Ch 29:
"Nope. I can't. I don't want to. I refuse." Chloe ranted slightly, turning away and trying to slam her door in her brother's face. Carlos stopped the door before it could close and entered the room, Mal on his heels.
"Chloe, come on. The rest of us are going." Carlos tried.
"And you can go without me. I refuse." Chloe put her foot down. "You don't even need me to go. You chose four kids this time around, you only need the four of you to announce the four names. There's no reason for me to be there."
"Chloe, I understand if you're nervous, but Cruella won't touch you while we're there." Mal tried to assure her.
"It's not my mother I'm worried about." Chloe insisted. "At least not this time."
"It's Big Murph." Carlos explained quietly to Mal.
Chloe suppressed a shudder at the name, turning and crouching down next to Motley, who could pick up on her mounting anxiety and began pawing at her, poking her nose into Chloe's cheek.
"Ah." Mal voiced in understanding. "Chloe, I understand, but-"
"No. No, you don't understand." Chloe snapped, standing and spinning around to face them. "You'll never understand. You're Mal. You've never been bullied or beaten up or tormented like we were. Like I was. Everyone feared you on the Isle. When they saw you coming they cleared a path to keep out of your way. When they saw me coming they smirked or cackled or cracked their knuckles, seeing their favorite punching bag."
Mal nodded, watching her closely. "I get that, Chloe. But Big Murph has changed. He joined the Anti-Heroes Club. He helped us stop our parents. He filled out an application to be brought to Auradon, and Jay vouched for him. It's not fair for us to reject him because of personal feelings."
"So you wouldn't outright refuse if, say, we decided to actually give Uma a chance to be in Auradon legally. Or Mad Maddy. Or Harry Hook." Chloe suggested cynically.
Mal pursed her lips, eyes narrowing slightly. "That's different. Uma snuck off the Isle. She's here illegally. Maddy recently tried to take us all down, and threw me to the crocodiles. And Harry helped kidnap Ben and helped Uma. They don't want to be good."
"Sure. And your personal bias has nothing to do with that decision." Chloe agreed sarcastically.
"Okay, okay." Carlos held his hands up between the two girls, who were glaring at each other. "Let's not turn on each other here. We have the same goal in mind, yeah? Giving kids like us the chance to come to Auradon and have a real life. Right?"
Chloe and Mal glared for a few more moments before they both took a step back, averting their eyes.
"Fine. Go ahead and bring him to Auradon. But I'm not going with you to the Isle, and keep him away from me." Chloe decided firmly.
"Chloe-"
"Just leave her, Carlos." Mal ordered, her voice surprisingly quiet. "She doesn't need to come with us, we're only choosing four kids this time. If she's not comfortable coming to the Isle, don't force her."
Chloe glanced at Mal, who nodded to her while Carlos sighed. Chloe returned the nod, grateful that despite their argument Mal was being understanding.
"Okay, fine. We're leaving tomorrow morning about nine to go announce the next group of kids, if you want to come out and see us off. We'll then bring them over in about a week."
Chloe nodded. "Okay. I'll be there to see you off."
As promised, Chloe met the others in front of the school to see them off to the Isle. And a week later Chloe waited outside the school with several others to greet the new arrivals. They were making a bigger deal this time, an idea Jane and Carlos came up with. They were calling it VK Day, with a big celebration to welcome the new arrivals and honor the current VKs.
Ben, Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos took one of the limos to the Isle to pick up the new kids. Chloe waited outside the school with the last group of VKs Diego, Dizzy, Freddie, Harry, and Jace, as well as Jane and Fairy Godmother. Doug and Anthony were also there, ready to lead the band when the limo arrived. And Motley, of course, was at Chloe's side in her vest.
Chloe was standing more to the side, talking with Dizzy and Freddie. In the nearly six months since they came to Auradon, Freddie had definitely learned a thing or two in regards to being good. She was still sassy and rough around the edges, but Chloe found her less intimidating. Actually, Chloe found her dry sense of humor more entertaining than she would have thought.
Dizzy was rambling on to both of them about how Evie was giving her design and business tips, and Dizzy was working a few hours a week with Evie on Evie's 4 Hearts. She'd work way more if she could, but Evie also wanted her to focus on school.
Dizzy's eager ramblings was finally cut off by a limo pulling up in front of the school. At Doug's cue, the band began playing, a few cheerleaders doing flips off to the side. Most of the cheerleaders had followed Audrey's lead and refused to be present. The spoiled princess was becoming more and more of a bitter child in Chloe's opinion. Not that she knew personally because she avoided Audrey like the plague after their last few interactions.
Chloe shifted anxiously on her feet as the limo parked, and she forced herself to take several deep breaths. She hadn't wanted to be here, but she'd promised Carlos she would. It was bad enough she hadn't gone to the Isle to help choose the kids, not being here to greet them could be seen as mean. And she did want to welcome most of the kids to their new lives in Auradon. She just didn't want to be reunited with Big Murph and have a panic attack in front of half the school.
"Chloe?" Dizzy asked uncertainly. Chloe turned and looked down at her. "Are you okay?" she asked. She'd seen Chloe fall into a couple panic attacks in the months since she first came to Auradon, so she had a vague understanding of them.
Chloe took another deep breath through her nose as she forced a small smile. "I'm working on it." she admitted.
"Is it 'cause of Murph?" Freddie asked bluntly, making Chloe flinch.
"Freddie!" Dizzy hissed.
"It's okay, Diz." Chloe whispered.
"Look, I know he was a jerk back when you were on the Isle, but he's not so bad anymore." Freddie explained, glancing at the limo as the back door opened. "He's-"
"Can we not talk about it now?" Chloe asked quietly. "You can lecture me later, but I'm barely keeping myself together right now."
Freddie stared at her for a moment before nodding in agreement, turning to face the limo. The first to step out was a teenage girl wearing a black and burgundy leather jacket that Chloe recognized from passing in the hallways of Dragon Hall as well as the few times Jay had to help her out. Jay's cousin Jade definitely resembled him and their family. She was clearly of Arabian descent with tan skin, sharp cheekbones, dark brown eyes, and sleek hair that was black faded to burgundy on the ends. Chloe and Jade hadn't really run in the same circles other than Jay and occasionally Mal, but they knew each other well enough. Jade was seventeen, only a couple months younger than Jay.
After Jade stepped out two younger kids, a boy and girl, followed her along with Ben and Mal. The girl strongly resembled Freddie, and yet looked very different at the same time. They had the same dark skin, same nose, same smirk, and even a similar taste in clothes, including the little hats atop their heads. The only real differences were eye color and their hair; where Freddie's was long, black, and sleek, her sister's was red and curly.
Freddie and Celia made eye contact and past the cool smirk Chloe could see how excited the younger girl was, both to see her sister as well as to be in Auradon.
The boy was in a tattered green jacket. His skin was pale and he looked nervous as he looked around, tugging at one of his too-large ears. When Mal leaned down to say something to him, he gave a less-nervous snaggle-toothed smile. Chloe recognized him as Eddie Balthazar, a boy about a year below her and Carlos. Where her and Carlos had always been the butt of any dog jokes, Eddie was always the butt of any cat jokes, frequently being called a 'scaredy cat' and the like.
Carlos and Evie climbed out of the back of the limo, and Jay came around from the front after parking and turning the car off. Chloe pointedly ignored the last person to get out of the limo, focusing mostly on Celia as she skipped over. Instead of going to her sister, Celia passed them and hugged Dizzy first, making Freddie roll her eyes. When Celia pulled away from Dizzy, who'd been her friend for a few years now, she grinned cheekily up at her sister before pulling something from behind her back.
"From Dad." she announced, presenting a small voodoo doll that resembled Dr. Facilier. Chloe rolled her eyes slightly, but Freddie accepted the gift and subtly hugged it to her chest.
"Hey, Tremaine." Jade called, approaching them and kind of cutting off Fairy Godmother, who had been greeting them. Jay scratched the back of his head, giving the Headmistress an apologetic smile. "Your grandmother has your cousins working in the salon with you gone, and one of the twerps butchered my hair." Jade announced, lifting up a chunk of her hair in her fist.
Dizzy took the hair gently in her hands, gasping in horror within moments. "Oh, this is horrible. Come by my dorm later and I can fix it."
Fairy Godmother cleared her throat and was finally able to give her usual speech welcoming the new kids to Auradon Prep. After that she left them to their devices, leaving the original VKs to give the new arrivals a tour. The group splintered off a bit before leaving, breaking into smaller groups to chat and catch up for a few moments. Evie and Dizzy introduced Jane to Celia before they fell into what was likely talk about fashion and hair or something. Carlos lead Eddie over to chat with Ben, Harry, and Jace. Jay brought Lonnie over to introduce her to Jade, before the three fell into conversation with Freddie and Mal.
Chloe's view of everyone was blocked by a stained shirt under a yellow vest. Chloe tensed, instinctively taking a step back as she glanced nervously up at the boy in front of her. He was big, one eye covered by an eye patch, and he had a red bandana tied around his forehead.
"Hey De Vil. Long time no see." Big Murph greeted casually, smirking.
Chloe nodded once tersely, keeping her eyes downcast and hunching her shoulders. It was as if within a few seconds she'd reverted back to the cowering little runt on the Isle.
"I heard you got a dog. Almost didn't believe it." he went on, looking down at the Dalmatian at her side. Chloe once more instinctively took a step back, not wanting him to touch Motley. "What's with the dorky vest? I knew Carlos dressed up his dog, but I didn't think you would."
Chloe took a deep breath, her heart pounding and blood rushing in her ears. She couldn't do this. She could feel herself falling apart and she didn't want to do that now in front of the school. Sure, most of the crowd had dispersed, but she still didn't want to have a panic attack out in the open like this.
Not caring if this was rude or not, she abruptly turned to leave.
"Hey, wait-"
A big, meaty hand wrapped around Chloe's arm.
Flashback
A hand wrapped around Chloe's scrawny arm, yanking her back until she slammed into the alley wall.
"Hand it over, runt." a familiar voice ordered from above her head.
"I-I don't-"
"Don't try to lie. I know you found some loot at the docks. Hand over what you found, and I'll let you go." Big Murph bargained.
"I-I do-I can't-"
"Then I guess I'll just feed you to the crocs." Big Murph decided casually, starting to drag her back down the alley.
"Wait-no! Please! You can have it! You can have all of it!" she begged, frantically pulling at his grip on her arm.
He stopped, turning to smirk at her. "That's what I thought." he released her arm and gestured for her to empty her bag and pockets. "Go on, then. Hand it all over."
Chloe hesitated, grabbing her bag strap on her shoulder. But instead of swinging it off her back, she spun around and ran. She ran for the alley wall and leapt up onto an old dumpster, using the height to leap up to the fire escape high above her head. Her hands grasped the railing and she started pulling herself up.
A hand grasped her ankle and yanked, causing her head to smack the hand railing as she plummeted back to the ground.
End of Flashback
Chloe was pulled slowly from her memories by a heavy weight on her chest. She could feel something pulling at one of her wrists, where her hands were clapped over her ears. Blood was still roaring in her ears and she could swear her head was throbbing from where it hit the fire escape.
Something warm and wet was wiping all over her face, and something cold kept bumping and nudging at her hands to get them to move. Chloe took in a deep breath and suddenly figured out what, or rather who, was on top of her.
Her hands came down from her ears so she could wrap her arms around Motley's neck where the Dalmatian was laying on top of her. She forced herself to continue taking deep breaths, her chest actually lifting the small Dalmatian who was laid atop her.
Motley settled down, calmly licking Chloe's face, who was calming down thanks to the soothing weight on her chest.
Blinking open her eyes, Chloe focused on the spotted face looking down at her. Motley's brown eyes were staring down at her, head tilted slightly as if waiting patiently for Chloe to open her eyes. When she did, she felt Motley's black-tipped tail begin wagging against her legs. Motley then leaned down, nuzzling her nose into Chloe's neck. Smiling shakily, Chloe lifted one hand to the back of Motley's head, scratching the dog's floppy ears gratefully.
Finally glancing around, Chloe took stock of what was going on around her. The first thing she saw was Anthony sitting on the grass next to her. When her green eyes met his blue-green, he smiled gently at her, looking patiently at ease.
"Hey." he greeted her quietly, as if he had just been sitting on the lawn next to her, waiting for her panic attack to subside.
Chloe swallowed in an attempt to wet her dry throat. "Hi. How long have I been out of it?"
"About…" Anthony glanced down at his wrist watch, "five-ten minutes. You nearly collapsed, but you kinda managed to catch yourself on Motley's back before you hit the ground too hard. As soon as you were down, Motley started on the deep pressure therapy." Anthony grinned, glancing over at the dog on Chloe's chest. "She did good. You should be proud of her."
Chloe smiled, giving Motley a small squeeze and resting her head against the dog's head. They'd started doing some deep pressure therapy training with Motley around the same time they'd started training her on boundary control, but they hadn't had the chance to see her do it for real instead of as part of training.
Glancing around some more, Chloe realized there was still a small crowd nearby, and some of them were watching her. Blushing, Chloe buried her face in Motley's neck in an attempt to hide.
"Hey," Anthony reached over and lightly rested his fingers on her forearm, "don't. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. And if any of them think you do, they're not your friends."
Chloe sighed. "I know. But knowing is one thing. I can't help but be embarrassed. I mean, I'm perfectly safe here in Auradon, and yet I still panic because of the things that happened to me over there."
Anthony shrugged. "Memory is a powerful thing. It can effect you decades later. Sometimes a memory is so traumatic your mind buries it until one day it resurfaces. It takes time to heal from the things you went through. That's nothing to be ashamed of."
Chloe sighed, her head still resting on Motley's. "Again, easier said than done."
Anthony nodded again, glancing past her at the crowd a safe distance away. He'd sent Carlos to help Jay keep the crowd back while he sat with Chloe. It was mostly just all the VKs as well as some of their close Auradon friends, like Jane, Lonnie, and Ben. Most of them knew and understood what had happened to Chloe, though they still worried, of course. But the new arrivals were baffled, having never seen anything like it, probably. Anthony's eyes drifted to the teenage boy in pirates garb, complete with eye patch but wearing shower sandals. It was hard to read his expression from this distance, but he almost looked worried.
"So, do you wanna tell me what happened?" Anthony asked, glancing down at where Chloe lay on the grass. "I couldn't see much from where I was, just you talking to that guy."
Chloe swallowed a lump in her throat, keeping her eyes downcast.
"That was Big Murph." she admitted quietly. "He…we didn't get along on the Isle."
"Ah." Anthony nodded in understanding. Carlos had mentioned to him that one of the new kids was someone who used to torment Chloe. "Did he hurt you today? Do you want me to tell Fairy Godmother?"
Chloe furrowed her brow, trying to remember what, exactly, had set her off. "I don't think he hurt me. I think he grabbed my arm, but…" she trailed off, lifting her arm slightly to look down at it, as if searching for a bruise or mark. "I don't think he hurt me."
Anthony tilted his head, eyes sweeping over her arm as well. "Maybe he was just trying to talk to you? It looked like you were trying to leave. Maybe he just wanted to talk? I think Carlos mentioned that he had changed. Maybe he was trying to apologize."
Chloe looked down, brows furrowed in a slightly stubborn expression. "Maybe I don't want to hear his apology." she muttered.
Anthony smiled sympathetically. "I get that. But is that really fair? I mean, from what I've heard Mal and Jay used to do awful things to you and Carlos when you were kids. But you don't seem to hold it against them. Is it really fair to hold it against Big Murph if he really wants to be good?"
Chloe turned away, glaring into the side of Motley's neck.
"I hate it when you're reasonable."
Anthony laughed. "Well, sorry, but I can't help it. And before you get mad at me, I'm not telling you what to do or anything, and I'm not going to force you to talk to the guy. I'm just pointing out the facts."
Chloe sighed tiredly, burying her face into Motley's neck. After a moment of silence, she mumbled, "Whatever I do, it won't be today."
Anthony nodded. "Of course. Do you want to get up and maybe head back to your dorm or something? Or do you want to wait here for a while?"
Chloe sighed, peaking over Motley's head to glance over at the crowd gathered nearby. Part of her really wanted to leave, but she also didn't feel quite ready to get up yet, either.
"Maybe wait here for just a little longer." Chloe admitted quietly.
"No problem." Anthony agreed, scooting a bit closer and smiling at her.
They sat there for another ten minutes, and during that time most of the crowd dispersed. Carlos checked in on Chloe to make sure she was okay before leaving her with Anthony. When Chloe finally felt okay, Anthony helped her stand up and they instinctively headed toward the school's kitchen to make smoothies.
AN: The four new VKs that have been brought over are Eddie, Big Murph, Celia, and Jade. For those that don't know, they're all characters from the books or movies, I just fleshed some of them out a bit more. Big Murph is a pirate and member of the Anti-Heroes Club in the books. Eddie is a younger member of the Anti-Heroes, and son of Edgar Balthazar, the villain in Aristocats. Jade is Jay's cousin, who's only mentioned once or twice in the books, so we don't know much about her. Since she's Jay's cousin, it's speculated that she's the daughter of Jafar's sister, Nasira; that's not confirmed, but that's what I'll go with. And finally, Celia is obviously the younger daughter of Dr. Facilier and sister of Freddie.
I wanted to bring over someone who used to really torment Chloe, to give her that challenge of having to face the person and figure out how to move past that fear and build on her character a bit more. Hope everyone likes how I'm going about that. Her story with Big Murph won't be a big plotline, just a little side-story.
Thanks for all the reviews! I love hearing what you all think!