Ch 9:
"Please? Please, please, please?!" Evie clasped her hands together pleadingly, making her brown eyes bigger in a puppy dog look.
Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes slightly. "Evie, I really don't think it's a good idea. I just don't like dances and parties." she explained vaguely.
"But it's your first dance at Auradon Prep. You have to go. And I designed you a dress, too." Evie begged.
Chloe groaned, dropping her face onto her pillow. She didn't want to explain the whole "Panic attack" thing to Evie. Her and Carlos had kept it pretty quiet, as much as they could. People obviously knew she freaked out, because she did it in public a few times already, and Jay had been present when Anthony mentioned it to Carlos, but she didn't want to make any big announcements regarding the situation. Her and Carlos had talked about maybe setting up a doctors appointment of some kind to determine if she'd even qualify for a service dog for panic attacks. But she didn't want to really tell Mal and Evie about all that yet. But she wasn't sure how to convince Evie to not make her attend the Castlecoming dance without bringing it up.
"You don't have to stay the whole night." Evie insisted, sitting on the edge of Chloe's bed. Beelzebub got up from her pillow and trotted over to curl up on Evie's lap, purring when the blue-haired girl started scratching behind her ears. "Just come for a few hours. Please?"
Chloe sighed, rolling onto her side to look thoughtfully up at Evie. Carlos, Evie, and the others would all be there. And Jane and Ally had both mentioned going. And Anthony. So it wasn't like she'd be completely alone at the dance. And as much as people might pick on her, like that Audrey girl and her boyfriend, she doubted anyone would physically attack her like the other kids on the Isle.
"One hour." Chloe countered.
"Oh, come on, it'll take that long just to get you ready for the dance." Evie argued, though she started smiling at the fact that Chloe was giving in. "Two hours. At least."
Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine. I'll go for two hours. And there better be food."
"Of course." Evie beamed. "Princess Tiana is catering, and I've heard glowing reviews on her food."
"Fine. I'll go for the food." Chloe relented, rolling back over to bury her face in her pillow.
By Saturday, she was regretting giving in to Evie's demands.
She almost barricaded herself into her dorm room only a few hours into the day. Many students were giving their parents and families tours of the school, showing off their assignments and whatnot. Chloe was surprised by the number of students that approached her and actually wanted to introduce her to their families. Ally introduced her to her mother, Alice, who raved over some of her art assignments hung up in the art room. Lonnie introduced her to her parents, Mulan and Li Shang, as well as her older brother Li'l Shang. She even saw a large family of dwarves being shown around by Doug, before his young cousin, Bashful Jr., or Bash, dragged his parents over to introduce them to Chloe. She'd only had maybe a handful of conversations with the small boy who was in some of her classes, but she was nice to him because she could relate to his shy, quiet demeanor. And apparently he appreciated it more than she realized.
With all these random conversations with complete strangers, Chloe was feeling out of sorts. She felt like another panic attack was inevitable and that scared her more than usual. And she still had to make it through a loud, rowdy tourney game, and attend a dance for at least two hours. And that wasn't even taking into account the random earthquakes that had been shaking Auradon the past couple weeks. There'd been four just in the past week. They were sometimes enough to send Chloe into a panic attack all on their own.
She ate a light lunch, feeling queasy, and got ready for the game in her dorm. She simply brushed her hair, knowing Evie would do her hair for the dance later. She then pulled on Carlos' varsity-styled black and white jacket that she "borrowed". It had De Vil across the back, making it clear who she was rooting for.
She checked her appearance in the mirror one last time before going to Mal and Evie's dorm. She didn't know if she was dressed properly for a tourney game, given she'd never been to one before, but at least all her bruises were gone and her leg was pretty much healed. Sometimes her scar itched, but that was tolerable.
She put a matching jacket on Dude, even though she'd teased her brother about that before, and the two headed out to meet Mal and Evie so they could all head down to the tourney field together.
When the tourney field came into view, Chloe hesitated, falling a couple steps behind the others before regaining her speed. She was used to the stands being empty apart from a few people watching practice. She'd obviously expected there to be a large crowd, but the stands were completely packed. She could already hear the loud voices and cheering, and the school band was playing the school's song.
Chloe almost wished they could just sit on the grass several feet away from the stands. That would actually have been nice. But Evie and Mal headed straight for the bleachers and up the stairs, leaving Chloe to hesitantly follow them. Dude bounded eagerly up the stairs behind the girls, pausing to look back down at Chloe, as if wondering what was taking her so long. Taking a deep breath, Chloe climbed the stairs one step at a time. At least the stairs were relatively clear of people, so it wasn't like she was bumping into people left and right.
Mal and Evie stopped at a bench about halfway up the bleachers, moving partway down the seat to sit with a few people Chloe recognized like Lonnie. She knew Jane was the mascot, dressed in the Knight outfit near the cheerleaders.
Chloe swallowed the urge to vomit as she scooted down the seat past a few people, stopping next to Evie. She had her arms crossed over her stomach, trying not to flinch and twitch at the people all around her. Dude hopped up onto the bench behind her, putting his front paws against her butt. She turned and scooped him up, holding him close to her chest. The feeling of his warm weight against her chest, his heartbeat against hers, was soothing. And her twin's scent on the jacket she was wearing gave the small illusion that Carlos was there with her.
The team hadn't come out onto the field yet, so Chloe let her eyes scan her surroundings, taking everything around her in. The other set of bleachers across the field was filled with the other team's fans. There were cheerleaders from both teams on the sides of the field, doing cheers and flips. On the far side of the bleachers stood the school's band. She could see people playing drums, trombones, trumpets, saxophones. The band paused between songs and Chloe spotted Anthony standing near the front with Doug, both holding their trumpets as they got the band ready for their next song. Anthony glanced up and caught her eye over the dozens of heads. He grinned and waved at her. She smiled shakily back and carefully lifted a hand to return the wave, not wanting to drop Dude.
Finally, the team came running out onto the field and the crowd erupted into cheers. Chloe tried to cheer, but she was sure her voice was drowned out by everyone else. But Carlos still spotted her and waved at her and the others, and Jay did the same.
She watched the team huddle near the bench before some headed out onto the field.
"Hey, Mal, where's Ben?" Chloe asked, leaning forward to call to Mal over the crowd.
"Out of town on King stuff. I think he said Camelot." Mal explained. "Said he won't be able to make it back for the game or dance."
"That sucks." Chloe grimaced sympathetically, remembering when Ben told her he might have to drop tourney. Looks like that possibility was becoming more and more likely.
It was a close game, but it was hard for Chloe to know that. For one, she didn't know enough about the game to completely understand what was happening. She understood when they made a goal, but that was about it. Second, the crowd kept getting rowdier, and it felt like they were closing in on her. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She hadn't fallen into an actual panic attack, but she felt like she was on the verge of one.
Deciding what she really needed was space and maybe some quiet, Chloe set Dude down on the bench behind her and made her way down the bench and down the stairs. When she reached the grass at the foot of the stairs, she walked a ways away across the lawn. There was some wide open space of grass near the field, so she found a spot where she could still see the game and sat on the grass, sitting cross-legged. She smiled when she realized Dude had followed her, and the little mutt sat on the grass right in front of her.
This was so much better. She could still experience the excitement of the game, and watch her brother and friend play, without being crowded in and feeling anxious.
She jumped slightly as someone plopped down on the grass next to her. "This looks way better than watching in the stands."
Chloe relaxed and smiled at Anthony in greeting. Dude also turned his full attention to Anthony because the boy had a couple hotdogs and a box of popcorn. Anthony offered one of the hotdogs to Chloe.
"Wasn't sure how you like these, so I just put ketchup on yours." he explained as she took it.
"You didn't have to get me anything." she told him. "Don't you have to play band?"
"We just played for halftime, so I'm done for the rest of the game." Anthony explained, tossing a piece of popcorn for Dude. "So, did the crowd get to be too much?" he asked gently, looking over at her.
Chloe glanced down at the food in her hands and nodded slightly. "A bit, yeah. I just felt like it was closing in on me. I wished we hadn't sat so far up in the stands, but I was just following Mal and Evie."
Anthony nodded, looking up toward the stands. "Maybe next time you could talk them into sitting more towards the bottom. Or at least have you sit by the isles, so you're not completely surrounded on all sides."
Chloe followed his gaze thoughtfully up toward the stands. "Yeah. That would probably help a bit." she admitted before taking her first bite of a hotdog. Her eyes went wide and her hands covered her mouth.
"What?" Anthony saw her face and immediately worried. "You don't like it?"
"It's amazing!" she mumbled with her mouth full before chewing and swallowing. "What's in this?"
Anthony laughed. "You probably don't want to know that."
They laughed and talked and watched the game together on the grass. Dude was caught between begging for more food and watching the game. Chloe was relieved he didn't interrupt the game and try to steal the ball.
The game was a close one. Anthony explained it would have been an easy win if Ben was there. But the Fighting Knights did manage to pull off a win against the Lost Boys, Jay setting Carlos up for the winning goal. Chloe actually jumped up and cheered for her brother, feeling more joy and excitement than she could remember ever feeling.
After the game, Chloe went to meet up with Evie and Mal in their dorm so they could get ready for the dance. She pulled on the dress Evie had designed for her last minute. It was a halter top dress, and the top was black lace in a pattern that resembled Dalmatian spots, which made Chloe roll her eyes despite loving the dress. And the skirt was red and to her knees. Evie braided Chloe's bangs back, pointing out Chloe tended to hide behind her bangs, and lightly curled the rest of Chloe's hair.
Chloe hugged Dude goodbye before locking him in her dorm, trying to ignore his puppy eyes so she could go to the dance with Mal and Evie.
They were among the first people in the ballroom, and Chloe was amazed by how it all turned out. Before long the tourney team made their entrance, and everyone cheered. Chloe took a step to congratulate her brother and Jay, but hesitated when she saw how many people were crowding around them. After all, they were the stars of the night. She didn't want to put herself in that crowd, worried it would set off another "episode".
She glanced around, noticing Lonnie manning the DJ booth, but the loud music coming from the speakers put her on edge. It reminded her too much of the music Diego played at the party in Hell Hall. Mal and Evie had disappeared into the crowd, probably to congratulate Jay and Carlos, or maybe Evie was looking for Doug.
Unsure of what to do, Chloe stuck close to the wall and headed for the buffet table, figuring she could get a glass of punch. But then she saw how many people were crowding around the table and thought better of it.
This was a terrible idea. Why had Chloe let Evie talk her into this? And of course, Evie was nowhere to be found. Maybe Chloe could just sneak out now and Evie would never notice.
Before Chloe could sneak out, however, Jay and Carlos joined her carrying plates of food from the buffet table. She relaxed slightly and genuinely congratulated both of them on the win. They hung out for a bit, talking while the boys stuffed their faces. Eventually, however, Carlos left to dance and Jay returned to the buffet table for seconds. Or was it thirds?
Chloe stayed by the wall, not really minding that she was alone. As long as she stayed away from the crowds she was fine. She even smiled when she noticed Carlos dancing with Jane. She'd started to wonder if he had a small crush on the little fairy, this was confirmation. Carlos wouldn't dance with just any girl, at least not willingly and enjoying himself.
The music suddenly changed, getting much louder than before, and Chloe flinched at the loud drumbeat that echoed into her bones. Several of the guys started cheering and yelling, getting rowdier than before.
Chloe tried to take deep breaths, wiping her sweaty hands on her dress skirt.
"Hey, I was wondering if you were here." Anthony suddenly appeared, but his smile fell slightly when he saw her expression. "Hey, you good?"
Chloe swallowed and offered a shaky smile. "I'm working on it." she admitted, taking another deep breath.
Anthony gave her a smile in return. "Where's Carlos? And your other friends? They didn't just leave you here, did they?" he asked, concerned as he glanced around.
Chloe shrugged, crossing her arms over her stomach. "I think I saw Evie with Doug. I'm not sure about Mal and Jay, I think they were at the buffet table last I saw. And Carlos is dancing with Jane." she smirked shakily, which made Anthony laugh.
"Let me guess, you're going to give him a hard time later?"
"What makes you say that?" she asked, trying to make her voice light and playful, though it was slightly strained. Anthony didn't comment on it, though.
"Because I'd do the same to my sister. Well, after I threatened the guy." Anthony answered.
"I didn't know you had a sister." Chloe commented, glancing at him while also scanning the crowd in search of her brother.
"Yeah, Aria. She's thirteen; she hasn't started at Auradon Prep yet." Anthony explained.
"Can't younger students go here?" Chloe asked, confused.
"Yeah." Anthony admitted. "But my parents aren't comfortable with her living in the dorms just yet."
Chloe nodded, somewhat understanding. But she was distracted because she'd found Jane in the crowd dancing with some of her friends. But Carlos was nowhere to be found.
Chloe's eyes scanned rapidly over the crowd, trying to find her brother's familiar white hair, but it was nowhere. He was gone.
Her worry must have shown on her face, because Anthony lightly touched her shoulder.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I-I can't find Carlos." she stuttered.
"Okay, calm down. You said he was dancing with Jane, right?" Anthony asked calmly.
Chloe nodded. "Yeah, but Jane's over there." she waved in the general direction. "And Carlos isn't."
"That's doesn't mean anything. He could have gone to the bathroom, or the hallway, or to the buffet table." Anthony pointed out calmly.
Chloe took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. "Right. You're right." she glanced at him sheepishly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to overreact."
"No such thing." Anthony waved off easily. "You can't always control how you react to something. Sure, you can control what you say or do, in a way. But you can't control how you feel, which I think is more about how someone reacts. So, you're fine."
Chloe giggled. "Thanks."
"How about we head to the buffet table?" Anthony suggested. "There isn't as many people there now. And some punch might help you. Eating or drinking something gives you something to focus on instead of panicking."
Chloe tilted her head, glancing toward the table to confirm there were only a few people over there as opposed to nearly a dozen earlier. "Okay." she agreed.
Anthony offered her his elbow, making her blush and laugh as she took it. He lead her toward the table, thankfully sticking close to the wall.
"Hey, it looks like there're some beignets left." Anthony grinned eagerly.
"Ben-whats?" Chloe asked, confused.
"Beignets. You have to try one!" he insisted. "They're like a sweet, warm cloud. You haven't lived until you've tried one."
Chloe smiled. "Then I guess I should try one."
They each poured a glass of punch and grabbed a warm beignet off the plate at the buffet table. Anthony was right, it was heaven in her mouth. Light and fluffy, drizzled with what Anthony explained was honey and powdered sugar, things Chloe had never eaten before.
"If I let myself eat anymore, you'll have to roll me out of here." Chloe joked after eating her second beignet, and her third glass of punch.
"Please, I can put five of these away, easy." Anthony bragged, halfway through his third.
"How are you such a beanpole?" Chloe giggled, reaching out and poking at his stomach. Realizing what she just did, she jerked her hand away like she'd been shocked, looking down uncomfortably. "Sorry, I-"
"It's fine. My mom and sister are always joking about that, too." Anthony waved her off with a laugh. "And Nanny's always going on about how she needs to fatten me up."
Chloe stifled a grin, glancing up at him gratefully. Then, all that punch she drank told her it needed to come out. "Um, I'm going to go use the restroom."
Anthony nodded. "Sure. You good on your own, or did you want me to walk you out?"
Chloe was flattered by the offer, but she couldn't help thinking it was a bit embarrassing, having to have someone walk her to the bathroom. "I'll be fine walking alone. Thanks."
Anthony nodded, and Chloe turned to follow the wall toward the entrance to the ballroom. She found the bathroom out in the hallway, and did her business before washing her hands. It was incredible, something as simple as washing her hands with clean soap. Soap was hard to come by on the Isle, and any soap there was, it was usually a small, dirty chuck of a bar leftover from someone else's use.
Once finished, Chloe left the bathroom intending to return to the loud, crowded ballroom. She was tempted to just forget about it and go back to her dorm. Sure, she'd promised Evie she'd stay for two hours, but those two hours were nearly over, and she hadn't seen Evie or the others in a while. If it was so easy for them to forget her, surely they wouldn't notice if she left the dance early. But then she remembered how much fun she'd been having with Anthony. She could stay a bit longer, right?
Deciding she could manage a bit longer, Chloe turned to head back toward the ballroom. But then she realized the loud, obnoxious voices from the party were getting closer faster than they should have been.
A group of almost half a dozen guys was leaving the ballroom, all laughing and being typical rowdy guys. They took up a good portion of the hallway, so Chloe stepped closer to the wall as they came nearer. They didn't seem to notice her. She was already a bit on edge with their loud laughter and banter and pushing. And then when they passed her one guy got pushed into her, slamming her into the wall.
He apologized in passing, but Chloe was too far gone to hear. Her mind flashed back to several of the times she'd been shoved into a wall, either at school, at home, in a back alley,…
It all got blurry as the now-familiar sensation of what she now believed was a panic attack struck. Terror made her heart pound, her stomach churning with nausea, and she felt like she was going to die.
She couldn't breathe. The walls were closing in on her. Her vision was going spotted and blurry.
Something lightly touched her arm, making her flinch. The humming in her ears became a bit clearer, turning into voices.
"…back up a bit. Give her some room." Chloe's vision cleared slightly until Anthony's face came into focus. She could see blurry figures around them, surrounding them. "Chloe, come on. Focus on me. Take deep breaths."
Chloe found his blue-green eyes, focusing on them as she started to mimic his deep breathing.
This was so frustrating. She didn't have these 'episodes' quite this often on the Isle. Why was it worse in Auradon, where she was so much safer than on the Isle?
"Anthony?" a quiet voice spoke up, and Jane appeared next to them, cautiously holding out a glass with the bright red punch in it. "Will this help?"
"Yeah, thanks Jane." Anthony smiled, taking the glass and offering it to Chloe, keeping his hands out in case she dropped it.
"Thanks." she whispered to them in general before taking a small sip of the cool drink. It did help, feeling the cold liquid slide down her throat.
"Could someone go find Carlos?" Anthony suggested, glancing over his shoulder. Jane, Ally, and Doug stood worriedly behind him.
"Carlos left already with Jay." Jane explained. "They weren't feeling well, so they went back to their dorms."
Doug glanced worriedly at Jane. "Weird. Evie left early, too. Said she had a bad stomachache. And I think I saw Mal leave about the same time."
Chloe glanced among the two and Anthony worriedly, and she noticed Anthony's brow was furrowed.
"All four of them got sick?" he asked.
"Well, they do all spend quite a bit of time together." Ally pointed out. "Are you feeling sick, Chloe?" she asked worriedly.
Chloe thought for a moment, taking stock of how she felt. Apart from what lingered after her little episode, she didn't feel sick. She mostly just felt tired.
"No, I don't think so." she answered, glancing up at them again before noticing someone approaching them, having just left the ballroom.
"Everything okay out here?" an unfamiliar, female voice with an English accent asked. Chloe glanced up to see a middle-aged woman in a light blue cocktail dress that emphasized her slender figure, her strawberry-blonde hair pulled into a nice bun.
Chloe saw her face and her breath caught in her throat. She'd seen that face hundreds of times. In newspaper clippings all over her mother's room, old college photographs, TV news stories that made her mother rant and rave.
"Okay, hey, Chloe, focus on me." Anthony cut through her thoughts, moving so his face blocked the woman behind him. "No one's going to hurt you, she's not going to hate you, just like I don't hate you."
Chloe nodded slowly, forcing her brain to take in his words as she took deep breaths. After a moment, she hesitantly peaked past him at the woman who'd nearly caused her to have another panic attack.
Anita Radcliffe had the same kind eyes as her son, and she was gazing worriedly down at Chloe, where she was curled up on the floor against the wall near the bathroom door.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Anita asked worriedly. "Do you need anything?"
Chloe shook her head, looking down in embarrassment. She always seemed to be embarrassing herself here in Auradon. What a great first impression, having someone meet her after watching her throw a fit like this.
"Do you want me to walk you to your dorm?" Anthony offered gently. "I didn't think you'd want to stay at the dance, but if you'd rather do that…?"
Chloe quickly shook her head. "No. I just want to go back to my room. I want Dude. I want…" she trailed off before she mentioned her brother. If he was sick, she didn't want to bother him. "You don't have to walk me." she told Anthony, pushing against the wall to stand up. "You guys can go back to the dance. I'll be fine."
Anthony also stood up. "Eh, I'm not a fan of school dances. I was going to head out soon, anyway. I'm happy to walk you to your dorm."
Jane, Ally, and Doug wished them a goodnight before returning to the dance.
"Well, it was nice to finally meet you Chloe." Anita told her warmly. "I wish we had more time to talk, but I understand you must be tired. Hopefully the rest of your night goes better." Anita turned to her son and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek, having to stretch up on her tiptoes to do so. "Goodnight, darling."
"Mum." Anthony whined, making Chloe giggle slightly. "Goodnight!" he called as he started leading Chloe down the hallway away from the ballroom.
Chloe continued giggling as they crossed the lawn toward the dorms until Anthony lightly poked at her ribs. "It's not funny!" Anthony whined, though she could tell he was fighting a grin.
"Sorry I'm cutting your night short." Chloe apologized, catching sight of a clock when they entered the building. It wasn't even eight o'clock. Anthony could have stayed for at least another hour or two.
Anthony waved her off. "Nah, you're fine. Like I said, I don't care much for dances like that. Actually, the most fun I had tonight was hanging out with you, both at the game and the dance."
Chloe smiled slightly, looking at her feet in embarrassment. "Same here." she admitted.
They passed through the eerily-quiet dorms. Everyone was likely still at the dance, or they went home for the weekend or something. They were nearly at Chloe's dorm room when she paused at the door just before hers. Anthony stopped also, watching what she was doing.
Chloe figured, if Evie and Mal were sick the least she could do is check on them. Maybe she could do something to help them feel better, like pick up some soup or something.
Chloe knocked on their door. "Evie? Mal? Are you guys in there?" she called. "Jane and Doug said you guys left early because you felt sick. Can I get you anything?" There was no response for several seconds, making Chloe worry. Turning the doorknob, she opened the door to peak inside.
It was dark in the room, but the moonlight shining through the windows highlighted the two beds in the dorm.
The two empty beds.
Chloe's brow furrowed, confused and worried. She looked over her shoulder at Anthony. "They're not in here." she told him.
Anthony's brow also furrowed before he shrugged. "Maybe they stopped at the nurse's office." he suggested. "Or the kitchen for soup, or the bathroom. I'm sure they're fine. You could try calling them."
Chloe nodded slowly, seriously considering doing just that. After all the time and effort Evie put into organizing the dance, something really big had to have pulled her away after only an hour.
She closed the door and followed Anthony one more door down.
"I know you're probably tired," Anthony started, "but if you don't want to sleep just yet, there's this great movie that's supposed to be on tonight. If you want, we could get some food and watch it in your dorm. Or not. Completely up to you."
Chloe glanced at him thoughtfully, pausing with her hand on her doorknob.
"I could pick up some snacks in the kitchen." he added. "You could change into comfy pajamas."
Chloe's lip twitched into an almost-smile. Truthfully, she was tired, but she didn't really want to be left alone. She was over-thinking her friends' disappearance and could honestly use a distraction. Even if she managed to fall asleep, it would be a restless sleep of tossing and turning. And she hadn't seen many movies before in her life.
"Okay. I'd like that." Chloe answered.
Anthony grinned. "Great. I'll pick up some snacks and meet you back here in, like, fifteen minutes."
Anthony ran off and Chloe entered her room. Dude and Beelzebub were happy to see her, getting under her feet and making it almost impossible to get changed. But she managed it, changing into warm pajamas, braiding her hair, and washing off the minimal makeup Evie put on her.
When Anthony returned, they turned on the large TV on her wall, lounged on her bed atop the covers, and shared the mix of junk food he'd brought consisting of soda, cookies, popcorn, and chocolate. Beelzebub curled up on the pillow next to Chloe's head, and Dude curled up by their feet, waiting for any food they might drop.
All things considered, it was one of Chloe's favorite memories while in Auradon.
AN: Happy New Year! Goodbye 2020 and good riddance! Here's a nice, long, fluffy chapter to bring in the New Year for you guys.
Anyway, this chapter included some stuff from the Descendants books, particularly Return to the Isle of the Lost. It was mostly the Castlecoming dance and the fact that Mal and the others disappeared during the dance. Anyone know why or where the four disappeared to? And any guesses on how Chloe might react when she finds out? Let me know in the reviews!
Also, you may or may not get to meet Chloe's potential Service dog within the next couple chapters.