Coach Tarzan was sitting in the teacher's lounge, having arrived earlier than usual. It was officially October, as indicated by the cool air and pale morning sun. It wasn't getting too crisp outside just yet, but in a few weeks it would, and the wind would turn sharp and the sky would be cloudy. Tarzan knew the students were excited; He'd heard kids talking about costumes and parties for Halloween since the first day of school. And he couldn't help but join in on the excitement. The anticipation of the holidays was prominent everywhere, and everyone seemed rejuvenated by the promises the next few months held.
He was currently sitting with Mr. Porter, who taught biology and physics. Mr. Porter was going on and on about some vacation he'd been on over the summer. Well, not so much a vacation as an expedition. Mr. Porter wasn't just some idle high school science teacher; He was still heavily involved and making significant contributions to the scientific community, mostly through his observations of wildlife. Apparently, this time around, it had been gorillas.
Been there, done that... Tarzan thought in amusement, smiling while he listened to Mr. Porter's stories.
"Oh, and I was so glad that Jane could come with me this time around." Mr. Porter was saying.
"Jane?" Tarzan frowned, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Oh, she's my daughter. You haven't met?"
Tarzan shook his head. "Nope."
"How strange. I thought everyone knew her by now... She just started officially teaching here this year."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. She teaches biology, environmental science and, um… Oh, yes, art."
Tarzan laughed. "Interesting combo."
"Yes, well, she's shaping into quite the scientist. She's loved it ever since she was little, especially anything involving animals. But she's also quite the artist. Her drawing skills are remarkable; I've got no idea where they could have come from."
"She sounds nice." Tarzan said the obligatory reply as he went back to his coffee.
When Maurice walked in and the two older gentlemen got into a discussion of their crazy new ideas, Tarzan delved contentedly into the day's newspaper.
The beginning of October made Aurora relax for the first time in a long while. She'd slept so well over the weekend that she had no issue waking up an hour earlier to sneak over to her spot in the woods and watch the sunrise. Now it was 7:00 and she was taking her time strolling to her car, purposefully crunching fallen leaves underfoot. She'd opted for a grey & black cottage-core kind of look today, save for the purple scarf wrapped snugly around her throat.
She drove to pick up Snow and Giselle at a leisurely pace. She knew neither of them were ready yet any way. She was halfway to Snow's when she heard her phone ringing. She saw it was Jasmine and quickly picked it up, letting the Bluetooth connection do the rest.
"Jazz?"
"Are you at school yet?" Jasmine's voice rang through the car's speakers.
"No..."
"Do you think you can pick me up?"
"Of course. Give me ten minutes."
"Thank you!"
"No problem."
"Hey, uh… We need to talk in the car."
Aurora didn't like Jasmine's tone. "About what?"
Jasmine sighed. "Vanessa. Apparently, she hasn't been happy about what happened at the party, and she's been talking all kinds of shit."
Vanessa was the resident mean girl at Disney Academy. No, "mean girl" didn't really cover it… Even Regina George would think Vanessa was insane. And she also happened to be Gaston's on-and-off…girlfriend? Fling? Nobody was sure, actually. Nevertheless, she was possessive of him and didn't like the idea of him being with someone else…unless she needed him distracted so she could get with someone else…
She was a very complicated person. And kind of a heinous bitch.
Aurora scoffed. "I don't care what Vanessa has to say about me. And neither does anyone else who matters."
"I know, I know. I just don't want her to mess with you. And if she tries to hurt you or anything, I swear I'll—"
"We'll talk about it in a bit. Okay?"
"Okay."
Aurora hung up and picked up some speed, discreetly texting Snow and Giselle to hurry up when she found herself at a stop light. Her heart fluttered as she thought about what kind of twisted narrative Vanessa had in her head about what Gaston had done to her at the party, how she might act. Despite her brave words on the phone, Aurora knew that an angry Vanessa was the last thing she wanted to deal with…
Belle was sitting in the school's courtyard, her nose stuck in her favorite book. She always stopped by the little library in her town on her way to school; She was a favorite there. She'd already checked this same book out twice before, but she loved it so much she found she could just read it over and over again. The old man who ran the library had laughed and told her to just keep it.
So now she sat and lost herself in the words she knew so well, but seemed to be discovering for the first time. Far-off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, and a prince in disguise! She sighed as she got wrapped up in the excitement, the outside world melting away...
"Belle!"
Well, almost.
Belle looked up to see Mulan walking up to greet her, waving. Belle waved back with a smile as Mulan sat with her.
"Hi, Mulan. How are you?"
"I'm good." Mulan noticed the familiar cover of Belle's favorite book. "Reading that one again?"
Belle grinned. "Yeah. I never get tired of it. The librarian told me to keep it."
"Oh, awesome."
"I know."
"Well, I'll let you read, then. Just wanted to say hi. See you!" Mulan got up and walked away.
"See you!" Belle called after Mulan's retreating form.
As she was getting back to her book, Mulan was suddenly in front of her again.
"Did you get contacts?"
Belle blushed. She'd hoped it wouldn't be a big deal. "Yeah... My glasses got broken over the weekend."
"You look nice." Mulan stated before taking off again. "Bye!"
Belle laughed. "Bye, Mulan." She didn't hesitate to dive back into her book, hoping there would be no more distractions.
Aurora was lounging next to her locker with Charlotte and Ariel. Giselle and Snow were getting breakfast from the cafeteria. Cindy was going to be late because of Anastasia and Drizella. Jasmine had ditched them for Aladdin.
Charlotte was in the middle of a thrilling story about Naveen's dimples when Giselle and Snow came running up to them.
"Have you guys seen Belle?" Giselle demanded.
"No. Why?" Aurora asked.
"She got contacts!" Snow squealed.
"Really?" Ariel gasped. "I've tried to convince her for years! What made her finally do it?"
When both Snow and Giselle shrugged, Ariel pouted. Meanwhile, Charlotte was staring blankly at her friends.
"I'm sorry. Who's Belle?" Charlotte asked.
Aurora looked at her. "I thought you would know her. She's a senior, too."
Charlotte shook her head. "Nope. Never heard of her."
"She really quiet." Ariel explained.
"She spends most of her time in the library or in her dad's classroom." Giselle added.
Charlotte looked exceedingly confused. "Huh?"
"Her dad is Mr. Maurice." Aurora stated.
Charlotte continued to stare blankly at her friends.
"The physics teacher?" Ariel offered.
Charlotte threw up her hands and groaned, giving up. "Whatever! I don't care!"
"She's sitting in the courtyard! Come see." Snow chirped.
Aurora stared at her friends in dismay. "Really? Aren't we above the 'nerdy-girl-takes-off-her-glasses-and-suddenly-she's-gorgeous' trope?"
"Belle's always been gorgeous, Rorie!" Ariel said defensively.
"I was joking." Aurora assured her. "But doesn't this feel weird to you guys?"
They didn't seem to hear her as they gathered up their things and walked away. She rolled her eyes and followed her friends to gawk at Belle.
Tiana sat beside Belle, amused at the girl's obliviousness to the world outside her book. Tiana cleared her throat and Belle forced her attention to her friend.
"Hey, Tia." Belle smiled distractedly.
"Hi, Belle. Judging by the book, I'm guessing your morning's going well."
"By that logic, every morning would be going well..." Belle mused. "You know. Every day, same old, same old."
"I can relate." Tiana nodded. "Buses this morning were a nightmare."
"What happened to your car?"
"Mom took the car this morning. Hers finally died. It's alright, though. Those buses'll wake you up." Tiana laughed. "So busy..."
"I wish something could wake me up in the morning." Belle mumbled. "My little town's so sleepy..." Belle lived a little further away from most other students, in a small town just outside of Buena Vista that had been founded by French settlers. Many of the people who lived there had come from somewhere in Europe, like her and her father.
"When do you think your daddy'll make the move to the city?" Tiana asked.
Belle shrugged. "It depends on this invention he's been working on. It's his life's work. It has to succeed..."
"So, till then you've just gotta make do?"
Belle nodded tiredly.
Tiana tilted her head. "Why don't you tell me about that book?"
Belle grinned. "Walk with me."
Aurora sat and skimmed through the physics chapter she was supposed to read over the weekend while her weird friends stood huddled together behind a bush, whispering.
"Her eyes are so beautiful!" Snow murmured.
"Yeah, I've never seen hazel eyes like that before." Cindy commented, having found them after finally making it to school.
"Oh, but look, that strand of hair keeps getting in the way." Snow chirped.
"I know, it's bugging me… Ooh, I would love to do her hair for her!" Giselle said.
"Is that Tia with her? I didn't know they hung out!" Charlotte hissed.
"All the time." Cindy stated.
"They run the tutoring program together..." Aurora added distractedly.
"Well, she never talks about Belle." Charlotte pouted.
"You know, she's really pretty." Snow said.
"I know!" Ariel grinned. "She always has been. People just don't seem to notice..."
"She doesn't seem to notice, herself." Giselle mused.
"Well, looks don't really matter to her." Ariel replied.
"How have I never noticed her before? Why is she not my friend?" Charlotte demanded as if the others would have a viable answer.
"Well, she doesn't exactly...fit in." Giselle said carefully, avoiding Ariel's gaze.
When Charlotte looked at Ariel questioningly, Ariel sighed. "She's really smart, you know. She reads a lot. She thinks differently from a lot of people here." She sent a pointed look at Giselle, who ignored it.
"Well, if she gets along with Tia, then we must be able to coexist!" Charlotte said with an unshakeable determination.
Ariel stifled a giggle. If there was one thing Ariel knew about Belle, it was that her stubbornness could easily match Charlotte's.
By now, more people were gathering in the courtyard, and Belle was gathering more and more attention. Tiana seemed to notice it more than Belle did, but she didn't say anything about it. She knew Belle didn't care.
Eventually, Belle glanced up absent-mindedly and saw a lot of people duck their heads as if she'd caught them staring. She raised a brow at Tiana, who just shrugged and shook her head. While Belle went back to her book and to explaining it to Tiana with rapid, excited words, Tiana worked to keep the faster girl from running into anything. But, with how distracted Belle seemed, she was still alert enough to evade obstacles. Tiana followed, stunned. And kind of wishing she was as much of a morning person as the French girl.
As they passed Naveen and the guys, (The guys in this case being Charming, Ferdinand, Eric, Edward, and Hercules), Tiana caught Naveen staring at the selectively oblivious Belle. Well, all the guys were, but Naveen was the least ashamed about it. He even whistled. And when Tiana shot him a dirty look, he didn't even flinch. He just gave her his most charming smile. Tiana rolled her eyes and the two walked away, leaving Naveen staring while the other guys started talking.
By now, Charlotte and the girls had joined them. Charlotte gave Naveen a good smack in the back of his head. He just stared down at her, shocked that she had been able to reach that high. When met with her glare, he smiled sheepishly and immediately started to try making amends.
"So, what do you guys think of Belle's new look?" Aurora sarcastically asked the guys. They all murmured casual responses.
"Well, somebody seems to like it." Charlotte growled, smacking Naveen on the arm now.
"Babe, I wasn't looking at her, I promise you…"
"Ooh, she and Tia are leaving the courtyard! Let's go!" Charlotte interrupted him.
Aurora frowned as she followed the rest of the group. "This is getting out of hand…"
They passed Rapunzel and Merida on their way. Wanting to see what all of the excitement was about, Rapunzel jumped in. Merida followed her reluctantly. Aurora couldn't help thinking that eventually a sizeable crowd would form and their cover would be blown.
When Belle and Tiana stopped at Belle's locker, the group was forced to turn a sharp corner to be hidden. Hearing shuffling behind them, Belle and Tiana turned around. When they saw that the hallway was empty, they looked at each other and shrugged. Belle quickly opened her locker and pulled out her physics book, then slammed it shut and went back to reading, hurrying off and around a corner with Tiana in tow. The group jumped back to their pursuit.
Aurora felt someone nudge her and turned to see Rapunzel. She grinned at the shorter girl, who was beaming up at her. She seemed to radiate sunlight.
"So... What are we doing?" Rapunzel asked her.
Aurora laughed. "Everyone wants to follow that girl around."
"Oh..." Rapunzel looked confused.
"Aaaaand... Why are we doing that, exactly?" Merida's gaze travelled between Rapunzel and Aurora.
Rapunzel looked at Aurora for a response. Aurora shook her head as if to say "Don't ask me". Rapunzel looked back at Merida and shrugged, making Merida roll her eyes.
They were led back to the courtyard, where Belle and Tiana sat in the grass. The group was forced to occupy a table across the way and try to act natural. Nearby, Flynn and his friends were occupying their tree and generally being nuisances. Aurora rolled her eyes when she saw Jasmine and Aladdin snuggling and enduring Flynn's teasing. After the eyeroll, a flash of red caught her eye. She turned to face it, and felt her heart stop.
She knew he'd been drunk and the incident was well over, but the sight of Gaston still made her skin crawl. Flashes from that night came to her, and she squeezed her eyes shut hoping to contain them, keep them from being real.
She felt horror claw at her gut when she saw Gaston gawking at Belle.
It's going to happen again.
That was a given. Aurora knew it was likely she wasn't the first girl Gaston had attacked, and that there would definitely be more. But the way that his eyes were leveled on the unsuspecting Belle made Aurora sick…
And made her feel a responsibility to protect Belle.
Gaston hadn't originally been looking at Belle. His attention had originally been fixed on Flynn and Aladdin, with a murderous glare. While his "friend" Le Fou was rambling about some rumor going around about Vanessa, Gaston felt his heart skip a beat and his jaw go slack at the sight of a gorgeous girl.
"Le Fou."
Le Fou stumbled to a halt in his words when he heard Gaston's commanding baritone. "Yes?"
"That girl." He pointed toward Belle. "Next to Tiana. Who is she?"
"Oh, that's Belle."
"Oh?" Fitting name. "What do we know about her?"
"Well, she's your physics teacher's daughter..."
Gaston frowned. He thought he recognized her. She was in his first class! But how come he hadn't checked her out before?
"Oh! She got contacts." Le Fou pointed out, just now noticing. "Wonder what happened to her glasses?"
That explained it. Gaston always immediately tuned out at the sight of glasses. He nodded along while Le Fou continued.
"She's the quiet, bookish type. Reads a lot. Kinda keeps to herself, but she's really nice to everyone. Don't think she's ever had a boyfriend..." Le Fou trailed off, having just realized the basis of Gaston's curiosity. He looked up at the football player meekly.
"Le Fou. I just want to know one thing. Is she crazy?"
"Well, everyone's pretty sure her dad is..."
"Well, yeah. But is she?"
Le Fou shook his head. "Nah. Just weird..."
This statement was greeted with a slap on his nose. Le Fou cried out and rubbed at his nose while Gaston chided, "Don't talk about her that way! She's just...different." He slowly smiled, his eyes fixed on Belle. "But I think I can help her fit in."
"But, dude-"
"No buts!" Gaston said dramatically.
"But she-"
"Is the most beautiful girl in school!"
"I guess, but she's-"
"Way hotter than Vanessa and lacking the crazy!"
"I know, but-"
"That makes her the best!" He turned a scrutinizing gaze on Le Fou. "And don't I deserve the best?"
"Well, of course!" Le Fou cried, backing down.
Gaston cast one last look in Belle's direction before turning his full attention on Le Fou, stating, "I'm gonna ask her out."
Le Fou gave him a look, but kept his mouth shut in fear of being hit again. Gaston grinned and turned back to where Belle had been sitting with Tiana, but was disappointed to see she had gone. He looked around to see that the two girls were heading toward another group of kids. But they were moving very leisurely, and it was a long enough walk that he could catch up and introduce himself.
He took off toward her, with Le Fou following unsurely. They passed the blonde triplets (affectionately called "The Bimbettes"), who were now headed by a venomous Vanessa. The blondes swooned at the sight of Gaston while Vanessa's violet eyes gleamed with a malicious glare. Her stare was fixed on the back of the football player's head, slowly turning to a look of mischief.
"Vanessa, what are you thinking about?" One of the triplets- Vanessa could never tell them apart- asked.
"Payback." Vanessa replied coldly.
Meanwhile, Ariel was eagerly greeting Belle as she and Tiana approached the group. The guys were still having a hard time looking any of the girls in the eye, obviously a little ashamed of themselves. Aurora shared a look with Ariel, neither of them understanding the phenomena around them. Ariel shrugged and started introducing Belle to everyone.
Aurora approached Belle with a grin, extending her hand. Belle smiled back and shook her hand without question, catching Aurora by surprise.
"Um... Hi. I'm Aurora."
"Oh, yes. Hi. I'm Belle."
Was that a French accent? "You're in my physics class, right?"
"Oh, yes!"
"Would you like to sit with me and my friends today?"
Belle got a knowing look on her face. "Look, I know my dad's the teacher, but that doesn't mean I have access to test answers..."
Aurora blinked in surprise. "Oh, no! It's not like that! It's just that you seem really nice. I'd like for us to be friends..."
Belle smiled again, seeming relieved. "Oh, good. Then I'd be glad to sit with you."
"Great." Aurora laughed.
After a few awkward seconds, Ariel cut in excitedly, "That's great news! Belle, come here and meet everybody else!"
As Aurora led Belle to the group, she saw Gaston and his little henchman turn the corner. When he saw her with Belle, he froze in his tracks. His look of determination melted away to a blank mask. Aurora quickly ducked her head and disappeared into the group, which greeted Belle a little too warmly.
Gaston groaned and turned on his heel, walking the opposite way. The dazed Le Fou whirled around to follow, glancing back once or twice.
Meeting her will have to wait... Gaston thought, more frustrated with himself than anyone else.
He passed Vanessa and the three blonde girls on his way to his locker. The Bimbettes sighed and giggled as he passed, but Vanessa stood unfazed and fixed her purple eyes on him, watching his every step. When she caught Le Fou staring at her, she sent him a look that made him cower and scurry away.
Aurora watched this and thought, Good. Let Vanessa handle him. But the unpleasant feeling that had settled in her stomach was relentless. She put aside her nausea and turned to smile at her friends. Jasmine had come to join them and meet her new physics partner. And, a few yards away, Phillip was walking over to join everyone… Aurora felt her stomach clench again. Then, she saw Tiana walk over to Phillip and start talking to him, probably about a student council thing.
She heard a giggle somewhere behind her and turned to see Flynn and Rapunzel flirting over Snow's shoulder. Aurora bit the inside of her cheek and swept her bangs out of her eyes, burrowing herself deeper into the safety of her sea of friends.
Although Belle wasn't used to all the attention, and actually didn't care for it very much, she couldn't turn down the opportunity to make new friends. Other kids had always found her odd, and no one really bothered to hide that from her. There were the occasional few who embraced her "strangeness" and loved it, like Tiana or Mulan (who were also quite the free thinkers), or even Merida (who was usually quick to judge). But, while she got along fine with them, she was still different enough that they didn't hang out much. They all had their own groups; They'd all found their own ways.
She had not.
But maybe these new friends could help pave that path. They weren't even as insufferable as she'd originally suspected. She'd actually enjoyed sitting with Aurora, Ariel and Jasmine during physics. She'd known Ariel since grade school, but they'd never been close. (Although Ariel liked to act as if they were.) And she'd only ever seen the other two around school and heard rumors. She had to say, Aurora and Jasmine were nothing like what their reputations suggested. Jasmine seemed cold and dense, but she was actually kind, funny, and incredibly intelligent. She understood physics a hell of a lot better than Belle did. She was just a bit of a skeptic; Her cynical nature probably turned a lot of people off.
As for Aurora... Well, she was a bit more of a puzzle. She didn't exactly seem like the perky, glowing cheerleading superstar everyone saw her as in previous years. Of course, Belle knew what had happened at the party; Everyone did. The subsequent scandals surrounding Gaston in the last few weeks (including yet another violent break up with Vanessa) were practically all anyone talked about. Belle had stayed out of it, distracting herself from how screwed up her school was by reading and being excited for Tiana's college prospects and supporting Mulan's football schemes.
Belle doubted that Aurora was deaf to all the whispers and murmurs echoing through the halls. And how Aurora could stand it, Belle didn't really understand. To have gone through something like that, and then have the whole school talking about it, even making up entirely different versions of the story…
Belle mentally shivered. She didn't really know Gaston, which only made him seem more threatening to her. She was usually open-minded and treated everyone like a friend. But hearing all these stories about him from so many girls in school made her sick. She would think of those blonde girls and Vanessa and fear for them or pity them, but also wonder why, why, why they would ever want to involve themselves with him.
Little did she know that she was going to be on the receiving end of those affections from the very boy who made her cringe; Which, by the way, were affections that she'd never faced before in her entire life. And, also, little did she know that Aurora, (who'd been pretending to be distracted by her physics worksheet), was working to protect her from those "affections".
Something bounced off Aurora's head. She turned to glare at Peter Pan and Flynn Rider. Peter was laughing with Tinkerbell while Wendy looked disapproving and tried to scold Peter. This turned Peter and Tink's wrath on Wendy. Meanwhile, Flynn was giving Aurora an uneasy smile, raising his hands slightly in apology. Aurora rolled her eyes and turned back to her friends, who looked just as annoyed. Belle was even frowning.
"Well, that was rude." Belle stated plainly, sharing a look with Jasmine, who was sending Flynn and his group a nice, icy glare. Ariel was smirking at how Flynn squirmed in his seat.
Aurora shook her head, grinning easily at her friends. "Guess some of us are just stuck in grade school." She said it loud enough for everyone to hear. She heard Tink make a nasty noise with her throat, and a shuffling of chairs, but never turned to look at the group behind her. They simply weren't worth her time. There was more shuffling. Jasmine was staring warily over Aurora's head. Tink was probably about to try and pick a fight. Aurora kept her expression light and focused her eyes on her worksheet. She heard Peter mumbling something. Tink huffed. Then there was the sound of a chair creaking as Tink sat back down. Jasmine relaxed visibly and smirked at Aurora.
"Because fighting with the head cheerleader would definitely get you on the team..." Ariel was muttering after sending Tink a quick glare.
Aurora inwardly groaned. Try-outs were next week. Charlotte was absolutely ecstatic, of course. But somehow, the thought of having to judge the other girls filled her with dread. It was a quick way to make people hate you, and that was not what Aurora needed right now.
Thinking of the girls she would probably be stuck with all year made her suddenly very tired. After this year, Lottie would be gone and Aurora would be the only captain. Junior year would be hard enough without cheerleading drama.
Well, just look at how this year started out, and cheer practices haven't even begun... She thought glumly.
Her stress must have been showing on her face, because Ariel's hand was on her arm. She looked up and they were all looking at her. Ariel looked concerned, Jasmine wary, and Belle comforting. The brunette's eyes were soft and she smiled faintly, encouraging Aurora to speak. Aurora suddenly realized that Jasmine had asked her something.
"I'm sorry. What was that?"
"I asked if you were okay?" Jasmine repeated carefully.
Aurora smiled and nodded. "Just worried about cheer."
Jasmine nodded, understanding suddenly. Everyone relaxed and went back to work, feeling at peace. Aurora stared down at her worksheet, feeling empty.
The first three periods flew by. Now everyone was sitting at their lunch tables, reveling in the autumn weather.
Charles ignored Anastasia and Drizella as they walked by and tried to flirt. (He'd given up on being polite a while ago.) After the sisters moved on to sit at a nearby table, Ferdinand and Naveen teased Charles about it. Lottie giggled at Naveen's jokes and then they made out. Tiana rolled her eyes and got back to her homework. Lottie had insisted that Tiana join her and her popular friends for lunch, so here she was.
Snow and Cindy showed up, with Snow immediately snuggling into Ferdinand's side. Cindy sat next to Charles, keeping it platonic since her stepsisters were watching them like hawks.
And where exactly do they get off? Tiana thought, discretely shaking her head. Luckily for Cindy, both of her stepsisters were seniors, so after this year, their mother could buy their way into a college and hopefully Cindy's life would get a little easier...
Giselle and Edward joined in next, hand in hand and practically joined at the hip. They were pretty cute, and both way nicer than Tiana had thought before really meeting them. Maybe not too bright, but nice. Ariel and Eric showed up, probably after a seriously hot make-out session judging by their flushed skin and dazed smiles. They were followed by Aurora, who looked incredibly uncomfortable, and (to Tiana's surprise) Belle. Belle grinned at Tiana and sat next to her while Aurora took a seat next to Ariel. Tiana tried to smile at Aurora, but Aurora was too focused on her sandwich to look Tiana's way.
"Hey, where's Jasmine?" Cindy asked the table just as Hercules joined them.
Giselle and Snow giggled while Ariel smiled cheekily and Charlotte and Aurora rolled their eyes. Charlotte was the one to answer, "She's hangin' around with Aladdin and the outcasts at the pothead tree." She jerked an uncaring thumb toward the tree in question.
"Hey, now. I know most of those kids and they're pretty cool. Most of them don't even smoke." Tiana scolded Charlotte without thinking. It was a habit since childhood.
Belle laughed at the faces of the rest of the table. Sure, not a lot of people argued with Lottie. But Belle knew that one person was more than brave enough to, and that was Tiana. In fact, Tiana was probably the only person who could win an argument with Lottie.
Charlotte just rolled her eyes at Tiana and munched on a carrot stick. Naveen chuckled and held Charlotte close to his side, looking at Tiana from under his thick eyelashes. Tiana just glared at him.
Flynn sat by restlessly, pouting as he watched Rapunzel sit at her table with Merida and Jim and all those freshmen. She'd been giving him the cold shoulder recently, and now there was word going around that she was planning to try out for cheer.
I really hope she's not like the others... Ugh, who am I kidding? She's too naive. They'll ruin her.
For some reason, this one had stuck with him. She was sweet, but not boring, and she didn't fall for his tricks easily. She dressed modestly, kept her hair tamed in a thick braid, wore very little make up... It was amazing that he'd even looked at her in the first place.
Flynn had been feeling kind of lonely lately. He looked around at his friends. Milo and Kida were working on math homework (Since when did she do homework?), Pocahontas and John were resting in the tree and doing...stuff, Nakoma and Thomas were having some conversation with Aladdin and Jasmine, and Esmeralda and Phoebus were talking awkwardly while Meg sat by and rolled her eyes. Meg looked at Hercules' table and waved at him, once. Flynn saw Esmeralda look toward that table too, but she seemed more focused on Naveen and Charlotte. Phoebus noticed this too, and was clearly upset by it.
And Mulan wasn't even there. She was hanging around with some football players. Flynn sighed and continued to stare hopelessly at Rapunzel's table. He hoped he'd be out of his funk soon. But he figured that wouldn't happen until the loneliness was fixed... And hopefully the loneliness would take the guilt nagging at him away with it.
At 4:00 p.m., Charlotte was squealing as she spun excitedly in her desk chair. Aurora, Ariel, Giselle, Tiana, and Belle were sitting around her in various spots around Charlotte's bedroom. Jasmine was once again ditching them for Aladdin, (but apparently it was important this time), and Cindy and Snow were both coming later on.
"What are we all gonna be for Halloween?" Charlotte asked the group.
"I think we should be Batman characters..." Ariel said.
"Yeah! It would be cool! And it's different than any costumes we've done before." Giselle agreed.
"I love it! So, what should I be?" Charlotte asked. She didn't know anything about Batman.
"You should be Harley Quinn and Naveen should be the Joker." Ariel said, grinning. The girls didn't usually agree with her costume ideas.
"Would it count if I went as Wonder Woman?" Aurora asked.
They all thought on it for a moment, then said in unison. "Yeah."
Aurora nodded, pleased.
"On that note, let's expand the theme to comic characters in general. I could be Black Widow, and Edward could be Captain America." Giselle smirked.
"Oh, that's so cute!" Ariel squealed, clapping. "Ooh! Dibs on Poison Ivy!"
"I bet we could get Kida to be Storm..." Aurora spoke up.
"That is just too perfect!" Ariel cheered.
"Yeah! And Milo could be Cyclops!" Giselle added excitedly.
"I don't think Milo does Halloween, really." Belle said in amusement.
"Party pooper." Giselle pouted.
"Do you do Halloween, Belle?" Ariel asked.
"I've always helped dad pass out candy. But I've never really dressed up... I'll try it, though."
"Girl, we've got you covered." Charlotte assured her.
"OMG! You should totally be Rogue!" Ariel shrieked. "Ugh, her costume is so cool!"
Belle laughed. "I'll look into it."
"And guys, I can totally make way good quality costumes for all of us. Completely free of charge." Giselle bragged.
"You sew?" Belle asked, impressed.
"Only my whole life!"
"Giselle works with my mom and Aurora's aunt Flora on costuming for school plays and the dance team." Tiana spoke up.
"Tiana, you should join in on the group costume this year! I've decided." Charlotte said firmly.
"Well…"
"Just think about what character you wanna go as and let Giselle know tomorrow." Charlotte said, and Giselle nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
"Cindy would make a really cute Batgirl… And Charlie could be Batman!" Ariel said. "Oh! And Ferdinand and Snow should be Superman and Supergirl!"
Charlotte shrieked. "I've gotta text everyone right now! This is so excitin'!"
While Charlotte typed furiously, Ariel and Aurora turned to Giselle and Tiana.
"What do we have planned for the school's Haunted House Fundraiser so far?" Aurora asked.
Giselle thought about it. "So far, we only have the zombie graveyard for the front... Oh, and we're gonna have bowls of candy at the entrance."
"Well, we already know we want fog machines, strobe lights, glow sticks..." Ariel drifted off.
"And spider webs!" Giselle grinned.
"And spider webs..." Ariel agreed. "We need a creepy music playlist..."
"Got it covered." Aurora said.
"What volunteers do we have for the creatures?" Giselle asked.
"Phillip said he would be the werewolf. And I think Charming and Ferdinand wanna be vampires. But that's all I've heard about it." Tiana shrugged.
"Aww, we should get Snow to be a vampire! She would be so cute." Ariel beamed.
"I'll talk to her about it." Aurora said.
"We know we want the forest room with the werewolf, and the creepy crypt with the vampires. We've been thinking on a sarcophagus with a mummy in the center room... And someone mentioned a room with a Hitchcock theme." Tiana listed.
"Okay... We need an 80's movie theme..." Aurora added.
"I vote Nightmare on Elm Street! Gives us more to work with." Ariel exclaimed, holding up a hand.
"I think they did that a couple years back... We should do a slasher, like Friday the 13th." Giselle said.
"Or, we could go further back, to the 70's, and do something like Halloween." Ariel countered. "Friday's too obvious, and you know Gaston's gonna wanna be Jason."
"Gross." Belle murmured from her seat, making Aurora smirk.
"We could get Hercules to be Jason..." Giselle thought aloud.
"Let's get back to it later." Tiana said. "What's gonna be the theme for the big room at the end?"
"The Exorcist!" Ariel cheered.
"No..." Tiana said.
Ariel thought about it. "Rosemary's Baby!"
"No." Giselle shook her head, making a face.
"Children of the Corn!"
"No!" Aurora cried.
"A virgin sacrifice?"
"NO!" The other three chorused.
Ariel pouted.
They all thought about it for a while.
"We could be creepy ghost brides... Like, undead gold-diggers..." Giselle mumbled.
Tiana shook her head. "I dunno..."
"You could do a Tim Burton Room."
They all turned to Belle, who was the one who had just spoken. After a moment of consideration, they all grinned.
"Belle, you are a genius!" Ariel praised the hazel-eyed girl, who just shrugged and smiled.
"I have my moments." Belle joked, making everyone laugh.
"Lottie, get off your phone and join the conversation!" Tiana scolded the bouncing blonde.
A few hours later, after having a ton of Halloween-related information relayed to them, Jasmine was walking home with Cindy, Giselle and Snow White. Her furrowed brow gave away that something was troubling her, so Cindy took it upon herself to ask the obvious question.
"What's up, Jazz?"
Jasmine's expression took on a suspicious edge. "It's just… Has anyone noticed how suddenly Tiana's made herself so comfortable in our group? She wouldn't have anything to do with us before."
"Well, I think that's mostly to do with Lottie. It's their senior year, and Lottie just wants to get quality time with all her friends. Makes it easier if we hang out altogether, you know?" Cindy explained gently.
It was a fair point, Jasmine had to admit.
"Besides, I think it's fine. I really like Tiana." Cindy added. Giselle and Snow both agreed.
"Okay, but… And this is where it gets weirder." Jasmine went on. "Have you guys seen how much time she and Phillip have been spending together?"
"Sure." Giselle shrugged. "But they run the student council together. They kinda have to."
"They're closer than any other president and vice-president I've ever seen." Jasmine pointed out. Granted, she only had two years of experience under her belt, but…
Cindy couldn't hold back her sigh. "What's your point, Jasmine? I know you've never liked Tiana, but I'm pretty sure you're the only one. So spill."
Jasmine rolled her eyes. "It just bugs me that she gets to waltz in on our turf and could potentially drive a wedge between two of our closest friends. I mean, everyone can tell how weird things are between Rorie and Phillip. She could easily take advantage of the situation, and—"
"Whoa, wait, turf?" Cindy openly laughed. "We don't have turf! And 'take advantage'? Have you met Tiana?"
"Doesn't it just strike you as a little odd that she waited until now to try to be friends with us? With everything going on…" Jasmine sighed. "I just don't like the idea of someone we barely know coming in and ruining everything."
"That's not going to happen. Come on, she and Lottie have been best friends since they were little. If Lottie vouches for Tiana, I trust her. In fact, I think she should have been hanging out with us all along." Cindy countered.
"Exactly, but she hasn't. She thinks we're all shallow and stupid."
"That isn't true. Jazz, Tiana's great! I get where you're coming from here, but I'm telling you, you should give her a chance."
"I actually think she fits into the group really well." Giselle chimed in. "And, again, I know her mom pretty well by now, and she's really great."
"By all accounts, Tiana's a safe bet in the Good Person Department. Okay? So just chill out." Cindy added. "You know, I actually think you two would get along really well if you could get over this weird impression you have of her."
Snow was nodding along absent-mindedly.
Jasmine narrowed her eyes at the cement in front of her feet. "We'll see. I just have a bad feeling about her, that's all."
Cindy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Jasmine was generally over-protective, and could be territorial. Any new member of the group would have to face some intense scrutiny from her. Cindy remembered when Naveen started hanging out with them more and Jasmine had him scared of being cast out for a full year. Jasmine was typically slow to trusting new people; this made her sudden attraction to Aladdin, of all people, a bit of a shock to her friends.
Cindy had to chalk this attitude toward Tiana up to Jasmine feeling insecure about another strong female presence. That would explain why she was so wary of Tiana and not Belle, who was also a new addition to the group. But when it came down to it, Belle wasn't a "threat" to the group's dynamic, or its hierarchy, like Jasmine clearly felt Tiana was.
Exhausting. High school is exhausting. Cindy couldn't wait to be done with it.
She realized they were coming closer to Giselle's house and decided to quickly bring up something that had been on their minds for a while.
"So, Giselle… How are you and Edward doing?" Cindy asked innocently.
"We're fine."
"Just fine?" Jasmine asked.
"Yeah."
The other girls stared at her, making her shrink a little. "What?"
"You guys aren't 'wonderful' or 'perfect' like when you first became an item?" Cindy prodded.
"Oh. Yeah, we're perfect."
"Giselle!" They all cried.
Her eyes grew wide. "What?!"
"You guys are the star couple of the school! The faces of the Disney Mice! And yet you don't seem very...involved." Jasmine said.
"We should really change our name..." Snow said distractedly. Cindy shot her a bemused look.
"Well... It's just... I guess… We've kind of lost our…spark. You know?" Giselle said quietly.
"Oh, that can't be true." Jasmine said. "I mean, you two still seem so crazy about each other."
Giselle nodded. "Well, yeah! I mean… We're still happy. I mean, he seems really happy. And for the most part I have been, too. But… I don't know. It's just not…exciting like it used to be." Giselle plainly felt guilty for saying so.
Cindy and Snow each wrapped an arm around the redhead while Jasmine pondered this for a moment.
Eventually, Jasmine said, "Well, maybe you two just need to spice things up. I mean, when was the last time you guys actually went on a date? Like a real date?"
Giselle tilted her head to one side thoughtfully. "You know, that's a really good point."
"There you go." Cindy said cheerfully, patting Giselle's shoulder. "I'm sure you and Edward can get the spark back. You just have to try."
Giselle laughed. "Like you and Charming?"
Cindy nodded. "Yup."
"I swear, it seems you guys are always having to work through something."
Cindy shrugged. "And it's always worth it. When you're working with the right person."
Snow made a small, disgusted noise and the other girls turned to see her averting her eyes from the sight of a large, black bird preying on a small lizard.
"Well, that's awful." Giselle remarked.
"Never seen that before." Jasmine commented with a frown.
Cindy sighed, turning away from the spectacle. "You know, Rorie and I were just saying the other day that the birds have been acting kind of weird lately. Feels like there's more of them around, just watching you." Cindy shivered. "Creepy."
"An omen…" Giselle said in a "spooky" voice. She grinned at the other girls' amused faces. "Just in time for Halloween, huh?"