Once Upon A Time High

Chapter Six

---Don't own Disney---

HERCULES

Hercules had always been childishly naïve; he was a sweet, lovable guy who made friends wherever he went, but was too kind for his own good. He refused to believe the worst of people and, as a result, was often duped by his fellow classmates.

Hercules Strong was a tall, brawny teen that made girls swoon and guys treat him with respect and admiration. He had only attended Once for a month, but he was already widely loved. Despite his childlike innocence, he was a rather intelligent junior who, much like a certain young French girl, had landed himself in several senior classes. This was also partially due to the fact that he had recently moved to the states from Greece and was ahead of most of the kids in his grade. Oddly enough, the teen didn't have much of a foreign accent and fit the stereotype of the all-American football player perfectly. In fact, he was so obviously quarterback material that Gaston Salaud was attempting to befriend him and recruit him for the position.

"Hey Herc," The dark haired teen called out to the guy he was trying desperately to recruit. Gaston knew the only way his social standing as the most popular and feared guy in school was safe was if he managed to get the new kid to join his pack of thugs.

"Oh, Gaston, what's up?" The Greek boy asked as he grabbed several books from his locker. He was rather shocked by his popularity at his new school because he was mocked and ridiculed at his old school for his small size and clumsiness. He had grown several inches over the summer and bulked up considerably but he was still a massive klutz. Lucky for him, the kids at his new school found that quality endearing.

"Well, have you considered trying out for the football team? I know we're already halfway through the season, but I think that Coach Phil would let you join late. Anyways, it will definitely help you get a date to the homecoming dance." Gaston said with a wiggle of his brows and a pointed glance towards a rather attractive senior.

Hercules gulped nervously. He didn't know how to respond to his new friend. He had no idea what homecoming was and didn't know how to play football. On occasion, he had watched the game so that he could fit in once he got to America, the only country in the world that actually played football, but he always got bored and switched to his football or, as the Americans called it, soccer.

However, he did want an excuse to ask the sexy, dramatic, and sarcastic senior in his homeroom to dance. She was tall with long reddish brown hair, violet eyes, and curves in all the right places. He couldn't help but go slack jawed in her presence and she couldn't resist mocking him when he did.

During homeroom the week before, Hercules had just sat down in his seat when Megara walked in with her friend Elsa laughing harder than he had ever seen anyone laugh before and he knew that he was hooked. The petite blonde sat down in the front row while her much taller and spunkier friend plopped down right next to Hercules.

"Hey Megara," He began,

"My friends call me Meg," He felt his heart surge with hope and a stupid smile crawled onto his face, "On second thought, let's stick with Megara."

Cold disappointment coursed through him as his smile turned into a grimace as he busied himself with his history homework. He felt her gaze on him for a few moments longer before she lost interest in him and began talking the girl on the other side of her. He had spent the rest of the day trying to come up with something clever to say to her the next day but to no avail; he was doomed.

"Hey, Hercules, you there?" Gaston asked loudly while waving his hand in front of the daydreamer's face.

"Yeah, I'm well." He said quickly and awkwardly; his English, while very good, still had a lot of room for improvement.

"Hey Meg, baby, are you free next Saturday night?" Gaston called out to beautiful teen. He watched in amazement as Meg gave Gaston a seductive smile before responding.

"Hmm, Homecoming? I thought you had your eye on a certain French girl," She paused for a moment waiting for the attractive dark haired young man to confirm what she had said, but continued when he remained silent, "I'll keep you posted." She gave him a quick wink before walking off to class, swaying her hips in a way that made her short, plaid skirt appear even shorter.

"How did you do that?" Hercules asked in amazement.

"Join the team." And with that, Gaston left to attend Rudimentary Algebra 2.

Hercules mulled over the jock's suggestion all day; he didn't know much about football but he did know that he wanted to impress Meg so that afternoon he approached Coach Phil. The Physical education teacher was an intimidating, little man. He had a large potbelly that poked out from underneath his ugly blue and white striped polo and a long wisp of dark brown hair that clung to his chin. As ridiculous as his appearance may seem, the serious expression he wore made him a rather scary man.

"I want to join the football team," The hunky team said nervously. The stout coach looked him over for a moment before asking him if he knew how to play the game and the poor boy could only shake his head.

"So you want to be an athlete whoop de doo," he began sarcastically, "I've been around the block before with blockheads just like you. Come back here when you know how to play." Just then, when it seemed as though as all hope was lost, an aggressive dark haired boy dashed across the beautiful field towards them.

"So what position did he give you?" He asked Hercules excitedly but the disappointed teen could only shake his head and signify that he hadn't made the cut.

Normally this kind of news, information that he was secure in his position as the top dog at school, would thrill Gaston and allow him to leave what ever poor kid he had been tormenting alone. But, for some strange reason, he had a miniscule change of heart, a moment of sympathy that pushed him to help his new, foreign friend. Whether it was getting to second base with the busty blonde in his math class or getting an extra slice of cake at lunch, the world with never know.

"Come on Coach," The brutish quarterback pleaded, "This guy is huge. We could definitely use him on the team," He paused for a moment, giving the grumpy man time to think it over.

"Alright, meet me on the field in twenty minutes," He ordered Hercules before walking off, muttering darkly to himself. Hercules gulped apprehensively, desperately praying that it was all worth it in the end.

Howdy Y'all,

I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter mainly because I knew that I wanted Hercules, Phil, and Meg to be a part of the story but was having difficulty finding a way to tie them into the plot. Anyways, now they are a part of Once Upon A Time High and I can sleep happyJ I'm sorry that this chapter isn't too long but I didn't really want to write another several pages about Herc learning how to play football and his story can't progress any further than that yet.  I'm also playing around with making Gaston a main character so let me know if you want to see the inner workings of his misogynistic, perverted, dim witted mind.

--SSSTD