Belle woke up just as it was beginning to get light outside. She was a little groggy and the first thing she noticed was her back was kind of sore. The next thing she noticed was a slight snoring coming from beside her. She rolled over. Adam was sleeping on his back with arm draped over his eyes. Belle now remembered falling asleep in the treehouse with Adam. She flipped open her phone; it was only five-thirty. She still had plenty of time to go home and get ready for school. Belle dug around in her purse until she found some gum. She popped it in her mouth, then leaned over and woke up Adam.

Adam groaned and rubbed his eyes. He looked up at Belle and smiled. She handed him a piece of gum. At first he looked confused, but then he stuck the gum in his mouth.

"We should probably get going," Belle said.

Adam nodded and they made their way down the ladder. They were both still tired, so it was a quiet ride back to Belle's house. When Adam pulled into her driveway, Belle noticed her dad's car and her heart sank. He wasn't supposed to get back from his business trip for another two days. Belle got out of the car and slowly made her way up to the door. Maurice was waiting inside. When he saw Belle a look of anger crossed his face.

"Where have you been?" Maurice asked.

"I was with Adam and we just fell asleep," Belle said, quietly.

"You fell asleep! Why were you in bed with a boy?" Maurice demanded.

"Papa, it wasn't like that," Belle said. "We were just hanging out and-"

"You're only seventeen, it is unacceptable for you to be out all night," Maurice interrupted. "I'm so disappointed in you. This is really bad, Belle. You screwed up."

Belle lowered her head. "I'm sorry."

"You're grounded for two weeks," Maurice stated. "And you are never to hang out with that Adam boy again. Do you understand me?"

"But, Papa, why?"

"He's bad news, Belle. And obviously he's isn't a very good influence, either," Maurice said.

"That's not true! It was an accident-"

"You will not hang out with Adam ever again. End of discussion!"

"Papa-"

"That is enough, Belle!" Maurice shouted.

Belle snapped her mouth shut and went up to her room. She closed the door behind her and quickly pulled out her cellphone. She knew her dad would take her phone away, so she sent out a quick text to Adam.

I got grounded for being out all night. My dad said I can't hang out with you anymore. I'll see you at school. Don't respond to this.

After the text sent, Belle erased all the messages in her inbox and outbox. She knew her dad would read her texts and she didn't want him to see the messages between her and Adam.

When Belle was ready for school, she went back downstairs. Her dad was waiting by the front door. He held out his hand and Belle dropped her phone in it.

"You can only use your car to go to work and school. You will come right home after," Maurice said.

Belle nodded and left. She was glad her dad didn't know she tutored Adam after school; from now on that would be her only time with Adam.

XXX

When Esmeralda walked down the hall Monday morning, everyone was staring at her and whispering. Esmeralda shrugged it off; it wasn't uncommon for rumors to be going around about her. Although, she did wonder who they were saying she was sleeping with now.

Phoebus was waiting for Esmeralda at her locker. He looked disappointed and angry. Esmeralda rolled her eyes. He really needed to get over the whole Naveen thing.

"Why didn't you tell me, Esmeralda?" Phoebus demanded.

"Tell you what?" Esmeralda asked, working the combination on her locker. Phoebus slammed her locker shut just as she got it open. She shot him a dirty look. "What is your problem?"

Phoebus leaned in and lowered his voice. "Why didn't you tell me you're pregnant?"

Esmeralda was floored. "What? Phoebus, I'm-"

A sudden realization came to Phoebus. "Oh, my god. I'm such an idiot. It's Naveen's, isn't it? It has to be. Everything makes sense now. That's why you were protesting so much last night when I told you not hang out with him."

"Phoebus, just stop!" Esmeralda hissed. She looked around and noticed everyone around them was listening to their conversation. Including Snow White and Cinderella, who quickly hurried away.

Of course, Esmeralda thought. They heard me throwing up and assumed it was because I'm pregnant. And, no doubt, they're going off right now to tell everyone Naveen is the father.

"Phoebus, I'm not pregnant," Esmeralda said, loud enough for everyone around them to hear.

"Snow White and Cinderella said you had morning sickness," Phoebus stated.

"They heard me throwing up," Esmeralda said. She lowered her voice. "I can't talk about that now, though. This is not the time or the place for that conversation."

Esmeralda could tell Phoebus didn't believe her. "Don't lie to me, Esmeralda."

"I'm not. Can we please talk about this later?" Esmeralda was getting frustrated.

"No. What is going on? No more secrets," Phoebus demanded.

Esmeralda looked anxiously around at everyone, then back at Phoebus. "I throw up after I eat."

Phoebus' eyes grew wide. He grabbed her arm and pulled her outside. When he found a secluded spot they stopped.

"What is going on with you, Esmeralda?" Phoebus asked.

"Well, I'm definitely not pregnant." Esmeralda hesitated, then continued. "My modeling agent told me I'm too fat and I need to lose weight before she'll represent me again. So, I started throwing up to reach my goal weight."

"Esmeralda, that's stupid. Not to mention dangerous," Phoebus said. "Why would you do something like that to yourself?"

"I wanted to lose the weight quickly."

"Babe, you have to stop this," Phoebus said.

Esmeralda nodded. "I will, I promise."

"If you really want to lose weight, not that you need to but if you want to, I can help you with a diet and exercise plan," Phoebus suggested.

"Thank you."

Phoebus pulled Esmeralda into a hug. "Esmeralda, please take care of my girlfriend."

XXX

"Good morning, pretty girl."

Ariel closed her locker and turned around. "Good morning, Eric."

"How did you sleep last night?"

"Good, actually. How 'bout you?"

Eric shook his head. "I didn't sleep much. I was thinking about you all night. You were even in my dream."

Ariel blushed. "What was the dream about?"

"You were swimming in the ocean and singing to me," Eric said. "Before I fell asleep last night I was thinking about how much fun I had with you last night at Wendy's party."

Ariel smiled at him. "I had fun, too."

"Ariel, I want to be your only one," Eric said. "If I asked you to be exclusive with me, what would you say?"

Ariel giggled. "I don't know. Ask me and find out."

Eric reached into his backpack and pulled out a white carnation. He handed it to Ariel. "Ariel, will you be girlfriend?"

Ariel took the flower. "Yes."

Eric put his hands on either side of Ariel's face and kissed her forehead. "Come with me." He took Ariel's hand and they hurried off.

Ariel smiled to herself as they ran down the hallway and outside to the courtyard. A lot of the students hung out there before school. Eric led Ariel over to the big rock in the center. He took her books and set them on the ground next to it. He then climbed on the rock and pulled Ariel up with him. She struggled to stay on the rock. Eric wrapped his arm tightly around her waist and held her next to him. Ariel gripped his shirt to keep her balance. Eric whistled and everyone looked at them.

"I want everyone to know that I'm the luckiest guy in Andalasia," Eric announced. He looked down at Ariel and smiled at her. "I'm Ariel's boyfriend."

Ariel blushed and her heart started racing. Before she knew what was happening, Eric leaned forward and kissed her. It was her first kiss. Ariel was still gripping Eric's shirt and she could feel that his heart was beating just as fast as hers. When the kiss ended a couple people clapped. Ariel heard someone squealing and saw that Charlotte was standing a few feet away from the rock. Eric jumped off the rock and helped Ariel down. Charlotte ran over to Ariel as Eric was picking Ariel's books up off the ground.

Charlotte gave Ariel a big hug. "This is so exciting!"

"I have to get going," Eric said, handing Ariel her books.

"Okay." Ariel gave Eric a small wave as he walked away.

"He gave you a flower?" Charlotte asked when she noticed the carnation resting on top of Ariel's books. "He's so romantic."

Charlotte pulled a pair of scissors out of her backpack, then picked up the carnation. She then cut the stem so it was only a few inches long. She took a couple bobby pins out of her makeup bag and held them in her mouth. Charlotte held the carnation against the side of Ariel's head and wrapped some of her hair around its stem, then used the bobby pins to hold it in place. Charlotte stepped back and smiled at Ariel.

The bell rang then and Charlotte hurried off to her class. Ariel hugged her books to her chest as she walked down the hall. She gently touched her lips and smiled. She could still taste Eric's kiss.