Poppy couldn't help but, smile as she caught sight of Branch tending to his locker. He was just on the other side of the busy hallway with his back facing her direction. The Pink troll attempted to walk across and through the crowd but, the many pairs of shoes and barefoot animal students blocked her path every few seconds.

When your as small as a troll, it's easy to not be noticed and possibly get stepped on like a bug. Can at times be nearly impossible to walk around freely. It had happened unfortunately and all cases were accidents. Most victims however were simply lucky that they weren't badly hurt due to them using their hair to block the impact of shoes. Poppy waited near her locker for the hallway rush to slow down.

Then all of the announcement speakers briefly played their school Principle's theme song. The upbeat music was blasting in both the classes and hallways. It was the kind of music you would expect to hear at a club or a party,not necessarily during the school morning period but; at least "Who's Da King" was actually a good song. That didn't mean that everyone listened or actually paid their full attention to the announcements though. Many learners had already tuned out as they made their way to class.

"This is your King - I mean Principal!Principal Julian Speaking... I have umm exciting news to share. The Dragon Racing Team now only has one open spot left for one unlucky - no brave rider. May you all be toast on Sunday Try out thingy. Hmm... Popcorn. "

It wasn't unusual for Principal Julian's morning announcements to be a jumbled bag of news and rambling. That's why most didn't listen to them. The students either found them funny or considered it part of their daily,annoying school routine. Dreamworks certainly wasn't the most boring school to be in when you consider the madness that went on daily.

"AHHH! MAURICE! HE'S BACK!"

By the time the hallway became less busy and the announcement ended, Branch was already gone to her disappointment. Pulling out an invitation from her hair she walked over to his locker then gently slid it inside. Her ears perked alarmingly when the bell rang. The little troll whipped her hair grabbing the roof of the lockers and swung herself all the way to her history class,like she was Spiderman.

The History teacher, a white dog with glasses and digital watch, looked at his watch counting how long it took for every student to come in. Mr. Peabody knowingly pulled his classroom door back by a couple inches,seconds before Poppy lurched herself into class. The digital watch beeped faintly alerting that the timer had stopped just as Poppy stuck the landing. With a single tap of his paw, the standing up right dog dismissed the open app ending the alert. Mr. Peabody proceeded to go back to his desk and climbed up his step stool to write on his plastic whiteboard.

She luckily and safely landed behind her desk somehow going unnoticed by everyone but, her two seatmates and their teacher. DJ high-fived her mid taking out her notebook and textbook. Branch stared at Poppy still processing how she got there so fast for a minute before choosing to ignore what had happened. Poppy smiled at Branch only for him to look away trying to hide his face from her. Feeling awkward the Pop girl calmly sat down, attempting to not bring anymore attention to herself.

One class later... The drama teacher,a land walking and air breathing shark, walked onto stage wearing a blonde wig. His outfit consisted of a dull red t-shirt,jeans and a shark tooth necklace. In his flipper like hands was a clipboard. The diverse spices students mostly sat in the theatre seats not bringing up the wig. Poppy and DJ Suki jumped onto Bridget's left shoulder while Bridget braided Smidge's hair. Smidge sat on top of the seat back and rest in front of the Bergen. Guy Diamond swung himself by the hair to of the front row seats landing in a lion's mane sliding down out on his son. The glitter troll nervously laughed as the lion stared at him pinching his long white hair gently lifting him up.

" Oops. Sorry about the glitter,Alex. " Guy said.

Alex's paw dusted off the glitter on the bridge of his furry snout. The teacher's eyes are fixed on the blank page with no thoughts or ideas in mind. He glanced up at the learners lounging about talking among each other. Mr Shark's wig tilted forward covering the cold blooded land walker's eyes. Snatching it swiftly the wig got thrown backstage like it wasn't supposed to be on his head. Then a light bulb lit up in his head bringing a cheerful toothy grin with it.

" Raise your hand if you got ideas for the first theatre performance of the year. " Mr Shark ordered causally.

Most of the group raised their hands or a hand formed from hair in the trolls' case. The rest were indifferent and they just happened to be members of the backstage crew of the club. Half of the owners eye shine brighten with sparks of excitement. Mr Shark silently counted each individual paw or hair or hand. There were sixteen of them.

" Anything but, Grease or  High School Musical. " 

A bunch of present palms lowered away out of view. Now there were eight. A faint clicking sound traveled to Mr Shark's not visual ears mid pressing the bottom on the top of his pen. His eyes darted from the remaining hand to a paw to the tiny palm of a troll. The trolls reached their arms up higher and jumped,attempting to shift their teacher's attention.

Being tiny only made it more difficult to be seen far from stage. Mr Shark could barely see which troll was who but, he knew they were there due to hair formed hands. The least enthusiastic idea holding volunteer,a tiger with the most serious expression and uninterested in his eyes, stood out from the rest of the club. Fixing his sights on him the drama teacher took a risk hoping it would not bite him in the butt later.

" You. " Mrs Shark pointed out.

Hearing the sudden address the tiger named Vitlay snapped out of his brooding state. The original idea floating in his mind vanished instantly once called out. Sensing the shift of the room all on him the anthropomorphic Russian tiger clocked in a random okay from his homeland. His parents used to drag him to this very specific play when he was little to see every showing cause they loved it that much. It was practically engraved into his mind since being a small cub.

" Forever Alive..."

Going on pause the teacher let the suggestion set in. Forever Alive? Never heard that one before. Mr Shark might have to do research on that one first before they stick in their heels and go into full production. Vitlay rested his arms on the sides of his seat as the attention drifted back to their teacher. Twirling his pen out of his pocket Mr Shark wrote a quick note on his clipboard. Doting it with a dramatically hurried point the land Shark smiled at the learners.

" Anyone else? " Mr Shark encouraged.

" Romeo and Juliet?" Someone from the back called out.

Poppy jumped growing more hyper. " Ooo! Wizard of Oz!"

" Mean Girls. " Guy Diamond suggested.

" The Princess and the Pauper? Jack and the beanstalk?"

Interrupting the forming progress the bell rang dismissing everyone for lunch. Before Mr Shark could remotely open his mouth students were already in the middle of getting up out of their seats. The tiny ones hopped off their friends' shoulders onto the closest arm rest near them. Minor chatter filled the room. Mr Shark sighed crossing his fins.

" Okay. We'll decide and do the fun stuff tomorrow."  Mr Shark announced.

In the hallway it was once again flooded. The back and forth walking around. The opening and closing of lockers. Gossip,chatter,laughter, complaints and whispers piled on top of each other as the teens passed each other. Branch stood by himself at his open locker waiting for busy walkers to stop their rushing around. He would rather wait than be stepped on.

Plugging earphones into his ears Branch attempted to drown everyone out with his playlist. An oldie but, goodie type of Pop Rock song played clouding the surrounding environment into non-existence. The soft melody and electric guitar riff transported the grey troll into a calmer and better place. Closing his locker Poppy abruptly appeared out of nowhere causing the boy to jump.

"AHH!" Branch screamed startled.

His heart raced still experiencing a mini Heart attack. Barely landing on his feet Branch desperately planted his feet to gain some traction and grip. Hand went straight to resting over his chest gripping his black tank top. The plugged in earphones clumsily fell out as Branch's heavy breathing began. Wide eyes turned sharp once recognising who had scared him.

" Poppy! Warn a guy next time." Branch groaned.

Poppy giggled. " Sorry. My bad. "

Branch shifted out of his in shook position into standing more normally. His breathing slowed down but, his heartbeat was still going faster than a racecar on the track. Shoulders dropped as the grey troll leaned forward a little. Folding his arms Branch's angst and annoyed demeanor returned. Sass laced itself into his tone going unchecked.

" Need something or did you stop by to scare me?"

" Oh you." Poppy chuckled. " So I was thinking you could join me and my friends at lunch? Maybe they will become your friends too."

" No but, thanks. I have enough friends." Branch nicer than normally but, still snarky.

" Really? I never saw you hang out with anyone. Who are your friends? Can I meet them? I bet your totally super nice." Poppy chimed.

" They're not your type of Crowd,Pops. Your not gonna like them."

Branch simply plugged in one piece of his earphones back into his left ear. Preferably he would like to shut down the conversation here and now then walk away fast before Poppy could follow him but, a part of him spoke against leaving like that. Like actually being nice in a way. Why did he care more? Branch rather not look for the answer or address it.

Poppy pouted as her eyes shined with flickering determination and suppressed irritation. Her hands landed on her hips gaining some of her own silent sassy confidence in her pose. Her words didn't equal or rival the same sass her body shown but, her words still held her stance firm. She wasn't going to accept the answer given to her. A part of her mind nagged that Branch was hiding something but, what? Just his friends or something else relating to them?

" Why? I'm fun. People love me and I love people. You like me. If you didn't you would have blocked me by now. You just don't like admitting you like people. C'mon! "

" I don't do that... I find you tolerable."

Branch's down played proving Poppy right. Poppy shot him deadpan expression. No words could form in her head as a good enough comback without making Branch mad at her. She didn't want to push him away but, the urge to speak her mind even more with their usual back and forth banter was still there.

" Look. They're my kind of people. Most don't like them. Like how most don't like me. Just cause you like me for some silly reason doesn't mean your gonna vibe with my friends. Just hang with yours. Save yourself. " Branch sighed. " See you later..."

Branch knew his friends wouldn't hate Poppy and they wouldn't be mean for no reason to her. That's why he was friends with them but, the thing was they shared a similar personality. Since Branch knew he could be very mean sometimes and him and Miss Social Butterfly didn't get along most days...

Sure that was changing but, Branch's friends and Poppy's personality would most likely clash. It was better off to avoid their meeting and the drama. Also he rather does not want the pink troll find out about how much he talks about her from his buddies. That's so embarrassing!

" Okay... See you later then..." Poppy responded a bit disappointed.