Jermaine Deon Carter

February 3, 2022

Alone Among the Couples

On the morning of Valentine's Day, my friends at Princess Academy invited me to spend the holiday with them. I didn't want to go. I hated Valentine's Day, it being my least favorite holiday. I felt like it just made people who were single feel bad, or even worse, just for being single. Despite that, I didn't want to be rude and went anyway.

After I arrived, everybody greeted me with warm hugs and smiles. They were glad I chose to come. They guided me to the arts and crafts room. We spent the rest of the day making valentines for each other. We also gorged on candy and chocolate.

Later that evening, all the couples went out on dates. Ariel and Eric went to the beach. Naveen and Tiana visited a local Cajun-themed restaurant. Eugene and Rapunzel went to an art museum.

Aladdin and Jasmine went for another magic carpet ride. Mulan and Shang attended a martial arts competition. Unable to decide who she wanted to go with, Pocahontas took John Rolfe and John Smith for a walk down a nearby nature trail.

I was happy to see my friends go on dates with their significant others. However, seeing them so happy with each other reminded me of what I didn't and could never have. I tried to leave, but everyone encouraged me to stay and have fun with the other singles.

I played and swam in the pool with Melody and Moana. They looked so graceful in their element. I even thought Melody would turn into a mermaid again.

Merida gave me more archery and swordfighting lessons, which didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Elsa created enough ice and snow for everybody to have an indoor snow day. We built snowmen, had a snowball fight, and made snow angels. Afterwards, we headed to the common area to relax.

"Jermaine, have you ever had a crush on anyone?" Melody asked.

"Why do you ask?" I asked.

"Just curious," Melody said.

"And it is Valentine's Day, after all," Elsa said.

"Fair enough," I said. Everybody leaned in close for my answer.

"I did indeed have a crush on someone once," I said.

"Who was it?" Moana asked.

"You can tell us," Merida said. I took a deep breath and sighed.

"It was Ariel," I said. Everybody gasped.

"Whoa," Moana said.

"No. Way," Merida said.

"You really did have a crush on my mom?" Melody asked.

"Yes," I said. Melody gasped again.

"That's so cute!" Melody said.

"Did you ever tell her how you felt?" Elsa asked.

"No," I said.

"Why not?" Moana asked.

"Because she was way out of my league," I said.

"What do you mean?" Merida asked.

"One, she's older than me. Two, she's royalty," I said.

"Jermaine, she's only four years older than you," Melody said.

"That's a big difference when you're a preteen or a teenager," I said.

"You're not wrong," Elsa said.

"Besides, my family always told me older women prefer to be with older men," I said.

"That may be true for some women, but it's not true for all women," Elsa said.

"Yeah," Moana said.

A few hours later, the couples came back. Melody ran up to her parents and told them about my past crush on Ariel. Melody also told them why I never confessed my feelings. All three of them walked up to me. I grinned without meaning to. Sweat dripped down my face. I struggled to make eye contact.

"Hey, Jermaine," Ariel said.

"Hey…," I said.

"Melody says you used to have a crush on me," Ariel said. I sighed.

"Yeah…," I said.

"She also says you never told me because you thought I was 'out of your league,'" Ariel said.

"She's right. I did, but that wasn't the only reason," I said.

"It wasn't?" Ariel and Melody asked in unison.

"No, it wasn't. Ariel, we've been best friends for a long time. I didn't want to ruin that by telling you about my crush," I said. Ariel took my hands.

"Jermaine, you could never ruin our friendship. You can talk to me about anything, and I'm glad you told me how you felt," Ariel said.

"You are?" I asked.

"Yes, of course. You were worried about our friendship being ruined, but I feel like our friendship's stronger now," Ariel said.

"You do?" I asked.

"Yes. Honesty is an important part of friendship, and you were very honest with me tonight," Ariel said.

"You're right, Ariel. Being honest is important for any kind of relationship," I said. Ariel and I hugged.

"Aww…," Melody said.