Jay sits up from the mattress and stretches his arms. It feels early, but he could be wrong. So, he puts his jeans on before walking over to the red couch to turn on the little, yellow T.V. The Auradon channel shows the time to be nearly eight in the morning. His father is going to kill him. He should have been back at the shop already with at least a handful of items. "That's right, Auradon. Hold onto your hats, because—"
Jay shuts off the T.V., not caring what the weather in that goody two shoes country is like. He puts on his shirt and grabs his leather jacket, before he begins to head out; however, Carlos's complaint stops him in his tracks. "You're not leaving, are you?"
Jay turns back towards the dingy mattress, "I have work to do. You know that."
Carlos meekly replies, "I guess I just thought that with the school transfer and everything—"
"We're not being transferred," Jay interrupts. "Do you honestly think our parents would ever let us out of their control? They cling to us. The need us. They're not just going to let us leave." He looks over the son of Cruella De Vil, "You should know that better than anyone."
"I know I should," he softly responds, glancing down at the purple and blue diamond bedding. "But for some reason I just keep hoping—"
"Hope is a dangerous thing here. If you have it, it can be taken away."
"What about you?" Carlos asks. "Are you going away?"
"Not this again." Jay takes a deep breath, "I have work to do, and so do you. We can't stay in here forever and just pretend the outside world doesn't exist."
Carlos looks away, "I don't want to leave."
Jay lets out a breath and calmly comments, "She's going to hurt you even worse if you hide out here and avoid your chores."
Carlos abruptly looks at him in shock, "Hurt me?"
He sees the fear, "Don't act stupid. I've seen you without your sleeves. For crying out loud, I've seen you shirtless. Those burns you have. I know they're from her."
"How would you know that?" Carlos defenses.
He glares at him, "I know they're from her, because you're not the kind of person who would do that to themselves."
Carlos scoffs, "Huh. Really? And what kind of person is that?"
"The kind of person that can agree to the occasional hookup without getting attached."
He shakes his head before attempting to yell, "I'm not attached." but it's a lot less convincing than he had intended. In fact, it's filled with unsureness.
Jay blankly stares at him, "If that's the case, then you won't mind if I leave."
Carlos can't help himself. It's a question he's had for a while now, "Why don't you just tell people you like guys too? Wouldn't that be easier?"
Jay turns back around, "It would be if guys could be bi, but they can't. If anyone were to know, they would just think I'm gay." He smiles, "And right now I can have any girl I want." before he grits his teeth. "Don't blow it for me."
"Don't worry," Carlos calmly responds. "I won't say a word."
"Good. Now, then." Jay points to the exit, "This time when I leave I will not be stopped. There will be no questions, and there will be no lingering looks. I am going, and I suggest for you to do the same."
"Okay. Fine," Carlos finalizes, and this time instead of watching Jay leave, he reaches for his clothes and put them on. Jay's right. Staying here will only prolong my suffering.
When Jay walks up to the second floor of their establishment, he's surprised to find not only his father in the apartment but also Mal and Evie and their parents. "What's going on?"
"Don't know," answers Mal. "They won't tell us anything until everyone gets here."
"I bet it has to do with Auradon," Evie squeals, but then she coughs and pretends to be less excited than she really is. "Not that it's a huge deal or anything."
Jay ignores her outburst of excitement, "Why would it be about Auradon?"
"Didn't you catch the news this morning?" Mal raises an eyebrow. "Soon-to-be King Ben has decided his first order is to transfer us to his school to have a chance at a normal life or some nonsense like that, and because he knows our parents are so despicable, he's declared some royal decree that they have no say in the matter."
"Kind of sounds like kidnapping," Jay frowns.
"It's definitely kidnapping." His father places his hands on his shoulders, "I'm going to miss you Son."
"Oh. Stop your whining," Maleficent complains from her throne. "It won't be for long."
"I assume you have a plan," Mal asserts.
"All in due time, darling." She looks over at the entrance, "Does anyone know where that white haired kid and his mother are?"
Jay stares down at the floor, and Mal questions him, "Where is he?"
He lets out a breath, "Last I saw him he was at the clubhouse. He's probably home now."
"Good," Mal nods. "They should be here soon, then."
Jay doesn't speak. All he can think about is the torture is friend is probably enduring at this very moment.
- For anyone who caught on that the scene was split in half, I'm going to let you know that when I started to write this my internet was out. So, I had to pretty much go off of memory for these first so many chapters. When I found the several mistakes, I figured it would just be easier to act as though it were on two different days. And it was a cut scene, soo... creative liberties? Personally, though, I did prefer Mal's original monologue... or, I guess, author-logue; however, I remembered the scene wrong which she references and so I had to change it.