Rapunzel twirled her pencil as she snuck a peek at Flynn. He was concentrating on his math homework. He always tried really hard at math, but still got the problems wrong and Rapunzel would have to explain it to him. Things between them were slightly awkward, but they weren't as bad as Rapunzel thought they'd be. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. Flynn looked at her and smiled.

"How am I supposed to learn this if you keep distracting me?" Flynn asked.

Rapunzel giggled. "I hear your girlfriend is pretty good at math. I bet you could persuade her to help you with it."

Flynn pretended to think for a second. "Do you think she'd do it?"

Rapunzel shrugged. "You could ask her."

Flynn leaned forward and kissed Rapunzel. "Will you help me with my homework, babe?"

"I don't know..."

Flynn ran his hand down Rapunzel's side. "Please?"

Rapunzel smiled at him. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Flynn gave Rapunzel a mischievous smile, then started tickling her. "Maybe? Are you sure?"

"NO!" Rapunzel squealed, laughing. "No, I won't help you!"

"You won't?" Flynn pinned Rapunzel down on the couch and started tickling her with both hands. "How 'bout now?"

"No!" Rapunzel squealed, again. "I will never give into you," she said in between giggles.

"Rapunzel!"

They both sat up. Rapunzel's mom was standing in the front door with Flynn's mother.

"Flynn, what are you two doing?" Flynn's mom demanded.

"We were just playing around," Rapunzel said, quietly.

"Yeah," Flynn agreed. "We were just taking a quick break from homework."

"Rapunzel, we are going home," Rapunzel's mom said.

"But, mom-"

"Now!"

Rapunzel gathered her stuff and followed her mom outside. She got into the car and slumped down in the passenger seat. Her mom got into the car, slamming her door.

"I did not like what I saw in there, Rapunzel," her mom said as she backed out of the driveway. "I don't want you hanging out with that boy anymore."

"Mom, you can't do that," Rapunzel protested.

"Oh, yes I can. You're grounded, Rapunzel."

XXX

Ariel paced nervously across her room. Eric would be there any minute for dinner. Ariel barely knew Eric and she had no idea what was gong to happen tonight. What if her father didn't like him? What if she found out something about him that she didn't like? What if her dad made steak and Eric is a vegetarian? Ariel threw herself backwards on her bed and sighed. The door bell rang and Ariel covered her face with her pillow. A couple minutes later there was a soft knock on her door.

"Ariel?" It was Arista. "Ariel, Eric is here."

Ariel removed the pillow. "I'm coming."

Ariel forced herself to get up and went downstairs. Eric was still standing in front of the door, being grilled by Attina while Adella looked him up and down. Ariel put herself between Eric and her sisters.

"Hi, Ariel," Eric said.

"Hi." Ariel kissed Eric's cheek, then shot her sisters a dirty look.

Adella skipped away. At first, Attina didn't move, but then she shrugged and followed Adella into the dining room.

"Are you ready for this?" Ariel asked.

Eric smiled. "Definitely."

Ariel led Eric into the dining room and they sat down at the table. Her father came inside a few minutes later, holding a big plate stacked with cheeseburgers. He set the plate down, then took his place at the head of the table.

"I love burgers," Eric said.

"Daddy puts bacon bits in the meat before he grills it," Aquata said, reaching over to take a burger.

"That sounds delicious," Eric said.

Everyone took their burgers and started eating.

"My god this good!" Eric explained.

Triton laughed. "Thanks, son."

Eric gave him a thumbs up as he took another bite. Ariel nibbled on her burger as she glanced back and forth between Eric and her dad. Everything was going well, so far, but she was still on edge. Anything could happen; it would only take one comment to make her father go off.

When everyone was done eating, Ariel's sister started cleaning up.

"So, Eric, what do you do for fun?" Triton asked when the three of them were alone.

"I like to play basketball," Eric said. "My dad and I also like to go fishing together."

Uh-oh! Ariel quickly looked over at her dad. Triton was a marine biologist and was very active in trying to preserve the sea wildlife.

"What do you do with the fish after you've caught it?" Triton asked.

"Take it home and eat it," Eric said, like that was what you're supposed to do.

Ariel's eyes grew wide and she quickly looked down.

Triton leaned back in his chair. "I see."

Sensing the growing tension, Eric cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, my dad works a lot, so I don't get much time with him. Fishing is something that we're both into. Plus, bringing the fish home and grilling it up together gives us more opportunity to bond with each other."

Ariel glanced over at her dad and was surprised to see he was smiling.

"It's good that you and your father have something you can do together," Triton said. "Glad to hear your dad makes an effort to spend time with you."

"Yes, sir," Eric said.

The phone rang and a few seconds later Arista poked her head out from the kitchen.

"Daddy, it's somebody from work," Arista said.

"Excuse me, I have to take this," Triton said, standing up. "It was very nice to meet you, son. Come back anytime."

When her dad was gone, Ariel breathed a sigh a relief.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Eric said.

XXX

Esmeralda opened her phone, then snapped it shut. She stared at it for a few seconds, then opened it again. She sighed and quickly closed it. Just do it! she scolded herself. She took a deep breath, opened her phone and dialed the number before she could change her mind again. When the phone started ringing, she panicked. She thought about hanging up, but the phone was answered after the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi. This is Esmeralda."

"I know. What do you want?"

"Um, I wanted to apologize for how I've been acting lately," Esmeralda said. "I'm not very good with taking responsibility for my actions and I tend to get defensive when I've been called out on something I did wrong. And I'm sorry for that."

"I don't think that's really what you should be apologizing for."

Esmeralda took a deep breath. "Right. I'm sorry for the way I treated Phoebus. And I promise I won't be having anymore hostile feelings towards you when you're just trying to help."

There was a long pause before there was a response. "I forgive you," Mulan said. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Actually, yes," Esmeralda admitted. "I would like to get back into our deal. I really need to start exercising with you again. And I can still help you get Shang."

"I don't know, Esmeralda..."

"Mulan, please?"

"All right. Can you come over after school on Friday?" Mulan asked.

"Yes!" Esmeralda said, quickly. "Yes, I can."

"I'll see you then." Mulan hung up without saying goodbye.

Esmeralda closed her phone and tossed it on the bed next to her. She knew she'd be able to fight her bulimia if she could just lose the weight. At least, she hoped she could. She had to prove to everyone that she had this under control, but Esmeralda wasn't completely convinced that she did. It had gotten to the point where Esmeralda had the urge to throw up after eating, even when she didn't want to. The truth was: Esmeralda was really scared.