Hey, everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed and followed my story after I posted chapter one. If You post a review, I do try my hardest to respond. I also enjoyed the feedback I got from those I private messaged. I would like to give a shout out to Soccerkiddog for all his help so far and for his fresh ideas to my story. I look forward to continuing this story for everyone. Feel free to ask my any questions as you read my story, and I will try my hardest to respond to them in a timely manner.
As the limousine pulled away from Maleficent's tower, Jay couldn't help but be on edge. He was leaving the Isle of the Lost for the first time ever. All that he could think of is all the trouble he was about to have. On the Isle of the Lost, there was a system in place. Most outsiders just thought that Maleficent ruled over everything. While she did, there were certain rules on the street level that everyone knew. There were areas that Jay knew were good for an easy steal and area that he knew were off limits, even to Jafar's son. Obviously, these weren't rules written in stone, but rather a knowledge that one gained through trial and error. After Mal and he had made an arrangement to always stand by each others side, Jay had gained almost free reign over the streets.
But Auradon was new. Jay would have to learn the new rules of the trade. He was pretty certain he could just steal whatever he wanted, seeing as how the AK's were all goody two shoes, but he had to play his cards right. Getting caught probably meant that he would be sent back to the Isle, and if he returned without the wand that Maleficent wanted, he wouldn't survive the night.
But of course, there were some guarantees. Mal was coming with him and if she was anything, she was true to her arrangements. He and she may not be able to dominate the Auradon yet, but together, they were sure to get there in no time. That was if these other two could be trusted. Jay knew Carlos de Vil well enough to know that the kid was a coward. As long as there was a chance of retribution from someone stronger, Carlos would stay in line. It was the new girl, Jay was sure her mother had called her Evie back at the tower; that caused him the most unease. He knew nothing about her. If she turned traitor at Auradon, there would be nothing that the VK's could really do to stop her. Sure, Mal had her mother's spell book, but there was no guaranty that even she could keep Evie in line if she went rogue.
Jay was pulled from his thoughts when he saw Carlos reaching for something in front him. It was then that Jay noticed the grand assortment of candies in front him. Just when Carlos had grabbed a piece, Jay snatched it from him and popped the candy into his mouth.
"Hey…" Carlos whined, a look of indignation on his face.
"What? I'm a thief." Jay said nonchalantly.
"There's a whole shelf full of candy there."
"Pfft, So. Everything's better when it's stolen from someone."
Carlos reached for another piece and again Jay stole it before he could eat it. Carlos, trying not to show how flustered he truly was at the whole thing, sat back and looked out the window.
"You're no fun." Jay reached across and grabbed a handful of candy from the shelf and began to help himself. He looked at the girls. Evie had begun partaking of some candy that was between her and Jay while Mal fiddled with a remote, trying to figure out what it did. After a couple of minutes, Jay noticed Carlos trying to reach across again. Jay already had a handful, and a mouthful, of candy. He decided it would be too difficult to deal with Carlos again and let Carlos get a couple pieces of candy to munch on. He looked back at the girls. Mal had given up on the remote and was now just staring off into space. Evie was trying to bite into a hard blue candy that she had found while avoiding glancing in Mal's direction.
Mal absentmindedly pushed a button the remote that made the window behind her roll down. Evie turned at the sound and looked through.
"Look!" She yelled, her voice increasing an octave.
Jay leaned forward so he could look out the window past her and saw that the limo was approaching the ruins of a bridge. The limo wasn't slowing down either.
"It's a trap," Carlos yelled before crouching down. Even Jay let screams out as the car raced for the drop-off. All four of the VK's screamed and huddled for a moment before they realized a distinct lack of plummeting to their deaths. What did happen was that the limo's interior got super bright for a moment and then the light faded. Jay opened his eyes and looked out the window. The limo was not falling into the sea but was rather driving over the water as if the bridge was still there. Jay saw that a bridge of light had formed beneath them and they were driving smoothly across it.
"Hey," Mal called, drawing Jay's attention. She was looking at the driver through the window. "Did this little button just open up the magic barrier?"
"Nope, this one opens the magic barrier." the driver replied, holding up a gold button that he had in the front seat with him. "That one opens my garage. And this button…" The driver pushed a button above him and the window closed again, making it obvious he was not interested in further conversation. Mal turned to Jay and gave him a small smile.
"Okay, nasty. I like that guy."
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. With the terror and curiosity gone, everyone returned to the status quo, which was apparently total silence. Jay decided it was time to do what he did best. Carlos continued to eat candy, guessing that Jay wouldn't mess with him while stealing. Evie began doing makeup and her hair to make herself even more presentable than she already was. Mal continued to plot.
As the limo approached the school entrance, Jay could hear the sounds of music. The Auradon kids were apparently really glad to be having the villain kids attend school with them. Jay found the whole thing a little off-putting. People on the Isle didn't celebrate a lot. Mal's birthday parties were usually the biggest parties of the year. Jay gathered his loot as the limo slowed to a stop. Carlos, whose face was covered in chocolate by now, was the first to step out when the limo door opened. Jay was second, his haul, which included the limo's TV and speakers, making it difficult to maneuver through the door. Evie was third, clearly trying to put as much distance between her and the others as she could. Finally, in as calm a fashion as she could manage, came Mal. Jay could tell that she was holding herself differently with this crowd. She was behaving like she was one of the students already and she was just in the limo to escort the three actual VK's.
The band finished their song, and the crowd in front of the limo parted as a plump lady approached them, two students walking on either side of her. The woman looked directly at the haul Jay had under his arm.
"Oh, just cleaning up," Jay said with a grin.
"Just leave it like you found it." The lady said in a singing voice. When Jay didn't make any movements at all, her face dropped and her voice took a slightly more serious tone. "And by that, I mean just leave it."
Jay caught the hint that time and quickly tossed all the items back into the car. He ignored the driver's glare as he looked back toward the lady in front of him. He then noticed that one of the students who had trailed the lady was a very pretty girl, with brown skin and hair. She was wearing a blue jacket over a pink dress.
"Hello, foxy." Jay said, using his most enticing voice, "The names…Jay." He replied, looking her up and down and crossing his arms in dramatic fashion. While the girl managed to keep a straight face, her laugh showed that was unimpressed. Jay was actually a little surprised that she wasn't in the least bit wooed by him. Suddenly, the lady leaned over between the two, clearly trying to steer the conversation back on track.
"Hello, Welcome to Auradon Prep." She straightened up and looked at the rest of the group. "I'm Fairy Godmother, Headmistress."
"The Fairy Godmother, as in bippety, boppety, boo," Mal asked, intrigued. Jay took a step back behind the rest of the group, flustered by the Fairy Godmother's interruption and the girl shutting him down.
"Bippety, Boppety, You know it." Fairy Godmother replied, unable to hide the joy at knowing that the kids in front of her knew her.
"Yeah. I always wondered what it was like for Cinderella when you just appeared out of nowhere with that sparkly wand and warm smile and that sparkling wand." Jay didn't have to know Mal well in order to see that she was really laying on the charm. He could also tell that it was working like a charm.
"That was a long time ago and as I always say 'Don't focus on the past or you will miss the future.'" Fairy Godmother may have been charmed by Mal's words, but she wasn't very forthcoming with her previous exploits. Jay saw the ways Mal's brows furrowed briefly at Fairy Godmother's dismissal of the question. He glanced around at the others. Evie seemed to be entranced by the boy that was standing on the other side of Fairy Godmother. Meanwhile, Carlos had taken to licking off his fingers, which were covered in the weird brown candy that Carlos had taken to liking.
The two students who had been standing behind Fairy Godmother stepped forward. Jay took a look at the boy for the first time since the conversation had begun. He had white skin, brown hair, and seemed to be wearing his best suit for the occasion. He seemed to be the most formally dressed person in the crowd.
"Hello, it's so nice to finally meet you all. I'm Ben."
"Prince Benjamin, soon to be King." The girl inserted quickly, clearly trying to get across the fact that this kid was important.
"You had me at Prince." Evie sighed as she stepped forward, giving a curtsy to the boy. "My mom's a queen, which makes me a princess."
"The Evil Queen has no status here," the girl replied, venom thinly veiled in her words, "and neither do you." Jay watched as Evie's face dropped at the insult.
Ben chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood.
"This is Audrey." He continued, clearly embarrassed at how things were going.
"Princess Audrey, his girlfriend, right Benny-boo?" She grabbed Ben's hand, trying to emphasize the point. Jay now understood why the conversation had been going south. He had hit on another guy's girlfriend and Evie had hit on another girl's boyfriend. Apparently, love turned people into animals, even in Auradon.
"Ben and Audrey are going to show you all around and I will see you all tomorrow." Fairy Godmother inserted, clearly trying to get the conversation back under control again. "The doors of wisdom are never shut, but the Library hours are from eight to eleven and as you may have heard, I have this little thing about curfews." With that, Fairy Godmother briskly walked away, letting the procession behind her handle the rest. As she left, so to did the band and most of the students who had arrived for the event. This left the four VK's with Ben and Audrey. Ben clapped his hands together and smiled.
"It is so, so good to finally meet you all." Ben's breath hitched as Jay gave him the customary arm punch that was a normal greeting back on the Isle. Jay noticed how everyone seemed a little tense about the punch. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea if that was an acceptable greeting here in Auradon. But Ben didn't seem to mind as he moved on to Mal. Ben seemed to get lost in Mal's eyes for a moment, before regaining his composure and continuing.
"This is a momentous occasion and one that I hope will go down in history," After shaking hands with Carlos, Ben lifted his hand to his lips, licking off the melted candy that had gotten on his hands. "Chocolate?" He asked Carlos, who was sucking the stuff off his thumb. At least now Jay knew the name of the candy. Ben walked up to Evie and shook her hand. "as the day our two people began to heal." He ended cheerfully.
"Or the day you told four peoples where the bathrooms are." Jay noticed how Audrey seemed to want to pull Ben away from Evie, who was still holding Ben's hand. Ben didn't seem to notice either of them, however, as he stared at Mal.
"A little bit over the top?" Ben asked.
"A little more than a little bit," Mal replied.
"Well, so much for my first impression," Ben commented, slightly downtrodden at the reception of his efforts. Ben was spending a lot of time looking at Mal and vice versa. Jay was hoping that this conversation would be over soon so he could remind Mal the reason they were at Auradon. He was almost thankful when Audrey pipped up.
"Hey, you're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you? Yeah, you know what; I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mom's Aurora, Sleeping…"
"Beauty." Mal finished for her, obviously quite finished with this line of dialogue. "Yeah, I've heard the name. Yeah, and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone, in the whole world, but my mother, to their stupid christening." Jay had to keep his anger in check. These AK's seemed to have forgotten that some of their parent's had caused their own tragedies.
"Water under the bridge."
"Totes" The two girls laughed the fakest laughs ever heard by the human race.
"Okay, so how about a tour?" Ben asked the whole group, trying to redirect the conversation. Jay wondered if redirecting conversations was a common thing in Auradon, or if they had taken classes on it in preparation for the VK's.
"Yeah? Auradon Prep. Originally built over three hundred years ago and converted into a high school by my father when he became King."
Ben led the party toward the front doors of the school. The group paused for a moment in front of a statue of what Jay assumed to be Ben's father. Ben clapped his hands and the statue turned from a man into a beast, much to the terror of the youngest in the group. A scream filled Jay's ears, causing to turn toward the source of the sound. Carlos had jumped backward and was holding his hands out toward the statue. Jay and Mal laughed openly at Carlos as if he was putting on a show that they found amusing. Ben turned to Carlos with a frown, before putting on a calming smile.
"Carlos, it's okay. My father wanted the statue to morph from beast to man to remind us that anything is possible."
"Does he shed much?" Mal asked as her laughs subsided, the joke not lost on anyone, except Ben.
"Yeah, my mom won't let him on the couch." He answered with a straight face as if the question were normal. After receiving a strange look from Mal, Ben smiled and resumed walking. The others followed though Jay could hear the boy behind him whimpering at the statue. Jay knew that Carlos was easy to scare into submission, but the kid seemed to be scared at the drop of a hat. Jay decided that the kid could definitely use some toughening up.
As the group entered the building, Ben stopped in the lobby. Jay took a moment to check out a really expensive vase sitting on a table in the middle of the room. He might have stolen it then and there if it hadn't been for a none-too-subtle glare from Mal.
"Soo… You guys have a lot of magic here at Auradon, like wands and things like that?" Mal inquired while Jay backed away from the vase.
"Yeah, it exists, of course, but it's pretty much retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals." Ben answered.
"Who happens to be Kings and Queens."
"That's true," This time it was Audrey who spoke up, her voice pitched with excitement. "Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years." She finished with a shared laugh with Ben as she maneuvered his arm around her shoulders. While she wore a smile, Jay could tell that both of the Royals had problems with their current relationship. Ben was looking for a way out of the awkwardness of the situation that Audrey insisted upon dragging him into. He seemed to find saving in a person nearby.
"Doug! Doug, come down." Jay turned to see that Ben was addressing a kid with glasses descending one of the two stairwells that hugged the sides of the room. The kid was dressed in a band uniform, meaning he was outside just moments ago when the VK's had arrived.
"This is Doug." Ben addressed the group as wrapped an arm around Doug's shoulders. "He is going to help you with your class schedules and show you around the rest of the dorms. I will see you later, okay? And if there is anything you need, feel free to…"
"Ask Doug." Audrey finished, clearly not liking the idea of the VK's being near Ben for any reason. Jay had found this girl hot, but her attitude since had made him glad that he had failed in hitting on her earlier. He was not ready for a relationship that was that troublesome. He watched as Audrey dragged away the soon to be King, leaving Doug alone with them. Doug, to his credit, was quick to take on a professional and friendly attitude toward the four kids in front of him.
"Hi, guys. I'm Dopey's son, as in Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and…Hei ho." Doug's eyes had fallen on Evie, and his train of thought derailed so hard, Jay thought the guy was broken. Evie, knowing the look to well, walked straight up to him.
"Evie, Evil Queen's daughter." She stated seductively. Doug shook himself off before continuing, failing to fully un-fluster himself.
"Okay, so about your classes, I, um, put in the requirements already, History of Woodsmen and Pirates, Safety Rules for the Internet, and Remedial Goodness 101."
"Let me guess, new class," Mal stated as she walked up and looked over his shoulder at the papers he was carrying. Doug gave her a quick nod. She turned to the rest of the group. "Come on guys, let's go find our dorms," Mal ordered before turning and heading up the stairs that Doug had just descended from. Doug seemed to be confused for a moment before realizing that he hadn't told the four where their dorm was.
"Oh, yeah. Your dorms are that way guys." He said to them, pointing down a hall that was behind the stairwell on the opposite side of the room from the one they were on. The VK's instantly turned around and took off. Meanwhile, Doug began rattling off the names of the seven dwarfs again, trying to remember the one he had forgotten. When he got to the last one, Carlos came up beside him.
"Sneezy," Carlos said proudly before following the others. Doug rolled his eyes as he finally remembered the name of the last dwarf. He then followed the others to make sure that they found their rooms okay. Unlike most of the Auradon kids, Doug actually looked forward to working with the VK's. He knew it was going to be an interesting experience, especially Evie.
