A/N: AnnaleaseTurner, if you find this chapter, yes, I borrowed a bit from one of our RPs, so sue me ;P
Today was finally the day to get ready to leave Auradon Heights to go over to Emerald Acres for the annual Summer School Games. Regina stayed behind to keep an eye on things as she was the mayor and kept Henry with her, though Roland and Robyn Jr decided to go on the charter buses with Mal and Evie since their father was going to be helping out in the archery tournament and he was currently signing something for Jay to give his seal of approval.
"Don't worry, Henry. Your big sister and Mal will be back soon." Dee Dee told her best friend.
"Thanks, Dee Dee," Henry nodded and blushed a bit. "I guess we can hang out a little bit and do some more spy work on everyone around town."
"Spy work?" Regina asked as she overheard the two young kids.
"Sorry, Mom. It's kind of a hush-hush operation just between us spies." Henry told his mother apologetically and maturely.
"Hm?" Regina then pondered, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms.
"It goes against everything we believe in to tell you." Dee Dee added.
"Well... All right," Regina said, shaking her head as they kept secrets from her, but tried not to get too mad. "Go hug your sisters goodbye, Henry. It'll be a while before you can see them again."
"All right," Henry said then before he went to hug Evie goodbye. "Bye, Evie."
"Bye, Henry," Evie said as she hugged her little brother back warmly. "Be good for Mom and everyone else until Mal and I come back."
"Yeah, Shorty," Mal added as she also hugged Henry goodbye. "We'll call you as soon as we get there, okay?"
"Okay..." Henry said softly before nodding. "Just don't forget about me."
"Never." Mal and Evie promised with warm and sincerely sweet smiles.
"See you around too, Dee Dee." Evie then told the blonde pigtailed girl.
"Okay, Evie," Dee Dee smiled. "Just promise me you'll look after my cousin for me. Papa says he's a lot of trouble most of the time."
"Ah, yes," Evie rolled her eyes playfully. "I do my best to look after Doug in school, but he's rather difficult sometimes."
"Oh, believe me, we know back home." Dee Dee replied.
"Hey!" Doug playfully whined as he overheard that.
"No offense, Doug." Evie and Dee Dee then said as Evie had an innocent smirk.
"Let's hope not," Doug replied as he adjusted his glasses. "Now, uh, Lady Evie... May I help you with your luggage?"
"Why, Doug... How kind of you," Evie beamed. "I just hope that Edna can look after the shop okay without me around. I'm a lot like a Mini Her, at least that's what she tells me."
"I think she can survive, but yes, you are a great employee there," Doug smiled before blushing. "In fact, I hope that you get promoted by the time you get back before the next school semester."
"I do wish I could have some help there, aside from just you," Evie smiled back. "I wish I could get Dizzy to join in, but I'm not sure. She's only 10, but she's really brilliant for her age. She's like the little sister I always wanted after putting Henry in dresses and make-up when he was a baby got old after a while."
"Wait... What?" Henry blinked in the background.
"Uh... Let me get these bags for you, Evie." Doug smiled sheepishly before he went to move Evie's stuff onto the bus.
"You do that, Doug," Henry nodded at him before looking at Evie. "Now... What was that about dressing me up when I was a baby?"
"Uh... Um... Well... Oh, look! There's Anita!" Evie smiled before she went to go after the distraction while she still had the chance. "I better go say goodbye to her since I'll be gone for most of the summer."
"Hmm..." Henry narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Anita was soon shown to be with Dr. Hopper as they both had their respective dogs, Pongo and Perdita who seemed to be embracing each other and even sniffing about. The two human adults were then talking with each other as Evie was walking on over.
"Oh. Here comes Evie." Anita smiled at the dark-haired girl.
"Hello there, Evie," Dr. Hopper greeted. "Are you excited for The Summer School Games?"
"Oh, I'm pretty excited," Evie nodded. "So, I see you two are getting along nicely... And so are Pongo and Perdita." she then said as she looked down at the two Dalmatians who looked like they were in love with each other. You could call it Puppy Love.
"Ah, yes," Anita smiled. "I just hope they can behave themselves in about a week from now when we meet up."
"Oh? What's a week from now?" Evie wondered.
Anita and Dr. Hopper looked at each other before beaming as they looked back at Evie like they had very exciting news to share with the kind fashionista girl.
"Well, as you know, I play violin sometimes," Anita prompted to Evie. "Well, I decided to invite Dr. Hopper to join me at a music festival where I'll be performing."
"Oh!" Evie smiled. "That sounds like a lot of fun."
"I'd play along too, but I'm afraid I'm not good with musical instruments," Dr. Hopper smiled sheepishly. "I usually just listen to the crickets at night."
"Well, I wish you both the best and I hope that you guys have fun," Evie said to them before cooing and fussing with the two Dalmatians. "And you guys too... You behave yourselves around your pet humans, okay?~" she then cooed to them.
Pongo and Perdita whined and nuzzled up in Evie's kind and warm touch.
"You're so good with them," Dr. Hopper smiled. "Maybe you should dogsit for us some time if we... Uh... Have a double date?"
"I wouldn't be against that, Dr. Hopper," Evie smiled back. "Have a great summer."
"Thank you, Evie," Anita nodded. "You have a good time in Emerald Acres."
"Thank you too," Evie beamed at them both before going back over to where her classmates were. "See you around!"
Anita and Dr. Hopper beamed, waving goodbye to Evie as she had a big trip ahead of her, as did the majority of the teenage students of this school.
"Mal?~" A familiar voice called out before showing Harry coming along with his father and sisters.
"Harry, there you are," Mal said to her boyfriend. "What took you so long?"
"Sorry, Mal," Harry said as he rushed over and greeted his girlfriend with a kiss on her lips before smiling at her. "My mother had to take an emergency call and she said if she wasn't back in 10 minutes to go on ahead without her."
"I hope everything's okay." Mal said, slightly concerned.
"Oh, I'm sure it's fine," Harry replied. "My mother's a natural with sheriff cases like this. I'm sure whatever's wrong she can handle it."
Mal smiled at him as they soon went to keep getting ready for the buses to head on over to Emerald Acres.
Meanwhile, at that very moment, Harry's mother was visiting a poor old woman who was in deep distress over something that seemed to take her by horror-stricken surprise.
"All right, just calm down, Mrs. Thornley... So you're in a panic about your granddaughter who went missing?" Emma asked as she spoke with the woman who had called her over.
"Oh, yes, indeed," Leah nodded as she shivered and sniffled a bit. "I was going to watch over her for most of her summer vacation since she's in summer school and her parents and big sisters have other plans. I can't imagine why she would just run away and I have no idea where she could even be."
"Hmm... Maybe she's with her friends?" Emma suggested.
"I'm afraid I don't know," Leah frowned. "I don't think so because I've called the telephone numbers that my daughter and son-in-law left for me, but nobody has seen Audrey since the last day of school."
"Odd... Very odd... And concerning..." Emma frowned thoughtfully.
"I just can't imagine why she would run away or where she would even go," Leah said as she blew her nose, sniffling a bit as her eyes were filled to the brim with tears. "She's a very sweet girl and has a life filled with promise. Especially like her mother... Her mother could hold onto a man in her sleep."
"Quite..." Emma blinked at that vivid description. "Well, Mrs. Thornley, I wouldn't worry about your granddaughter too much. We'll run a search for as long as we possibly can, but I'm sure one way or another that we'll be able to find your missing granddaughter."
"Oh, please, Sheriff... My poor little princess," Leah sniffled. "There's just no way I could possibly live without her."
"Don't worry, ma'am... I'll file a report down at the station and get back to you as soon as possible," Emma reassured as she put her notepad away after taking a few notes. "I don't know how long it will take, but one way or another, we will find her."
"Oh... Thank you, Sheriff Jones," Leah said before hugging the younger woman emotionally before letting her go out the front door. "Do what you must."
"I will," Emma nodded as she headed out the door. "You just get some rest. You've had a long day and you've been through a lot."
"Thank you..." Leah said as she soaked yet another tissue before she went to reach for the next dry one. "Take care."
"You take very good care too, ma'am," Emma replied before she headed out the door to do what she could do to help out the poor woman. "Poor lady... I really hope that I can help her." she then sighed to herself as she went to leave before checking the time as she wasn't sure if she would have enough time to see Harry before he would leave for Emerald Acres or not.
Soon, nearly every teenage student was ready to go as the buses were loading and quickly.
"All right, my dears! It's time to hit the road and head on over to Emerald Acres for our Summer School Games!" Headmistress Fairgood announced to the students. "Say goodbye to your parents, guardians, and etcetera! You'll see them again really soon!"
And at that, the students went to say one last goodbye as Jay soon made it over.
"Hey, Jay. Where have you been?" Evie asked the strong boy.
"Oh, uh, Mr. Bedford was just signing something for me," Jay replied before he took it out to show them. "I decided to advance my education whenever I can and do a little exploring."
Evie took a look at what Jay had. "Is that an acceptance letter to Sherwood University?" she then asked him.
"Mm-hmm!" Jay smiled and nodded proudly.
"Well, Jay... I gotta say, that's a bit surprising and impressive," Evie remarked. "Especially since you usually spend most of your time asleep in class."
Mal snickered and chuckled at that.
"Pfft... Whatever," Jay rolled his eyes. "Let's just hope we can win this thing without Lonnie."
"Yeah... That might be a challenge, but we can probably still do it." Evie replied.
"Wait... What?" Mal asked. "Lonnie's not coming?"
"Oh, you didn't hear?" Evie replied. "Lonnie's going to be spending the summer with her uncles this year."
"Oh... Well, I guess that's good for her," Mal said before shrugging. "I just hope I'm not bad luck enough around you guys to lose these Games."
"Relax, Mal," Evie smiled. "We're all in this together."
Mal smiled back a bit as they soon went to board on the bus as they had a rather long ride ahead of them.
Carlos soon went to take his seat, only to be startled instantly.
"Are we gonna win?!" Jay grinned at him.
"Uh... I... I don't know..." Carlos said nervously as that nearly made him jump out of his own skin.
"Wrong answer! Try again!" Jay rolled his eyes before grinning and getting in Carlos' face. "Are we gonna win?!" he then repeated himself.
"Um... I guess...? Maybe... I don't know much about Emerald Acres or their school, but it's worth a try, right?" Carlos grinned sheepishly.
"Buck up this summer, Carlos," Jay rolled his eyes before he took his seat. "You're definitely gonna need it."
Carlos sighed and shook his head before he took his seat and brought out his backpack to sit on his lap. Soon, out came a rather familiar-looking dog who beamed and licked his freckled face, making him laugh instantly.
"Well, Dude, at least I've got you with me." Carlos smiled at the dog who became his best friend after being a stray on campus for so long.
Soon, Keela and Ben were getting on the bus together as Ben wanted to share something with someone before a certain event later in the summer. He wanted to share the best cookies ever. He had hoped to share them with Mal, but since they weren't ever getting back together, he decided to go for someone else and the girls urged and told Keela to go along with Ben as they were off to a decent start so far and were sitting together.
"I hope you're hungry," Ben smiled. "I know some really good cooks around these parts."
"I am." Keela assured with a warm smile.
"Good," Ben smiled back. "Because I know an old family friend who can make the best cookies around."
"And who would that be?" Keela then asked with a small smile.
"These sugar and chocolate chip cookies," Ben replied. "They're from my old friend Carina who has her own bakery in the works. She even catered for Danny Darling's birthday party and she even has a milk bar."
"Chocolate banana milk?" Keela asked a bit hopefully.
"Sure, I think that sounds like a good idea," Ben nodded as he let her try some cookies. "Maybe we could both go some time."
"I think I'd like that, Ben." Keela smiled bashfully before she tried the cookies. She ended up with a crumb on the side of her lips though.
Ben smiled at her, chuckling a little, though not in a mean way as he noticed the crumbs.
Keela looked at him. "Hm?" she hummed curiously.
"You... You got a little something on your face... Right here." Ben smiled bashfully as he scratched his face to show her where they were.
Keela tried copying, brushing them off, but the wrong side.
"Here... Why don't I get that for you?" Ben chuckled a bit as he then stood up and reached out with a napkin, wiping her crumb-filled face a bit with a warm smile.
Keela suddenly went into a deep blush and looked away from him shyly. "You must think I'm messy."
"Creative, a bit messy, yeah, but I like that you like being yourself." Ben smiled warmly to show there were no hard feelings.
Keela blushed as she smiled back. "Well, when with me, you can be 'Just Ben' and not 'King of the School Ben'." she decided softly.
"Well, thank you, Keela," Ben beamed before he sat back down to eat some more cookies. "You're as sweet as these cookies."
Keela smiled shyly at that. She then decided she would tell him, and even if he didn't like her back, she needed him to know. "You don't have to say anything, but I love you... I have since we met on my first day of school." she whispered but so he could hear.
"...You love me?" Ben asked, very surprised, but not in a bad way, though his eyes grew wide before he began to blush and chuckled sheepishly. "Well, that's quite a secret, isn't it?"
Keela gave him a shy smile. "You don't have say anything, but I won't hide." she said softly.
"I admire your bravery in confessing your feelings," Ben smiled back. "In fact, I was doing some thinking about that myself lately."
Keela looked to him, soft, curious and her expression open.
"It's been a short time... I have Audrey, but... I think I might like you too," Ben smiled as he blushed a little bit. "Like... Like you a lot actually."
Keela blushed, but smiled back softly. She gently placed her hand atop his. "Whatever you choose, I'll always be here for you." She told him.
"Thank you, Keela," Ben smiled warmly. "If it helps you any, I'm having a lot of fun and a great time here right now with you."
Keela smiled back. "I'm having a great time too." she assured him.
Ben smiled back and soon nibbled on some more on his cookie.
Keela then tried hers before beaming and humming. "Yummy~" she then declared quietly.
"Good," Ben beamed and nodded before he began to finish up his cookies. "I was sure that you would love them. Don't tell Jane, but I had a batch ordered from Carina's for Jane's birthday."
"Well, I'm sure that she will love them as much as I do." Keela beamed.
"I sure hope so." Ben agreed with her warmly.
Ruby was soon coming onto the bus next.
"Ruby?" Evie blinked. "What're you doing here?"
"Eh... I thought I'd get out of town a little and find myself," Ruby shrugged as she crossed her arms. "So Granny said I could come here. She says I could use a little more structure and self-discipline anyway."
"Well, you are a bit of a handful," Evie rolled her eyes before smirking. "It'll be great to have you around though. Just as long as you don't drool at any Emerald Acres boys. They're the enemy after all."
"Hmph... I'll try," Ruby smirked back. "You almost sound like Granny. She even tried putting a leash on me once."
The two girls soon laughed together as the older girl decided to make herself more comfortable on the bus. And with that final note, the buses began to leave Auradon Heights and go straight into Emerald Acres to begin their brand new adventure together. Mal seemed a little distant, but she did smile a bit at her friends as they all soon began to chant and cheer for their school to show their school spirit against their rivals to bring home the gold. Little did they know, they would find a familiar face among them in Emerald Acres as well and I don't just mean Mal and Evie meeting with Regina's sister, Zelena.