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“Technically it’s a date,” Audrey assured through her cell phone screen.
“Sultana Jasmine requested my presence here. There’s a dueling contest and because I won my category…” Lonnie shrugged “If you think about it, I’m just part of the entertainment for royalty. Although she was kind to invite me.”
“Agrabah has never had this contest before,” Audrey pointed out with her perfect manicure “Sultana Jasmine is just being the cool mom who spends millions just to create a perfect environment for her beloved protégé and his crush.”
Lonnie rolled her eyes and flopped onto the bed. The room they had given her was incredible. The idea of being a guest of honor in Agrabah was something she had never expected. Especially since all this had been possible because of her strange interests. The exact thing that kept her from fitting in with the other girls at Auradon Prep was-
“Hey!” Audrey snapped her fingers and frowned “You’re having self-destructive thoughts again. Stop it or I’ll not invite you for tea. Never again. Now, relax your jaw and remember how amazing you’re.”
Lonnie relaxed her jaw and moved her eyebrows to relax her frown.
“Sorry, it’s just…”
“You didn’t trust us before.” Audrey wrinkled her nose “I hope you do it now.”
After winter break, Lonnie had decided to be herself with her classmates and friends. No more dresses that mimicked something that wasn’t her. No more innocent totally feigned ignorance. Lonnie had lived real colors for the first time in her life when she danced with Jay in an almost desolate airport. And she wasn’t willing to go back. Lonnie started wearing her favorite colors: green and blue, red and light blue. Comfortable and sporty clothes.
Everything was a process.
And her friends supported her was a great help.
“I’m sorry...” Lonnie rolled onto her side and adjusted her cell phone to look at Audrey “I’m just nervous.”
“Say hi to Jay for me,” Mal’s face appeared on the screen and she was hanging somewhere.
Lonnie stifled a laugh as she watched Audrey push Mal’s face away from her, but Mal came back, like an annoying pendulum. Among the VKs, the only one who attended Auradon Prep was Gil, Gaston’s son, and that was because he lived with Ben and his family. The rest of them had been sent to the kingdoms and realms of the heroes to which they belonged. Lonnie’s kingdom had been the only one that hadn’t received a descendant because, to Lonnie’s surprise, Shan Yu had married a Chinese pirate, but they had no children.
After more than a year of Ben’s initiative and new law changes to free more people on the island, it was normal to see the VKs moving around Auradon with the protection of the families that took them in. Some travel between kingdoms to meet their lifelong friends. Others, like Mal, spent most of their time teasing her hosts. Like a little gremlin.
“Do you know Jay?” Lonnie asked in surprise.
“Yes, you have never mentioned it. Actually, I thought you didn’t have any friends on the island.” Audrey replied with a frown.
“No friends. But a gang. My mother formed her group of villains and I was forced to interact with the descendants of those villains. But Mom wouldn’t let me have friends,” Mal explained as if it weren’t a big problem “She always told me that I should be the leader and for that I had to betray, scare, or humiliate the rest... So, I did terrible things. No wonder they don’t think of me now that we have a chance.” Mal looked at Audrey in surprise. “This is the first time in months that I think of my mother. Curious.”
“Mal...” Audrey rested her hand on the other girl’s shoulder.
“It doesn’t matter. Now I can devote all my attention to annoying Audrey and driving her grandmother crazy,” Mal laughed maliciously. “But yeah, Jay was part of my gang. He didn’t work in a team either. His dad taught him that everyone had a price. And he only had to worry about himself and following his father's orders. But it seems that now Jay is better.”
Lonnie was surprised to hear that. Because that hadn’t been the impression she got when she met Jay. Nor was the same guy who text to her every day and sent her hundreds of photos doing extreme sports and being a complete disaster.
“Oh, and extremely flirty. He was SO flirty.”
Another thing Lonnie didn’t know. In her eyes, Jay got nervous every time he tried something similar to flirting. Actually, he ended up being cheesy and clumsy. Really adorable. Lonnie sometimes thought Jay was trying to be charming and was failing terribly. So, the idea that Jay was actually a charismatic flirt seemed strange to her. Audrey and Mal started arguing over the phone. It was actually entertaining to watch two malicious, but harmless minds try to burn each other down.
Lonnie ended the call and stood still for a few seconds. If she closed her eyes for a second, Lonnie could imagine the Jay that Mal had described. A selfish thief who could sell his father for a few gold coins. Someone who liked danger.
A flirtatious boy showing off his muscular arms as he leaned across the kitchen counter in her direction and flirted with her. Loose hair and attractive smile.
Lonnie blinked and had the feeling of having eaten cookie dough. And curiously, it was missing chocolate chips.
Someone knocked on her bedroom door. Her cell phone vibrated, announcing a message. Jay’s name appeared on the screen.
“One moment!” Lonnie unlocked the screen and the second she opened the message. Jay’s laugh came from the other side of the door “You’re terrible!”
The message said ‘What is more important? A stranger knocking on your door or my message?’
“I love your priorities,” Jay saluted when he leaned against the door frame.
All her life, Lonnie had felt like she was the supporting character in the story. The story was someone else’s. For example, Ben or Audrey. Even now, after her two friends had ended their lifelong relationship to give themselves a break. She still felt like a supporting character. But right now, with Jay leaning against her doorframe, in a kingdom other than her own, Lonnie felt like she was part of something bigger.
Not romantic. Not necessarily romantic. But something epic.
“You won this time,” Lonnie looked at him for a long time and smiled.
It wasn’t the same Jay she met at the airport. The boy in front of her was wearing white cotton pants, a long red shirt with almost imperceptible jasmine embroidery, and a black vest. His hair was slicked back, and Lonnie could smell the scent of floral oils wafting from him. Jay had also leaned in her direction and when she looked at him, she realized he was picking up something with his nose.
“Incense,” Jay dropped his head onto his shoulder.
“Oils,” Lonnie replied.
“You know what they say if you put the two together,” Jay extended his hand to her.
“What?” Lonnie didn’t miss a chance and took it.
She closed her eyes. The images came back. Like at the airport. Long hours of training and countless moments dancing next to each other. Walks in the morning. Laughs. Hundreds of moments of pure laughter.
“They can be the beginning of something relaxing or an overflow of sensations,” Jay’s voice came remarkably close to her and Lonnie didn’t want to open her eyes because she knew that Jay’s nose was about to touch hers, not as a romantic gesture or an expression of flirtation, but of complicity. “Today, I chose the second.”
Lonnie opened her eyes the second Jay pulled her through the hallways of the palace. If she just looked at Jay’s feet and their hands, Lonnie could swear they were at Auradon Prep about to steal some horses or...
“Here!”
Climb to the roof...
Jay looked at her, standing on the edge of one of the largest windows Lonnie had ever seen. The refreshing sea breeze blew in so that the palace wasn’t hot. Lonnie closed the distance between them, remembering that the walls of Sultana Jazmine’s palace weren’t irregular, so they couldn’t climb between the cracks.
“Just don’t fall for me,” Jay said with a wink.
But when she was about to take Jay’s hand, he jumped back. To the sea.
“JAY!”
“Lonnie!” Jay screamed.
She felt a pool of blood in her mouth. But she had no time. No one could come to her help.
Jafar...
He had turned Jay into a genie.
The villains had won...
Lonnie jumped out the window without thinking of anything else. No, the only thought screaming in her mind was ‘Not again. Please. Not again. Please don't take him from me again.’
And arms caught her.
The sea breeze surrounded her.
“Lonnie?”
She looked up and noticed Jay’s worried face. She looked down and realized that they were both standing on a magic carpet. Jay held her tighter around the waist. And that was good because she was about to shove him and yell at him.
“I didn’t think you would jump... What were you thinking?” Jay looked at her in surprise “I didn’t want you to...”
Lonnie didn’t hear him. The taste of blood was too real in her mouth. The fire had been everywhere.
“Lonnie…” Jay leaned his forehead against hers, not wanting to let go of her “Stop thinking about those things. You and I are here. We are all good. You did well. We are together again. Just think about it. Here and now. The Sultana’s rotégé and a fool trying to impress the best duelist in Auradon and only looking silly before her. That's me. That's us.”
The taste of blood disappeared from her mouth. The scent of the sea became pleasant again. There was no fire. There was nothing wrong. Lonnie felt herself returning from a dream and rapidly clearing her mind to the point of oblivion.
“Don’t scare me like that again!” Lonnie tapped his shoulder. “Next time you try something like that I’ll kick your ass.”
Jay relaxed. Because for some reason he had been tense. The wind blew his hair around his face, but Jay just smiled.
“Jazmine warned me not to do this,” He admitted out loud.
“Please remember that, from among your tutors, the Sultana is sensible.” Lonnie rested her hands on Jay’s shoulders. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“I apologize,” Jay stretched his lips into a not-too-guilty smile and whistle.
The carpet began to fly. By sheer instinct, Lonnie clung to Jay and he hugged her around the waist again. She wanted to remind him that it was better to have his hands free in case something happened. But that was Auradon, the union of the quieter realms and kingdoms. The place of opportunities. Even the descendants of villains had been welcomed with open arms everywhere. Like magic, each of them was having their fair chance.
And as if nothing had happened seconds before, Jay tightened his grip on Lonnie’s waist, pressed her against his body to lift her a few inches off the carpet. And he jumped to the ceiling. Lonnie caught hold of him and nearly fell over the edge.
“You made me come here because you want to kill me!” Lonnie pulled away from Jay and hit his arm again “You really are a fool.” But she was smiling.
“No! I made you come here because I wanted to see you,” Jay rubbed his arm.
Lonnie raised her eyebrows, and he realized his mistake.
“I mean… Sultana Jazmine invited you to the competition,” Jay tried to distract her with one of his most charismatic smiles. “I just hope I can see you. You know… Just that.”
“You should just have invited me,” Lonnie crossed her arms “I wouldn’t have trained as much as I did to come here.”
“But now the competition is real, so it’s good that you trained,” Jay closed the distance between them and playfully nudged her with his hip. “Would you have come if I asked? I must be irresistible to you.”
“You must be an idiot,” Lonnie looked around “But I like to talk to you. You are unpredictable.”
Agrabah. From there, Lonnie could admire everything. The place was beautiful. A paradise.
Jay’s arms went around her waist again. This time he had stood behind her. Lonnie looked at his jeweled hands but his wrists free of any bracelet. Which seemed like the right thing to do. The image of gold bracelets on Jay’s wrists made her want to cry. He rested his chin on her shoulder.
“Your mother saved your people,” Jay whispered, “And you... You could have anything you want, but you saved us all.”
“What are you talking about?” Lonnie tried to find his face, but he hid it in her neck “Jay?”
“How is Mal?” He changed the conversation “Did you know we used to be part of the same gang?”
“That’s what she tells me,” Lonnie dropped the subject because he had sounded sad “Why don’t you visit her? Or she could visit you.”
“Better no,” Jay denied “But how is she?”
“Well, Mal and Audrey have a rivalry-filled friendship. I don’t know whether to say that it’s something familiar,” Lonnie recalled the video call. “After Ben selected the first four VKs, you guys proved that waiting for more was ridiculous. So Mal came in the second group. Audrey had already lived with Anthony Tremaine, so she was ready to be Mal’s babysitter.”
Jay chuckled.
“That shouldn’t have made Mal happy.”
“Not at all, their relationship was full of cruel comments. But when Audrey’s grandmother said Mal couldn’t go to any royal events because it would be like taking an untrained dog… Audrey reacted protectively,” Lonnie started making paths on Jay’s arms, he had nice arms, unbelievably soft and warm “And since then, they are very protective of each other. They keep fighting but it’s friendlier.” This time Lonnie was able to turn her face and look at him. “Would you like me to find out more about the others in your gang?”
Jay nodded.
“Our chances are fair here. No one expects us to constantly test ourselves. We are safe here,” He shrugged “I just want to know how they are.”
It was as if Jay didn't want to ruin the reality that they were living.
“As you wish, you just-”
Jay kissed her. Still with his hands on her waist and his body pressed against her back. He made her stop looking at Agrabah and close her eyes. Lonnie reached her hands up to hug him around the neck, pulling him closer to her. Despite being on the edge of the roof. Jay laughed against her lips and sighed softly. Another kiss came, perhaps initiated by Lonnie. Slow, stealing that sigh.
“No, now my wishes are fulfilled,” Jay whispered.
Lonnie smiled and ran her fingers through Jay’s soft hair.
…but still…
Something was missing. A piece.
“Lonnie?”
She denied. A piece that Jay knew what it was.
“It’s nothing.”
But she would have to find out.