Aurora paced back and forth outside of the choir room. Each time she passed the door, she peeked through the skinny window. Mrs. Rabbit was talking to a freshman student and had been for the last ten minutes. Aurora skipped lunch to talk to Mrs. Rabbit and she was becoming impatient.

When the choir room door finally opened, Aurora barreled in, practically knocking the freshman on her butt. Mrs. Rabbit stood by the piano, organizing sheet music.

"Hello, Aurora," Mrs. Rabbit greeted. "How can I help you?"

"I gotta know: what's the fall play for this year?"

"Ah." Mrs. Rabbit nodded. "There will be no fall play this year."

The color drained from Aurora's face and she felt her jaw drop. "Please tell me you're joking."

Mrs. Rabbit chuckled. "Relax, Aurora. Principal Clayton has requested that instead of a fall play we put on a Christmas play instead. He's having a big Christmas weekend at the school this year full of activities and he wants us to put on A Christmas Carol to kick off the first night. Auditions will be in October."

"October?" Aurora cried. "What am I supposed to do until then?"

"It's only a few weeks. I'm sure you'll survive."

"I don't think I will," Aurora stated.

Mrs. Rabbit put her hand on Aurora's shoulder and ushered her towards the door. "You'll be fine. Now, I've got a lot of stuff to for choir. Go to lunch."

Aurora nodded. She sighed when Mrs. Rabbit closed the door behind her. Aurora was all set to spend the rest of the afternoon sulking- until she saw Eric walking down the hall.

She ran after him. As soon as she caught up to him she spun him around and pulled him into a tight hug. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Eric remained limp in her arms. "Fine."

Aurora stepped back. "I haven't seen you since everything happened. You don't look fine."

"I really don't want to talk about it, Aurora."

"Of course. I'm sorry." Aurora nervously nibbled on her lip, tasting her strawberry lipgloss. "How's Ariel?"

Anger clouded his blue eyes. "I haven't talked to her."

"Why not?"

"How can you even ask that? Look what she's done to me."

He was right. Eric was obviously completely destroyed; hurt beyond words and barely able to function. He didn't even show up for school yesterday and this was the first time she'd seen him that day, despite the fact they were supposed to have English together.

Aurora gingerly touched his cheek, then pushed her fingers through his hair. "Listen to me, Eric. I know you don't want to talk and most likely just want to be left alone. But, I'm here if you need anything. Even if you just want to yell and scream and swear at someone. I mean it- anything at all, just text or call me and I'll be there in a heartbeat. You're my friend and I love you."

Eric's eyes became watery and he looked away. "Thanks."

Aurora pulled him into another hug. His head fell heavily on her shoulder and he gripped the back of her shirt. He remained still, but she could feel a slight wetness on her shoulder. She knew he let a couple tears escape and it ripped her heart out. In that moment, Aurora hated Ariel.

XXX

Belle poked her salad with the plastic spork. "I'm grounded."

Adam nodded as he chewed the large bite of sloppy joe. "That's what happens when you get detention for ditching."

Belle rolled her eyes and dropped the spork onto her plate. "Jane didn't get grounded."

"Yeah. Well, Jane's father is… eccentric, to say the least. He has a different approach to parenting than your dad does."

"Right. So this weekend, while Jane is out with Tarzan, I'll be stuck at home instead of spending time with you."

"Unless you sneak out." Adam winked at her.

"Oh, sure. That'll go over well with my dad."

"He'll never know."

"Of course he will! I can never get away with anything."

"One night, Belle. Rapunzel's band is playing at Pleasure Island Saturday night and we should go."

"I can't."

"You're not allowed," Adam corrected. "But, you definitely can."

"Fine. I don't want to," Belle stated. "I don't want to get into any more trouble."

"You'll be fine. Just trust me."

Belle groaned. "I don't think so. We can go to Pleasure Island next weekend."

Adam pushed both of their plates off to the side, then leaned over the table and rested his forehead against hers. "Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or silly action for no other reason than because he knows he should not?" he whispered.

Belle fought back a smile. "Just because Edgar Allan Poe is what brought us together, that does not mean you can use his quotes against me to manipulate me."

Adam smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. "It's working, isn't it?"

"No." She tried to sound firm, but she was wavering and she knew Adam could tell.

Adam brushed his lips across hers. "Yes it is."

"Sit down, Adam."

He smiled again. "Just admit I won."

"Never."

"Tell you what." Adam kissed her forehead. "I'll play you for it. I challenge you to a round of mini golf Saturday night. If you win, you don't have to sneak out with me. But, if I win, then you have to sneak out and go to Pleasure Island with me."

"Deal." Adam laughed. When Belle realized what just happened, she glared at her boyfriend. "You tricked me."

"I can't believe how easily you fell for that."

Belle blushed. "Yeah, well… I can't think clearly when you're this close to me."

"Nonetheless, a deal's a deal. You're going to Pleasure Island with me Saturday night."

Belle sighed and pushed him away from her. "Fine. I'll go. But, if I get caught and get into even more trouble, I'm grounding you from spending time with me outside of school for a month."

"You wouldn't last that long. But, sure. I'll play along. One month."

Belle stuck her tongue at him. "I'm serious. If I get caught, it's on you."

"You won't get caught, Belle. I'll take care of you. I promise."