(Evie)

"No, it only has two significant figures, see, these zeros don't count because of where they are located in the number."

Evie used the point on the cap of her pen to tap each of the zeros in the number she was referring to, the rules of significant figures rolling through her mind with as much clarity as they would if she had the list right in front of her to read. Doug leaned closer to her to glance at the specific part of the assignment, pushing his glasses back up his nose when they slid down the bridge.

"You're right," Doug eased out of the argument, his cheeks tinting a light shade of red at the knowledge of being incorrect. "I'm sorry for arguing."

"It's fine," Evie waved her hand dismissively, flipping her pen back over so she could write in the answer to the question now that Doug had agreed with her. "No one can be correct all the time."

"You don't seem to have an issue with it," Doug replied, no trace of envy in his voice, merely admiration.

"I'm wrong about a lot of things," Evie disagreed, growing suddenly uncomfortable due to the boy's compliment. She flashed her smile at him to cover up her internal feelings. "Just not chemistry."

Doug laughed. "Not the things that count. And that's what matters."

"Depends how you look at it," Evie shrugged, well aware that there was something she seemed to be constantly incorrect about, something that mattered a great deal to her.

"Well, the way I look at it, it favors you," Doug stated, once again making Evie uncomfortable, the boy having never seemed to get over her. "I still can't believe you used to pretend you weren't smart."

"Yeah," Evie sighed, a light laugh escaping her lips at the memory. "That seems like forever ago."

In reality, it had happened last school year. She, Carlos, and Jay were chosen to be the first villain kids to attend Auradon Prep for Ben's first official proclamation, and at first, it hadn't gone ideally for any of them. Their parents had sent them with another mission to focus on beside their education, one they had eventually come to dread completing; and they never did. During that time all three of them had struggled to fit in with the children of the heroes; Evie faking a clueless nature to get the attention of a prince she didn't even want, Carlos laying low because of the struggle created for him due to his size and original inability to play sports, and Jay being judged for having that sports-playing ability simply because he was too good. Their strength came from each other and the three who seemed to believe in them the entire time, while the majority of their issues came from the constant judgmental looks sent their way and the cheap hits taken at them because of who their parents were.

Still, all three of them had made it out to the other side, their lives suddenly making sense to them after having realized their own beliefs and desires, not the ones their parents had forced on them. For a while, Evie had believed both the villain kids and the hero kids had learned a great deal from the experience, but now – as the hero kids spoke warily and judgmentally about Mal – she was beginning to rethink that belief. However, this time, it wasn't only the hero kids judging the newcomer, it was Jay as well. And Evie didn't think it was fair. She was well aware that it was different, that they judged Mal because of the girl herself and not because of where she came from, but she felt it was the same thing since they were judging before even giving the girl a proper chance. Everyone deserves a chance, especially when they're struggling as much as we did. They hadn't known any better, the way they acted and the things they did were completely normal to them because of the things constantly whispered into their ears as they grew up. It would be the same for anyone adjusting to a new way of living.

She just wished it would all come to an end.

"It was over a year ago, the beginning of junior year," Doug reminisced. "Now it's nearing the middle of November."

Evie no longer wanted to continue talking about the past when they were supposed to be studying, a twisted knot in her stomach telling her that Doug was more than likely about to bring up the fact that they had dated; he always did when they discussed junior year. Fortunately, just as Doug was about to say something else there was a quiet knock on the door, the sound seeming to frustrate Doug while it relieved Evie.

"Give me one second," Evie spoke quietly, closing her AP Chemistry textbook and pushing herself to her feet.

Hurrying over to the door she let a small, relieved sigh move through her body as she leaned forward to twist the doorknob, opening the door to reveal Carlos. His cheeks were flushed and his gaze cast downward, giving him an embarrassed and uncomfortable aura as he shifted on his feet, his arms full of textbooks and Dude by his feet.

"Carlos," Evie smiled warmly down at the boy, wanting to thank him for arriving when he did, but knowing it would be strange. "What's going on?"

"Uh…" Carlos glanced into the room at Doug before meeting Evie's gaze, still appearing incredibly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but Jay and Audrey kicked me out again."

Those two. Evie's jaw clenched for a fraction of a second before she forced herself to ease the flash of anger that had entered her body at the boy's words, not wanting him to think she was upset with him. For goodness' sake, it's his room too. She reached out for him, squeezing his shoulder sympathetically as she opened the door wider.

"Come on," Evie invited him into her room, reminding herself to have a conversation with Jay about kicking Carlos out of his own room. "You're always welcome here, you know that."

"Thanks," Carlos smiled crookedly at her before stepping into the room and nodding at Doug. "Hey, Doug."

"Hey," Doug responded, glancing up from his textbook to send the boy a friendly smile. "Jay taking advantage of it being his birthday, is he?"

Carlos nodded, chuckling awkwardly as he set his books down on Evie's bed. "Normally, I would have argued with him, then ended up tossed out anyway, like usual," he explained, scratching the back of his neck. "But it is his birthday, and I guess he rarely gets to be alone with his girlfriend, so I can respect that, I guess."

"Maybe a bit more if his girlfriend wasn't Audrey," Doug laughed, completely understanding their dislike of the princess.

"A lot more," Carlos corrected, plopping himself down on Evie's bed to work on his weekend homework.

Evie moved back over to the table in the middle of the room, sitting down in the chair she had previously occupied and flipping her own textbook back open. Scanning the assignment, she realized they had already finished it, and – with a smile on her face – she turned to the blonde boy sitting beside her.

"Looks like we already finished our chemistry assignment," she stated, closing the book so that the assignment was pressed between the pages. "What should we work on next?"

"Actually," Doug started, trailing off as he glanced at the watch encasing his wrist. "I should probably get going. Chad wants to do something before Jay's celebration."

Carlos groaned from his spot on her bed. "Why is it that wherever I go everyone seems to be talking about Chad?"

Evie sent him an apologetic look before shifting her attention back to Doug. "Did you want to meet up later?"

"Maybe if there's time," Doug answered, smiling softly at her as he packed all his things away. "Could I speak to you outside for a moment?"

"Sure," Evie agreed, nodding her head as she stood from her seat.

Through her peripheral vision she could see Carlos watching them closely, his eyebrows knit in confusion as his eyes danced with amusement, a combination Evie never thought she would witness. She stepped into the hallway behind Doug, closing the door quietly and standing just outside the door, unsure of why she was even out here in the first place. What does he want to say that Carlos can't hear?

"So, you know how there's a dance coming up this Saturday?" Doug questioned, his voice squeaking the way it often did when he got nervous around her.

That's this weekend? Evie had completely forgotten about the upcoming dance, her mind constantly clouded with one thing or another; mainly the necklace and her roommate. Still, she nodded anyway, humming in response.

"Well, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go with me?"

Evie's heart skipped a beat in surprise, the boy's question catching her completely off guard; though when she went over the build-up to the question again she didn't understand why she was so surprised. She quickly recalled their break-up in her mind, cursing herself when she realized that she hadn't told the boy why she was breaking things off with him, and she would have done it now, but she was too panicked; she didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Oh, um…" she started, not entirely sure what she was going to say. "I'm sorry, but I kind of already agreed to go with Carlos."

Doug's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm… that's totally cool."

"I'm sorry," Evie apologized again, feeling horrible about turning him down despite knowing she shouldn't.

Wishing to remove herself from the situation she closed her hand around the doorknob, twisting it until the door opened. However, Doug didn't seem to be finished.

"It's cool," Doug dismissed, fixing the strap of his bag over his shoulder. "I just didn't think Audrey's rumors about you and Carlos were true."

"Doug, they're…"

But before she could finish he had turned and head down the hallway, the light laugh he let out before cutting her sentence short. Great, she sighed as she watched the boy disappear around the corner; sooner or later everyone is going to believe I'm dating Carlos. Thanks, Audrey. Stepping back into the room she found Carlos' brown puppy-dog eyes watching her with curiosity.

"What rumors?" He asked, not seeming the slightest bit angry, just confused.

How do I explain this? "Uh… Audrey thinks we're dating, and I guess she's been spreading it around."

"And Doug now thinks the rumors are true because…" Carlos trailed off, indicating that she should fill in the rest.

"About that," Evie laughed lightly, closing the door and making her way over to the bed where the boy lay. "Can I ask you something first?"

"Sure," Carlos shrugged, still not seeming fazed by the knowledge that people believed them to be dating.

"Will you go to the dance with me?" Evie asked, a radiant smile on her face. "As friends, of course."

"Okay, okay, now I get it," Carlos laughed lightly, reaching over to scratch behind Dude's ears. "Doug asked you to the dance, didn't he?"

Evie nodded, sighing heavily. "I guess I didn't tell him why I broke up with him, and it just seemed like a bad time to tell him, so I kind of told him you had already asked me, and then he just assumed that meant we were dating."

"Yeah, I'll go with you," Carlos agreed, returning her smile. "I was kind of thinking about asking you anyway, since neither of us have anyone we want to go with as a date."

Well, I wouldn't exactly say that… She definitely wouldn't mind going with Mal, but considering the girl was still in a coma – and it had been nearly a week – she didn't figure it would be intelligent counting on the girl waking before the dance. And plus, she knew she would have an amazing time with Carlos, she always did.

"Happy birthday!"

Evie slid her arms around Jay's shoulders from behind as the boy leaned forward to blow out the candles on the cake Lonnie had baked him, completely ignoring the glare Audrey sent in her direction for doing so. Everyone clapped when the candles were no longer lit, and Ben quickly moved forward to begin cutting the cake into slices, giving the first one to Jay.

Leaning down, Evie pressed her lips to Jay's temple affectionately. "Welcome to the adult world, Jay."

"About that," Jay began, picking up his fork and leaning into Evie's embrace so he could crane his neck to look up at her. "How can I get out of doing adult things?"

"By staying in school," Ben answered, laughing as he handed another slice to Carlos, who stood beside him. "For the rest of your senior year, you don't have to do anything besides study and play tourney."

"The same can't be said for you," Jay smiled at the younger boy, a mischievous, triumph glint in his dark-brown eyes.

Ben chuckled, the skin around his eyes crinkling with his smile. "No, I passed that landmark a while ago, unfortunately, but it does have its perks."

"Being King of Auradon has its perks?" Chad questioned, stealing the next slice of cake. "We would have never guessed, man."

This friendly banter continued for as long as it took Ben to hand out the cake, and once Ben finally had his own plate in his hands Jay took a large bite of his slice, clearly still wishing to wait for everyone despite it being his birthday. Evie ruffled his hair before sitting down in the chair beside him where Ben had slid her plate, beginning to slowly eat her own slice as well. It didn't take long for Jay to finish his first slice, and before he could get a second Audrey had slid into his lap, an incredibly fake smile stretching across her face.

"Happy birthday, baby," Audrey whispered just loud enough that only Jay and Evie could hear her.

Evie was highly amused by how possessive Audrey seemed to get, and all she could do when the girl glanced directly at her before kissing Jay was shake her head in amusement. That's when she felt someone's breath on her ear.

"She needs to make up her mind," Carlos whispered, and she turned her head to face him instead of the kissing couple. "Does she think you're with me, or does she think you're after Jay?"

Evie couldn't help but laugh, her eyes lighting up with amusement. "I'm not sure, I think it's both."

"Well, for your sake, I hope us going to the dance together gets her off your case," Carlos said, glancing over her shoulder at the couple as he took another bite.

It probably won't. "Me too. Oh, and by the way," Evie trailed off, subtly dipping the tip of her finger in the icing of her cake before swiftly reaching up to spread it over the boy's nose. "You've got a little something on your nose."