Chapter Seven - The Flutterwacken

The game wasn't going to start for another half hour. Teddy could honestly tell you he had no clue what the game even was. Jay seemed to like it though. Carlos... Well he tolerated the game at best. Theodore had asked the white haired boy why he didn't just quit but Carlos just shrugged and said he was just in it to look after Jay. Jay could obviously take care of himself but it was an unspoken pact the group had: No one was to be left alone with the locals during their stay at Auradon.

There were moments when this pact had to be broken but it was inevitable sometimes. Plus the five were a lot more comfortable when they were together. No one said it out loud but they were all scared. Scared to fail or be caught. Scared of going home empty handed and worst of all, scared of what their parents would do if the mission was proven unsuccessful.

Even Theodore, whose 'mother' wasn't involved with the plan, was terrified of going back. Though of course he was the only one with the small chance of remaining in Auradon. All he had to do was find someone with authority and tell them the truth. Tell someone who he was and who his parents were. But Teddy would never abandon his friends. Even if it meant facing the Red Queen. His friends were more precious to him than his own life.

Loyalty above all.

Theo smirked as he was able to walk around the school freely. The students surrounding him were all in such high spirits. Everyone excited for the home game. No one seemed to notice him strutting casually through the halls, occasionally stopping to throw something in his school bag. The kids here seemed so forgetful. Leaving their stuff behind for Theo to pick up. From food to electronics. Slowly, but surely, his bag become almost too heavy for him to carry.

It was awesome.

Teddy he practically skipped passed a wall of lockers, his giggles bouncing off the walls as he nimbly dodged a few kids walking by. Stopping at the corner of the hall to catch his breath, Teddy noticed a sealed ziplock bag sitting innocently on a windowsill. The teen tilted his head slightly, staring at the abandoned baggy for a moment before picking it up and looking at it closely.

Inside sat a rather delectable looking lone cookie. Subconsciously, Teddy recognized the cookie, but his stomach seemed to crave the sweet at the mere sight of it. With a shrug, Theo ripped open the clear baggy and popped the whole thing in his mouth. The teen giggled madly as he continued skipping down the hall. The taste of the cookie making him feel giddy with how good it was. Soft yet crunchy when you didn't expect it. Just the right amount of chocolate so the sweetness wasn't overpowering.

His musings was cut short when he caught site of two people standing in the middle of the hallway. They seemed to be in the middle of a disagreement but they didn't look hostile towards each other.

The elder of the two was a woman with brown hair pulled into a bun and a light blue pencil skirt with matching top.

The other... The... Wow.

Time seemed to stop for Teddy as he laid eyes on her. He couldn't hear anything; The background chatter of mingling students completely vanished. The once bright hallway dimmed until it was completely black. The only light around seemed to radiate off the girl. Her long, curly brown hair glimmered and her creamy skin glowed. Her eyes, though, were the perfect shade of blue.

She was perfect. Beautiful in a way he couldn't describe. No word seemed to be able to fit this girl, a girl he had never seen before today. She was absolutely stunning.

"-wanna wear the suit, mom!" His angel cried. Theo flinched at the sound of the beauty in distress. His heart aching at the sight of her so upset.

"I'm sorry, Jane-"

Jane. A beautiful name.

"-but someone needs to wear it today. Just for the big game. I promise, dear. I'll find someone to be the official mascot soon." The woman said to the girl. Jane seemed to visibly deflate as she nodded. The woman in blue smiled lovingly before kissing the girl on her brow before turning and walking away.

Teddy swallowed as the girl sighed as she walked towards the door in front of her. Jane looked so sad and that did not sit well for him. With his mind made up, Theodore nearly sprinted over to the girl and tapped her in the shoulder.

"Wha!" The girl squealed in fright as she spun around.

"I'm sorry!" Teddy cried as he stepped back and put his hands up in surrender. "Ah didn't mean to frighten ye, lass." Jane took a few deep breaths before nodding at the orange haired teen. Teddy smiled, his body practically quivering with nervousness.

"I-it's ok," Jane whispered with a hesitant smile.

"Tha be well. Ah cooldnae help but notice ye waur upset. What's wrang?" The boy asked softly. The girl looked down for a moment, clearly upset. Theo waited patiently as the girl sighed once before turning and pulling open the door. She motioned the boy to follow her as she flicked on the lights and pointed at the far left corner.

Sitting there was an empty suit of armor. One of the schools mascots.

"Cool," he gasped as he ran to it. Teddy picked up the helmet and shoved it on his head. He then looked over at Jane and struck a pose. "How do I look?"

"Quite dashing," she giggled.

"So you don't wanna wear it?" Jane shook her head with a sad sigh.

"But I don't really have a choice. There's no one else who'd want to wear it so I'm stuck being Auradon preps suit of armor." She grumbled as she picked up the rest of the suit.

"I'll wear it."

"W-what?"

"I'll wear it at the game!" Theodore laughed as he took the suit from her still form. "I'll do it, no problem! It'll be fun."

"I-I don't-"

"Come on," Theo laughed. "You're too pretty to have your face covered anyways. Let me do this." Jane's face instantly turned a deep shade of red at the compliment. She was never called... 'Pretty' by a boy before.

"A-alright," she whispered. Theodore gave the girl a huge grin before throwing on the suit in glee. He actually managed to help this beautiful girl.

"Wait!" Jane cried as Theodore was making his way out of the room. "Y-you didn't tell me your name."

"Theodore," he replied striking a heroes pose. "But call me Teddy."

The game was on. The Fighting Knights, Auradon prep, versus Sherwood Falcons were tied. The scoreboard read 2:2 with only forty-seven seconds on the clock. Everyone was on their feet cheering for their respective teams. The game seemed simple enough but Teddy, in full mascot glory couldn't care less about the game. His attention was on the brown haired beauty he met what seemed like just a few minutes ago. She stood at the stands near Mal and Evie, cheering and clapping like the rest.

Theo, wanting her attention, began to jump around the cheerleaders. He began to mimic their movements, exaggerating each high-kick and spin. Posing in ridiculous fashions and dancing to a beat only he could hear. He had garnered a few fans from his tiring work as well. People actually began to cheer for him as loud as they did for the tourney players. Being in the suit was exhilarating. Not only was Teddy having the time of his life, he had noticed Jane laughing at a few of his antics.

Theo skipped over to where the school band was playing and began conduct. His hips moving to the beat as his arms swung in a poor imitation of a music director. The actual leader of the band, a boy with round glasses, turned to him when he noticed a few people pointing at the suit of armor with grins. The band leader laughed and threw Teddy a thumbs up.

Throwing his head back and roaring with laughter, Teddy began to move in ways he never moved before. The beat of the music racing through his body as he made his way to stand in front of the center of the stands. His whole body twisted and turned, his head bobbing slightly as he pumped the crowed up even more. Theodore never danced like how he was dancing now. He didn't care if he looked absolutely ridiculous. He was just so happy.

"Wow," coach whistled looking over at the school mascot. "Never knew Jane had it in her." Carlos looked over curiously and raised his eyebrows in awe.

"I didn't know Jane could flutterwacken," the assistant coach commented.

"Flutterwacken?" Carlos asked.

"It's a dance of unbridled joy," coach explained. "I've only seen a few people able to achieve it. Jane is doing well though she needs a bit practice."

"I got to hand it to the kid, coach," the assistant said. "For someone not native to Wonderland, she's doing pretty good."

"Wonderland?" Carlos repeated with a gaping expression.

"That's where the dance originated from, kid. Jay!-"

Carlos stared at the dancing suit of armor for a moment longer. Their dancing was something he had never laid on before but for some reason, it felt... Familiar. Not the dance per say but the mascot them self. There was no way the person in there was Jane. In fact, after scanning the bleachers Carlos found Jane cheering along with the rest of the students. Carlos shook his head as he began to search for his friends. Mal and Evie were next to Jane and Lonnie which was all well and good but where was Theodore?

Wait.

No flipping way.

Carlos head quickly snapped back to the suit of armor, his eyes wide in shock. He caught site of a few wisps of bright orange hair poking out of the face mask. There was no doubt now. The white haired boy looked over to Mal, waving slightly to get her attention. The girl tilted her head in confusion as he pointed over at Theodore. Seeing she was still confused, Carlos rolled his eyes and twirled his finger near his temple and nodded towards the mascot once more.

Mal's eyes widened as she nodded, indicating she understood before turning to Evie and whispering quietly to her.

"Found Teddy."

"What? Where!" The blue haired girl nearly shrieked as she searched for the other boy. Mal pinched the bridge of her nose and pointed at the mascot. Evie gasped, her eyes disbelieving as she watched the boy do a few cartwheels by the cheerleaders.

"No way," she whispered.

"Isn't he amazing," Lonnie gushed. "Jane told me his name is Teddy. He offered to wear the suit when she didn't want to." Mal glanced over at Jane who was staring at Teddy with a weird glint in her eye.

"He's-"

"Great!" Evie finished with a nervous laugh.

The buzzer went off, signaling the end to the short break. Theodore noticed the coach had sent Carlos in the game. The teen watched excitedly as Jay and Carlos made their way to their positions on the field.

"He's bringing in Jay in from the Isle of the Lost and little guy who can barely hold up his shield," the announcer shouted through the speakers. "And the tip off is ready! And here we go!"

A long pass went to Jay, who dished it off to Ben. Carlos successfully blocked off a player from the opposing team. Jay, being in possession of the ball again, made a hurdling maneuver across the field. Dodging the enemy team with ease, the long haired teen passed the ball back to Ben who stood in the kill zone. Ben passed the ball to another player who made a block and tossed the ball back to Jay. Jay was in the clear and shot the ball towards the goal but was stopped by the goalkeeper.

"Come on, Jay!" Teddy shouted. Jay's head spun to the source of his name. His eyes widened a fraction at the sight of the mascot waving madly at him. Jay shook his head in disbelief as he stumbled back into starting position, mentally reminding himself to ask what Theodore had been thinking when he put on the suit.

"Twenty seconds left on the clock!" The announcer... Announced. Theodore jumped up, standing stiff and ram rod straight as his arms shot out to mimic the hands of a clock. The cheerleaders near him mimicking him and they began to 'tick.'

The play began. The long ball was once again passed to Jay who ran with it down the field. The Fighting Knights triumphantly blocking their opponents from getting to him.

"Jay!" Carlos shouted from in front of the goal. Jay shot the ball to Carlos which bounced off his shield and flew back to Jay, successfully psyching out the other team. Jay passed the ball towards Ben who shot and scored the winning point just as the buzzer went off.

Theodore, along with the students on the stands, cheered.

"What a team!" Cried the announcer. "Incredible! And it was the new guys, Jay and Carlos, who set up the prince for the win! What a victory! What a great way to end one of the best games in history! Here they come folks, the winners-"

The announcer was cut off as Ben grabbed the microphone out of the announcers hands. "Excuse me! Excuse me! Can I have your attention please!"

The crowd went silent. Theodore literally freezing in the spot as he angled his head to look at the prince.

"There's something I'd like to say!" The prince shouted. The crowd remained silent, waiting for him to speak. Ben surveyed the stands for a moment. "Give me an 'M'!" He cried, forming the letter with his arms.

"'M'!" The crowd shouted back, mimicking him.

"Give me an 'A'!" Ben shouted throwing his arms to his sides.

"'A'!"

"Give me an 'L'!" He shouted throwing his arms up.

"'L'!" Boomed the crowd.

"What does that spell?!" He shouted at them.

"MAL!" The audience responded. Teddy glanced up at Mal, giggling slightly at her mortified expression.

"I love you, Mal. Did I mention that?" Someone rushed passed him, nearly knocking him over. Theo watched sadly as a girl, no doubt the prince's former girlfriend. Evie had told him about her. She wasn't a nice person but even she didn't deserve to be humiliated like this. Especially in front of such a large crowd.

"Give me a beat!" Ben shouted, pointing to the school band as they began to play a upbeat tune. Theo watched with a mad grin as Ben began to sing for Mal. There was no doubt the girl was incredibly embarrassed by his public display. While Teddy cared for Mal, he couldn't help but feel she brought this on herself. Theo ran up next to Jay and began to dance along with the team. He laughed along with Jay and Carlos as they danced and watched Mal for her reaction.

Theo gagged as Ben threw his sweaty jersey at Mal who seemed surprised as she leapt to catch it. He wondered why she would want that as it was moist with someone else's sweat. If it were him, he'd let that thing drop to the ground. It was a sweet gesture but kinda gross.

Ben crowd surfed. He jumped on the crowd and let the carry him to Mal. He stood in front of her with his charming grin as the band cut off and the crowd cheered loudly. The prince moved to kiss Mal but she blocked him off with a grimace.

"I love you, Mal. Did I mention that?" Ben asked pulling Mal into a side hug. Teddy laughed at his friend. Her face was tinted pink as she stood uncomfortably against Ben. What happened next made Teddy freeze.

Jane stood beside the pair, her eyes light with amusement and awe as she watched the event. She sparkled as she glanced down at Teddy with a grin of her own. Her smile breathtaking. Literally. Just looking at her felt like the wind was knocked out of him.

"-Dude," Carlos called shaking shoulder.

"Hmm, what?" Theo asked, his eyes not leaving Jane's form.

"I said you should get going," Carlos repeated nervously. "If you leave now you could beat the crowds and head back to the dorms without people getting suspicious."

"But-"

"Hurry, Ted." Jay growled as he pushed the boy towards the school. "While no one is watching!"

Theodore glanced back at his friends then at Jane before nodding and sprinting towards the school.

His angel could wait.

"So can you please explain why you were wearing that- that suit?" Evie asked as she and the others walked into the boys dorm. It had been a few hours since the game and Teddy was exhausted. He knew couldn't keep his eyes open for long.

"Seemed - yawn- seemed like fun," Teddy replied as he laid down on the floor by Carlos' bed.

"Did you steal it?" Jay asked.

"No. Jane didn't want to wear it so I volunteered."

"You let her see you?" Mal screeched.

"Not just her," he yawned. "I met Prince Ben the first day."

"You what!" They all shouted.

"Why didn't you tell us!?" Evie shouted.

"Didn't seem important at the time," he shrugged. "He was nice."

"Not important?" Carlos cried sounding like he was about ready to pull his hair out. "What if he found out you followed us from the island?"

"But he didn't."

"All we worked for could have been ruined!"

"But it wasn't."

"Guys!" Mal shouted. "It happened and we can't take it back. For now all we can do is lay low for a while. Just in case someone realizes Teddy doesn't really go here."

"Wait!" Theo cried jumping up. "What about Jane and Ben who had already met me? What if they start wondering where I'm at?"

"If we're lucky, they'll probably forget about you," Mal said with a shrug. "God knows I've tried."

"Rude."

"Dumbass."

"Jerk."

"Crazy."

"Guys! Not now," Evie shouted. The group sighed but stopped talking about Theodore's little 'meet and greets.' The teens lounged in the room for a bit, talking occasionally but mostly just eating through Ted's stash of food. Theo was about to doze off when someone threw a blueberry at his face, hitting him directly between his eyes.

"Before I forget," Carlos started. "When did you learn to dance like that?"

"Like what?"

"On the field. Coach said you were doing the 'Flutterwacken.' He said it was a dance originated in Wonderland."

"Flutterwacken? I doubt your mom would have taught you that," Mal commented.

Theo looked at their expecting faces and groaned. He slowly slid down the wall behind him and rolled under Carlos' bed, hoping to whatever God/Goddess out there would save him from the inevitable.

"Teddy," Evie whispered. "Just tell them."

"Tell 'them' what?" Mal asked. "Tell 'them' what?" She repeated when no one responded.

"Shit."

Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed and reviewed! This chapter is dedicated to sweetandsimple1 who gave me the idea to have Teddy eat the love potion cookie. If you have an idea or a prompt you'd like me to write, pm me or put it in the reviews! I'd love to hear from you all and take requests.