Chapter Twenty-One
By the time I caught up with the others, plenty of students were already on campus and more were arriving. I could only imagine the stares we were going to get once people noticed we were still alive and on campus, but I was hoping that by the end of the day people were going to be as over the whole overblown situation as I was.
"Where were you?" Esmeralda asked me as I joined her and the others in stride.
Meg's infuriated scream prevented me from answering.
"My mom is such a bitch! Ugh! I can't stand her!"
"That's not news to anyone, Meg," said Aladdin, looking distracted and irritated. "I don't know why you're acting so shocked."
"I don't care! I just wish she'd shut the hell up and leave me alone!"
"We should just be grateful that we're not in any more trouble than we are," said Quasi, trying to defuse the tension in the air.
"You're naïve if you think Frollo is just gonna forget about this," Esmeralda said. "That's not his style. Even if we're not in any more 'official' trouble."
Aladdin glared at her. "But you just had to keep pissing him off, didn't you?"
"I'm not gonna back down to him when I think he's in the wrong. Not with his history in this town, and against our family."
"Maybe it's not your battle to fight!" Aladdin snapped at her. "You're trying to be some kind of high school revolutionary, but maybe you should try and think about everyone else for once!"
She rolled her eyes. "That's really something coming from the guy who tried to throw our friend under the bus to avoid getting himself into trouble."
Aladdin looked about ready to explode but then he saw something across the grounds that caught his eye and distracted him. "You know what, I don't have time to debate this. You know what kind of person I am and how much I care about our crew and our family, so you can think about that while I go try to take care of business. Since I'm the only one around here lately who has to worry about that anymore."
We watched him stomp off in the direction of where Hercules was hanging out with Gaston, LeFou, Eric, Shang, and Kocoum near the fountain area.
"Well I don't feel awkward," I commented, rubbing my arm.
"What's he doing?" asked Quasi.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it doesn't jive with the whole 'I just want to stay out of trouble' kick he's on right now," Esmeralda muttered.
"I don't know why he doesn't just leave Herc alone," said Meg. "We all know the golden boy doesn't like to talk to us Outcasts during school hours when anyone else can see."
"I wonder why?" Esmeralda said sarcastically.
"Once again, I'm out of the loop and have no idea what you guys are talking about," I said, but they weren't really paying attention to me.
Aladdin was standing over by the fountain, looking as though he was just minding his own business, but we saw Hercules pull his phone out of his pocket and glance down at it for a second before looking sharply over in Aladdin's direction. The two of them made brief eye contact, but then Hercules turned back to his friends as though he didn't want to acknowledge the black-haired boy's existence.
"I can't even stand to watch this embarrassment," said Meg. "Let's go over to the bleachers."
I followed her and the other two down the grassy hills over towards the direction of the football field.
"What's at the bleachers?" I asked.
"Home," Quasi said with a wistful sigh.
I looked at him in confusion. "Wha?"
Meg clarified his strange answer. "The bleachers are the unofficial kick-it spot for us at Disney High."
"So you're officially burnouts then," I commented.
"Um, we prefer the term 'Outcasts,' thank you very much," Esmeralda corrected me.
"Outcasts? That doesn't sound much better."
"Yeah, well it's our way of taking back a little bit of pride, okay, Tiger?" Meg asked. "And I hate to break it to you but after this whole…incident, like it or not, you're probably gonna be viewed as our newest member. You should come to our meetings, we have cookies."
As we walked down to the bleachers, I could see Jim, Tarzan, and Mowgli hanging out under them. (The latter two were literally hanging from the above seats like monkeys.) Standing next to Jim was a pretty girl with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair who I hadn't seen before.
Mowgli was the first one to notice us approach.
Dropping down from his substitute metal tree branch, he said, "Jim, you owe me a dollar. They're still alive. Pay up."
"Sorry, kid, but we didn't shake on it," said Jim, mussing the younger kid's hair. "Let that be a lesson for your future wagers." He grinned at us. "I'm glad to see you guys survived. Where's Al?"
"Trying to get Herc's attention," Meg muttered. "I swear, he's practically a Bimbette sometimes."
"Are you all expelled?" asked the blonde girl anxiously. She had big, sparkly blue eyes that stood out despite the drabness of her clothing. "What did Ms. Maleficent say?"
"She just gave us all a Saturday school detention," Meg responded.
"What?" Jim questioned.
"That's all?" Mowgli asked, just as surprised.
"That doesn't sound like her," Jim said.
Meg shrugged. "It's true. She didn't want it to go to court or anything, even though we all know they would wipe the floor with us if it did."
"She claimed she didn't want our 'educations to suffer,'" Esmeralda said, rolling her eyes. "Like any of us believe that."
"I think it was very kind and merciful on her part," Quasimodo said. "So I'm thankful."
"I'm sure you do, Quasi, but you always see the best in people, even when it's nonexistent."
"What did Frollo say?" asked Tarzan.
"He mostly spent a lot of time insulting gypsies and being creepy," Meg said. "So, you know, his usual shtick."
"He doesn't agree with Maleficent's leniency," I said, "but he's claiming to abide by her decision, so I guess we'll see today how he acts."
"Anybody up for ditching Ethics today?" Meg said with a sigh. "It's a beautiful day. Shit, maybe we could fly a kite. Quasi, you have one?"
Her sarcasm was lost on Quasimodo.
"You're kidding, right, Meg? Right? You wouldn't be that foolish, would you? Because in light of everything, that would be really, really foolish…"
"Go run a lap, Quasi," said Meg as she lit a cigarette. "You're all worked up…you're stressing me out, man."
"Maybe you don't want to smoke right now," Jim said. "Since you guys are all probably on probation right now. You know, just a thought. Do with it what you will."
"Bite me, Jim."
"Lovely."
"You've been arrested twice as many times as me, so you're the last person I'll take behavioral advice from."
"You're just lucky you can't get arrested for being a ho-bag."
Meg blew smoke into his face. "How's that taste, handsome?"
"Hey!" Esmeralda exclaimed, wanting to distract from their bickering. "Shane, you haven't met Cindy yet, have you?"
"No I have not," I said, smiling and extending my hand to the blonde girl. "Cinderella, is it?"
"I like just Cindy," she said. "But, I mean, if you're more comfortable calling me 'Cinderella,' I guess it wouldn't hurt too much to-"
Meg let out a loud, annoyed groan and exhaled another cloud of smoke. "Oh my Disney, Cindy, will you just stand up for yourself for once? If you don't like being called 'Cinderella,' then friggin tell him so and don't apologize for it. Jiminy Cricket, you're killing me!"
I looked around for a tiny singing well-dressed insect floating by on an umbrella, but I soon realized that Jiminy Cricket was used as a replacement expletive for 'Jesus Christ.' Much like the word 'Disney' had seemed to replace the word 'God' in their lexicon of profanity.
"I am perfectly fine with calling her Cindy," I said. "No need to make a big deal out of it. But thanks for being such a sweetheart anyway, Cindy." I threw in a wink and my most dashing smile, which caused Cinderella's eyes to widen a bit before she giggled and looked away, blushing.
Well, shucks, she was gonna be easy to win over, I noted. Throw a couple compliments her way and be halfway decent to her and she'd probably start writing sonnets of love.
"Oh, it's nothing," she said, still blushing.
Meg rolled her eyes. "If you ever catch Cindy being mean to anyone, even if they deserve it, make sure to let me know so that I can throw a party."
"All right, Meg, leave her alone," said Esmeralda in a tone that suggested she often played peacemaker between Meg and whoever she happened to be digging on at the moment, which likely included a boatload of alternating people.
"SHANE!" I heard a shrill voice pierce the air, causing me to jump halfway up in the air like a scared little bunny.
We all turned to see a girl with fire truck-red hair sprinting down the hill, pulling a diminutive blonde girl with her by the wrist. The blonde looked much less enthusiastic to be running.
Ariel. (And Alice.) Coming toward me like a miniature freight train.
"Head of your fan club?" Esmeralda asked me with an arched eyebrow.
"Well, she found me," I said. "That didn't take very long."
"Isn't all of this her fault anyway?" Meg asked, looking irritated.
"It's not really anybody's fault," I said. "Well, maybe Aurora's."
"Ugh, I hate Aurora."
"Well so does Ariel so you two have that in common."
Ariel released Alice's wrist just as she ran into me, nearly knocking me to the ground. With surprising strength for someone so petite, she grabbed me by the shoulders and tugged me down to her eye level, her eyes darting around as she frantically examined my face.
"Is there something you're looking for?" I murmured, afraid to make any sudden movements.
"Are you okay?" she demanded. "I heard what happened! I heard everything! Oh my Disney, I'm so sorry!"
She suddenly wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me so tight that I could hardly breathe. I struggled to release myself from her grip and, failing, had to wheeze out, "Ariel! I'm fine, really, I swear!"
She let go of me and held me out at arm's length again, looking me up and down skeptically.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure!"
Finally, Ariel released me completely and let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Thank Disney! I was so worried!"
"Would any of you girls show that kind of concern for me if I got hurt?" Jim asked, looking at Meg, Esmeralda, and Cinderella.
"Ha!" Esmeralda laughed.
"Not a chance, Jimbo," said Meg.
"That's what I thought," he said. "Just checking to make sure you're all still a bunch of spiteful hags. You are, by the way."
"I'd be worried about you, Jim," said Cinderella, smiling sweetly at him.
Meg rolled her eyes. "Ugh, seriously, Cindy, you're gonna give me an ulcer if you don't stop being so nice all the time."
"I'm sorry, Meg, I just can't help it."
"Stop apologizing!"
Not wanting to witness this whole charade again, I turned to Ariel and said, "Yeah I'm fine now, barely, but I am, so can you pass on the news to whoever might care that I'm okay? Belle, Tiana, and Wendy probably had heart attacks yesterday. Well, at least Wendy probably did."
"They're fine," Ariel said, annoyed that I had brought anyone else up. "I don't think they stayed up all night worrying like I did. But trust me, I really ripped into my sister at home when I found out. She actually feels really bad now, I think. I mean, everybody heard about how badly Frollo tortured you. Some people were saying you got taken straight to the hospital and were in a coma hooked up to an oxygen tank. I mean, of course I didn't believe that, but-"
"Are they actually using the word 'torture'?" I asked.
She blinked. "What else should they use?"
"No, it's very accurate," I said. "I'm just glad everybody's recognizing it for what it is."
"Nobody likes Frollo," said Ariel. "Not even Gaston. But that jerk was bragging to everyone who would listen about how he blasted you with the pepper spray. I think I'm the only one who has any idea how much it actually hurts."
"No you don't," I said, shuddering. "Frollo's mace made your sister's stuff feel like scented water by comparison."
"I can't believe you're back at school!" she said. "I thought you'd be all messed up and all your… 'friends' would be suspended or something."
"Can't get rid of us that easy, princess," Meg quipped. "Hate to disappoint."
"We all just got a Saturday school," I said. "I guess we got off pretty easy."
"I guess we'll see when third period rolls around," said Esmeralda.
"Well I don't know about you guys," I said, "but I don't want to risk being late to first period. Meg, Tarzan? Wanna join me in English?"
Tarzan shrugged and nimbly hopped down from the bleachers, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Meg looked less enthused.
"The bell hasn't even rung," she groused.
"A good observation," I said.
"So what's your rush?"
I sighed and turned to walk. "I guess that means it'll be just us, Tarzan. Later, guys."
"No, really, you can stop begging me," I heard Meg call out behind me, as though I had just gotten on my knees and groveled before her. "Come on, Shane, I have a boyfriend. A terrible ass-face of a boyfriend, but still. What will everyone think if they see you hounding me for company like this? It simply isn't proper!"
I stopped and turned around to see her catching up to me. "You really don't have to come."
Meg made the melodramatic face of a soap opera actress. "Oh, fine, if you insist upon begging, I guess I'll walk with you so that you don't have to be alone. I simply can't stand to see you debase yourself any longer. I'm just too merciful for my own good."
"He's not alone," said Tarzan. "I'm with him…"
"Tarzan, talking to you is like talking to a brick wall," Meg said. "You don't even count."
Tarzan frowned as he attempted to process this latest insult.
I looked at Meg. "Are you finished with the theatrics?"
She shrugged. "Should I keep going?"
"I think you made your point just fine."
"Shane!" Ariel called, running up to me again as though something had just popped into her mind. "Belle has your backpack! She picked it up when you left it in Frollo's class!"
"Oh, uh, okay," I said. "Thanks, Ariel."
She hugged me again, which made Meg roll her eyes.
"Okay," Ariel said. "Just stay out of trouble. I'll see you at break, maybe?"
She was looking up at me with wide, hopeful eyes.
"Uh, we'll see," I said. "I might still have to give you a little space before the faculty starts to relax on me a little, so…"
"I'll see you at break!" Ariel said with an enthusiastic nod, completely ignoring what I had just said. She then went over to Alice, who was currently showing the upside down hanging Mowgli pictures of different types of mushrooms on her phone.
"They say this one makes you see feel like you're a giant," she was saying. "And this one makes you feel like you're tiny, like a mouse or something. I haven't tried either yet, but-"
"I think we have some of those," Mowgli said, scrunching up his face in thought. "I'll ask Al."
"Alice!" Cindy scolded. (I suddenly remembered that Alice had mentioned her as being her older sister in this world. They sort of resembled each other, though Alice's hair was a much lighter yellow.) "Are you looking at pictures of drug paraphernalia again?"
Alice quickly pocketed her phone. "No."
"Yes you were!"
Ariel decided this was as good a time as any to butt in. She grabbed Alice's arm.
"Come on, Alice! Let's get to math! Mowgli, you can walk us if you'd like."
"No thanks," he said, still hanging upside down with his dark hair fluttering in the breeze.
Ariel narrowed her eyes at him. "Mowgli, get your butt over here."
Mowgli sighed and dropped down from the bleachers. He grabbed his backpack and walked up to them while Jim and Esmeralda laughed.
"Already whipped," Jim commented.
"We've taught him well," Esmeralda said.
"Shut up," Mowgli grumbled.
"Okay!" Ariel said, smiling sweetly at all of us. "Bye, everyone! See you at break, Shane!"
I smiled back at her uncomfortably and then looked at Meg and Tarzan. "Shall we?"
"Anything to get away from all these losers," Meg said.
We made it into the English building just as the first bell started to ring. Just going up the stairs, I could see some people staring at us and whispering. It felt a little like being ants in a glass ant farm, crawling around aimlessly while everyone surrounded and examined you.
"What are all you vultures looking at?" Meg snapped at them all. "Why don't you take a picture…it'll last longer!"
This got a bunch of eye-rolls and disgusted faces from the mostly female onlookers, who turned away from us as we passed them.
"Assholes…" Meg muttered.
One of the reasons I had wanted to enter the English building early was to hopefully run into Belle before class, but with all these people staring at us as we came to our floor, I decided it would be best to just go inside our classroom and wait for the period to end before trying to find her.
Meg and I started to head for our usual seats in the back but Tarzan sat right down in the middle of the front row, where he had sat when he was late on the first day of school. At the time, I had thought he only settled for that seat because it was the only one open, but here he was again, front and center.
"You don't wanna sit with us?" I asked him.
"I like the front," he said simply.
Meg shook her head and tugged on my arm. "There's no changing his mind. He's in love with Teacher."
Tarzan slowly turned his head to glare at her. "I am not in love with anyone."
"Uh-huh," she said. "Sure you aren't. I know you haven't gotten your forearms that big from thinking about rainbows and puppies every night."
"I don't get it."
"Brick wall," Meg said again. "Talking to you is like talking to a brick wall. Except the wall has more personality."
Unfazed by her repeated insult, Tarzan just turned away from her and settled further down into his seat, tapping restlessly on the desk with his fingers.
We left him at the front and sat down in the back row as other students began to enter. It didn't take long for the whispering to commence, which of course got Meg all rankled up.
"Down, girl," I said to her. "Simmer down."
"Do you think I'll get in trouble if I just kick every single girl here in the throat?" she asked me.
"Yeah, kicks in the throat are pretty harsh," I said.
"Damn it."
I heard three chattering female voices approaching near us and in an instant, I became surrounded by three identical blonde girls. I recognized them from the first day of school as Gaston's groupies and I have to admit, each was pretty damn sexy on her own, but in a pack of three?
Lord have mercy.
"Oh my Disney, you're alive?!" asked the first.
"We heard you were dead!" exclaimed the second.
"Plugged into an oxygen tank on a wall!" added the third.
I heard Meg groan and say, "Why would they attach a dead person to an oxygen tank?"
The three girls ignored her. They started pawing my skin, touching my face and my arms and my hair, and patting my chest and shoulders.
"His skin feels normal!"
"Doesn't that hurt?"
"Ooh, he has muscles!"
I started to laugh, not used to all of this fawning and positive attention.
"I'm sorry," I said, my mind swirling a bit. "Have we even met?"
"You don't know who we are…" said the first.
"…but we know who you are," continued the second.
"Everyone knows who you are," finished the third.
"Oh, give me a break," Meg said, but I couldn't see her (nor did I care.)
"I'm Shane," I said, extending a hand out. All three of them reached for it, then got annoyed at each other. I laughed and held out my other hand. The sister in red took one hand and the one in yellow took my other, but that left the one in green without anything to shake so she pouted. I released my grip of the first two and took her hand in both of mine, which caused her to smile happily and the other two to glare.
"Nice to meet you," I said.
"No, it's nice to meet you!" she said.
"I'm Claudia," said the one in red, pushing her aside.
"Laura," said yellow, bumping into red.
"Paula!" said the third, popping back in front of both.
"We're sisters!" they all exclaimed together after finding a happy medium of squeezing together as closely as possible to stay in front of me. I don't think I've ever seen so many boobs at one time straining to pop out right in front of my face.
It was a wonderful position to be in.
"Really?" I joked. "Sisters? I couldn't tell. You all look and sound and act so different…"
They all giggled profusely while I heard Meg make gagging noises.
"You're funny," said Claudia.
"You should be a comedian!" Laura agreed.
"You're hilarious," Paula sighed dreamily.
I could definitely get used to this kind of worship. I had never had fangirls before, and I wasn't sure exactly what I had done to get some now, but I wanted to keep it up.
"Can I, um, ask what sparked your sudden interest in talking to me?" I asked, trying to cover my confused curiosity with a casual tone. (Ten points for alliteration!)
"We heard you stood up to Frollo!" Claudia exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"And he tried to melt you with acid spray!" Laura added.
"But you're invincible!" Paula said, practically fainting from being so impressed.
Meg could take it no longer.
"What?" she cried. "I don't know where you heard that story, but you bimbos are out of your minds. I think your combined IQ's are less than your bust measurements."
All three of them proceeded to give her the stink eye.
"I think I can take it from here, Meg," I said. "Don't act like you were there."
"I was there!" she said. "I was one of the ones who helped drag your unconscious, blubbering, vomity body out of there. And believe me, ladies, there was nothing impressive about it."
"Unconscious?" Claudia repeated.
"Blubbering?" Laura questioned.
"Vomity?" Paula squeaked.
"Ewwww!" they all squealed.
I let my forehead slam down onto my desk. "Ugh."
Once again, just like the first day, Miss Porter entered the room just as the late bell was ringing.
"Take your seats, everyone," she said. "We have a lot to go over today."
The triplets all cast me an ambivalent glance before departing to their seats near the middle.
I, meanwhile, took the chance to give Meg a death-glare.
"The ninth circle of Hell is reserved for cockblocks," I told her.
"Yeah, well the tenth circle is reserved for cockteases and that's where those three are headed," Meg responded evenly. "So you're welcome."
"If they're cockteasing in Hell, send me packing," I said.
"Fine," Meg said. "Go to hell."
Miss Porter started to do roll call and when she got to my name, she looked up with a bit of surprise. "I'm glad to see you joining us, Mr. Barrera. I heard you had some troubles yesterday."
"I'm just glad to be here," I said.
"I notice you don't have a backpack with you," she said. "Or your copy of Death of a Salesman. Or a pen and paper, for that matter."
Frankly, after the previous day's difficulties, not having my stuff in English class was the least of my worries. Plus, I knew "Miss Porter" was a good guy in her movie, so I wasn't worried about pissing her off and getting shot with a staple gun or something.
"I lost them during yesterday's troubles," I said. "I'll get them back."
She actually smiled at me a little. "See that you do."
Then she continued with roll.
After class was over, I walked out with Meg and most of the rest of my classmates.
Unsurprisingly, Tarzan was lingering in the room to try to talk to Miss Porter about something. He probably wanted to try and arrange some after school one-on-one tutoring sessions, if you catch my drift. Not that stuffy Miss Porter would be game. Although, when I considered how their movie turned out…hmm. Maybe he had a chance after all.
I got a minor thrill when the hot blonde triplets waved at me before descending down the stairs. Sweet. That meant Meg hadn't scared them off completely.
"I swear," she said to me, "if you start running around with cheerleaders and floozies, we can't be friends anymore."
"I was temporarily blind and bedridden yesterday," I said. "Every inch of my body felt like it was on fire. Let me enjoy some small victories."
"There he is!" exclaimed a familiar English accent.
I turned to see Wendy, Milo, and Belle coming out of their classroom.
"Ugh," said Meg. "I can deal with the bimbos myself but spare me the politicians. I'll catch you later, Tiger."
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," I said.
She ignored me and sauntered off just as the three class council members approached.
Wendy wasted no time in giving me a hug. Her perfume had a clean floral scent to it and her hair smelled like honey. It made me want to fall asleep to her reading me a bedtime story. (Which I was willing to wager she would do a bang-up job at.)
"I'm so sorry!" she said to me, still hugging me. "You poor thing! I couldn't believe what happened to you, I told my parents all about it! They were not pleased, to say the least. They almost called the school to complain."
"What stopped them?" I asked.
"Well they wanted to know a little more about you," she said. "Like, where exactly do you live?"
I narrowed my eyes slightly. "What does that matter?"
Wendy's eyes widened a bit, sensing that she had possibly offended me, and she took a step back, stammering, "Oh, it doesn't¸ of course! I mean, no matter where you're from, what Frollo did would be a terrible thing to happen to anyone. It's just, certain students from certain areas tend to get targeted more, unfairly or not…"
"Are you okay?" Belle asked me, cutting off Wendy's words. She searched my eyes closely. "After yesterday, I…"
"I'm all right," I said, feeling a weird and quiet wave of awkwardness coming over me. After all the events of the past 24 hours, it felt like a lifetime since I had seen her. And after thinking about my whole little tryst with Esmeralda the night before, it was a shock to the system to be gazing into Belle's hazel eyes and seeing her pretty face again. Interestingly enough, she herself almost looked a little guilty, if my inklings were correct.
But why, I wondered. What had happened to me wasn't her fault. Maybe she felt bad that she hadn't talked to me at all, but I was pretty sure that we had never actually gotten around to exchanging numbers. Plus, I wasn't exactly checking my phone during my bedridden delirium.
For whatever reasons we both had, we stood there not saying anything for a second, neither of us entirely sure why.
After looking back and forth at us a couple times, Milo finally broke the awkward silence.
"Uh, Belle, we probably shouldn't make him late for his next class."
"Oh, right," she said, perking back up. She suddenly thrust out my backpack at me. "I have your backpack."
"Oh," I said, looking down and taking it as though it were a foreign object I didn't recognize. "Thanks."
"Everything is still in it except for the, uh, bottle of alcohol you had in there. I didn't want to get caught with that stuff at school so I threw it out yesterday. Sorry."
"No, it's cool," I said. I had forgotten I had filled one of those with liquor before going on the walk that led me to this surreal adventure. "I don't need it, obviously."
"Oh, good," she said, nodding.
I smiled awkwardly. "Cool…"
"Right," she said.
"I'm, uh, glad you're doing all right, Shane," Milo said, trying to prod us along.
"So glad to hear it," Wendy said, still trying to win back brownie points after inadvertently offending me. "You have to tell us what happened afterwards. I mean, unless you don't want to, of course. Only if you want to."
"No, it's whatever," I said. "I'll tell you, I don't care."
"Break!" Belle said suddenly. She pointed at me. "Break. We can talk at break and you can fill us in."
"Sounds good," I said, wondering if I had any obligation to hang out with the so-called Outcasts. I decided I didn't really.
"So we'll see you then," Belle said.
I nodded. "See you then."
She was about to walk away with Milo and Wendy as I started for the stairs when she stopped and said, "I'm glad you're okay."
I looked back at her and smiled, less awkwardly this time.
"Me too. Thanks."
Belle smiled back at me and then turned back to walk with Milo and Wendy to their next class.
I hustled down the stairs towards History with Professor Porter and felt a small inexplicable sense of relief. For whatever reason, I had the feeling that the rest of today was going to be pretty unremarkable; at least, as unremarkable as attending a high school in an alternate universe with your former favorite childhood cartoons whilst simultaneously trying to put yourself in position to have sex with some of them could be.
But still, I had a feeling I couldn't quite shake that I would be able to exhale for once and avoid any kinds of craziness for the first time since I had arrived.
Then again, I still had Ethics with Frollo coming up after History. And if I survived that, I wasn't sure whether I was going to try and go back to the Court of Miracles with the Outcasts after school or slink back to Ariel's studio for the night. If I did the latter, I knew I'd most likely have to try and resist her underage advances and also not die in an avalanche of her dead mother's art materials in my sleep. Both of those outcomes were probably not beneficial for my health but they were also most likely unavoidable.
As I entered History class, I couldn't help but sigh to myself. Maybe today had more surprises for me after all.
I just for one hoped it didn't.
{Hello again, everyone. Not the most eventful chapter in the world, I know, but I think we could all use that chance to exhale and laugh a little, right? (Thank you, Meg.) I know a couple of you mentioned it might be nice to have a little lighter tone after how heavy the last few chapters were and it's funny because I was already way ahead of you on that one. It's actually why the last few chapters were so long in the first place. For example, I could have broken Chapter 20 in half and made it into two chapters instead of one, but I wanted to put us in position to move on from the whole pepper spray saga and its fallout as quickly as possible. Now we can progress a little past all the consequences of that unexpected detour.
That's not to say that there won't be any mention of it anymore. The 'Saturday school detention' punishment wasn't just a little throwaway deus ex machina…there is a reason Maleficent chose to let them mostly off the hook (and it mostly has to do with Aladdin…*spoiler alert*).
But that all brings me to a couple things. It was mentioned how 'angsty' this story is at times for a 'parody.' You're very right, but that's actually part of the parody itself. In fact, soon I'm probably going to change the story's description and genres, and replace one of either 'parody' or 'humor' with 'adventure' or 'drama.' While it's still definitely a comedic story in many ways, and will continue to be, there's a lot more going on than just shits and giggles, as is slowly being revealed. Twist! :p
The whole central concept of this story is that Shane enters his foolhardy mission thinking that everyone and everything will be stupid, shallow, and easy to just derp around on without having any real troubles or making any emotional connections. But little does he know, maneuvering through this world isn't just a cake walk of manipulation and the characters he's been coming across aren't actually all one-dimensional caricatures. (Or maybe they are, I guess that's up to you guys to decide whether I've succeeded in writing them to have any depth of character.)
So I must say, I will continue to blend the comedy with the more increasingly dramatic stuff because that's the whole point of the protagonist's (and the audience's) journey. But hopefully you're all still entertained with the balance of the process regardless.
Sorry this author's note is longer than the chapter itself, but one other thing I want to announce is that I was lucky enough to have one of my lovely lady friends rent "Tangled" from the local library (I didn't even know they still had libraries anymore…Belle would be so ashamed) and she was kind enough to watch it with me before work without beating me up (like my male friends would.)
It was surprisingly entertaining! (I found the music and some of the plot to be a little 'meh,' and the villain, though entertaining, also left a little to be desired, but overall, it was a pretty good flick.) I was surprised at how much I identified with the character of Eugene-I mean, Flynn Rider, as he would prefer to be called. His sarcasm, his humor, his misguided arrogance…it was great. Definitely on the same page as my own character. Anyway, I had already been planning on trying to figure out how to integrate Rapunzel and Flynn into the story after seeing how well-liked they are (and I hear you all clamoring for their inclusion), but after seeing the movie, I am happy to announce that they will both DEFINITELY be showing up. (Mother Gothel too, probably.) And, though it might not be until a bit down the line before they enter the story, I actually have a cool twist planned for Flynn's character.
Anyway, if you've managed to make it this far into this obnoxiously long note, I want to say thanks again for the reviews and keep letting me know what you think! I appreciate hearing from you guys and hopefully I will be able to update soon. Meg's diary is coming up and other fun stuff too. Later!}