Moon Dancer walked toward the cafeteria entrance, getting hot with embarrassment as she felt every eye turn toward her. She tried to cover her face the best she could, but the fact that she was now one eyebrow short seemed to stick out like a sore thumb and could be seen from a mile away. When she entered the cafeteria, every person she passed let out a loud snigger, a snort of suppressed laughter, or, if she was lucky, just flat out started howling like a hyena. Finally realizing that she was fighting a lost battle, Moon Dancer sighed in defeat and just hung her head low as she entered the lunch line.
“Rough morning?” one of the lunch ladies asked gruffly when Moon Dancer reached the register.
“Don’t ask,” Moon Dancer mumbled above the murmurs and sniggering. When she finally left the line, she quickly looked around the room for Sketch. She found him within seconds at the far left table, sitting with her other childhood friends, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Minuette, whom she had known since grade school. Hurrying as fast as she could past the gales of giggles, she skidded to a halt at the table and sat down next to him. Sketch, who was focusing on his macaroni and cheese looked up when he heard Moon Dancer’s tray hit the table.
“Well it’s about ti-” he trailed off when he caught sight of Moon Dancer’s face, “-aye yaye yaye! What happened to your eyebrow?!”
The other three looked up as well and gasped in unison at Moon Dancer’s asymmetrical features. Moon Dancer sighed, picked up her spoon, and scooped up some fruit before answering.
“Fleur. She seemed to think that it was only fair since I caused her to mess up her eyebrow.” She chewed and swallowed before adding, “Even if it was just half a centimeter.”
“You can’t go around lopsided like that for the rest of the day,” Minuette said sympathetically. She then opened her purse and pulled out a makeup bag. After rummaging through it for a second, she pulled out a small, black pencil mostly used for eyelining. She beckoned Moon Dancer to lean closer, but Moon Dancer looked hesitant.
“It’s the only option you’ve got,” Minuette responded to her reluctance. “Or we could just shave the other one off.”
Realizing this was better than nothing, and that anything was better than having no eyebrows at all, Moon Dancer leaned in as Minuette traced the pencil above her eye. Everyone watched intently as the girl worked. Finally, she leaned back to admire her handiwork, and handed Moon Dancer a compact mirror.
“Good as new!” she said as Moon Dancer raised the mirror to her face. At first, it didn’t look half bad, but upon further inspection, she saw that something was a bit off. She wasn’t the only one who saw it either. Having an eye for artistic symmetry, Sketch immediately spoke up.
“New?” he said, halfway between exasperation and amusement. “You made it too high. Now it looks like she is constantly puzzled.”
Minuette huffed with defiance. “Well excuse me for not having your talent of drawing, Mr. Artsy-Fartsy!” Sketch was about to make a retort, but Moon Dancer cut across him.
“It’s alright, Sketch,” she said as she handed the mirror back to Minuette. “It’ll do for now. At least something’s covering it up, and you always say I look like I’m constantly thinking anyways.” She looked at Minuette and smiled. “Thanks, Minnie!”
Minuette returned the smile proudly and went back to her lunch.
“So,” Twinkleshine piped up after another minute of silence, “you said Fleur did that to you?”
Moon Dancer nodded. “She said my failed experiment today caused her to cut part of her eyebrow off, so she happily returned the favor.” The three girls looked at her, confused.
“She was working on her secret project,” Sketch answered to them. The girls all said, “Ah,” and nodded understandingly. More silence spread over the five friends as they returned to their food. The echoes of the rest of the students surrounded them while they ate quietly. Once and a while, Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts looked up at one another, almost imploring one another to say something. After a minute, however, it was Lemon Hearts who broke the silence.
“Speaking of which,” she said, moving in a bit closer, “are you ever going to tell us what you’re secret project is?” Moon Dancer’s raised spoon froze an inch from her mouth as she looked at her friends now leaning inward expectantly.
“Yeah!” Minuette added, nodding vigorously. “I mean, you’ve been keeping it hidden for, like, ever! It’s only fair that you at least confide in your closest friends!” When Moon Dancer looked hesitant, Minuette continued, “C’mon, Moonie! We can keep a secret!”
Twinkleshine snorted with laughter and said, “Maybe the three of us can,” she pointed towards Lemon, Sketch, and herself, “but you? Remember in Sophomore year when you couldn’t even keep Sketch’s surprise party a secret?”
“Hey! I got excited!” Minuette retorted, a deep blush spreading across her face. “I’ve gotten better since then!”
“Y’know,” Sketch chimed in, “shockingly, you guys aren’t really helping your case. Besides, if Moonie doesn’t wanna tell us yet, I think we should respect-”
Moon Dancer suddenly placed a hand on Sketch’s shoulder, which stopped him at once. The others looked at her with baited breath as she looked like she was about to say something. Sure enough, after a few seconds, she smiled and nodded. While she was at first hesitant to confide in more people, it was very clear that her friends were more than trustworthy. They wouldn’t laugh or call it a far-fetched idea.
“Alright,” she said. “I’ll tell you guys.”
The four friends’ smiles widened as Moon Dancer beckoned them all into a closer huddle. She looked around one last time to make sure they weren’t being overheard, and then spoke in a quiet tone.
“I’ve been working on a formula that, when consumed, rearranges a person’s DNA and molecules to take out any imperfections of the body.”
The others’ reactions were just as Moon Dancer had expected them to be. All four pairs of eyes widened greatly, and Minuette’s jaw dropped. Even Sketch, who had always respected Moon Dancer’s wish to keep her project a secret, looked amazed. It was too clear that on the inside, he was just as curious about it as the others. It was several seconds before one of them spoke.
“What do you mean ‘imperfections’ of the body?” Twinkleshine asked.
“I mean physical things,” Moon Dancer answered. “Think of it this way; a morbidly obese person, whose dieting had never worked, takes the formula, and all that fat is taken away! An easy an effective way to lose weight! Or...maybe a girl whose been fighting a horrible case of acne. One swig of my formula, and BOOM!” Moon Dancer snapped her fingers dramatically. “Perfectly smooth skin! Never again would time and money be wasted on remedies that only partially work, or don’t even work at all!”
Sketch whistled astonishingly while the three girls all whispered, “Wow,” in unison. Moon Dancer smiled and blushed a bit with pride at her invested audience.
“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, metaphorically speaking,” she continued excitedly. For someone who was keen on keeping her project a secret, she was almost bursting with giddiness at telling someone. “Overbite, lazy eyes, scars, you name it! They can all be fixed with just a little molecular reconstruction supplied by my formula, and the best part? No horrible side effects!”
“Except for the fact that every weight loss company and cosmopolitan will be after your head for putting them out of business,” Sketch sniggered.
“Joke if you will,” Moon Dancer said with a wave of her hand, “but this serum is going to change the world of scientific discoveries as we know it! It might even be written down in history books for future generations!” She paused for a moment to eat some more lunch before adding, “If only I could get the right combination!” Moon Dancer sighed and looked around the cafeteria, as if the solution was going to be found amongst the other students.
“It does sound really impressive,” Lemon Hearts said, going back to her own lunch. “It sounds like something you would wind in a science fiction novel.”
“Ish ‘ouns ermazin!” Minuette nodded through a mouthful of salad, unintentionally spitting some on Twinkleshine. “Oophs!” She quickly swallowed and added, “Sorry, Twinkle.”
“I wonder if it would be able to improve on eyesight,” Twinkleshine thought allowed as she wiped the lettuce off her sweater. “Or maybe even hearing.”
“Is that a physical imperfection?” Lemon Hearts asked.
“It’s not like it’s a disease,” Twinkleshine responded. “Maybe it counts.”
“Not sure,” Sketch shrugged. “I’m not an Otolar...whatsamacallit.”
“An Oto-what?” Minuette chimed in.
“An ear doctor. It’s called, like, an Otto-larson-gycologist, or something like that.”
“Moonie, what’s an ear doctor called?” Lemon Hearts said, turning towards Moon Dancer. “Moonie? Moonie?”
But Moon Dancer wasn’t listening. She was distracted by the arrival of an Adonis-like figure that she knew oh so well, but only in her dreams. Blueblood; by far the most popular and gorgeous boy in school. A dreamy expression spread across Moon Dancer’s face as he passed her table, surrounded by the usual group of female admirers. Oh how she wished she was a part of that group; to admire Blueblood’s smooth, golden hair that shone like the sun, or his radiant smile with perfectly white teeth up close. Alas, she could only admire him from afar. Moon Dancer placed her chin in her hand as she watched him and his fanclub walk to the other side of the cafeteria. Even after they had sat down, her eyes were still glued to him.
“Oy! Moonie!” said a far away voice that sounded like Sketch Pad. Reluctantly, she turned towards him.
“Hmm?” she said, not altogether there.
“If you could stop drooling for a second, you might see that your elbow is in your macaroni.”
Snapping back to attention, Moon Dancer looked down to see that Sketch was right. Blushing slightly, she grabbed a napkin and hastily wiped the cheese off her elbow.
“So,” Twinkleshine said as she glanced in the direction where Moon Dancer was staring before with a smirk stretching across her mouth, “having more fantasies about your prince charming?” Minuette and Lemon Hearts giggled teasingly. Moon Dancer sat bolt upright and blushed even harder. Sketch, however, scoffed.
“Women,” he muttered. This went unnoticed by the others, who had been switched to, what Sketch called, “Dreamy Boys Mode.”
“Have you tried talking to him lately?” Lemon Hearts asked. “I mean, I know the last time didn’t go so well, but...”
Moon Dancer shook her head rapidly, now red as a beet. “That’s an understatement! The last time I tried to say hi to him, I just ended up going into a long explanation about the history of the phrase, ‘Good morning.’” She put her face in her hands, not wanting to remember the confused look he gave her that day. “I have to work out a better formula for approaching him before I can even think of attempting it again.”
Minuette rolled her eyes. “Typical Moonie. Love is not about formulas or equations! Sometimes, you just have to wing it! If you want him to like you, you just have to go up to him, look him in the eyes, and-”
But whatever the next step was would be left unknown, for at that moment, a fit of laughter from some very familiar voices came up from behind them. Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine, who were already facing that way, groaned as Moon Dancer and Sketch Pad turned, already guessing who was there. Sure enough, there were Fleur de Lis, Suri Polomare, and Uppercrust, laughing smugly at the five friends.
“Can we help you?” Lemon asked begrudgingly.
“Just enjoying a good joke!” Fleur responded, looking at Moon Dancer. “I mean, that was meant to be a joke right? About Blueblood actually falling for Looney Moonie?”
Moon Dancer’s blush deepened even more as Sketch whipped around and spat, “Don’t call her that, Fleur!”
“Ooh!” Uppercrust giggled. “It seems we struck a nerve!”
“So adorable, m’kay?” Suri added jokingly.
“If you really think that Blueblood would give a geek like you the time of day,” Fleur continued, rounding on Moon Dancer again and ignoring Sketch completely, “then you really are looney!” The three girls laughed again as Moon Dancer looked down at the ground. She could feel her head growing hot with embarrassment.
“I’m sorry,” Sketch snapped back in a sarcastic impression of a tour guide, “You appear to be lost. The Snob group has already moved on! Please be sure to take some brochures on how not to be stuck-up tripes on the way out. Thank you.”
Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts laughed this time. Fleur scoffed and moved on toward her own table with her lackeys in tow, but not before saying to Moon Dancer, “Nice eyebrow by the way, Looney.”
As soon as they three had left, Sketch turned back to Moon Dancer, who was still red and looking crestfallen, and his expression softened.
“Don’t let her get to you, Moonie,” he said gently as he patted her shoulder. “Your eyebrow will grow back in no time.”
But it wasn’t Moon Dancer’s eyebrow that was bothering her. As much as she hated to admit it, Fleur had a point. Blueblood had never before given her so much as a passing glance. Back when Twilight was still around, no one really noticed Moon Dancer. It’s not like she was picked on like Twilight was, but it was like everyone was oblivious to her. After Twilight left, Moon Dancer hoped to stand out and be noticed a bit more, but all she did was cement herself as the new egghead of the school who was part mad scientist, part dorky recluse. That’s why she was so desperate to finish her project. If the formula was a success, it would show everyone, including Blueblood, that she could be someone to be desired.
The rest of the day went by without any more failed experiments. Thankfully, working drove the worries from lunch out of Moon Dancer’s mind. Plus another brainstorm on her formula, which she quickly wrote down in her notebook and made a mental note to put it into effect as soon as she got home. It seemed that any social problems were buried beneath the math and english problems. That is, until the end of the day announcements during final period.
“Attention, students,” Principal Cadence’s voice proclaimed over the intercom, “This is a reminder that the Homecoming Dance is in just a few weeks. Nominations for the Homecoming king and queen will begin Monday, and run until the end of the week, so keep in mind who you would like to nominate. All recommendations must be submitted at the main office. Thank you, and have a great weekend.”
Homecoming! How could she forget? It had been Moon Dancer’s dream to share a dance with Blueblood, who would certainly win Homecoming king. Of course, hoping to win queen was a fool’s wish, due to the fact that Fleur had a 99.9% chance of getting that honor. However, to imagine being the 0.01% that actually did it, to actually dance with Blueblood, would be a dream come true for Moon Dancer. She would sometimes imagine herself in the Cinderella-esque dress, and Blueblood in a shining, white tuxedo. He would take her in his arms and spin her gracefully around the floor. They would both look lovingly into each others’ eyes, and then-
“Earth to Moonie!”
The dream was gone. Moon Dancer was on the sidewalk, standing by the curb with her four friends, on the route home. She looked to her left at Lemon Hearts, who had called her, and answered her with a half-focused, “Huh?”
“We were just asking if you were going to go to Homecoming?” Lemon asked. “The rest of us are going as a group, you know, since we don’t have dates-”
“Excuse me!” Minuette interrupted, sounding insulted. “How do you know I hadn’t secured a date for the dance?”
“Did you,” Sketch asked bluntly.
“Well, no,” Minuette responded with a slight blush, “but I might have!”
“Case in point,” Lemon continued, turning back to Moon Dancer, “You wanna come with us?”
Moon Dancer didn’t answer at first. She had expected her friends wanting to go as a group, but her dream was battling for dominance with her desire to make her friends happy. She could feel their eyes boring into her as she stayed silent, and felt her face heating up with embarrassment.
“Well…” she said slowly, hoping to stall for time. “I was th-thinking about possibly, maybe-”
“Let me guess,” Twinkleshine interrupted with a coy look at Moon Dancer, “Blueblood?”
Was it that obvious, Moon Dancer thought, or did her friends just know her too well? Feeling her face growing hotter still, she nodded slightly. The Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts giggled, but Sketch just rolled his eyes amusedly.
“Good Lord, Moonie,” he said. “You’re so obsessed with Blueblood, I’ll have to start doing ‘Senpai jokes’. What do you even see in him? He’s...he’s...uh...”
“Dreamy?” Minuette stated.
“Hunky?” Lemon Hearts added.
“Gorgeous?” Twinkleshine chimed in.
“I was actually gonna say ‘coming this way’,” Sketch answered, pointing down the street.
Moon Dancer jumped and looked up. Sure enough, there was Blueblood, walking down the street towards her. Moon Dancer instantly felt her face heat up even more, and her body got all uncomfortably itchy as it usually did when Blueblood was near. She started to worry that she would start hyperventilating. In a state of panic, Moon Dancer quickly jumped behind Sketch, who was easily the tallest of her friends, and crouched as low as she could, praying that Blueblood didn’t notice. Her temporary sanctuary was cut short, however, as Minuette’s arms grabbed her and dragged her back out into the open.
“Oh no you don’t!” she said determinately, taking hold of Moon Dancer’s arms and looking her straight in the eyes. “No more hiding! This is your chance, Moonie!”
“I-I-I-It is?” Moon Dancer stammered, not taking her eyes off Minuette.
“Today is the day!” Minuette continued. “You’re gonna talk to him at last!”
“I-I-I-I am?”
“Yes! And you’re gonna look him dead in the eyes, and say, ‘Hi Blueblood. Do your legs hurt? ‘Cause you’ve been running through my mind all morning.’ Simple as that!”
This did not reassure Moon Dancer that much. As she watched Blueblood walking closer, her heart started to speed up its pace, making it feel like it was going to burst right out of her chest. She glanced at Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts, who all gave her a supportive nod. She then looked at Sketch, who shrugged slightly, as if to say, “Whatever floats your boat.” It was too late to ignore it any longer, for Blueblood was a foot from them. Throwing all caution into the wind, and feeling like she was ignoring all warning alarms in her head, Moon Dancer stepped into Blueblood’s path.
Blueblood stopped for a moment, and looked down at her, a curious expression upon his handsome face. Moon Dancer just stared awkwardly at him for a second. This was the closest she had ever been to him, and it was like the bright, baby blue eyes and sparkling teeth were melting away what speck of confidence she thought she had.
“Uh…I...um...eh…” she spluttered, trying to find her words, but failing miserably. Now she was starting to sweat, and Blueblood looked more scared.
Suddenly, Moon Dancer felt a slight kick from behind her given by Lemon Hearts, which immediately turned on her vocabulary switch.
“GREETINGS BLOOD BLUE HAVE YOU RECENTLY SUSTAINED ACHING LEG JOINTS BECAUSE YOU’VE BEEN TREKKING THROUGH MY CRANIUM ALL THE MORN!”
The heat from Moon Dancer’s face was enough to roast an egg she was so embarrassed. She didn’t even know where that came from. There was no smoothness, no coolness, not even any punctuation. Silence surrounded the small group, broken only by Sketch, who let out a soft falling whistle followed by an explosion sound effect. After a few more awkward seconds. Blueblood edged to the side, looking absolutely flabbergasted, and hurried off down the sidewalk. As soon as he was out of sight, Moon Dancer dropped her head into her hands and let out a mortified groan.
“‘All the morn’?” Sketch asked, respectfully trying not to chuckle.
“I KNOW!” Moon Dancer’s muffled voice screeched from behind her hands. “This happens every single time I try to talk to him! I say something ridiculous and make a complete fool of myself!” As she lowered her hands at last, Moon Dancer sighed and dropped down on a bus stop bench the group was passing at that time. The others stopped and sat beside her, looking sympathetic.
“I just don’t know what to do,” Moon Dancer continued as she looked at the ground. “How am I supposed to ask Blueblood to Homecoming if I can’t even talk to him without sounding ridiculous?”
“Moonie,” Minuette started in a much softer tone than her last pep talk, “You can do this. You just need more confidence. In fact, you already have a whole lot of confidence!”
Moon Dancer raised her eyes to her friends, all wearing supportive smiles.
“She’s right,” Lemon Hearts added. “I mean, you’re able to easily give a full, 30-minute speech about the doppler effect. That takes confidence.”
“You can stand in front of a watching crowd and proudly fill a chalkboard with equations without breaking a nervous sweat!” Twinkleshine said, touching Moon Dancer’s shoulder comfortingly.
“Yeah,” Moon Dancer mumbled, still looking uncertain, “but that’s all math and science, to which I pride myself on. Social agendas and human interaction? Not so much.”
“Well then,” Minuette said, pounding a fist into her hand, “we’ll just have to help you build up some social confidence. We can all give you some tips on how you can become more extroverted, and even build up some self-assurance!”
“You know,” Lemon Hearts said, a smile spreading across her face, “that’s not a bad idea. We just have to unlock that social butterfly inside of you, Moonie, and before you know it, you won’t just be asking Blueblood to the dance, but maybe, just maybe, he’ll be asking you!”
Moon Dancer looked at each of her friends’ reassuring faces, and slowly, a warm feeling was filling inside of her. A feeling of hope; a hope that she would no longer be seen as a reclusive geek, but, as Lemon Hearts said, a social butterfly. If her friends believed in her, she could try to believe in herself.
“Well,” she said, a small smile starting to spread on her own face, “I suppose, if you all want to try, I don’t have anything else to lose.”
“That’s the ticket!” Twinkleshine cheered, slapping Moon Dancer on the back. “We’ll start tomorrow. I’m sure we can all think of some great tips over night.”
“If this is what you want, Moonie,” Sketch smiled at his dearest friend, “then count me in!”
The reassuring words of her friends was filling Moon Dancer with more hope, almost to the point of bursting. She was actually excited. If this worked, it would be a great leap of improvement for Moon Dancer’s social performances, and might even secure her not only a hint of affection from Blueblood, but respect from Fleur and her groupies.
After all, she was a prodigy student, who could recite the Periodic Table backwards while writing the equation on string theory. Learning a few tips on how to be socially confident? How hard could it really be?