AN: Special thanks to Ishipitallandthensome, the only person to review the last chapter.
The monday after True Hearts Day, Ingrid pulled a pair of gym shorts and a black t-shirt under her green high waisted skirt. She pulled her curl-less hair into a ponytail and slipped on black sneakers.
"You guys going hiking Beast Training too?" Ingrid turned to see Greta putting on sneakers as well.
"Yeah, but I have it first thing in the morning." Both girls made 'ugh!' sounds and slumped dramatically at the idea of trekking through some weird part of the enchanted forest at the start of the day.
"Are you going to be okay having Hopper in your group, Ingy?" Ingrid smiled at her worried friend.
"I'm fine, Grets. I just felt kinda down on myself the other day."
"Well, if you're sure," Greta said hesitantly.
"I'm okay," Ingrid said with a laugh. "But thank you for worrying about me." The two friends hugged and left for the Castleteria.
When they got there, the tables were arranged differently. Instead of royals sitting with their friends and rebels sitting with theirs, each table was shared by seemingly random groups. However, when the girls saw their Beast Training & Care groups sitting together, it made sense. Both girls piled their plates high with pancakes, thanked the lunch lady, and went their separate ways.
"See you after school," Greta said as she walked towards a table with Dexter, Cupid, Raven and Lizzie Hearts sitting at it awkwardly.
Ingrid swallowed a lump in her throat as she saw Hopper sitting with and empty seat beside him. Hoo boy. She took a deep breath and walked over to sit by him. When she sat by him, Hopper turned to give her a lopsided smile. Ingrid felt her snarling stomach quietly backflip as her face heated up.
"Oh, how spellbindingly cute." Ingrid shrieked as Kitty's smiling face materialized inches away from her own. Her arms flung up in the air, Ingrid's pancake covered plate flew out of her grasp as she tried to escape. However, since she was sitting on a bench, she fell backwards instead.
"Whoa!" Both princes lunged towards their falling friend, Hopper's arm wrapping firmly around Ingrid's waist while Daring got an armful of pancakes. Cerise snarled suspiciously at Kitty's disembodied head as it disappeared with a laugh.
"You okay," Hopper asked.
"Yeah," Ingrid squeaked breathlessly before clearing her throat and trying again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for catching me."
"No problem." Daring cleared his throat loudly, and Hopper realized exactly how close together he and 'Greta' were, their noses were almost touching. "Uh..." With a poof, Hopper changed into his amphibian form and was quickly caught by Ingrid. She sat back down and kissed her crush's cheek before quickly turning to Daring and taking back her pancakes.
"And thank you for saving my pancakes, Daring." Ingrid smiled at the blond prince before pouring maple syrup over the stack.
"How can you eat so many of them?" He eyed the large stack, which was at least five pancakes high.
"I don't expect you to condone my choices, just don't judge me for them," she replied as she stuffed the top pancake into her open mouth.
"Oh I'm not judging," Daring said, "in fact I'm rather impressed." Ingrid chuckled around her pancake as Hopper glowered at Daring. "Anyway, as the unfortunate pancake debacle just now clearly showed, we as a group need to learn to work together better without fighting," he said, glaring at Cerise while Kitty stayed invisible.
"Oh, but what fun is life without a little madness," purred Kitty as she appeared, smile first, on the side of Daring opposite from Cerise.
"But what fun is life if we fail the class," Daring challenged. Kitty huffed while Ingrid and Cerise laughed, but on the inside, Kitty didn't mind playing nice until she had the perfect opportunity to pounce.
As the first period Beast Training & Care and Environmental Magic classes trudged through the enchanted forest, Daring watched Hopper and 'Greta' warily. There was something about what Kitty said during breakfast, along with the two fairytales' awkward behavior around each other, that made him uneasy.
"So, what do you do in Environmental Magic class, anyway? It sounds fun."
"Not really, it's mostly just theoretical for me since I can't cast spells. We just learn how our environment impacts us magically and stuff."
"Oh, well it must be such an interesting class for someone who could purrform spells," said Kitty as she levitated by their heads and feigned innocence. Ingrid cowered closer to Hopper and stared nervously at the floating troublemaker. There's no way she knows I'm a witch, Ingrid assured herself, even though she can turn invisible and spy on people. She shook her head. No, she doesn't know. No way.
Once Kitty disappeared, Ingrid turned to whisper in Hopper's ear, "I'm really starting to wish she wasn't in our group."
"Agreed," Hopper said, his ear turning red along with his freckled cheeks as she spoke into it.
As the two first period classes walked into a clearing, Kitty could be heard mewing joyfully, even though no one could see her. Poppa Bear drew a top hat onto a tall bush and it shrunk to reveal Wonderland Grove, with flowers as tall as Poppa Bear himself with striped stalks and bright purple petals, and the doormouse still floating along in a bubble. Kitty appeared and began chasing the bubble as the doormouse ran inside like it was a hamster wheel in an attempt to escape the feline female. The two classes began laughing at the mad spectacle, and as they laughed, Hopper and Ingrid caught each other's eye and smiled. Ingrid turned away first, but still watched her crush from the corner of her eye with a resigned smile. Even though he likes Briar, I'll be fine.
AN: What the hell this is like a filler chapter. So sorry guys, I promise stuff is still going to happen.