I do not own these characters. Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Tangled are all property of Disney. I write for fun.
Club 23 - Chapter XII - The Lucky Strike
"Okay, what about Jasmine", says Phoebus with a confused tone, "Aren't you taking it slow with her?" he continues
"Yeah, I am," states Aladdin, "But…there's always that 'What if' factor that comes into fruition"
"Come on Ali, don't beat yourself up, You're a great guy", Phoebus trying to give his friend some words of encouragement
"Thanks," Aladdin says flatly, "But she's so…beautiful, you can tell she holds herself to a higher standard than anybody, she always has the expensive clothes, the expensive handbags, the expensive…everything!"
"Is that it… is that why you're nervous, because she's rich"
"Well, yea, that plays a part in asking her out, and just generally, what if she doesn't have the same interest in me" Aladdin says in a defeated tone
"Well, I honestly think she will like you Ali, you showed her that you are a good person and an even greater help to her. I'm positive she would say yes to date"
"Thanks, man"
"No problem"
"Is there something that you want to talk about Phoebs, since we're right here"
"No nothing at all," Phoebus starts to walk back to the seating area with the rest of the group
"Esmeralda"
As soon as Aladdin blurted her name, he stopped and quickly held his attention towards him
"What about Esmeralda," says Phoebus sorta stunned
"Well, I wanna know how's it been between the two of you"
"Well…it's been…oh what am I saying, nothing has happened between the two of us"
"Blaming Naveen?"
"Partially, but mainly it's my own doing, and I think it's because I don't want to ruin the friendship we have built all this time together, I don't know if she has any ounce of romantic feeling towards me"
"Ask her out"
"Where"
"To the Spring Formal"
"Now wait a second here…" Phoebus quickly starts to get concerned
"Look man, I get it, I know the Spring Formal is not your best night, but look at what you're dealt with, what if some guy, that's attractive, I mean really hot"
"Like Naveen"
"Yeah I guess we could use him as an example, but I never thought that you would be the type to see him as hot"
"Shut up," said Phoebus slightly angry
"Okay man, just a little joke", responded Aladdin who was slightly laughing, "Anyway, what if he asks her out and she says yes because she thinks that he is equally as attractive" he continues
"Then that would mean…"
"Yep, another sucky Spring Formal, look Phoebus in my opinion I think that you should ask her out, To be honest, as your friend you really have nothing to lose, so I say just go for it"
"Aladdin…I think your right, when the time's right, I'm gonna go for it, thanks"
"No problem, I guess we both got girl problems, huh"
"You said it man" Phoebus and Aladdin high-five each other, "Now let's get back to the group and enjoy the rest of the fun here" continued Phoebus
The two boys returned to the rest of the group to see that they were back bowling again. Phoebus and Aladdin join in with the rest. Flynn goes over to Phoebus.
"There you guys are, how was it at the arcade?" asks Flynn
"Oh you know…the arcade is the arcade," says Phoebus, who was clearly lying
"Riiiiiiiiiiggghttttt" says Flynn, "Hey look, I'm now getting strikes"
"Cool" responded Phoebus when he noticed something strange at the corner of his eye
"Hey Flynn"
"Wazzup"
"Is that Esmeralda?"
"Curly hair Esmeralda, yea that's the girl we've known for a while…why?"
"Is she…bowling?"
"Umm, yeah" Flynn responds to Phoebus as if he's a creature from outside this planet
"Does she mind if I talk to her?"
"Umm…sure" Flynn responds and Phoebus makes her way to Esmeralda, who is starting to get a little focused on her bowling technique
"Hey Esme"
"Gah!," exclaimed Esmeralda, "Oh, it's you Phoebus, goodness me you can't scare me like that!" she laughed it off
"Sorry, about that"
"It's fine, aren't you gonna bowl"
"Nah, not right now, what made you bowl"
"Arcade got kinda boring and I didn't wanna sit down for the rest of the night, so here we are. I'm actually doing quite good, getting some spares recently"
"Oh ok, that's good" Phoebus genuinely smiling at Esmeralda's comment
"Still finding it difficult to get a strike, How the hell were you getting a lot of those"
"I don't know…Lucky, I guess" Phoebus gives a little shrug
"Oh really, it's it not because you part of the 'Bowling Boys!'"
"The four of us had that for a while now" Phoebus responds to Esmeralda's sarcasm with a slight laugh, "We would always, when we were younger, always go bowling, almost like every weekend"
"Really, I wouldn't have a clue it would be that deep"
"Silly name, yes. The important bond between me, Ali, Quasi, and Flynn…also yes"
"Well that's interesting to know" Just had Esmeralda had said that, she rolled her ball down the alley and got her first strike of the night
(Gasps) "Yes, that is freakin' sweet, did you see that Phoebs!" she exclaims in joy
I sure did! Great job Esme!," Phoebus exclaims back. Just as he is going to give her a high five, she lunges for his torso and gives him a really nice hug. Phoebus doesn't know what to do at this moment right now with Esmeralda. Since he is literally frozen, he acts fast and decides to wrap his arms around her torso. They're in this position briefly, but to Phoebus, they feel like minutes. They then let go.
"Woah", Phoebus says in shock, "Where did all of that come from?"
Esmeralda laughs at him, "What do you mean, you're acting that weird for me to hug one of my friends after something cool happens"
Phoebus is taken aback by what she just said but then realizes that it was cool and was just an innocent hug
C'mon man, she just gave you a hug, and you're acting all weird, Stop that and be cool
"Umm…Earth to Phoebus"
"Huh," says Phoebus after he snaps out of his thoughts, "Oh I'm sorry that I just spaced out like that"
Esmeralda giggles, "It's fine, just don't weird me out like that again, okay?"
"Okay" responds Phoebus who smiles at her
Meanwhile, from the corner of his eye, Aladdin is spying on the interaction between Esmeralda and Phoebus, All he does is smile and give Phoebus a thumbs-up
After bowling, bowling, and more bowling, the night comes to an end and the group goes back to their respective carpool groups for the ride home. Flynn with Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Megara, opens a little conversation with all of them
"So, how was tonight for y'all?" says Flynn
"At first, I thought it was going to be lame, but then it turned out to be alright", said Megara with Pocahontas nodding in agreement
"Yeah, I thought the arcade was pretty cool and the bowling was cool too", said Pocahontas adding on with Megara
"Aladdin, how was it for you?" Flynn asks, "You seemed kinda bored", he added
"Not at all, you know…bowling is bowling" he responded
"Well, it's great to hear that all of you are satisfied, let's find your ways back home"
As soon as Flynn said that, Aladdin received a text from Jasmine
Hey, how was bowling tonight? texted Jasmine
It was alright, Aladdin texted back with a thumbs-up emoji
Glad to hear that, She sends a smiling face emoji with all teeth showing, Can't wait to talk to you on Monday, if I ever see you
Haha, yea me too he responds, hoping that the next time they meet, he can finally tell her how he really feels about her
Meanwhile, Phoebus is taking Quasimodo and Esmeralda back to their places. He drives as there is a little traffic on the road, but not to worry since it clears up just in time to drop Quasimodo off. Phoebus does that and Quasimodo is dropped off.
"Hey, it was a great time hang out with you guys, as always, see y'all Monday," says, Quasimodo
"See you too man", says Phoebus giving him a fist bump
"Bye Quasi, see you soon," says Esmeralda exchanging him a quick hug
This now leaves just Esmeralda in Phoebus's car and the traffic to her house isn't bad either. He then drops her off. He gets out of his side of the car to open the door for her
"Thanks, Phoebs, but I can open the door for myself" Esmeralda smiles
"I know, just being chivalrous, that's all", Phoebus responds
"Hey, before I go I just want to say, thanks for giving me some support with bowling tonight"
Phoebus looks at her weirdly, "What? I don't know if I gave you support"
Esmeralda smiles, "Of course you did silly, you talking to me, having a connection, and then boom…Lucky Strike"
"Umm, sure, Lucky Strike", said Phoebus, sorta confused
"Still smiling is Esmeralda when she says, "Get home safe and have a good night, I'll see you later"
Phoebus gives a slight smile, "You too Esme, night"
Phoebus then gets to his car and waits until Esmeralda is fully inside her house, once that happens he's off to his house. He can't stop thinking about tonight, the conversation with Aladdin, the hug, the Spring Formal…but with all that running through his mind, only two words that he blurts out to himself
"Lucky Strike"
Interesting how the night panned out for Phoebus with the exchanges he had with Esmeralda and also how two of his friends know about his love interest. What's going to happen next?, find out in chapter thirteen. New schedule when it comes to this story, Starting next week chances are you are going to see this story more likely to come out on Fridays instead of Thursdays, but still stay tuned. What was your favorite part, let me know in the review section, and also remember to leave a like if you liked this story. Thank you :)
I do not own these characters. Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Tangled are all property of Disney. I write for fun.