act one , chapter two !

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   ❛❛𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐙𝐎𝐍𝐄,❜❜ Carlos read aloud as he typed into the search bar, his eyes focused on the computer screen in front of him. Hannah, who was laying in Jay's bed finishing her chemistry homework, snorted.

"Shut up, Annie," the freckled boy whined, throwing a pillow at her. She caught the pillow and held it to her chest, a smirk dancing on her lips.

Hayden had left a little while ago to grab a book from the library, and they had no idea where Jay was, so it was just the two of them plus Dude. The TV played in the background as the two worked, and sun soaked into the room.

"You're not going to find the answer to your problems online," she commented, turning the page of the textbook in her lap.

"Yeah, and how would you know?" he scoffed. "You've never been in the friend zone."

She bit the inside of her cheek, resisting the urge to tell him that that was a lie. She'd been in the friend zone, and she'd gotten out of it. Kind of.

"Yeah, but I have common sense."

"Hey!"

"What? It's true."

Carlos didn't reply, instead just huffing and returning to his search. Hannah sighed and finished the final problem before putting the cap back on the highlighter she'd been using and closing her book.

Suddenly, the sound of cameras clicking and at least a dozen reporters all asking questions and talking over each other in the process could be heard just outside the door and a second later, a girl with washed out blonde hair with purple tips was bursting into the room.

Mal slammed the door shut, and fell back against it. She began to hyperventilate as she locked the door behind her, and Carlos and Hannah both looked up from their tasks, concerned expressions etched on both of their faces. The now blonde began pacing around the room but she stopped in front of the TV, which was playing a video of her and Ben eating strawberries. It was turned off and when she turned to her friends, her eyes glowed green.

"Mal?" Hannah asked softly, her eyebrows furrowed. That seemed to bring Mal back down to earth, and her eyes returned to normal, though her chest was still heaving.

"Whoa. Easy, girl." Carlos closed his laptop, raising a hand to try and calm his friend.

"What? You think this is so easy?!" Mal shouted, stomping over to the side of his bed.

It was true that the VKs had been thriving in Auradon, but recently, Hannah had noticed that Mal hadn't been acting like herself. The daughter of Maleficent used to be so confident and headstrong, but lately, she'd been on edge and stressed.

"You two don't have people taking a photo of you every single time you open your mouth to say boo! I mean, it's not that I could even say, 'Boo' but, you know what I—" The girl rambled on before cutting herself off by sighing.

"I'm sorry," Hannah said, her voice full of genuine sympathy. Mal nodded before speaking again.

"Annie, Carlos, don't you ever miss screaming at people and just making them run away from you?"

Hannah bit her tongue, not knowing how she should respond. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for the quality of life Auradon had given her, she loved her life here, but a part of her also missed the Isle. She missed her routine there, she missed father, and she missed a certain pirate there, even if she wouldn't let herself admit it.

Thankfully, Carlos answered before she had the chance to. "You're thinking of my mother, and I was usually on the other end of that. So, not really. No," he said, looking back down at his laptop.

Mal shook her head, glancing off to the side before Carlos got her attention again.

"Oh, hey! Did you bring it?" he asked, standing up. Hannah raised an eyebrow when Mal nodded, not knowing what the two of them were talking about. She did see a small purple tin in her hands though, so she stood up and peered over Mal's shoulder, trying to see what it was.

But before she could get an answer, the door was opening again and a curly haired blond that none of them were too fond of was stepping inside. Chad Charming, who still hadn't turned around to see that the trio was in the room, slowly and quietly shut the door. When he was done, he chuckled in triumph and tossed a key up into the air, catching it and turning around. He had already started to walk forward when he laid eyes on the VKs there, and he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw them.

"Hi," he chuckled so nervously that Hannah had to stop herself from laughing. "Just came to use your 3D printer. Won't be a sec."

"How'd you get a key to my room?" Carlos questioned, an eyebrow raised as Chad continued towards the printer.

Chad held the key up, trying to play it off like he'd just seen it for the first time. "Oh, I printed it off last time I was in here." The trio all exchanged a look before Chad spoke again. "You guys were sleeping." That made Hannah snort, and she crossed her arms, shaking her head. "Look, I just—Your printer's so much better than mine, and you install these hacks and everything runs so much smoother than mine and—"

"Out!" Carlos cut him off, pointing at the door. Chad gave him a "how could you?" look, which just made the de Vil boy roll his eyes. "Now!"

"Fine. Fine." Chad turned to leave but was stopped again before he reached the door.

"Chad!"

"What?" Chad turned around, an exasperated look on his face as he threw his hands in the air.

Carlos pointed at the table. "Leave the key."

Chad scoffed, made a big show of leaving the key on the table, and left, making sure to slam the door shut behind him.

"So what is that?" Hannah turned back to her friends, nodding towards the purple tin.

"A truth gummy," Mal told her, opening up the tin to show them the small red candy inside.

"And it'll make me say what I really feel to Jane, right?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah. I mean, this is a truth gummy, so take it or leave it." Mal nodded, picking up the gummy to offer it to him.

"Perfect." Carlos reached out to take it, but she pulled her hand back right before he could grab it.

"Hold on, though!" She took a breath before rambling on. "Are you sure that you want to be taking this? Because this is gonna make you say the truth all the time, no matter what, and the only reason that I'm asking is because I know that if I took this right now, I would get myself sent back to the Isle. Which, it's not that that sounds super unappealing, but, you know..."

"Yeah," Carlos nodded, smiling at her. "I'll take my chances, I guess."

And that's when Mal made the mistake of dropping the hand with the gummy in it. Dude growled before jumping off of the bed, snatching the gummy out of her hand, and swallowing it in one gulp.

"Oh! Bad dog!" Mal scolded, but it was too late.

Dude jumped back on the bed, and shook his fur and the trio all froze when they heard him let out a very human sounding grunt.

"Man, that thing was nasty!" Dude exclaimed and Mal and Hannah let out gasps.

Dude the dog was talking.

Hannah, Carlos, and Mal all looked at each other before staring at Dude in shock. "And you? You just gotta man up," he told Carlos. "And while you're at it, scratch my butt."

"You heard him," Mal began. "Scratch his butt." And with that, she turned on her heel and walked away.

"Mal!" Carlos called after her, but she was already gone. "You're just gonna leave us with him?"

"Oh my fucking God," Hannah muttered under her breath, still staring at the dog in shock.

"Come on," Dude whined, tilting his head to the side. "You scratch your own all the time."

"Annie," Carlos squeaked out, looking to the girl he considered to be his big sister for help.

"No way." She shook her head. "I'm not scratching his ass."

notes from lottie,

bro why was chad was so iconic for no reason 😭

go watch chad edits on tiktok i promise they will not disappoint

anywaysss, hope u enjoyed!

comment and vote!

love ya,

- lottie.

published: 8/5/24