CAREBEAR COUNTDOWN

When it was over, I was happily reunited with Robin and Charbear in our form class. Robin sat with me. Our desks were arranged in pairs, so only two of us could sit together. Before today, it wasn't an issue since someone else always wanted to sit with Charbear, but today, Charbear was sitting alone.

"What happened?" I asked Robin.

Robin followed my line of sight, and then sighed, "Like, you know how Charlene always says she's dating the Silver Mountain Young Alpha?"

Henry? I nodded, "Yeah, isn't she?"

Robin shook her head, "Not unless the LNC is lying."

Well yes, the LNC must be lying then, "What did the LNC say?"

"The Young Alpha Henry has a girlfriend in Black Forest Academy." Robin told me, "There are photos and everything. He even bought her 999 roses on Valentines Day."

Oh right, I guess Henry didn't go to Winderhill in this timeline either. But no matter what the school he attended, Henry was still two-timing player!

"I believe her." I said, "Henry's a player, that's all."

"Wow." Robin shook her head, "You'll believe anything."

I don't want to be told that by someone who believed the LNC!

"It's not that I care about these things, but those b****es just wanted to be friends because they thought Charlene was going to be the Luna of Silver Mountain. Now she's just a Gamma's daughter." Robin shrugged, "Well, I'm just a commoner so that's still out of my league."

"Who told you that rubbish?" I scolded. Why was Robin repeating stupid things like that?

"No one." Robbin shrugged, "But hey, I've always wondered, why do you hang out with me? You know you don't have to…"

"I hang out with you cos I like you." I answered firmly.

"Aye… the privilege of a princess." Robin said, "You don't have to worry about what other people think at all."

Ha! If she knew just how much Lala worried about what other people thought! But no more. I'm the new and improved Lala now.

I leaned over and pulled lightly on the next desk, "Hey, Charbear, move your desk over."

"What?" Charbear looked totally confused.

"Move your desk over." I gave her my wide smile, "Let's combine forces."

"But…" Charbear worried about her desk sticking out.

"Move your desk too, Robin." I decided, "So Charbear's table doesn't stick out so much."

"What?" Now it was Robin's turn to look confused.

If you wanted to get something done, you need to do it yourself.

I stood up and shoved the desks till the three tables were joined. I used the empty desk left in the corner to join with the desks in front of ours.

"What are you doing?" Shyane who was sitting in front of Robin asked.

"Just pretend you didn't see anything." I advised. Shyane laughed, but only because she didn't know how else to respond to me.

Just then, Shyane's desk partner and another girl arrived, they took a look at the new arrangement and sat at the desks next to Shyane.

The two girls on the desks by the window had been watching in interests, and then finally the one named Miriam laughed, "I want to join desks too. Let us join you."

So now, Cecil, Miriam, Robin, Me, and Charbear were in the center back of the classroom in a row. In front of us were Shyane and two other girls in a row. All the other desks were the usual uniformed two by two with an aisle between each column.

Mr Mal came into the class, late as usual. He noticed the new arrangement at once, "Hey, now… what's all this?"

We all laughed.

"We were lonely!" Robin explained, "So we need to sit together."

"Yes, it gives us a better sense of security." Miriam quipped.

"We feel safer like this." Cecil said most earnestly.

The rest of the class had turned around to watch. It felt really fun.

"Well, I suppose as your form teacher, I should support your safe and secure learning environment." Sir allowed.

We all laughed, some of us clapped.

"Hooray for Sir!" Robin cheered.

I had a box of strawberry pokey (the special edition type only sold in the Gold Packlands because Kev had Beta Gerald buy and deliver a whole carton to our home for me last month.)

I opened the box, "Here, Sir. You have our thanks."

I gave him a stick.

Sir took it, "Just one?"

"It's special edition, I told him. My brother had his beta drive down to the Gold Packlands to buy it." I told him. It wasn't really that big a deal. I mean, Charbear could have gone home to buy some too. But I was having too much fun.

Sir frowned at it, "So should I frame it?"

More laughter.

"Yes, you must frame it!" Robin told him, "Then one day you can show it and say this is a special limited imported strawberry pokey personally given to you by a princess."

I thought I was bad, but Robin easily one-upped me.

I gave Sir a second pokey stick, "You may eat this one."

Sir took it with a bow, "You are very kind. Alright, I will go to my desk and enjoy my special edition snack. You girls need to discuss what you want to do as a class for the Spring Fair. I'd recommend a Maid Café, but I'm sure you'd disagree."

He was right. The class disagreed quite loudly and rudely - well, not Winderhill High rude, not even New Leaf Academy rude, but we were rather loud and rude for the noble young ladies we were supposed to be.

"Okay, okay, you have till before the bell to fill in this form and register the class." Sir told us, "Don't disturb my snack time, unless you have more snacks."

Someone snatched the form from him and exclaimed, "This form was due last week!"

"Don't worry, I got you girls an extension." Sir said proudly, "It's due today."

"WHAT!!!" Yelled more than one girl.

Luckily Shyane stepped up and did a poll on the board. We all brainstormed and voted. The maid café was specifically vetoed in its own column as "cringe."

Agreeing on what to do as a class was complicated. Some girls just didn't want to spend time unnecessarily, some girls wanted something that would attract the boys from the next building to come over, some girls just wanted to do something fun, some girls just didn't want to do anything that would make our class look lame. Was I the only one who wanted to win?

The top three classes with the highest profit at the end of the Spring Fair would win prizes. Usually, this would be a cash prize for their class fund. But the seniors usually won.

Oh well, in the end, we came up with something that nobody absolutely hated. Nobody absolutely loved it either, and it wasn't terribly original, but it wasn't embarrassing or cringe worthy either. Basically, we were going to sell ice cream and brownies and tea from our classroom café.

My only problem with the idea was the theme that the class voted for. It won by a landslide. We were going to have a LuvMuunMuun Café. So we would all have to dress as Muunies.

Maybe I'd shift before the date of the Spring Fair. Then my hair would be blue.

"I don't understand what's so great about LuvMuunMuun." Robin complained.

"Shhh…" Charlene said, "Don't offend anyone."

Which was coincidentally, Lala's constant fear in this school too.

"I don't care." Robin declared.

"Me too." I decided, "I'm not going to care either."

"Yeah, we're the rebels!" Miriam chimed in.

I looked at my friends feeling empowered just because we moved a few desks and decided not to care about offending people who didn't matter anyway. We were probably the most pathetic rebels I had ever met, but who knows, maybe this was a one small step for princesses, one big step for wolfkind kind of thing.

Because at least for me, I had definitely stepped out of the path that Lala had been carefully sticking to all her life.

"You know, La," Robin noted after the bell had rung and we had sent Sir away with our form, "You've changed."

Yeah, like you've known me all of one month since school started, so you'd know.

"Maybe I'm just showing my true colors." I suggested with my usual grin, well, at least it was Sam's usual grin.

Robin laughed, "Very good! Charbear, you show your true colors too."

"What are you talking about?" Charbear took offense, "And why are you suddenly calling me Charbear?"

"La started it." Robin said.

Eh, Charbear didn't use this nickname in this life? Oh well, then it was high time she did!

"You're Charbear. I'm Labear. And she's Robear." I was winging it yes, but it was too fun to think too hard about it, "We're the three muskerbears."

"Me too." Miriam piped in, "I'll be Mibear."

And because we were all educated princesses, we all knew the three muskerteers was actually about the four muskerteers.

"Okay." I agreed. The more the better.

Cecil raised her hand, even though she wasn't talking to a teacher, "Urm…"

Mibear looked straight to me, "Can't Ci join us too?"

"Cibear." I agreed.

"What about us?" Shyane demanded.

"Do you wanna be Shybear or Annbear?" I was flexible like that.

"I'll be Shybear." Shyane decided, "That's cute."

"That's ironic." Robear laughed.

Shybear looked offended, but the rest of us laughed. Our class was suddenly full of bears.

"That's it!" I realized belatedly, "We should have a teddybear picnic theme café! Like we can bring our bears for display, and all wear bear ears."

"Or be Carebears!" Charbear suggested.

"Okay!" I said because those were bears too, "Teddy Bears, Carebears, or Muunie Bears. It's all good."

"Quick! Someone go catch Sir! We need to change our form!" Robear ordered.

Shybear and the other girls were immediately on it.

"Wow, they really took to the idea fast." Mibear observed from her seat.

I shrugged, "I guess they really want to be bears."

Which was weird because we were really wolves. But Charwolf just didn't have the same ring to it.

Anyway, I had something to do too. Now that school was over, I needed to look for Coach Em and get myself into the girl's archery team.

"Okay, I gotta go." I grabbed my stuff, "Bye bears!"

And I made a run for it. I wasn't fast enough so I heard them saying, "What?" and "Bye!" and Robear asking, "What's her hurry? She's acting really weird today."

But she didn't sound too uphappy about it, and I was out of the classroom and couldn't hear anymore.