Ch 27:
Chloe watched, somewhat anxiously, as the limo pulled up to the front of the school. She was waiting for the new Isle kids in front of Auradon Prep, standing near the back of the group with Jay, Carlos, and Motley. Ben, Mal, Evie, and Fairy Godmother were standing in front of them, waiting to greet the new kids.
The limo pulled to a stop and parked, the back door opening a moment later. Diego stepped out, glancing around while Dizzy practically flew out behind him.
"Evie!" she squealed, latching onto Evie and practically crushing her in a tight hug. Evie laughed, returning the hug just as tightly.
Meanwhile, Harry and Jace stepped out, gaping at everything around them. Finally, Freddie stepped out, pushing the gaping cousins out of her way while shouldering her bag and looking around, unimpressed.
"Welcome to Auradon." Ben greeted them warmly once Dizzy had stopped squealing. "It's good to meet you all. I'm Ben."
"Beast Junior?" Freddie guessed, raising an eyebrow.
Ben chuckled. "Yes, I suppose so. You must be Freddie."
"Score one for King Obvious." Freddie smirked, rolling her eyes slightly.
"Okay, Freddie, retract the claws." Mal returned the smirk.
"But I just had them sharpened." she joked.
Diego rolled his eyes, making Harry and Jace muffle their snickers behind their hands. Chloe cautiously watched Freddie's interactions from behind Jay's arm. She didn't know Freddie well, but she seemed to mostly be joking. Like any villain kid, she was likely to be rude and rough around the edges. Chloe figured she could handle that. As long as she showed no signs of actually torturing Chloe with voodoo magic or anything like that. Of all the new Isle kids, Freddie was the only one she'd been wary about, but it seemed she might be fine.
Chloe realized she'd been distracted when Diego was suddenly in front of her, exchanging high fives with Carlos and Jay. When he looked at her he smirked slightly.
"So, cuz, should we try this hugging thing?" he joked, spreading his arms slightly.
Chloe laughed. "I suppose we could give it a try." she joked in return, accepting the hug for a few moments before they separated.
"So, should we give these guys a tour?" Mal suggested to the group.
"I wanna see the cafeteria with all that wonderful food you were telling me about." Freddie suggested, to which Harry and Jace nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, that sounds as good a place as any to start." Diego agreed, shrugging.
With Mal and Ben in the lead, Fairy Godmother bid them all a good day and they headed toward the cafeteria. Chloe fell back toward the back of the group, making sure Motley was behaving with all the new faces. Sure enough, she walked perfectly at Chloe's side.
Dizzy and Evie dropped back to walk by Chloe.
"Can I pet your dog?" Dizzy asked hopefully.
Chloe felt guilty as she answered. "Not right now. Motley is my service dog, she's working right now. But maybe later when she's not working you can pet her or play with her."
"What's she doing for work? I only see her walking." Dizzy asked, confused but curious.
"Well, service dogs can do all kinds of different things. I have panic attacks, which I'm training Motley to help me with. For the most part, she's supposed to distract me if she senses a panic attack coming on, to hopefully prevent one from happening. People aren't supposed to pet service dogs when they're working, because it can put the handler in danger if they're distracted. I usually have her wearing her vest when she's working, but every handler is different. Just ask to be sure and I'll let you know if she can be petted or not."
Dizzy nodded eagerly, soaking the information in like a sponge.
"I've got a question." Jace called, making Chloe realize most of the group had been listening as they walked, some watching her and Dizzy over their shoulders. "Did you pick a Dalmatian to stick it to your mom?"
Several people chuckled, Chloe included. "No, I didn't. It just happened."
"Actually, Motley more chose Chloe than anything else." Carlos pointed out. "They played fetch and were instantly best friends." he teased.
They spent the rest of the walk to the cafeteria, and even part of lunch, with Dizzy asking Chloe questions about Motley. She asked about what she was trained for, where Chloe got her, what other service dogs do. But several of her questions focused on Motley's vest. Where did Chloe get the vest, did Evie help design it, was Dude also a service dog since he was wearing a vest as well,…? It was a bit of a relief when Dizzy focused on the fresh food on her plate. Especially the lack of mold on the bread in her sandwich, the lack of curdles in her milk, and finally the big bowl of chocolate ice cream Evie got her. Of course, Dizzy got a brain freeze after about three bites.
Temporarily free from Dizzy's enthusiasm, Chloe conversed a bit with Harry and Jace, as well as Diego. Her cousin also informed Chloe and Carlos that Cruella told him to tell them that they were both "ungrateful little rats" and they "would be sorry" if she ever saw them again. Chloe calmed herself with the reminder that her mother would never be able to carry out her threats because she would never get off the Isle.
When they'd first been discussing bringing the next group of kids over, Mal had suggested going over to pick the kids up. It was eventually decided that maybe they could do that next time, but right now they were worried about some of Uma's pirates wanting to retaliate for their new lack of a captain. Chloe was relieved. As much as she wanted to bring more kids over from the Isle, she wasn't sure she wanted to actually go back in order to pick them up.
When they finished eating, the boys wanted to check out the tourney field and amphitheatre, and Freddie feigned disinterest but decided to go along with them as long as she could take a whole plate of cookies and jelly-filled donuts.
Chloe informed them all she had some homework she needed to work on and needed to head back up to her dorm room. Before she got far, she felt a light tug on her jacket sleeve. A glance down showed Dizzy standing with her, Evie a few steps back with a smile.
"Evie said Beelzebub had babies? Could I go with you and see them?" Dizzy asked hopefully. Chloe smiled. Dizzy had only been a baby when Beelzebub's litter was born, so she didn't get to see her as a little kitten. But the last few years or so Chloe had brought Beelzebub around to visit Dizzy and the little girl had gotten rather attached. Apparently the few times Lucifer fathered a litter of kittens Dizzy had begged her mother and grandmother to let her keep one, as Lucifer wasn't one for affection, but the answer was always no. So getting to know Bee had been special for her.
"Of course." Chloe answered as they all started walking toward the dorms. "They're a few weeks old now, so they're getting extra adorable. Their ears are pointy now, and they're starting to walk, but it's more like a stumbly waddle."
"Oh!" Dizzy squealed, hopping along a few times. "I can't wait! They sound so adorable."
Chloe smiled. "They are. Just remember to approach them carefully. Beelzebub is a proud mama. She's swatted a few people who she thought weren't being careful enough with her babies."
Dizzy nodded quickly. "I will, promise."
The three girls stopped at Dizzy's new dorm, which she would be sharing with Freddie. It was right across the hall from Chloe's dorm, and therefore close to Mal and Evie's if she ever needed anything from any of them.
After Dizzy dropped off her stuff they headed across the hall to Chloe's dorm room. Chloe lead the way in, unclipping Motley's leash and vest once inside.
"Hi, Jane." Chloe smiled at her friend in greeting. Jane returned the greeting from where she was reading on her bed.
"Jane, this is Dizzy. Dizzy, this is Jane." Evie introduced them.
"My brother's girlfriend." Chloe added teasingly. The pair had made their relationship official the night of Cotillion. Meanwhile, Chloe and Anthony had made theirs official a couple days after their date at the café.
Jane wrinkled her nose playfully at Chloe. "And has she met your boyfriend?" she teased in return.
"Not yet." Chloe answered, kicking off her shoes and crossing the room toward the cardboard box near her bed. She paused, though, at what she saw.
Beelzebub was crouching by her food dish a couple feet away from the box. This was normal. Bee spent most of her time in the box with the kittens, but she occasionally left it to eat or go to the litter box or something. At Chloe's return, Beelzebub stood up and trotted over to her, rubbing around Chloe's ankles for attention. Chloe carefully scooped her up, cuddling her to her chest though her eyes were fixed on the floor a few feet away.
A little black kitten that could still fit in Chloe's hand was waddling aimlessly around the floor. One of the calico kittens was trying to climb out of the box but seemed to be stuck halfway. The sounds of plaintive mewling from the box indicated where the other two kittens were.
"Oh, look at the little kitten!" Dizzy whisper-squealed. Chloe chuckled, giving Bee one more scratch behind the ears before setting her on the ground. Chloe crossed the room to the box and sat on the floor, gently lifting the kittens out of the box and setting them on the floor one-by-one so they could wander and explore a bit.
Beelzebub was reveling in her reunion with Dizzy, lapping up the attention and purring loud enough for the whole room to hear. Jane joined them and all four girls sat on the floor in a ragged circle. Motley crept around the circle and laid on the floor near Chloe's knee. The Dalmatian had picked up early on that the kittens were delicate and Bee would not tolerate anything remotely resembling roughhousing. Motley usually froze up the few times the kittens had approached her, which hadn't happened many times. The kittens had only started waddling a couple days ago.
"They're so little." Dizzy squealed quietly again, still petting Bee in her lap.
"And Dizzy, you can pet Motley while we're here if you want to. She's not working right now, so she's just a regular dog."
Dizzy nodded. "Okay." She smiled when the little black kitten waddled up to her. With her free hand, she reached down to gently pet the kitten's head. Evie was watching the young girl with a smile while Jane had scooped up one of the little girls, cuddling the little patched kitten to her chest. "Which kittens are boys and girls?"
"The black one and orange one are boys." Chloe answered. "And the little calicos are girls. And so far, that one is the little instigator." she added, pointing to the little black one that was starting to wander toward Evie. "Well, they haven't quite developed individual personalities yet, but he's been the first for everything so far. First to open his eyes, start walking, and now escaping their box."
Dizzy giggled, setting Bee down on the floor to pick up the orange kitten. Bee settled contentedly between Dizzy and Evie, watching them interact with her babies. Jane set down the one she was holding, but the kitten didn't really go anywhere. She just sat there, almost falling over, and looking around the room with big green eyes.
All the kittens looked different, though they shared some qualities. They were all pretty fluffy, making Chloe think they would all have long fur like Bee. They also all had green eyes, which came from both Beelzebub and Dino. The two boys had white bellies and toes. And while both girls were calicos, their markings were completely different. One of the kittens had about the same amount of white that she did orange and black combined, giving her an almost lighter appearance. The other calico had some white on her neck, belly, legs, and feet, and her markings were more like smaller sprinklings of orange and black that covered most of her body, giving her a darker look than her sister.
Chloe watched as the darker calico wandered toward her only to turn and stop in front of Motley. Motley kept her chin resting on her paws, watching the kitten curiously. The kitten stumbled forward a couple more steps before placing her tiny paw on Motley's nose. Chloe stifled a squeal at how adorable it was. Thankfully, Evie seemed to read her mind, subtly pulling out her cell phone to snap a few photos. The kitten's paw slipped, making her stumble and roll onto her back with a squeak. The girls giggled.
"Hey, look." Jane suddenly called, gently picking up the other calico. Chloe leaned over to see what she was looking at. "This mark almost looks like a pumpkin." The kitten had a black patch on top of an orange patch. Because of the position of the black patch, it gave the orange patch a sort of pumpkin shape.
"It's a sign!" Chloe teased, gently pushing Jane's hands closer to her, moving the kitten into Jane's chest. "It's meant to be. Now you have to keep her." she added, referencing Jane's mother turning a pumpkin into a carriage.
Jane blushed, but cuddled the kitten close to her chest. Chloe knew Jane had mentioned the kittens to her mother at least a few times, and it almost sounded like she was wearing Fairy Godmother down.
They spent the next hour or so like that before they decided to give Dizzy more of a tour before dinner. So they set the kittens back in the box with their mother to nurse before heading out.
A little over a week later found Chloe and Anthony in her dorm room, doing some more training with Motley. Chloe stood in the middle of her room, holding a baggie of dog treats in one hand, and a single treat in the other hand.
"Orbit." Chloe commanded, moving the hand with the single treat around behind her back as far as she could to her opposite side. Motley followed the hand so that she wove around Chloe in a close circle. When Motley stopped once more at Chloe's side she gave the Dalmatian the treat.
"Good, she's doing really well." Anthony commented, making a note in the journal Chloe had been using to keep track of Motley's training. "Now, the next step we'll probably want to work on is training her to walk around you continuously until you tell her to stop, so that way you're not giving the command over and over."
Chloe nodded, scratching Motley behind the ear as she listened to Anthony's advice.
"At some point we'll also want to do some training where you have someone, like me or Carlos or something, stand right behind you while you give Motley the command, so she'll get used to when or why she's doing this."
Chloe nodded again. "That makes sense. Should we do that today?"
Anthony tilted his head thoughtfully. "Maybe. Instead of working on that in a separate session we could incorporate it into every crowd control training session you have. Like whenever you're working on this just have a couple times where someone stands behind you, so it's not all at one time. That might help Motley link that with the command."
Chloe nodded. "Okay. How do I train her to do the Orbit continuously?"
Anthony stood from her bed and approached, taking the bag of treats from her. "So, for now you'll take some treats in both hands instead of just the one." he explained, placing several small treats in each of Chloe's hands. "You'll only give the command once, because she needs to learn that the command doesn't mean to go around once, but as many times as needed. You'll use both hands to lead her all the way around you over and over, sort of like you did before but with both hands. You'll also need to figure out a release word that tells her she can stop, something like 'okay', 'free', 'break' or something like that."
Chloe nodded. "I'll probably go with 'free'?" she answered uncertainly, to which Anthony nodded.
"Sounds good. And after you give her the release word you'll want to follow it up with another command, such as sit or heel. Do you want to give it a try?"
Chloe nodded and Anthony stepped back, holding the bag so Chloe's hands were free.
"Orbit." Chloe commanded sternly, moving her hand around her like before. And like before, Motley instantly followed her hand. Instead of stopping her at one circle Chloe used her other hand to keep leading Motley around her over and over. She gave Motley a treat after about every time around. After several circles Chloe said, "Free," and stopped Motley at her side. "Heel." Finally, Chloe followed it up with another treat.
"Perfect." Anthony grinned. "You'll just want to keep doing that every so often. You've probably got time to do it a few more times before Motley loses interest and revolts." he joked. They've been training for about an hour. Motley usually loved learning new things, especially if it involved food or play, but even she had limits.
Chloe laughed.
"Do you want to try having me stand behind you once or twice?" Anthony asked.
Chloe's throat went dry, but she nodded.
"Okay, just stand like you're waiting in line or something. Like you're in the lunch line and I'm in line behind you."
Chloe nodded silently, turning to face the far wall of her room. Her eyes distractedly moved to the handmade playpen by her bed. Considering all the kittens had figured out how to escape the box within the past week Chloe and Jane had agreed building something a little more escape-proof was necessary. They didn't need four mischievous kittens trashing their room while they were in class. Anthony had provided some cardboard boxes and Chloe, Jane, and Dizzy and put together a decently-sized playpen for the kittens using cardboard and duck tape. And Dizzy insisted on coloring it.
The walls were just higher than Chloe's knees, and the floor of the playpen was lined with old towels. Spread out around it was the litter box, a water dish, a dish with kitten food, several cat toys, Bee's pillow, and the box the kittens were born in. The kittens still mainly nursed from their mother but they were starting to wean onto kitten food. Chloe had gone to the pet store a few days ago with Motley, Carlos, and Ally, who knew more about kittens than Chloe, and they'd bought kitten food to start the weaning process. They hadn't needed to buy cat toys because Pin, Pinocchio's son who was in some of Chloe's classes, had stopped by and shyly gave her a box of cat toys, saying that Ally had mentioned the kittens to him. And seeing the boy play with Bee and the kittens, Chloe was sure it wouldn't be too difficult to find a home for one of the kittens.
Warm breath in Chloe's hair made her stiffen, her heart starting to pound. She could feel warmth near her back.
"Did you hear a word I said?" Anthony's voice asked quietly, though she could hear the amusement in his tone.
Chloe cleared her throat, though it came out as more of a squeak. "Of course. Yeah. I'm standing in the lunch line."
Anthony snorted. "Okay. And I'm behind you in line, way too close in your personal space. What do you do?"
Chloe swallowed, looking down and trying to focus on the Dalmatian looking intently up at her.
"Orbit." Chloe commanded, her voice a bit shaky as she lead Motley around with her treat-filled hands. Motley followed her hand around behind Chloe's back, forcing Anthony to take a step back. Chloe continued leading Motley around a couple times before giving the release word, telling her to heel, and rewarding her.
"Good." Anthony commented, moving to stand in front of Chloe again. "That was a good first attempt. Should we stop for the day? You can work on it again later or something with Jane. It would probably help having a variety of people to help with that part of her training, so it's not just me."
Chloe nodded. "Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks."
Chloe told Motley she could play, and the Dalmatian instantly bounded over to her favorite toy, free to be a normal dog for a while now that she was off duty. Chloe sat on her bed and made a couple notes in her training journal. A moment later the bed dipped next to her hip, signaling that Anthony had sat next to her. This was further proven when Motley scurried over and dropped a ball at Anthony's feet.
Chloe turned and smiled as she watched Anthony roll the ball across the floor for Motley to chase and pounce on. They'd learned early on not to throw the ball in the small dorm room.
"So, I hear Jane's wearing her mom down on getting a kitten." Anthony commented.
Chloe chuckled. "Yeah. I think it really helped when Jane brought her mom to our dorm the other day to show her the kittens. Fairy Godmother couldn't stop cooing at how cute they were. And then when Jane showed her that pumpkin-shaped patch on the one kitten…" Chloe trailed off, smiling fondly at the memory. The headmistress had practically melted into a puddle.
Anthony laughed. "Yeah, if that doesn't convince her, I don't know what will."
"Well, she insisted Jane needed to get straight A's on her finals, but, come on. It's Jane." Jane was an overachiever. She was probably the only cheerleader that got straight A's. It was common knowledge.
Anthony nodded, rolling the ball across the room once more.
"I didn't make you nervous before, did I?" he asked, glancing over at her.
Chloe blushed. "No, of course not. What makes you say that?" she asked, trying to sound casual and probably failing miserably.
"When I stood behind you I could see you stiffen up." Anthony commented. "You just seemed nervous. I wasn't sure if it was anything I did wrong."
Chloe shook her head instantly. "No, not at all. You were fine. I wasn't nervous, it was…"
Anthony watched her, waiting for her to finish. When she didn't, he urged, "It was what?"
"Well,…" Chloe picked at her fingernails, looking down at her lap. "Okay, I mean, maybe I was a little nervous, but…" she trailed off again, knowing her face was bright red.
Anthony finally seemed to get it. "Not a bad nervous, like if it was a stranger, but maybe a good nervous because it was me?" he offered uncertainly.
Chloe nodded slowly. "Yeah, something like that." she admitted quietly.
It was quiet for a moment before Anthony used his finger under Chloe's chin to pull her face around, making her look at him instead of avoiding eye contact.
"I've kinda been thinking…" he trailed off.
"Yeah?"
"Well, we've been dating for about a month and half now,…and I didn't want to push anything…" Anthony trailed off.
Chloe tilted her head slightly. It was always kinda nice when Anthony was the nervous one, since it was usually her. "It's okay. You can say whatever you need to. I know I'm probably really bad at that, saying things and talking." she admitted. "But I'm working on it."
Anthony smiled slightly. "You're doing fine at it so far. Anyway, I never wanted to push you or make you uncomfortable, because I wasn't sure how you felt about it, but…well, how would you feel about…a kiss?"
Chloe blinked. She'd honestly thought about it quite a bit since they started dating. They'd gone on a few dates since Cotillion and each time Anthony would end the night either by kissing her cheek or hand like a gentleman. She'd always thought it was just that, him being a gentleman, but now she was starting to wonder if it was more than that.
"If you don't mind me asking, why haven't you…well, brought this up before?" she asked curiously.
Anthony blinked now, probably thrown by the question a bit. "Well,…I guess I just didn't want to risk upsetting you or anything. I don't know how…dating works on the Isle. I didn't want to do anything to set you off or scare you."
Chloe nodded slightly. "That makes sense. And thank you, I really appreciate it. I guess I don't really know how I would have reacted." she admitted. "I've never, well,…obviously most of my experiences on the Isle weren't good ones. Especially with boys my age. Most of them were jerks. But you're not a jerk." she added, looking up at him.
Anthony grinned slightly "Glad you think so." he joked, making Chloe laugh.
It occurred to her that Anthony seemed to have initiated nearly everything in their relationship so far. He asked her out, wrote a song for her, kissed her on the cheek or hand after dates. Maybe it was time for Chloe to start getting out of her comfort zone and initiate some things.
Taking a deep breath, Chloe glanced up at Anthony before stretching up and pressing her lips to Anthony's. She backed up quickly afterwards, her cheeks bright red as she peaked up at him from under her bangs.
Anthony stifled a chuckle, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. He brushed her bangs out of her eyes before leaning down to kiss her properly. Chloe found it difficult to return the kiss when she couldn't stop smiling.
They were interrupted by Motley hopping up between them and slobbering all over both their faces, making them break apart and laugh. Chloe hugged the dog as Motley settled into her lap. Anthony wrapped an arm around Chloe's waist and she reacted by leaning into his side.
"So, we should probably go on another date soon, huh?" Chloe suggested, making Anthony laugh.
"Yeah, I suppose we should."
AN: AAAWW! That ending made me feel all warm and gooey inside! Hope everyone liked this chapter, with the first group of VKs, the kittens, and Chloe and Anthony just being cute. Who do you think the four kittens will go to?
Let me know what you all thought in the reviews! I love hearing from all of you! And thanks to everyone who has already reviewed!