Ella Augustus didn't consider herself miserable, even though she had exactly three outfits in her wardrobe and always seemed to be rushing from one place to another with a million things to do. She didn't consider herself happy either, even though she was always humming something under her breath and she did tend to daydream about how life might be after she was done with school. As a fact, she didn't have the time to consider things like happiness, not right now; she had grades to keep and work to do at home so she could keep her scholarship to Disney Memorial Academy.
DMA looked even more impressive than the pamphlet pictures had depicted. All of the buildings were three stories high or taller, and there was a courtyard in the center, somewhere, where all the students hung out during their free time. The dorm rooms for out-of-town students and the main offices were right around where Ella stood, the 540 classrooms hidden in the mess behind. Not to mention all the studios and workrooms and workshops that had been added in so that kids could specialize their education. It gave Ella butterflies to think of finding all of her classes alone today. She hadn't had the time to take the freshman tour.
A group of well-dressed boys and girls walked around her to get onto campus, looking as elegant and well behaved as royalty. A few of the girls looked at her in distaste, taking in her simple brown shorts, plain white button up shirt, and messy blond ponytail tied back with a tired black ribbon.
Suddenly self-conscious, Ella bent down to pretend that she was retying her black tennis shoe, when in reality, she was checking on the stitches she'd made in the ripped seam along the toes. She really hoped she wouldn't have to buy new shoes; that'd just be the icing on the cake after the summer she'd had.
"Ella!"
She straightened quickly and turned to see Madeleine Tremaine, her aunt from her deceased mother's side, still parked in the driveway. Ella knew she'd be really annoyed if she knew that Ella still called her Madeleine Tremaine behind her back; that was her married name and she was currently divorced.
"Ella, I forgot to tell you, I won't be able to pick you up after school today," Madeleine said once Ella had come back to the car window. "The girls have to go shopping for their first day of school."
Ella swallowed her annoyance; she knew the ride to school had been too good to be true. Now she'd have to walk home and that'd take so much longer than if she'd just taken her bike. She had so much to do too…
Ella took comfort in the fact that all of Madeleine's money hadn't been enough to get her own two daughters into DMA. And there was no way that they had the grades or talent to get a scholarship like Ella. School could be a sort of relief now…
"Do you need me to pick up anything while we are out?" Madeleine asked, raising her eyebrows from behind her giant sunglasses, daring Ella to ask.
"No," Ella shook her head and smiled sweetly, which wasn't that hard to do now, after this last summer. "I can stop by the grocery store on the way home today."
"Alright, sweety," Madeleine smiled her ultra-white teeth. "I'll see you for dinner. Don't forget…"
Ella interrupted, "Sauce on the side this time and no garlic on the bread. I remember." She hated it when Madeleine Tremaine called her 'sweety.'
Madeleine smiled again, a hint of irritation in the curve of her lips. "And maybe you could find a dessert tonight too. Something we've never tried before."
Ella's shoulders began to ache with tension. "Alright. I'll see what I can find."
Her aunt fluttered her too-long eyelashes, simpering, "You're a doll, Ella. Hugs and kisses!" Madeleine Tremaine obnoxiously readjusted her fake breasts beneath her too-tight t-shirt, and then drove off in her shiny, sky-blue SUV.
Ella sighed and pulled her shirt further down her hips. She'd made it through the summer with her extended family and she'd just have to keep on surviving for the next four years. She could do it. Dad had been so proud when she got this scholarship, she couldn't loose it now.
Stubbornness renewed, Ella turned back to the campus, her hands clenched around her bags' strap. According to her watch, she had twenty minutes to find her first class, Algebra II. Well, first she should find her locker, incase she needed to use it today. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to find her way.
Walking around the campus was an almost surreal experience. It didn't feel like any high school Ella could dream up. There were trees every few feet along the sidewalks while she walked around, and the little patches of lawn were immaculate. The buildings were completely free of graffiti and their architecture was more like that of castles or government buildings than educational institutions. Thankfully, there were signs every once in a while to point students in the right direction and brass numbers on the buildings to tell you which classrooms were in them.
After a few minutes of wandering, Ella started looking for the courtyard; she'd seen a picture of it and knew that the lockers lined the buildings around it. But she couldn't see anything to point her in the right direction and she didn't dare to ask anyone where to go. She'd read somewhere that DMA was one-third scholarship kids, but she couldn't see anyone dressed even a little less than perfectly.
Eventually, she wandered into a little crossroads where a girl, dressed in a pair of oil-stained overalls over a white t-shirt, was sitting on the edge of a fountain, reading. She was very pretty, beautiful even, but something about her seemed just a little… odd. Maybe it was her barely tamed, chocolaty hair, which she didn't seem to notice was falling out of her ponytail into her eyes. Or maybe the way she was completely absorbed in the book on her lap, absolutely oblivious to the raucous laughter coming from the group of glistening girls on the other side of the fountain.
Ella stepped up to her, half-expecting the girl to look up once she realized someone was standing so close to her. But the girl didn't notice her.
Ella cleared her throat.
The girl finally turned to her with brightened blue eyes, and smiled, "Hi."
"Hi," Ella returned, smiling as well. "I was wondering if you could help me."
"Oh, of course," the girl said, standing and tucking her book into her overall's oversized pocket. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to ignore you. I'm notorious for getting caught up in my books. I'm Belle."
"Ella."
"So, what can I help you with? Is this your first year?" Belle asked.
Ella nodded. "Yeah. Is it that obvious?"
Belle shrugged, "It's just that you're sporting that certain 'awed' look that everyone wears their first time on campus. Did you not attend the Freshman Orientation?"
Ella shook her head. "I didn't have time this summer. I'm just looking for my locker…"
"Oh, that's all the way back by the Gates… Come on, I'll show you the way."
Belle began walking back the way Ella had come, and Ella hesitated a moment before following.
Flynn Rider didn't see the point of school. He already knew everything that he'd need to know for his future, and he had the talent for it as well. But because he was a ward of the State and the State apparently kept tabs on his exploits in shop class, he was in this prissy school for rich kids, learning basic engineering, which wasn't going to help with his future plans.
On the plus side, rich girls wore the really slutty clothes that were somehow more respectable than what the other girls could afford. And of course, the rich girls in slutty clothes couldn't get enough of Flynn's good looks and dastardly ways. He'd just recently taken to leaving a bit of beard on his chin and he had to say, combined with his longish dark hair, the attention he got was astounding.
As he walked through the DMA Gates for his second year, Flynn scanned the crowd. There were kids he vaguely recognized, and kids that were obviously new. As always, the ones in relatively normal clothes were grouped together and the ones with gold jewelry stayed away from them. Flynn flashed his pearly-whites at a pair of high-class girls, who didn't bother disguising their interest. He knew the blue button-up shirt he was wearing showed off his toned shoulders and flat stomach; it also helped that he'd left the top few buttons open.
Flynn's ears pricked up as he strutted past a father-son combo standing by an expensive looking car. "Alright, Hercules, just remember what I said…" The rich father was apparently trying to convince his really tall, beefy-looking offspring that the big ol' seniors wouldn't eat his freshman hide, and judging by the pout of his lips, he didn't believe his daddy.
Flynn had enough decency to turn away before he snickered. "Good Lord, did you hear the name on that kid?" he hissed to his friend. "Makes you wonder what the hell his parents were smoking when they filled out the birth certificate, eh?"
Aladdin Street reached up to itch his wild head of hair and turned to Flynn with a raised eyebrow, "Look who's talking, Eugeee…"
"Hey, hey, hey, watch it, Al," Flynn punched Aladdin's shoulder with a little more force than was friendly.
Aladdin smirked, but let his friend's real name go on unheard, rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder. Dressed in dirty, patched sweatpants and a sleeveless purple t-shirt, Aladdin looked as comfortably careless as Flynn looked vigilantly groomed, but he still managed to look just as handsome as his friend. Many girls were very surprised to find that he smelled really good… for being a seemingly homeless bum.
Aladdin and Flynn had been friends since their first encounter last year. They just had too much in common to not get along. They were both orphans, both handsome, both very skilled in engineering, both athletic and agile. Although Aladdin tended to be kinder towards others and a little more conservative with the ladies, not to mention less narcissistic.
"Ready for school eh, Rider?"
The two boys turned around to find the red-headed Stabbington Brothers, Boyd and Jasper, standing right behind them, looking as tall and menacing as the last time they'd seen them during the summer.
Aladdin visibly jumped, looking from his friend to the two thirty-something-year-olds and back again in barely concealed panic.
Flynn turned on the charm, not that he really ever turned it off when in public. "Hey! What's up, my Stab-bros? I didn't know you went to DMA!"
Aladdin smiled at Flynn's joke and held his ground, purely out of loyalty to the arrogant ass, and saw Jasper's one good eye flick over to him. Aladdin didn't react, staring him down. He really hoped his eye wouldn't start twitching; he didn't normally stick around when someone looked at him like this, which was one of the few reasons he was still alive, to be honest.
Boyd Stabbington, the only Brother that ever talked, ignored Flynn's joke and growled, "We just came to make sure you weren't going to flake off on us this weekend, Rider."
"Pssht," Flynn waved his hand dismissively. "C'mon, guys, I thought we were passed all this. Have I ever disappointed you before?"
The Brothers simply continued to stare down at Flynn, their faces stony.
Flynn's smile dropped dramatically into a dispassionate expression. "Ouch," he said flatly. Then he shrugged and said, "Look, I'm not stupid enough to flake. Contrary to belief, I'm actually very reliable."
Boyd and Jasper's eyes flicked to Aladdin standing at Flynn's side.
Flynn caught the movement, "Oh, don't worry. Al's a friend." He threw an arm across Aladdin's shoulder.
For the thousandth time since meeting Flynn Rider, Aladdin wished he wasn't such a… prick. He was going to get them both in serious trouble, if nothing worse happened first.
"Alright, Rider," Boyd said in his grating voice, leaning down so he could whisper. "Midnight exactly. Usual place."
Flynn nodded, outwardly serious. "I'll bring the snacks this time. Beef jerky? Donuts? Pie?"
The Brothers turned and began walking away while casting wary glances up at the school buildings.
Soon as they were out of earshot, Aladdin shoved Flynn away in agitation. "Why didn't you tell me you were meeting them again?"
Flynn shrugged his concern off and started walking further onto campus. "Because I knew you'd want in. I couldn't have you crampin' my style, Al."
Aladdin narrowed his eyes, "Flynn, those guys are dan…"
"Shut up, will you? I know what I'm doing." Flynn was too confident to worry about himself. He knew how real his situation was; he'd known how real it was ever since he'd first searched the Brothers out. He could handle it.
Aladdin gave up, shaking his head in worried disgust. Flynn was the closest thing to family he had; he cared about him even though the asshole insisted on searching out trouble. Aladdin might have the occasional outburst, but at least he was rational enough to never run back into a trap he'd just narrowly escaped.
Megara Hayden didn't have friends. She might wish that it could be helped, but it couldn't. And if she thought about it, it was so much easier when the people she betrayed didn't like her. Easier when she didn't like them.
And she would. Betray them, that is. As soon as her 'father-figure' got wind that she'd made friends with one of these rich and/or talented people, he'd be making a plan on how to manipulate them. And she did it when he asked. Almost without resistance nowadays.
She feared she was beginning to like it. And she expressed her fear with sarcasm most of the time, which didn't help with her friendliness problem.
Silently lounging on the edge of a fountain, Megara stared at the children gathering in the Courtyard. She was very skinny and a little on the tall side. Her figure added to her wiliness in a way that worked with the beauty in her angular face and kinky, long brown hair, which she preferred to keep in front of her face to some degree.
Dressed as she was in a lavender colored, strappy designer dress and sandals, no one would guess she used to live in the slums. Anyone who didn't know her already would never guess she was the ward of one of the most notorious criminal kingpins in the country. Harry Pluto, affectionately known as Hades among his friends, had taken Megara under his coal black wing when she was fifteen, and now she was stuck there, in every sense of the word.
"Hi, Meg!" called a sweet, bell-like voice. "Have a nice summer?"
Meg. She'd forgotten that she'd asked people here to call her that rather than her full name.
Megara turned to raise an eyebrow at whoever it was that had called her. It was Belle Delacruse, who'd somehow managed to remain friendly towards Megara.
Meg snorted indecently, "If by nice you mean boring as sludge. Yours?"
Belle smiled, "My summer was fantastic, thank you. Well, see you around." The beautiful brunette then turned to the blond girl she was obviously guiding around campus, and left Meg alone again.
Meg sighed and leaned forward to put her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand. She was supposed to be 'recruiting friends' so that she could invite them to Hades' party in a month; he wanted her to befriend a certain list of children, so that he could have a discrete connection with their parents.
Running the list of names through her head, she realized that one of her 'assignments' was standing just a few feet away. As much as she'd love to inconvenience Hades, she knew that it wouldn't help her in any way.
So, plastering on a smile, she stood and walked to a small group of tall, brutish looking boys. The one on her list was named Rio Nessus and had the largest muscle-mass of the group by far, not to mention the least amount of charm/appeal. But his daddy was at the head of the largest shipping company along the Mississippi River, and for reasons unknown, Hades wanted to get on his good side.
That was why Meg would have to play friendly to his inelegant, unpopular bully of a son.
"Hi, Rio," she said brightly.
Nessus turned, looking a little shocked to see her standing right beside him, but then he got a glint in his mud-brown eyes that made Meg want to gag. For the millionth time, she hated her job.
After fifteen years of solitude, Rapunzel O'Dawn couldn't stand being on her family's estate any longer. After months of gathering courage, she'd snuck a phone call to her parents requesting to be sent to school like other kids, and of course, they'd complied.
Now – finally - Rapunzel was going to school at DMA!
Madame Gothel hadn't been very happy when she found out Rapunzel had gone behind her back to bother her parents about such a thing as school. She'd given her such a lecture, and then proceeded to remind her of all the things that could go wrong while she was away from home, telling her over and over how inadequate her skills were to handle the world.
It made Rapunzel feel ridiculously guilty sometimes when she thought of how she'd disappointed Madame Gothel, but right now, she was just too excited to worry about it. Walking around in the Courtyard, Rapunzel realized she'd never seen so many people at once before. But instead of feeling overwhelmed, like Madame Gothel had warned, Rapunzel felt so very, very happy to see them all.
She stumbled and tripped over all the feet that were suddenly in the way, and she had to be careful not to hit anyone with her very long hair, but overall, she was having a fantastic time!
She still hadn't said hello to anyone yet. She wanted it to be special, being her first time and all, so she was looking for the perfect opportunity. Madame Gothel had always taught her that first impressions were tantamount and Rapunzel wanted to do it right.
There was a pair of girls sitting on a bench. They looked a few years older than she was, and had really pretty figures, like Madame Gothel's. Both of them had black hair like Madame Gothel's too, though one girl's was a little less curly than Madame Gothel's, bushing out in gentle waves, and the other girl's was completely straight down her back like a slab of rock.
Excitement building, Rapunzel walked over to them with a happy with bounce in her step and said, "Hello!" She smiled brightly.
The girls looked up, surprised. Rapunzel noted that the one with straight hair had black-brown eyes and the other had bright green eyes, like Rapunzel's. It made Rapunzel smile even wider.
"Hi," the one with curly hair said, giving an unsure smile.
Rapunzel watched them look down at her clothes, and was puzzled when they seemed to dislike her dress. She'd taken a lot of time to get dressed this morning, and her light purple sundress was very pretty, in her opinion. Madame Gothel had even said she looked nice. Together, they'd made sure her long blond hair was pulled back into an intricate braid woven with flowers. She'd remembered her shoes too.
"Have a nice day," Rapunzel said to the girls with a little less enthusiasm than before, and walked away. She thought she heard the girls giggling behind her, but couldn't be sure. She wondered what she said to make them laugh.
Rapunzel moved over to an abandoned bench and sat down. She realized that she'd been secretly hoping that Madame Gothel was wrong about the world, and now, she was feeling disappointed. Guilt settled into her stomach and she curled inward a little, hoping she hadn't made a bad decision like Madame Gothel said she did.
Someone suddenly plopped down beside her on the stone bench, making her jump. Looking over, Rapunzel saw that it was a tall, muscular boy with reddish-blond hair and nice-looking blue eyes.
"Hi," he said, smiling in what Rapunzel thought was a friendly way.
So she answered him. "Hello."
The boy hesitated for a second, and then extended a hand to her, saying, "I'm Hercules. Hercules Romano."
Rapunzel grinned in earnest and grabbed his hand, shaking it up and down with exaggeration. "I'm Rapunzel O'Dawn. It's nice to meet you."
Hercules smiled, "That's a… a cool name, Rapunzel."
"Really?" Rapunzel said happily. "Thank you! I like your name too."
Hercules laughed. "Thanks. You have no idea how much flak I get for my name."
"What's that?" Rapunzel asked excitedly. "Do you think I'll get some too?"
Hercules' eyebrows came down in confusion, "Uh…" Before he could figure out what to tell her, someone started yelling.
Everyone was looking toward the center of the Courtyard, where two people stood next to the fountain. One was a very big football player, if his jacket was any clue, and the other was a tall, thin girl with long, thick hair.
Rapunzel felt her heart start to pound; the boy was holding onto the girl, and apparently, she didn't like it. Several of Madame Gothel's warnings were coming true right before Rapunzel's eyes…
"Not so fast, sweetheart! Come here…"
"…I swear Nessus, put me down or I'll…"
"Oh-ho-ho, I like them fiery…"
"Get away from me! There is no way…"
Before Rapunzel knew he was gone, Hercules was standing next to the struggling couple, a determined look on his face. Rapunzel jumped to her feet, wanting to warn Hercules, but it was a little too late.
"Excuse me!" she heard Hercules say.
The two students looked over at him, both of them looking equally surprised to see him.
Then 'Nessus', who was holding the lanky girl tightly around the waist, sneered, "You want something, shrimp?"
Everyone could've agreed that 'shrimp' wasn't the best way to describe the muscular Hercules, but Rapunzel didn't think anyone would tell that to Nessus. He was too scary.
"I'll have to ask to you let her go," Hercules said evenly, not deterred in the slightest. Rapunzel was impressed by his bravery. It was what she imagined the heroes in her books sounding like. She was glad he'd decided to talk to her; maybe he could be her friend.
The skinny girl was trying to escape Nessus even as she said to Hercules, "Keep moving, Junior!"
Hercules turned to her. "What? You don't...?"
"I can handle this," the girl said fiercely, twisting ineffectively away from Nessus, and then she turned a smile toward Hercules, narrowing her eyes. Her voice was sweet as she said, "Bye."
Rapunzel felt as confused as Hercules looked. The girl was acting as if Hercules trying to help her was annoying. Rapunzel knew she'd be thankful to whoever was trying to help; especially if Nessus' breath was as bad as she suspected.
Belle Delacruse knew she didn't fit in. And it wasn't just because she was a scholarship kid. The other scholarshippers thought she was 'weird' too. So did Ella, though she was pretty good at hiding it. She didn't have any trouble talking with the other students, but they didn't ever seem to enjoy talking to her, so she would just read her books. They were easier to deal with, the characters always being who they seemed to be and never judging her, the reader.
You know, her father was an inventor, and by proxy, a little eccentric. And she was her father's daughter. Maybe he'd rubbed off on her?
"He's a stickler for punctuality, so when the bell rings, you'd better be in your seat or Mr. Cogsworth will start twitching his nose," Belle explained to Ella as they meandered around the Courtyard. "He doesn't really go through with his threats, but once you get him started, you'll never hear the end of it."
An extremely pale, dark-haired girl in a blue and yellow dress walked by, talking with a tall beautiful blond girl in a black vest. "Hello, Snow, Aurora," Belle greeted smiling.
The two girls looked but then quickly looked away, ducking their heads. Belle gave a little inward sigh; she knew they were truly nice people, having been paired up with them in English class last year, but they still wouldn't acknowledge her outside of class. It made her sad, but not hopelessly so.
"Well, that was rude. Why don't they talk to you?" Ella asked.
Belle shrugged, "It's the way things are at DMA. The rich associate with the rich and the scholarship kids with the scholarship kids. I'm sure you've noticed other things like that before now."
Ella nodded, "I guess so. Still, it's so..."
"Archaic?"
Ella scrunched up her nose, "I wouldn't use that word, but... yeah, I think that works."
Yelling began near the center of the Courtyard, catching Belle's attention. It looked like Rio Nessus was bothering someone again, this time being Meg Hayden. "Oh the conceited little boy..." Belle muttered. "Stay here, Ella."
And she quickly wound her way through the crowd to where Rio's friends were standing, a tight, tall group of muscle and low brain-stimulation.
"Gaston!" she called to the dark-haired, handsome Senior. She knew he would at least let her talk to him, possibly even listen to her on account of his obscene obsession with her. Apparently, she was the "hottest babe" he'd ever seen before and was determined to make her go out with him.
"Hey, Belle!" Gaston said, his deep voice oily.
"Can't you stop your friend from terrorizing the female population even on the first day of school?" Belle asked, her hands on her hips.
Gaston looked over to where Rio and Meg were yelling at each other. "What? Rio? Relax, Belle! He's just showing his appreciation..." His smile was disgusting as he attempted to put an arm around her shoulders.
Belle shrugged it off quickly, "You're impossible..."
When a Freshman with red hair suddenly stepped up in the center of the Courtyard, confronting Rio, Belle felt admiration seep up through her chest. She wheeled on Gaston, "It's nice to see that chivalry isn't dead for all of us." And she left him, moving to stand next to Ella once more.
She didn't see the disgruntled expression on Gaston's face as he watched her go.
The girl's eyes were purple. Not blue. Not brown, like her hair. Purple, like her dress…
Hercules felt his stomach jump up and collide with his lungs. He'd never been very good with girls; in his old school, they all had stayed as far away from him as possible because he always seemed to break what he came into contact with. But he'd been fight-training during the summer and was much better at knowing where his feet were... Still couldn't get past the talking-to-girls thing yet though...
Clearing his throat, Hercules stepped forward and attempted to push his way between Nessus and the girl, saying, "Look, I think you should…"
Halfway through his sentence, Hercules was shoved away by the tall football player. He fell on his back, a little dazed and the blood rushing in his ears from the adrenaline pumping his heart. He heard Nessus laughing at him while the girl looked down at Hercules with one raised eyebrow. Some girl was yelling somewhere behind him, telling the two boys to stop being "medieval," and there were shocked murmurs from the crowd, a few chuckles.
Hercules leaped to his feet, allowing instinct to take over as he stepped toward Nessus.
Nessus smirked confidently and puffed out his considerably large chest, not even bothering to let go of the girl. The gigantic boy stepped menacingly toward Hercules.
And Hercules didn't hesitate to punch him in the jaw.
The punch seemed to daze Nessus for a moment as he stumbled backward. Phil would tell him that he needed to get a grip on his emotions, use his head, but Hercules was a little too angry to pay heed to what his short, bearded fight coach would say.
"You're dead, Freshman!"
As Nessus rushed toward him, Hercules stepped to the side and threw a fist into Nessus' gut, using the larger boy's weight and speed to add force. Nessus crashed to ground, clutching his stomach, his mouth gaping. Hercules knew what kind of panic was going on in his opponent's mind, the struggle to get his diaphragm to move, to let him breathe.
Hercules didn't feel too sorry for him.
And he'd completely forgotten about the girl he was trying to rescue until the sounds of splashing and spluttering made him look around at the fountain. She sat in the water, her long hair completely covering her face as she coughed.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Hercules said as he reached toward her and pulled her out of the fountain with barely any effort. He set her down on the fountain edge, saying, "That was dumb of me."
"Yeah," the girl agreed. She'd finally got her dripping hair out of her face then and was staring at Hercules with a half-sarcastic, half-annoyed smile.
Hercules felt his stomach clench again. She really was pretty...
"Say, what's going on here?!"
Hercules' head snapped around to find a very red-faced, white-haired man marching in his direction. "Were you two fighting? Tell me what's going on! Now!"
Hercules felt his mouth open, but he couldn't get himself say anything.
"Misguided as he was, Wonder Boy here was just trying to make Nessus to leave me alone, Mr. Whitefeather." The girl began wringing out her hair as the crowd around them began to thin.
Mr. Whitefeather's strained voice lost some of its animosity as he asked, "How'd you get all wet?"
The girl sighed. "Nessus practically pushed me into the fountain."
"Well, you all need to come to the office with me and we'll get you a towel while I talk with these two," Mr. Whitefeather said, turning on his heel and marching back the way he'd come.
Hercules turned to the girl, choking on his words, "Uh, are you alright… Miss…?"
The girl stood up suddenly, dripping water, "The name is Megara. Friends call me Meg, or at least they would if I had any friends. So, do you have a name to go with those rippling pectorals?" She smirked up at him.
Hercules blinked and laughed nervously, "I… uh…"
Meg leaned in a little, "Are you always this articulate?"
"Hercules!" he exclaimed, then cleared his throat, embarrassed. "My name is Hercules."
"Well, Herc," Meg said, "we'd better follow the Duck before he comes back."
"The Duck?" Hercules asked.
"Its what all the kids call him behind his back."
"Oh."
…
"I know Dad," Hercules repeated into the office phone for the umpteenth time, his head in his free hand.
"I told you to keep your nose clean," Zane Romano said impatiently. "Your classes haven't even started yet, and I'm already getting a phone call from the principal's office… What did the kid say this time? Did he try throwing a Frisbee at you?"
Hercules let his head hang even lower, "This girl was being harassed and I…"
"Wait…what?"
Hercules raised his voice a little. "I stopped this guy Nessus from harassing a girl. I'm not in trouble, Dad. The Vice-Principal isn't even going to put my name in the official report if I don't want it."
There was a pause on the other line, then Mr. Romano sighed, "I'm sorry I snapped, my boy." He sighed again. "I've had quite the day. We'll talk more about this when you get home from school."
"Sure, Dad," Hercules said. "Bye."
"Bye, son."
Hercules handed the handset to the secretary, the Vice-Principal's wife, Daisy. She was a very girly woman with very long eyelashes and white-blond hair, wearing a frilly blue skirt and puffy sleeved shirt.
"You can go to you're first class, hon," she said, giving him a simpering smile.
"Thanks," Hercules answered and stood up.
Just as he was walking out the door into the empty hallway, Meg stepped out of the Duck's office, looking a little drier. Her purple eyes went straight to him, freezing him in his tracks and making his stomach bump into his heart. She didn't seem mad at him, which was good. But that didn't make him any less nervous.
"Hi-ya, Wonder Boy," she said quietly, smirking. "Going my way?" She moved past him, barely even touching him on her way out the door he still held open. She smelled like… he didn't know what, but she smelled really good.
"So…uh…" Hercules said as he followed her.
She looked at him over her shoulder, her long curly hair covering one of her eyes.
Hercules knew just how dumb he looked and sounded, but he couldn't keep his mouth shut. "I mean uh… how'd you get mixed up with the… uh…"
"Big guy with bad breath?" Meg asked. "Well, you know how men are, they think 'no' means 'yes,' and 'get lost' means 'take me I'm yours.'"
Hercules didn't know what to say.
Meg smiled and brushed her hair away from her face. "Don't worry, girls can be the same way. I'm sure you'll find that out later."
Hercules had no idea what that was supposed to mean.
Meg turned to salute him as she said, "Well, Herc, catch ya later. It's been a real slice." She began walking away, her hips swaying almost as if she was exaggerating it.
"Wait!" Hercules called to her, unwilling for her to just walk away with that.
Meg turned back, looking curious.
"Uh…" Now that he had her attention, he had no idea what to say. "Um… you weren't hurt were you?" That didn't sound too dorky, did it?
Meg gave him one of her sweet smirks, her lips pouty. "Hey, I'm alright. I'm a tough girl," she flexed her skinny arm, "I can tie my own shoes and everything."
Hercules laughed weakly, unable to keep from staring at the amusement sparkling in her eyes.
Meg turned and began walking again, waving without looking at him. "Bye-bye, Wonder Boy," she called, her hips bobbing back and forth.
"Bye," Hercules said, waving even though she couldn't see it.