Levi checked his phone on his break, staring at Nora's name. It had only been a day and she was already asking to spend time with him? He wasn't sure what that meant. He knew she couldn't possibly like him that much, but still, messaging him so quickly?

He put his phone down for a second, thinking. He'd told himself he was going to ghost her, try to get her to give up on him. That way, he didn't have to lie to her or tell her the truth. Eventually, she'd forget he existed, like everyone else did, and he could go back to admiring her when dressed like a famous pirate.

...When had he started admiring her?

Levi gritted his teeth, the fake mustache brushing unpleasantly against his lip. Before he could rethink it, he texted back, "I get off at 6:00."

He wanted to rub his face, but couldn't without smearing all the makeup that made him look tanner than he was. Levi stared at his mirror, surprised as ever to see Jack staring back.

Levi's day flew by. Nora had told him they should meet up wherever he wanted. He decided on Animal Kingdom, making sure she was fine with him grabbing something from Flame Tree Barbecue before they did anything else. She sent back a gif of Bruce the shark and, "I like eating meat too" then "That sounded weird. I didn't mean it in a weird way. I'm getting chicken" which had made him want to laugh and throw up at the same time, because he wanted this to work and doubted it would and didn't know what he was supposed to do.

So when it came to his last meet and greet time, he was really eager to finish up and run to go see Nora, even if she wouldn't be there until 6:30.

Which, as he found out, gave her ample time to come over and see him without knowing she was seeing him, much to his horrified delight as she came forward for her turn, a sort of similar look on her face.

"Hello, captain," she said.

"Nora. You really don't adventure far, do you?"

"Oh, I was planning on sailing over to Asia and Africa tonight. I just couldn't before making port here to make sure you weren't up to any trouble."

Trouble. He almost started sweating. He wasn't making trouble. No, of course he wasn't. "What's life without a little bit of surprise, aye?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'd advise being on very good behavior, Mr. Sparrow. I won't always be around to protect you."

"Don't worry, I have a whole crew. Gibbs. Angelica, when she doesn't feel like killing me. Hector."

"Hector isn't part of your crew."

He liked that she knew Barbossa's first name. "Aye, but with him I always find a bit of leverage."

"True." She grinned. "Who knows, maybe he wouldn't kill you out of the goodness of his heart."

"Hector? I beg your pardon, but his heart is as eroded as the Dutchman."

"And what's your heart like, in comparison?"

His mustache twitched. "My thump thump is just fine, thank you."

"It's not in a jar of dirt?"

"Most definitely not, though it might as well be buried." He blinked, not sure what made him say that truth. It did feel buried, suffocating over the fact that he couldn't be Levi right now.

Nora's eyes flickered with concern. "Still searching for immortality?"

"This is who I am. A pirate, forever and always." The words were bitter on his tongue. That was what he was now, with her. Gambling.

"I think you want something else and you just don't know about it yet."

He didn't have to fake his concerned, annoyed look. "If you didn't notice, I left Angelica marooned on an island."

"I did notice."

He tried not to laugh at her reference to himself. "Then what, say you, do I want?"

She shrugged innocently. "I'd ask your compass."

"I bartered that. Worst deal of my life."

"Let's pretend that's not canon."

"I have plenty of cannons," he replied smoothly, "and that is not one of them."

"Har-har."

Something sparked between them. If only he could be this perfect with her as himself and not an embarrassing awkward mess.

"It was nice seeing you again, Nora," he murmured, going a little bit too far with his dramatic bow, hoping by the time he came up his cheeks wouldn't be flushed.

"Always a pleasure, Mr. Sparrow."

Nora was over the moon.

Jack Sparrow had looked at her like she was gold. Or rum. Or both. Oh, happy day. Maybe the dream had meant something. Maybe they'd get married and have kids and sail away on a ship into the sunset—

Her phone vibrated, startling her from her fantasy so bad she almost dropped her phone. She read the text. "HEY LADY. I miss you. Where are you?"

Oh, pickles and thistles. She forgot all about small group tonight. Granted, she normally forgot about small group. Or remembered and chose not to go.

Well, at least it was just a text. She could easily say she was at home, studying, and not walking down Main Street—

Maddie's name flashed on her screen, along with the accept or decline call icons.

All she could think about was the old timey music practically blaring in the background as she pressed accept. "Hello?"

"Nora!"

Nora almost held the phone away from her ear. "Hi, Maddie. What's up?"

"Are you coming to group tonight?"

"I won't be able to make it tonight, sorry."

"Hm."

Nora tried to shrink away from all the other guests on Main Street, hoping Maddie wouldn't hear them. But there was a lot of laughter and talking that was hard to miss.

"Do you remember during welcome week how you were in line for free tacos and I stood next to you and we told each other cheese jokes for a good five minutes?" Maddie asked.

"That's nacho cheese."

"And do you remember how I said we would be best friends who forever exchange puns?"

"It's still super awkward for you to outright say it like that after just meeting me, yes." And yet she'd basically been as forward with Levi when it came to friendship. She hadn't somehow contracted Maddie's personality from the little time they'd spent together, had she?

"Well, I meant it. Hence me calling you. Because you, sir, are being a trickster."

"Me?" Nora started to sweat. Well, more than normal considering Florida humidity. "No, Maddie. I just forgot. I should be able to go next week."

"Where are you? Why is it so loud?"

She didn't exactly tell anyone about her Disney obsession. Not when Brook had always made her feel like a pariah. "I just have some music on for studying."

"Disney?"

Nora clenched her phone. "You know it?"

"You're really okay, right?"

She bit her lip, Jack coming to mind. "I am, thanks."

Maddie paused, a very abnormal trait for her normally loud energy. "You know if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here, right?"

Nora's eyes stung. As obnoxious as Maddie could be, she had a heart of gold. And that was why she hadn't said outright no to small group in the first place, even if she hadn't been yet. "Yes. Praise Cheeses."

Maddie laughed. "Praise Cheeses. That's a new one."

"I had to let it mature before it was ready." Nora looked at the time. She was about to be late meeting Levi. "It's almost time for group, so you better get going."

"I demand that we hang out this weekend."

"Fine, fine. You win."

"That's because I'm so gouda."

She rolled her eyes and started walking again. "Bye, Maddie."

Nora pocketed her phone and rushed out of the park. She'd never planned that friendship, hadn't planned to make friends at school. School was supposed to be all about school. And school was for her free AP from her parents. So it only made sense that all her time was school, studying, and Disney....right?

And Levi, maybe. And....Jack.

Yikes. She was still kidding herself. She repeated many times for herself to calm down, patted her gurgling stomach, glad dinner at Flame Tree with Levi was soon.

Levi was on some sort of mournful autopilot his whole way over to Animal Kingdom. Because if he wasn't on autopilot, he would come up with a hundred different stupid things he'd most likely do, a hundred reasons he shouldn't be meeting her at all.

Most of them were actually really good reasons. Like the fact that he was lying to her. That was definitely the best reason.

His shoulders stayed stiff as he made his way further into the park despite the peaceful caws of birds, the rush of water, the magnificence of the Tree of Light at sunset. It was an easy walk to Flame Tree Barbeque and he was glad Nora had told her where she'd be considering how many different pavilions there were to sit at, each hidden by lush vegetation and guarded by ducks.

He came to a stop when he saw her. She had her legs crossed, her cheek propped up as she looked out at Expedition Everest, thoughtful and probably daydreaming.

He licked his lips, nervous. He cleared his throat too loudly, voice cracking, "Hi."

God, kill him now.

She turned her head up. She'd put on a pair of animal print Minnie ears since he'd seen her. He gestured stiffly to them. "Look at that. You match the park."

Why did every word out of his mouth when he wasn't Jack Sparrow feel like he was shooting at himself?

"You don't." She pointed at his plain t-shirt. "It's very sad."

"You're right. I should have known before getting ready this morning that you'd text me asking to meet up."

"Exactly. You should have a wardrobe in your car for these sorts of things."

He suppressed an eye roll. "Come on. This time, the food's on me. What did you want?"

"I told you. Chicken. Por favor."

"I mean, you did say you like eating meat." His eyes flicked up to see her sour expression. "Chicken it is."

He was more in the mood for ribs, but since he was paying for Nora, he decided to go with the chicken too. He went to the counter to order, showing his blue employee ID to get his discount while she went to go collect silverware and napkins.

"You really picked the best spot," Levi said as he sat down with their tray, grabbing a paper straw for his drink.

"You're not the only one with pro tips." She waved her own straw at him. "Granted, I know you know more. I'm new to the world of Disney compared to you, I think."

"There's no shame in earning your ears." It was upon saying that that he realized he was talking to her like she was a regular person. Maybe he could do this. Maybe he could be her friend.

Or maybe he was just really distracted by his chicken and his hunger.

"There is when you say it like that," she sniffed.

They chowed down. Nora made more happy eating noises, like she had with the dole whip, and they got to talking about Disney food.

"Favorite place to eat?" he asked.

"Um... that's an impossible question? You have to do each park. And, like I said, I'm new. I've eaten here once before. That's all."

"Wow. You need a food tour."

"That sounds like it would take weeks. And money." She nodded. "I'm game."

He realized it sounded like he'd committed to this giant task, but Nora was already onto the next subject.

After eating, they decided to do It's Tough to be a Bug while the sun went down, trying to get in the air condition for a bit. Levi always admired the slow descent into the tree, the fine craftsmanship of all the animal carvings. "Did you know there are over three hundred animals on this tree?"

"Nope, but I did know it's made out of an oil rig." She pointed to the bark. "The whale is my favorite."

It was one of the largest carvings. They passed under the roots, Levi pointing to his. "I've really always liked this ankylosaurs."

"Wow. I've never even seen that one."

He gave her a few more facts about the tree, like how it had over 8,000 branches and 1000,000 leaves, all of which swayed like actual branches and leaves, which she made excited noises about.

They went inside the tree and grabbed their bug glasses, which was what they called the 3D glasses. He fiddled with the flimsy plastic arms, which always shook back and forth , reminding him of a doorstop spring. "You know, when I was little, I screamed so loud that my parents had to take me out of the theater. It wasn't until I was a tween that I got the courage to come back in here and that was only because my older brother forced me."

"No way."

"You think I'd make up an embarrassing story?"

"Sounds just like you."

"You know me so well after, what, two hours?"

"I can read you like a book."

Levi tried not to squirm at that.

After a few minutes, the show before them ended. They went inside the theater, using the same tactic for sitting in the middle.

Nora leaned back on their log. "It's nice, hearing all the kids scream during the spider part."

Levi stared. "You like the sound of screaming children?"

"Hey, I didn't say I like scared kids. It's just sometimes funny."

"Wow. You shouldn't work here."

"Hey. I'd be a great CM."

"Sure, Nora."

"I would!"

The show began. Levi had to force himself to stay on the seat during all the bumps and proddings, but didn't want to look like a wimp in front of Nora, who also decided that jabbing Levi would be fun.

"Pandora time?" Nora asked afterward, veering towards the left side of the park.

"Perfect."

"I've actually never been at night."

He stopped in his tracks. "You're kidding." His pace increased. "You're going to love it."

When they arrived, he didn't watch the land as it began coming to life. He already knew what that looked like, the way the walkways slowly glowed green, purple, and blue, like a massive painting of vines and stars. He already knew what the flowers were like, the bulbs pulsating like lanterns, pollen twinkling like fireflies. Instead, he watched her face. It lit up like the land, absolutely awed at the magic that only Disney could create.

"This is the most amazing thing."

She couldn't get over it, obviously, with how she asked for him to take her picture everywhere, even bending down to feel the ground. After about ten minutes of exploring, they came to rest, overlooking the land from one of the higher points, the sound of banshees flying in the background, the waterfalls pouring from the floating rocks as peaceful as a calm storm.

"How can you come here all by yourself so much?" she asked. "It's so much more special when you're with someone."

Levi leaned up against a rock. "You were by yourself when you became an AP, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't really have anyone to go with. Most people think Disney is lame. You have CMs, right?"

"I'm not really friends with anyone. I just started pretty recently and it's hard to make friends in my department."

"That makes sense. But still, you deserve some friends."

"So do you."

"I really meant it when I said I want to hang out." She faced him, the glow of Pandora radiating off her. "I really want a Disney buddy, but more than that, you're a nice guy, Disney or not."

It wasn't a good idea. He was lying to her. But there was something about her that felt right. Like she was supposed to be in his life. Like maybe she'd stick around. And he doubted she'd stick around if she knew the truth, especially with the look they shared earlier.

"Sounds good, Nora. Disney buddies it is."

Ahoy!

I just wanted to point out to all you people who have ever felt like Levi, friendless and socially awkward, that there are people out there who want to be your friend. That friendship can be a great thing with the right people, so long that it's a give and take. So I hope my characters' struggles resonate with people and helps you put yourself out there more. I, myself, was a shy soul until people befriended me and made me realize that I can be that person who befriends other people.

Question of the Chapter: What is your favorite Disney movie and why?

Like, comment, follow. Sail, find me a really big hat, whatever you want to do. Savvy?

-Flips