DESCENDENTS: Hidden Truths and Secrets
Chapter 15
The campus of Auradon Prep was a dull place to be on a Sunday. Students in the dorms slept in, not caring about assignments until the last minute. Outside the school, though, enjoying the beautiful day was Carlos, teaching Dude a few tricks. Carlos was trying to teach the little dog to roll over when another dog came out of nowhere and started playing with Dude. The new dog was bigger than Dude, but that didn't worry Carlos. What did concern him was the breed of the dog: it was a dalmatian. Now, Carlos wasn't scared of the dog, but he knew most dalmatians in Auradon came from the Dalmatian Plantation owned by Roger and Anita Dearly. Most of the Dalmatians there were pups of the original hundred and one his mother stole, and Carlos wondered if they passed down their hatred for the De Vils.
"I'm so sorry about that. Shamrock is still having trouble with 'stay'," said a woman as she walked up to Carlos.
The woman looked about twenty, with red hair in a ponytail that was down to her shoulders. She wore a turquoise blouse and flats with a knee-length violet skirt. Carlos felt like he had seen her before but couldn't remember. The dalmatian went to her side as she attached a leash to the dog's collar.
"I'm Amber Greene, and this troublemaker is Shamrock," said Amber, extending her hand to Carlos.
"I'm Carlos, and this little guy is Dude. He was the campus mutt until I asked to adopt him," said Carlos as Amber knelt down to pet Dude.
"Well, he must be a good judge of character if he likes the son of Cruella De Vil," said Amber, causing Carlos to be shocked.
"How do you know that?" asked Carlos nervously.
"Your hair's a dead giveaway. Only your family has black and white coming in naturally like that. You don't have to be nervous, Carlos. I don't have a problem with who you are, and neither does Shamrock, right girl?" said Amber as Shamrock walked over and brushed her head on Carlos's leg.
Carlos calmed at she the display of friendship from the dog as she returned to Amber's side. Just then, Carlos knew why Amber looked familiar to him.
"Your aunt and uncle are Anita and Roger Dearly. How can your family not hate me?" asked Carlos.
"My family does hate your mom, Carlos, but not you. You've done nothing wrong to us or our dogs. Prince Ben even asked my aunt and uncle if bringing you over from the isle would be a problem for us, and they said no. They really want to meet you – Aunt Anita, mostly, because she and Cruella were good friends once," said Amber with a smile.
"Sure, I'd like to meet them as well. Was that why you came here today?" asked Carlos.
"Not really. I'm going to be a teaching assistant to Professor Thatch after the coronation. I want to see where I'll be working for the next couple of months. Running into you was just a bonus," replied Amber.
"Why didn't you start at the beginning of the semester?" asked Carlos.
"The school board was fighting Fairy Godmother hiring me because of who my girlfriend is. They had to give up when she brought up King Adam's law against discrimination. But I can bet you they are just waiting for me to slip up so they can fire me," said Amber with an angry look.
"Does your family have a problem with you dating a woman?" asked Carlos, hoping it would change the subject.
"Oh, they support my relationship completely, and most of my girlfriend's family supports us, but we think her grandmother may be the reason. Nonetheless, everyone has been happy for us and supportive since we came out last year," responded Amber as her smile returned.
The two talked like that for awhile before Amber had to leave, but promised a surprise when she saw Carlos again.
On the other side of campus, Jay was finishing running the track. He was getting a drink from his water bottle when he noticed something that wasn't there before. On the ground in front of him was an Arabian oil lamp, just like the one his father had him look for in hopes of a genie. Jay figured someone was playing a joke on him and got really mad.
"Okay, whoever thinks this is funny, stop hiding and come out right now!" shouted Jay, hoping that whoever laid the lamp down was still nearby.
"Hey, what's with the shouting? Can't a girl get any sleep on a Sunday?" said a voice coming from inside the lamp.
A few seconds later, a stream of purple smoke was coming out of the lamp, and suddenly a girl appeared from the smoke. She was slender with long black hair that had pink highlights and had three marks shaped like stars over her left eye. She wore a pair of blue harem pants with a purple waistband, a black top decorated in jewels, and a golden jacket. She looked a little grouchy from just being awoken. Jay didn't need three guesses or wishes to guess who this girl was related to.
"What are you doing in my room?" demanded the girl, yawning a bit as she stretched her arms.
"I'm not in your room! We're on the school track. I'd just finished running when I saw that lamp by my stuff. I figure someone around here is playing a joke on me," replied Jay as the girl seemed annoyed.
"Not again! I'm going to get Aziz for this when I see him," shouted the girl as she picked up the lamp.
"Who's Aziz, and who are you, by the way?" asked Jay as the girl turned around.
"Sorry, I'm Jordan, and Aziz is my pain in the butt best friend. He thinks it's funny when I'm in my lamp to put it in weird places. Once he put it on a small raft in the school fountain and when I came out, I got soaked," said Jordan, causing Jay to chuckle.
"How does a genie not know her lamp is being moved or where she's appearing?" asked Jay, still chuckling.
"Like I'm going to tell the son of Jafar how to steal my lamp," said Jordan causing Jay to stop laughing.
"First, how do you know who I am, and second, I have no interest in your lamp," responded Jay.
"I've been looking into you and your friends since you got here. I wanted to interview you six for my web series to find out about the isle. But Lonnie told me to wait until you guys were more settled in. I'm really sorry about the stealing my lamp bit. I meant it as a joke. Sometimes I say things I think are funny, and it turns out they're not," said Jordan.
"It's okay. I mean, you said it to be witty. At the welcome party, those idoits Alan and Howard accused me just to be jerks. And then to find it in his back pocket – how stupid," said Jay, trying to lighten the mood.
"Oh, it's not that stupid. I put it back there after he tried to plant it in your friend's coat," said Jordan, shocking Jay.
"He tried to frame us? Why didn't you say anything then?" asked Jay, a little angry at this news.
"I have a history with Alan. He got close to me to use my lamp to make wishes. If I accused him of doing that, it would've looked like I was trying to get back at him. So instead, I made you guys look good and made Alan look like a fool. And then I put a glitter bomb in his wallet later with a note not to try it again," said Jordan as Jay laughed to hear about a glitter bomb.
The talked as they made their way back to the dorms, when Jay had a thought enter his mind.
"Hey Jordan, when someone makes a wish, do you just make the item appear, or does it have to exist in the real world first?" asked Jay, earning a curious look form Jordan.
"I use the energy around me to create what's being wished for. Why do you ask?" replied Jordan, gripping her lamp tightly.
"I want to make a deal with you, and you can say no if you want. If you give me one wish, I'll do what you want for the rest of the semester," said Jay, causing Jordan to be surprised.
In the past, people had tried to just grab her lamp and make as many wishes as quickly as they could before they got in trouble, but Jay was offering to work for his single wish. Jordan wondered what one wish could be so important to make such an offer.
"What is it you want to wish for, and I'll tell you if I can grant it," Jordan replied as Jay looked nervous.
"I want to see my mom again – and I'm not talking bringing the dead back. I wanted to see if you could make a photograph or a picture of her for me to have. She died when I was five, and I can barely recall what she looked like," said Jay, sadly remembering his mother.
Jordan couldn't believe what she was hearing. Out of all the things Jay could want, it was to have a photograph of his mother. She gently reached out to Jay's hands and placed her lamp in them.
"Make your wish, Jay," said Jordan, holding back a tear.
"I wish for a picture of my mother," said Jay.
Jordan closed her eyes and channeled her thoughts as the power of the cosmos helped to craft Jay's wish. The energy allowed her to see a woman holding a baby boy in her arms as she sang him to sleep. She knew this was Jay being rocked by his mother and used that to make the wish come true. Jordan opened her eyes, and with a puff of smoke, in her hand was a photograph of Jay's mother holding him when he was a baby. She handed him the picture as Jay handed back the lamp. Jay was lost for words as he looked at the image and started to cry.
"She would always sing the same Arabian lullaby whenever I was sad. She had voice like a dove, and she always smiled no matter what," said Jay, wiping away tears as Jordan put a hand on his shoulder.
"She'd be proud of who you are, Jay. You have a good heart and know what's really important to you. That's why you don't have to worry about paying me for the wish. You deserve to have this, Jay," said Jordan as Jay looked at her.
"Even if you call off the deal, if you ever need anything, let me know. I'm always there for my friends," said Jay drying his eyes.
"The same goes in reverse, Jay," Jordan said. "If you or your friends need help, I'll be there for you. 'Cause just like my dad says, you ain't never had a friend like me."
The two new friends laughed as they continued into the school.
Meanwhile, Audrey sat in her dorm room making plans to get the VK's expelled when she heard a knock on her door. She answered the door and found both Howard and Alan on the other side.
"You're late! Get in here before someone sees you two," demanded Audrey as the two boys walked in. Audrey took a seat at the end of her bed while the two boys stood.
"I came up with a plan to get those VK's finally sent back to the isle where they belong," said Audrey with a wicked smile.
"What is it?" asked Howard curiously.
"Yesterday I visited my sister's dorm room while she was out with Chad and his stupid cousin. The fairy freak was doing something for Rapunzel, and not-a-princess was with Dopey Jr. studying, so I decided to search their room for anything evil. And I did, I found a spell book under that bitch Mal's bed and found a page bookmarked," said Audrey as her smile grew.
"What's on the bookmarked page?", asked Alan.
"Something called Love Cookie, which means it was a love spell, which means she probably spelled Ben or plans to," said Audrey.
"That's great! Where's the book? We can show it to Fairy Godmother, and they're out of here," said Howard, rubbing his hands together.
"It's still in her room, you fool. I couldn't just take the book. I would be accused of stealing it, but if, say, at Family Day I said I saw here with a spell book, then she'd have to hand it over for everyone to see. Everyone will see what she has planed, and all six will be back on the isle before sunset," said Audrey, grinning with glee.
"Are you sure that it was a love spell you saw?" asked Alan, getting looks from both Audrey and Howard.
"Of course, it's what I saw. Do you think I can't read?" shouted Audrey.
"I'm just being sure about this. Every time we try something against them, it blows up in our faces. I think we should take a step back and really think this out. If you're wrong, we not only look bad in front of the school, but all the parents also," said Alan in a worried tone.
"My plan will work, you little weasel, and once I show everyone those six are villains, Ben and Rose will beg me to accept them back into my life. In the meantime, you find ways to make the other VK's look bad in front of everybody. The less support they have, the better chance my plan will work. Now get out of here, and not a word to anyone about this or else!" demanded Audrey as the two boys left.
As soon as they were out the door, Audrey walked over to her vanity table and looked at the mirror. She stared into her own eyes with an evil Cheshire grin as her eyes flashed green.
I'm back, sorry for the delay with this chapter. I was having a hard time finding the words for this part of the story. I originally was going to use Mal and Evie but I had focused a lot of past chapters with them. So, I decided to give Carlos and Jay a spot light and give Jay more back story. Also, if you've seen the 101 Dalmatian series from the late 90's you'll recognize Amber. If you've never seen the show it's on Disney+ in the US. Thanks for reading my story, as always be patient with updates and please review. Until I deal the next hand, Wildcard out!