Esmeralda leaned back on Phoebus' front porch steps and let the sun beat down on her. It was only the end of April, but the weather was already starting to heat up. Just another pleasant reminder that school would be ending in a few weeks. Esmeralda was already counting down: only twenty-five school days left. And, thanks to Mulan's help, Esmeralda finally reached her goal weight and she had set up a couple modeling gigs with Maleficent for the summer. Not to mention, she would be able to spend the majority with Phoebus. Things were finally falling into place. It had been a rough semester, but the summer promised to be much better.

"Hey, guys!"

Esmeralda propped herself up on her elbows and smiled at Mulan as she approached them. "Hey, girl!"

"Hi, Mulan," Phoebus said.

"What are you two up to?" Mulan asked.

Esmeralda shrugged. "Absolutely nothing and it's awesome."

Phoebus laughed. "My mom is making dinner and we're just waiting for her to finish up."

"Spaghetti and meatballs?" Mulan guessed.

Phoebus nodded. "Of course! That's all she knows how to make."

Phoebus and Mulan started laughing. Esmeralda rolled her eyes at her easily amused friends and couldn't help laughing at them.

The three of them stopped abruptly, however, when they saw Kayley and her mom, Juliana, walking by. Juliana's eyes were red and puffy and Kayley was crying. Mulan rushed over to them.

"Kayley, what's wrong?" Mulan asked.

"My d-dad was deployed a f-few weeks ago..." Kayley paused and took a deep breath as more tears fell down her cheeks. "And he was shot."

"Is he gonna be all right?" Mulan asked.

Kayley shook her head. Mulan immediately pulled her friend into a big hug. Esmeralda and Phoebus got up and walked over to her.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry," Esmeralda said soothingly, stroking Kayley's hair.

"How are you holding up, Juliana?" Phoebus asked.

"I don't know. We just found out; it's still sinking in," Juliana said. "But, they already want us to start making arrangements."

If hadn't been for her puffy eyes that suggested she had been crying, Esmeralda wouldn't have known that Juliana was upset at all about the death of her ex husband. She seemed so calm and together. Juliana put her arm around Kayley's shoulders and they walked away.

Mulan stared after them, then looked at Esmeralda and Phoebus. "Sometimes it's easy to forget any one of our father's could be gone so quickly."

Phoebus nodded, but didn't say anything. Esmeralda reached out and took his hand.

"I'm gonna go home and spend some time with my dad," Mulan said. She then turned and ran off.

"Did you know Kayley's dad?" Esmeralda asked Phoebus as they walked back over to his porch.

"I met him a couple times, but I didn't really know him," Phoebus replied.

"Phoebus, honey, dinner's ready!" Phoebus' mom called out through the screen door.

"Come on, let's finishing enjoying the rest of our weekend," Phoebus said as he led Esmeralda inside.

XXX

Meg stepped off the stationary bike and dabbed her neck with her towel. Her parents had promised to get her a gym membership at the end of the semester if she kept her grades up, but since the gym by their house was offering a special her parents got her the membership that weekend. Commander Rourke's gym was two stories and had every fitness machine you could think of. She got the membership yesterday and spent nine hours using all the machines. She definitely felt it in the morning and decided she would take it easy today.

Meg was walking towards the treadmills when she saw one of them was occupied by a familiar blonde. Meg watched her long braid bounce back and forth as she ran on the treadmill. Meg glared at her back and decided to use an elliptical machine instead. She started walking passed the treadmills and as she passed Helga's treadmill, she looked down at her iPod, pretending to be occupied by searching for a song.

"Wow, Meg, you're really pathetic."

Meg turned and shot Helga a dirty look. "What are you talking about?"

Helga stopped her treadmill and got off. "It's so obvious why you're here."

Meg looked around. "You mean to work out? Yeah, this is a gym."

Helga rolled her eyes. "Please. Everyone knows this is the gym where Hercules works out. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't stalk my boyfriend."

Meg had known that, but honestly forgot. She had come here a couple times with him, but hadn't been there since they broke up.

"You're kidding, right?" Meg asked. "This is the closet gym to my house; which, coincidentally, happens to be only a couple block from Hercules' house. So, no, you're right; there's no other reason I would be working out at the same gym as Hercules except that I'm stalking him."

Helga was obviously not amused my Meg's sarcasm. "Stay away from him."

"Oh my God! Open your eyes, Helga!" Meg snapped. "I'm trying to stay away from him, but he keeps coming after me. No matter what I do, he just keeps coming back; he's like a cockroach."

"I'm not falling for your act, Meg," Helga said. "I know you still like Hercules and I know the only reason you hate me is because I have him and you don't."

Meg felt her mouth drop open. "The only reason...? Are you out of your mind? What about you telling my boyfriend to kill himself? Or pushing me down a set of bleachers? And, not to mention, you spreading a rumor that you hooked up with my friend's boyfriend."

"It's very simple; you leave my boyfriend alone and I'll leave you alone," Helga said.

"Tell your boyfriend to leave me alone."

"You are not a desirable girl, Meg. Why would Hercules even want you over me?"

"Maybe because I'm not a bitch and I don't treat other people like crap in order to make myself feel good," Meg snapped.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Helga stated.

"I think I do. Ya know, it's funny how you don't have any real friends and your boyfriend keeps going after another girl," Meg said. "I wonder why that is..."

Helga stormed over to Meg until she was only inches from her. Meg held her ground and glared at her.

"I may not have a lot of friends, but I still run the school and I-"

"For now," Meg interrupted. "You run the school for now. But, you're graduating in a month and then you'll no longer have any power over anyone."