Jane helped Melody re-trace her steps again to try to find the locket. Of course, they had no luck, lending more evidence to the theory that the pirate had, indeed, swiped her most prized possession.
But before they went to find Carlos to ask for his help in questioning Harry, Jane encouraged Melody to have lunch. Jane already knew her well enough to understand that Melody's hanger knew no boundaries. And a hangry conversation with a thieving pirate was not going to end well for anyone involved.
They opted to skip the packed cafeteria, instead choosing a little stand outside in the rose garden that sold grab and go sandwiches. They ate in the dappled shade of a tall oak, in mostly companionable silence. Melody was too busy scarfing her sandwich down and seething about the recent theft to focus on having a conversation.
With her belly full and hanger levels more under control, Melody stood, brushing the crumbs off her jeans. She turned to her roommate, who was frowning at nothing in particular out in the distance. Jane seemed pre-occupied with her own thoughts which was very unlike her.
Melody hoped it didn't have anything to do with her own standoffish attitude. She had been pretty closed off over the last hour, especially considering Jane had dropped everything to help her find the locket and she hadn't even acknowledged her friend's kindness.
No wonder I have such a hard time keeping friends.
Melody tended to get so wrapped up in what she was doing, she sometimes failed to consider how other people felt. At least she'd realized it this time, a small battle won in the constant war going on within herself. How did other people seem to do this friend thing so naturally?
She offered a hand to help the other girl up. "Jane, thank you so much for helping me. I know you had a million other things you could be doing right now."
Jane stood with a smile, brushing away some crumbs off Melody's shirt that she'd missed. "I'm happy to help, roomie."
Jane led the way down the winding corridors near the athletic pavilion where she knew the Royal Order of Auradon Regiment, or R.O.A.R., would be practicing.
As they approached, she heard the clank of ringing steel before she ever saw the team. The two girls emerged onto a balcony overlooking the open-aired stone atrium below. Columns crawling with ivy circled the platform where the team was practicing. The clash of swords and the grunts and calls of the players echoed across the stone as the two girls leaned over the railing to take a peek.
Melody watched Jane's eyes flit over each body down below until she found her focus. Her blue eyes widened and her mouth softened as though she'd found the center of her gravity and she just, stood there, staring.
Melody swallowed, turning away from the intimacy of the moment. Carlos didn't even know Jane was here yet, but Melody still felt like she was intruding on something private.
So, she turned her gaze toward the team down below. She always enjoyed watching R.O.A.R. in practice back at Seaside Academy. She'd wanted to try it herself, but their team had been all male. It seemed Auradon Prep had managed to smash those barriers and it had carried into the collegiate level because she saw three girls on the team here.
There was Lonnie, who seemed to be the most experienced of the three, the Borderlands princess, and another petite girl with short pink hair she didn't know. Carlos was sparring with Chad Charming while Jay, son of Jafar, was paired up with none other than Harry Hook.
Her fingertips tingled as her blood seemed to heat up. That thieving, louse-ridden dog. She'd never taken him for a team sports kind of guy, what with having to follow a rulebook and all, but then again, if anyone would be able to find a way to cheat at sword finding without getting caught, it would be Harry Hook.
She couldn't mask her scowl as she followed the pirate's movements. He was dressed like the others, in the black and yellow uniforms of Auradon U which were standard for the team. And as much as she hated to admit it, he filled out the uniform nicely. The muscles of his biceps were hard to miss, even through his sleeved jersey, as he leveraged himself in a positional skirmish against his sparring partner. The pirate and Jay stood the tallest in the room, and it seemed both were equally matched in terms of strength.
Jay strafed right and attempted to bring his blade across his opponent's flank, but the pirate was quick, surprisingly so. Their swords crashed together and as they were engaged, Harry leaned forward and pulled his protective mask up, staring at Jay as his mouth moved to form words that Melody couldn't hear from up above. But she didn't need to hear him to know he was taunting the other man.
Jay's shoulders heaved in what she thought was a laugh as he lunged forward again. This time, the pirate seemed to anticipate the move and spun gracefully aside, coming back across to grab Jay's sword arm and wrench the weapon from his grasp. It had happened so fast, Melody wasn't sure how he'd done it.
Melody also wasn't sure how long she stood there mesmerized after that, watching open-mouthed as the pirate sashayed his way around the stone arena with various sparring partners. One opponent after another seemed just one step behind, one heartbeat too late to keep away from the pirate's blade. Harry Hook was clearly made for sword fighting and she was grudgingly captivated.
Jane cleared her throat, breaking the spell.
Melody turned to see her friend's eyebrows raised, her lip turned up into a smirk.
She fought the heat creeping up into her cheeks. Caught ogling the pirate who'd just stolen from her. Stormy seas, she was truly losing her mind.
"Let's head down to the ground level, looks like they're finishing up. Maybe you can catch Harry on the way out and ask him about the locket yourself."
Her stomach twisted at the thought of such a confrontation. Maybe she could get Carlos to ask him for her. Or Jay. Even Jay seemed a safer bet. She didn't know any of them well and the thought of the pending interaction set her skin on fire. Pins and needles in her fingers and toes.
She reached for her locket out of habit.
Coming up empty she attempted to breathe.
Jane shot her a concerned look, then grabbed her hand and led her down the staircase.
Several agonizing minutes later, the team began pouring out of the locker rooms, hair damp and cheeks flushed, wearing their regular clothes.
Carlos and Jay were the first out with Dude prancing proudly behind them.
Carlos smiled his wide boyish grin when he spotted Jane. He doubled his pace and wrapped her up in a hug before planting a kiss on her cheek. "Hey guys, what are you up to?" he asked.
Jane waited a beat for Melody to explain, but the words lodged in her throat.
After a quick glance at her, Jane started in on an explanation. "Melody lost her locket somewhere between Oceanography and the Central Courtyard. Can you ask around to see if anyone's seen it?"
Carlos nodded. "Sure, there's a few on the team in our class, let's see if anyone found anything."
They hung around the tunnel leading from the locker rooms as they waited for more of the team to emerge.
Carlos asked the Borderlands princess and Lonnie as they walked out together. They shook their heads. More students poured from the athletic wing and more heads shook as Carlos and Jay continued the questioning.
Something clenched tight in her throat when she saw the pirate striding towards them.
"Hey Harry," Jay called. "Have you seen Melody's locket? She lost it after Oceanography."
The pirate swaggered closer, twisting his hook in his hands as he trailed his gaze across each of them. He freed up one hand to slap Jay on the back. "Cannae say that I have it, mate." He locked those blue eyes onto hers, and raked his fingers through damp, messy hair. "Yeh should be keepin' a better eye on summat important like that, eh sweet gills?"
Oh, he was hiding something alright. A glint of mischief lay just below the surface and if she just had the guts to press him on it, she might discover some of the many secrets those eyes seemed to hold. But then, his gaze seemed to sharpen, to the point where she was sure he could see right through her, somehow pulling every insecurity to the surface of her emotions and she had to look away. Feeling breathless, and even more irritated than she had been before, she stared at the tops of her Chucks.
Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she forced some words out. "If you all could just keep an eye out, I'd appreciate it."
"Will do, Melody," Carlos said, his warm smile managing to soothe some of her nerves.
"You guys feel like hanging out?" Jay asked. "Lonnie, Tarah, me and Harry were talking about heading down to the sand to grill tonight."
"I'm totally in," Jane said, all thoughts of homework forgotten, and she looked at Carlos expectantly.
Carlos shrugged. "I guess we're grilling."
Everyone was looking at Melody next. "I… I can't tonight. I have a ton of homework."
"Ah, come on," Jane urged.
Harry was still staring at her. Seas, why did he have to keep looking at her like that?
"Maybe later," she said. "I'll meet you guys down there if I finish up in time."
Melody was very skilled at avoiding social interactions without sounding too rude. She'd had a lot of practice.
"I'm gonna walk Mel back to our room and put my books away," Jane said.
"Yeah, I don't really want to carry my bag around all day, either," Jay said.
The group walked together back to the dorms, Melody feeling Harry's eyes on her the whole way. She briefly considered asking him what his problem was, but didn't want to risk upsetting the others. It was hard enough for her to make friends without alienating all of them over a stupid pirate.
At last, the guys split to go to their rooms while the girls continued on to the opposite side of the building.
As they rounded a corner, they nearly collided with Uma and a tall blonde girl in a bandana.
All she needed, more pirates.
"Hey Uma," Jane said.
"Hello ladies," Uma answered, a little coolly.
"Oh, hey, I asked some of the others," Jane said, "but we didn't get a chance to ask you. Have you seen Melody's locket? She lost it somewhere after Oceanography."
A flash of recognition distorted Uma's cool expression for long enough to make Melody suspicious before Ursula's daughter seemed to reel herself in.
"What does it look like?" Uma asked.
Melody forced herself to meet the other girls' eyes. "Shaped like a scallop. It has my name engraved on it."
Uma took way too long to respond. Her eyes darted between them like she was waging some internal battle.
"Gold?" Uma asked.
Oh, she was drawing this out. This little sea witch knew something.
"Yes." Melody's voice was clipped and sharp as a knife.
Finally, Uma looked at Jane and her hard expression softened. "Harry mentioned something about it."
Melody sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. "That slimy eel. I knew he stole it!"
"Hold on a sec, Princess." Uma held up a hand. "Harry told me he borrowed it and here you are saying he stole it." She scrunched her lips together and brought her hands to her hips. "There must be some misunderstanding."
"There's no misunderstanding," Melody said, struggling to keep the snarl out of her tone. "He never asked to borrow it. So if he has it, that means it's stolen."
Uma took two steps forward and cocked her head to study her. "Alright. Let's just walk over to the guys' side and clear this up right now. There's no way we'll be able to decide what happens until we get all the facts."
"Sounds good to me," Melody said, knowing full well what was going to happen when she got all the facts.
She was going to kill Harry Hook.
The girls opted to put their bags down in their rooms first. Melody took a minute to check her reflection, retying her ponytail and applying a fresh coat of lip gloss.
If she was going to murder a boy tonight, she might as well look good doing it.
Once she was sure she was presentable again, she and Jane followed Uma back down the outdoor trail to the other end of the student dorms where the guys' rooms were. The afternoon sun was hanging lower in the sky now, and a light breeze sent leaves skittering down the stony path ahead of them.
Jane nudged Melody as they neared the entrance to Harry's floor. "I'm sure there's some explanation for all of this, Mel."
Melody found words were difficult just then. "I'm sure."
Jane swallowed nervously and Melody had to wonder if Fairy Godmother's Daughter had a sixth sense when it came to impending violence.
They came to door number seven, where Uma had explained that Harry, Gil, and Jay shared a dorm room. Uma had her fist raised, poised to knock, but hesitated a moment. She lifted an eyebrow and craned her neck closer to listen. Music was coming from inside the room, and if this was Harry, Gil, and Jay's room, it was not the type of music Melody would expect. At all.
The cheery refrain of classic surfing music drifted unmistakably from behind the door.
She was sure that pirates did not tolerate music like this and figured maybe Jay was alone and just had strange taste in music.
Uma did finally knock, and the thief poked his head out the door.
"Uma," Harry purred, his eyes lighting up when he saw his friend. "Come in!"
"Is that your music?" Uma said, her face twisted into something bordering on disgust, like she'd eaten something rancid.
"Aye," Harry said, eyes wide with excitement, his smile bordering on maniacal. "What's the matter, Uma? Yeh dinnae like it?"
The music was bubbly, positive and fun, everything she least expected a pirate to listen to.
"Let's just say I've never heard anything like it," Uma said.
"Come in then," he said, waving all of them into his room. "Gil brought it in last night. Says it comes from summat kinda place called California. Tinkerbell's daughter smuggled it back for 'em, been listenin' to it since then. Even Jay likes it."
Jay was making a face, trying to push a messy pile of clothes across the floor with the side of his foot, kicking it to a corner already half buried in clutter. Melody wagered a guess that was Gil's side of the room.
Harry's side was much neater, decorated in similar style to his wardrobe. Black and red and lots of it. Tapestries and fabrics hung like sails in every corner. Skulls, crossbones, steel rapiers, and countless trinkets and statuettes decorated the surfaces. And books. Lots of books, which was surprising considering she'd doubted his ability to count to ten earlier in the day.
Melody actually had to suppress a smile as she glanced back at the pirate. His joy in the way he swayed to the music was so contagious it was difficult to remember that she was about to kill him. Especially with the upbeat singer crooning in the background.
If everybody had an ocean
Across the USA
Then everybody'd be surfin'
Like Californ-I-A
"Where is Gil, anyway," Uma said, narrowing her eyes.
"He's down at the pub, scrubbin' tables and makin' the customers squirm I would wager," Harry said. "And what about yeh three bonnie lassies? To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Do you know where Melody's locket is?" And thank the seas for Uma, she knew just how to cut to the chase. If anyone could put Harry in his place it would be her.
Harry squared himself to Uma and answered quickly. "Aye, I do."
Melody's eyes widened in disbelief. "See, I told you he was lying!" She looked at Jane who seemed just as shocked as she was. "He had it the whole time!"
The anger rose inside of her quickly, like the tide coming in, washing away her common sense. Her pulse pounded in her ears and she was close to her edge. The nerve of this pirate, to blatantly lie and stand there like his deceit didn't make any difference at all.
"Naw, I dinnae have it, I already told yeh that," he said, closing the space between them so that she was forced to look up at him. "Jay asked if I had seen yer locket and I said I dinnae have it, which was the truth. But I do know where it is. It's in Jay's bag."
"In my bag?" Jay put his hands up in surrender, gesturing that he had nothing to do with this turn of events.
"And how did it get in Jay's bag?" Melody asked, teeth gritted as she used every last ounce of strength to keep from exploding.
The pirate took one step closer until she could feel his body heat. The smell of him invaded her senses, spices and leather and her head spun with anger and, whatever the hell else was happening to her traitorous body. His eyes never left hers as dragged the back of his fingers down her cheek, stopping to cradle her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "I put it there, sweet gills."
With those words, the dam holding her anger back finally crumbled down and a tsunami of pent-up rage was released. And Melody, shy, socially awkward, Princess Melody, actually launched herself at the pirate, fists first.
Author's Note: Let me know what you think about the story so far. It would be nice to know I'm not all alone on this little pirate voyage!
