once upon a dream.

Brian smirked as he sat down next his best friend Matt. He opened his palm, revealing that he had managed to steal one of their classmates wallets. He took the cash out of it and tossed it in a trash can nearby before he shoved the cash in his pocket. "We still hanging out at your place tonight," he asked.

---

Belle was seated outaide in the meadow near her home, reading a book she had borrowed from town. She sighed contentedly as she turned the page, shivering as she felt a strong breeze blow past her. As the breeze turned into a huge gust of wind she looked behind her and noticed a huge hole in the ground that was sucking everything around it.

As she stood up so she could move farther away from it, Belle lost her footing and tripped over a rock causing her to be closer to the portal. She felt it begin to suck her in and even though the brunette tried to find something sturdy to hold onto she was pulled inside.

Matt snorted and rolled his eyes at Brian, shaking his head. "You're fucking crazy," he said. He cleared his throat as he leaned back in his seat, nodding his head. "Yeah," he mumbled. "If you're still up for it. I asked Jimmy to come over too. He'll bring the booze." He reached into his pocket and drew out his phone, checking for any messages and sighing softly when he saw that Val hadn't texted him like she said she would. He guessed she really didn't want to be with him. He huffed in frustration and thrust the device back into his pocket, standing up and looking down at Brian. "You coming?" He didn't feel like sitting through the rest of the day.

---

Rapunzel was perched by the window in her room, looking down at the forest below her tower as she ran a brush through her hair, humming softly. She'd already cleaned her room today, painted a new mural up on the wall and baked some cookies, and it was only just after noon. She let out an exasperated sigh as she rose to her feet, glancing over her shoulder when the door leading down to where her mother usually was began to shake. Her brows furrowed as she walked over to it, gasping softly when the door burst open, and large gusts of wind began to toss around the things in her room. She frowned when her special paints went flying across the room, crying out as she ran for them, but the winds were too strong. She was sucked down into a black hole and before she could even process where she was, she fell onto her back and passed out.

Brian nodded. He was forty bucks richer now and he planned on using it to buy some smokes since that was the one thing he knew he'd get caught stealing. He pulled the pack of Marlboro red 100s he had out, lighting one and inhaled the nicotine. "Ready whenever you are Hulk," Brian joked.

---

Belle found herself falling, letting out a scream of pain as she fell and landed on a hard black surface. She held her wrists since she had landed on it, clutching it her good hand as she began surveying her surrounding. None of it looked familiar and there were metal objects all around her.

Matt rolled his eyes playfully at Brian and nodded for his friend to follow him. He led him out to his car, climbing in and starting it up. It stalled for a moment, but revved and started up eventually. It was the hunk of junk his parents had gotten him for his fifteenth birthday, as a test driving car, while he'd been learning to drive. But now that he had his license, he was hoping to get a new car. But it didn't look too promising.

---

Rapunzel woke to the feeling of something poking her side. She groaned softly and slowly cracked her eyes open, seeing a young boy standing by her side, poking her with a large twig. She frowned and slowly sat up. Where was she? She looked around, not noticing anything familiar. She listened as the boy called out for someone, and two other boys came jogging over, all three of them looking down at her. They seemed to be amazed by something, but she couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was her hair?

Brian's eyes widened as he saw a girl with long blonde hair lying on the grass in front of one of the houses across the street from the school. "Dude where the fuck did she come from," Brian asked. He walked over to the blonde, impressed by how long her hair was. She must have never had it cut before in her entire life. "You alright," he asked. "You party too hard?"

Brian saw Jimmy walk up besides him, chuckling as his friend starts rambling about how long the blonde's hair was. She was pretty hot too.

---

Belle quickly stood up as one of the metal contraptions roared to live. She saw her book was right under one of the wheels and her eyes widened. Belle waved her good hand rapidly, tapping on the glass window as she stared at the buff short haired boy in the machine. "Wait please," she exclaimed.

Once she heard the engine stop she quickly grabbed her book, using her good hand to hold it and held it to her chest. Belle was in an unfamiliar place and the last thing she wanted was the one thing she had from home to be destroyed.

Matt's brows furrowed as he looked at the girl, thinking she looked oddly familiar to him. He shook his head and sighed heavily as he cut the engine completely, climbing out of the car and walking around. He looked her over once and then at the book in her hand, his brows furrowing. It was in a different language and it looked old, like it had been around for ages. He looked up at her face and tilted his head to the side. "Who are you?" he asked curiously, and a bit intrusively. She looked familiar, but he was pretty sure he'd never seen her around here before. He'd seen her somewhere else.

---

Rapunzel's brows furrowed and she pulled herself to her feet, bunching her hair up and pulling it close to her, like some sort of protection. Her hair was her security blanket, and she didn't know what she would do without it. She shook her head. "I don't know what kind of party you're talking about," she said, fixing her posture so that she was kind of sticking her nose in the air. "But I wasn't there." She wiggled her toes slightly and looked down, seeing grass beneath her feet. She couldn't help the small grin that formed on her face, because for the first time ever, she was standing on grass, on the bare ground, outside of her tower.

Brian watched the blonde in front of him and chuckled. She definitely was an odd one. He watched her reaction to being bare foot in grass and his eyebrows knit together in confusion. Brian looked at Jimmy who was grinning from ear ro ear as he watched the chick. "Do you wanna be like Rapunzel or something," Brian asked. "Your hair is super long."

---

Belle looked at the boy in front of her, silently examining him for a few moments before she decided to introduce herself. "My name is Belle," she stated. "What's your name," she asked. Belle noticed his eyes go to her book, gripping it tighter in her arms because he did. She cringed, inhaling a sharp breath as hergripping the book so tightly caused her injured wrist pain.

Matt stared at her in confusion for a moment and he looked over her outfit, and then realization hit him. "Oh!" He chuckled softly. "They must be doing some sort of Beauty and the Beast musical. You're auditioning for Belle?" he questioned. He shook his head. He never saw the point of school musicals or plays or anything. He was a fan of music, that was true, but not the whole setup and the acting and stuff. Thank god he wasn't born into drama like some of the kids here. They got serious about that stuff. "Oh, I'm Matt, by the way."

---

Rapunzel arched a brow and tilted her head to the side. "Excuse me?" she questioned. "I am Rapunzel, thank you." It was then that she fully processed what he said and she looked up, her eyes narrowed. She stepped toward the boy in front of her, examining him. "How do you know my name?" she asked warily, stepping around him, pulling her hair with her. These boys weren't like her mother had told her they were. They weren't scary at all. Although, it was extremely strange how the one boy knew her name. And what were they wearing? It was all so confusing and strange to her.

Brian smirked, a chuckle of amusement falling from his lips soon after. "What are you on," he asked. "Rapunzel is a fairytale. She doesn't exist." He pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and exhaled the smoke away from the blonde. Brian held the cigarette in between two fingers, offering to help her stand up with his other hand. "So what's your real name? Or should I just call you Blondie?"

---

Belle's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What did he mean an audition for Beauty and the Beast. She shook her head, not believeing what he said. "I'm not auditioning," she stated. "My name really is Belle." She saw he didn't believe her and started becoming frustrated. "Why would I lie about who I am Matt? I gain nothing from doing so."

"Alright, alright," Matt said, holding his hands up in surrender and rolling his eyes impatiently. He shook his head. "Fine. So you're Belle." He folded his arms across his chest and glanced around before his eyes landed back on her again. "So, Belle, where did you come from? I've never seen you around here before. Did you just move here?" Maybe her name was actually Belle and she was just Amish or something, because nobody dresses like that in the real world. Maybe that's why she seemed a bit sheltered and unfamiliar with her surroundings.

---

Rapunzel frowned and ignored his help. She didn't need it. She dropped her hair and crossed her arms over her chest as she gave him a determined look. "I do exist," she said, letting out an exasperated sigh when one of the other boys laughed at her. She grabbed the one boy's arm and dragged him away from his friends, making sure nobody stepped on her hair in the process. She pulled it up to her body and dropped it by her feet once she stood still, looking up at the boy. "And what is your name, Mr.?" she asked, a stern look on her face.

"Well Rapunzel," Brian teased. "My name is Brian." He rook his cigarette between his inhaling the nictone and exhaled in the opposite direction of the blonde. One thing he was always polite about when he smoked was avoiding other people's faces or the general direction of their faces because it became habit when they found out his little sister had asthma.

---

"I'm from a small town bordering Paris," Belle answered. She looked at her surroundings again and began chewing on her bottom lip nervously. "I actually don't know how I got here," she admitted. "One minute I was reading this book in the meadow near the cottage I live in and the next a huge wind blew me into this swirling hole and I ended up here."

"Paris?" Matt questioned. "As in France?" He tilted his head to the side as he listened to her story, and he immediately began to worry, because what if she was crazy? What if she was some freak mental patient that had escaped and was this close to going on some murderous rampage? He shook his head at the thought and cleared his throat, giving her a slightly stern look. "Come with me," he said, turning and walking back towards the school.

---

Rapunzel nodded her head. "Well, Brian, you are very rude," she said matter-of-factly. "And I am Rapunzel. I still don't know how you know my name." Her eyes widened and she immediately pulled her hair up to her chest, clutching tightly to the soft strands. "Did they tell you about my hair?" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she stared up at him in horror. Did he want her hair? She backed away from him, the confused look on his face only adding more to her fear.

Brian laughed, finding her reaction absolutely priceless. This chick was either a theater kid or crazy. Either way she was etremely entertaining."Rapunzel is a fairytale story every kid knows. Thats how I know the name," he replied.

---

Belle shook her head. She wasn't going to follow a stranger who thought she was crazy. "You think I'm crazy," she stated. "I'm not!" She sat down on the hard ground near Matt's car opening her book and began to read the same passage she had before outloud, hoping that had been the reason she had been transported where she was now.

A gust of strong wind appeared and with a loud thud someone fell in front of her. Belle cursed under her breath when she realized who had fallen through the portal. She looked at Matt, a small smile forming on her lips when she saw he believed her now. "I told you I'm not crazy."

Matt stared on with wide eyes, not believing what he was seeing. This was absolutely insane. He shook his head and walked over, glancing down at her book. "What is that?" he asked. "Who is that, what . . ." He started pacing back and forth, trying to remember everything he'd consumed that day. It had to have been in the school lunch. That damn pizza didn't taste right, he knew it. He shook his head. "This isn't real. This can't be real. I'm dreaming."

---

Rapunzel shook her head. "Fairy tale?" she questioned. "I don't know what you mean. I'm not a fairy tale." She shook her head, sighing softly. She looked around, not really sure where else she could go. But she didn't see her tower anywhere and she knew that if her mother found her missing, she would start searching for her. She thought everything over for a minute and shook her head. She wanted to take advantage of being outside. She lifted her hair up and walked around, curling her toes around the strands of grass and grinning. The bare ground felt amazing, and she just wanted to start running.

"You are something else," Brian chuckled. He took another puff of his cigarette as he watched her. Maybe she was an escaped mental patient from somewhere. He'd have to google it when he got home. Maybe there were headlines about the blonde before him escaping from somewhere. "So Rapunzel," he starts. "What do you do for fun?"

---

"That's Gaston," Belle replied. "And he's passed out cold." She handed Matt her book, struggling to sit the buff man upright so she could check on him.she looked at Matt and rolled her eyes. "I wish this was a dream. I would rather burn a book than be stuck on some strange place with someone as infuriating and dense as him."

"G-Gaston?" Matt questioned, shaking his head. "This is absolutely ridiculous." He shook his head and looked at the book in his hands before he shoved it back into her hands. He glanced over his shoulder at her as he went to find Brian, to make sure he wasn't completely insane. He saw him talking to a blonde girl with incredibly long hair and he blinked, shaking his head. Holy fuck, he was losing his mind. He walked over and grabbed Brian's arm, dragging him away. "Brian, please tell me you see a blonde standing there with insanely long hair? I'm losing my mind, man."

---

Rapunzel watched as a boy came over and dragged Brian away before she had the chance to answer, and she sighed softly. She turned her attention onto the grass beneath her feet again and she began to dance around, humming to herself as she twirled and flipped her hair around. She grinned as she gripped onto a slim tree and twirled around it, giggling gleefully. If this was what it felt like to be outside, then she wanted to be out here forever. "This is the best day ever!" she chirped.

Brian laughed as he watched his friend freak out, finishing his cigarette as he did. "So who's the brunette you were talking to?" He had noticed the chick and now saw a guy who suddenly seemed to be there. He wondered if she was crazy like the Rapunzel chick.

---

Belle rolled her eyes as she watched Matt walk away from her. He was freaking out and it was obvious. Of course he was freaking out more than she was.

Matt gave Brian a look and folded his arms across his chest. "Belle," he said simply. "From France. With Gaston." He shook his head and reached up, rubbing his face. "I'm in some kind of fucked up Disney movie. Oh Christ." He suddenly felt extremely dehydrated, like he needed to drink a whole bottle of water. He walked over to the tree that twinkle toes was dancing around and sat down by the trunk, rubbing his face.

---

Rapunzel watched the one boy sit down and she walked over to Brian, looking up at him. "Can you tell me where we are?" she asked. "Because I don't see my tower anywhere." Not like she wanted to go home or anything, but she just wanted to know where she was.

Brian chuckled, handing Matt a water bottle from his bag and tossed it at Matt. His friend was freaking out and he needed something to cool off. The only downside was that it was nasty tap water so he hoped Matt didn't get pissed at him for it.

"You're in Huntington Beach, California," Brian answered. "Where is your tower supposed to be?"

---

Belle left Gaston near Matt's car and walked over to where he was. She looked at the girl, hanging from the tree near Natt and giggled. She looked so happy and carefree. She wished she could be that way. Belle probably wouldn't ever be able to let go because of the responsibilities her father gave her since he was always busy inventing.

"Matt I need somewhere to put Gaston until he wakes up."