Author's Note:

Just a little announcement for everyone before anything else. Including today's update, we're down to the last five chapters! Thank you so much for all the love and support I've received on this story.

Here's this week's chapter, and I hope you enjoy it. Happy reading!

~ astryl

Chapter Fifteen

Several days had passed by since the leak of Mal's plans on the school board. The villain kids did as they were told and tried to continue with their usual school activities which proved to be difficult now that the students of Auradon Prep treated them with disdain.

However, knowing what the four were capable of, fear overruled the students' feelings of contempt. Everyone took to actively avoiding and ignoring the villain kids, and the harshest action anyone could do was to glare.

Online platforms were a different matter altogether. The school board was filled with anonymous posts of cries about how the villain kids deserved to be sent back to the Isle. Various anonymous Pixie accounts were also created which spoke of the same thing—Auradon was no place for villains.

For the most part, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos remained unfazed despite all the hurtful words and actions thrown their way, and they had the Isle to thank for that. After all, they were the most feared group on the island, and occurrences such as these were something they had to face daily, particularly from those who wanted to challenge their reign.

Still, the four of them stayed together whenever they could, usually during lunch breaks and after school hours. They learned to survive on the Isle that way—relying on each other as a group, a family.

Facing the situation alone was when it became hard, when it became apparent more than ever that they didn't belong in Auradon.

With the nearing match between the Knights and the Falcons, Auradon Prep's tourney team had been practicing longer and more often. All the physical activity proved to be a good distraction for Jay from the current situation. On the other hand, Carlos had gotten permission from Fairy Godmother to opt out of the practices for a while as it had become too much for the boy to handle.

As the last session for the week was about to end, Coach Jenkins blew his whistle, and the Auradon Fighting Knights stopped their drills and jogged over to the bleachers to gather around the older man.

"I'm sure you're all aware that our match with the Falcons is drawing near, and it's time for us to decide on our starters.", the coach announced. Excited whispers ran through the small crowd of tourney players. A team's starting lineup was important, and to be chosen for a major game such as this was considered an honor.

"I think we can all agree that our best bets for our left and right forwards would be Ben and Chad.", the coach continued. Murmurs of approval rang through the team. The positions of left and right forwards were reserved for the best scorers and fastest players, and both Belle's son and Cinderella's son topped the rankings of the team when it came to scoring, speed, and agility drills.

"Our defenders will be Li and Emir. William will be the goalie, and Miguel as our dragoneer.", Coach Jenkins continued to list the starters. The players called this time were students who excelled in drills for blocking, reflexes, and manning the Dragon Cannon, respectively.

"All that's left is for us to choose our center forward.", Coach Jenkins ended with the last position. The center forward was the most offensive player in tourney who was responsible for charging into the opponent's side.

A momentary silence settled over the team as the players weighed amongst themselves who the best fit would be for the position. Being aggressive, agile, and tough to block, Jay knew he was qualified to be center forward and wanted to take on the role as well, but he chose to stay quiet and lay low given the uncleared issue about the villain kids.

"I believe Jay should be our center forward.", Ben spoke up. Jay's eyes widened in surprise as protests erupted from the rest of the Knights. There was no way they would let a villain handle an important match.

"No, I think Aziz would make a better center forward than Jay.", Chad countered, referring to Aladdin's son who was also part of the team. The others voiced out their agreements, and Jafar's son tried his best to hold back a snort. Aziz was a good player, but Jay was definitely better than him.

"Alright, alright. How about we put it into a vote?", Coach Jenkins suggested, acknowledging that both Jay and Aziz were good options. "Everyone in favor of Jay as our center forward, raise your hand."

Ben and Jay were the only ones from the Knights to raise their hands, and Jay fought to keep a disappointed look from showing on his face. He knew it would be difficult to gain support from the team, but he had hoped that they would at least base their decisions on the player's skills.

"How about for Aziz?", the coach asked. Naturally, the rest of the tourney team raised their hands. "It's decided then. Aziz will be our center forward. With that, our starting lineup is complete, and we'll decide the positions of the rest of the players during the next practice. You are all dismissed."

As the Auradon Fighting Knights collected their things and left the tourney field, Jay caught Ben's eye. Jafar's son nodded in the prince's direction in gratitude for the latter's earlier attempt to volunteer him as a starter, to which Ben returned the gesture with a nod of his own and an apologetic smile.

The decision to sit out the tourney team's practices freed up a huge chunk of Carlos's daily schedule. He found himself spending all his time in the library just to get his mind off things as he would most likely just get anxious waiting for the decision about the villain kids' fate.

Yawning, Carlos skimmed through the pages of the book he had chosen to read today. The volume was about the history of woodsmen and pirates which was interesting, but the young boy somehow couldn't concentrate on the words.

Just as he was about to get up to look for another book to read, the on-call librarian approached him from where he sat alone on a table for four in the study area.

"Excuse me. I'm sorry about this, but a lot of students have been requesting for you to leave the study area. Your presence seems to be disturbing their studies.", the older girl said apologetically.

Carlos felt hurt surging through him. He was doing nothing else but sitting and reading quietly, so how could he possibly be a disruption? Instead of complaining back, he chose to comply with what the librarian asked to avoid any trouble.

After all, the library was his safe space, and he didn't want to risk being banned.

"That's alright. I was about to leave anyway.", Carlos replied, offering a small smile to the librarian. The girl visibly sighed in relief and murmured a soft thank you.

Clutching the book to his chest, Carlos stood up and made his way back to where the shelves were. He was considering checking out several volumes and going back to his dorm room to read when a small, brown, furry thing appeared in front of him.

Like a slow motion scene in a movie, Carlos's eyes drifted down, and his body immediately froze in fear as his brain registered that a dog was before him—the very same dog that chased him on the tourney field. Before he could scream out loud and make a mad dash, a girl about his age wearing a blue dress entered his vision.

"Dude, I told you. No running!", the girl scolded the dog softly. Carlos briefly recognized her as Jane, Fairy Godmother's daughter, from the time Evie showed Mal the girl's pictures on Pixie.

Dude—Carlos wondered why these little monsters should even have names in the first place—paid no attention to the girl and trotted instead, with his tail wagging slowly, towards Cruella De Vil's son.

"Get away.", Carlos hissed, trying to keep his voice down.

Jane squeaked in fear as she realized that Carlos was there. The two students watched Dude with bated breaths as Dude approached the boy who was frantically stepping backwards in an attempt to avoid the dog.

Dude barked out an excited yelp and ran towards Carlos. The boy immediately put his hands up to shield his body. All thoughts of keeping quiet flew out of his head, and he was about to yell out until he realized that the dog wasn't attacking him. Dude was yapping eagerly around his feet as if inviting him to play.

Cruella De Vil's son stared at the dog curiously, watching his movements. Once he was certain that Dude meant no harm, he bent down to nervously touch the animal's fur much to the dog's delight.

"He likes you.", Jane said in amazement, reminding Carlos that she was still there.

His head snapped up to meet her gaze. "I didn't know dogs could be gentle. I always thought they were monsters.", he admitted.

The girl shook her head. "Dogs only become bad when their owners are. Dude here is our friendly campus dog, but I pretty much take care of him all the time.", she explained. Carlos nodded and continued to pet Dude who was already lying down on the floor.

"Um, I need to go return some books. Would it be alright if Dude and I take our leave now?", she asked sheepishly.

"Oh, sure! It's no problem.", Carlos assured her as he stood up. The girl called Dude back to her and picked the dog up in her arms.

"Guess I'll see you around.", Jane said good-bye to him, to which Carlos responded with a smile and a little wave.