I do not own these characters. The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and The Princess And The Frog are all owned by Disney. I just write for fun.
Hangtown - Volume III
"Esmeralda…um, she's doing fine I guess"
"Hey, it's that girl with what's his face…he dresses up snappy for everything, got the hair really gelled up, got like the whitest teeth I've ever seen…"
"Naveen, Dad", Phoebus said to stop his dad from rambling, "His name is Naveen"
"Ah, Naveen…what a name, boy if I had a smile like his I'd probably have gotten your mother's attention earlier"
"Oh, stop it you", says Phoebus's mom who gives her husband a smile. He chuckles a little while Phoebus is just standing there awkwardly while his parents are showing their affection to one another.
"Well…okay, I'm going to go upstairs to my room and just relax before dinner"
"Ok honey, and please remember to come down soon when your dinner is still hot", his mom reminds him
"Ok, will do", Phoebus gives a thumbs up to his mom before walking up the stairs
Phoebus heads up to his room, puts his backpack down, takes off his shoes, and lies on the bed. Doing more reflecting on how this is turning out so far.
"School was…alright today, as it is every day. Nothing really too major happens today, as with every day…however, I felt like today was a bit different. It was the first time in a while to see the seven of us at the lunch table today. The last time I can remember this happening was when we all returned from Spring Break. It was nice, a bit awkward, but nice. I don't really have any idea why it was nice. Maybe because it was cool to interact with all of them. More importantly, why am I acting like this? All because I saw some people, I've seen all my life during my years of elementary and middle school. Maybe it's because of what I said previously about not seeing them in a minute. Great I sound like my dad, just rambling and rambling. Going in circles and in circles."
He then wakes up and puts something comfortable to put on and then goes to his bathroom and throws water on his face
"Why am I doing all this far-reaching shit anyway? It's pointless, maybe I just need a healthy, clean, rest to cleanse me internally."
Phoebus does exactly that, gives himself a rest to at least help a little bit with why he's feeling the way he is feeling.
Time passes, and passes, and continues to pass. Suddenly, a loud yell can be heard from within the walls of their household.
"Phoebus!", the voice exclaims, Phoebus is still in his slumber
"Phoebus!", the voice shouts his name again, still Phoebus doesn't budge as for he is still in his deep, deep sleep
"Phoebus, come downstairs…dinner's ready!", the voice shouts for a third time and he opens his eyes, but he is still lying down. The voice continues with "You don't want dinner to get cold, remember!" And he now sits up knowing that this voice is coming from downstairs and the person this voice matches is his mother's. Phoebus comes downstairs so he can enjoy his supper with his family.
"There you are," his mother said as he looked and sounded like he had a really good sleep, "Remember what I said about dinner…"
"Yes Mom, I know, I'll get here earlier next time"
"That's what they all say", said his father
"You out all people shouldn't be taking", Phoebus barked at his father, "Do you know how many times you've been late for dinner
"Um, yeah, less than you" responded the father who gave a hearty chuckle after he got his son back
"Okay you two, let's not go back and forth about this subject and let's just dig in and eat this meal that I've prepared for all of us", said Phoebus's mom who is playing the mediator between her son and her husband.
Everyone stops talking and starts to eat. The meal is some chicken with rice, mashed potatoes and some asparagus, with a glass of water. It's what they typically eat on Monday nights. So, they eat and the two parents are conversing about different topics such as life and work. Typical. However, Phoebus's dad is noticing something strange and it's kinda bothering him. As he is conversing with his wife, he notices that his son hasn't taken a bite out of his food.
"Hey son, is everything alright, you haven't taken a bite out of your meal?"
"Oh, me…everything's fine, that breakfast meal that mom whipped up for me in the morning, still has gotten me full." He says trying to put on his best acting face
"Phoebus, come on…be real with the both of us here", says his mom who isn't buying anything of what her son is selling, "I cook you the same breakfast literally every day, it's something else isn't it"
"C'mon son, tell us what's going on in the big brain of yours", said his dad
"Guys, trust me, everything is fine, I'm doing fine", he looks down
"Phoebus, I know you too well…every time you look down, somethings up, I want to know what's wrong with my baby, I and your dad want the best of you"
Phoebus sighs
"I don't really know exactly Mom… Dad, it's just I think I'm just stressed out with the end of the year and about graduation coming up in a few weeks, and then there's prom, so…"
"Oh honey, you shouldn't be stressed out with all that", his mom says as she gets closer to her son and puts her hand on his shoulder. "I know that's a lot on you because you don't know how to navigate all of it because it is a huge step that you taking forward"
"Luckily, you got two parents got your back every step of the way because we care a lot about you son, and only want the best for you", his dad chimed in
"You two really mean that?"
"Of course, we wouldn't say it, if it wasn't true"
"Thanks a lot, you two", he says to his parents as he hugs him both
"No worries, that's why we're here…to love you," says his mom
"And, for you to finish eating your dinner", says his dad who makes everyone blurt out a little laugh. Phoebus does just that and finishes his dinner, cleans his plate and stands up from the kitchen, and heads for the stairs
"I'm about to go and take a shower and head to bed, not coming back downstairs, so goodnight"
"Goodnight, son"
"Goodnight sweetie, have another, good night's rest"
"Will do", he responded to his mom
Phoebus proceeds to head upstairs to his bathroom and take a shower
"Ah yes the shower, a place where I am naked literally and figuratively with my thoughts between the steam of the hot, sometimes too hot, water flowing down my back as I am trying to wash away the dirt and uncleanliness of today's activities. Why did I make that sound more dramatic than it possibly is? I don't know, but I'm in the shower and I'm washing and washing away, and once again, I have that blank stare. The damned blank stare that I've been having pretty recently as of late. I still don't have an answer for why this keeps happening, but I thought I'd gotten rid of it now, especially after that talk I had with my parents just now. I quickly snap out of it, because one this water is too fucking hot, and two I can't be wasting a lot of water like this because my dad would literally have a fucking heart attack for the amount of water I'm using right now. So, I clean the rest of my body thoroughly and dry myself off. I'm doing my nightly routine before I go to bed and that's just washing my face, brushing my teeth, gargling mouthwash, flossing, and heading off to bed for another adventure. Hopefully this time I can start to have some normalcy internally for once."
MOVING FORWARD - NEXT WEEK
"Welp, I'm woken up, and it's a brand new week. I don't know what this week is going to have in store for me, but I guess that's the fun of it all isn't it? So, I do my daily morning activities, find some clothes to wear, say 'good morning' to the parents and eat breakfast with them, dad says something…ya know, cuckoo cuckoo, say goodbye to them as I head out the front door and it's off my way to school. Yet, again as I am walking, through my neighborhood towards the direction of the school, I see how wonderful and breathtaking all the surroundings are in this neighborhood. The trees are full of leaves, the flowers are even more blooming, and the sun…the sun has started to be back up in the bright blue sky. Don't know what it is about my surroundings, but I love how it gives me a little moment of peace before I head…and here we are…"
Phoebus arrives at the school and he walks through the doors and into the hallway. As he enters the hallway, he hears something past his ears something like…
"What the actual fuck…is this", with a casual tone someone says. Phoebus looks up and tries to find the source of the sound. The task is of medium difficulty as the hallway is starting to get crowded with students coming in to start the day as well. He eventually picks up the sound and finds out who it comes from. It comes from this guy with long black hair, wearing a blue flannel, blue pants and black shoes. He goes towards that person
"Eric, was that you?", Phoebus said
"Phoebus?", said Eric who hadn't seen him in a while, "Sorry, about that, it was me, and good to see you again"
"No worries", the two guys greet each other, "Glad to see you again also, but what's with the reaction?"
"It's Naveen, he's got some posters promoting some party the week before prom, check it out"
Phoebus listens to Eric and checks out a poster that Eric has found, the caption read along the lines of:
NAVEEN'S LEGENDARY PROM PARTY
LIVE AT MY PLACE /9 PM-1 AM
IT'S GONNA BE EPIC!
"Woah", says Phoebus, "Say what you want about the guy, but he definitely is a showman"
"Tell me about it", says Eric, "He's got posters from this end to the other end of the hallway, all with the same tagline, and of course can't forget that damn smile he always pulls on"
"Now tell me about that, always white teeth"
"I wonder how Esmeralda puts up with that, aren't you her friend, you know…right?", asked Eric
Phoebus pauses for a minute as he looks at his reflection in the glass case and then back at Eric
"Um…me and Esmeralda haven't really spoken after she started dating him during the Summer. We briefly spoke last week during lunch, so"
"Oh, sorry to hear about that"
"Don't be, she's doing her own thing, it's cool…so, how are you and Ariel doing"
"Aw man, it's amazing, can't wait to see her prom dress since that's coming up soon, and she's looking forward to what I am wearing as well"
"That's great man"
"Well, I love her too much to let her down," Eric said with a smile, "Well it was nice having this chat Phoebus, but I'm going this way, I guess I'll see you down the line"
"Yeah, you too man", Phoebus said as he and Eric went in opposite directions. Phoebus, remembering about doing the second part of the partner project with Quasimodo, heads to the library to do some research, once he's there he sees someone messing around with the printer, he goes up to this person with their hair tied in a ponytail and her wearing a yellow blouse with blue jeans and flats. The reason he wants to know the problem with the printer because he might need to print something afterward for the project
"Belle, is that you?"
"Phoebus, welcome to the library", says Belle while working on the printer, "How can I be of some assistance?"
"First off, I forgot that you help out here, secondly, do you need some assistance?"
"Nope, I'm fine, it's just that Naveen came in with his one single invite, used our copier to print out thousands and thousands of papers, it seems like, and now we have an issue with our ink cartridges. But, like I said, I'm fine."
The printer shows an error message
"Oh crap, I am not fine," she says with a blank expression
"Yep…so am I" he also says with that same blank expression
Just as this is happening, Quasimodo enters the library
"Hey, there you are", said to Phoebus, since he was searching for him, "I was looking for you, and also, hey Belle"
"Hey Quasimodo"
"Please tell me Phoebs, that you making progress on the second part"
"Well Quasi, I was about to…until"
"The printer stopped being a printer", chimed in Belle
"Darn it", said Quasimodo a bit disappointed, "Well, at least we got it all next week, but you know how I am…"
"You don't want to be doing things last minute, I get it, buddy, I'm the same way," Phoebus says trying to reassure his friend
"Thanks, man"
"No problem"
"By the way, you caused the printer mishap?"
"Naveen", says Belle
"Of course he has, I've been seeing posters for his party everywhere. You know, I don't think he's even here today", says Quasimodo, "Alright I'm going to leave, bye Phoebs, bye Belle
"Bye Quasi, see ya man"
"Good-bye Quasimodo, come back soon"
As Quasimodo leaves Phoebus goes as well
"I'm going to head out as well, see you later Belle"
"Bye Phoebus, I wish you and Quasimodo good luck on your project"
"Thanks, good luck with getting the printer fixed"
"Will do", says Belle as Phoebus walks out of the library and makes his way across the hallways, he still has some time before the first class begins because he likes to show up as early as he can. Anyway, he makes a left turn and notices some more party posters and notices that it's not Naveen putting them up because he is at home. No, it wasn't Naveen, but a girl, a girl that Phoebus was too familiar with. Staring face to face with each other.
Hello, hello...I am back with a new volume of this story that I hope you all enjoyed. Find out next week when Phoebus starts to interact with this familiar face and what will come about this interaction. Anyway, if you want to read this story in your time zone, I have those times posted on my profile page, these time zones however are only in the US, but will add more if I see more international viewership. If you enjoyed this volume and this story overall consider leaving a like, a review, and/or a private message. Thank you all and I will see you all next week. :)
I do not own these characters. The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and The Princess And The Frog are all owned by Disney. I just write for fun.