Chapter Text
“I am pleased to welcome you all as the second group from the isle to join us here in Auradon!” Fairy Godmother exclaimed, unaware of the tension unfolding before her.
Looking out to the side of her, Carlos could see who he recognized as King Ben. He had a smile plastered on his face, and his eyes briefly swept over all four VKs in front of him.
He could still feel the lingering stares of his former friends trained on him, but Gil’s presence made him feel safe. Well as safe as he could be in this unfamiliar place.
“--and these four lovely students will be showing you all around Auradon Prep! This is Ben, Mal, Evie, and Jay!”
If he wasn’t distracted by his current overwhelming situation, Carlos might have scoffed at the introduction, clearly none of them needed to be introduced.
With that Fairy Godmother walked off along with the very loud band, who had thankfully stopped playing a bit ago. Along with the band, many of the students had left to go back to their daily activities which made Carlos very thankful for the quieter atmosphere, although some journalists still lingered.
“Hello and welcome! I’m Ben and it’s so great to meet you all!” Carlos could hear a loud scoff come from Argo, and honestly he knew how the son of the Queen of Hearts was feeling. The scoff drew attention from Jay, Mal, and Evie as they all turned away from Carlos to glare at Argo. The De Vil boy felt relief wash over him when he was no longer the target of the stares.
His relief was not long lasting, as all of a sudden Evie started to approach him. Carlos glued his eyes to the concrete beneath him and silently pleaded for her to walk in the other direction. But as he discovered very early in life, he had terrible luck and so he braced himself as the blue haired girl cautiously walked towards him.
He saw Gil instinctively step even closer to him as Evie approached, but Carlos knew he had to deal with this on his own, so he squeezed Gil’s arm as a silent ‘i’m ok’. The LeGume boy stepped away from Carlos, but still kept his eyes on the two.
Evie could see how tense Carlos was once she got closer to him. The boy looked so much older from the last time she saw him, yet still so young and innocent. The guilt in her was so heavy from leaving him on that isle, she would do anything to make it right.
Carlos could see Evie’s shoes on the ground in front of his, the heels sparkling in the sun. Her voice was just like he remembered smooth and warm, “Carlos, we are so glad that you agreed to come here. I just want to start by saying that I am so so sorry.” Carlos snapped his head up to meet her eyes.
What? Sorry?? Hearing a word like that on the isle was rare. Hearing a word like that directed to him, that never happened. What was she even sorry about? It’s not their fault they forgot about him, they were happy and he would have pulled them down. Why was she even talking to him? He would have thought they would want nothing to do with him.
“-and we really hope that you could forgive us eventually” Carlos heard as he was pulled from his thoughts. Right, he had got to stop spacing out and start listening to people.
Are you listening brat?
Evie had finished talking and Carlos realized that they were all looking at him for a reply. But he didn’t have one. Carlos had no idea what to say. What was someone supposed to say to that? “No it’s totally cool don’t even worry about it” or “Stay away from me I never want to see you again”. For the first time in a while, Carlos’s mind was blank.
Carlos was staring into Evie’s eyes and had no idea what to say to her. He would open his mouth as if to say something, but then he would just close it again. Evie noticed he was struggling, and so she thought it would be reassuring to reach and put her hand on his shoulder.
That was a big mistake.
Immediately, Carlos let out a small yelp and flinched back, almost falling over. His eyes locked back with the ground and he started to tremble so slightly, that if Evie wasn’t as close as she was, she would never have seen it.
Gil stepped between the two and gave Evie his worst glare, which caused her to cower back to her friends.
“Don’t. Touch. Him.”
Carlos had heard Gil angry before, but it was very rare, he was always so happy and bright. Hearing him like this was kind of scary, but having it be directed at you must be worse. Carlos couldn’t help but feel bad that he caused Gil to be angry and scare Evie.
He heard Gil whisper something along the lines of if he was ok and Carlos nodded numbly even though he was far from it. The whole situation overwhelmed him so much, he just wanted to sleep. He was so tired. Too many people, too many eyes on him, and too many thoughts in his head.
“Well we can show you guys to your dorms now and do the tour tomorrow if you would all prefer that? I’m sure it had been a long day.” The king’s voice called out, trying to ease the tension. He had no idea of how long the day had been.
Surprisingly it was Argo who answered with sarcasm dripping in his words, “Yeah that would be so great.”
And so the group started to head into the building. Jay and Mal both look as though they want to say something, but don’t speak up. Evie looks extremely guilty and sad, but tries to put on a fake smile for Dizzy who is talking her ear off. Gil and Carlos fall to the back of the group, with Carlos trying to look as invisible as possible and Gil taking in the sights around him.
Being inside of the school was very different than just seeing the outside of it. Without the sun blinding them, it was much dimmer, and Carlos muttered a quick thank Evil when he could finally see without squinting.
The school was very, very large and all of the furniture was cleaner and fancier than any the new VK’s had ever seen. Undamaged paintings lined the walls and fresh plants sat in pots along the floor. Carlos stared in awe at the scenery and noticed the other three doing the same, even Argo seemed blown away.
The King, or Ben is what he told them to call him, told them that Dizzy would be rooming with a girl in her grade named Melody and Argo would be with Jay. Carlos was very grateful to hear that he and Gil would be together, he didn’t think he would trust anyone else to be his roommate.
They let Ben and Jay lead them to their rooms while they watched Evie whisk Dizzy away with Mal to the girls corridors, missing the longing look Evie sent him. Carlos had to admit he would miss the little fashionista, and he hoped they would see more of each other here.
After Jay had split off to bring Argo to his room, they finally arrived at Gil and Carlos’s. Ben went over a few rules such as, curfew, library hours, behavior and where to report for classes. He handed both isle boys a key to the room and said goodbye and to find him if they needed anything. Carlos sent him a weak wave accompanied by an even weaker smile while Gil happily called goodbye and sent him an eager wave.
Once the king was out of sight, Carlos was able to release the tension and anxiety he was holding in that whole time. Finally, he was alone with his friend. They were in Auradon. They were safe. They were alone. He sighed out in relief. This was his chance to finally be happy. He couldn't, wouldn't, mess this up. For him or the others.
Looking over at Gil, he could see the boy still had a smile on his face. He looked eager to see where they would be staying for (hopefully) the year and more to come.
“Ready?” Gil asked
“Ready,” Carlos responded. After unlocking the door with a slight shake of nerves, Carlos pushed it open and stepped into their new room.