Belle slumped down in the desk, dropping her backpack on the floor next to her. This had to be some kind of AHS record: detention on the first day of school. She should have known this would happen. Girls like her and Jane can't get away with ditching class. They had P.E. last period and didn't see the harm in ditching P.E. to go to the grand opening of the new Starbucks, but Principal Clayton caught them before they even made it out the doors.

Jane walked in the room a minute after Belle and sat down at the desk next to Belle's. They were the only ones there. Of course they were; no one else ever got detention on the first day of school.

Belle didn't recognize the teacher sitting at the large wooden desk in front of the classroom. He was an old man with a bald head, save for some white hair in the back. He had large round glasses set on top of his long, almost pointed, nose. He didn't acknowledge the girls, but just sat at the desk playing chess against himself.

Belle and Jane used the opportunity to get their homework done. But, a few minutes later, Adam walked in. Belle and Adam both seemed equally surprised to see each other.

"What are you doing here?" Belle hissed at Adam as he sat down in front of her.

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied.

Belle blushed. "Jane and I tried ditching P.E. to go to the grand opening of the new Starbucks, but Principal Clayton caught us."

Adam chuckled quietly. "You crack me up, Belle."

Belle leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well? What are you doing here?"

Adam shrugged. "I have Mr. Possible for science and he kept asking me about how I was doing after the whole thing with my dad and it annoyed me-"

"And you lost your temper at your teacher," Belle finished. Adam nodded. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Adam, I thought you got this under control."

"It's not a big deal, Belle."

"Yes it is. You lost your temper at your teacher and got detention. You can't afford to start the school year off like this."

"Do I need to remind you that you're in detention, too?"

Belle rolled her eyes. "For ditching P.E., not for trying to start a fight with my teacher."

"Detention is detention, Belle. Do I need to lecture you about responsibility and proper school ethic?"

Belle narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. She was so angry at him, she didn't even know what to say to him. "Oh, just go… fly a kite!" she spat.

Adam raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you seriously mad at me right now?"

"Yes. I really don't want a repeat of everything that happened last year, Adam."

Jane leaned over the aisle. "Hey. Do you guys mind finishing your fight some other time? I'd really rather not have to come back here tomorrow because you guys can't follow the one rule of detention: no talking."

Belle looked over at the teacher. He was still concentrating on his chess game. She looked back at Adam. "We can finish talking about this tonight."

"Don't count on it." Adam got up out of his seat and walked right out of the classroom.

XXX

It felt good to be back at cheerleading practice. But, Rapunzel had to admit that by the time practice ended, she was exhausted. Last summer cheerleading was her only priority, but this summer she had been so busy with Meg and Vanessa's band, that she hardly practiced cheering at all and it showed.

"You were not your best today," Charlotte told Rapunzel as they headed out of the locker room.

"I know," Rapunzel sighed. "This is the first time I've really practiced since Helga kicked me off the squad last year."

Charlotte groaned. "You're killin' me, Punzie."

Rapunzel made a face at the nickname, but didn't say anything about it. "I'll get better, Charlotte. I won't make you regret bringing me back."

"Oh, sugar, don't be silly!" Charlotte linked her arm through Rapunzel's. "I could never regret making you part of the squad again. Just… Don't make me look bad at the game Friday night, okay?"

"I promise."

Charlotte lit up. "Speaking of the game; wanna go watch the football team practice?"

Rapunzel giggled. "Okay."

The girls made their way out to the field and joined the handful of other spectators on the bleachers. They only caught the last few minutes of practice, but Rapunzel could already tell Hercules was going to lead them to one victory after another again this season.

When practice was over, Charlotte bounded down to the field to stroke the ego of some of the players. Rapunzel waited for her on the bleachers since Charlotte was her ride home. Rapunzel rifled around in her backpack and pulled out her copy of The Scarlet Letter. In her English class they were starting the semester with the book; Rapunzel had tried reading it during study hall, but found it to be rather boring and couldn't get through the first chapter. But, now it seemed she was going to have some time to kill, so she decided to try again.

She had only gotten through the first page when she heard someone walking up the bleachers towards her. She looked up to see Hercules.

"Hey, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel smiled at him. "Hey. You were lookin' good out there."

Hercules blushed and ran his hand through his wavy hair. "Thanks." He sat down next to her. "How was your summer?"

Rapunzel closed her book. "Hercules, you know how my summer was; you were at every one of our gigs."

Hercules nodded. "You were good."

Rapunzel couldn't help laughing out loud. "You didn't even notice me; you were too busy pining over Meg."

Hercules blushed again. "How, um, is she doing?"

"I honestly don't know. She and I aren't exactly what you'd call friends. We don't talk outside of the band and when we do talk it's only about the band."

"I see."

Rapunzel couldn't ignore the awkwardness between them. "Yeah…"

After a few moments of awkward silence, Hercules cleared his throat. "Is she back with Thomas?"

"No."

Hercules brightened a little. "Is she seeing anyone?"

Rapunzel shook her head. "Not that I know of. But, like I said: we don't really talk, so I don't know much about what's going on with her. Although, she did spend a lot of time with John Smith over the summer."

His face fell again. "Oh."

Rapunzel dropped her book back in her bag and stood up. "Look, Hercules; I'm really not the best person to be your middle man. I say either talk to her yourself or just move on. I'm sorry."

"Thanks anyway, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel nodded and started down the bleachers, but turned back to face him. "But, hey; don't be a stranger. We're gonna be seeing each other a lot at games and whatnot this season; there's no reason we can't be friends."

Hercules smiled at her. "Definitely."

"And between friends: you can do better than Meg."