Somehow I keep finding time to update this ridiculously fast. Apparently Carella likes one-shots right now. Of course, the requests/suggestions help, giving us something to go off of. Thanks for that!

By request of Miss Baking, a Carlos/Jane chapter. Honestly, I saw that request and was a little worried I wouldn't be able to come up with anything; as it was, I had to stare at the screen for several minutes and read their respective Disney Wiki profiles for several minutes more before I could think of anything. But I managed, and I think it turned out pretty well, considering. Thanks for the request/suggestion!

May I just say that I love playing with the sayings we (and, by extension, the people of Auradon) use and converting them to what the people from the Isle would use? "Evil dreams" (Mal says it to Lonnie immediately after using her tear for the love potion, for those who didn't catch it) was what started me doing that; I adored that line. I have a bad feeling I'm going to start using it among my friends eventually XD Yes, I know that technically they probably shouldn't use those phrases anymore, but I figure it would be force of habit at this point, and it's a nice relic and reminder from their time on the Isle.

Anywho. On to the story.

Word Count: 1,056


"She's looking at you again," Evie notified Carlos.

"For the love of all that is evil, must you notify us every time she moves?" Mal grumbled, irritated by the constant stream of information.

Evie ignored her. "Will you please just ask her out?" she demanded softly. Carlos dropped his head into his arms, folded on the table. He muttered something that, while too muffled to understand, was probably along the lines of, "Kill me now." Evie rolled her eyes and stretched out one finger to poke him insistently. "Carlos!"

"Come on, Evie, lay off it," Jay laughed. "He's too scared she'll say no."

"Oh, Carlos!" she complained. "She obviously likes you."

"Yes," Mal piped up, mocking a swoon with a hand over her heart, "surely, after he stole her heart, swept her off her feet, and broke her toes at the ball!" She ducked a swipe, grinning teasingly at Evie.

"You're not helping," Evie told her. "Carlos, really, why -" She coughed suddenly, and he looked up at her to see what was wrong. A mix of amusement and manic glee twinkled in her eyes. "Mal, don't we have a chemistry assignment to get to?"

"Um, not that I -"

"Come on." Mal yelped as Evie dragged her from her seat, mouthing, Sorry! at Carlos as she was tugged away. Carlos realized too late the reason for Evie's swift departure and turned around to find the 'her' in question fidgeting a few feet behind him.

"Um -" He swallowed nervously. "Hi, Jane."

"Hi," she replied. There was an awkward moment of silence before she gestured to the bench. "Do you mind if I..."

"Oh - yeah. I mean, no. I mean - I don't mind."

Jay, next to him, facepalmed. Carlos glared. From across the yard, Evie glared too, which was unsettling. Jay made some excuse about the tourney guys wanting him for something or other and vanished.

More awkward silence as the two tried to avoid eye contact. He wasn't sure why he was so dumbstruck by her. He hadn't talked to her since that night when they had danced - and, yes, he had stepped on her toes a few times. Maybe more than a few.

After a few seconds, Carlos managed, "So... how's school?" He thought he saw Evie and Mal staring at something in Evie's hand, and hoped they hadn't set up a secret camera at the table somehow.

"Fine," she answered. "Well... as fine as it gets, anyway."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm kind of almost failing my magic class," she half-whispered, staring down at the table and tracing the grain of the wood with one finger.

Carlos leaned back a little bit, surprised. "But... your mom's the -"

"Fairy Godmother, I know. Don't remind me," she muttered. "It was hard enough before I figured out I had magic. But now she's making me take the class, and it's so much homework and so little actual magic and I don't know what I'm doing and -" She stopped. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off like that."

"It's fine," he reassured her. "I'm used to it, trust me. With Evie and Mal around... well, I get enough endless talking. You learn to tune out after a while." Jane's eyes dropped away, and he realized what he'd said. "I mean, not that I was tuning you out - I didn't - ugh. I'm sorry." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mal drop her head into her hands and wondered what they were doing over there.

"No, it's fine," she mumbled. "I'm used to it."

"I really was listening," he promised. "And... I think I might be able to help you."

Jane looked up. "Really?"

"Well, maybe. I mean, I'm no sorcerer myself, but if there's anyone who knows about magic in this school, it's Mal." He paused. "Honestly, I'm not sure why she's not in the magic class herself."

"She would blow all the rest of us out of the water," Jane admitted. "Plus... I don't think my mom knows what to do with her magic. It's mostly dark spells, after all - she uses her mom's old spellbook, right?"

"Right," he agreed. "Anyway, I might be able to convince her to tutor you. I know it's a different kind of magic, but Mal might be able to help."

"Could you really do that?" she asked, eyes lit up. He smiled and nodded. She flung her arms around his neck, and he reeled back for a second. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, Carlos!" She pulled back to beam ecstatically into his face, then seemed to realize that she had just hugged someone she'd danced with a grand total of once. "Um, I'm sorry, I just -"

"It's okay," he laughed, feeling his own jolt of excitement bubble up inside. "And, hey, listen, I've got some free time tonight - do you want to maybe go out for, I don't know, dinner?"

"Um, actually, I have homework," she said apologetically. His heart sank. "But..." she added slowly. "I don't think I'm doing anything on Saturday, if you're open then?"

"Saturday! Yeah, no, I'm - that's great! Saturday's great," he assured her.

"Thanks. I'll see you then." She grinned at him and hurried away, a little bounce in her step. Carlos watched her go with a contented sigh.

A squeal from behind him made him jump out of his skin. Evie threw her arms around his neck, almost choking him in her glee. "Oh, Carlos!"

"'Endless talking'?" Mal demanded. "Tuning us out? And why on earth would you offer to make me teach her?"

"How did you -" He caught sight of a glint of gold sticking out of Evie's pocket, though she hurriedly tried to hide it, and glared at the two of them. "The mirror! You were listening the whole time?"

"Well... only most of it," Evie hedged. She hugged him again. "But you got a date!"

"All right, enough already. Let him breathe, E," Mal sighed. But she gave him a sideways grin and a wink that let him know she was secretly just as happy as Evie was for him.

"Right, sorry," Evie apologized. And she went on to wax romantic over the upcoming date for nearly an hour.

But that was all right. Carlos was very good at tuning her out, after all.


At some point in the future, I would like to do something with Mal and Ben's parents (yes, Pen's parents. That makes complete sense *eye roll*) in the future, along with maybe something about Mal tutoring Jane (which, of course, she agreed to after several attempts at coersion and at least a couple of bribes on Carlos' part). Which would you guys want to see first?

Reviews, please! Thanks for reading, and I'll see y'all next time!