I'm apparently a traitor
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"How to get out of the friend zone," Carlos muttered to himself as he typed the words into Google. He was sitting on his bed, on his computer, waiting for Mal to show up. Unbeknownst to me, Carlos was trying to ask me to Cotillion, and he really liked me. He just couldn't figure out how to tell me.
Carlos looked over to his right where Dude laid in his dog bed on the boy's bed. He gave him a little doggy smile as the boy scoffed at him. "I see you reading over my shoulder." When the dog didn't seem to react, Carlos grinned and scratched the dog's head.
Suddenly, the door to Carlos' room opened, and Mal rushed in, slamming the door behind her. She hit her back against the door, happy to be away from the paparazzi on the other side, but still freaking out from all the stress. Carlos looked up at her, where she quickly locked the door and began to rapidly pace the room, still panting. He looked at her confused, as she grabbed the remote to the TV, where it was playing the same newscast about her from earlier, and struggled to turn the channel off. Once she did, she started to pace again, but then her eyes lit up with a green light. She almost looked possessed.
"Whoa," Carlos told her, trying to calm her down a little. "Easy, girl."
"You think this is so easy?" Mal yelled back at him, coming closer to the bed. "You 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..." She sighed.
"I'm sorry," Carlos said, looking back down at his computer.
"Carlos," Mal asked, getting his attention back, "don't you ever miss screaming at people and just making them run away from you?"
He gave her the slightest smile, almost like saying, you can't be serious. "You're thinking of my mother. And I was usually on the other end of that. So, not really. No," he told her. She sighed and shook her head, thinking no one could possibly get how she was feeling.
Carlos went back to his computer for just a second, then remembered why he had been waiting for her. "Oh, hey," he said, putting his laptop down and standing from the bed. Mal looked back at him, annoyed, waiting for him to continue. "Did you bring it?" He asked excitedly. Dude also got up from his bed, waiting for the action to happen. She sighed and pulled it out. However, the door handle began to jiggle, making them look over there.
In came Chad, who thought he was being sneaky by gently closing the door behind him, and cockily throwing his key into the air. Once he had caught it though, he saw Carlos, Mal, and Dude all staring at him. Dude gave him a small growl.
"Hi," Chad chuckled, trying to cover up the fact that he had just broken in. "Just came to use your 3-D printer. Won't be a sec."
"How'd you get a key to my room?" Carlos asked him.
Chad looked back at the key in his hand in surprise, almost as if it had appeared from thin air. "Oh, I printed it off last time I was in here." Carlos and Mal looked at each other, quite creeped out. "You guys were sleeping," Chad explained.
When he seemed to realize that Carlos was beyond annoyed with him, he tried pleading. "Look, I just...Your printer's so much better than mine. And you installed these hacks. And everything runs so much smoother than mine--"
"Out," Carlos interrupted, pointing at the door. Mal just had this amused grin on her face. "Now."
"Fine. Fine," Chad obliged as he headed back to the door.
"Chad," Carlos called, still quite annoyed. Chad looked back at him, ticked off as well, not knowing what more Carlos could possibly want from him.
"What? Hmm?"
"Leave the key."
Chad slowly walked back over, dramatically showed Carlos the key, sat it on some books on the table, then left, slamming the door behind him. Glad that was over, Carlos looked back over at Mal, who was lost in thought again. "Mal?" He asked her.
"Mmm?" She looked up at him, still quite lost.
"My potion," he grinned.
"Mmm."
Mal opened up the plastic case in her hands, and took out the small candy. "Yeah, um.." she showed the little gummy to him as he looked at it in thought.
"So, this thing will make me say what I really feel to (Y/N)?" He asked her, amazed.
"Yeah. I mean, this is a truth gummy, so...Take it or leave it," she told him. He nodded with a small smile.
"Perfect."
"Hold on though," Mal said, stopping him before he could take it. "Are you sure that you wanna 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..." she rambled, finally taking a breath. Carlos nodded, wanting to go all in for me.
"Yeah. I'll take my chances, I guess."
"Okay," Mal sighed, letting her hands fall to her sides.
Quickly, Dude jumped at the opportunity for food. He jumped off the bed, and quickly ate the truth gummy from Mal's hand. Mal yelled, quickly bringing her hands back up again, as Dude jumped back onto the bed, getting away with what he had just done way too quickly. Carlos looked back at his dog, dumbfounded. "Bad dog," Mal told the mutt. The dog shook its coat, all while making little grunting noises. Mal gasped, realizing what had happened.
"Man, that thing was nasty," Dude told the two of them. They just looked at him, almost as if they had seen a ghost. Dude, the dog, was talking. Carlos looked at Mal, hoping they were both seeing this. "And you?" Dude asked Carlos. "You just gotta man up." They still looked at him, wide eyes, and mouths dropped. "And while you're at it," the dog continued, "scratch my butt."
"You heard him," Mal told the boy. "Scratch his butt."
And with that, Mal made a quick turn on her heel and headed for the door. "Mal," Carlos called after her. "You're just gonna leave me with him?" He asked her, gesturing to the dog. However, the door closed, and Mal was gone. Carlos looked back at the dog, not really sure what to do at this point.
"Come on," Dude pleaded, "you scratch your own all the time."
Carlos rolled his eyes, and sat down on the bed, next to his talking dog. He looked out into space while scratching Dude's butt. "Aw, yeah! That's the spot!" Dude exclaimed, wagging his tail with delight. Carlos looked over at him, eyebrows raised in annoyance.
"Really?"
"What? Oh, are we talking about (Y/N)? Then like I said. Man up. Just ask the pretty girl out," Dude told him like the solution was obvious.
Carlos grinned a little and stood up from the bed. He began to frown though as he explained. "You just don't get it, Dude. (Y/N)'s amazing, and I messed everything up," he sighed. "I literally tried to take over her kingdom. And yet, she forgave me! I just don't want to mess this up again."
Dude frowned. "Yeah, that's rough."
Carlos glared at him. "Not helping."
"Hey, I just learned how to talk. You've got to give me some time to figure out what to say."
The boy gave the dog a small laugh and sat on the bed next to him again. "I just...Dude, I think I'm in love with her."
"Awww," the dog said, almost sounding sarcastic. Carlos laughed, loving the words that had just come out of his mouth.
"Yeah," he smiled at the dog. "So what do I do?"
"Do what I told you to do. Man up. If you love the girl, then take a chance for her. Besides, I won't mind having more of her around here. She gives awesome belly rubs," Dude sighed happily.
Carlos grinned and rubbed the mutt's belly. He looked out at my dorm room window and sighed happily. Maybe something would finally change.
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Back on the Isle, things were stirring up too, especially at Ursula's Fish & Chips. With a slogan like, "You'll take it how I make it!" you know there had to be some pirates up in there, seeking some revenge. As a matter of fact, the place was already packed. As another smug pirate waltzed into the place, he put his weapon into Sword Check, then handed some stolen, rotten fish on a string to a nearby customer, who was not thrilled with the gift. The red-coated pirate then shoved a customer off a barstool, and jumped over to the other side of the bar, almost like he owned the place. However, the junior owner didn't mind. In fact, she came in and slapped a plate down for the two of them to share. Though she respected him, she made sure he always knew that he was second in command. But, he was okay with her being first.
He thankfully took the plate of slop and began to pick and choose at the fries. However, the girl poked her hand in there, so she could throw some of it at the TV behind her, where Mal and I were being shown. "Ah!" She grunted as the food splattered onto the tiny TV. She turned back around with a nasty frown as her pirate almost-boyfriend laughed. "Posers," she snarled, laying her hands on the bar.
"Traitors!" The boy yelled at the TV as he bit into a fry.
When no one else seemed to be joining in on the insults, the girl demanded attention. "Hello?" she yelled.
Immediately, all the other pirates joined in, yelling insults, and throwing their food at the broadcast also. They all looked at the girl, waiting to see what she would do next.
"Oh, I would love to wipe those smiles off their faces," the pirate boy said as he wiped some of the food off the TV, then licked it from his finger. "You know what I mean?"
"Gil!" The girl yelled at the other boy beside her, wanting his attention too. The boy looked clueless at her, with his food halfway in his mouth, and his hair almost in his eyes. "You wanna quit choking down yolks and get with the program?" She asked him rudely.
He gulped the egg down nervously. "Yeah, what they said," he told her. The girl snarled, and looked out at the restaurant before her, as her two companions continued to pick at their scraps. At least one of her pirate friends wasn't a lunatic.
"Those little traitors. Who left us in the dirt," she proclaimed.
"Who turned their backs on evil," her first mate agreed, popping a tiny cherry into his mouth.
"Who said you weren't big or bad enough to be in their gang," Gil said as he got seconds. The two other pirates and the rest of the customers glared at him as he walked back over to the bar. "Back when we were kids," he tried to explain, but the restaurant stayed quiet. "Come on, you guys remember. Mal called her Shrimpy, and (Y/N) tried to toughen her up to be 'less shrimpy', but the name just kind of..." by the time Gil had managed to get all of that out, the girl stopped her first mate from attacking, and just glared at the other pirate. But, he finished anyway, "...stuck."
The girl turned around to her mate so she wouldn't have to deal with Gil anymore. "Those snooty little witches. They grabbed everything they wanted, and left me nothing. First it was (Y/N), and then Mal, but my mother won't stop reminding me that compared to my sister, I have nothing."
"No," Gil interrupted, still snacking on rotten fish sticks. "She left you that sandbox, and then Mal said you could have the shrimp..."
"I need you to stop talking," the girl demanded as she turned around to look at him and banged her fist on the table.
"Look," the other boy said, trying to get the girl's mind off of it, "we have their turf now. They can stay in Bore-adon..."
"Harry, that's their turf now," she told him as she pointed at the TV, where Mal stood happily with Ben. She turned the TV off and walked back over to him. "And I want it, too. We should not be getting their leftovers," she said as she leaned over the bar. She turned to Harry and looked him in the eyes. "Son of Hook," then she turned to Gil, "son of Gaston, and me most of all, daughter of Ursula."
She pushed Gil away from her and solely looked at Harry. "What's my name?" She asked him. He took his hat off, and lowered himself before her, talking at a beloved whisper.
"Uma."
"What's my name?" She asked Gil this time.
"Mmm. Uma?" He asked, still trying to eat.
"What's my name? What's my name?" She sang this time to the crowd of pirates.
"Uma!" They all declared.
As soon as Uma had finished her song, a tentacle attacked from the back room.
"Shut your clams!"
"Mom!" Uma screamed, wanting to smack her mother's arm.
"These dishes ain't gonna wash themselves!" Ursala screamed as her slimy tentacle retracted and went back out of sight.
Uma rolled her eyes and sighed, but tried to focus.
"It's fine. It's fine," she assured her friends. "Cause when I get my chance to rain down the evil on Auradon, I will take it! They're gonna forget those girls and remember the name-"
"Shrimpy!" Gil yelled, very proud of himself for some unknown reason.
However, he got two nasty glares from Uma and Harry.
Uma sighed, grabbed her dirty rag and a few dirty dishes, and headed to the back kitchen. Harry followed close behind her, still concerned. As Uma began to angrily scrub dishes, he put a hand on the plate she was washing to stop her. She looked at him, somewhat annoyed.
"I promise you that when you take over Auradon, I will take care of (Y/N). She won't have to be a problem for you anymore," he smirked at her.
She gave him a small smile.
"Don't let my mother hear you," she warned him as she started cleaning again. "One drop of that so-called princess' name and she will start another war. That is all she has ever seemed to care about," she sighed.
Harry stopped her and turned her chin to look at him. "That's not what I think about," he smirked flirtatiously.
Uma scoffed with a smile. She tried to focus on the plan, however.
"Don't worry," she replied, starting to wash again. "When I finally get my hands on her, I will awaken the 'princess' from her delusion of a life."