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Chapter Text

  Anxelin shifted impatiently in her seat tapping her foot under the table, as she anxiously cannot wait for the bell to off so that she could leave this godforsaken class called Grammar.

'Seriously, who came up with this Grammar class?' Anxelin thought.

 She glanced around at the other students in her class whom she was unfamiliar with, except for Elle, the daughter of Ariel and Eric, who was seated at the front in the second row (Anxelin sat in the middle of the 3rd row). The girl had already her nose in a different book, assuming that she was finished with the class work that was given to the class.

Anxelin didn’t think much about Ariel’s daughter other than she was a complete nerd as she tore her hazel eyes away from Elle and focused back her attention on the work that was in front of her. The class was given an activity after the lecture; 'write what you did over the summer, but make sure it was grammatically correct.'

The goth scoffed. For Anxelin, Grammar was the worst class she had ever been to, and certainly other students thought the same but they were afraid to say it out loud.

Anxelin sighed as she tilted her head to the left side and put her hand on her cheek, and her elbow on the desk. Thankfully, Anxelin had finished her work and reviewed it.

Unfortunately for the goth, her summer was not great. Over this past summer, Anxelin needed to go to summer school after she unfairly failed her Physics exam in late May, and she was pleading to her parents that she didn’t want to go because she had studied hard for the Physics exam and didn’t waste any time, but Rapunzel and Eugene insisted that she must go or else she would repeat her previous grade. Eventually, Anxelin reluctantly gave in and went to summer school for 3 weeks. The girl studied every day and night only to receive a D on the Physics exam result on her report card.

Great.

But deep down, Anxelin knew that she had passed her exam. Hopefully one day, she would come down to the bottom of this. 

At the same time, it would be impossible for Anxelin to complain to her Physics teacher, Mr. Meyers, about this issue because one: he was not fond of the goth, two: whenever Anxelin was alone in the classroom with the teacher (he asked her to stay back after the class was over), she felt very uncomfortable around him as if he was staring into her soul. Not to mention Mr. Meyers gave Anxelin the creeps.

Anxelin was unsure of how much time had passed, so she pushed her left hand into her left pants pocket (Anxelin was the only girl in Auradon Prep that wears pants) and carefully took out her phone so that no would see her taking out her phone during class time. She forgot to wear her watch because she was in a rush and was late for her class.

Unfortunately for the girl, she was being watched.

A boy, a son of a faraway noble, was seated behind Anxelin when he saw her discreetly taking out her phone. He smirked slightly as he called the teacher to get her attention.

“Ms. Jones?” the boy called.

As the Grammar teacher heard her name, Ms. Jones looked up from work that was laid on her desk and fixed her gaze on the boy.

“Yes, Jason? What is the issue?” Ms. Jones asked.

“Anxelin was using her phone,” Jason replied, a hint of mischievousness in his voice as he smirked.

Anxelin froze. How did this boy know that she was using her phone? And even if she was using her phone, she was only checking the time on her phone and putting it back in her pants pocket! It was never intentional for Anxelin to use her phone, as she knew very well that using phones during class hours was strictly forbidden, and if anyone was seen using it, even if it was for something so minuscule as checking the time, it would be taken away.

 And now, Anxelin got caught.

“Anxelin, please come here,” Ms. Jones commanded, her voice was soft but firm.

Anxelin’s mouth was slightly agape as she was about to protest, but she hesitantly got up from her seat as all of the students’ eyes were on her as she made her way up to the teacher’s desk.

Once Anxelin stood in front of Ms. Jones’s desk, the teacher looked at Anxelin with her warm but serious brown eyes into Anxelin’s hazel ones, causing the girl to be nervous.

“Anxelin,” the Grammar teacher began, “you know very well that phones are not to be used during class, right?”

Anxelin nodded.

“Well, why were you using your phone?”

Anxelin thought for a moment about how she could come up with a reasonable answer to her teacher’s question as to why she was using her phone in the first place.

 
But she didn’t have to; she only checked the time on her phone (the last time she checked, it was 10:57 A.M.) and that was it.

Ms. Jones gave Anxelin an ‘I am waiting look’ and Anxelin answered, “I was late for class and because of the rush, I forgot to wear my watch. Plus, there is no clock in this classroom so I take out my phone to see the time. I swear, it was never intentional!”

The teacher nodded slowly in understanding. She could tell that Anxelin was sincere with her words. However, rules were the rules and Anxelin could still suffer the consequences of her actions.

“I understand where you’re coming from, Anxelin, but rules are the rules, dear.”  Ms. Jones said as she held out her hand, signaling that she wanted Anxelin’s phone in her soft palm.

Anxelin bit her lip as she hesitantly pulled out her phone from her pants pocket and placed the device in the teacher’s palm. 

The older woman pulled back her hand and used her other hand to open the mini drawer on the right side of the desk and she placed the phone in the drawer and closed it.

The goth felt something heavy in her throat as she saw what was happening with her phone.

But, Ms. Jones gave the aforementioned girl a reassuring look.

“Don’t worry, you will have your phone returned to you by the end of the day. I know you meant well, my dear but you violated the school rules. When you get back your phone, let this be a lesson to you: never use your phone during class and come early. Alright?”

“Y-yes Miss,” Anxelin said meekly.

“Very well then. If I see you or any teacher sees you using your phone more than 3 times, not only the phone will be sent to the Head Mistress’s office, but you will also be sent there, too. Understood? This is your first offense.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Good, you can now return to your seat, Anxelin,”

Great, Just great. First, some boy reported on Anxelin because she was using her phone, only to check the time, two, her phone was taken away as a result of breaking the school rules, and the day was not over yet.

Anxelin didn't say anything but obeyed her teacher's order. As she was returning to her seat, she gave a death glare at Jason, who had shrunk in his chair. He realized that he messed with the wrong person, and Heaven knows what Anxelin would do to him after school if she ever saw him.

Just as Anxelin was about to sit, the bell went off, signaling that Grammar class was over. The students started to pack their things when Ms.Jones spoke up amid the light noise.

"Alright students, if you're not finished with the class activity, finish it for homework and hand it in tomorrow. Understood?"

Some students groaned at the announcement and understandably so; it was the first day of the new school year at Auradon Prep. It was a good thing that Anxelin had finished hers.

The goth didn't waste any time as she packed up her school supplies into her bag and left. Elle wanted to meet with Anxelin right after Grammar class to comfort her, but it was too late. Hopefully after school, she could.

By the time Anxelin reached her locker, she quickly unlocked the combination lock and open the locker. As she opened the locker, something like the paper fell to the floor. 
Curious, Anxelin stepped back and took up the paper and it reads:

'FREAK-XELIN'

Anxelin rolled her hazel eyes but she was pissed off. Not by the note calling her a freak(although that was a part of it)but someone dared to invade her locker. Talk about the disrespect on the first day of school.

A moment later, Anxelin's ears perked up on a sound, as if someone came and leaned beside her locker.

As it turned out, the goth was right, there was someone beside her as she turned slightly and saw her best friend since elementary school, Li'l Shang or Li Shang Jr, the elder son of Fa Mulan and Li Shang Sr., Lonnie's older brother. He was one of the most handsome boys at Auradon Prep, and oftentimes he was mistaken for a popular singer or actor from Northern Wei.

Seeing Shang made Anxelin feel a little better. He was a breath of fresh air.

"Hey Shang," Anxelin greeted as she placed some of her books inside the locker before shutting it.

"Hi, Anxelin," Shang greeted back, giving Anxelin a small wave. "How are you?"

Anxelin let out an exasperated sigh, and Shang nodded.

"I'll take that you're not having a good morning, huh?" Shang guessed as he adjusted the bag strap on his left shoulder.

"Yeah. Just look at this," Anxelin showed Shang the paper, "if someone's gonna diss me like this, at least they should come with a better insult or something. I'm slightly unimpressed, but they had the nerve to put this into my locker. I feel like they were watching me and waiting on the right moment for me to leave and strike."

Shang studied his friend's features and he could tell that Anxelin was hurt, but she used the sassiness to downplay the hurt. Shang knew that it wasn't the first time something like this happened to his friend, it was happening for a while now and he was surprised that Anxelin did not go into a breakdown or snap. And he was a little worried that Anxelin might go down that path if she did not speak to a guidance counselor once it was out of his or the rest of their friends' control.

Shang sighed softly as he wrapped a comforting arm around the goth's shoulder and Anxelin slightly flinched under his touch, but Shang didn't notice as they started to walk to the Students' lounge, which was a few lockers away.

"So, what else is new?" Shang asked and Anxelin huffed.

"Oh boy. My phone got taken away because some douche reported on me. The only thing I did was check the time and that's it!" 

Shang made a face and said, "Ooh, ouch."

"Tell me about it," Anxelin said.

"How was your summer?" Nizhoni asked as she and her best friend since kindergarten, Emilie, stepped out of their Safety Rules for the Internet class and on their way to their lockers.

Emilie thought for a moment before answering. "Hmm, well it wasn't bad but not great. Most things we did-well I did was to go to ballet classes and practice with Zephyr and Uncle Clopin came to visit. Dad as usual was busy with work and Mom had many performances all over Notre Dame."

"Ah, I see," Nizhoni nodded and used her finger to twirl a lock of her long raven hair.

"For me," Nizhoni began, a huge smile plastered on her face, "I got to spend time with Auntie Pocahontas and her family!"

"That's cool!" Then, Emilie remembered that Nizhoni told her about this, but listened anyway.

"I know right!" A slight blush appeared on Nizhoni's cheeks. "And her son, Thomas, was so good-looking! Eek!"

Emilie laughed softly at her friend. She remembered vividly that Nizhoni would call her in the late nights over the summer to tell her about Pocahontas's older son. Even at one point, Nizhoni's conversation was so long that Emilie had the burning urge to tell her that she wanted some sleep and talk about her time with Thomas in the morning. But she could not do that, it would make Nizhoni feel bad or think that Emilie wasn't listening to her stories.

"That's great, Zhoni," Emilie said, "but if I remembered correctly, you told me about some of this already."

"Oh right," Nakoma's daughter flushed.

Emilie chuckled.

As Nizhoni was rambling to her friend about spending her time with Pocahontas's family, Emilie caught a glimpse of a shadow coming over their way. When she tried to warn Nizhoni about it, it was too late, Nizhoni's conversation cut short as she bumped into something or someone that is.

Nizhoni looked up and saw a boy with striking blue eyes, the right eye was covered by his side-swept ginger bangs as he glared daggers at her.

"Watch where you're going," the boy said coldly to Nizhoni in his thick Scottish accent.

The girl's eyes widened as she immediately pulled away from the boy and was about to retaliate, but Emilie grabbed Nizhoni's hand and pulled her away, and gave the boy an apologetic look before leaving. Nizhoni was annoyed by her friend's actions, but Emilie told her to behave, it was the day first at school.

"Chad, stop!" Jamilah giggled as Chad showered her with soft kisses on her cheek.

"Why not?" I've missed you," Chad said as he stopped and began to stroke Jamilah's cheek with his thumb lovingly.

Chad and Jamilah were dating since the 14th of January this year, and it was perfect. Chad was the boy of Jamilah's dreams as he was daring, sweet, funny, handsome, and of course, charming.

She hoped that their relationship would last.

"Chad, I was just in History of Auradon class just a while ago, it's not like I was in Lone Keep or something," Jamilah assured him.

"I know, but I always want you here beside me," Chad said, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder and pressing a sweet kiss on her cheek. Jasmine's daughter smiled, feeling special.

While Chad was lovey-dovey with his girlfriend (to which she doesn't mind at all) at her locker, Jamilah was waiting on her best friend since they were toddlers, Nina, who should be here in a couple of minutes.

And speaking of Nina, she came just in time to see her friend and...Chad. If Nina(Tiana's daughter) was honest with herself, seeing Chad puts a sour taste in her mouth.

As if Jamilah felt Nina's presence, she gently took her boyfriend's arm from around her shoulder and turned to Nina, beaming.

"Hi, Ni!" Jamilah went over to Nina and gave her a quick hug. Nina returned the gesture before they pulled away.

"Hey, Sweetie! I made it on time as you told me," Nina said, smiling back. 

"Great! I was wondering if you can join Chad and me outside?" 

Nina's smile faltered almost immediately as she frowned. 

'Wait, I thought it was you and me?' Nina thought.

And Nina kind of forgot that Chad was standing behind Jamilah. So, she looked over her friend's shoulder and waved at Chad.

"Hello, Chad," Nina's expression was neutral.

He waved back, showing off his signature Charming smile. "Hey, Nina."

Then, Nina focused her attention on Jamilah and asked, "I thought it was you and me when you texted a few minutes back?"

"Yeah, that was true, but Chad came just now, and there's a slight change of plan."

Nina raised a brow at the Agrabah princess, "So, you're saying that the three of us are going outside to hang out?" 

Jamilah nodded eagerly, "Yeah!"

Nina made a face, but inside she was disappointed, she did not expect this.

"I don't wanna break your heart, but sorry, I'll pass,"  the Malodonian princess told her best friend and Jamilah widened her eyes in surprise.

"You don't want to come?" Jamilah asked, her voice filled with disappointment.

Nina shook her head, her curly hair whisked from side to side.

Jamilah sighed and nodded in understanding. Nina probably had some reason for not wanting to join her and Chad, but she did not push further. "Okay, your loss."

Nina just shrugged, "If you say so."

There was a soft chuckle escaped from Jamilah's lips.

"So, later?" Jamilah asked, sounding hopeful.

"Yeah, we're roommates after all," Nina answered, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Alright, see you later!" Jamilah waved to Nina as she held Chad's hand and they left.

Once the couple was out of earshot, Nina lets out a sigh and went to the library.

Don't get Nina wrong, she loved Jamilah very much. After all, Jamilah was her best friend and she doesn't want anything bad to happen to her but Jamilah was too blind and naive to think that Chad Charming was the boy of her dreams.

Nina knew for a fact that Chad was up to no good, but Jamilah was too stubborn to believe that.

Maybe one day, Jamilah would realize that Chad wasn't who he say he was or appeared to be. And that day would be too heartbreaking for her.

Chapter Text

It was in the late afternoon, 3:30 P.M. to be exact, when Auradon Prep was not too long ago dismissed.

While most, if not all of the Auradon Prep students rushed to meet with their friends outside or went to their dorms, Emilie found herself in the isle of the school library scanning through the selves for a History of Auradon textbook so that she could use it for her homework, which was due on Wednesday.

Emilie hummed softly to a tune of a song that she was listening to through her earbuds while continuing to search for the textbook.

As the girl was looking for the textbook, which she was close to finding, there was also somebody there in the same aisle as her.

And it was as if she felt their presence, Emilie paused her search for a brief moment and look up and saw the person: a ginger-haired boy who was just a few distances away from her. He too was looking for a book on the shelf.

When Emilie took a closer look at the boy, she recognized that it was the same boy that Nizhoni bumped into earlier! She even wanted to retaliate, but thankfully  Emilie was quick enough to get her friend out of potential trouble.

Emilie did not expect him to be here, but she thought it was just a coincidence.  That being said, the daughter of Esmerelda took out her earbuds from her ears and put them into the right breast pocket of her uniform blazer as she went up to the boy.

“Hello,” she greeted.

The ginger-haired boy was startled as he paused his search and turned his head to see Emilie standing in front of him. 

He frowned at her as if he never saw her before and Emilie noticed that.

“I can tell that you don’t see me before,” Emilie said, “I’m the same girl who pulled away my friend from biting your head off,” she lightly joked at that part.

When the boy heard Emilie’s explanation, the memory hits him; he remembered the girl bumped into him because she wasn’t looking where she was going, and Emilie quickly pulled the girl away from starting an argument with him.

Thank goodness.

The ginger-haired boy nodded as the memory came to him. “Yeah, I remember now. You did me a great favor for pulling that idiot away from me.”

“Hey,” Emilie slightly glared at the boy as blue eyes widened, “I’m the one who’s supposed to call her that.”

The boy breathed a sigh of relief.

“Anyways, I like how I see you now, I just wanna apologize on my friend’s behalf and say that she’s sorry and will never do that again.”

The boy huffed as he crossed his arms across his chest and asked, “Why are you apologizing? Isn’t it your friend should be the one I to apologize?”

“Yeah, but she won’t do that. She rather argue with you.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Yeah, and like how we started on a weird foot, I guess it’s safe to say that I should introduce myself,” Emilie said.

The boy nodded, “Sure. What is your name?” Just by looking at Emilie, he could tell that she was Esmeralda’s daughter.

“My name is Emilie,” She introduced herself. “You probably heard of my parents, Esmerelda and Phoebus,” 

“I know about your parents,” the ginger told her, as Emilie smiled.

“So, what’s your name?” The dark-haired girl asked. If she was being honest, Emilie could tell that this boy was a son of a royal, but she couldn’t put her finger on it who it was...

“The name’s Marlon. My mother is Merida,” the ginger-haired boy, Marlon introduced himself.

‘Ah, no wonder he looked so familiar!’ Emilie thought.

Emilie fixed the bag strap which was slipping off from her shoulder and said, “I figured. And to be honest, I never knew that Merida had a kid in the first place. No offense.”

“Eh,” Marlon shrugged, “none taken. I get those comments sometimes.”

Emilie hummed softly and tilted her head. “Hmm, how come I’ve never seen you before? Are you new?”

Marlon shook his head. “No, I have been here for a long time. It’s just that I like to be alone and stay away from the crowd.”

“Ah. Like a lone wolf?”

“Yeah.”

Ever since Emilie met Marlon a few minutes ago, she instantly liked him. He wasn’t as bad as Nizhoni told her. She thought that Nizhoni judged too quickly.

As for Marlon, he also liked Emilie. She was the first person other than Akio, the son of Anna and Kristoff who was warm and friendly towards him.

Marlon hoped that he could see Emilie again so that they could talk some more after this.

As the new acquaintances were engaging in a light conversation, Nizhoni came up to them, and when Nizhoni saw Marlon, she looked as if she was about to explode.

“You!” Nizhoni jabbed a finger at Marlon, glaring at him angrily. “What are you doing here with my friend?!”

Marlon raised a brow in surprise and was honestly taken aback by Nizhoni’s outburst, especially in a quiet place such as the library. Additionally, since when Emilie wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone other than Nizhoni? If anything, Marlon thought Nizhoni was being selfish.

Emilie on the other hand, facepalmed. Sometimes her best friend can be very embarrassing.

Luckily for Marlon and Emilie, the librarian came on time to see who was making noise in the aisle. 

When Horace, the librarian saw that the noise was coming from Nizhoni, he scowled at her and pointed towards the exit, signaling Nakoma’s daughter to leave right away.

Nizhoni’s mouth gaped as she was about explain, but Horace wasn’t having it, he wanted her to leave right now because she broke the library rules. Reluctantly, Nizhoni huffed and left the isle, fuming. But, she was not done with Marlon…yet.

As Nizhoni left and Horace went back to work, there was silence thick in the air between Marlon and Emilie, but the silence was short-lived as Emilie heaved a sigh and folded her arms.

“Y’know, as much as I love Nizhoni to bits, she can be downright embarrassing over the simplest things.” She shook her head.

Marlon nodded in understanding. “I agree and I see where you’re coming from now.”

Emilie turned her head to Marlon and gave him a grateful smile. Perhaps, she and Marlon could be close friends after all.

“Shang! Thank goodness I found you!” Audrey cried out in relief as she finally spotted the son of Mulan after searching for him for 5 minutes as he was placing his notebooks in his locker. 

As Shang heard his name called, he turned to see an excited Audrey coming towards him. He gave her a wave and a small, warm smile graced his lips.

“Hello, Audrey. What’s up?” Shang greeted as he shut his locker with a loud bang.

Audrey lets out a huge, yet gentle sigh, and Shang could tell there was something good.

“Oh nothing,”  Audrey began, still could not contain her excitement. “It’s just that you’re invited to my back-to-school summer party!”

Shang looked at the daughter of Aurora in surprise. “Oh?”

“Yeah! And you will be the DJ for the party,” Audrey declared.

It was no secret that Li’l Shang was one of the best DJs in Auradon Prep, the other was Melody, Elle’s older sister. If there was an event or a party that was kept at a certain place, it was always Melody or Shang being the special DJ booked for that party.

While Shang knew that he was a good DJ, he could not dream to be on the same level as Melody. She had more style and experience, whereas Shang started taking up an interest in Disc Jockeying when he was 12.

If Shang was honest with himself, he looked up to Melody as a prodigy or a big inspiration rather than being on par with her.

Shang was stunned by Audrey’s sudden declaration. “Wow, Audrey. Thanks!”

Audrey smiled at him. “Of course! You’re one of the best DJs in school!” She then went into her small bag pocket and produced an invitation. After Audrey took the invitation, she zipped up her bag pocket and gave the invitation to Shang.

The dark-haired boy stared at the pink invitation with lots of sparkly glitter falling off and coating his fingertips. He noticed that the location would be at Audrey’s mansion in Auradon City, and the party would be starting at 4:00 P.M. this Friday.

Not bad.

Shang was pleased with this invitation as he nodded. “Thank you, Audrey. I’ll make sure that I will be there early to set up.”

Audrey squealed.

Suddenly, a thought came to Shang. He wondered if he could ask Audrey if she would give him another invitation. This invitation was for a certain friend….

“Hey, Audrey.” Shang started, “How many people have you invited?”

“I invited everyone! Well most, if missed out anyone but still pretty much everybody in the school.”

Shang hummed and he asked, “Ok then, can I get another invitation?”

“Oh, sure!” Audrey eagerly gave Shang another invitation. “Who’s this one for? If it’s for Lonnie, I already did-” but Shang cuts her off.

“It’s for Anxelin.”

“WHAT??!!!!” Audrey exclaimed as she was completely horrified by Shang’s answer. It looks as if she received some terrible news while Shang remained calm. She even took a step back as she heard Shang mention Anxelin’s name. He raised a brow at the princess, thinking that she was being dramatic.

A moment later, Audrey collected herself, still feeling terrified as she stepped forward.

“Anxelin is not allowed to come to my party!” Audrey told Shang firmly, and she was serious about it too.

“Why not? I haven’t seen her do anything wrong.”

“Anything wrong?!” Audrey was furious, “Shang, don’t you realize that Anxelin was the one who dumped caramel into my hair?!”

At this point, Shang mentally rolled his eyes. This girl was too dramatic.

In addition, that infamous caramel incident happened when Audrey and Anxelin were in elementary school. The reason why Anxelin dumped a cup of caramel into Audrey’s hair was that Audrey was the one who started teasing her and mocking her about not being girly or acting like a young princess. As well as liking dark colors. Anxelin could not take it anymore, so she used her cup, which was filled with caramel, and pour out the thick liquid onto Audrey’s hair, causing her to scream. As a result of her actions, Anxelin was scolded by Fairy Godmother, and then her parents. She was even banned from attending Audrey’s 6th birthday because of this. Not that Anxelin ever wanted to go anyways.

As for Audrey, the caramel was washed out completely on the same day.

Was Anxelin wrong for what she did? Yes, but she never meant for it to happen. If Audrey never bullied her for being different, Anxelin wouldn’t pour the liquid into Audrey’s hair.

And to this day, Audrey still had a grudge against Anxelin.

“That happened like 10 years ago, Audrey,” Shang said, trying to be reasonable. 

“Yeah, and I’m not going to forget it that easily!”

Shang sighed. There was no use to convince Audrey.

“Look, how about this,” he began, “I give Anxelin the invitation, if she gives trouble at your party, I’ll take the responsibility. Is that good?” Shang knew very well that his goth friend would not cause any trouble, but he did this so that he could convince the skeptical princess.

Audrey paused and digested Shang’s suggestion. ‘It’s crazy that you’re taking responsibility for Anxelin’s actions, but okay.’ She thought.

After thinking for a moment, Audrey replied, “Fine, since you’re Anxelin’s friend and I trust you.”

Shang smiled at her, “Thank you, Audrey. And like I said, if Anxelin gives trouble, blame me for taking her.”

“Alright,” Audrey said.

“Well then, see you around Audrey,” Shang waved as he left.

When Shang was out of sight, Audrey’s lips pressed into a firm line and hummed before tugging a devilish smile. She was thinking of a way so she could piss off Anxelin, making her leave the party, as she still did not like the idea of inviting her. The question was how?

“Hey, Anxelin,” Shang and Herkie greeted in unison as they approached Anxelin, who sitting on a wall behind the school.

Anxelin smiled as she saw her friends walk towards her.

“Hey guys, we meet again, lol,” she told them and Herkie chuckled.

“So, what’s up?” Herkie asked.

The goth girl tilted her head to the left and sighed. “Nothing. I’m just glad that I got back my phone,” she showed the boys her phone.

“That’s great!” Shang said. “How did you get your phone?”

“Elle gave it to me. It seems as if Ms. Jones gave her my phone and brought it to me,” Anxelin explained and the boys nodded.

“Ah, I see. Say, are you busy this Friday?” Shang questioned.

Anxelin narrowed her eyes at her best friend, unsure where he was going with this question but she answered nonetheless. “No..not really. Why?”

“Sweet!” Shang said cheerfully as he took out the party invitation from his left pants pocket and gave it to Anxelin.

As Anxelin received the invitation, a disgusted look plastered her face.

Audrey’s Back to School pool party. Great, that was just what Anxelin needed. What made it even worse, the invitation was in pink, Anxelin’s least favorite color. Yuck.

“Seriously Shang?!” Anxelin said, sounding disappointed. “You know I feel about going to parties, worse it was Audrey’s party.”

“Hey, I already told Audrey that if you give any sort of ‘trouble’, she should blame me for taking you,” Shang explained, hoping Anxelin could understand.

“Well, you were smart to say that,” the goth said as she was still disappointed and neither boy could tell if Anxelin was being sarcastic or not. Well, she was likely the former.

Then, Herkie joined the conversation. “Think about it, Anxelin. We know that you don’t like to go to parties but come to Audrey’s party for once. How about that?”

Anxelin processed Herkie’s words and as much as she didn’t like to admit it, he had a point. She hadn’t been to a party for a decade now, ever since the caramel incident. Even after Audrey’s 6th birthday party, Anxelin never had a desire to go to any party. It was not because she was a troublemaker, although she rarely gave any trouble, parties and formal events were not Anxelin’s cup of tea.

Until now.

So maybe it wouldn’t hurt if Anxelin could give her classmate’s party a shot, right?

After thinking for some time, Anxelin hesitantly replied, “Alright, I ‘will’ go to this party.”

Shang and Herkie exchanged smiles before focusing their attention on Anxelin.
 

“But!” Anxelin held up her index finger. “If I go and find out that Audrey’s party is shitty, then I’m blaming the both of you, especially you, Shang. Got it?”

“Got it!” Shang told her as he took Anxelin’s words with a grain of salt.

Shang was such a sweetheart, Anxelin found it hard to be annoyed or disappointed with him as he was such a kind person.

“Ok then, I guess we’ll see you later,” Herkie said and started to leave. Shang followed suit.

“Oh, sure. See ya for supper!”

Herkie and Shang waved before they left and started chatting with each other excitedly. The goth playfully rolled her eyes at them but had a small smile on her face.

Once the boys were completely out of earshot, Anxelin’s smile faded and she was skeptical.

She then looked down at the literal sparkly invitation in her hand and thought about how Shang got this invitation from somebody mean as Audrey. Anxelin realized how hard Shang got this invitation for her when everybody in the school got theirs.

At first, Anxelin was disappointed and slightly annoyed, but when Herkie convinced her, it made her think for a moment and now she came to the conclusion that she was going to that party and Audrey could not stop her.

Anxelin hoped that Audrey’s party will go smoothly. 

Or at least she hoped.