Black and White and Streaks of Color

Chapter Twenty: Pacifica's P.O.V. It's Time For The Cliche Of Saving The Day

For some reason I decided to be confident and daring for once in my life, so here I am, my palms on her cheeks, and lips on her lips.
I just kissed Mabel Pines.
I pull away, and she's red as a cherry. Her face reveals shock, but her lips stretch a slight grin. Did she enjoy it? Does she hate me now? What the hell was I thinking?!
  "Pacifica..." she says with no emotion whatsoever.
  C'mon, Mabel, give me a sign... I feel myself shaking now.
  "...I was going to do that!" she laughs, playfully shoving me. Her smile is wide and toothy, goofy and great, another thing to love about her.
  I can only sit, stunned. She was going to do that... she likes me! This could work out! "Mabel, ever since I met you I knew there was something special about you. You're amazing, beautiful, fun, funny, and so much more. I never really made a move because I wasn't sure how you'd take it. But I'm glad that this could work out."
  "I'm happy, too." She puts her hand in mine.
  "Mabel, will you be my girlfriend?" I ask.
  But of course, the stupid lumberjack ghost that we'd forgotten all about cackled evilly."You are all wood!" he announced.
  We both run out to find that the entire main ballroom has been basically turned into a forest; trees sprouting up from the floor, people turned to wood, and animal statues running around.
  Mabel grits her teeth, showing her silver braces. She runs up nearby the ghost, picks up a silver tray, and reads from the journal. But she's too late. The ghost strikes her with a ray, and slowly but surely, a wood coating starts to sliver up her body, turning her into tree bark. She begins to scream, but is cut off by her unfortunate fate. Now everyone lays a statue in the ballroom, leaving me helpless and alone.
  I can't give up. Can I? No. I need to do this. I take a deep breath. This will be worth it. It's for Mabel.
  For Mabel.
  "Hey ugly! Over here! You want me to let in the townsfolk? Cause I'll do it, just change everyone back."
"You wish to prove yourself? Pull that lever and open the grand gate to the town! Fulfill your ancestor's promise!"
I reach out behind me, resting my palm on the lever.
A creaky wood panel lifts up from the floor, revealing my mom, my dad, and the butler cowardly hiding in the panic room.
"Pacifica Elise Northwest, stop this instant!" my father demands."We can't let the townsfolk see us like this! We have a reputation to uphold! Now, come in to the panic room. We have enough sandwiches and oxygen to last me, you, and the butler a full week." He puts his hand over his mouth, gestures to the butler and whispers,"We'll eat the butler."
  Okay, so now all of sudden my parents are cannibals? What the hell is happening?!
  My hand hovers over the lever.
  Now here's the struggle. I knew it was coming but I didn't think he'd do it. I didn't think he'd really do it, what a fool I was! But my dad reached into a suit pocket and pulled it out - the bell.
  Now I don't know where he got the idea of using a bell to "control" me, it's been since I was little. He'd want me to do something and he'd ring the bell as if I was his servant or a dog or some weird ass thing. But every time I hear it I cringe, usually people think the sound of a bell is pretty, especially around Christmas time, but I hate it now.
  "You dare disobey us?" my father asks.
  My dad rings it. Its awful sound echoes in my ears tauntingly. I cringe. The dreadful noise reminds me of bad times. Yet somehow I proceed to disobey him.
  "Dingily, dingily! Is this bell broken?"
  I stomp my foot."Our family name is broken, and I'm gonna fix it!"
  I grasp the lever and pull it down hard. The grand gates swing open elegantly, and the townsfolk charge in.