As Ingrid burned her ear again with a curling iron - she didn't think of it as hers, even if Greta bought it just for her - Greta turned away from her mirror to help her friend.
"Have you really never used one before?" Ingrid shook her head.
"Never had a reason to." Ingrid moved again, singeing her ear. "No one to teach me, either." Greta sighed.
"I still don't know why you want to go to all this trouble."
"Well, I wanna look nice," Ingrid said shyly. She glanced at the True Hearts Day party invitation, her stomach doing flips. True Hearts Day, from what she'd heard, was all about following your heart no matter what. Since she'd admitted her crush on Hopper to Greta, one of the two people who were both likely to flip out and close enough to Ingrid that a negative reaction would've broken her heart, Ingrid felt ready to do anything.
Including tell Hopper.
Once Greta finished with her hair, Ingrid slipped into a pink dress with red heart trim at the bottom that she'd borrowed from Cupid. Combined with red lacquered nails and matching heels, the outfit stood firmly outside Ingrid's comfort zone. She twirled in front of her mirror and smiled at Greta.
"Well? What do you think?" Greta stared, unamused, at her friend.
"You look nothing like you," she said flatly. Ingrid visibly deflated, slumping at her friend's words. "Why are you doing this? No one else is dressing up. Except Cupid, but she's Cupid and it's a love holiday. What's your excuse?"
"I... I just want to look nice is all." Greta raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
As the girls snuck out of their dorm room, they met up with Cupid and Blondie. The girls all froze at the Headmaster's office as the man's back suddenly went stiff. The headmaster sneezed, and each girl let out a sigh of relief when they realized that they hadn't been caught. Once they were certain they were out of earshot, the four girls laughed.
"Holy happily ever after, I thought he'd caught us!"
"Oh, that sneeze though!" Greta doubled over laughing.
"I know," Blondie said, "It sounded like an angry bear!"
"What did I hear about a bear?" Blondie rolled her eyes as Arcus' curly-haired head rested on her shoulder. "Blondie, did you miss me, princess?" She shoved him away.
"Ugh, as if!" She quickened her stride and linked her arms with Cupid and Ingrid's to avoid the possibility of Arcus invading her personal space again. Ingrid glanced briefly over her shoulder and saw a look of disappointment on the bear-eared boy's face.
As the four girls walked into the dance hall they unlinked their arms. Cupid rushed off to host the party and welcome the DJ, Melody Piper. Blondie pulled her mirrorphone from her pocket and began picking through the crowd for gossip. Ingrid and Greta were left alone, staring wide-eyed at the party around them.
"This is so hexcellent!" Ingrid smiled at her best friend and pulled her on to the dance floor.
"Uh, do you know how to dance," Greta asked.
"Nope! Never done it before. But it looks easy enough, and fun, too!" Greta smiled fondly at her friend's enthusiasm.
"Come on then, I'll teach you." As the two girls danced, Hopper watched from a booth where he and Dexter sat solemnly.
"She looks different." Dexter looked up from the table and avoided looking at Daring. Raven hadn't arrived yet, but even looking at his brother made him depressed.
"Who does?"
"Greta." Dexter followed his friend's stare and saw Ingrid's curled hair and pink dress.
"Holy happily ever after, she does! That is freaky, she's dressed like Cupid."
"She looks better in green. Why do you think she's dressed up like that?" Dexter smiled at the hint of jealousy in Hopper's voice.
"It is a very pink holiday."
"Well, yeah I guess, but no one else is all dressed up like that! Except Cupid, but it's a love holiday, so I don't think it counts." Hopper paused, his white-knuckled grip on the bench of the booth not going unnoticed by Dexter. "Do you think she's dressed up for somebody?" Dexter smiled behind his hand as his friend looked to him worriedly.
"Maybe." Hopper turned to glare at the dance floor again.
"I'm gonna get some punch, do you want any, Dex?" Dexter shook his head. Hopper walked to the punch bowl and calmly tried to ignore the idea that his friend wanted someone to dance with on True Hearts Day. As he stood by the bowl of purple liquid, he couldn't help wondering why it even bothered him. Lost in thought, Hopper failed to notice when Briar walked up to him.
As Ingrid walked away from the dance floor, she balled her hands into fists and tried to convince herself that she could do this. He's just Hopper. Just cute, funny, sweet Hopper who's totally in love with Briar. Her eyes widened when she saw Briar walk up to Hopper. Oh who am I kidding, I can't do this! Ingrid stood a few feet away from the two of them, listening as Briar called Raven over.
"Hey Raven, over here!" Hopper jolted when he heard Briar's voice next to him. When did she get here?!
"Wow, Briar," Raven said with a smile. "You really know how to throw the most hexcellent parties." Briar smiled and placed her hand on Hopper's shoulder, making him jump.
"I had some help." As the two girls looked at Hopper his cheeks turned pink.
"Hehe...I...uhh-" With a puff of pink magic, the frog prince dropped into the punchbowl. "-apriciate your kind kudos, fair maiden." As the two girls laughed, Maddie came up and scooped him up in the punch ladle.
"Hey guys, who's dj-ing tonight?"
"We got the daughter of the Pied Piper!" Maddie tossed him away as she flung up the ladle in excitement. Ingrid cringed as she saw her friend hit the ground, and even though she knew there was no way Hopper would like her back, they were still friends; she would still help him out. She picked her friend up off the floor and gave him a quick kiss to change him back into a human. Hopper adjusted his crown and turned with a smile on his face to thank his friend. However, she was nowhere to be found. He turned back to the girls at the punchbowl.
"Um, did you three see where Greta went?" The three girls shook their heads, and Hopper sighed. He looked for his friend until the pixies passed around the fruit of the heart tree, then he gave up and left the party.
As Hopper left the party, Ingrid sat just outside his view. As she had danced, her hair had slowly been uncurling from sweat and motion, leaving it in random chunks varying from pin straight to perfectly curled. She grabbed a sweaty clump and dropped it so it flopped listlessly back to her face. She watched Apple give Ashlynn her symbolic "heart" and felt her chest give a twinge. Everyone has so much courage. Ashlynn, Raven, Apple, Hunter, all of them. And then here I am, just sitting here feeling bad for myself.
While Ingrid wallowed, Greta and Hans crept up to her quietly from behind. They wrapped their arms around Ingrid's shoulders, both of them holding their fruit from the heart tree.
"Hey, 'Greta'," Greta said. "Happy True Hearts Day! Did you give your little heart-thingy to Hopper?"
"No, I didn't get one to give out." Ingrid watched as the last of the pixies left, clearly not intending to give her one. "Maybe they know I'm never going to have a storybook romance."
"Well, even if you never have a storybook romance-" Greta began.
"-You still have our true hearts," Hans said as he and Greta Placed their heart tree fruits in her hands. Ingrid turned around to face her friends, her eyes wide. "You're like another sister to me now, Ingrid." Hans kept his voice low as he addressed her with her real name. "And frankly, Greta over here couldn't shut up about you as a kid so I think she must be pretty attached, too." Greta elbowed her brother in the stomach as Ingrid giggled.
"Thanks, guys. You're like my siblings for me too."
AN: HOLY SHIT ITS BEEN MONTHS I'M SO SORRY! What the hell happened to the time when I felt bad about not updating after two days? I don't know. If anyone's still reading this, feel free to yell at me. :I
Also, I lied. I'm also going to include Lizzie Hearts, because after seeing the newer Lizzie-centric episodes I've decided that she is the bae and must be included. :3