Melody was eating her hotdog and looking at her friends, as they wouldn’t stop bickering with the other. Jane, who was sitting square beside her, gave Melody a long and overcomplicated lecture about the dangers of swimming at night without proper equipment or training. Peter on the other hand, was happily defending her decision, saying that she was more than qualified to swim at night, given her family’s reputation. While the squabble became louder and angrier, Melody just smiled and enjoyed the show.

Sam and Jim sat beside one another, still roasting their own hotdogs as they listened in on the playful argument. They always enjoyed a good and friendly squabble, now it just came with refreshments.  But before long Mulan broke up the teens, swallowing the last of her food before speaking.

“Alright, alright, break it up you two. What’s the issue?” she asked, placing her hand on her hip as she stood over them. In the flickering fire light, she looked intimidating to both of them. While both teens tried to explain their own argument, they kept speaking over one another, unable to get a single thought out without tripping over the other’s. Mulan pinched the bridge of her nose until the noise stopped. Melody finally interjected.. 

“They were just arguing about me swimming in the dark. Jane thinks it’s too dangerous, and Peter thinks it’s fine since my family is full of swimmers.” She took another bite of her hotdog, leaving everyone silent for a moment.

Mulan looked to Jim and Sam, pointing at them. “Is that true?”

Both Sam and Jim nodded in agreement, having witnessed the entire scuffle. Mulan paused to look at them for a moment then sighed. 

“Honestly, why is it always you two who I catch arguing over the dumbest things?” she asked, not really expecting an answer from either of them. . 

“You could say it’s in our inherent nature as teens. Especially Jane, given she’s a know-it-all,” Jim smirked,  while Sam snickers. Jane doesn’t find it as amusing, her face turning red as she’s almost ready to explode with another lecture on why it’s improper to name call.

“Look, it’s unsafe to swim at night, I will say that,” Mulan started, causing Jane to smile and prematurely began laughing at Peter. Mulan held up her hand. “But Melody and her sisters are also well trained swimmers and know the dangers. Ariel did similar stuff when we were younger. So stop fretting unless there’s an actual issue at hand,” Mulan smiled at the both of them, watching Peter smile, now dancing jovially around the campfire in success. Jane was just about to retort, but finally gave up and sat down again.

“Oh Melody!” ‘Speak of the devil,’ Melody thought as she turned to see Ariel walking towards her, her sister's phone high up in the air. Another picture to appease their father's worried heart. Melody made space for her to sit where Peter once had. Ariel snapped the picture with the younger sister, looking through the couple just to make sure the boys were sufficiently out of the picture. The light of fire made their picture look almost magical, making it perfect to send to their father. Though as soon as the text was sent, his picture popped up, and the phone started to ring. Ariel quickly separated herself and her sister from the group, hoping the echoing boys laughter wasn’t caught in their feedback when Ariel finally answered.

“Hey dad!” Ariel chimed, putting the phone on speaker. “Melody’s here too,”

“Hi papa,” Melody added just to confirm her presence. 

“Hey girls, is everything okay over there?” 

“Yeah, it’s going great so far! You shoulda seen it papa, I broke my record for holding my breath underwater, and I found a locket while I was down there.” Melody told her father, clutching her necklace even tighter with anticipation. 

“Beaches are so much prettier at night, and fire roasted dinner is so good,” The older sister chirped. 

“Good, I’m glad to hear. You’re avoiding the boys, right?” Before they could answer with a lie, Aladdin was trotting towards them.  

“Hey, do you guys-!” Before he could finish his sentence Sam quickly stood up and covered his mouth, clutching onto his face with enough force to crush his jaw. Peter and Jim covered their mouths, trying not to laugh too loud, instead snickering as silently as possible to one another.  They should have been sympathetic towards the poor soul, but he should have known better. Jane tried fruitlessly to shush them.

“Girls?” Trident perked up at the sound of Aladdin’s voice.. The coy pair of sisters just nervously stood, frozen and unable to breathe until Melody finally spoke up. 

“Sorry, I think Sam was trying to do impressions of our other friends, I think. We’ve been avoiding boys like the plague.” Melody’s voice cracked, but she still sounded noticeably calmer than she looked. 

“Oh, good. Well, I’ll leave you to it then. Just message me when you’re heading home, okay?” 

“Yes papa, we love you!” Both girls sang. 

 “I love you too girls, take care of yourself.” Trident hung up, and both girls were finally relieved. They let out a sigh of relief. As soon as their friends knew they were in the clea, the boys burst into fits of laughter, falling to the ground and holding their stomachs as they hooted and howled. Sam pulled her hand from Aladdin’s mouth, watching him nearly crumple as he gasped for air. Mulan patted his back knowingly. 

“It’s nothing personal, Al. Trident is just anal about his girls staying away from boys, and if he even hears one over the phone, they have to leave, ASAP.” Sam relayed, starting back towards the bonfire, shrugging her shoulders. It wasn’t her favorite thing to do, but it was necessary to make sure her friends had at least a somewhat normal teenage-hood. Aladdin rubbed his cheeks, cracking his jaw as he finally started to breathe a little easier.

 “It’s cool, dude. Just next time, as a courtesy, maybe tell me when you’re going to break my face?” He seemed a slight bit irritated. Sam simply continued towards the fire. 

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep, bud.” Sam shouted back. Mulan stood beside him, starting back for the fire as well. 

“I know she’s aggressive, but she does mean well most of the time,” Mulan said, Aladdin just nodded. 

“Sure as hell seems like pure aggression.” he walked behind her a bit slowly, as Mulan now back with the gaggle of boys, who had just finished crying and rolling on the ground from laughter, wiping away their years. Now it was time to wind down, they all realized. The late evening sky was upon them, and that meant that ghost stories would now be exchanged.

'''''''''''

“Dude, what happened to your face?” Eric asked Aladdin, noticing the large red hand mark over his mouth and cheeks, his face seeming tighter than before. Aladdin groaned and rubbed his face

“Sam happened.” Aladdin seemed nearly pained at the answer. After explaining the ordeal, Hercules cringed and apologized out of habit. Eric groans in disinterest. 

“You know their dad is a helicopter parent. You could’ve waited.” Eric takes another long sip of his drink, feeling the bubbles from the coke and the tight burn of rum in his throat as he swallows.

“I know that, but how the hell am I supposed to know when they’re talking to that geezer?” Aladdin groaned louder, watching as Peter and Jim finally stood from their log, starting to pack up their things.

“We’re gonna head out.” Peter said, smiling as he grabbed his backpack. Aladdin stopped them, watching Hercules out of the corner of his eye. 

“So soon? The fun was just about to begin! We were gonna play fireside games ‘n such.” 

Jim raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, though Peter was leaning forward in intrigue, eager to play a game as his backpack slid back down. 

“What kind of game?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone was sitting on their logs and huddling together, the bonfire now low enough for them to see one another across the flickering orange flames. As everyone found their respective seats, Melody sat snugly between Sam and Jim. Hercules sat opposite her between Eric and Ariel, having finally calmed himself down enough to look at her.

Aladdin went over the plan again, reminding Hercules and Eric what they had to do during their heist. Aladdin would sneak behind the girls while everyone was distracted with laughter and take the necklace gingerly from Melody’s bag. While Aladdin continued reminding Eric about his role in keeping everyone distracted, Hercules stared off in front of him, wishing he could sit beside Melody and keep her warm. But he needed to stay here, so that he could make sure she didn’t know what was going on. Jack slapped Hercules’ back, abruptly waking him up from his wistful daydream..

“Alright! We’re all here, what game didja say we were playing’?” he asked Aladdin, his jaw starting to turn back to its normal fleshy tan.

“Truth or Dare.” Half the group groaned and half lit up with excitement. Aladdin leaned back on his log, smiling devilishly at everyone.

“Well, isn’t this just middle school all over again.” Sam answered, already bored out of her mind as she sipped on her nearly flat can of soda. Peter elbowed Sam, jolting her back into the moment.

“Oh come on, Sam. Lighten up a little, it might not be so bad.” He grinned just as deviously as Aladdin was.

“You have no idea. Sam, trust me when it comes to this game, something weird always happens with these bozos. Rule of thumb, make sure that whatever happens here, stays here and is never touched again.” Mulan finished off her water, groaning as she pressed her back against the cool sand, a nice reprieve from the scalding fire. Sam perked up at the intrigue of her own idea, quietly smiling to herself.

“Well I hope it’ll at least be memorable.” She cooed, her eyes glinted with interest.

“Now I’m afraid.” Jane said as she held onto Peter’s arm for protection, while the red head chuckled and rustled her brunette hair.

“So who’s going first?” Milo asked in the group, clapping his hands together loudly, in the hopes to grab everyone's attention. Everyone was shifting uncomfortably until Melody raised her hand, breaking the short-lived silence.

“I have a question; are we going in a specific order or do we choose whoever?” She asked, her bright blue eyes nearly purple in the red flames.

“Either way is fine, as long as everyone is involved, and I do mean everyone.” Aladdin looked around the group watching a handful of them groan or whimper in disapproval.

“Then I’ll go first,” Melody paused for a moment, before nudging her strong friend playfully. H“Sam, truth or dare?”

“Truth.” Sam rolled her eyes, expecting Melody to ask something minimally interesting.

“Who was your first crush?” Melody smiled brightly, watching Sam choke on what little soda she had left. Everyone watched, either giggling or avoiding her eye contact.

“Nope, I ain’t sayin’ that.” Sam crossed her arms and in the warm glow of the fire, everyone could see her bright red cheeks.

“Oh come on, Sam. Please? You never tell me anything, and it’s part of the game!” Melody pleaded, putting on the puppy dog eyes.

“But here? In front of a bunch of people?” Sam questioned her, nervously shivering as she raised an eyebrow.

“Rules are rules Sammy.” Peter teased her, pulling his arms up to shield him from her violence. Jim tried not to smile, it was hard not to feel bad for her. But it was still funny.

“You don’t have to say the name, can I just have a few hints?” Melody suggested, affectionately rubbing her arm. “Plus, remember, what happens at the bonfire stays at the bonfire.” Sam stared at Melody and the rest of the group, gulping down her anxiety before grumbling in agreement.

“Okay, well… I was probably around seven or eight and they were just really ballsy and cute-”

“What kinda things did he do?” Melody asked, her grin spanning from ear to ear. Sam groaned but continued, correcting her.

“She would just swing upside down on the monkey bars and be a huge goof. She was talented and weird. Happy?” Sam gulped down her soda quickly, trying to avoid everyone’s amused reactions. Melody cupped both of Sam's cheeks in her tiny hands, smiling brightly.

“Aww Sam, I didn’t know you were gay! That’s lovely, being in love and discovering who you love so early!” Sam nervously waved her off, pushing her away and into Jim’s arms as everyone tried not to laugh.
“I’m not gay, I’m bi. I thought it was kinda obvious since no straight girl could be as weird as me.” The laughing continued and Sam felt more at ease, cracking open another fizzy drink.

“No wonder Sam is always so friendly with the girls. Belle especially,” Ariel snickered, playfully. Belle shook her head smiling, remembering all the friendly interactions.

“And I could have sworn she was getting a bit snug with Milo the other day.” Milo blushed at the mention, trying to recall the specific incident they were referencing.

“Well, with that out of the way. Sam, the stage is all yours,”” Eric spoke, leaning back as he took a long sip from his water bottle.It was going to be a long, painful night.