Chapter Three: Trial and Error

Ben and Mal raced down the twisting roads of Auradon. Mal's laugh danced on the wind as Ben passed her, reveling in the freedom. He was terrified of crashing but something about being in control of such a metal beast, being able to go wherever he wanted, was electrifying. His fear and adrenaline were mixing in his blood into something entirely new.

The ride ended too soon, and they pulled their bikes onto a gravel road just outside a dark forest. Ben felt goosebumps ripple on his skin as Mal beckoned him to follow her in.

The walk was short, and they soon arrived at a crumbling stone gazebo overlooking a sparkling pond. Mal laid out a blanket and pulled out snacks stolen from the cafeteria, making her own makeshift picnic in the middle of nowhere.

Ben couldn't even begin to describe the relief he felt with no eyes watching him. As they settled onto the blanket, none of his muscles were tense and there were no biting words on his tongue. Him and Mal sat there as the sun set and talked for hours about everything and nothing.

"So how did you even find this place?" Ben asked with a laugh, tossing his apple core into the lake to watch the fish scatter.

"Found it on one of my rides. I thought of you."

"Really?"

"Of course," Mal replied. "Thought you'd be impressed I could find a place that combines the dark beauty of the woods and the glimmering magic lake."

Ben nodded, looking out. It was indeed magical, the sparkling water reminiscent of good magic and the dark ravens watching them from trees like Maleficent's evil servant. "I really needed this. Getting away from everyone."

"Even me?"

Ben turned to her, shocked and ready to defend himself, until he saw her teasing smile. He laughed and threw a crumpled napkin at her that she dodged easily.

"I'm serious, Mal!" he sighed with a smile. "Being here, it's all…a lot. But you…I couldn't do this without you."

Mal pressed her smiling lips to his cheek, arms around his torso. "Careful, Benny boy, or I think you're going soft on me."

Ben hugged her tight and breathed in the ashy smell of her hair. "Never."

Chad stood in the center of the circular gym reserved for the Dueling Squad. In the center was a ring outlined in green paint and ringed by dark boxes. Overhead, spectators watched from the balcony as the squad warmed up for practice.

"Alright, let's line up!" Chad called to the squad. "Harry, you're with me!"

The grumpy pirate rolled his eyes but picked up his sword (lately he hadn't been putting effort into, well, anything).

The squad partnered up, each holding a blade as they stood across from each other. This squad was specifically for non-magical duels and encouraged victory by any means necessary. Today they were working on swordsmanship, though any weapon was permitted in the arena during official matches.

"En garde!" Chad yelled and the squad pulled up their bandanas to cover the lower half of their face. "Go!"

The fight broke out instantly. Each pair was dodging and stabbing and flipping around the arena, doing their best to avoid their enemy while also subdue them. While Chad was used to simple contact fencing, dueling was played by different rules. They fought until one surrendered, no matter the cost.

Chad dodged other pairs fighting and rolled under Harry's blade. The pirate was trained very well in swordsmanship, but so was Chad. He hit Harry in the back with the pommel of his sword and watched him stumble forward. Harry swung madly and Chad leaped back onto one of the boxes surrounding the official dueling ring. Harry came again and Chad leaped over his head, landing perfectly behind him. He swung the blade to meet Harry's neck…

When another blade blocked his blow. Chad glared at the newcomer who was wearing a scarf around his face and mirrored goggles. He swung again at the stranger who was interrupting his practice, but he dodged.

Chad was infuriated. He'd been so close to victory and this idiot had stolen it from him. He swung again and again and again until the newcomer was on their back on the ground, Chad's sword aimed at his heart.

"Yield!" he yelled as the squad around him cheered. They had balked when Chad had been made captain but now, he felt accepted. One of them.

"I yield," the stranger coughed out. Chad stepped back so he could stand. The stranger pulled off his goggles and scarf revealing…

"Gil?" Harry gaped. "What the devil 're you doing 'ere?"

"I…I was hoping to join the squad," Gil gasped, his cheeks red from the fight. The squad burst out laughing. Gil was decent enough at Steal-A-Thon (though he'd lost the final to Chad six months ago), he was nowhere near skilled enough to fight one on one and could never live up to the legacy of his father or older brothers. He was painfully average in just about every physical endeavor he tried.

"Not happening," Chad told him.

"But you're down a person!" Gil fired back. "Ever since Uma decided to switch to Magical Dueling."

"You think you can replace Uma?!" Harry laughed even harder, nearly tearing up.

Gil stepped closer to Chad, lowering his voice. "If…if not, I was hoping maybe you could train me a bit. Get me up to your guy's level so I could join next year."

Chad's eyes narrowed. "Helping isn't the Auradon way."

"Maybe." Gil shrugged. "But isn't it the Isle way?"

Chad nearly felt his heart stop. No one, no one, ever mentioned the Isle. At least, not to his face. For the last six months he had been doing everything to prove he belonged here, that he was a true Auradon villain. That he wasn't even from the Isle. Chad had eradicated nearly every bit of his personality that came from there.

So, Chad leaned even closer and hissed out a warning. "Get. Lost. Before I make you."

Gil ran from the gym, all hunched shoulders and sad eyes. Chad watched him go as the squad cheered and laughed and began drills again. But something was pricking Chad's new dark heart. Something he had nearly forgotten about.

Empathy.

Carlos ducked through the halls and skulked around corners until he reached the magic labs where students who specialized in magical abilities were free to train or work on spells. Carlos himself wasn't magical, but the person he was looking for was.

Jane was in the farthest room in the back corner, away from all the others. She stood in the plain white room that had padded floors and mirrors on the one wall, dead center. She raised her wand, the one that had belonged to her mother and once been used to create Cinderella's ball gown and closed her eyes.

"I call the deepest dark unto me, the wind and rain and earth and sea!" she shouted and pulled the wand down. A dark blast shot out and wind whipped through the room, tossing Jane's hair around, nearly knocking her off her feet. Rain poured down, angry droplets splatting across the mirror and the window in the door that Carlos was spying through. Jane held on tight to her wand, eyes narrowed. Then she dragged it up again and the storm died as if it had never been there.

"Wow." Carlos slowly opened the door and looked at Jane as she put her wand into its sheath on her thigh, right under her ripped purple gingham skirt.

"Carlos, hey!" Jane called, pulling her damp hair into a ponytail. Her eyes sparkled with the magic she'd just cast, and she seemed to glow under the blinding fluorescents. "What's up?"

"Uh, not much, you?"

"Way too much," Jane laughed, grabbing her backpack. "Audrey's making me help with her dresses and we're going fabric shopping again because Uma wants a specific shade of teal for her dress."

"Oh, no, yeah, that's a bummer." His tongue felt like a ten-pound weight in his mouth. "Speaking of Cotillion-"

"I know right?" Jane cut in. "It's all anyone is talking about. I'm not sure if I'm excited or nervous, this being my first one and all. Do you like them?"

"Um." What was wrong with him? "They're alright. I usually spend the whole day fluffing Mom's furs for the red carpet."

"I'll probably spend the whole day making sure all the ribbons match the dresses for Audrey," Jane sighed. "Is it wrong to wish we could skip the whole thing?"

"No…"

Her smile was nearly blinding. "It's really nice having a…a friend who's on the same wavelength."

"Oh, you got me!" What was he saying? "Jane, I wanted to ask-"

Suddenly her phone dinged. Jane rolled her eyes and pulled it out of her bag, scanning the barrage of texts. "Audrey 'borrowed' the janitor's car. I gotta go before he finds out."

She started to walk out before snapping back around. "Wait, what were you gonna…ask me?"

"Um…" This was his chance. He was ready, he could do this. "If you thought I should talk to Chad about joining the Dueling Squad. I'm not super good with swords but if I could design my own weapons, maybe I would stand a chance."

Her smiled drooped for just a moment before she shrugged. "Maybe. I'm sure bending the rules is perfectly fine. Bye!"

"Bye…"

And his perfect opportunity walked right out the door.

Jane slumped against the wall outside the magic lab wing and stifled a scream. He'd been there, right there. They'd been all alone.

And…nothing.

Her phone buzzed again with a more demanding text from Audrey.

She looked back at the labs, where she'd left Carlos, and buried her disappointment. Maybe…another time.

Carlos scrolled through the articles he'd saved on his laptop. He was curled up in his room that he shared with Jay, all alone sitting on his large four-post bed with the large red blanket like a crimson stain covering it. A stuffed dog laid across his pillow (made of genuine dalmatian fur) and the parts of the 3D printer he was building laid across his desk.

But Carlos wasn't finding much help online with his search.

"Maybe how to get out of the friend zone is too specific," he muttered, scrolling through another recipe for a love potion. Even if he had magical ability, he was certain that Jane, the Jane who had made a love potion strong enough to spell Mal, queen of Auradon, was not going to be in any way susceptible to them.

There was a knock at his door just as he opened a new article. Carlos scrambled to open it and found a smirking Mal on the other side.

"You called?"

"Yes, come on in," Carlos ushered her in, grateful that their friendship excused his need to bow and grovel like all the other students.

Back in freshman year, Mal had selected each member of her gang very specifically. Evie, for her wicked mixture of brains and beauty. Jay, for his sticky fingers and athletic ability. And Carlos, for his digital spying and hacking skills. What had been a rough start to his first year at high school (getting shoved in lockers and his head pushed into rotten cauldrons) turned into the greatest one ever. Now no one messed with Carlos, because if you did you had to deal with Jay's punches, Evie's spells, the wrath of the queen of Auradon, and the fact the Carlos knew your entire internet search history.

"You bring it?" he asked a little too eagerly.

"Duh." Mal held up the translucent orange gummy, squished in her fingers.

"And this will…help me with Jane?" he whispered. All his friends had no trouble dating. He was a bit ashamed of his struggles.

But Mal just smiled and nodded. "It's a truth gummy, so yeah. Once you eat it, you'll only be able to speak the truth."

"Great," Carlos sighed and reached forward.

But Mal snatched it back. "Are you sure about this? Without the antidote, you're going to royally fail our scheming midterm since you won't be able to lie."

"I know. I just…I need to tell Jane how I feel."

Mal rolled her eyes. "So do that. Don't resort to this cheap trick."

Carlos crossed his arms. "Oh, come on. Cheating is practically your middle name."

"It's Bertha actually," Mal laughed. "And cheating to get what you want is great. But this isn't cheating, this is taking the coward's way out."

"Is not," Carlos grumbled, not meeting Mal's eyes.

"You're not a coward, Carlos," Mal told him. "You've faced your mother, this school, heck, you even beat Jay in a scheme-off."

"Only because Jay thinks more with his fists," Carlos shot back.

"So, think with what you've got. And what's the worst that happens? Jane says no and you guys stay chummy? Or I send her a cursed hat, your choice."

Carlos eyed the gummy again. It was oh so tempting…

"You're right," he admitted.

Mal's smile was triumphant. "Always am."

She squished the gummy in her fingers, and it burst, covering her nails in sticky orange goo.

Now all Carlos had to do was find the courage to ask Jane out himself. Somehow.

Jane flipped through her spell book, hovering over the love cookie recipe. It had worked out so well for Mal and Ben…

Suddenly the door to her dorm room burst open and Ben stumbled through. The echoes of paparazzi chasing him could be heard from the halls and cameras flashed outside as he locked the door. Ben sagged against it and sucked in a deep breath. He looked up and glanced at the TV that was replaying clips of him and Mal (again). Nostrils flared, teeth bared, eyes glinting a dangerous yellow, he grappled for the remote and punched it until the TV shut off.

"Easy, Ben," Jane called as she sat up on her bed, closing her book.

"You think this is so easy?" Ben roared, turning to face Jane. She'd never seen him so angry. "You don't have people taking a photo of you every time you open to your mouth to say please! I mean, not that I could even say please, you know…"

Ben sighed and fell into Audrey's chair in front of her sewing desk that was overflowing with fabric.

"Jane, don't you ever miss smiling at people and putting them at ease and, and helping people?"

"You're thinking of my mother," Jane sighed bitterly, swinging her legs over the end of her bed and facing him. "And I was usually forced to tag along on those outings and put on display so no."

Ben sighed and laid his head in his hands. "I just…I thought this would get easier."

Jane pressed her lips together. It had been Ben who had first suggested they choose Evil, that day at the coronation. His choice had freed her to make hers. And while she was struggling with the whole Carlos situation, she was clearly having an easier time then Ben.

"It still can," Jane said. "Chad and Audrey are both doing great here. I'm sure you will too."

"How?" Ben demanded. "I'm watched every second of every day and if I'm not bad enough, Mal could…"

The words died in his throat.

"We're never going back," Jane promised him. "We never have to. We'll make it here."

But the look in Ben's eye told her he didn't believe her.