Rapunzel leaned back against her locker and hugged her books to her chest. The cheerleaders and dance team were practicing before and after school now and some of the cheerleaders wore their uniforms around school everyday instead of having to change. Rapunzel was really starting to miss being a cheerleader. She should be on that team getting ready to compete in a few weeks. But, no; she had to do the right thing and stand up to Helga. Now she was going to have to watch from the sidelines.

"Hey, blondie," Flynn greeted, walking up to her.

"Hey." Rapunzel didn't even try to hide that something was bothering her.

"What's wrong?" Flynn asked.

"I miss being a cheerleader. I wanted to be head cheerleader so bad and go off to cheer in college. But now Helga has put a dart through that dream."

"It's not so bad," Flynn said. "Now you'll have time to focus on something else."

"What do you mean?"

"Ya know, figure out what you want to do with your life. I know you've been thinking about it since Spring Break. Now you can look into some career choices and be able to fill out some college applications once senior year starts."

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "When did you become so responsible?"

Flynn laughed. "Since my mom started grilling me about my career choice."

"And what is your career choice?"

Flynn shrugged. "Become a thief and marry a princess. Ya know, I've always wanted my own castle."

Rapunzel laughed and playfully shoved Flynn. "Good luck with that."

Flynn frowned. "My mother isn't very supportive of it."

"No! How can she be against a fool-proof, realistic plan like that?"

"Go ahead and mock me Rapunzel. At least I know what I want."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes. "You got a point there."

"You've got some time to think about it," Flynn said. "And without cheerleading distracting you, you'll be able to focus on figuring things out."

"You're right, Flynn."

"I'm always right."

"Always right about what?" Thomas asked coming up behind Rapunzel.

"That Rapunzel should be focusing on figuring out what she wants to do in the future now that she doesn't have chearleading as a distraction."

"I've been telling her she should focus on her music," Thomas said. "She's an amazing songwriter."

"I didn't know that," Flynn said.

Rapunzel blushed. "That's more of a hobby. I don't know if I could really make a career out of it. I don't know how good I really am."

"Let's let the students here decide," Flynn suggested.

Rapunzel looked up at him with wide eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you write a song to be played at prom? That'll give you three weeks to write something and then-"

"No way!" Rapunzel interrupted.

"Why not?" Thomas asked. "That's a good idea. You can see how everyone responds to it and that'll help you determine whether or not music is something you should pursue."

"You're both out of your mind!" Rapunzel said.

"At least think about it," Flynn said.

Rapunzel looked at both Flynn and Thomas and then sighed. "All right; I'll think about it."

XXX

"You want to get something to eat?" Sally asked.

Pocahontas locked up the shelter and turned towards her friend. "Sure. I haven't eaten since lunch this afternoon at school."

The girls got in their cars and headed to Mickey's. Since it was kind of late on a Wednesday night the diner wasn't very busy and they had no trouble getting a table.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it to the protest," Sally said as they went over their menus. "I got stuck working."

"It's all right. It wasn't much of a protest-"

"Are you ready to order?" Ariel asked as she came up to their table and pulled her order pad out of her apron pocket.

"Chicken sandwich, fries and a water please," Sally told her.

"I'll also have water," Pocahontas said. "Along with the fish and chips."

Ariel wrote their orders down, then stuck her pen behind her ear and took their menus. "It shouldn't take long."

"Thank you," Pocahontas said.

Ariel nodded and walked away.

"So, you were saying...?" Sally asked, picking up their conversation. "It wasn't much of a protest?"

Pocahontas nodded. "Yeah. There were a bunch of us there and we were all ready to do what we had to stop the bulldozer. But it ended up not being necessary. Turns out the woods really are no-man's land. They not only act as a border between the two towns, but also between the two counties. So, legally, there was nothing they could to do to the land without permission from the state, so they backed out."

"Shouldn't they have figured that out before they started making plans to bull doze it?" Sally asked.

"That's the interesting part. Either they didn't know that was the case or they were going to do it anyway, but John brought to their attention and everyone else's and that's what stopped them," Pocahontas explained.

Ariel brought out their waters then and sat them on the table, then hurried back to the counter.

Sally took a sip of her water. "John who?"

Pocahontas raised an eyebrow. "My John."

"You're kidding...?"

Pocahontas smiled and shook her head. "Nope. He actually did some research on it and stopped it from happening."

Sally leaned back in her seat and started stirring her water with her straw. "Sounds like you got a keeper, Pocahontas. Don't let him go."

"I don't plan to."

Ariel brought over their food and put the plates down on the table. "Here ya go, guys. Do you need anything else?"

"No, we're good," Sally said.

"Enjoy!" Ariel said cheerily before walking away.

"Are you going to Philip's party?" Pocahontas asked, dipping one of her fries into the tartar sauce.

Sally nodded. "I think so. Everyone's talking about it. It sounds like it's gonna be pretty big."

"I don't know if I'm going. I don't think John really wants to go."

"Talk him into it. This is going to be the last big party of the school year. You guys should be there."

"I'll talk to him, but I don't know if he'll-" Pocahontas was interrupted by her phone ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked the caller I.D. "It's John, do you mind if I take it?"

Sally shook her head. Pocahontas slipped out of the booth and flipped open her phone as she stepped outside.

"Hey, babe," she greeted.

"Hey. Are you busy?"

"A little; I'm having dinner with Sally."

"Do you have a minute to talk? It's about your cousin."

"Sure. What is it?"

"Kocoum threatened me after school today. Said he was going to kick my ass if I didn't leave you alone," John said.

Pocahontas rolled her eyes. "He's all talk."