The morning bell unceremoniously broke up the meeting in Fairy Godmother’s office and the teenagers headed for class as stoically as they could, but by lunchtime Jay and Carlos were ready to slip away.
“I guess we’re skipping the rest of today,” Carlos observed, chiefly for the sake of calming his nerves, as they strolled purposely down the street.
“It appears so.” Jay was calm, staring straight ahead, “We’ll take Mal’s private limo. I think she has a remote to open the barrier.”
“We could get expelled, you know.”
“Dr. F. used to expel me every day.”
“I thought that was just a gag that you guys played.”
“It was.” Jay chuckled, “I was always welcomed back with open arms after I stole some tarot cards for him.” He cracked up, “I always took ‘em from his own shop!”
Carlos laughed, ”Good one!” Then he sighed, “I think they handle expulsion differently here.”
“That’s alright.” Jay shrugged.
“Do you even want to come back?” the younger boy turned grief-stricken eyes on his friend.
Jay had the same tortured look, “Not if they don’t come with us.”
“We’re going with you guys!” Ben’s car suddenly pulled up alongside them; Doug was in the passenger seat and Lonnie and Jane were in the back with a bag of swords between them, “Get in; we’ll go to my parents’ castle and get my royal limo.”
“We knew you guys would go back!” Doug explained triumphantly, almost laughing at their mortified expressions, “We’ve been watching you.”
“They recruited us to help!” Jane added gleefully, “We couldn’t believe you didn’t leave right away. Sneaky!”
“Those two looked so awful in homeroom,” Lonnie explained calmly, “We knew something terrible had happened.”
“Get in,” Ben said again, “Let’s get going.”
“Three’s a crowd, I don’t know what six is,” Jay retorted gruffly, shaking himself out of his stupor, “We’re going alone.”
“I’m the king. I say we’re going.”
“So, what, you can just do whatever you want now, your majesty?” Jay’s eyes narrowed.
“Something like that.”
“Wasn’t that Scar’s philosophy?” Carlos gave his VK pal a sideways glance.
“I believe so.” Jay returned the look, “He got his butt kicked for it too.”
“That’s why I’m here.” Lonnie crossed her arms over her chest, giving them a pointed look, “Bodyguard to the king.”
“You want to tell that to Mal and Evie?” Jay frowned at her.
“I don’t mind.”
“You should.”
“Evie is my girlfriend.” Doug growled stubbornly, “I’m going!”
“And there’s no way that I’m gonna be left out!” Jane insisted.
“Now, wait a minute!” Jay pushed back hard, “You guys seem to have forgotten the most important detail. We’re going to the Isle!”
“Yeah,” Carlos agreed, “You know…the place where all the residents want to do serious harm to everyone who lives here?”
“You guys go back all the time.” Jane pouted.
“Our girlfriends are over there!” Ben and Doug protested.
“I think I proved I can handle myself.” Lonnie growled.
“Alright, fine. Those are valid points,” Carlos begrudgingly sighed, nodding at the boys and Lonnie. “But Jane—you—that’s not—you don’t even know how to fight.”
Fairy Godmother’s daughter turned red. Her mouth opened, then snapped shut, then opened again. Finally, she thrusted out her chin with determination, “But if more of us go, then maybe Mal and Evie will realize how much we miss them!”
“Wrong answer, thank you for playing!” Jay snapped, “The correct answer is the more who go, the more who get abducted!”
“That was mean, Jay.” Jane pouted again.
“So is the Isle.”
“He’s sorry, Jane.” Carlos interjected, bumping his friend’s ribs, “but the Isle won’t be. He’s right.”
“Oh, fine,” she huffed, unbuckling her seatbelt as she reached for the door, “I’ll stay. But I’m not happy about it!”
“Aww, now, don’t walk back!” Jay cried, his eyes widening when he suddenly realized the opportunity at hand, “Take her back, Ben!” He nodded towards the school, gesturing “It’s just back there. You can’t let her walk from here!”
“He’s right,” Ben locked the door before she could open it and did a perfect three-point turnaround, “I’ll take you back; no arguing now.”
“Holy cow!” Carlos almost cracked up as the car headed back up the road, “Did I just see that?”
Shoving his friend onward, Jay hissed, “Hurry up before they figure it out.”
*o*o*O*o*o*
“Hey, girls!”
Gil sauntered up to their table before they could get away. Looking over their plates, he picked some rotten fruit off Evie’s and a piece of moldy pizza crust off Mal’s.
“Hi…” they answered aloofly without reacting to his theft, hoping that he wouldn’t stay if they didn’t give him a reason.
“Hm, uh, Evie…Uma wants to know why you’re here?”
Standing up, the blue-clad girl gave him a chilly stare, one not unlike her mother’s permanent expression, “Well, you can just tell Uma that it’s none of her business why I’m here.”
“She won’t like that.” he whined.
“That’s too bad, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“I tell you what,” she cocked her head and gave him an encouraging little smile, “If you’ll tell her that for me, I’ll give you a kiss on the main square at midnight tonight.”
“Oh, wow! Really?”
“Yeah, really.” She tickled his chin flirtatiously.
“Will you ride the ferris wheel with me too?”
“What?” she reeled back, startled.
“The ferris wheel on Pleasure Island,” he explained, “You know—the Coachman’s Carnival. He rebuilt it. Tonight is opening night!”
“Well, of course!” she lied without a second thought, inwardly cringing, “I’m already looking forward to it!”
“But…” she continued, after a dramatic pause, “If you ever ask me what I’m doing again, I’ll take my kiss back.”
“Oh, no!” his eyes widened in horror, “Don’t do that! My dad will blow his stack if I lose a kiss—especially from you!” And my brothers—”
Digging her nails into his thick shoulders, Evie gave him a cold glare, “That’s exactly what I’ll do.” Then pointing towards the door, she shoved him towards it, “Now scam before I change my mind!”
He dashed away and both girls dissolved into giggles.
“Go, E!” Mal beamed proudly, “That’s the funniest thing I’ve seen since I’ve been back!”
“Thank you!” Evie smiled demurely and resettled into her seat, “Not a lot of there there in Gil either.”
“Ahh,” Mal murmured, taking a long slow sip of cold grimy coffee, “I wonder what that was about?”
“Who knows,” Evie rolled her eyes, “with Uma.”
“Maybe she’s just fishing,” Mal sighed, “It’s no secret that you love Auradon. Why would you come back, right? For no reason.”
“I had a reason,” the blue-clad princess frowned, pulling out her compact to reapply her lipstick.
“Not one that Uma understands.”
“So…that new construction I saw—?” Evie changed the subject.
“Is the new Pleasure Island.” Mal nodded.
“But how?”
“Remember when Uma and her crew reconstructed her mom’s necklace?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, there’s magic under the barrier now.”
“What?” Evie felt blindsided, her voice barely audible, “Do you think…?” She whirled around, frantically scanning the dining room for eavesdroppers, “I’m sure the barrier opened when I came back…”
“Don’t sweat it,” Mal shrugged, quickly doing her own scan, “Fairy Godmother knows about it, right? I mean, they can’t hide using magic from Yen Sid. I’m sure they’re keeping an eye on it.”
“But, if someone knew the barrier—”
“I think it’s okay, E. I mean, if someone knew in time and escaped, they’d have done something by now, right?”
“But what happens when Carlos and Jay come?” the blue-clad girl insisted, “Now that I’m here, they’ll be watching for them, right?”
“I’m sure Yen Sid and Fairy Godmother are keeping an eye on it.” Mal repeated, shrugging again even as her heartbeat quickened for a moment, “I mean, I’m sure she knows to keep an eye out for something like that.” Then she winked, trying to lighten the mood, “Besides, the TV gets some nice channels now!”
Evie tried to smile, but she was spooked. She’d never imagined that her return could cause Auradon any trouble.
“Speaking of real problems though…” Mal grimaced sympathetically, “I’m sure Evil Queen knows your back by now.”
“Well, I didn’t bring her anything so maybe she’ll leave us alone.” Evie answered, waving her hand dismissively. She smiled weakly, knowing that the gesture wouldn’t fool her friend, “I assume you know that I’m planning on bunking with you from now on.”
“And you’re quite welcome too!” the purple-clad girl nodded enthusiastically, “It’ll be great to have some company! It stinks being cooped up in a castle day in and day out with no one to talk too—oooo, sorry, E!”
“That’s alright,” Evie shrugged, “What’s done is done. We can’t change the past, can we?”
“No, but we can learn from it.”
“Say!” Mal continued, her face suddenly lighting up, “Let’s go find Dizzy when we’re finished here. She’ll love seeing you!”
“Oooo, Dizzy, yes!” Evie’s face radiated with warmth, “I’d love to see her too! I’ve really missed her.”
“We can spend the day,” Mal continued happily, before making a face, “as long as Evil Stepmom doesn’t kick us out.”
“Or someone comes in to bribe an early appointment.” Evie laughed.
“Depends on who it is,” Mal smirked, “Some people around here still adore you.”
“Who?” Evie cracked up, “My popularity went down the tubes when we moved, and you know it!”
“Say,” Mal changed the subject slightly, “I thought you were going to ask Ben to invite Dizzy to Auradon?”
“Yeah, well, I was a little preoccupied when I left here last time.”
“Sooo, have you gotten a lot of orders for Jane’s birthday party?” Mal quickly changed the subject again.
“Yep!” Evie beamed proudly, “I just know it’s gonna set the standard for this season!” Then she sighed, “I guess I’ll miss it though…”
“You don’t have too, you know…”
Evie gave her a look, “Don’t start that again.”
“Who’s gonna fill the orders now?”
“I don’t know…” the blue-clad girl reddened, “Whoever did them before, I guess. I didn’t even think…”
“Well, uh,” Mal looked away, embarrassed. Suddenly she wanted to talk about anything but Auradon, “Come on, let’s go see if we can find Dizzy!”
*o*o*O*o*o*
Chad and a carload of girls pulled up to the gate just as Ben was making a left-hand turn and both boys jammed on their brakes. The momentary pause gave Jane the opportunity to hop out.
“It’s okay,” she gave Ben an icy glare, slamming the door with a deep scowl, “I’ll walk from here. I don’t want to hold you up!”
“Aww, what’s wrong, Jane?” Ally called, reaching out from the other car.
“Mom let Evie go back to the Isle last night!” Jane suddenly burst into tears, running to her best friend, “E told her that Mal doesn’t have any friends over there now so she had to go back. Then she left without even telling anyone! We spent all morning following Jay and Carlos around because we knew they’d go back and we wanted to go too, but they said I couldn’t go because I can’t fight!”
Tears streamed down her cheeks, “They’re taking Ben and Doug because it’s their girlfriends and Lonnie is going to protect Ben, but they said it was too dangerous for me!”
“I’m just dropping her off,” Ben stared at the floorboards, unable to look at her, “Then we’ll go back and pick them up.”
“What?” Audrey almost shrieked, “Evie went back to the Isle? But, she hasn’t finished my dress!”
“Oooo, uh-uh,” Freddie clenched her fists in the backseat, then threw the door open, “That girl did not just do that without telling me!” She stalked over to Ben’s car, threw the door open, and plopped down in Jane’s seat, “I’m goin’!”
“Whoa, whoa, wait,” Chad was incredulous, “You’re letting a girl protect you, Ben?”
“You’re captain!” Lonnie snapped, her face turning red.
“I think we should all go!” Audrey suddenly declared.
“Fat chance of that.” Jane muttered.
“No, listen,” Audrey argued, her face turning pink when she caught Ben’s eye, “A wise king once said, “we are one”. She smiled weakly, “I didn’t understand that until Zevon almost wrecked the Jewelbilee. But now I realize that the AKs and VKs are one so we have to go over there and bring them home!”
Freddie laughed gaily, “You goody-two-shoes wouldn’t last five minutes on the Isle. Jay and Carlos are right!”
“Excuse me?” Audrey put her hands on her hips, “We took care of Zevon and CJ, didn’t we?”
“In Auradon.” Freddie retorted, glaring with her arms crossed over her chest, “You wouldn’t touch them on the Isle. And they’re nothing compared with Uma and her crew. Heck, I bet the Gastons could beat you guys and they’re idiots!”
“Now, wait a minute, wait a minute,” Jordan held up her hand. She’d been silent until then, but now she gave them a pointed look, “So, let me get this straight. You guys think that you convinced Jay and Carlos to take you over to the Isle, then you left them alone to bring Jane back here?”
“They wouldn’t!” Doug almost jumped out of his seat and the realization hit everyone at once.
“Great, just great,” Jordan muttered, rolling her eyes, “I’m surrounded by idiots.”