The shoulder pains had been subsiding over the weekend which was good news for Georgie since she has fencing practice Monday afternoon. She made an appointment to see one of the nurses who gave her a cortisone shot at lunch which has her feeling a lot better by the time the end of the day bell rings, however, the nurse also made her wear a sling for the remainder of the day to prevent from any further irritation or inflammation. Of course, Georgie emailed her Coach, Bruno to tell him about her injury and he said he would give her something non-shoulder related to do.

She shuts her locker for the day and grabs her change of clothes and trainers since she won't be needing the rest of her fencing equipment. A few lockers down, Jay and Carlos watch her and look at one another in confusion.

"Hey, Georgie," calls Carlos, he points to her trainers. "I thought you hurt your shoulder. Are you still going to your fencing practice?"

Georgie nods. "I am, but it's probably going to be leg day for me or something."

"That's brutal dude," replies Carlos, "I can't believe he wouldn't just give you the afternoon off." He considers his words for a moment. "Well actually maybe not since he nade you run laps of the tourney field last week."

Jay thinks back to the moment fondly and smiles. "That was funny." Georgie shoots him a disapproving glare. "I meant to say not funny."

Georgie rolls her eyes. "Sure you did. Thanks for the shoulder taping the other day, the nurse today said that's probably what saved my shoulder from getting even worse over the weekend."

"Oh, uh, it's no problem. Just glad I could practice my taping skills," replies Jay. From what Georgie gathers, he didn't tell Carlos about the incident.

The three make their usual walk towards the athletic buildings and the change rooms, Georgie splitting off to the women's change room once they arrive. Before leaving to go out to the fencing practice area she sends Ben a quick text. Did you ask her out yet? Just about to go into practice. Let me know what she says so I can see it ASAP after practice. He won't be at tourney practice tonight because as the boys explained to her before, it was an optional cool-down practice after the good game they played on Monday.

She steps out of the fairly empty change room and onto the grassy area leading up to the fencing platform. Bruno looks concerned, his student hasn't really had a big injury before, but Georgie explains to him in detail what happened—leaving out the Chad part once again. He explains to her that they're just going to be doing some video analysis of opponents.

Bruno pulls out his laptop and they begin to go over videos from last year's competitions to take a peek at some of the girls in Georgie's age category that she might have to face over the course of the season. She recognizes nearly all of them since they've been competing against one another for the past two years. They analyze all of their movements, trying to see who has a tell or tendencies that Georgie might be able to take advantage of.

"See, Georgie, she made it to the finals against Lonnie last year, but she's nowhere near as good as you are." He freezes the frame and takes his finger to draw a circle around Lonnie's opponent's elbow. "See this? When she lunges, her elbow is not fully extended. She's not taking advantage of the length of her arm. She may be taller than you, probably five foot ten, but if you can take full advantage of the length of your arms, it'll be like you're towering over her. Small, and mighty. That is how you become champion this year."

A cheeky grin grows on Georgie's face. "Is that what your coach told you when you were younger? Since you're so short?"

Bruno deadpans. "You're going to go on a run again if you keep this up."

The video analysis is long, but helpful. Since she's now moved out of the freshman-sophomore age bracket, there'll be some still competition, especially with the seniors, who have an entire year of competing on her. She fills up quite a few pages in her notebook before Bruno calls it a day.

Since it's Monday, the boys' fencing team is meant to practice at the same time as them, but once again they've left early, and once again they've left their equipment everywhere for poor Pierre to pick up.

Bruno shakes his head with disapproval. "If those boys were my athletes, I'd make them run twenty laps of the tourney field for every piece they left behind. One day they'll let me coach the boys' team too, and I'll merge us together, no boys team or girls team, just me and my respectful, well-oiled machine of a fencing team. We will be an unstoppable force I'll—" Bruno watches as Georgie leans down to grab some equipment with her good arm, "Ah, ah, ah, do not touch! You need to rest your shoulder, Georgie. Rest. I'll get it."

Luckily, the tourney team gets out at the same time as Georgie is done with her video analysis. Carlos and Jay walk up to the fencing platform instead of heading toward the locker rooms with the rest of their team. Helmet in hand, Jay shouts over to Georgie, "I thought you weren't doing actual fencing today?"

Georgie walks over to the edge of the fencing platform and squats down to talk to the approaching boys, "I didn't. The boys' team did though. They never clean up for themselves."

Carlos looks put out. "They leave it all for you to clean up? Even with your shoulder?"

Georgie shrugs. "No for me really, but their poor Coach Pierre. Bruno and I usually help him out."

The two boys look at one another, deciding something without a single word being spoken and unceremoniously jumping onto the fencing platform. Bruno goes to refuse the help but Jay and Carlos insist on helping him carry the equipment away.

Jay manages to take about half of the equipment by himself, and Bruno and Carlos split the other half. Georgie walks along with them towards the storage room with her water bottle in her uninjured arm. "Thank you, boys," Bruno says from beneath his pile. "Say, have you ever considered fencing?"

Georgie chuckles, of course Bruno couldn't pass up an opportunity to recruit newcomers to the sport.

"On the Isle we all knew our way around a sword pretty well, but I'm not sure with one of these thingy's," says Jay, motioning to the pile of bagged rapiers he's holding.

A smile flashes across Bruno's face. "Brilliant. Keep it in mind if you find Tourney isn't enough for you. Fencing is like an art, and a paintbrush is your sword." His voice grows more serious, "And also, very fun if you like to stab at people and win trophies." And with that, he walks into the main building. Georgie's mouth is left hanging open; both Jay and Carlos look to her for an explanation of Bruno, but all she can offer is a shrug before they follow after him.

The equipment finds its way into their proper storage spots and Bruno parts ways with the students who are headed toward the changing rooms. Remembering the text she sent before practice, Georgie practically runs to the phone in her locker.

Sure enough, there's a single text from Ben. I asked her.

Rolling her eyes at Ben's intentional vagueness, she types back to him furiously, WHAT DID SHE SAY?

The text bubble appears telling Georgie he's typing back, but she waits in agony until the bubble turns to text. She said yes, texts Ben. He punctuates the sentence with a smiley face for good measure.

Georgie closes her locker with a satisfied smirk and texts back, Woo hoo! Have fun! Text me when you're back. Knowing she and Ben had planned the perfect date to a tee made her confident that the two would have a good time: those chocolate-covered strawberries didn't dip themselves after all. She joins the boys with a hop in her step. "Mal and Ben are off on a date!"

"Oh, that's great! Where are they going?" asks Carlos as they walk out of the athletics building and towards the main courtyard.

"Enchanted Lake. I may or may not have helped plan the whole thing."

Carlos and Jay share a look, unbeknownst to Georgie. "Hey, what do you think of the two of them getting together?" asks Jay. "So close after breaking up with Audrey, I mean."

There's a slight pause in conversation as Georgie thinks of what to say. "Listen...I'm not supposed to say this, but Ben tried to break up with Audrey a couple of times before the game but she wouldn't let him. Now, do I think he could've waited to ask Mal out? Yes. But I think she's a much better match for him. And I'm not just saying that because I don't like Audrey," she adds quickly.

"So you wanted them to date," says Carlos, his question sounding more like a statement.

"Yeah, of course. Why do you sound so surprised?"

The group comes across Doug in the courtyard slowly working away at his homework which gives Jay an idea for an 'out' to the conversation. "Hey Doug, how's it going?" he calls across the courtyard.

"Oh, hey!" he says as he looks up from his homework. Doug takes notice that Georgie is with two of the VKs and since he isn't particularly close with Jay, he looks around in a bit of confusion. "...If you're looking for Evie, her and Mal took off about a half hour ago to go get ready for her date with Ben."

"Do you know if they've left yet?" Georgie asks. Doug only shrugs in response. Georgie purses her lips in thought and then a wicked smile crosses her face. "Doug, have you ever wanted to eavesdrop?"

⁘⁘⁘

"Stop pushing me!" Carlos whispers harshly to Jay whose head is slightly above him, staring out around the corner at Evie and Mal's door. Both Doug and Georgie are also in the column of heads sticking out around the corner, waiting for Ben to show up.

Georgie shushes the group as footsteps start to make their way up the stairs. Sure enough, it's Ben. He's holding two helmets in his hands, ready to take Mal off to the lake on his moped.

They silently watch on as Ben quickly fixes his hair, takes a deep breath, and knocks on the door. It must be Mal who opens the door because Ben's face immediately softens and his eyes shimmer in admiration. "For the first time, I understand the difference between pretty and beautiful."

Georgie mentally high-fives Ben in her head, happy that her best friend has managed to say something actually suave and charming instead of being choked up and awkward. She isn't exactly sure where he's gotten that line from or what sort of love bug he's been bitten with to suddenly not be shy around Mal, but she'll take it.

"I hope you like bikes," says Ben as he holds out one of the helmets towards Mal.

Just then and as the door closes behind Mal, Doug starts to lose his balance and knocks into Georgie below him, setting her off balance. Jay sees her start to sway forward and instinctively reaches for her. But Georgie's momentum is already in full swing, sending both her and Jay tripping out into the open hallway in front of Ben and Mal.

Ben furrows his brow as he looks at Georgie and Jay who, from his perspective, have just magically appeared in the hallway. A hint of something Georgie can't quite place quirks at his lips as he says, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Uh..." says Georgie, trying to come up with a cover. "We...we were inspecting this wall." She gives a firm knock with her free hand to the finely patterned wood for good measure.

"Yes!" says Jay way too quickly. "We had to make sure it was high-quality stuff."

"Riiight..." says Ben. "But why specifically this hallway? It's the same type of wood through the whole building. And your rooms are on the upper levels."

"Right, right," says Georgie quickly. "We were upstairs, but we're testing our prototype of the key tracker. Had to make sure the signal would work through the solid wood walls and all."

Playing along, Jay quickly pick pockets the key from Georgie, which Mal notices and frowns, but decides to not say anything. Jay holds up the keys and wiggles them triumphantly. "And look, we found them." Ben and Mal shoot one another a look, clearly trying not to laugh at their two friends acting so bizarrely in front of them.

"Okay, well, you two enjoy your date, we're just going to head out..." says Georgie as she and Jay walk towards the corner where Doug and Carlos are hiding.

"Um, guys," says Ben, causing both of their heads to whirl around to face the prince. "Your rooms are that way." He points above him, referencing their rooms being on the third and fourth floors. "There's no staircase down that hallway."

Both Jay and Georgie give an awkward nod and laugh as they then shyly scoot by Ben and Mal and make their way up the stairs. They wait a few moments before descending back down the stairs.

When they return to the hallway of the second floor, Carlos is practically rolling on the floor, and even Doug is trying to hold back his smile. "I don't know what's worse; your group lying skills, or the fact that I think they totally bought it."

"Laugh it up goofball," Jay says to his best friend.

The smile quickly vanishes from Carlos' face as he nods and walks past Jay and Georgie, but once he goes by, he breaks out into snickers. Georgie can't help but smile at the look of total exasperation that crosses Jay's face for laughing at them until Jay turns to her. "And what are you smiling at, hm? You're the one who fell and decided that masquerading as wall inspectors was a good idea."

After a bit more squabbling, the group decides to go and knock on Evie's door to invite her out since she was now alone. Evie gratefully accepts and the group make their way into campus to find something to do. The three athletes of the bunch decide they're too hungry, and break off from Evie and Doug who go to save them all a table. Jay offers to hold Georgie's tray for her which she accepts after some protest.

"What do you think of..." Jay's speech cuts off as they spot Doug and Evie sitting together at the table they've been saving for the group, but the way they're sitting together and chatting together in a way that couldn't be described as anything but flirty. All three of their heads tilt to the side in sync looking at the scene in confusion.

"I think I may have missed a few chapters here. I thought she liked Chad..." says Georgie.

Jay narrows his eyes at the sight. "I thought so too." Though he can't say he's going to be disappointed if he doesn't have to hear Evie gush about Chad anymore, especially after what he'd done to Georgie.

"...and I just love your glasses! Where did you get them?" Evie asks Doug, before realizing the rest of the group is back with their food and turns to them as they take their seats around the table.

A moment passes, but the question of the closeness between Evie and the dwarf's son hangs in the air. "So..." says Georgie, trying to gently broach the subject. "Speaking of love...are you...still..." unsure of how to phrase things, especially in front of Doug, Georgie's speech begins to skip around, "...Chad, do you...are you...because Doug..."

Luckily, Doug steps in to help, "Chad tried to get Evie expelled because of her magic mirror. He said she was cheating." Georgie's eyebrows raise in surprise; Chad seems to be stooping to a new low every day. She finds herself seething at the actions of her former friend, embarrassed for ever having associated with him. "But we convinced Mr. Deley to let her take the test without the mirror, and if she passed she wouldn't be expelled."

Carlos' mouth drops open. "So you got expelled?" A swift elbow finds itself nudging Carlos in the stomach as Georgie tries to get him to stop talking himself into a hole.

"No," says Evie excitedly. She pulls the examination booklet out of her bag to show off to the rest of them. "I got a B+!"

Evie and Doug continue to enthuse about Evie's academic success but all Georgie can think about is Chad. According to Doug, Chad had been getting Evie to do his homework for him and still tried to turn Evie in for cheating as if he himself wasn't cheating as well. "I'm so sorry about Chad, Evie. That was awful of him to do."

Evie shakes her head gracefully. "You don't have to apologize for him, Georgie. He's not your responsibility." The words make Georgie feel a little bit better, but she still lets out a heavy sigh as she sits down.

"Anyway, enough about Chad," says Jay. "How's your shoulder doing Georgie? Is it feeling okay?"

The air between Jay and Georgie suddenly stiffens; the only two who know that there's actually quite a connection between the subject of Georgie's shoulder and Chad, even if Georgie doesn't realize that Jay knows.

Warily, Georgie motions to her arm in the sling. "Fine, fine. It's feeling a lot better today. Should be good as new by mid-week as long as I keep resting it."

"As long as someone else doesn't hurt it, you mean," says Jay under his breath. Not quietly enough apparently because the entire table halts and looks at Jay questioningly. Georgie shoots him a panicked look of disapproval, not wanting to have to explain the situation to everyone. It's been bad enough to privately be in a feud with Chad, the last thing she wants is to have everyone know about it too. "Something. I meant as long as something else doesn't hurt it."

A collective sigh releases from the group at the table, but Georgie's gaze lingers on Jay as she tries to figure out in her mind why he won't seem to let go of the topic. Luckily for her, the topic is switched by Evie immediately. The five of them all become engrossed in conversation topics wandering from band practice to classes, and even the beginnings of a few inside jokes. Many genuine laughs can be heard originating from the table and by any outsiders' view, it would look like a normal group of teenagers who have been friends for years.

Later that night Georgie sat on the floor waiting by Ben's room for him to return from his date. The lush green carpet provides some nice padding that makes sitting on the floor actually pretty comfortable as Georgie types up an assignment for History of Woodsmen and Pirates using her one free hand, slowly plucking away at her keyboard. However, Bill A-013, also known as the Royal Pirating Act, brought the Hook Era of Pirates to an end. This essay will—

Buzzing from Georgie's phone throws her off of her writing flow, making her forget her next sentence. Drat, she thinks to herself. She peeks over to see that the screen is lit up with the word 'Dad' and decides to answer it. "You've reached the idiot-help hotline, how may I help you?"

"Yeah, I was hoping to speak to the idiot in charge but it looks like I've already gotten a hold of her." Georgie lets out a genuine chuckle at the burn her father managed to dish out to her. But Robert doesn't bask in his glory for too long and moves on to the reason he called. "Anyway, how's it going? How were the first two weeks of school? I heard you guys won at tourney for once."

"I can hardly believe it. If it wasn't for the VKs we definitely wouldn't have stood a chance."

"The V-whats?"

"Oh, that's the nickname for the Villain Kids."

"And they're settling in okay? No one turned into a toad yet or...?"

"Nope. Everything's great so far. They're all settling in really well. A bit shy at first, Mal seems to be the one still a little distant, but it's understandable. I think she's going to start warming up more really soon." Georgie's mind flits to the date she's out on right now; if Ben dating Mal wouldn't bring her out of her shell then nothing would. Not that she could tell her dad that. "But out of them all, I think I spend the most time with Jay. We have like, four classes together, oh, and we're doing a business project together too. We're trying to come up with a device to attach to my keys so I can find them when I lose them."

"Which one is Jay again? Is she the one with the blue hair? I can never remember who is who."

Georgie clears her throat. "Jay is Jafar's son."

"Right, I knew that."

"I think you'll really like him. He's really interested in business so you can talk his ear off about that. Oh, and I think Bruno's trying to convince him to join fencing since he's a really good athlete."

"Well, I can't wait to meet your new friends on the weekend," he says truthfully. "Hey, one thing before I go, Fairy Godmother talked to you about the museum incident, right?"

Georgie hummed in confirmation thinking back to the morning of the first day of school when she had been pulled aside. "Yesss, but Fairy Godmother had said that it was a false alarm."

"It was a false alarm. But while we were still figuring everything out I asked Beast to get his people to do a security check for me—"

"I'm not liking the sound of this so far..."

"Tracking people on the Isle has always been difficult. The barrier is as good at keeping things in as it is keeping things out, including the flow of information, now—"

"Dad, you're scaring me a bit..."

Robert gathers his words carefully. "Nerissa hasn't been seen in over two months."

"Two months?"

"But apparently it's not uncommon for her to not be seen for long periods of time, she likes to stick with the underground—both figuratively and literally. It's very likely that she's still on the Isle, again, because it's hard to get information, but I just wanted you to know what we found out. Like I said, likely nothing, but I wanted you to know that we're searching for where she might be on the Isle, just in case you hear anything."

"Right, well, thanks." Georgie hears the familiar heavy footsteps of Ben approaching from down the hallway. "Hey, look I gotta go, Ben just got back."

"Alright, I'll let you go. See you on Sunday."

"Love you, bye." And with that, Georgie hangs up the phone. She quickly shuts her laptop and stands up, brushing her clothes off. "How was it? Was it romantic? Did the strawberries keep okay in the basket because I know we added an icepack but it was pretty hot outside this afternoon so—"

"It was amazing." Ben opens the door to his room for the two to enter. "I finally managed to get her to open up to me. And when we talked we just...clicked. You know? I wasn't walking on eggshells and trying to do things to make her happy. I was just being myself, and that was okay."

Before when Ben talked about dating or having a partner Georgie never felt like she was missing out. If anything, hearing him talk about things made Georgie glad she's never dated anyone. But as Ben carried on about Mal and the swell of emotions comforting emotions she made him feel, she finally that feeling in the pit of her stomach, or maybe more accurately, the pit of her heart. The fear of missing out on something. The fear of missing out on someone.

Another chapter down, we're getting very close to the end! Anyways, here is the thing that funds the "Idiot Hotline Fund™️", the chapterly memes: