Walt Disney College

Chapter 89

"Why would he run off like that," Lilo mumbled as she speed-walked through the halls of the college.

She couldn't let anyone see Stitch. They could report him to Principal Mickey, or to animal control. For some reason, she was fond of the thing, and she didn't want anyone to take him away from her.

She felt a wave of slight anger towards Tiger Lily, even though it wasn't really warranted. She had left the door open for Stitch to escape, then she promised to help her find him, even train him, then she leaves her? Granted, she had been called to the office. What did Lilo expect her to do?

Did Lilo expect too much from her friend? Was she the bad friend instead of Tiger Lily? Had she been jealous and needy, ultimately pushing away Tiger Lily instead of bringing her closer? Lilo didn't know anymore and frankly, she didn't care. She had to find Stitch.

"Hey!" she yelled, running into a blonde-haired girl. Her green eyes looked familiar, and Lilo recognized her as Lily, the witch that had gone missing recently. "Have you...seen a blue dog? About this big, this tall if he stands up?"

Lily stared at her with blank eyes, then blinked. "No, no I haven't. I did hear a commotion from the cafeteria though."

Lilo brightened, hoping that Stitch would stay in one place. "Thanks!"

She ran towards the cafeteria, praying that nobody had actually seen Stitch, or that they weren't able to catch him if they did.

Food stains lined the walls, tables were overturned and the severy area was a mess. All signs pointed to Stitch being here, she just hoped that he still was.

Not too far from where she was standing, Lilo spotted cooked burger patties being prepared to be put into buns, perfectly untouched. Stitch hadn't found them yet. She could lure him out. Lilo passed Janitor Pete, who was whining about the stains on the wall, and made her way towards the burgers.

Lilo looked at the money in her pocket. It was enough to buy only two burgers.

"Two will have to do," she muttered, leaving her money at the register and snatching her food.

She tore open the foil that encased the burger, its aroma filling the servery. Stitch was sure to smell it, he had to.

She could hear the sound of someone sniffing the air, and some shuffling followed it. She turned around and Stitch launched himself at her, reaching for the burgers.

"Mine! Mine!" he growled.

"I paid for these with my money. Well, Nani's money. It doesn't matter. If you want to eat these, you're going to have to follow me back to the dorm and behave."

Stitch looked as if he was weighing his options, wondering if a burger was really worth his good behaviour. His hunger won out and he climbed off Lilo, landing back on the ground.

"Good," Lilo said, feeling like she had won a battle. "This way."

◈▣◈

Lucinda had no idea where Kim Possible's dorm room was, or if she'd even be there. She was pacing around one of the common rooms, wondering what her next step will be. What did she plan to ask Kim Possible if she—

Lucinda gasped, seeing the redhead walk past the door to the common room, and she ran after her.

"Kim!" she shouted, "Kim, wait up!"

Thankfully, Kim heard her and turned around, probably surprised to see Lucinda. Lucinda doubted that Kim even knew her name.

"Hi..?" she said hesitantly. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually. I hear Vanellope is starting to glitch again."

Lucinda didn't really know where she was planning to go with this, but Kim's eyebrows rose, which meant that Lucinda had her attention.

"Glitching? Are you sure?"

Lucinda nodded. "It's what I heard. Philip's also been super weird, and my friend, Lily? She's also been weird too. Very closed off, so unlike herself. It all happened when she came back after being missing, same with Philip too."

"Really?"

"Tinkerbell seems to be going through the same thing right now, but she never went missing, so nobody knows what's wrong with her. This guy in my class, Mowgli, also—"

"Mowgli was with me. He's fine," Kim said. Lucinda had finally gotten somewhere. "It's funny you mention all these things because we just...went on a trip recently. We saw some weird stuff."

"Like what?"

"It was like..." Kim shivered. "Remember that day everyone thought the villains had come back? But then we shook it off and pretended it never happened?" Lucinda nodded. "We were right. Those were the villains, somehow. At least I think so."

"But how do you know all this?"

Kim bit her lip, debating on how much she should share. "We shouldn't talk about this here. Follow me."

Kim led Lucinda to her dorm room, and her roommate, Rosetta was lying on her bed, reading a magazine. She glanced up at Lucinda.

"Hi, sugar."

Lucinda mumbled a greeting back, wondering if Kim was going to tell her the information she needed to know in front of Rosetta. Kim seemed to read her mind and smiled.

"Don't worry, Rosetta knows everything. There's nothing I'm going to tell you that I haven't told her."

Lucinda sat down on a chair while Kim made herself comfortable on her bed.

"So, let's start off with the map..."

◈▣◈

The movie was over, and Ariel was still clutching Moana's wrist as they walked out of the theatre.

"Ariel, I can't feel anything in my fingers anymore. I think you've cut off my blood circulation."

Ariel loosened her grip slightly, then glared at her friend. "Well, that's what you get for taking me to a scary movie!"

Eric and Shang came up beside them, Giselle in tow.

"It was fun," Eric said. "But I wish we could've talked more though."

Even though she and Moana were both there, Ariel felt like he was speaking to her. Or maybe she just wanted him to be speaking to her.

"That's the thing about movies. They're not really for talking. You're just enjoying a movie with someone else."

With that, Shang walked off, and Eric followed him. Giselle sighed, leaning on Ariel's shoulder.

"That was great," she smiled wistfully. "Our hands brushed multiple times, you know. I can't believe he actually came out with us."

Ariel's stomach twisted again, and she wished she could've been the one to brush Eric's hand. She wished he would've given her some attention during the movie, like whispering something funny in her ear or at least looking her way.

"Why wouldn't he come?" Moana said. "We're fun people. If he didn't come, he'd be missing out."

"You know...I think he could like me. I mean, he might not right now, but if we keep hanging out..."

Ariel could tell Moana didn't really want to say anything, knowing Ariel's true feelings towards Eric. Saying nothing would be weird though, so Ariel decided to speak up instead.

"Of course he could like you, Giselle. You're amazing."

Giselle beamed, and she threw her arms around Ariel and Moana's necks. Ariel hesitantly hugged her back while Moana patted her shoulder.

"You guys are the best friends I could ask for."

Ariel mustered a smile, but it felt fake. It was fake.

She didn't feel like she was being a very good friend right now.