy pushed back," she repeated and he glanced shyly at her, secretly happy about it. It wasn't like Morgana was lying; he did look sexy with his hair pushed back. He always looked sexy anyway. And in Girl World, all the fighting had to be sneaky. She reluctantly sat down, not even bothering to hide her dismay.
Morgause and Nimueh were inspecting themselves in the mirrors, in the girl's toilets whilst Morgana was standing by silently, waiting for Nimueh to say something. Something that she could work with... She, Elena and Trickler always kept their eyes open for opportunities for sabotage.
"All this cranberry juice is making me break out," Nimueh complained.
"Wait. I have this really good skin stuff I'll bring you," the black haired beauty offered.
"OK," the other beauty replied.
Morgana smiled as she entered the toilets, carrying foot cream disguised as facial cleansing gel, courtesy of Elena.
"Nimueh! Here you go," she gave the cream to the other girl.
"Thank you!" Nimueh exclaimed. Morgana was shocked; she didn't know that sorry was a word in Nimueh's vocabulary.
Merlin was eating with Morgause and Sophia when his girlfriend and secret crush came to the table. Morgana sat down next to her half sister, opposite him and Nimueh sat in between him and Sophia.
"Hey," Nimueh chirped cheerfully.
"Hey," he replied, leaning in to kiss her cheek. He made a weird face when he smelt her face. "Your face smells like peppermint." She just giggled and he kissed her. Morgana looked away, to her sister, who gave her a smile.
Morgana and Elena walked through the halls to find every girl wearing shirts and tops with two holes, on their breasts. Elena had cut Regina's top like that in order to humiliate her but since she was a fashion icon, everyone copied her. The two girls stared in disbelief. Later on, they went to find Trickler.
"This is ass, you guys. It's been a month, and all we've done is make Nimueh's face smell like a foot," Elena complained, as they stood in line to buy candy canes.
"I've been really busy with choir," Trickler defended himself.
"We gotta crack Sophia Tír-Mòr. We crack Sophia, and then we crack the lock on Nimueh's whole dirty history," Elena concluded.
"Say "crack" again," Trickler said.
"Crack," she repeated. "All right, let's reconvene tonight."
"I can't. I have to go to Nimueh's to practice for the talent show," Morgana interjected. "We're doing a dance to this song..."
"Jingle Bell Rock," her friends finished for her in unison.
"You guys know that song? Everybody in the whole school knows that song," Elena replied.
"They do it every year," Trickler added.
"Well, I have to learn it," Morgana said. She saw Nimueh walking towards them. "Uh-oh, go!" Her friends scurried off like rats. "Hey," she greeted the Queen Plastic.
"Why were you talking to Elena Gawant?" Nimueh asked, more like demanded.
"I don't know, I mean, she's so weird. She just, you know, came up to me and started talking to me about crack," Morgana lied.
"She's so pathetic," Nimueh scoffed. Morgana reluctantly nodded. "Let me tell you something about Elena Gawant. We were best friends when we first came to high school." Morgana's eyes almost popped out. "I know, right? It's so embarrassing. I don't even... Whatever. So then in Year 8, I started going out with my first boyfriend, Mordred, who was totally gorgeous, but then he transferred to Avalon High. And Elena was, like, weirdly jealous of him." Morgana was confused at this point. "Like, if I would blow her off to hang out with Mordred, she'd be like, 'Why didn't you call me back?' And I'd be like, 'Why are you so obsessed with me?' So then, for my birthday party, which was an all-girls pool party, I was like, 'Elena, I can't invite you, because I think you're a lesbian.' I mean, I couldn't have a lesbian at my party. There were gonna be girls there in their bathing suits. I mean, right? She was a lesbian. So then her mom called my mom and started yelling at her. It was so retarded. And then she dropped out of school because no one would talk to her." Morgana's heart broke for Elena. Now she understood why Elena hated Nimueh so much. That was what Trickler almost told her on two occasions but Elena cut him off. "When she came back in the fall for year 9 and her hair was messed up and she was totally weird, and now I guess she's on crack," Nimueh finished, without a hint of remorse. Morgana hated her guts even more now; she just stared at her.
A girl named Kara walked past wearing an old skirt. "Oh my God! I love your skirt. Where did you get it?" Morgana only averted her gaze to the other girl when Nimueh began to talk again.
"It was my mom's in the 80s," Kara replied timidly because she was talking to the Queen Plastic and in the presence of another one.
"Vintage. So adorable," Nimueh chimed.
"Thanks," Kara chanted, walking off.
"That is the ugliest F-ing skirt I've ever seen," Nimueh scowled. Morgana immediately remembered her second day at school. She covered her bracelet subconsciously whilst Nimueh was still eyeing Kara as she walked away. Nimueh looked at Morgana again and smiled, so Morgana returned a fake one.
"So are you gonna send any candy canes?" she asked.
"No. I don't send them, I just get them," Nimueh boasted smugly. "So you better send me one, byotch. Love you." She walked off after blowing her 'friend' a kiss. Morgana was definitely sending her one. She was gonna use three candy canes to crack Sophia Tír-Mòr.
"Three, please," she said to the person at the candy canes stall.
"Why, Man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus" might translate into "Why is he so huge and obnoxious?" the Mrs Finna Catha said. Trickler entered the classroom, dressed and chuckling 'ho-ho-ho' like Santa.
"Candy cane-grams!" he announced.
"OK, hurry up," Mrs Catha said, walking over to her desk.
"Kara Druid? Two for you," he said, tossing two candy canes at her. "Lancelot du Lac? Four for you, Lancelot du Lac. Go and dance a lot, Lancelot!" he joked, Morgana's popular guy friend four candy canes. "And Morgan Pendragon. Do we have a Morgan Pendragon here?
"It's Morgana," Morgana corrected, knowing that Trickler (and Elena) just liked to call her 'Morgan.'
"Oh, Morgana, here you go. One for you." Sophia was about to say something but he cut her off. "And none for Sophia Tír-Mòr. Bye." He literally ran out of the classroom.
"Who's that from?" Sophia inquired, desperately looking at Morgana's candy cane.
"'Thanks for being such a great friend. Love, Nimueh.' That's so sweet!" Morgana cooed.
"OK, back to Caesar," Mrs Finna continued the lesson. Once Sophia thought Nimueh was mad at her, the secrets started pouring out. All Morgana had to do was wait for one she could use.
"Thank you. Welcome to the North Shore High School winter talent show. Let me hear you make some noise," Uther yelled. Everyone started to cheer and scream. "All right, settle down. Our first act calls himself a star on the rise. Let's hear it for Trickler!"
"Don't look at me," Trickler muttered, but to who was unclear. "Every day is so wonderful..." he sang.
"I mean, why would Nimueh send you guys candy canes and not me?" Sophia wondered, for the hundredth time today.
"Maybe she forgot about you," Morgause suggested from her right, doing her make up in front of the mirrors like Sophia.
"Yeah, Nimueh has been acting kind of weird lately," Morgana interjected, from where she was standing, next to Morgause. "I mean, is something bothering her?" She waited for a secret to spill out. However, she received the most useless one ever.
"Well, I mean, her parents totally don't sleep in the same bed anymore, if that's what you mean," Sophia blurted out, doing her lip-gloss. "Oh, my God. Don't tell her I told you that!"
"I am beautiful in every single way," Trickler continued to sing as Valiant's trainer hit him. "Yes, words can't bring me down..." He stepped forward and chucked the trainer right back at its owner. "Don't you bring me down today..." Morgana and Sophia were standing just behind the curtain, waiting for their turn.
"I mean, no offense, but why would she send you a candy cane? She doesn't even like you that much," Sophia admitted making Morgana frown. "Maybe she feels weird around me because I'm the only person that knows about her nose job," she babbled, letting out another useless secret. "Oh, my God. Pretend you didn't hear that."
"Yo, yo, yo! All you sucker MCs ain't got nothing on me.
From my grades to my lines, You can't touch Cedric G!
I'm a Mathlete so nerd is inferred,
but forget what you heard I'm like James bond the Third.
Shaken not stirred I'm Cedric R
When I sneak in your door and make love to your woman on the bathroom floor
I don't play it like Shaggy; you'll know it was me because the next time you see her, she'll be like
Ricky!" Cedric rapped with his mates Edwin Muirden and two others in the background.
"Thank you, Cedric, that's enough," Uther chided, trying to get him offstage.
"Happy holidays, everybody," Cedric yelled, going backstage. A few people booed but the majority (mostly dirty guys) cheered.
"C.R. And the Power of Three. That was something," Uther commented.
"Does it bother you that they still use your original choreography?" Trickler asked Elena, as the Plastics positioned themselves.
"Shut up," Elena retorted. Cedric walked past but stopped to admire her from behind.
"Damn," he said.
"What?" Elena asked, irritated.
"I'd rather see you out there shaking that thing," he crooned, before walking away. Elena was shocked and Trickler sniggered.
"Sophia, switch sides with Morgana," Nimueh ordered.
"But I'm always on your left," Sophia protested.
"That was when there were three of us, and now the tallest go in the middle," Nimueh proclaimed.
"But the whole dance will be backwards. I'm always on your left," Sophia argued as Morgause tried to work out if she really was shorter than her sister.
"And right now you're getting on my last nerve. Switch!" the Queen snapped. Sophia had to obey and swapped with Morgana. Morgause smiled happily at her sister, who honestly returned it.
"And finally, please welcome to the stage Santa's Helpers doing 'Jingle Bell Rock!'" Uther announced enthusiastically because his daughter was up next. Sophia ran up to the CD player to select their song and waved at Valiant. She returned to Nimueh's right and they began dancing as soon as the singer started singing. Cailleach got up eagerly, putting the recorder on and hopping onto the aisle.
'Jingle bell, jingle bell Jingle bell rock! Jingle bells swing And jingle bells ring! Snowing and blowing Up bushels of fun' Vivienne and Agravaine scowled disapprovingly at that part of the dance, when the girls slapped their inner thighs and turned around and Uther looked solemn like when his wife Ygraine had passed away. However, Cailleach danced along in joy. 'Now the jingle hop has begun Jingle bell, jingle bell Jingle bell rock Jingle bells chime In jingle bell time Dancing and prancing In Jingle bell Square.' Sophia turned the wrong way, due to the position change so Nimueh turned her around accidentally pushing her into the player making Sophia press pause with her shoe. 'In the fr...' She quickly regained her place but Nimueh beckoned her to press play again. Sophia ran up to it and kicked it onto Valiant's head unintentionally.
"Jason?" she whimpered whilst all the other girls glanced at each other and the audience warily. It was so awkward even Cailleach had stopped dancing.
"What a bright time It's the right time," Morgana sang, continuing the dance.
"To rock the night away! Jingle bell time Is a swell time To go riding in a one-horse sleigh." Merlin decided to sing along too, making the entire audience follow suit. Now all the Plastics were singing too and dancing again. Miss Tregor got to the piano and played the tune for them. "Giddyap jingle horse Pick up your feet Jingle around the clock Mix and mingle in a jingling beat That's the jingle bell That's the jingle bell That's the jingle bell rock!" Morgana and Nimueh were laughing, their backs pressed against the others' and even Sophia was happy again. They all held hands and curtsied.
When they got backstage Morgause and Morgana squealed, the former hugging her sister. Merlin came up to them and put his arms around Morgana and Nimueh's shoulders.
"That was the best it ever went!" she exclaimed.
"That was awesome," Merlin complimented, leaning in to kiss Nimueh whilst squeezing Morgana tightly.
"Lip gloss," Nimueh protested, jerking away before he could kiss her.
"Hey, good job, Cornwall," Cedric praised Morgana, walking past.
"Thanks," she replied.
"Morgana's blushing," Morgause observed, even though it wasn't for the reason she assumed it was.
"Oh my God. You totally have a crush on that guy," Sophia exclaimed.
"No, I don't," Morgana protested, truthfully. She was blushing at the attention and praise she received not because it was Cedric who said it.
"That's why you wanted to join the Mathletes," Sophia said.
"Mathletes? You hate math," Merlin stated, jealousy very well hidden in his voice.
"Look how red she is. You love him. And he totally complimented you," Sophia commented. "That is so fetch!"
"Sophia, stop trying to make 'fetch' happen. It's not going to happen!" Nimueh snapped.