"A jealous female can be tricked into anything." - Peter Pan
THE GIRL PLAYING WENDY was starting to really get on my nerves.
Aside from Rachel, who'd known me since the second grade, I'd never really had great luck getting along with other girls. Not that my track record with boys or anyone else was really all that spectacular, either - but it'd be an understatement to say that I wasn't the greatest when it came to being friendly. The only people who'd ever warmed up to me (for this, read; people who are annoyingly persistent and loyal beyond belief) were Max and Rachel - and even Jamie and Kiera were constantly saying hi to me as they passed my dressing room - simply because they wouldn't give up on being friends with me, no matter how much I pushed them away, as I usually did with everyone else who tried.
So when Max invited me to meet the girl who plays Wendy Darling with him every day, I could already tell that it wasn't going to end well.
My history with Wendy and Peter Pan aside, I'd seen Grace around the park many times before, prancing around the park with Tink and Hook, flirting with the male employees when she thought no one was listening and flaunting a fake British accent with pursed lips. She was a blatant disgrace to Wendy's character, and if I wanted to be Wendy before, I certainly didn't want to anymore. Max could have her, for all I cared. And I didn't. Care, I mean. But, evidently, she did seem to have a special liking toward Max that boiled my blood whether I wanted to admit it or not - and I definitely did not.
It all started when I was scolding Max for coming to see my show. "Are you out of your freaking mind?" I whispered harshly when the show was over and I dragged him outside - which he took some amusement in, only serving to aggravate me further. He'd stood there while I finished up my meet and greets, just watching and laughing whenever I said something stupid - which, unfortunately for me and my big mouth, was painfully often - and once everyone was gone, I didn't hesitate to grab his shirt sleeve and drag him to a nearby alcove outside where the actors sometimes went on break, fully prepared to give him a piece of my mind.
Max shrugged, a playful grin about his face. "What? You ran off so quick earlier, and I wanted to see you," he admitted, and my eyebrows narrowed.
"That's not the point - as if I weren't already nervous enough, I didn't need you there to make things even worse-"
"So I made you nervous?"
Crap. "I didn't say that."
Max smiled. "No, but you implied it."
I pushed his arm. "Oh, cut it out. I just said that I was nervous in general - so don't flatter yourself."
"Max doesn't need to flatter himself," Grace appeared at his side, draping her arm over his shoulder in her signature blue nightgown, looking particularly pleased with herself already. "But even if he did, he wouldn't need you to do it, now would he?" she asked in a sickly sweet tone, looking me over. She'd been acting like this ever since I'd met her - which probably meant that this was her usual behaviour. Whether my suspicions were correct or not, I knew for sure that she was not just 'staying in character'. I hated the fact that she was being such a disgrace to one of my favourite characters.
(Not that I had a favourite - anymore, anyway.)
Still, I didn't buy into her act for a second. "Was that supposed to be discouraging?" I asked in a bored tone, swinging my frying pan at my side.
Grace seemed unfazed by my attitude. "Honey, let's not lose our heads, alright? I know girls like you - you think that you look cool by shooting off your mouth and acting like you don't care about anyone or anything, when you're really just a sad, lonely girl trapped in a pathetic little tower."
"Oooh, a Disney burn. That really stung - how long did it take to come up with that one?" My voice dripped with sarcasm, and I could already tell that Max was sensing the tension rising, by the way he rested his hand on my shoulder carefully just like he had the day I tried to provoke the pirates - the day we met. Except now, I wasn't so quick to listen to him - not when Grace was standing there with her arms draped all over him.
"Alice, don't overreact about this-" Max started cautiously, a hint of worry in his voice that I couldn't really blame - when angered, he knew all too well that I could be deadly. Luckily for both of us, that was the one thing we had in common.
"But Max, we're becoming such good friends!" Grace grinned sarcastically, and I fought back the urge to push her off a staircase myself. "I'd be careful how you treat Max, dear - we aren't in Wonderland anymore, and not all of us want to deal with your nonsense all the time," she warned teasingly. "And Max is such a good catch - I wouldn't want to see him get hurt," she grinned, planting a kiss on his cheek. I could tell instantly that Max was taken aback by this - judging from the blush that was slowly creeping up on his cheeks, and the way he was staring at her like she was the real Wendy Darling and not just some copy with a discount accent.
"Grace, don't you have someone else to bore?" I asked through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the fact that my cheeks were certainly burning bright red.
"Oh Alice, are you ever going to grow up?" she scolded teasingly, my words not getting to her in the slightest. "Why don't you join us in the real world - and not your pathetic little imaginary one with happy endings and boys who you think will actually date you?"
"Oh, she did not just-" I was about to grab her when Max held me back.
Grace just stood there, smirking. "I'll see you later, Max," she blew a kiss in his direction. I kept struggling against him, even though I knew that he was much stronger than me, and I'd never be able to free myself from his grasp until I stopped acting like a crazy murderer.
"Alice, stop," Max pleaded, "she's not worth it."
"Says the guy who was making googly eyes at her through that whole conversation!"
"I was not!"
"You were too!"
"Alice, even if that was true, why do you care?"
Cue the usual ill-timed blushing. "I-I don't," I managed to say. "She just.. she gets on my nerves," I mumbled angrily, clenching my teeth. Max grinned at me - for what reason, I had no idea, but it bothered the hell out of me. "What? I hate prissy mean girls like her - she thinks that she can say and do whatever she wants - to whoever she wants - and she just gets away with it."
"Sound familiar?"
"Oh, you did not just go there."
"Oh, I think I did."
"Okay, let's just get one thing straight," I stopped him, and we faced each other. "I am not prissy, I am not a mean girl, and I most definitely do not say whatever I want and just get away with it. Just because I speak my mind, doesn't mean that I think I can do whatever I want to. Grace tries to get on people's nerves - there's a difference," I explained carefully. "I am nothing like that girl."
"Whatever you sa-ay..." he sing-songed at me teasingly.
I glared at him. "You still don't believe me, do you?"
He held up his hands in surrender. "Hey - I'm just glad you didn't kill her - I know you could have, especially with that mighty frying pan you've got there..."
I laughed a little, easing up a bit. "Oh, shut up."
"Okay, okay," he laughed. "If my mother taught me anything, it's to never argue with a girl armed with kitchenware," he joked, and I elbowed him playfully, giving into my own laughter. "Hey - we haven't even decided yet what we're going to do today," he reminded me.
"Ugh - you haven't given up on that stupid idea yet?" I whined.
"No, and I'm not going to," he grinned. "Now, let me think of somewhere that will really knock your socks off..." he pondered dramatically, tilting his head to the side and rubbing his chin dramatically in thought.
I laughed despite myself. "I'm not even wearing socks," I pointed out.
Max gave me a lopsided smile. "It's an expression, Alice," he laughed. I know, I wanted to say. I just like it when you laugh. As we walked, we came upon a familiar looking castle, decorated with shells and sea life and a line of little girls dressed with bright green mermaid tails. What I noticed was the castle though - it was beautiful. It looked like it had come up right from under the sea, with gorgeous plants and shells decorating the outside, and the faint sound of singing voices compelling me from the inside. Why haven't I noticed this before? I thought, stopping to tug at Max's sleeve with the beginnings of a curious smile on my face.
"Wait, what about that place?" I asked, excited despite myself.
Max blinked at me. "What place? Ariel's Castle?"
"That's Ariel's castle?" I asked, still staring in awe. "C-can we - I mean, do you think we could..."
"Could what?"
"Do you have to make me say it?" I groaned. "Fine - and don't take this to mean anything, because it doesn't - but could we - I mean, do you think we could... can we go inside Ariel's Castle? Just for a bit?"
Max's face lit up instantly. "You want to go in Ariel's castle?" he asked with wide brown eyes, and I nodded solemnly, embarrassed that I'd even asked. "You are seriously the best, Alice Winters!" he exclaimed, not even waiting for me before running off inside the castle like an excited puppy dog, leaving me practically in the dust. I laughed to myself before running after him, following the boy in green as he ran like a kid in a candy store, pointing to a statue of King Triton and giving me the cutest smile I'd ever seen.
The entire castle was gorgeous. The ceiling was decorated to look like the sea, the walls and skylight above turning the whole room a beautiful sea blue hue. The seaweed and fish dotting the walls around us gave the illusion that we were really under water, and I could hear Ariel's tune faintly being played over the radio, reminding me of when I was a little girl, and would swim around in my neighbour's pool, singing the song stupidly to myself as I pretended that I really was the little mermaid, herself. I turned to Max with a dumb smile, "I have to admit - this is pretty cool."
Max was ecstatic. "Ha! I win!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together in triumph.
I crossed my arms. "I said it was cool - I didn't say anything about liking Disney."
"Eh, it was worth a shot," he shrugged, and I laughed. Ariel (played by Daria, dressing room 7B) was outside meeting everyone and taking pictures, so there weren't very many people in the main room besides us. I stared up at the skylight - it was stunning, and even if I didn't like Disney, I could still appreciate nice architecture, right? When I looked back to Max he was already looking at me, a hint of a smile on his face. I quickly looked away, hoping that the blue light would hide any blushing that was possibly occurring - and given my track record with Max and blushing, there was no doubt in my mind that no hue of lighting would keep him from seeing it.
"So why did you want to come in here so badly?" he asked curiously.
I smiled bashfully. "I don't know - I guess I just really liked The Little Mermaid as a kid. It was always one of my favourites," I admitted.
"Wait, so you weren't always bitter?"
"Shut up - you should be thankful I'm still allowing you to drag me all over this damn park every day. I should be getting paid for all this extra running around, you know."
"Come on - you know you can't get enough of me."
I rolled my eyes, laughing. "Flatter yourself one more time and I will use this," I warned, pointing my frying pan at his face, stopping it dangerously close to his nose. His eyes crossed as he stared at it, making me laugh so hard I almost dropped the pan altogether. The handle slipped out of my hands, and in the process of trying to grab it, I lost my balance and fell face-first towards Max.
And Max - being annoyingly coordinated and the exact opposite of my clumsy self - was able to successfully grab the frying pan before it hit the ground and catch me, making me feel like a complete klutz. I blushed in his arms, our faces dangerously close together. I quickly regained my balance and stood up, dusting myself off while facing away from him slightly. "You know, instead of trying to get me to like Disney, maybe you could give me balance lessons instead," I proposed, trying to veer away from the awkwardness that I'd created.
Max looked skeptical. "Balance lessons?"
"You know, so you don't have to catch me every three seconds?" I elaborated.
"Ah, I see..." he grinned, crossing his arms. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were doing that on purpose."
"Doing what?"
"Making me catch you."
"Yes, Max, because falling to my certain death is something I love making a habit of. Honestly, it gives me a real thrill."
"Don't lie - you know you love me," he teased.
"I definitely do not love you," I assured him. "But I'll admit - I do like it when you laugh."
"Really? You do?"
"Yes - it's nice to meet someone with a stupider laugh than my own."
"Stupider isn't a word."
"Isn't it?"
"No, I'm pretty sure it isn't."
"Well, look who's being all smart all of a sudden," I grinned affectionately, walking out of the castle with him at my side. I would've stayed longer - I would've stayed forever, though I'd never admit that - if I didn't have another show to do in a half hour. As we walked back, I noticed Grace standing over by Captain Hook and Tinker Bell signing autographs at their post, looking at me with a satisfied smirk that boiled my blood. I glared at her before looking over to Max, a sudden idea coming to my mind before I could think it through. "Max, do my hands feel cold to you?" I asked quickly, blinking up at him with nervous eyes.
"Alice, it's eighty-four degrees outside - I doubt your hands are cold."
I bit my lip. "Well... I-I think I might be coming down with something."
Max looked unconvinced. "Something that makes your hands cold?"
"Maybe!" I defended. "Just tell me if my hands feel cold."
"Why do you want me to-"
"Just do it!"
"Okay, okay," he gave in with a laugh, taking both of my hands in his gently. My heartbeat sped up suddenly as I felt something odd and new blooming in my fingertips, but ignored it, glancing over to Grace, whose arms were now crossed tensely. "They don't feel cold to me," he reported back to me after some time.
"W-well, maybe you should keep holding them - just in case they, you know... get cold again," I stuttered stupidly as I found the words, detecting a small smile on Max's face and trying to resist one of my own. I looked over to Grace again, who was giving me a nasty-looking glare. My smile only grew - up until I noticed Max looking at her, and then to me. My eyes were wider than normal, and I silently prayed that he hadn't figured out what was going on - though my guilty expression wasn't exactly doing wonders for my case. Max knew me better than I knew myself - and he'd definitely know when I was up to no good.
"I uh, I-I have to go," he stuttered, backing away and letting go of my hands suddenly.
"Wait, where are you going?" I asked. "I thought we were going to-"
"I have to get back to my post," he told me quickly, and I nodded, feeling slightly disappointed. If he had to go, he had to go, right? I was always slipping away to do shows and sign autographs and whatnot - I guessed that I couldn't blame him if he had to run off too sometimes to do the same. I just hadn't expected him to leave so soon - I was kind of enjoying my time with him, minus our encounter with Grace. Sure, he still hadn't gotten me to like Disney or anything just yet, but if I was being completely honest with myself, I didn't hate him nearly as much as I had before - not by a long shot.
Of course. When Max finally decides to leave me alone, I want him to stay.
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a / n ~ AHHHHH I can't believe I made Wendy a mean girl! As much as I have always loved Wendy Darling's character (and envied her, of course), I thought it would add an interesting twist to the story to make her mean - what do you guys think of her? Do you think she's right about Alice? I just had to have Alice and Max visit Ariel's castle - I've seen pictures of it online and I really want to go see it! On a side note, as expected, I still won't take off my Rapunzel dress - I may wear it to my exam tomorrow. There's a pattern for a Mother Gothel dress that I've found as well, and I'm very seriously considering making another costume for myself soon! Which reminds me of the Disney question for this chapter: favourite Disney villain? Mine's definitely Maleficent, no question. It's hard to choose, as I really love to hate all the Disney rivals, but a few select favourites are Hades, Yzma, Hans, Captain Hook, The Queen of Hearts, and Mother Gothel! I'm excited to hear everyone else's answers! ~xoxo, sydney ♥