“Oh my god!!” Rosie squeals as we walk out of the choir room, “I can’t believe it!” Our choir teacher had just told us that our choir was chosen out of all the high school choirs in Anaheim to sing and dance for the Tinker Bell float in the Disneyland Parade. “And you get to do the solo singing! Oh my god! Aren’t you excited Hazel?”
“Absolutely,” I say smiling. Our teacher had also informed us that she had chosen me to sing the solo parts on all the songs.
“We better make sure to get awesome fairy costumes!” she exclaims, “You never know what cute boy will be watching.”
“Oh that’s right we do have to dress as fairies,” I say looking at the paper Mrs. Choli had given us, “And our first singing practice is today after school. We only have 2 weeks to practice the songs and one week for the choreography. I’m nervous.”
“Wait are we practicing the choreography in the class? It’s kinda small.”
“No it says we’re going to be going to take the bus to the park then they’ll have a place we can practice there.”
“Cool! And when do we get to start staying at a hotel in the park?”
“You have a paper too you know...”
“But it’s in my bag. So read.”
“The Thursday before Spring Break is our free day in the park then that Friday we have practice then Saturday we’re actually in the parade.”
“It’s not going to be very crowded on a Thursday.”
“It might be, I mean it is Disneyland, it’s always crowded.”
“True,” she says when we get to our lockers.
“So, are we like on the float or dancing along side it?” I ask taking out my chemistry book.
“Dancing along side it I think,” she said putting her long brown hair into a high ponytail. “Of course you might get to be on the float since you’re singing the solos.” She takes out her chemistry binder and shuts her locker, “You’ll be almost as important as Tinker Bell.”
“Oh god,” I say cringing, “I’m going to be singing in front of hundreds of people.”
“Uh, yea,” she says laughing, “And you are going to be amazing.”
“With only 3 weeks of practice? That’s going to be pretty hard.”
“Maybe so but you can handle it.”
“With help from Mrs. Choli, I should be able to,” I say closing my locker.
“Ready?” Rosie asks.
“Ya,” I say as we start walking towards our chemistry class.
“Good morning ladies,” our teacher, Mr. Likon, greets us as we enter the glass.
“Good morning Mr. Likon,” we recite, taking our seats.
“Ok class today we are going to be learning the elements of the periodic table, masses and all,” says Mr. Likon. He then begins to lecture about all the elements, one by one. After a few minutes Rosie slides her notebook to me with a message:
I know that Jeron and I just broke up but I have high hopes of finding a new guy in Disneyland :]
I read it and write back:
Wow you heal fast lol but really finding a bf in Disneyland?
It’s the happiest place on earth isn’t it? lol I’d be happy to find a bf :] you could find one too! It’d be so perfect!! We could double date!
Uh you know most people don’t exactly stay in Disneyland more than a week… then they go home
But some of the people visiting are from Anaheim so we just need to find those guys, and then were set.
But still the idea of finding a bf in Disneyland…seems impossible most guys our age only go with their family.
In case you forgot that all boys high school, Anaheim Heights, is going there for their Spring Break trip.
Very true. When do they arrive?
The Sunday we start performing; and knowing what those guys are like, they’ll be watching the parade EVERY day.
I’m going to screw up, I know it.
No you won’t you’ll do fine, and with the outfits were getting you’ll snagging a guy in minutes.
You aren’t going to let this go are you? LOL
Nope :] which is why tomorrow we get to choir class like 10 minutes early.
What’s so special about choir class tomorrow?

I heard Mrs. C on the phone and they’re delivering the costumes for us to choose tomorrow
Were choosing costume already?
Ya they need to be able to alter them and what-not. Oh crap we better stop Mr. Likon is giving us a look.
I look up and see that Mr. Likon has finished lecturing and is passing out our assignment: to correctly label the elements on the periodic table. “Crap,” I whisper to Rosie, “I didn’t pay attention to any of his lecture, how am I supposed to do this?”
“We learned this stuff in 8th grade, remember?” Rosie says, “This should be easy.”
The bell rang just as we got our worksheets. “Looks like we have to do it for homework,” I say sighing.
“Oh well,” she says “it’ll be easy.”
“So see you at lunch?” I ask turning towards my English class.
“Ya meet me at the table,” she says heading the opposite direction.
I’m in a daze all through my English and math classes. Could we really find good boyfriends in Disneyland, I ask myself. I begin to picture it in my mind, the four of us watching the fireworks together, going on the Matterhorn. It seems so perfect, but not likely. I laugh at myself for even thinking that. I look up at the clock, 5 minutes till lunch.

During lunch all the girls from our choir come up to me, every 5 seconds I hear the words: “Aren’t you excited? Oh my god Hazel you are going to do amazing!” I mumble a few, “Thanks,” as Rosie and I make our way outside.
“Vultures can’t stand them,” Rosie says as we sit in the courtyard.
“I know, I hate the attention,” I say.
“I know they should know that you’re shy and don’t like being the center of attention, of course I guess you’ll need to get used to it for singing solos and stuff. All eyes are going to be on you for those parts…”
I look at her, eyes wide, “I didn’t think about that! I’m going to screw up I know it. Maybe I should back out now.”
“Oh no you don’t! This is your time to shine, you have an amazing voice and you need to show the world instead of hiding amongst the other altos.” I thought about it, she was right. Every year my teachers offered me a solo and I’d always decline cause of stage fright and the solo would go to someone else.
“You’re right,” I admit, “But still. Two weeks to practice?”
“Actually three, only one week also involves dancing while singing.”
“Great, rushed practices.”
“At least we have time to practice,” Rosie said as the bell rang. We went to our separate classes and met at our lockers after school. After stowing our textbooks in our lockers Rosie and I went to choir practice. Right when we get in the door Mrs. Choli handed us our music and told us to sit on the risers.
As soon as everybody was there she spoke, “Ok girls we only have two weeks to practice these songs. You may take home the music but I expect you to be able to sing without it by next Monday.” She looked at me, “Hazel, since you’ll be separated from the other girls the whole time I want you to practice standing in front of the microphone. The parts I highlighted in green are your solos and the parts I highlighted in pink are where the whole choir sings. As for the rest of you, altos will be dancing along the left of the float so stand on the left side of the risers. Soprano ones, you’ll all be on right side of the float so you stand on the right side of the risers. Seconds, split your selves among the two groups. Go.” At that everybody started shuffling to the right spot on the risers. I on the other hand walked forward to the microphone. I looked at the music, my first few lines were, “I am not a child now/I can take care of myself/I mustn't let them down now/Mustn't let them see me cry/I'm fine, I'm fine/I'm too tired to listen/I'm too old to believe/All these childish stories/There is no such thing as faith/And trust and pixie dust.” Simple enough, I knew the song already being a Jesse McCartney fan. Mrs. Choli started to play. I listened for the first 4 measures then I started singing, “I am not a child now, I can take care of myself. I mustn’t let them down now, Mustn’t let them see me cry. Cause I’m fine, I’m fine.” Whole rest, whole rest, sing “I’m too tired to listen. I’m too old to believe all these childish stories. There is no such thing as faith, and trust, and pixie dust,” one, two, three, four. Next the whole choir sings, “I try, But it's so hard to believe. I try, but I can't see what you see. I try, I try, I try...”
Mrs. Choli stops playing, “Hazel, sweetie. You’re going to have to be louder, you may be wearing a microphone but you still have to sing out. And you were getting a little off when you sang the last two measures of the 2nd verse.”
“Can you play them for me?” I asked embarrassed. She plays it and I hear the note I missed immediately, “Thank you.”
“Ok start from, ‘I’m too old to believe’.”
I begin singing, “I’m too old to believe all these childish stories. There is no such thing as faith, and trust, and pixie dust.” One, two, three, four.
“I try, But it's so hard to believe. I try, but I can't see what you see. I try, I try, I try...”
“My whole world is changing, I don't know where to turn. I can't leave you waiting, but I can't stay and watch this city burn. Watch it burn…”
“'Cause I try, but it's so hard to believe. I try, but I can't see where you see. I try, I try…”
“I try and try to understand, the distance in between. The love I feel and the things I fear, and every single dream…”
“I can finally see it, now I have to believe. All those precious stories…All the world is made of...Faith, and trust... and pixie dust. So, I'll try, because I finally believe. I'll try, cause I can see what you see…”
“I'll try, I'll try. I'll try...To fly,” I sang the ending.
“Excellent girls!” Mrs. C exclaimed, “Next we move onto a song a little off from Peter Pan but an excellent song all the same.”
She plays the first three bars then its my cue to start, “Staring out at the rain with a heavy heart. It's the end of the world in my mind. Then your voice pulls me back like a wake up call. I've been looking for the answer, somewhere. I couldn't see that it was right there, but now I know what I didn't know.”
“Because you live and breathe. Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help. Because you live, boy, my world has twice as many stars in the sky. It's alright, I survived, I'm alive again, cause of you, made it through every storm.”
“What is life, what's the use if you're killing time. I'm so glad I found an angel, someone. Who was there when all my hopes fell. I wanna fly, looking in your eyes. Because you live and breathe……….”
I held the note as the altos sang the next line, “Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help, because you live, boy….”
Sopranos join, “My world has twice as many stars in the sky, because you live, I live.”
All together, “Because you live there's a reason why, I carry on when I lose the fight, I want to give what you've given me always…..”
Altos and sopranos, “Because you live………..”
Me, “and breathe, because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help. because you live, boy.”
Alto and soprano: “My world has everything I need to survive. Because you live….”
Me: “and breathe. Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help. Because you live, boy. My world has everything I need to survive.”
Then I go back to singing completely alone, “Because you live, I live, I live.”
“That’s the volume I’m looking for,” Mrs. Choli says as the song ends.” We go through our last song, “The Second Star to the Right,” and then go through them all a couple more times. At 6:00pm Mrs. Choli sends us home. The next day, as planned, Rosie and I show up 10 minutes early for choir.
“Good morning Mrs. Choli,” Rosie says, “Why is there a clothes rack in the middle of the room?” As if she didn’t already know.
“Good morning girls,” Mrs. Choli says walking out of her office, “Those are your choices of costumes for the parade.”
“Really? Would you mind if we looked through them now or do you want us to wait for class to start?” Rosie asks.
“Go ahead and look,” Mrs. Choli smiles.
Rosie and I walk over to the rack, “Let’s pick yours first.”
“Why mine first?” I ask.
“Because you are going to be standing solo so you don’t want something too flashy but still draws attention, especially to the right areas. Me, I can have an outfit that stands out cause I don’t want to blend with the other sopranos,” she holds up a black and deep purple dress, “How about this?”
“It’s pretty but kind of grim looking, don’t you think?”
“Ok good point,” she sifts through the rack some more, “Ah-ha.” This time she’s holding a bright purple halter dress.
“No thanks.”
A white strapless with a flowwy skirt.
No.
Baby blue, spaghetti straps.
No.
Tye-dye-ish blue, halter, flowwy skirt.
No.
Then she holds up a dress that is black on the torso but then the skirt flows from a forest green into a sea blue. Halter top and long-ish flowing skirt.
She’s about to put it back but I stop her, “No it’s…perfect.”
She looks at the dress, and then at me, “You know what, you’re right. It’ll really bring out your eyes…Go try it on!” She hands it to me and I go into the changing room. A few minutes later I come out and Rosie gasps, “Oh my god Haze, it’s like it was made for you! Look in the mirror.” I turn and look at myself, she’s right it does look pretty good. Not too loose, tight in the right areas, showing off my curves.
“Oh I think I picked mine,” she holds up a rose colored strapless dress with a sort of fairy design to it.
“You would pick a rose colored dress,” I say laughing.
“Well it fits my name perfectly,” we both walk into the changing room, me changing back into my school clothes, her trying on the dress. When she gets it on it looks great, except a little loose in the torso.
“Looks like you’ll have to get it brought in,” I say unzipping it for her.
“Ya, but I’m going to wear this dress,” she says as we hear the rest of the girls come in and start sifting through the rack for dresses. While the rest of the girls look for the perfect dress Rosie and I sit and practice. By the time class ends all the girls have chosen a dress and the dresses chosen have been sorted and labeled with our names. The rest of the school day flows by pretty fast and so does practice. Over the next couple weeks the choir keeps getting better and better. And then that Monday at practice we hop on the bus and head to Disneyland to learn the choreography.

“This is so exciting!” Rosie says as we arrive at the practice studio.
“I know!” I say back, just as excited as she is.
“Ok girls,” Mrs. Choli announces as we pull into the parking lot, “When we get inside I want you to listen to Ms. Isella. She’ll show you everything you need to know.” The bus slows to a stop and we all file off. Mrs. Choli leads us through the double-doors of a big, barn-shaped building. As soon as we’re inside, we are greeted by an upbeat woman who looks like she’s in her early 30s.
“Good afternoon girls! I’m Ms. Isella. I’ll be your dance instructor for the next few weeks. So ready to learn?” she asks.
“Ya,” we all say in unison.
“Ok so first let’s get in positions. Who is the soloist?” she asks causing everyone to look at me. “I’m guessing it’s you sweetie,” she says looking at me. I nod. “Ok well then you will be standing right here,” she says walking over to a pink X, “So come stand here.” I do as I’m told and stand on the X. Next she places all of the sopranos in two lines on my right and the altos on my left.
“Ok,” she says, “So let’s start with the line: ‘I am not a child now’. On that line Hazel, I want you to put your hand in a fist against your chest.” She shows me and I do as she does while singing. “Then on, ‘I can take care of myself’ I want you to…”
We continue learning the movements for the next half hour. After she’s taught us all of the dance for the 1st song she says, “Ok girls I want you to go ahead and practice in groups of four or five. Hazel, come with me.”
I follow her through the aisles between the floats. We stop in front of what’s known as the Tinker Bell Train. “You’ll be standing on the front of, this,” she says gesturing to the float.
“Wow that’s really conspicuous…” I say.
“Hey Julie,” a guy’s voice says from behind us.
I turn around and see a guy, in green tights...
“Hey Peter,” Ms. Isella says hugging him.
“Julie I’m pretty sure she’s old enough to figure out I’m not really Peter Pan,” the guy says.
She laughs and says, “Hazel this is my younger brother Bobby, he goes to Anaheim Heights and works as Peter Pan on the float and in the park.”
“Nice to meet you Hazel,” he says shaking my hand, “So I’m assuming that you’re the soloist I’ll be sharing the float with.
“Ya,” I nod.
“Excellent,” Bobby says smiling.
“Bit of a heads-up, Bobby might persuade you to change the choreography,” Julie says.
“Hey my changes make everything better,” he says winking at me.
“Ya, ya,” Julie rolls her eyes, “I’ve given up trying to stop you.”
“Well I’d love to stay longer but I have to go parade around in tights,” Bobby says, “See you later sis; you too Hazel.”
As he walks away I look him over; he’s pretty cute, now that I think about it.
“So how come he isn’t part of the dances?” I ask Julie.
“Because he’s supposed to be ‘driving’ the train. But lucky for you I know he won’t listen to me and will try to be part of it,” she says as we walk back towards the other girls.
“Why would that be lucky for me?” I ask trying to sound innocent.
“Oh please like I didn’t notice you checking him out,” she laughs, “Ands it’s lucky for you because I’m pretty sure his improvising will involve dancing with you.”
“It’s that obvious?” I ask looking down.
“Don’t worry a lot of girls are attracted to him. Like the chick who plays Wendy. I honestly would prefer him ending up with you than that snob.”
“Is this like your way of giving your blessing?”
“Sort of,” she says laughing. Once we get back to the other girls she begins teaching us the dance moves to the next two songs.
The entire time I keep looking whenever I hear a male voice. God I’m sad, I think to myself. Just don’t think about him for now. I try and try but I still keep looking back, this not thinking about him thing is so much harder than it seems. He shows up at my one on one time with Julie every day and continues to say the dance is missing something, he just never says what.

Then the day comes, we are finally going to stay in the park. “You know we’re only staying a week…” I say to Rosie as carries two suitcases into the elevator.
“Ya but I want to look perfect everyday since I don’t already have an admirer like you,” she says as the door closes.
“Bobby is just being nice,” I say rolling my eyes, “And trying to convince me to go along with any changes he tries to make.”
“Well you like him,” she points out.
“A little, what does that have to do with anything?”
“I know you will work at getting him,” she says. The elevator stops and we step out and walk down the hall looking for room 324.
“I’ll try but there’s no guarantee. You know that,” I say as I slide our key card into the lock. After spending 30 minutes unpacking our suitcases, Rosie and I get on a shuttle to the park. When we get there she literally drags me to the carousel.
“Uh can we go on something exciting first?” I ask as we get in line.
“I want to get pictures before we get all sweaty,” she says, “Besides after this we can head down to the Peter Pan ride where Bobby should be working.”
“Oh, no. I do not wanna stalk the guy,” I say.
“You aren’t,” she says, taking out a piece of paper, “He told Julie that you should visit him while he was working and she gave me his schedule to give to you.”
“Really,” I ask.
“Yes,” she says as we get on horses. We take pictures of each other through the duration of the ride then once we get off she starts dragging me again.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“To see your future boyfriend,” she says stopping abruptly by the Peter Pan ride. “Where the heck is he?”
“Hazel!” we hear a male voice yell. I turn around already knowing who it is.
“Hey, Peter,” I say walking up to him.
“Peter? Oh right I’m supposed to be in character,” he says looking down at his costume.
“Ya,” I say laughing, “I can tell you’re really popular right now.” I notice the worker that is supposed to be manning the lines has closed his eyes and is drifting off.
“Peter Pan’s an old character so kids aren’t into him. But I still get paid,” he smiles; I can’t believe how white and perfectly straight his teeth are. “It’s much better now that my favorite lost girl is here.”
“Lost girl? I thought I was a fairy?” I say smiling and blushing.
“Sorry I was mistaken,” he says winking.
“So hey, Peter. Since you’re supposed to be in character how about letting us get a picture with you?” Rosie cuts in.
“Of course,” he says smiling. Rosie walks over to the worker and hands him my camera as Bobby puts his arm around my waist. Rosie gets in the picture but instead of putting his arm around her waist, Bobby puts his arm around her shoulders.
“Three, two, one,” the worker counts down, taking the picture. He hands the camera to me and I look at the picture. I like it; ok it’s mostly because Bobby put his arm around my waist but still.
“Aw it’s cute,” Rosie says, “Well we’ve got rides to ride and other characters to visit. Later Bobby.”
“Bye,” I say going to follow Rosie.
“Wait,” Bobby says grabbing my arm, “I have a 2 hour break at six. Do you want to hang out?”
“Ya sure,” I say smiling, “Where do you want me to meet you?”
“By the carousel, and don’t worry I’ll ditch the tights,” he says smiling.
“Ok I’ll see you then,” I say smiling back and walking away.
“He so likes you,” Rosie says as we get in line for the Matterhorn.
“He’s just being friendly,” I protest.
“He was being something all right but it wasn’t friendly.”
“Yes it was. He was calling me a lost girl. I’m sure he says that to every little girl that comes to get his autograph.”
“He called you a lost girl because he wants you to visit his secret hide out,” she says winking.
“You’re sick,” I say hitting her.
“It’s true,” she laughs, “He’s flirting and maybe he doesn’t wanna go that far but still.”
“Ya and pigs will fly,” I say.
“Look there’s one now,” she says as we board the ride. After we get off we proceed to go on numerous other rides until it’s about 5:50 and Rosie drags me towards where Bobby and I are supposed to meet.


When we’re about 20ft away I see Bobby. He looks different in his street clothes, but he still is amazingly cute. “I can’t do this,” I say stopping in my tracks.

“Oh no you don’t,” Rosie says pushing me forward, “You’re going to do this.” I sigh knowing she won’t let me chicken out and continue walking towards him.
“Hey,” he says walking over and hugging me. I’m surprised but I hug back.

“Well I’m going back to the hotel room to take a nap,” Rosie says, “See you later Haze.”

“Bye Rosie,” I say as she walks away, “So what do you have planned Bobby?”

“Just thought we might go on a few rides and maybe I can show you some secrets of the park,” he says smiling.

“That sounds really fun. So what’s first?”

“I was thinking the Matterhorn if that’s ok with you,” he says running his hand through his hair nervously.

“I love the Matterhorn!” I say laughing.

“Well then let’s go,” he says pulling two fast passes out of his pocket, “I snagged us two fast passes so we wouldn’t have to wait forever.”
“That’s great,” I say. He takes my hand and leads me to the fast pass line. After about ten minutes we’re still waiting in line. While we’re talking he reaches into my pocket and pulls out my camera.

“What are you doing?” I ask as he turns it on.

“Taking pictures of course,” he says putting his arm around my shoulder and pulling me close. He then proceeds to positions the camera. “One. Two,” he counts. Three,” he says pressing the camera button and kissing me on the cheek.

“Somebody made a last minute decision,” I say smiling and looking at the picture.

“I like to be spontaneous,” he says smiling. Just then we get to the front of the line.

“Who wants to be in back?” the worker asks.

“I’ll be in back,” Bobby says getting in first. I get in after him and scoot back. Being in between his legs seems really awkward until he wraps his arms around my waist.

“You sure this is ok,” I ask looking over my shoulder.

“It’s perfectly fine,” he says smiling. The ride starts and it suddenly seems a lot faster then I remember. The only plus is every time I scream He holds me tighter.

“That seemed a whole lot more intense than I remember,” I say as we get out.

“You did scream a lot,” he teases.

“Shut up,” I say blushing.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he says laughing, “I thought it was cute.”

This time I blush even more, “So what’s next?” We continue to go on a few more rides before he decides to change things up.

“Come on,” he says taking my hand and pulling towards the castle as we get off the carousal.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“I’m going to show you one of the secrets I was telling you about.” When we get to the tunnel part of the castle he stops and looks around.

“What are you looking for?” I ask confused.

“There’s supposed to be a hidden door…the coloring is slightly lighter than the rest of the wall,” he says scanning the walls. “Here it is,” he says pulling me to the wall and slightly pushing it. The door that he was talking about opens and he pulls me through. He begins to take me up a flight of spiral stairs.

“Where are you taking me?”

“The top of the tower,” he says, “The view from up there is amazing.” We reach the top of the stairs and I look out the window; it is amazing.

“Wow,” I say looking out at the park, “This is so cool.”

“I thought you’d like it,” he says smiling.

I look around the room and see a closet marked with a big gold star. “What’s this?” I ask walking over to it.

“This,” he says opening the door, “Is where they keep Tinker Bell’s costume for the firework show.” I look at the dress in the closet, “It’s so…beautiful.”

“You want to try it on?” he asks taking it out of the closet.

“Are you sure it’d be ok?” I ask skeptical.

“The girl who plays the part doesn’t get here for another 20 minutes so it’ll be fine,” he says handing me the dress.

“Ok but I’m not changing in front of you.”
“Fine I’ll leave the room,” he says laughing, “Just knock when you’re done.” Once he leaves I slip off my shorts and unzip the back of the dress. After a couple minutes I get the dress completely on. I knock on the door as I slip into the pixie shoes.

“Let’s see,” Bobby says opening the door, “Wow; you look great.”

“Thank you,’ I say smiling, “Do I look like Tinker Bell?”

“Ya, except your hair isn’t in a bun.”

I quickly tie my hair up into a bun, “How about now?’

“Much better,” he says smiling and stepping closer to me. He takes my hands in his and says, “You know you’re really cute and from the little time I’ve hung out with you I like you a lot.” I blush and look down faltered. When I look back at his face he starts easing his lips down to mine. Just as our lips are about to touch the door slams open. Startled we quickly pull apart.

“Bobby we have a serious problem,” Julie says as she walks in. She sees me and asks, “Why is she wearing the Tinker Bell costume?”

“I brought her up here and she wanted to try it on so I figured since Trish wouldn’t be here for a little bit,” he says shyly.

“Actually she’s not coming at all tonight, she has the flu,” Julie says.

“But we don’t have a replacement! What are we going to do?” Bobby asks.

Julie thinks for a moment then says, “Well Hazel’s already in the costume…so maybe she could do it?”

“What?!” I ask eyes wide.

“Come on Hazel,” Julie begs, “We don’t have anyone else.”

“But I don’t want to go down on a wire! What if something happens and I get hurt?” I ask.

“I’ll be at the end of the wire to catch you,” Bobby says.

“But aren’t you part of the show?” I ask shaking.

“Trust me I’ll make sure I’m there to catch you,” he says.

“Come on Hazel we need to get you hooked up,” Julie says leading me out the door. As we walk out of the room I look over my shoulder and see Booby mouth the words, “I promise.”



Next thing I know I’m being strapped into a harness. The harness is the same shade of green as the dress.

“Uh,” I hesitate, “Is this safe?”

“It’s perfectly safe Hazel,” Julie says strapping me up, “And remember that Bobby is going to be at the end of the wire to catch you.”

“But what if he isn’t?” I say.

“Trust me he will be. My brother may be annoying but when he really cares about a girl, he keeps his promises.”

“What do you mean he really cares about a girl?”

“I mean he really cares about you. I could see it in his eyes. Plus I know very well what you were about to do before I came into the room. Sorry about ruining that by the way.”

“Wait so he does like me?”

“Well duh. I mean he was going to kiss you. But honestly I think he made a good choice for once. Most of the girls he’s dated were stuck-up snobs.”

“So I have the sister’s approval?”

“The most important approval you need.”

“Ok so what exactly do I do? Just slide down the wire?”

“Well you have to do the fairy pose too,” she says strapping my wings to the harness.

“Fairy pose?”

“Ya. You have to look dainty and graceful.”

“How do I do that?”

“Toes pointed, back arched slightly, arm up hand just so,” she says demonstrating.

“Oh I get it,” copying her pose.

“Exactly! You’re a natural! Maybe you’ll be able to replace Trish permanently.”

“Ya cause you know it’s so hard to do.”

“Ok you’ve made your point,” she says laughing, “Now let’s get you into position.” She leads me back up to the tower Bobby had taken me to and has 2 men in black hook me to the wire. I looked out the window at the crowd that had gathered around the castle. I sighed. “Nervous?” she asked.


“A little,” I admit.

“You’ll be fine,” she says leaving the room as “A Dream is a Wish” starts to play.

“Get ready,” one of the men says as the wishes of some of the Disney characters start to play. I hear two swords clashing and know that Bobby is playing his role in the show. They start to push me as Pinocchio’s voice comes on. “Three, Two, one,” they say and suddenly the ground is gone. I don’t think about the fact that I could die, just do the pose Julie taught me. I can barely hear the cheers over the fireworks; just the fact that the fireworks are still going on while I’m up here scared me to death. Deep breathes, I keep telling my self. I’m not even going in a straight line; I’m swooshing around the castle having no idea when I’ll get back to the safe ground. I can tell I’m close as the wire starts to send me down towards the ground. I close my eyes praying for it to be over soon. Suddenly I feel myself hit something and arms wrapping around me. Before I open my eyes I feel somebody’s lips on mine; Bobby, I think kissing back. When we pull back I open my eyes and see I was right.

“You know I never thought I’d be kissing an amazing guy while wearing a fairy costume. It’s a little embarrassing,” I say laughing.

“Hey I’m in tights,” he jokes, “And you look absolutely stunning, even if the bun is falling out.” It’s not until he says something that I realize the wind from going on the wire screwed up the bun I had in. “We might want to get you out of the harness,” he says laughing and unhooking me.

“So since when does the ‘boy that never grows up’ kiss girls?”

“Since he found a girl he really likes,” he says kissing me again.

“Hey you two,’ one of the workers says, “This is really touching and all but you two need to get out of here. Your parts in the show are done.”

“Sorry,” we say in unison. Bobby takes my hand and leads me to what I’m assuming is the staff lounge. It’s completely empty and he leads me over to the couch where I see my clothes piled.

“I’m not sure if I should thank you or slap you for taking my clothes,” I say laughing.

“Hopefully thank me,” he smiles, “Just think if I wouldn’t have moved them you’d have to go all the way back up to the tower.”

“I guess that’s true. I’ll be right back I’m going to go change,” I say walking towards the bathroom.

“What if I promise not to look?”

“Not happening!” I yell shutting the door. It takes me a few minutes to change and when I get out Bobby is lying on the couch, his eyes closed. I giggle and take the opportunity to cuddle up next to him and lay my head on his chest.

He wakes up and looks down. “Hey,” he says smiling and wrapping his arms around me.

“Tired?” I ask laughing.

“A little, you?”

“Extremely. Risking my life and getting the guy I fell for are two very tiresome activities.”

“Well you’re going to need a good nights sleep. You’re performing in the parade tomorrow. Want me to take you back to your hotel room?”

“But I’m so comfortable like this,” I say frowning.

“So am I,” he sighs, “But I’m pretty sure your choir teacher won’t be happy if you don’t get back to your room. Do you have a curfew?”
“Ya,” I say looking at my phone, in like 15 minutes.”
“Darn I just started to start kissing you.”
“Well if you walk me to my room there’s always a good night kiss.” And he does just that, he walks me all the way back to my hotel room and kisses me lightly on the lips then leans his forehead against mine.
“See you tomorrow?” he asks.
“Of course, we’re going to be on the float together,” I say laughing.
“Right,” he smiles, “Oh I just realized I never got your cell number.”
“714-435-0089,” I say as he takes out his phone and presses a few buttons. A couple minutes later my phone vibrates in my pocket. I open it and see a text from a random number. I open it and it says, “Hey baby, you look beautiful.”
“Awe thanks,” I say automatically knowing it’s from him.
“It’s true,” he smiles and kisses me again, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye,” I say going into my room.

Once I’m inside I see Rosie pretending to be asleep. To mess with her I yawn and say, “Oh she’s asleep; well I guess I better go to sleep too. Too bad she’s missing out on all the juicy details I would have told her.”

“I’m up!” she says bolting upright.

“I knew it,” I say plopping down on my bed.

“Give me the details! I mean I saw the kiss but I need to know what led to that!”

“I don’t know, I’m tired.”

“Hazel!”

“Ok, sheesh,” I say and give her a summery of everything that happened.

“How romantic! How did the kiss feel??”

“Amazing,” I sigh, “He’s amazing. I’m happy.”

“So what’s going to happen after we leave the park?”

“What?”

“Well he doesn’t go to our school right? He goes to the all guys’ school.”

“Oh. Right. Great.”

“You could make it work, if you like each other enough.”

“I guess. I’m going to bed. Night.”

“Night, and don’t be worried I’m sure he likes you enough.”

The next morning I’m woken up by Bobby texting me, “Hey beautiful, today’s the big day ?.”

“Ugh don’t remind me,” I text back, “I’m so nervous.”

“Ur gonna do fine :] just remember I’ll be there with you ;-)”

“Should I be scared? Lol”

“Of course not ? I’d never let anything bad happen 2 u.”

“Awww that’s so sweet. ? I feel special.”

“Good cause you are ? now how about my special girl meets me at the castle in about an hour?”

“Sounds good, see you soon.” I quickly take a shower and but on some shorts and a tank top.

“Where are you going?” Rosie asks as I walk to the door.

“Meeting Bobby. I’ll meet you at the Dumbo ride around 12:30,” I say grabbing my cell.

“Ok,” she says groggily as I walk out the door.


“Hey,” I say hugging Bobby when we meet at the castle.

“Hey,” He says pulling back and kissing me.

“So what do you have planned?” I ask curiously.

He smiles, “I was thinking maybe we go on a few rides. Maybe do a little shopping.”

“Shopping? But guys hate shopping.”

“But this guy wants to buy something for you,” he says smiling even wider.

“Ok,” I say laughing as he takes my hand and we walk to Big Thunder Mountain. He steals my camera again and we take pictures while we wait in line, many of us kissing. After a couple hours of rides we end up outside of the princess shop.

“Why are we here?” I ask.

“You’ll see,” he says, “I’ll be back.” A few minutes later he comes out holding a pink shopping bag.

“Oh a little pink bag very manly,” I say laughing.

“Well I hope it’s not manly since what’s inside is for you,” he says laughing and pulling out one of the mini-tiara hair accessories they sell in the store.

“Oh my gosh I have always wanted one of these!”

“I thought you could wear it for the parade.”

“I thought I was supposed to be a fairy not a princess,” I ask smiling.

“Well then you can be a fairy princess,” he says wrapping his arms around my waist, “Speaking of the parade isn’t it time for you to go meet Rosie?”

“Ya I got to go,” I say frowning, “See you at the parade?”

“See you,” he says kissing me. Then we go our separate ways. Sure enough Rosie is waiting by the Dumbo ride. We go straight to the parade warehouse where all the girls in the choir are finding their dresses and getting changed. We find our dresses and matching wings and head for the bathroom. As soon as I have my dress and wings on I go to the mirror, fixing my hair to work with the tiara.

“Oh where’d you get that?” Rosie asks coming up next to me.

“Bobby bought it for me this morning,” I say grinning from ear to ear as I apply light blue eye shadow.

“Really?” Anna, another girl in our choir, asks, “Those things are like $12. I never thought a guy would spend that much on something so tiny.”

“I know I was surprised, but very happy,” I say.

“Let’s go girls,” Julie says, “Time to get into your places.” We file out of the bathroom and everyone gets in their places along the side of the float while I climb the steps onto the front of the float.

“Nervous?” Bobby asks as he walks by me to get to the back of the float.

“Very,” I reply.

“You’re going to be fine,” he says smiling.

“Ya,” a girl in her 20s dressed as Tinkerbell says climbing to the top of the train, “Bobby says you are an amazing singer.” I blush as the float begins to slowly move forward following the line of floats out the giant doors of the warehouse. The float moves about a half mile down the street in between the crowds of people then stops.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” says a voice from the loudspeakers, “May I present the girls choir of Anaheim High.”

The music to “Because You Live” starts to play and after about 10 seconds into it I begin singing, “Staring out, at the rain with a heavy heart.”

When it reaches the chorus I am joined by the rest of the girls. Suddenly Bobby is at my side. He takes my hand and begins to lead me in a dance, spinning and dipping me once before the second part of my solo, “It’s alright, I survive, I’m alive again.” As I sing my second solo he leads me in a slow waltz style dance saving the crazier moves for when I’m not singing alone. He does the same on the second song and the crowd loves it. As the float starts to move again and we both bow before he goes back to his place in the train.

“Nice improv,” I say when the float pulls back into the warehouse.

“It wasn’t technically improv, I’ve been planning to do that since you got here,” Bobby says wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Yes he’s been trying to get me to choreograph it into the routine,” Jane says, “Picture opportunity.” She takes a picture of us and smiles as she looks at it, “Glad my little bro is happy.”

“I am very happy sis,” he says kissing my neck causing me to let out a loud giggle.

“Keep the PDA to a minimal please,” she says rolling her eyes and walking away to get pictures of all the other girls.

“But I like to kiss my beautiful girlfriend,” he says spinning me around and kissing me lightly.

“I’m beautiful?” I ask smiling.

“You are my beautiful,” he kisses my cheek, “fairy princess.”

“Is that your new pet name for me Peter Pan?” I say giggling.

“I am not Peter when I’m with you, because Peter isn’t allowed to grow up and like girls.” This makes me giggle and he kisses me.

“Hey Bobby,” a girl voice says.

“Uh hi Britt,” Bobby says as we pull apart.

“Great job in the parade, you were amazing,” she says. I notice she’s in a Wendy costume, I guess she works in the park. I definitely didn’t like how she was talking to Bobby.

“Well it wouldn’t have been good if my partner hadn’t been a dancing queen,” Bobby says smiling and looking at me.

“How sweet,” she says giving me a death glare, “Excuse me if I sound rude but who is she?” I can hear a jealous tone in her voice.

“She’s my girlfriend. Hazel this is Brittany, Brittany this is Hazel,” Bobby says.

“Nice to meet you,” she says in an annoyed tone.

“You too,” I say trying to sound as friendly as possible.

“Brittany plays Wendy in the park,” Bobby explains, never letting go of my waist.

“So you’re here with the visiting choir?” Brittany asks me.

“Ya, we’ll be performing in the parade all week,” I say.

“Then you’re leaving?” she says in a hopeful tone.

“Ya,” I say kind of upset.

“No we’re going to lock you in the tower so you don’t have to leave,” he says squeezing me harder. I giggle so loud everyone within hearing range turns and stares.

“Oops we’re drawing a scene,” he says. He then proceeds to lift me up over his shoulder and yell, “Nothing to see here folks!”

I scream as he spins around, still holding me. “You dork! Put me down!” I say laughing.

“Nope, I’m going to take you up to the tower,” he says turning to walk out of the warehouse, “See you in an hour Brittany!”

“An hour eh?” I ask giggling.

“If I’m a little late to greet the kids it’s not that big of a deal,” he laughs.

“Speaking of little kids aren’t they going to find it a little weird if Peter Pan is carrying a girl?”

“Don’t worry nobody will see us.”

“How will they not? Are we going to fly?”

“Ancient Disney secret.”

“Oh really?”

“Sort of,” he laughed, “The tunnels we’ll be taking have been down here since the park opened.”

“There are tunnels under Disneyland?”

“Ya, and the one we’re about to enter leads to a trapdoor inside the castle.”

“Are you really going to carry me like this the whole way?”

“Is there any other way? I wouldn’t want my fairy princess to have to walk.”

“You are such a dork,” I laugh, “But you’re my dork.”

“If it weren’t for me you’d be bored.”

“So I’ll be bored once Spring break ends?”

“No way, I will definitely be sticking around.”

“Oh really?” I ask as he switches me into the bridal-style position.

“Well when I find a really amazing girl I do not intend to lose her because of distance.”

“At least it’s not that much distance, just different schools.”

“I wonder if I could get my sister to pick you up on the way to work so we can hang out.”

“I’m sure your boss would love that,” I laugh.

“Hey maybe you could take a job as Tinkerbell, then we could work together.”

“I could go for that,” I say snuggling my head in his chest.

“Getting comfortable?” he says smiling.

“Well it could be a long walk you know.”

“Sadly it’s not that long,” he says laughing as we go up some stairs. Within 5 minutes we’re up in the tower. Bobby sets me down and locks the door.

“Don’t want anyone walking in on us?” I say laughing.

“Well if they do I could lose my job, don’t want that now do we?”

“No of course not,” I say smiling as he pulls me into his arms. He kisses me and my mind goes blank. We just give each other long kisses every few minutes, no making out yet. Most of the time we just lay there in each other’s arms enjoying the moment.

“Aw I have to go out to meet and greet the kids with Brittany,” he says sighing.

“Great Brittany,” I say sitting up.

“What’s wrong babe?” he asks slipping his arm around me.

“Julie told me that Brittany likes you, and I’m threatened by her.”

“Babe,” he says laughing, “I promise you I would never, cheat on you, and even if I was single I would never like Brittany like that, she’s not my type, she’s a snob.”

“Ok if you’re sure, I was going to hang out with Rosie anyway, I’ll see you when you get off?”

“Of course,” he says smiling and kissing me before he leaves. I call Rosie and she meets me at the entrance of the castle.