Aurora hurried to Philip's locker before lunch. He had his foot resting on the bottom of the locker and his backpack was balancing on his knee. He was pulling his books from his morning classes out of his backpack and replacing them with the books for his afternoon classes.
"Hi, Philip!" Aurora greeted.
"Hey, hon." Philip leaned over and kissed her cheek, then zipped up his back pack.
Aurora stepped back so Philip could close his locker. "There's something I want to talk to you about."
"What's that?" Philip asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
"Your birthday."
"What about it?"
"Well, it's on Friday."
"And...?"
"I think you should have a party Saturday night."
"I don't know, Aurora. It's kind of last minute."
"Oh, come on, Philip! It'll be fun!"
"I'm not saying it wouldn't be," Philip said. "I just don't know if I can pull it off."
"Aren't your parents gonna be gone this weekend?" Aurora immediately regretted bringing that up. Philip hadn't been in the best of moods since he found out his parents were planning on being away for his birthday. "I'm sorry, Philip."
"It's fine." Philip put his arm around Aurora. "I think a party would be a good idea. It'll be nice to not be stuck in an empty house all weekend."
"Did someone say 'party'?" Eric asked coming up behind them.
"Philip is throwing a party Saturday night for his birthday," Aurora told him.
"Awesome! I'll let everyone know."
Before Philip could stop him, Eric was gone. As Aurora and Philip stood in line to get their lunch, Aurora watched Eric go from table to table talking to everyone in the junior class. Most of the people he talked to seemed to get excited and Aurora couldn't help getting excited, too. They were over due for a party. Everyone was already starting to get summer fever and it would be nice to have something to get their minds off school and get a taste of the summer.
No doubt word of Philip's party would be out by the end of lunch.
"Looks like you're definitely having this party," Aurora said.
Philip nodded. "There's no going back now."
XXX
Mrs. Rabbit insisted on Ariel practicing her solo in front of the whole choir that afternoon after school. Ariel was more than nervous, but she focused on getting through song. Even though she knew the song, she brought the sheet music up with her and kept glancing down at it in order to avoid making eye contact with anyone.
Eventually, though, Ariel got caught up in the song and stopped using the sheet music. As she neared the end of the song, and the hardest note she had to hit, her eyes met Snow White's. Snow White mouthed the word choke and then smiled sweetly at her. Ariel tried to ignore her, but she couldn't help getting nervous again and when she tried to hit the note her voice cracked. She stopped singing and frowned.
"It's all right, Ariel," Mrs. Rabbit said. "Everyone has off days; you'll have it down before the concert."
Ariel nodded and returned to her seat. She felt her cheeks grow hot and she kept her head down. As soon as Mrs. Rabbit dismissed them, Ariel hurried out of the room.
"You'll never be able to hit that note," Snow White called after Ariel when they reached the hallway.
Ariel spun around and glared at Snow White. She wasn't sure what came over her, but the next thing she knew she was storming over to Snow White.
"You may as well back out now and let someone with talent take over," Snow White said.
"Never!" Ariel spat. "I earned this solo and I will pull it off. You can't keep trying bully me, Snow White. No matter what you say or do, I will not back out of this solo. So, just accept the fact that you lost and get over it."
Snow White laughed. "I haven't lost. You may have gotten this solo, but we still have all of next year to prove once and for all who the better singer is at this school."
XXX
Jasmine climbed the bleachers in the gym just as the dance team and cheerleaders were starting their routine for the competition. As she watched them, she had to admit the routine was good; better than their routines from the last couple years. Even though Helga wasn't a good person, she was still a good choreographer and with her and Esmeralda teaming up, AHS had a real chance at winning this year.
Part of Jasmine wished she was still part of the team so she could be doing this with her best friend, but a bigger part of her was glad she didn't have that pressure on her anymore.
After they finished the routine, Helga announced that since the competition was in less than three weeks they would be practicing in the mornings and on the weekends starting tomorrow. This was met with a few groans, but no one complained or argued. When practice ended, the girls dispersed and Esmeralda made her way up the bleachers to Jasmine. Even though she was now sweating, Esmeralda still looked good. She was wearing her usual practice clothes: short black shorts and a purple t-shirt that she had tied up, baring her midriff. Her abs were more now sculpted and she was all-around more toned since she started working out with Mulan. Jasmine was happy to see her friend looking healthy again.
"Hey, girl!" Esmeralda greeted, sitting down next to her.
Jasmine smiled at her. "Hi."
"How were we?"
"Great! You definitely have a good chance of winning this year."
Esmeralda beamed. "You think so?"
"I do."
"I think so, too." Esmeralda took a long sip from her bottle of water. "More importantly, though, I'm so stoked about going to the movie premiere next weekend."
"It's gonna be awesome," Jasmine agreed.
Esmeralda nodded. "Man, we're booked for every Saturday from now 'till summer break. This Saturday is Philip's party, then next weekend is the premiere, the Saturday after that is the competition, then it's prom, then it's summer vacation."
"And then Aladdin leaves."