Mal had finally figured out what to do about getting Ben's attention - and it came in the form of a love spell, cleverly disguised as a chocolate chip cookie.
The Rotten Four had been up late, waiting for the cookies to come out perfect. As it turns out, Mal only needed one. But what she planned to do with the rest of them was a mystery to them all.
Jay was all for allowing things to happen or not happen at their own pace, however he was getting so tired of the unknown. Did Carlos like him? Was it even worth pursuing if they were just going to steal the wand and go back to the Isle? Back to their parents?
All of these questions were left unanswered.
And it made Jay angry.
As they waited for the last tray to finish baking - "what? No use letting this potion go to waste!" Mal had said - Jay rubbed Dude's back, deep in thought.
Dude was a new addition to the group, and as it turns out, Dude was (one of) Carlos' best friend. Auradon Prep had changed all of them in so many ways, and curing Carlos' fear of dogs was one of these changes.
Another change was turning Jay into a thinker, and thinking wasn't one of Jay's favorite past times. He usually just dove into the situation without thinking of the consequences. But Carlos was a different matter altogether.
Jay could see them together, doing the things they've been doing for years - like wrestling and playing video games and comforting each other when their parents got to be too overbearing. He could also seem them doing new things - dates, Carlos wearing Jay's jersey before a big game, naps together…
"Hey," Jay felt a tug on a lock of his hair and was ready to punch before seeing Carlos' smile. "Are you okay? You're really grilling the back of Mal's head." Turning, Jay did see that he had been staring Mal's head down. He felt the tips of his ears go pink and quickly pulled his beanie down to cover them.
It wasn't that Jay hated people touching his hair, it was just that Jay hated people touching his hair. But Carlos wasn't just any person. Carlos was Jay's partner in crime (literally), and his other half. It actually comforted Jay to have Carlos move it out of his face or braid it when he was in need of a distraction.
Evie, glancing at them from her perch on the counter with a Chemistry book open in her lap, noticed that Jay hadn't punched Carlos like he would've when they were kids...and she smiled, because she knew.
Carlos was her best friend in the ways that they shared fashion tips and made each other outfits, and he also confided in her. She knew his deepest secrets, even the ones Jay didn't know.
One of these secrets being Carlos' crush on Jay.
And of course Evie had noticed the way Jay looked at Carlos on a daily basis, and had pieced together his weird behavior and sudden softness. What she came up with was obvious - Jay was in love, and he couldn't quite figure out what to do with it.
But, Evie knew Jay as well as she knew herself. He was like a brother to her, just as Mal was like a sister. And so, Evie knew not to get involved. She put back on her reading glasses - the ones she only wore around her three best friends - and got back to studying.
She had a Chemistry test to ace, and a boy to make proud.