Previously on Ladies of the Court:

"You may have a soul, but we're all born marked for evil."

And Now...

"Was that Baudelaire?" Uma asked, intrigued by this new voice. It made her forget her frustration over the whole Mal and Gil situation for the moment. She turned towards the source of the voice to find the same blue eyes which were watching her earlier. They came with an angular jaw, fair skin, and messy dark hair.

"Why yes, it was," this unfamiliar boy replied, a hint of amusement in his half-smile. "But I'm afraid knowing your French poetry won't save your friend from his impending humiliation at this party you just invited him to."

"How did you–" Uma began, flustered by his jab at her decisions. She knew inviting Gil to Chad's party using Chad's phone wasn't right, but she didn't need some smooth-talking, trench-coat wearing guy in–is that guyliner?–telling her she did a terrible thing. Uma remembered how his eyes were following her at the beginning of lunch. "Are you stalking me?" she asked him.

"Not stalking, love," he replied, shutting his book and standing up from his seat. Uma ignored the way her face heated up at the courteous nickname and kept her concentration on the boy. "Listening, and I don't see how it's very different from what the swatch dogs enlist you to do."

He started to walk past her, but Uma didn't want him to leave. Spending time with the Ladies of the Court starved her of intellectual conversation. She wanted to continue their back-and-forth, and she also really liked listening to his voice.

"Wait," she called after him before he was too far from her. He turned to face her, and Uma blanked on what to say. She couldn't just outright tell him 'Hey, I like your voice. Keep talking.' That'd only drive him away. She needed a better reason lest she looked like a fool in front of the only guy in this school who didn't want to laugh at her, complain about her, or screw her senseless. While he waited expectantly for what she stopped him for, Uma pulled her clipboard to her chest and tapped her fingers against it nervously. Then, she looked down at the clipboard and got an idea.

"You must be new here," Uma assumed, a friendly smile on her face as she propped her clipboard against her hip. "And here at Auradon Prep, we have this thing called a lunchtime poll. Would you mind sticking around and answering a quick question?"

Blue Eyes–Uma started calling him that in her head–didn't say a word. He pursed his lips together in thought before nodding his head in agreement. He walked back to the table and sat on the edge, putting himself at eye level with Uma. He folded his hands in front of him had a slight slouch even though he leaned back. Uma was so busy observing every detail about him that she almost forgot she had to ask him the poll. She looked down at the clipboard and mentally kicked herself. She forgot how awful the question was.

"Uh, this may sound like a really stupid question," Uma admitted nervously, worried this mysterious young man might try to walk away again.

"There are no stupid questions," he replied calmly, pointing a finger at the ceiling in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Oh God, he really is an intellectual," Uma thought to herself, trying really hard not to stare into his eyes for too long. She tapped the clipboard with her knuckle and explained the scenario on the page, "You inherit half a billion dollars the same day aliens invade Earth and announce that they will destroy the planet in two days. What do you do with the money?"

Blue Eyes quirked an eyebrow and chewed on his lip in thought. He looked off to the side and released a withheld chuckle. "That's the stupidest question I've ever heard," he scoffed quietly.

"An opinionated intellectual?" Uma gasped inside her head. The heat in her face from earlier came back, accompanied by a tingling sensation in her stomach. "Calm down, Uma. It's just some new kid."

"Well, I dunno," he sighed, turning his seeking eyes back on her. "Probably get a motorboat and drive out into the middle of the ocean. Bring my dad's liquor stash, two days worth of lobster, and my keyboard."

Uma was speechless. He somehow turned the dumbest lunchtime poll into a water-bound fantasy. The image glowed in her head like some kind of divine scene. Something about it made Uma's mind buzz. It wasn't just his answer. It was the way he smirked when he stopped talking. It was the subtle flex of the muscles in his jaw. And Sweet Jesus, he plays the piano! Not to mention the fact that he had a brain, which is more than can be said for most of the boys Uma found herself associated with recently. His mind wasn't used for anything vulgar or offensive. It was just…beautiful.

Uma's hands became clammy. Her pulse slowly increased. He may be a new kid, but he definitely peaked her interest.

"How very," Uma replied, making sure her voice didn't crack. She was grinning like an idiot, but it didn't seem to deter him in any way. He smiled right back. Uma bit her lip, and her eyes dropped to the ground. She suddenly felt like a spotlight was on her, but not an isolating spotlight. A warm spotlight.

And then his brogue brought her back to reality. "Are you gonna write that down?"

"Oh, uh," Uma stuttered, fumbling with the clipboard to pull the pen from the clip. She clicked the pen against the board and pressed her wrist against the paper, ready to write. She stole a glance at him while he watched her with an amused expression. She cringed at herself. She probably looked like an airhead. "Would you mind repeating that?" she asked awkwardly.

He nodded and complied, reciting his answer to the question just as he did the first time. Uma scribbled on the page, but she didn't actually write any words. She was focused on his voice, committing the subtle details to memory. Ever since she started mimicking voices, she'd always been so fascinated by accents. This guy seemed to have the perfect balance of pitch and scratch. He drawled some words and emphasized certain syllables, making the vowels sound different than they would if Uma said them. It was mesmerizing.

Uma smiled to herself, still scribbling nonsense on the paper even after he finished talking. She didn't notice his silence until he stood up straight and walked past her.

"Hey, wait," Uma called after him. He once again turned to face her, this time looking mildly annoyed. Uma pushed a stray braid that had fallen out of her scrunchie behind her ear. She didn't want to smother him into a forced conversation, but she did have one last question. "I didn't catch your name," she said imploringly.

He smirked suavely, "That's 'cause I didn't throw it." And with that, he swaggered away.

Uma was left without her voice, her lips parted in wonder. Her eyes followed him across the cafeteria, an unknown emotion rising in her chest. She continued to watch his high collar until she shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "He's just some guy," she admonished herself. "Get ahold of yourself!"

A guy was never part of Uma's plan. Then again, neither was being a Lady of the Court, but there she was, in all her schoolgirl-skirt glory.

"I need to sit down," she said aloud, finding a nearby bench and gently easing onto it. She knelt her elbows on the table and pressed her palms into her closed eyes, fruitlessly trying to get those blue eyes out of her head.

"Who does that guy think he is anyway?" Chad asked his quarterback as he folded his arms over his chest. "Hercules?"

"Looks more like an MCR reject," Jay scoffed, noting the boy's thinly rimmed eyes. They wouldn't have cared for the new kid if it wasn't for Uma's apparent interest in him. The football stars were originally having a debate over who had bigger biceps when they saw the newest addition to Mal's clique talking to some unknown kid in a trenchcoat. Jay narrowed his eyes at the guy when he saw Uma continue to stare at him even after he'd let her company. "Uma's into his act, no doubt," he told his friend.

"Let's kick his ass!" Chad suggested enthusiastically, jabbing his fist into his palm. Jay shook his head.

"C'mon man, we're seniors now," Jay pointed out, a serious look on his face. He kept his eyes trained on the undeniable connection between Uma's eyes and the new kid's back. A surge of jealousy bubbled up inside him. He didn't like this situation one bit. Uma was a popular girl, a Lady of the Court. Only popular guys can have her. Jay was offended by how easily some new guy got her attention. He turned to Chad gave him a slight nod. "Let's give him a good scare though."

Chad nodded in agreement, and the two marched over to where the new kid stood, reading his book. Jay made the first move and roughly threw an arm over the guy's shoulders, yanking him to the side. "Hey sweetheart," Jay jeered into his ear. "What'd your boyfriend say when you told him you were moving to Auradon?"

When the mysterious new guy didn't answer, Chad repeatedly knocked his palm into the back of his head. "My buddy Jay just asked you a question."

Again, they got no answer. Only a low chuckle. Jay looked to Chad and continued his jest in a mocking tone. "Hey Chad, doesn't the cafeteria have a 'no fags allowed' rule?" He and Chad laughed at Jay's quip until their victim decided to speak.

"They seem to have an open door policy for assholes, though."

The two jocks turned dead silent, and their cocky grins dropped. They both glared at the new kid's confident smirk, which dared them to challenge him. Being the meatheads they were, Jay and Chad had no reservation in accepting.

"Grab his arms, Chad," Jay ordered his friend, who immediately complied by roughly pinning their opponent's arms behind his back. Jay clamped a hand on the boy's shoulder as he and Chad dragged him towards an exit. "Let's take this outside," he added menacingly.

Back in the corner of the cafeteria, Uma sat still, unaware of what was transpiring outside. Students around her had already ditched their lunches to go watch the spectacle outside, but Uma paid them no mind. She was still trying to clear her head after her encounter, but no matter how hard she concentrated, that unique voice found its way back to her mind.

"Uma, what are you doing?" Uma heard Evie's voice question her. Her tone was filled with disbelief rather than accusation. Uma pulled her face out of her hands and looked up at her blue-haired friend. Evie was clearly excited about something. "C'mon, Jay and Chad are fighting someone outside. Let's go watch!"

"You wanna watch that horrible crap?" Uma asked boredly. "No thanks, Evie. I'll pass." Jay and Chad were beating up someone every other day last year. Uma was amazed they hadn't gotten into a fight until this late in the first month of school. Still, she wasn't in the mood to watch Chad and Jay humiliate another student. However, her curiosity moved her to inquire, "Who are they fighting anyway?"

"I don't know," Evie answered dismissively. "Some new guy."

And just like that, Uma was interested. More than interested, she was already on her feet and ready to go. She brushed the creases out of her skirt and fruitlessly tried to hide the undeniable excitement in her voice as she asked, "New guy?"

"Yeah," Evie affirmed with a smirk.

"Oh," Uma said in an attempt to be dismissive. She cleared her throat and put her hands on her hips. "Well, I mean, watching a fight is better than doing nothing, I guess. So, um, let's go!"

Evie narrowed her eyes at Uma but didn't comment. She decided she would only bring it up after collecting more evidence. "Okay then," Evie agreed.

Once the two had followed the commotion outside, Uma shoved her way through the crowd to get to the front. Evie was close behind, but Uma's smaller stature made it easier for her to slip through the barrier of rowdy teenagers. By the time they made it to the center of the circle surrounding the fight, they were fortunate enough to find the brawl had yet to begin. Uma's suspicion about the jocks' opponent was correct. It was Blue Eyes who stood in the ring. Chad still had the boy's arms pinned, and Jay was pacing in front of them, shaking his wrist to ready his first strike.

The crowd was shouting a very unoriginal yet weirdly symphonic fight cheer:

"Holy shit!" "Holy shit!"

"Holy shit!" "Holy shit!"

"Holy shit!" "Holy shit!" "Holy shit!" "Holy shit!" "Holy shit!"

Uma rolled her eyes at her peers before pinning her sights on the impending fight.

"I guess we can call this your 'Welcome to Auradon Prep' gift," Jay announced with a broad smile, staring at Blue Eyes with malicious intent. He clenched his fist and stopped pacing. "This is for calling me asshole, asshole!"

Jay pulled his hand back, and Uma wanted to turn away. She was thankful she didn't because everything happened in an instant. Blue Eyes stomped his boot onto Chad's toe, forcing the blond to release his arms in favor of clutching his own foot in pain. Jay swung at Blue Eyes' face, but the ladder brought his book in front of him and blocked Jay's fist. Jay's fist collided with the book and immediately recoiled his upon contact, his face scrunched in pain as he shook his wrist. He didn't have the time to examine his injury because the same book that he punched struck him across the side of his face and knocked him to the ground. Blue Eyes then turned on Chad and hit him across the side of the head in the same fashion.

"Woah," Uma muttered, a dreamy look in her eye.

"I thought you said fighting was horrible," Evie noted, her inquisitive gaze turning on Uma while her friend watched Jay stand up, only to be kicked between the legs by the trench-coat guy. Uma flinched, but she still appeared to be showing her support for the no-name kid. "I recall you calling it 'crap.'"

"Yeah, well," Uma began, never once prying her attention away from Blue Eyes. Chad pushed himself to his feet as Jay hit the ground with a high-pitched squeal. The linebacker grabbed the back of Blue Eyes' jacket in an attempt to drag him to the ground. Blue Eyes dropped his book and let Chad yank the jacket off his arms, throwing the jock off balance while Blue Eyes prepared for the next move. Uma's eyes went wide once the extra coverage slid off his arms. The trench coat had been hiding a gray, form-fitting muscle tank under a sleeveless plaid over-layer. In other words, his toned arms and defined chest were well within Uma's view. "This just feels kinda right," Uma eventually told Evie.

Chad tried to use the trench coat as some kind of diversion by throwing it at Blue Eyes and charging at him, but his plan didn't work. Blue Eyes snatched his jacket from the air and stepped out of the way, letting Chad keep running until he tripped over Jay, who was still curled in a tight ball on the ground, clutching his precious jewels.

A chorus of 'Ooh's and 'Ah's resounded throughout the crowd. After diving face-first into the concrete, Chad still managed to stand up yet again. Blue Eyes tilted his head and sighed, a bored expression on his face. He tossed the jacket to the side of the crowd, and it just happened to land at Uma's feet. She looked down and hesitated for a moment before deftly picking it up and turning it in her hands until she was clutching the collar. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Evie quirk an eyebrow at her with a knowing smirk on her ruby red lips. Uma gave her a confused look and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason," Evie replied coyly.

Back to the fight, Chad offered his arm to Jay and helped his friend up. Once both of them were standing–Jay was barely able to remain stable on his wobbly legs–Chad tried charging again, only to receive a much more painful result. Blue Eyes swung his fist and struck Chad right in his perfect nose, using the rushing momentum to make the punch even more powerful. Dazed and blinded, Chad fell right to the ground, out of the fight for good.

Now it was just Jay and Blue Eyes. Jay stumbled forward, throwing a terribly slow punch that Blue Eyes dodged without much trying. Uma caught a wicked smirk on Blue Eyes' face and a crazy look in his bright orbs. He'd been rather nonchalant during the whole fight, but at Jay's atrociously embarrassing mistake, Uma saw the first signs of an indulgent madness in the intellectual no-name kid. It should have deterred her, but it only made her even more fascinated by him.

Jay was now thrown off balance, and Blue Eyes took advantage. He took Jay's head between his leather-clad hands, and then he swiftly smashed his forehead into Jay's.

And then he did it again.

And again.

Uma cringed each time. She was surprised either of them were still alive, and her mouth was left hung open when it had finally ended.

Jay collapsed the instant Blue Eyes released his head, and the crowd was stunned into speechlessness. A few murmurs broke the silence, but it was otherwise quiet. No one could believe it. Jay and Chad had challenged someone to a fight and lost.

Blue Eyes took a step back from the two defeated jocks, picked up his book, and smiled in satisfaction. His already-unruly hair had been tossed about during the fight, and he ran his free hand through it to smooth it down. Something about the seemingly small action made Uma's knees weak.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Blue Eyes didn't have a lot of time to relish in his victory because the crowd parted to make room for Ms. Godmother to stride into the circle, her expression stern and dutiful as always. She looked down at where Jay and Chad were sprawled out on the ground and gasped dramatically. She turned her authoritative glare on Blue Eyes and stuck a strong, reprimanding finger at the school. "Principal's office!" she declared. "Now!"

Blue Eyes didn't so much as flinch at the teacher's harsh tone. Instead, he sighed, "Sure thing, just a minute." Then, he crossed over to the edge of the crowd, and Uma's heart started to pound in her chest when she realized he was getting closer and closer to her. By the time he was standing right in front of her, Uma was both lost for words and utterly baffled as to why he chose to come to her out of everyone in the crowd right after the fight.

With a smirk still plastered on his face and his blue eyes staring straight into her brown ones, he raised a finger to her chin and gently raised her slack jaw.

"Keep your mouth closed, love," he advised in his low brogue that Uma couldn't get enough of. He winked, and Uma swallowed hard. "You'll catch flies."

With that, he took his jacket from her hands–which Uma realized was the reason he had approached her in the first place–and left with Ms. Godmother. The second he was gone, some football players moved to help Jay and Chad up while the rest of the crowd dispersed and went back to their usual lunchtime activities. Uma was frozen, paralyzed for some reason she couldn't determine. She heard Evie call her name a couple times, but she remained still. It wasn't until Evie snapped her fingers in front of Uma's face that she was shaken from her trance. A small hum escaped her lips:

"Daaaaaaaayuuuuuuum."

Much to Uma's disappointment, the day went on, and she saw no other sign of Blue Eyes. This meant that he was either expelled, suspended, or avoiding her because she smothered him with questions and stared at him like a fish out of water. When the final bell rang, Uma was disappointed for yet another reason: she was now headed to Audrey's house.

Uma always brought her diary with her to occasions like this because it was often her only source of real entertainment. Audrey would try on a variety of pink dresses and skirts while Mal judged and Uma briefly looked up to give her input, which was often disregarded. However, the focus of the room changed when Mal actually used Uma's real name.

"So, Uma," Mal implored, a mischievous glint in her eye. Uma considered her cautiously before shutting her book and giving Mal her full attention. "What'd you think of the fight today?"

"Uh," Uma began cluelessly, suppressing any feelings brought about by the image of Blue Eyes standing right in front of her with that stupid smirk. "It was just a fight."

"Oh, come on," Audrey gibed in disbelief as she emerged from her walk-in closet. "You were so throwing your panties at that new kid."

"Excuse me," Uma enunciated, blinking in flustered confusion.

"And I know you can't afford replacement panties," Mal added before she and Audrey shared a sickeningly sweet laugh. Uma rolled her eyes and leaned forward in her chair.

"Look, I don't know the kid," Uma emphasized, keeping a neutral expression so the girls would buy her act and drop the subject. "I don't even know his name."

That seemed to do the trick. Mal shrugged, losing interest, and Audrey went back into her closet to pick out some more clothes to try on. Uma sighed, thankful that they left it alone but also saddened by the realization that she still had yet to learn this boy's name. She opened her diary up again and began another entry under the nineteenth.

Dear Diary,

Before I joined the Ladies of the Court, I was a nobody. People would pick on me for ridiculous stuff like my height or my hair or that God-awful nickname Mal gave me back in middle school. As lame as it sounds, all I've ever wanted was protection, a shield from it all.

I wish I could protect myself, but I wasn't in a place where I was very effective in doing so. I couldn't fight my way through it, and though my anger has prompted me to try to do so many times, having shit like that on my record would hurt my chances of getting into a good college.

Gil was picked on just as much as I was. I had put myself out as the protector in that relationship.

I used to pray for someone, anyone who could save me from this madness, knowing full well that no such Knight in Shining Armor would actually grace me with his presence.

I'd accepted that Mal may have been the closest thing to that knight that I could get. Sure, she also comes at me sometimes, but it's better to have one major pain-in-the-ass than a whole school of them.

However, I think I was proven wrong today about Mal being my final protector.

This new guy–Blue Eyes, as I've decided to call him–held his own in a fight against both Jay AND Chad. He can actually land a hit, and he lasted way longer than I thought he would. The fact that he won was just icing on the cake. He got in trouble for it and barely batted an eyelash at Ms. Godmother. He has a mind of his own, and it's trained enough to recognize when it was best to just stop fighting and ride with the tide.

At the same time, I can't help but wonder if he'd ever want to be associated with me. Here I am, fantasizing about this Mr. No-Name-Kid when I don't even know if he'd be able to act proud around me, whether it's the nerdy nobody or the stuck up Lady of the Court. I'm sure an opinionated young man like himself wouldn't want to be seen with me, but maybe I wouldn't mind what people thought of me if I had someone like him around. Maybe I could be myself. Let those swatch dogs drive us underground! Perhaps we're both two outsiders who only need each other in this dark, unforgiving world. I'd fight for him if he would Fight For Me.

Uma read her entry over and reread it again. She sounded like a desperate sixth grader with a hopeless crush, but part of her didn't care. This was how she felt.

WOW I UPDATED! It's been so long since I updated this. I think the last time I updated was the day after my bday (I turned Seventeen, ironically). So, what'd you guys think of Fight For Me? Did you guys like the introduction of our Descendants-Version-Jason-Dean? What did you think of the fight? Do you think Uma's feelings make sense? Lemme know your thoughts on the chapter in the review. Have a great night! - JoJo, who keeps starting new stories when she hasn't completed others, OH NO IM TURNING INTO ONE OF THOSE AUTHORS!