"You look really mad, Audrey," Jane noted, and Audrey shook her head insistently. However, she very much kept her eyes on Jay as he laughed and prepared to spar once again with Lonnie. Jane furrowed her brow, looking at Audrey somewhat strangely.

"I'm perfectly fine, Jane. I keep telling you that," Audrey informed her for what felt like the thousandth time as she almost ground her teeth at the sight of her secret crush fraternizing with a friend of hers that just so happened to have a crush on him, too.

Audrey and Jane had came to the indoors practice area for the sports teams under the pretense that Audrey wanted to come and cheer Lonnie on. Of course, Audrey had not told Jane that they really were not there to cheer on Lonnie and that Lonnie had no idea that they were going to come at all.

The truth was that Audrey overheard Lonnie talking to Jay about sparring here today. She had immediately been overcome with jealousy and irritation because sparring meant one important thing. Sparring involved close contact, pinning, fighting, and way too much physical contact for Audrey's liking.

Audrey had been crushing on Jay for quite some time, and despite the fact that Evie had been trying to set them up ever since they danced together for a quick moment in the night at Mal's engagement party, they were still not together and had not even remotely been on anything resembling a date. They talked often, but it was subtle flirtations from both sides and it always felt like a dance around the elephant in the room.

Audrey definitely had a crush, but she had no idea if Jay felt the same because he flirted around every girl. He acted slightly different around her, but that was probably because they had gotten to know each other a little better than him and just any girl that he would pick to pull his moves on.

However, now that she was here and watching this situation, she realized just how differently he was acting with Lonnie. He laughed a lot around her and had no problem touching her. Claps on the shoulder, plenty of contact when they were sparring. She thought that she might explode from utter infuriation when he reached over and helped correct the girl's position. Fortunately, though, it was her arm position.

Small blessings, Audrey couldn't help but bitterly think to herself.

"Hi, girls, what's up?" Evie suddenly piped up as she came over, her arm linked in Mal's as she pulled her along. Evie released her best friend so that they both could sit down next to the two AKs. Audrey immediately attempted to pull herself together. However, she could not help the final glare she shot in Lonnie's direction.

Evie froze, immediately catching onto some sort of tension between Audrey and Lonnie. Evie slowly got a big grin on her face as she looked over at Mal slyly. Mal happened to look in Evie's direction and as soon as she saw Evie's look, she narrowed her eyes in confusion, trying to understand what was going on. Evie shook her head at Mal's cluelessness and straightened with one of those large one-thousand-watt smiles.

"Jane, how are you?" Evie cordially asked, and Jane offered Audrey a concerned glance before answering the bubbling but strangely sly bluenette.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm pretty good," Evie noted, trailing off, and Audrey could feel her looking at her. However, she was not going to make this easy for the other girl who was being much too nosy if anyone asked Audrey. Of course, no one really seemed to worry what Audrey thought, if Jay and Lonnie's exchange was anything to go by.

"And Audrey? How are you today?" Evie finally asked, making her move and pushing against Audrey's barriers. Audrey's gaze snapped to meet Evie's own.

"Fine," Audrey mustered, trying to make sure that it did not come out as the growl that she was definitely feeling. Evie raised an eyebrow, and Audrey suddenly realized that the bluenette looked much too sly for her own good.

"Are you sure, Audrey?" Jane questioned worriedly, and Audrey did not miss how Evie's intelligent eyes shifted between Jane and the pink princess astutely, soaking up as many details as she possibly could.

"I'm perfectly fine, Jane. I told you! What keeps giving you the idea that I'm not?" Audrey almost yelped in defense and now she noticed that Mal was looking quite curious indeed.

"Um… Because you have a crush on Jay?" Jane questioned uncertainly and Audrey stared at her in horror, completely shocked at the fact that Jane had put two and two together and figured it out. However, she giggled nervously and furrowed her brow as she scoffed.

"Pfft, what?! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my entire life! What would ever give you that idea?!" Audrey questioned, immediately mentally cursing herself for her question. She had not meant to ask, and now she was honestly afraid of what Jane would come up with. She could not even begin to protest because she could see how Evie was watching this situation like a falcon on the hunt.

"Well, you two are always flirting when you're in the same room, you've been mumbling in your sleep since the VKs first came to Auradon, you've been staring at him all day and are staring at him now—"

"No, Jane! I don't have a crush!" Audrey declared loudly before suddenly realizing her volume. She winced and looked in Jay and Lonnie's direction. Audrey was not sure if she was relieved or immensely irritated to see that Jay and Lonnie were so absorbed in their sporty activities that they were not even paying attention to her.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Evie questioned curiously, and Audrey shook her head swiftly. Mal suddenly looked quite knowing as she finally caught onto the entire ordeal.

"No! Why would I be jealous?!" Audrey demanded, and Evie shrugged a little, that same cryptic smile on her face as she looked at Audrey in a manner that the pink princess was honestly not sure she liked. Evie as a matchmaker was quite honestly terrifying.

"Like Jane said. You two are always flirting whenever you're in the same room—"

"Yo, losers," Uma suddenly interjected, walking past them and heading over to the practice dummies and the weapons.

"Whatup, fish lips?" Mal immediately replied before continuing her list. Uma offered her a glare over her shoulder before minding her own business that she had come for. "Anyways, you've been mumbling in your sleep about him since we first came to Auradon, you can't stop staring at him now—"

"Yeah, I get it, Mal! No need to repeat the list!" Audrey snapped, a little harsher than she intended to sound. However, it did not seem to deter Mal and it most certainly did not deter Evie. In fact, Evie only seemed to be further encouraged by the words.

"Well, I'm no doctor, but it sounds like you've got a severe bite from the love bug," Evie noted with a wide grin, laughing as she looked at Mal and enjoyed her own joke. Mal chuckled, rolling her eyes fondly at Evie and squeezing the slightly older girl's arm in reply.

"Ugh… And if I were… jealous," Audrey spat the word as if it were a curse, "what would you do about it, Evie?"

Evie looked thoughtful for just a moment, looking around and surveying their surroundings. After only a moment, she spied Uma in the corner, examining the swords and gently feeling their edges to check their sharpness. As soon as she spotted the pirate, a positively evil grin bloomed on her features.

"Hey, Uma, can you come over for a sec?" Evie called. Uma groaned deeply, but complied, carrying a sword with her as she approached, swinging the dull side carefully around her so that it was touching the back of her neck as she came to a stop next to the small group.

"What?"

"We need you to help Audrey spar with Jay," Evie told her, wasting no time in cutting to the chase about the entire ordeal. Uma shook her head. Audrey's eyes went ridiculously wide at the idea.

"WHAT?!" Audrey cried, and Evie just shook her head at the pink princess, dismissively gesturing as she focused her attention on Uma.

"Why would I do that for her?" Uma asked, scoffing as she raised an eyebrow and looked at Audrey. Audrey rolled her eyes and looked away from the pirate in favor of gazing at Mal and Evie.

"You'd be doing it for Mal and me," Evie explained, and Uma laughed.

"Why would I do it for you two?" Uma questioned. However, Audrey could see that Uma's tone was a little softer and her eyes were not quite as hardened as she glanced at Mal. Audrey knew that Uma liked Mal more than anyone sitting at the table. Of course, Audrey did not know Uma that well. They had only met briefly during Mal's engagement party.

"Look, Uma, you'd have the opportunity to kick Lonnie's butt," Mal explained, sounding unimpressed with Uma's lack of willingness to jump to their aid. However, Uma suddenly looked much more interested. Uma definitely was drawn in by the possibility of a good fight, and Audrey could see that would be her ultimate motivation in helping the girls.

"You've got my attention," Uma spoke lowly, a small smile starting to form on her face.

"Alright… Here's what we're going to do," Evie started, lowering her voice a little as if someone might hear her.

Audrey groaned. This was going to be a royal disaster.

…

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Audrey questioned, finding herself quite disgusted with the outfit she was wearing. It was nothing at all like what she would usually wear. The mere fact that it was on her now was quite indicative indeed of how far she would go to try to keep Lonnie away from Jay.

"Heck, yes, it is! I've been looking for an opportunity to kick butt over here without getting in trouble!" Uma proclaimed with a wide smile, rubbing her hands together and loosening her shoulders before adjusting the loose jersey, pants, boxing gloves, and helmet she was wearing. Audrey rolled her eyes, groaning deeply and feeling herself fill with dread.

"Alright, now, remember the plan," Evie spoke before proceeding to go over it once again. Evie and Mal were dressed in the same outfits as Uma and Audrey, and Mal was looking much too excited for her own good. Uma, Audrey, and Jane really had no idea why Mal and Evie were wearing outfits, but they hoped that Evie was about to explain.

"Audrey, you're going to go and interrupt Jay and Lonnie and ask Jay if he could teach you a few moves since several boys have been giving you trouble lately. Uma, you're going to tell Lonnie that you want to spar immediately after that, therefore pulling away Lonnie's attention from Jay."

"Okay… You still haven't explained why you and Dragon Breath are rocking those super form-flattering uniforms like us," Uma commented, grinning widely at Mal with that strangely present fondness that she had seemed to be growing little by little since they had teamed up during Audrey's catastrophe.

"M and I are going to spar, too," Evie pointed out as if it were the most normal and obvious thing in the world. Mal was grinning at this point, and Audrey quickly caught onto the fact that Mal must have been looking forward to creaming Evie. Most definitely she was not going to hurt Evie or even really get too rough with her, but she was for sure excited to win. But knowing what Audrey knew of Evie, Evie was probably thinking that she was going to win.

"But y'all ain't instrumental to this plan. Unlike me," Uma commented cockily, and Audrey rolled her eyes, folding her arms over her chest as she watched Lonnie and Jay. They were currently taking a break and talking for a moment, their chests heaving a little as they laughed. Audrey swiftly felt her chest burn with the pure rage at the fact that Lonnie was gaining all of his attention.

"Well, the practical reason is that we're blending in and not looking out of place. The much more important reason is that M said she thought she could beat me, and I'm never one to turn down a challenge, so—"

"Alright, girls, why don't we get going? Lonnie's looking terribly comfortable," Audrey noted, a growl slightly affecting her voice.

"Good luck, girls… I'm going to hang over here," Jane informed them. Uma raised an eyebrow, smirking wickedly, but ultimately chose to listen to Audrey and motion with her chin as they all started over to the group. Evie and Mal stopped short of them in order to not draw too much attention to themselves and they readied themselves to fight each other.

"Hi, guys! What's up?"

"Oh, not much. We were just taking a little breather from fighting," Jay told her, and she could not help but feel a little weak at the sight of his large muscles up close. He was wearing a tank top and it just so happened to expose quite a bit of skin. He was also wearing some sort of sports deodorant spray that was almost intoxicating to her. She tried her best not to breathe in too deeply at the risk of looking like a complete weirdo.

"Yeah. It's been pretty fun," Lonnie pointed out, and Audrey was half-ready to attack. Who asked Lonnie's opinion?

"Ah, I see. Well, I was wondering if I could borrow you for a minute," Audrey spoke up, cutting straight to the chase, she was in no mood to deal with Lonnie's crap any further today.

"Sure. What do you need? Free lessons on something in particular?" Jay flirted, grinning a little at her. Audrey felt her heart beat harder in her chest at the sight of that smile and wasted no time in returning it with one of her own.

"Maybe. I've actually been having some trouble with a few boys at school being too pushy," Audrey explained, and she saw him stiffen oddly for a moment but loosen quickly as he regained his cool appearance. She did not exactly know what that body language meant, but she let it go.

"Huh. I can see why," Jay told her with a big smile. Audrey rolled her eyes but grinned from ear to ear nevertheless and moved a little closer to him, everyone else completely fading out of the picture. At least for the moment.

"And I was wondering if you could spar with me and maybe teach me a thing or two?" Audrey questioned, mustering all of the sweetness that she could in the request. Jay immediately gave her a small onceover, and she felt her skin tingle as his gaze swept over her.

"Sure," Jay agreed easily, and Audrey could feel Lonnie's gaze burning a hole through the side of her head. She almost smirked in spite of herself, but she kept herself under control despite the strong desire to rub it in Lonnie's face at least a little.

"Jay, I thought we were going to spar a few more times? I've got to be well-prepared because we've got a boxing match coming up soon and I'm not as good as you and the rest of the team. Even if I am the swords and shields captain," Lonnie expressed, and Uma wasted no time in making her interruption.

"Well, I know just as much about fighting as old Snake Boy over here, so you can fight with me, Superstar," Uma sarcastically dubbed Lonnie. Audrey almost laughed at the nickname, but she was too focused on how Jay was looking at her and gesturing her to follow him over to a mat. She felt her heart beat almost violently in her chest as the exchange between the two girls nearby faded away in favor of the boy before her.

"Alright, so you're going to want to get in a good stance first," Jay informed her, and Audrey nodded, holding her fists up in front of her face and using her forearms to protect her torso. Jay chuckled a bit, and Audrey furrowed her brow, tilting her head as she tried to decipher precisely what happened to be so humorous.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just… Well, you gotta do it like this," Jay showed her with his own position. Audrey attempted to mimic it but obviously did not exactly fix her position perfectly. Jay shook his head good-naturedly, a smile on his face as he approached her.

"Here let me show you… If you don't mind," he added at the end with an emotion that almost sounded like slight nervousness. Audrey wasted no time in shaking her head, assuring him that she did not mind at all if he touched her and helped her out. He nodded easily, closing the distance and taking her arm in his hand as he helped her move in the correct stance.

"Alright, now, that's how you're going to keep your hands, and you need to move your body to the side like this," he spoke, just barely putting pressure on her waist. Her skin immediately felt as if it were going to catch on fire in the places that he was touching her. She slowly moved with his guidance, wanting to savor every moment of the contact that she possibly could.

"Okay, and you're going to spread your legs a little like this," he told her, spreading his own in demonstration. Audrey followed his motions and he nodded in approval. However, she could not deny her disappointment that he did not choose to physically correct her leg position, too.

"Alright. Now, we're going to go, alright?" Jay told her, giving her a fair warning as he backed up, preparing to fight her. Audrey swallowed a bit, readying herself.

"Okay… Three… two… one… Now," Jay told her, and she froze a little as he looked at her, obviously waiting on her to make the first move. She furrowed her brow, giving him a onceover before settling her gaze on his stomach and swiping somewhat gently yet firmly at her target. He wasted no time in knocking her hand out of the way.

"Don't look at where you're going to hit. That gives you away," Jay explained to her before nodding to her. She tried not to look at her next target, and instead made a swipe at the head. He held up his hand and blocked it. She wasted no time in following up with another hit. That one must have actually caught him off-guard because that hit did land against his head. She immediately stopped, forgetting her stance as she put a hand over her mouth and reached out to him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" Audrey asked, and Jay just laughed, looking at her with something between awe and fondness.

"I'm great! That was awesome!" he praised, and Audrey felt her heart swell with the words. She grinned, chuckling a bit breathlessly before getting into position again, following his lead.

"Alright. Now I'm going to go a little harder on you, okay? I'm actually going to try to get a hit in. I want you to try to block it," he told her, and Audrey nodded, looking a little lost about how to go about the procedure.

"You're going to bring your hands up and stop it. And if I kick, then you try to lock your hands around my leg and throw me onto the ground," Jay instructed. Audrey nodded, feeling a bit of nervousness gathering in the pit of her stomach. She did not want to let him down, and she really wanted to make him happy with her.

"Okay, let's go," Audrey spoke, and Jay regained his stance. Audrey readied herself, and after only a moment, Jay came forward with a quick punch. Audrey quickly shot an arm up and stopped it.

"Good," Jay told her before bringing another fist shortly after that. She reached up her hand, just barely blocking that one.

"Excellent," he noted quietly before suddenly raising his leg to kick her. Audrey swiftly lunged and tried to catch it, knowing that he was going easy enough on her for her to be able to catch it.

The problem with the situation was that she actually did catch his foot, but he obviously was not expecting her move to succeed because when she grabbed onto it, he pulled his foot back and she followed suit. He quickly lost his balance and fell backward on the mat. Audrey followed the motion, accidentally falling as well.

To her complete surprise, she landed on top of him, their chests pressed together firmly as their gazes met.

Jay's eyes were wide, and he was breathing a bit heavily just as Audrey was. She swallowed a bit, unable to remove her eyes from his. Time seemed to stop as they just stared at one another.

She could really see the different assortment of colors in his eyes, and she felt her stomach twist as she noted every little fleck of gold and light brown within them. There was also a myriad of emotions swirling in them. She could see surprise, awe, and something else that she somehow deeply identified with in this moment.

All she knew was that she was seriously drawn in and truly felt as if she could kiss him right now. In fact, his face somehow seemed to be getting closer to hers as he leaned a little. Audrey felt her eyelids drooping a bit lower in anticipation of what she desperately hoped was about to happen.

"RELEASE! RELEASE!" a voice suddenly shrieked, and both Jay and Audrey jumped. Audrey wasted no time in crawling off of him and blushing furiously as she turned to look for the source of the noise.

Uma was sitting on top of Lonnie's back, holding her down and twisting her arm behind her. Jane, Evie, and Mal were standing over them, and Evie was grabbing at Uma's shoulders and trying to pull her off. Mal was just watching with much interest as Jane looked on in horror.

"I SURRENDER, GOOD GRIEF! LET ME GO!" Lonnie cried out, and Uma shook her head swiftly.

"NOT UNTIL YOU TAKE IT BACK!"

"OKAY, OKAY, YOU'RE NOT SECOND TO JAY OR ANYONE, ALRIGHT?!" Lonnie cried, and Uma held the position for just a little longer before releasing the girl beneath her. Lonnie whined as she rubbed her arm. Uma got off of her before standing up and offering her hand to the daughter of Mulan.

"Round two?"

"No, thank you, I'm done for today," Lonnie informed her as she allowed the pirate to help her up. Uma shrugged.

"Your loss," Uma informed her, and grinned at Mal, offering her a high five that Mal wasted no time in participating in. Evie huffed, rolling her eyes as she looked at Lonnie concernedly, asking if she was alright.

After a moment, Audrey looked back at Jay uncertainly. He shifted his gaze to hers, meeting it quickly. He smiled, shrugging a little, and Audrey returned the grin somewhat hesitantly.

"This was fun. We should do it again sometime," Jay told her, and Audrey smile grew even larger as she nodded wholeheartedly.

"Yeah. We should," Audrey replied easily, and Jay nodded to her, proceeding to head over to his sisters to figure out exactly what was up.

Audrey sighed deeply, smiling in pure satisfaction. True, he did not know how she felt, but she had plenty to dream about now.

Especially about how Uma gloriously kicked Lonnie's behind.

A/N: Well… Even if Audrey didn't get to expose her feelings, at least Uma whooped Lonnie's crush-stealing behind XD Also, as I'm sure y'all could see, this one took place before Audrey and Uma really knew each other at all, which made a really interesting writing experience for me, lol. I'm used to writing strong emotions with them (whether it's love or hate, you can take your pick, lol XD)

Please let me know what y'all thought of this one! Until the next fic!