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It was often forgotten that the kids from the Isle of Lost were not the first transfer students to come to Auradon Prep. She had been young and secretly terrified of what awaited her in this foreign land which had extended the courtesy – “a great honour”, her mother had said – of inviting General Hua Mulan’s daughter to join their ranks. And if there was anything her family prized above all, it was honour.
Long painful hours learning English, interspersed with etiquette classes, while still being expected to keep up with her martial arts training could have led a weaker person to resent this so-called privilege of coming to Auradon Prep. But Lonnie grit her teeth and bore with it, and even came out the other end with a smile on her face. After all, her parents spoke of Auradon in glowing terms and were so excited that she was getting a chance to visit there (if the quirk of her father’s lips and the faint smile on her mother’s face could be termed excitement).
However, it seemed that even in a realm that prided itself of being inclusive and welcoming, some antiquated views on gender still abounded. She was initially dazzled by the sheer number of pretty pink princesses around – and those who weren’t technically princesses were still noble by lineage – with their fair skin, smooth hands and flawless makeup. Then when it became abundantly clear that fighting by the sword was reserved for boys only, she started to see that there was a mould that everyone was expected to fit into, a mould clearly different from her own.
It rankled, and it just made her practice harder every single morning before dawn, as was her routine since she was old enough to walk. She watched from the sideline as the Swords and Shields team swaggered around and complained about the tough training Coach put them through, unaware of the opportunities they had just by virtue of being male.
It was slightly ridiculous, she later thought, that it had taken a villain’s child to finally correct this injustice.
--
When you grew up with a father who hadn’t wanted you in the first place, and only valued you for what you could literally bring to the table, you learned to acquire things. Fast. This realisation finally sank in when his half brother was sold off one day for failing to present their father with more than a few paltry trinkets over the course of a week. He also learned to hide things that not even his father could snatch, because he would be damned before being caught unawares like his brother and thrown out without so much as a dime on his person.
Unlike his friends, he had no desire to be like his father, to earn his approval, or seek out a future that he’d deemed was best for his son. Frankly, his father had never given a thought to his son’s interests, and Jay was fine with the way things were. Family was just biology, and the only one he could count on was himself. It wasn’t that stealing made him happy (inherently he knew it wasn’t right) but it made him self-reliant.
Auradon was dripping in so much wealth it simultaneously thrilled and disgusted him. The theft that had become second nature to him was even simpler in this complacent society that either couldn’t comprehend the concept of dishonesty or else had so much abundance that they didn’t actually care if they lost their possessions. And so he relieved them of countless items, mentally estimating the value of each piece and how much it would bring him when Auradon inevitably tired of their little experiment and banished them back to the Isle of the Lost.
When he’d eventually confessed to Fairy Godmother, it was a miracle that she hadn’t had him thrown in jail, but had simply collected back all the items and had them returned to their owners being none the wiser. He supposed that if any of the girls knew about his thievery, they wouldn’t be swooning over him.
It was odd then, he mused, that the girl who prized filial piety and honour above all had been the most understanding.
--
She hadn’t had much of an opinion of him when she’d first seen him - along with everyone else – when they first arrived at Auradon Prep. She’d been more interested in meeting the two girls, hoping to make some new friends who weren’t your typical princess, because as much as Lonnie liked her friends, they tended to be a little too candyfloss. The fact that Mal had practical magic and Evie was mad stylish didn’t hurt either. He was more of an afterthought, an additional tag-on to the girls.
The first time she’d actually met him was in the kitchen when they’d been innocuously making cookies. To see him go from completely disinterested to making that…smoulder made her flutter for all of one second before realising how ridiculous it was. She wasn’t one of those pretty pink princesses who would fall for something like that.
Then it quickly became apparent that none of them had ever had a decent parent among them. Why, Mulan had specially learned how to make the English traditional chocolate chip cookie once her daughter had come back during her first summer break raving about them. She’d seen the look on his face when he’d realised how good a father should actually be – and what he’d missed out on. Her heart ached for the stolen childhood they all must’ve had, and she promised herself that they would receive nothing but love from her – even an empty-headed charmer like Jay.
It was absurd how this girl could be crying for a bunch of people she barely knew, he’d thought afterwards. What kind of tender-hearted people were they raising in this country? He’d gone back to their room that night and done a little research on the laptop he’d stolen on Hua Mulan and her daughter. Perhaps it was because she’d grown up away from the whole Auradon-Isle opposition, that she wasn’t like the rest who automatically shunned them.
It wasn’t lost on him, however, during the Family Day fiasco, that Lonnie had automatically looked out for Chad’s wellbeing after Jay had tackled him to the ground even though he’d been a scumbag to Evie. And even though she hadn’t been vindictive like Audrey and Jane, she’d still sided with the other Auradon kids. It had been stupid to think anyone who didn’t come from the Isle would ever support them.
Days after Ben’s coronation was over, he found himself mulling over how quickly their lives had changed in the short time they’d been in Auradon. Now they were attending classes, playing in Tourney, and although many of the Auradon Prep students still viewed them with suspicion, things were much better and several people were starting to accept them.
It was one such evening when there was a tentative knock on his door, and he forced Carlos to go open it, revealing Lonnie standing there with a container in her hand. “Hey, what’s up?” Carlos asked cautiously, not having spoken to the girl enough to know what her intentions were.
“I brought these for you guys. An apology cookie batch.” She opened and held out the container in front of her like a peace offering, and the delicious chocolatey smell was enough to get Jay off his butt and to come to the door as well. She bit her lip and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for jumping on the bandwagon when everyone was against you guys, rather than standing up for you. It was prejudiced and cowardly and dishonourable. So I came to apologise, and I was kind of hoping that we could be friends.”
“By bribing us with cookies?” Jay raised a brow, although her frank apology had left him a little stunned internally. No one in Auradon had seemed to think they had been in the wrong for judging the VKs. Even the four of them knew that they’d been in the wrong for plotting to steal the wand and, as Evie put it, couldn’t blame Auradon for wanting to protect themselves.
Her already tentative smile faltered. “I just thought- you know- since you guys said you never had anyone to make cookies for you when you were kids, that you might like to know what my Mom’s ones tasted like…” She trailed off as they continued to stare at her and laughed self-consciously. “I guess it was stupid to think cookies would solve anything-”
Carlos snatched the container out of her hands just as she’d started drawing back, clutching the heavenly-smelling present to his chest. “Uh, thanks I guess.” He mumbled awkwardly, but kept his tight grip on the box. His mother had never let him have anything sweet, always mumbling something about molasses.
Jay continued staring at her. He couldn’t remember ever receiving such a sincere gift before. Even on the Isle, the four of them tended to trade favours, rather than get each other presents for no good reason. It made his stomach feel a little funny, and he wasn’t sure what it was, but the increasingly hopeful look on her face made him want to smile. “Friends, then.”
He wasn’t sure how princesses liked to seal their friendships with villainous bad boys (bowing? hand-kissing?) but she made it simple by sticking out her hand and dealing each of them a firm handshake. “She seems cool.” Carlos said after she’d left, already munching on a cookie and dropping crumbs everywhere.
“Yeah.” She wasn’t like the other girls, that was for sure.
--
Lonnie came back to their room a few days later to retrieve her container, and he let her in, waving her towards Carlos’ side of the room to find it as the other boy had gone out for a walk with Dude. “Um, are you sure it’s with his stuff? I can’t find it anywhere.”
She walked over to Jay’s desk instead, and he scrambled to hide some of the stuff that was lying about. But he wasn’t quite fast enough, and her sharp eyes noted some jewellery that clearly didn’t belong to him.
“What’s all this then?” She asked, ever straightforward.
“Just a few trinkets that I found lying around.” He tried to act nonchalant but her questioning gaze felt like a laser into his soul. “Alright, alright. I stole them, okay?”
“You stole them?” She gasped.
“Old habits die hard.” He shrugged, trying not to let on that he was actually a little worried about her ratting him out and getting deported back to the Isle. “Not everyone’s parents bring them up on cookies and good morals. Some of us were taught to steal in order to survive.”
She swallowed back a scathing reply and counted to five in her head before speaking. “Well, I don’t think you need these sorts of survival skills anymore now that you’re in Auradon. And people will be wanting those back, even if they haven’t yet noticed you’ve taken them.” She had to admit she hadn’t heard anyone complaining about losing jewellery recently.
“I’ll return them tonight.” He gritted his teeth. He’d never returned a stolen item in his life, but he couldn’t risk incurring the Fairy Godmother’s wrath. And Lonnie wasn’t wrong – he didn’t actually need to steal any longer. What a strange concept.
--
He couldn’t help noticing that whenever he went for a morning run, she was always at the same spot near the field either going through a complicated series of martial arts movements or wielding her sword with finesse. He vaguely wondered why she didn’t just go to the gym like the others, considering it was closer to their dorm rooms. Then again, he personally found it hard to comprehend running on a machine in a room and not getting anywhere, which was why his usual route took him all over the campus.
After a while she appeared to notice him as well, and started offering a friendly nod in his direction when he passed her. He began running more regularly after Coach had asked him to join Swords and Shields, figuring that he’d better work on his stamina to keep up in both Tourney games and fencing. He had quite a lot of catching up to do, seeing as how he had never really held a sword properly in his life, while many of the princes on the team had had posh fencing lessons as children, and began practicing in secret, not wanting the others to know how much effort it took to improve.
It was a month or so when he realised he wasn’t really getting much better just practicing by himself, and the occasional snide remark by Chad during team practice was getting really annoying. It was on one of these morning runs where he passed by her again and an idea struck him. “Hey Lonnie.”
There was a faint hint of annoyance on her brow at being interrupted during her sword practice, but she completed the next series of movements, before wiping her blade and sheathing it. “Good morning, Jay. What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you’d be up for a little sword practice with me.” He got straight to the point.
Her eyes widened. “You want to spar with me?”
“Yes?” He flashed his best smirk just in case, hoping she wouldn’t say no. “I understand that might be a little intimidating, but I’ll make sure to go easy on you.”
She let out a dry laugh. “Well, I guess it’s hard to refuse such a considerate offer. Meet me here tomorrow, same time?”
“Will do.” He winked at her again and jogged off.
Unsurprisingly, or perhaps a little surprisingly, the next morning when they started sparring, it didn’t take very long for her to trounce him. “You don’t need to go easy on me, Jay.” She said sweetly. “I promise I can take it.”
He grunted as he dusted himself off, stood in position, and went at it again. It took a few more bouts of her defeating him before he gave up. Villains weren’t used to being humble, and it pained him to admit that she was much better than him. “I haven’t had much experience with swords.”
“I can tell.” She said, not unkindly. “I don’t imagine you had access to good training back on the Isle.”
He laughed mirthlessly. “Just a lot of practice of doing whatever it takes to stay alive.”
Her eyes turned sad, and he internally cursed himself for that moment of vulnerability. “Would you like to continue practicing against me?” She offered. “I’ve had good training myself, and I think you could use some.”
“What will it cost me?” He blurted out before he could stop himself. There was no free lunch in this world, and he wasn’t going to become indebted to anyone in Auradon.
“Your full discipline and commitment.” She replied automatically, echoing her father before she realised what he’d actually meant. “What- I’m not going to charge you money, Jay.”
“Why not?” He asked, and then nearly hit himself. The girl was willing to give free lessons and he was practically asking to pay her!
“Because friends don’t pay. And besides, you don’t have any-” She cut herself off, but it had already been said, and he could feel the heat rising up his neck to his face. No one liked to be reminded that they were poor, even though the school had graciously decided to pay for all of the VKs’ school supplies and provide them with a small allowance. “Look, how about you owe me a favour instead? I’ll let you know when I think of something. Deal?”
“Deal.” He exhaled in relief that the awkwardness had passed. “Thanks, Lonnie.”
--
“You’re getting better.” She remarked after they came to a standstill, neither quite managing to disarm the other in their latest practice.
He chuckled and drew back his sword. “Yeah, Coach seems to think so too. He’s making me captain of the team now that Ben’s too busy to come for practices.”
She stared at him in wide eyed envy. Of course, she’d never really told him that she wanted to be part of the team, to be given a chance to train with more people and compete formally. It just wasn’t fair.
The silence must have dragged on for a little too long, because he looked a bit sheepish – an odd look for him. “Alright I admit I didn’t tell Coach that you were the one practicing with me and making me improve. But you should have seen the look on Chad’s face when I beat him and Coach went on this lecture about the importance of personal training and used me as an example!”
“I’m not looking for credit, Jay.” She rolled her eyes, although the envy was now swirling uncomfortably in her stomach. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks!” He smirked. “Anyway, I’m not sure I’ll have time to keep up with these practices now that I’ve got more boring stuff to do as captain, but any time you want to spar, just call me, yeah?” She nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more in case she started rambling incoherently about injustices. “And maybe have a think about that favour you want from me.” He hated owing anyone anything, especially someone as kind as Lonnie.
--
Jane stared at her roommate in mild terror as Lonnie’s knife continued to scratch against ivory. “Er, Lonnie? Are you alright?”
Lonnie looked up from the half-finished mah-jong tile she was carving. “Oh, sorry, was I being too loud?”
Jane quickly shook her head. “No! It’s just that that you seem kind of upset.”
Lonnie sighed and deliberated a moment before speaking again. “Look, you know I think Auradon Prep is a great place. But sometimes certain things just really aren’t right.”
“You mean like the continuation of the monarchy rather than changing to a democracy?” Jane nodded sagely. “Kings and fairy godmothers have been bestowed with so much power, and yet we managed to create a state where kids like Mal and Evie had to go without a proper education just because a king decided it should be so.”
Lonnie blinked. That wasn’t really what she was expecting from the Fairy Godmother’s daughter. “Um, sure. But I was just thinking about how girls aren’t allowed to join any of the sports teams here except for cheerleading. We can’t even form a girls team for Tourney! How is that fair?”
Jane wasn’t really sure what to say to that. She wasn’t into sports herself, but she knew that Lonnie was really good at martial arts. It didn’t really make sense that someone as talented as her wasn’t allowed to participate in Tourney.
“Anyway, I know you’re really busy planning all that Cotillion stuff, don’t mind me.” She waved a hand expansively.
“I mean, yes I’m busy and Mum’s been hounding me on these party favours…” Jane caught herself rambling and laughed. “It’s a good thing I like organising things.”
“Yeah you’re really great at that!” Lonnie praised her friend. “I’m sure it’s going to be lots of fun.”
“I dunno about that. Last year I ended up serving punch with my Mum.” Jane smiled wryly. “It probably won’t be different this year. In fact, it would be nice to just skip the whole thing.”
“Maybe someone will ask you to Cotillion and you’ll be dancing the night away.” Lonnie pointed out, resuming carving her mah-jong tiles, not seeing Jane’s shuttered expression.
--
It was annoying when all anyone could talk about was Cotillion and who was going with whom. Even though Lonnie knew in her mind that she didn’t need a guy to ask her to the dance just to have a good time, it still felt a little like she was missing out on something that the other girls who had dates had. As she and Jane walked along the corridors of school, she took a slight comfort that Jane was also going solo – they could go together. It wasn’t as if there was a particular boy she was hoping would ask her…
As if the universe had followed her train of thought, she saw the four VKs heading in their direction, with Jay and Carlos in front talking about something, Jay occasionally throwing flirty glances at the simpering girls around him. “…solo. That way, I can dance with all of them.”
Her superior hearing managed to catch hold of what he was saying, and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his playboy tendencies, although a tiny part of her heart felt sad that he obviously hadn’t even considered the possibility of going with her. It was a stupid thing to think of anyway, when he was clearly one of the heartthrobs on campus who had girls lining up to go on a date with him. She blinked as she realised that they’d stopped and Carlos was talking to Jane about… dessert?
“Smooth.” Jay grinned and strode of down the steps to the courtyard, and Lonnie couldn’t help but follow him briefly with her gaze before snapping back to Evie’s offer for a fitting and claiming it instantly. Even if she was going alone, she’d look fabulous.
--
The moment she saw Jay’s expression go from interest to resignation after Chad pulled out the bloody rule book was the moment she knew she’d lost the fight this time around. He clearly didn’t want to rock the boat as a newly chosen captain of the team, and it would take a lot of guts to stand up to their formidable coach. She tried to be charitable about it, but it still made her unbelievably disappointed that he hadn’t stood up for her.
No, in fact he was worse than the others. Idiots like Chad were just blindly chauvinistic and disbelieving that a girl could do sports just as well as a boy. Jay, however, had witnessed first hand how much better she was compared to him. He knew she had talent to contribute to the team, but still didn’t let her join the team.
Jane had come back to their room later in the evening and immediately started exclaiming how amazing Lonnie had been with her sword fighting skills at practice.
“It doesn’t matter how good I am, they’ll never let me join them.” Lonnie retorted bitterly. “Boys just think they’re better than us. All the time.”
Jane patted her hand sympathetically. “Chad’s the worst, isn’t he? But not all of them are that bad, you know.” She blushed slightly when Lonnie lifted a disbelieving brow. “Carlos is pretty nice. I’m sure he’d talk to Jay for you if you asked, since they’re really good friends and all.”
Lonnie’s eyes narrowed. “Since when were you such good friends with Carlos?”
“I-I I’m fairly good friends with all of them.” Jane stammered. “I just mentioned his name because… because I was talking to him just now after their practice ended. I was ranting about how we should just skip Cotillion – I’m honestly so done with it all – and it didn’t even occur to me that Carlos- I mean, all the kids from the Isle have never even attended one before! But he just stood there and agreed with me – it’s like we’re on the same wavelength.”
“Sounds like you like him more than just friends.” Lonnie gave her a pointed look, but eventually took pity on her blushing roommate who looked like she was at a loss for words. “Thanks for the advice, maybe I will go talk to Carlos.”
--
How could he not have known that she wanted to join Swords and Shields? The question kept running through his mind like a broken record as he thought back on all their sparring practices together.
He caught himself feeling guilty, and then feeling angry at himself for feeling guilty. It wasn’t like he wrote the rule book with stupid rules about only accepting male members. It was clearly written by someone who wasn’t the brightest lamp in the store. One only had to look at the Isle to see that women were just as strong as men, in whatever way that might be. He’d be lying if he said he’d be absolutely confident of beating someone like Mal or Uma in a fight.
Weird, he hadn’t thought about Uma in a while. Probably because his unofficial rival had always been Harry Hook.
Jay shook his head as if to clear his mind. The point was, he felt bad and it was an unfamiliar feeling. The last time he remembered feeling like this was when Carlos had been locked up by his mother with a dog in the room as a punishment for helping Jay steal something from their house, and Jay had left him there to suffer alone.
His eyes widened as he realised what it meant. It meant firstly that he owed Lonnie – something he had conveniently elected to forget – and secondly that he considered her a friend. It was different from the other guys on the team – they were more like friendly acquaintances with common interests, but Jay wouldn’t really go out of his way to help them unless there was something in it for him as well. Lonnie, on the other hand, had gone out of her way to befriend and help him, and he’d essentially let her down.
If this was the Isle, he’d find himself with a knife in his back the next day. Shuddering at the thought, he went to find their coach. Surely some rules were made to be broken.
--
“Why did you bring Lonnie here?” Mal hissed at Jay as they hurried through the tunnel. Just what they needed, another Auradon Prep student to look out for on the Isle.
“She blackmailed us, alright?” He muttered. “Said she’d tell on us to Fairy Godmother if we didn’t let her come help us rescue your boyfriend.”
Mal sighed. Lonnie was good value, and one of the people she’d actually miss after leaving Auradon. “Just make sure she doesn’t get kidnapped too.”
Jay raised a brow. “I seriously doubt it.”
And he meant what he’d said. The majority of Uma’s crew weren’t exactly seasoned warriors – even Evie who hated breaking into a sweat could hold her own against most of them. But that didn’t stop him from shooting glances over to the Chinese girl while they were in the midst of fighting for their lives, just to make sure she was okay.
To his amazement, Lonnie even managed to beat one of the pirates barehanded. It was like watching poetry in motion to see her coordinated fighting style, and he couldn’t help but be thankful that he’d spent all those hours training with him, when he managed to disarm Harry Hook. Even as they ran back to the limo and drove off, she was breathing hard in exhilaration, and it kind of made him feel a little lighter to see how happy she was in her element.
That must have been what drove him to make the crazy decision to make her captain of the team, although Evie’s speech about remembering their Isle roots certainly solidified his resolve that he was doing the right thing. Lonnie had proven herself to be skilled, a team player and loyal friend, and he would be proud to be under her leadership for Swords and Shields.
--
“Oh my gosh, you aren’t going to believe what just happened!” Jane shrieked happily once she entered the room.
“Funny, I was just going to say that to you.” Lonnie grinned. “What’s up?”
“Carlos asked me to be his date to Cotillion!” Jane skipped around the room and nearly dropped her tablet.
“Aww, that’s great!” Lonnie clasped her friend’s hands in genuine enthusiasm. “What happened to wanting to skip the whole darn thing?”
Jane flushed and flopped down on her bed. “I guess I was also feeling a little bitter about not being asked to go with someone for a second year in a row.” Then she realised what she’d just said and looked up in alarm. “Not that there’s anything wrong with going alone!”
“Relax, don’t worry about it.” Lonnie said, with a tight smile. “We’re all still taking the stretch carriage together, right? I promise to leave you two lovebirds some time alone.”
Jane still had to change into her dress, while Lonnie had already put on her own outfit, so she made an excuse and ducked out of the room.
Meanwhile Carlos was relaying the same story to Jay, who nodded appreciatively and clapped his best friend on the shoulder. “Good job, man. Hope she still wants to go out with you after the whole shebang is over.”
“Man, I hope so.” Carlos looked uncertain for a moment. “I really like her.”
It occurred to Jay that he’d never really seen Carlos have a crush on anyone before, not even on the Isle. He briefly wondered what it was like to feel such depth of affection for someone. It was proof of how much they’d changed after coming to Auradon, considering the loveless environment they all grew up in.
“So are you still going solo?” Carlos’ voice filtered through his musings. “None of the girls catch your eye?”
Jay shrugged. Now that he knew Carlos was going to be occupied escorting Jane, he wondered if it might be easier to just have a girl on his arm. But for the first time, he was actually thinking about asking someone he liked at least a little, rather than just picking the prettiest girl out of the lot who were eager to go with him. And if he had to be honest, there was only one girl in the entire school whom he knew well enough for that.
A firm knocking on their door made Carlos squeal slightly, being in the middle of putting on his dress shirt. Jay rolled his eyes and went to open the door.
“Hey, Jay. I just have something to ask you.” Lonnie smiled hopefully, and he was momentarily struck dumb by how pretty she looked. Unlike most of the dresses he’d seen Evie delivering, Lonnie’s outfit had modest sleeves covering the upper arms he knew to be well-muscled, was Oriental styled in a nod to her roots, and, wow, were those pants?
“Sure.” He glanced back to where Carlos was scowling and holding up his pants pointedly. “Maybe outside. My roommate’s not decent at present.”
He shut the door behind him and they stood in the empty hall corridor. She took a deep breath. “So I was wondering if now is a good time to ask for that favour you owe me.”
“Alright.” He dragged out the two syllables in curiosity. “What do you want?”
“Would you be my date to Cotillion? It’s just that Jane and I were supposed to go together with some friends, but now she’s going with Carlos, and I just didn’t feel like going alone.” She barrelled on, noting the surprised look on his face and trying to ignore how her heart was sinking into her shoes. “I mean, of course if you’re already going with someone else then that’s fine, I’ll just find someone else-”
“Yeah, I’ll go with you.” He cut her off with his trademark smirk. She really shouldn’t be wasting her favour on something like this. “Actually-”
“Great! I’ll see you at the pick-up point at six o’clock! Thanks!” She gave him another blinding smile and ran off, proving just how comfortable her outfit was.
There was an odd sense of disquiet in his chest, but he ignored it.
--
She was a little quiet on the carriage ride back, and he couldn’t help but nudge her. “You look kind of serious.”
“Just thinking about all the stuff that happened on the boat.” She replied. “Mal said that she’s part Isle and part Auradon, and that she thought she wasn’t good enough for Ben. Do you ever feel like that? Like you’re not good enough for this place?”
He could tell from her tone that she wasn’t being condescending. “Well, I’m pretty awesome so I don’t ever feel like I’m not good enough.” That earned a chuckle from her and he grinned back. “But yeah, I know that I’m part Isle and part Auradon too. And I think that makes me different from the others, in good ways and bad ways.”
“Good enough to let a girl be captain of the Swords and Shields team.” She quipped, and he nodded with his chest puffed out absurdly, making her laugh again.
They continued joking and chatting about R.O.A.R. practice, Jane and Carlos, homework, cookies and everything in between. He didn’t quite realise that he was walking her back to her room until they had reached it and were still standing outside it while Jay regaled her with a story of how he and Carlos had once tried to cook something but accidentally mixed it up with one of Mal’s spells and lost their eyebrows in the process.
“Oh! You didn’t have to walk me back.” She sounded like she had only just realised it too. “Thanks for doing this favour and being my date for tonight. I had a lot of fun. And I’m sorry you didn’t get to dance with more of the other girls like you wanted.”
And when she said that, it all felt wrong, somehow. It turned what had been an enjoyable night into a mere transaction, the repayment of a debt. He hadn’t even thought about dancing with anyone else, although that might have been partly because of all the excitement with Uma and Ben and Mal and that sick dragon-octopus fight.
Her smile faltered as the silence lingered on, and she mumbled a hasty ‘goodnight’ and shut the door before he could even think of something to say amidst his jumbled thoughts.
--
Sweat beaded down her forehead as she thrust her sword into a strawman repeatedly. Her mind kept going back to the night of Cotillion, and how pathetically desperate (desperately pathetic?) she’d been to have to essentially demand Jay to take her to a stupid dance. All because she wasn’t secure enough to go alone. And if she had to be brutally honest, she’d never thought Jane would have someone ask her to go – not because Jane wasn’t a lovely and deserving girl, but because, well, she just wasn’t the kind to attract a prince.
Not that Lonnie thought she herself was the sort to attract a prince either, of course. No prince would want a girl who could beat them in a fight. But when even Jane (she felt horrible even thinking like that) had gotten asked to Cotillion, it just fuelled all the insecurities she had about her own likability ever since coming to Auradon.
With a few swings of her sword, all that was left was a pile of straw. She wiped the sweat from her brow. She would resolve not to think about boys for a while, especially Jay in that context. He was a real friend, and that was good – she would continue to treat him as such. She reached out to grab her water bottle, only to find it missing from its spot in the corner.
She turned around in confusion and saw the thief grinning as he tossed her water bottle in the air and caught it again. “Give it back.”
“Tsk tsk. What would your mother say if she knew you were so unwary of strangers sneaking up on you? This sort of careless behaviour could get you in trouble on the Isle.”
“Please, as if anything would happen to me here at school.” She scoffed and held out a hand for her bottle, which he threw back to her. “Anyway, she’s pleased about me joining the team as captain. She said to tell you that you’ve got good sense and honour.”
“Good sense and honour?” That was an odd compliment if he’d ever heard one. Then again, he hadn’t had much compliments growing up. Even at Auradon Prep, any compliments he received were mainly about his good looks or his sporting talent, almost never about his character.
She smiled. “Coming from my mother, that’s as good as you could hope for. She’s probably not like most mums.”
Jay shrugged, his posture becoming slightly discomfited. “Well, I wouldn’t really know.”
She winced. “I’m sorry.” Feeling upset with herself, she avoided his gaze and began wiping her sword blade clean.
He felt this absurd need to make her feel better, as she was clearly beating herself up every time she said something about parents to them (he noticed she did it to Mal and Evie as well). “My mum left when I was pretty young, so I guess I don’t really miss her. She wasn’t bad to me, just… absent. Not like Dad.”
“That is bad!” Lonnie cried out, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly. “Mothers are supposed to love their children. In fact, families are supposed to love each other. Your father was terrible!” Then she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand for a second before blurting out, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I said that about your dad. That was really disrespectful of me-”
“He was terrible. No point pretending otherwise.” He interrupted her, and she fell silent. “Blood ties don’t mean much on the Isle. My family is the one I’ve chosen for myself.” He could see from her face that it was a hard concept for her to accept, which wasn’t surprising, given her cultural background.
She sheathed her sword and stood up. “So, what will you be doing for the holidays?” They began walking back to the dorm rooms.
He blinked at this abrupt change in topic, but he guessed she was too uncomfortable talking about family. “Holidays?”
“Yeah, you know, we’ve got a break coming up.” Then she grinned slyly. “Unless you were planning on doing a lot of studying in the library throughout. How positively hard-working of you.”
“I didn’t realise that was coming up.” The concept of school was already foreign enough, let alone holidays. “What happens during the holidays?”
“Well, a lot of them go home to visit their f-families.” She stumbled over the last word.
He considered this. “Well, none of us are going back to visit our families, you can be sure of that. S’pose we’ll be hanging around, at least Carlos and me. If most of them are going home then I guess Mal and Evie might be going along with Ben and Doug.”
“Some of us stick around and hang out with whoever’s staying back, some of them go on trips together. Jane usually stays back as well since her mum lives here. We could all hang out together.” She noted his confused look. “China’s a bit far, Jay. I only go back once a year.”
“Alright, how was I supposed to know?” He grumbled. “Not sure I want to hang out with such a know-it-all for the whole break.”
She resisted the strong urge to stab him.
---
Okay, so it turned out that when you hung out with a couple, it made you feel like the third and fourth wheel of a carriage, Lonnie was finding out to her dismay. Who knew Jane and Carlos were capable of such mushiness that made her want to cringe and be in a different place altogether? She snuck a look at Jay, who was busy stuffing his face with cookies while playing some game on his computer. As usual.
“Urgh, you’ve got crumbs in your hair.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Mm.” He sounded completely unbothered as he tried to drag fingers through his tangled hair, scattering crumbs on himself, and then attempting to flick the heavy locks behind his back.
Lonnie didn’t think she had any sort of OCD tendencies (if anyone did, it was Jane) but the sheer mess of Jay’s hair was driving her crazy. “Oh, for goodness sake, don’t you even know how to tie your hair up?”
“Of course I do.” He scoffed.
“You mean that ugly man bun?” Carlos contributed, sharing a giggle with Jane, earning a rude gesture from his best friend.
Jane brightened. “You should let Lonnie braid your hair, Jay! She’s great at it.”
Jay swivelled in his chair to give Lonnie a suspicious look, which she returned with an arched brow. “Fine.”
Grabbing a plain comb from his desk, she began to work her way through the tangles, occasionally using her fingers to help.
A shiver went down his back as she did so, and he was thankful that she didn’t seem to notice, and that she couldn’t see the slight flush of his cheeks since she was behind him. It was almost hypnotic, having the feel of her fingers running down his scalp, as she began braiding in earnest in separate sections. He found himself unconsciously leaning back into her hands, and nearly whined when she finally tied it all together and patted the top of his head with a satisfied “Done.”
She showed it to him in a mirror. It was beautifully done, but he put on his most unimpressed face, and said, “It makes me look girly. Can’t you do it differently?”
She huffed, but complied, not noticing the speculative glance Carlos threw at him.
--
After the break, it seemed like something had changed between them. Sure, they’d been friends before, but now they were, well, closer friends. Jay winced. It sounded kind of lame in his head.
Now whenever they had classes together, he sometimes found himself sitting next to her instead. It had the added benefit of copying her answers – Carlos’ answers were often unreliable – until she found out and volunteered to tutor him during their free time. Once in a while she would also come over and join their table for lunch, even when Jane wasn’t there with them. And when they weren’t together, they were texting each other even late into the night.
Evie, ever sharp-eyed, had noted this development as well – the difference all the more stark as she had spent the short holiday with Mal and Ben at his castle and come back to this new dynamic. The thing is, neither Jay nor Lonnie seemed to have noticed, or at the very least, neither had said anything about it.
“Looks like you’ve got yourself another admirer.” Evie lifted a perfectly shaped brow as she gestured to the small bag of cupcakes hung on Jay’s locker. “Pity they don’t know how annoying you really are.”
Jay took a bite of a cupcake and frowned. “Pity they don’t know how to bake better.” He offered Evie one of the cupcakes.
At this, she raised both brows but took a cautious bite anyway. It wasn’t bad, actually. At least it wasn’t a poisoned apple. “Not the worst I’ve had.”
Jay scoffed. “Lonnie’s are much better and I can have those any time I want.” He lifted the bag and when Evie shook her head with a polite smile, he shrugged and lobbed it into the nearest trashcan.
Now that was out of character, Evie mused. Usually he’d read the card first to see which lovesick girl had made it before chucking the gift away, so that he could check her out later and determine if she was worth going on a date with. But now he didn’t even bother glancing at it. Curiouser and curiouser.
The thing that clinched it for Evie, though, was when they were having one of their weekly Friday night hangouts in Carlos and Jay’s room.
The door swung open, revealing Jay with Lonnie in tow. “Hey guys, sorry we’re late, Swords and Shields practice ran over a bit. Blame the captain, I guess.” He smirked and received a smack to the shoulder from Lonnie.
“We’d have been back sooner if you didn’t feel the need to make Chad trip over himself.” She rolled her eyes.
“He was practically begging for it.” Jay sniffed and placed his gear on a chair. “If he thinks a girl doesn’t deserve to be captain then he should, I dunno, actually get better? If he can’t even beat me, how does he plan to beat you?”
“Hear, hear.” Jane said, punching a fist in the air, to Carlos’ surprise.
“Give him a chance, guys.” Ben, ever peace-loving, attempted to defend his previous teammate. “He can be a little… traditional but he’s not that bad.”
Doug snorted. “Clearly you’ve never been on the receiving end of one of his prejudiced rants.”
As the conversation continued, Evie shared a meaningful look with Mal, who nodded in wide-eyed surprise. It wasn’t simply that Jay, who was one of the most arrogant people they knew, had implied that Lonnie was better than him at a sport.
Friday night hangouts had first started out as an outlet for the VKs to vent about everything that was happening as they adjusted to living in Auradon without non-Isle people around. As time went by, it became an unwritten rule that Friday nights were exclusively to meet together, even if it was just to share what had happened in the week.
Then one Friday Doug had been in Evie and Mal’s room already that afternoon, and Evie hadn’t had the heart to chase him out in the evening, giving everyone else an evil glare which meant that no one actually said anything aloud. Then a similar thing happened with Ben, quite soon after the whole Uma fiasco, and no one wanted to upset Mal either, and let him stay. Since then, Ben and Doug would occasionally drop by, and more recently, Carlos had brought Jane along the previous Friday.
But Lonnie wasn’t actually dating a VK. And yet Jay had just allowed her – invited her? – along as if this hangout was open to all and sundry. Of course, no one expected Lonnie to know any better, since to her it probably just looked like a bunch of friends chilling together. Jay, on the other hand, should have known – he’d been the one who raised the most noise about Evie letting Doug sit in after the first time after all.
Evie then decided to test this further by borrowing something from Jay and then making him come to her room to get it the afternoon she had scheduled Lonnie for a makeover. Evie almost felt bad for being distracted waiting for Jay to arrive, while Lonnie was talking rather seriously to Evie and Mal about cultural perceptions of beauty.
“Why is it that blond hair is preferred?” Lonnie was asking, while Evie curled her hair with an iron. True, it could have been done with magic, but Lonnie said it was therapeutic when done the old-fashioned way.
Mal was fingering her own purple hair in thought. “I made my hair blond back when I thought it represented me being good. I guess I was just trying to copy the other girls I saw at Auradon.”
“I think sometimes the general perception is, the fairer the better.” Lonnie remarked. “And nothing’s darker than black.” Evie winced at that, looking at Lonnie’s ink-black hair, now beautifully curled.
“It’s not just hair, is it?” Mal asked carefully, looking at her own pale skin.
Evie hustled Lonnie behind the screen to try on the new outfit before the conversation became even more serious. While Lonnie hadn’t actually commissioned it, Jane had been talking about adding to their newsletter some of Evie’s fashion designs for publicity. Evie had been inspired and created this outfit, and Lonnie just happened to be available to be her dressmaker’s dummy.
“I feel a little silly.” Lonnie laughed, and stepped out from behind the screen, trying to adjust the black leather jacket and save herself from a wedgie from tight black pants at the same time.
“Yo, Evie, where’s my assignment?” Jay barged in. “You have Doug to copy stuff from, I don’t see why-” His voice trailed off.
Mal blinked and watched as Jay stared at Lonnie, who was looking rather like a gangster in her all black outfit, albeit a cute, blushing gangster.
“What do you think?” Evie asked innocently, as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but Mal knew better. Her best friend was up to something.
“Looks good.” Jay eked out, his voice sounding a little dry.
Lonnie visibly brightened. “Really?”
Jay nodded, his gaze never wavering. “Like you mean trouble.” The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, and Lonnie grinned back.
Evie shot Mal a knowing look, and Mal nodded back imperceptibly.
---
“Lonnie, may I ask you something?” Jane twiddled her thumbs nervously. Evie had nudged her to send out some feelers as to Lonnie’s feelings, since she figured they were closer.
Lonnie nodded and resumed practicing her latest hip hop moves. “Fire away.”
“Is there something going on between you and Jay?” There, now the question was out and there was no taking it back.
The Chinese girl nearly fell over in the middle of a twist. “What? Of course not. Why would you ask that?”
Jane heaved a sigh. “It’s just that you’ve been hanging out a lot with him lately, and, well, you did go to Cotillion together…” And you’ve been flirting in front of us, she wilfully didn’t add.
Lonnie’s face fell. “We’re just friends. I admit, we’ve become closer friends over the past few months but that’s all. The reason why we went to Cotillion together….is because he owed me a favour and I cashed it in so that I wouldn’t have to go alone.” It looked like it pained her to admit it, which Jane could well appreciate.
“Oh. I’m sorry, I thought…it seemed like you like him.” Jane apologised. “And it seems like he likes you back. Carlos thinks so too.”
Lonnie frowned. “He’s a playboy, Jane. I’m sure he has plenty of other girls to keep him occupied.”
Jane tilted her head thoughtfully. “I don’t think I’ve seen him date anyone recently. Sometimes I go to Carlos’ room and Jay’s always there.”
“Really?” Lonnie perked up a little, before deflating when she saw Jane’s knowing grin. “That doesn’t mean he likes me back, though.”
“You could be brave and ask.” Jane suggested, knowing that there was nothing more guaranteed to make Lonnie want to do something than to suggest it was loyal, brave or true.
---
“You know, you and Lonnie would make a great couple.” Carlos blurted out, forgetting everything that Evie had told him about subtlety.
Jay choked on his lollipop and had a hacking fit before he could sit upright and face his best friend. “What- where did that come from?”
Carlos shrugged sheepishly.
“Look, I know you’re very happy with Jane, but that doesn’t mean you need to start matchmaking me, alright?”
“It’s not like that, man.” Carlos shook his head. “I just thought you two liked each other.”
Jay laughed awkwardly. “Nah, we’re just friends.”
“I get it.” Carlos nodded understandingly. ‘I mean, she isn’t as pretty as Jane, of course.”
Jay frowned. “What are you talking about, man, Lonnie’s fit as hell. No wonder they say love is blind.”
Carlos struggled to maintain his peaceful expression despite the slight against his girlfriend. “Yeah, well, I’d be afraid to date someone capable of kicking my ass too. So I get why you’re not interested.”
“I’m not a coward.” Jay retorted indignantly. “I’m just so charming that she’d never need to beat me up. And anyway, I’m improving in my swordplay – I’ll probably be able to beat her someday.”
“You’ve really gotten good at that, by the way.” Carlos forgot his objective for a while and lapsed into a genuine compliment. “Bet Harry Hook was surprised since he was always the one using a sword instead of fists. Well, fist.”
“Well, actually Lonnie helped me train before that. That’s why I got promoted to captain back then.” Jay admitted. “Didn’t even charge me for the free lessons.”
“That’s really kind of her.” Carlos’ brows furrowed. “Oh, wait. I guess you paid back the favour by making her captain instead.”
“That’s not why I did it.” Jay quickly corrected him, because he wouldn’t have anyone saying he played dirty when it came to Swords and Shields. “It’s because she deserved it.”
Carlos nodded slowly. “So what you’re saying is, she’s hot, kind, badass and you aren’t intimidated by her, but you’d never consider dating her.”
Jay spluttered, his cheeks growing red.
“It’s just as well.” Carlos mused, pretending not to notice his best friend’s distress. “I mean, if you dated her and then dumped her like you do every other girl, she’d be heartbroken and then Jane would be upset.”
“I wouldn’t do that to her.” Jay grumbled. A tiny part of him acknowledged that he had been quite a douche to a lot of girls in the past. But the thought of a heartbroken Lonnie made his chest ache for some unfathomable reason. She was one of the best people he knew, and anyone responsible for hurting her deserved to be enslaved to a lamp that belonged to Uma.
“Actually, scratch that – Lonnie might come and stab you in the middle of the night. Then I’d have to clean up and host your funeral.” Carlos hypothesized, earning himself a pillow in the face expertly thrown by the other.
---
Jay went through the next school day in a blur, unable to get that weird conversation with Carlos out of his head. He realised he’d rebutted all of Carlos’ fake objections to Lonnie – yes, fake, because Carlos wasn’t that good an actor after all. And now he couldn’t stop thinking what it’d be like to date her.
Did this mean he was in love? He’d never thought he was capable of it, and it wasn’t really like what Mal and Ben clearly felt for each other. He didn’t know much about love, and he didn’t know how a relationship would pan out. It sounded like a lot of effort.
And yet, he wanted to try it. All the things he used to tease his fellow VKs about – holding hands, having late-night conversations about everything and nothing, kissing – he wanted to try it with her. Not any other girl, just Lonnie.
He reached his locker and found a note taped to the front that read: Spar, 5pm.
He hurried to meet Lonnie at her usual training space near the field, briefly wondering why she hadn’t texted him earlier. Then he stopped some distance away, staring at her going through her usual series of pre-sparring exercises, all fluid movement and grace.
She’s beautiful, he found himself thinking.
Then she fumbled a move and stopped, and he could hear her muttering angrily to herself.
“Hey, I’m here.” Jay decided to announce his presence and she whipped around to stare at him. “You looked a little distracted.”
“I- I was.” Lonnie grimaced. “What brings you here?”
He frowned in confusion. “You asked me to join you today, remember? Left a note on my locker.”
“No, I didn’t.” She looked equally confused, and then huffed in exasperation. “Urgh, Jane! She must have done it.”
“Why?” This was making less and less sense. Since when did Jane care about their training sessions?
But as he looked at her, she seemed to have come to some sort of decision as she squared her shoulders. There was some strange tension in the air, and he didn’t realise he was holding his breath. “Because she thinks that I should tell you something.”
“Okay…” He watched her closely and swore there was a light dusting of pink on her cheeks. A faint hope began to grow in the pit of his stomach.
“I like you, Jay.” She looked at him with a painful sort of hope on her face. “And I was wondering if you might feel the same way about me, even a little bit. Enough to want to go out on a date.”
He gaped in shock. As he digested what she’d just said, he started rejoicing internally but somehow was so stunned he couldn’t make his stupid mouth form words like a normal person. Lonnie’s expression became more and more strained as the seconds ticked by.
“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way.” She blinked furiously as if trying very hard not to cry. “I just wanted to tell you. We can still be friends, right?”
“No.” He finally replied hoarsely, and her face fell. When he realised what it sounded like, he quickly grabbed her hand. “I mean, I want to be more than friends. With you. And go on several dates.”
“Really?” Her smile was breath-taking.
“Yeah. I like you too. A lot.” He brought her hand up and kissed it. “Uh, did you still want to continue training now?”
Lonnie grinned. “How about we have that spar, and if you beat me, you get to decide what we do on our first date?”
So, Jay didn’t know much about love, but that was the moment he realised he could really fall in love with her. “Deal.”