Walt E. Disney High

Chapter 31

NALA

I opened my eyes a bit, flinching at the harsh light. My head was pounding, and my stomach was very, very queasy. I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Good morning," a familiar voice said. "Here, take this."

I opened my eyes again to see Flynn, sitting on the floor and holding out a glass of water and some ibuprofen tablets to me. I gratefully took them and swallowed them quickly.

Holding my head in my hands, I looked around. Another figure, who I recognized as Tramp because of his ashy brown hair, was snoring in the bed opposite me. The room was pretty bland, a little messy except for one side, which had a perfectly made bed. "Where am I?" I asked, dazed.

Flynn chuckled. "Welcome to my crib. Well, it's also Tramp's, Quasi's, and Phoebus's."

I squinted at him. "Why are you on the floor?" I finally noticed that he was covered in thin blankets and had one measly pillow. He laughed at me.

"You're in my bed, silly."

I groaned at him in annoyance. "Flynn! You should have made me sleep on the floor!"

He scoffed. "No way. So, are you feeling okay? Do you remember anything?"

I thought long and hard, but it started to make my head throb again. "I just remember...walking into the party and feeling really uncomfortable. And then I talked to Meg and Jasmine. Gaston tried to make a move on me, I think, but uh-- you saved me. And then....that's it." I blushed a little, playing with the soft blanket. It smelled like him.

"Nothing else?" Flynn asked. There was a slight note of urgency in his voice, causing me to look up. "Nothing important?"

"What? Should I be remembering more?" I asked, trying to rack my brain but everything came back fuzzy.

Flynn hesitated, our eyes locked. Finally, he looked away. "No. No, nothing else really happened. Nothing important, anyway." He sounded disappointed, but I quickly moved on as Tramp shot up in bed. His brown skin was covered in sweat, he was breathing hard with wide dark eyes.

Flynn immediately jumped up and hurried to Tramp's bedside. "Hey, hey, hey, it's just a nightmare, right?" Flynn squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, sitting down with him and murmuring comforting words until Tramp's breathing went down to normal. I felt like I was trespassing on something as I watched silently, a bit frightened myself and hugging my knees to my chest.

As soon as Tramp was okay, he seemed to notice me for the first time. His eyes went wide again before they narrowed, and he threw his covers off and stomped out of the room, to the showered, I presumed.

Flynn gave me an apologetic look and then went over to his dresser, pulling out some clothes. "What...was that?" I stuttered.

Flynn sighed, and didn't look at me. "Tramp has frequent nightmares. I don't know what they're about, but almost every night he wakes up in a cold sweat. He doesn't want anyone to know, so don't tell a soul, okay?" he demanded harshly, looking angrily back at me.

I flinched. "Of course not."

"Sorry. He just...I've gotta protect him." Flynn came over to sit on my bed -- well, his bed, I suppose. "He's an orphan too. I mean, we grew up together, you know?" I nodded along. I actually didn't know they had grown up together. I knew they were good friends, and I knew they were both orphans, but not kind-of-brothers in any way.

Flynn sighed and pushed himself to stand again.

"I don't want to go to school," I whined, pulling the nice-smelling blankets around me.