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Chloe is smiling.
She’s actually smiling, not the polite smile she uses when greeting people, or the reassuring one she uses when someone is nervous, but a real one. It is bright, a little too wide, and a little too eager.
"Can you believe we’re finally here?" Chloe squeals, turning to her best friend, Luna. Luna, the daughter of Rapunzel and Eugene Fitzherbert, is currently trying to keep her own floor-length chocolatey braid from being stepped on.
"I’m mostly just excited to see if the cafeteria still has those enchanted sun-frazzled cupcakes everyone kept talking about," Luna laughs, her eyes bright with the same adventurous spark her father was famous for.
Chloe laughs as she takes it all in.
Auradon Prep.
She has been here before, of course. During tournaments, events, visiting her brother…but this is different, not only because of the music, snacks, and decorations that took over the whole place for the Welcome Party, but because this is hers now. Her school. Her year. Her classes. Her team.
Captain of Swords and Shields. That is her one and only goal.
But she tries not to think about that too much, because if she does, she might start overplanning the entire year right here in the courtyard, and Luis will definitely notice, Luna will gently suggest she “maybe not do that right now,” and Hazel will absolutely make fun of her.
So she just... breathes, looks around, watches the rest of the students in the courtyard enjoying the party, dancing, having snacks, and even introducing themselves to one another.
That is the part that makes Chloe smile the most: the amount of potential new friends to make.
It’s not like everyone here is a complete stranger though, Chloe knows more faces than she doesn’t, if she’s being honest. Not well, not in the way she knows Luna or Luis, but enough to place them. Enough to remember a name, a title, or a passing conversation during a royal ball or diner.
That’s just how things have always been.
People grow up going to the same balls, the same royal events, the same carefully planned dinners where everyone is dressed perfectly and expected to behave accordingly, and eventually the faces start to blur into something familiar. Not quite friends, not quite strangers.
Luna is the easiest example of that turning into something more.
They didn’t just meet at those events, they grew up in them together. What started as shared glances across crowded ballrooms and whispered commentary behind fans turned into something steady, something constant. Chloe doesn’t really remember a time when Luna wasn’t just… there. Part of her life in a way that feels as natural as breathing.
Luis is different, but the result is the same.
She met him during one of her parents’ diplomatic trips to Encanto. Chloe had gone into it expecting everything to be as always, formal, predictable, but Luis had not been any of those things. He was easy to talk to, polite, but warm and really friendly.
They kept in touch after that trip, and now years later here they both are, at Auradon Prep's Welcome Party and about to attend the school together.
There are others like that, scattered through the crowd. People she’s met once or twice, people she could probably approach and fall into polite conversation with if she wanted to, but she would be lying if she said that new faces weren't what she was more excited about.
Don't get her wrong, being surrounded by familiar faces is comforting; she likes the fact that despite coming to a completely new place, she at least isn't surrounded by strangers, but she already knows how to approach those people.
She already knows what they like, who their parents are, and where they come from... she probably knows more about their kingdoms' history than they do, so she wants new people.
People like what Robbie and Hazel had been.
Chloe met them both at Swords and Shields Camp this summer and, though Robbie had tried to flirt with Chloe almost immediately and Hazel had been... well, Hazel, Chloe is proud to consider them her friends.
Robbie is a gentleman, Chloe has to give him that. Loud, a little chaotic, and with a sense of justice with more shades of gray than the one Chloe grew up with, but the moment she talked to him and made it clear that flirting wasn't going to take him anywhere he stopped, which shouldn't have been that much of a surprise, but for Chloe, who was used to more... insisting men, it definitely was a relief.
And once that was out of the way, he was actually… fun. Easy to talk to, quick to laugh, the kind of person who makes things feel lighter without trying too hard.
And Hazel... well, Hazel would probably deny she is friends with Chloe if asked, just as she made sure to be a challenge for her from the very beginning.
They clashed in every sense of the word. Skill, attitude, stubbornness… neither of them willing to back down, neither of them willing to admit when the other had the upper hand.
It hadn’t been easy.
But somewhere in between the rivalry and the constant push to outdo each other, something shifted. Not all at once, not in a way Chloe can clearly point to, but enough that Hazel stuck around.
Enough that their conversations extended beyond the fencing strip, enough that Chloe can stand here now and count her as one of her people… even if Hazel would probably scoff at that if she said it out loud.
And maybe that’s the best part.
Because it means Chloe isn’t just walking into this year with what she’s always had. She’s already added something new, and if that can happen once, it can happen again.
“This is going to be a good year,” she says.
“Yeah, I think so too.” Luis nods next to her, smiling and starting to seem a little bit less nervous about moving to Auradon.
“It’s school.” Hazel all but huffs.
“It’s Auradon Prep,” Chloe corrects.
“It’s still school.”
Luna laughs softly, linking her arm through Chloe’s as she sends Hazel a look. “Let her have this. She’s been waiting for it.”
"Yeah okay, whatever. Let's get this party started," Hazel says, rolling her eyes and making both Chloe and Luna laugh as they follow behind.
After that, and true to Hazel's words, they get the party started, each of them in their own style. Robbie makes several tactical raids on the buffet, returning each time with a plate piled higher than the last, while Hazel is busy treating the punch bowl like an open bar. She nurses her fourth cup with a defiant, pirate-worthy swagger, even after Chloe repeatedly promises her it is 100% sparkling pomegranates and zero percent alcohol.
Some of the people Chloe recognized earlier when they arrived end up approaching her group, so Luna and her spend most of their time catching up with them, introducing them to the rest of their friends, and trying to prevent Hazel from glaring at every single one of them.
Everything is going exactly how Chloe had hoped it would.
Even Luis, who usually hangs back, quietly keeping an eye on everything, has loosened up, laughing more openly than she’s used to seeing. At one point, he ends up mimicking a seal, fries tucked between his lips like fangs, but as the group laughs at his antics, a new energy shifts through the room.
The air seems to cool, and the crowd near the entrance parts like the Red Sea as a small group of students walks in, their clothes draped in darker colors—crimson, soot-black, and distorted patterns.
"Who are they?" Luis whispers, leaning down toward the others.
"New transfers," Robbie says, his hand pausing halfway into a bowl of popcorn as he keeps going. "VKs from the outer territories. Or... somewhere else."
Robbie doesn’t have time to finish what he was saying before one of the boys in the group, a guy with a sharp jawline and a leather jacket adorned with spade symbols, peels off from his friends and starts heading straight for Chloe.
"Uh oh," Luna whispers. "Target sighted. Chloe, brace for impact."
And Chloe resists the urge to sigh, Luna’s warning enough to make her shoulders square instinctively while she smoothes her expression into something warm and open, her posture shifting automatically into the polished poise her tutors drilled into her years ago. Its second nature, effortless, practiced.
Smile, eye contact, just enough interest to be kind without being misleading.
She can do this. She always does.
And maybe, just maybe, she’s being unfair. He could just want to introduce himself. This is a welcome party, after all.
“Hey,” he says, flashing a confident smile directly at Chloe. “You’re Chloe Charming, right?”
She smiles back automatically. “I am.”
“I’m Ace.”
“Nice to meet you.” She answers politely, slipping easily into the rhythm she knows this kind of interaction requires. Compliment, response, a little curiosity; it’s all familiar enough that she barely has to think about it.
“I’ve heard about you. Captain and all that.”The boy, Ace, keeps going, making Chloe give a small, humble shrug.
“It was only the summer camp team, but yeah, I like what I do.”
“I can tell,” he says, and there’s something a little more intent in his tone now. “I was thinking maybe you could teach me sometime.”
That makes Chloe tilt her head slightly, studying him for a fraction of a second.
“Do you fence?” She asks, genuinely curious as a small, quiet hope she doesn’t even fully register settles in her chest.
Maybe he’s not here because she’s a princess. Maybe he just…
“No,” he admits, completely unbothered. “But I could start.”
And just like that, that hope dies.
Hazel makes a quiet sound next to her that is definitely not supportive.
Chloe ignores it.
She smiles, because she knows that’s what she's supposed to do. “Maybe.”
Ace grins, encouraged. “So… can I get your number?”
And there it is.
The realization settles in clean and immediate. Not cruel, not surprising, just… familiar. The same pattern, dressed up a little differently.
For a second, Chloe considers following the script anyway. She could smile, laugh softly, deflect. Let him down in a way that leaves everything smooth and unruffled.
She knows it would work, it always does. And normally, she wouldn’t even think about it… tut today…
Today was supposed to be hers.
No, today is hers.
Her first night at Auradon Prep. The party she’s been imagining for years, the night she was supposed to spend laughing with her friends, meeting new people, being someone new… not managing someone else’s expectations.
And if she follows the script now, she already knows how it ends.
One polite conversation turns into three. Three turns into five. A “gracious no” turns into “maybe later,” and suddenly she’s spending the entire night dodging boys who see a princess instead of a person.
Chloe’s smile doesn’t falter, but something underneath it tightens and the thought comes before Chloe can fully process it.
Not tonight.
She wants to enjoy this, she wants to be here not manage it.
And more than anything, she doesn’t want to spend the next three hours performing.
Her eyes drift past Ace, scanning without really meaning to, only to land on the girl standing a few feet behind him.
The girl is... striking. She has vibrant, messy red hair and a jacket that looks like it has been hand-painted with hearts and thorns. She is leaning against a table, looking bored out of her mind, completely unimpressed by everything around her.
And, most importantly, exactly the kind of person who looks like she would take one look at Chloe and tell her to get lost.
Perfect.
The idea clicks into place almost instantly, reckless, a little ridiculous, but absolutely foolproof.
"Sure, pass me her phone," Chloe says smoothly, her voice steady as she nods past Ace, directly at the red-haired girl.
The group goes silent.
Luna’s jaw actually drops, Hazel pauses mid-scowl, and Ace blinks, his smile faltering as he looks back at his friend.
"Wh-what?" Ace stammers, but Chloe keeps looking past him, ignoring his outstretched hand and only focusing on the red-haired girl.
"Hey," Chloe says, her voice dropping into a lower, more confident register she didn't know she possessed. "I think your friend is confused."
The red-haired girl arches a single, perfectly groomed eyebrow, keeping her arms crossed but taking a step forward that Chloe hasn't anticipated. "Is he?"
"Yeah," Chloe says, flashing her most charming, heart-melting smile as she looks at the girl dead in the eye, her heart suddenly hammering against her ribs. "He’s asking for my number, but I think he should be getting your phone so I can put it in there instead."
Beside her, she hears Robbie choke on a cracker.
And now Chloe waits, expecting the girl to laugh in her face, expecting a cold "get lost.", expecting her world to remain exactly as it was: blue, gold, and predictable.
But instead, the girl’s lips curl into a slow, wicked smirk. She doesn't look offended, or annoyed, or about to reject her. No... she looks intrigued. Amused, even.
"Is that so?" the girl asks, her voice like velvet and gravel as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a phone, the case battered and covered in black-and-red stickers.
She holds it out to Chloe, her fingers brushing against Chloe’s hand.
And Chloe’s brain immediately short-circuits.
At that, the 'Charming' persona doesn't just crack; it disintegrates. Her face, which was a cool, olive tan moments ago, turns a shade of crimson that rivals the girl's hair, and her hand shakes as she takes the phone.
"I—uh—yeah. I mean..." Chloe stammers as she fumbles with the screen, her fingers feeling like lead. She types in her number with the grace of a newborn giraffe, her mind screaming WHAT ARE YOU DOING?as she hands the phone back, her eyes now darting everywhere but the girl’s face.
The girl tucks the phone away, stepping closer, just enough that Chloe can smell something that isn't "Auradon vanilla." It is something sharper, something like spray paint and cinnamon.
"I’m Red," the girl whispers, her eyes dancing with amusement at Chloe’s obvious panic. She leans in, her lips inches from Chloe’s ear. "See you around... Princess."
With a wink that feels like a physical blow to Chloe's chest, Red turns and whistles to her group. "Let’s go, guys. This place is starting to grow on me."
And Chloe just stands there frozen, not moving, not breathing, just watching as the red hair disappears into the crowd.
"Chloe?" Luna’s voice breaks the trance, making Chloe turn slowly to see her friends staring at her, their jaws collectively dropped.
"What," Luna says, her voice flat with shock, "was that?"
"I... I..." Chloe starts, her voice an octave higher than usual. "I just... I had a plan!"
"A plan?" Hazel asks, half in disbelief and half in amusement. "Chloe, you looked like you were about to faint when she called you 'Princess'!"
"What?! No!" Chloe says, her hands flying up in a defensive gesture. "I just... I knew if I gave that guy my number, I’d be fending off guys like him for the rest of the semester, so..."
"So your solution was to hit on the scariest girl in school?" Robbie asks before Chloe can finish her explanation.
"No!" Chloe waves her hands frantically. "My solution was to ask for her phone because I was sure she would reject me! I thought she’d scoff, tell me to get lost, and then everyone would think I was... I don't know, not interested in guys or something. It was supposed to be a tactical rejection! No more guys hitting on me for the rest of the night. It was foolproof!"
She’d seen girls do this in movies: pretend to be interested in someone else so the original pursuer takes the hint. The girl would scoff, roll her eyes, and walk away, how was Chloe supposed to predict that this would happen?
Hazel stares at her for a long beat before bursting into a loud, barking laugh. "Foolproof? Chloe, she didn't reject you. She practically marked her territory!"
"I noticed," Chloe groans, covering her burning face with her hands. "Ugh... I didn't think she'd actually give me the phone! Who does that?!"
"Red of Hearts, apparently," Hazel says, looking absolutely and undeniably amused by Chloe's suffering.
Chloe's eyes go wide at the name.
"Wait... what?!" She asks, distressed and slightly panicking, which only seems to amuse Hazel even more.
"Wait... Chloe, you didn't know who she was when you did that?" Hazel asks, fighting a laugh very, very hard.
"I thought she was just some girl with cool hair!" Chloe wails, her heart still doing gymnastics, her answer making not only Hazel but all her friends finally laugh.
"Well, that, my dear naive Princess, was Red of Hearts. You know? Daughter of the Queen of Hearts? The one everyone was losing their heads over when Uma invited her to Auradon thinking she was the devil personified?" Hazel says as she leans in, a wicked grin on her face present the whole time.
Chloe is so struck by the whole situation that she doesn't even have time to think about scolding Hazel for that terrible, definitely very intended pun. She focuses on Hazel's explanation and rolls her eyes.
"I know who Red of Hearts is."
"Well, you clearly didn't, 'Princess'," Hazel teases, and Chloe groans, covering her face with her hands.
Because the memory of Red calling her "Princess" makes heat rush up her neck, and she feels she might as well die from embarrassment.
Everyone was talking about it when the announcement was made that the daughter of the Queen of Hearts was being invited to Auradon along with some other Wonderlanians, and people hadn't had many nice things to say about it.
Chloe had found that very unfair and highly hypocritical given who the Queen of Auradon was and how the lines between heroes and villains had blurred ten years ago after the "Queen of Mean" incident happened, and once again here everyone was being quick to judge and punish Red for her mother's mistakes.
Chloe had wanted to be her friend; she had been determined, even. She knew that not everyone was in favor of bringing more VKs from the Isle to Auradon, much less from Wonderland, and much, much less the daughter of the tyrannical Queen of Hearts.
Sadly, she also knew a few of the students at Auradon Prep would inevitably share their parents' ideas; if she's being honest with herself, and if Hazel's borderline-hostile arrival at the Swords and Shields camp this summer was anything to go by, Chloe knew that there were more than a few.
So she had been determined to befriend Red, make her feel welcomed, and show her, just like Ben had shown the Core Four, that Auradon could be her home.
"I'm surprised you didn't recognize her, Chloe," Robbie adds, not able to hide his amusement as he speaks. "She's made quite a statement since she arrived yesterday. Everyone's saying she's a real rebel. A total 'anti-hero' vibe. And another thing people have been losing their heads over... word on the street is..." he leans in closer, grinning like he just won a prize.
"She’s bi."
Chloe chokes on her own spit.
"STOP WITH THAT STUPID PUN!" Chloe hisses, trying her best to look stern but not being able to control the way her face burns with that new piece of information she’s really hard trying to ignore. "I didn't know! I thought she was just... edgy! I thought she’d think I was some preppy Auradon girl and tell me to get lost!"
"Well," Luna says, placing a supportive hand on Chloe's shoulder, though her eyes are still twinkling with mischief. "She definitely didn't tell you to get lost."
"She called you 'Princess' like it was a challenge," Luis adds.
"Are you sure you’re as straight as you think, Chlo?" Hazel teases, nudging her. "Because that was a very bold move for a 'straight' girl."
"I am straight!" Chloe insists, perhaps a little too loudly. "Lots of girls say they’re gay or whatever to get guys to leave them alone! It’s a classic move!"
"I’ve literally never done that," Luna says.
"Me neither~” Hazel sing-songs, having way too much fun with Chloe’s suffering.
"Whatever!" Chloe huffs on an attempt regain her dignity. "It doesn't matter. It was a one-time thing. I’ll never see her again. The campus is huge, and I’ll be busy with fencing and history. She’ll forget I even exist by Monday. Can we please just enjoy the party now?"
Her friends share a skeptical look, but they let it drop. Still, for the rest of the night, Chloe can't quite shake the feeling of those hazel eyes on her, or the lingering scent of cinnamon in the air.
…
The next morning, Chloe arrives at Auradon Prep with renewed energy for Move-In Day, the official start of the semester.
This is it. The beginning of everything she’s been working toward, planning for, dreaming about for years. New classes, new routines, new people. Her dream. Her goals. Her year.
Chloe should feel nothing but excited.
And she does, because while she is a little sad she wasn't rooming with Luna, she is genuinely excited to meet her new roommate.
At the end of the day, as Chloe always says, a new roommate is just a best friend she hasn't met yet. Okay, she has never said that, but sue her for trying to be positive after the big screw-up she made of the party the previous night.
But no, today is a fresh start.
She is absolutely not thinking about last night.
Not about the party.
Not about the moment her brain stopped working entirely.
Not about a certain red-haired girl leaning in and calling her "Princess" like it meant something completely different than it was supposed to.
Nope.
Not thinking about that at all.
Chloe unconsciously straightens her posture as she walks down the dorm hallway, lifting her chin slightly.
Head in the game, Charming.
This is important, first impressions matter, she’s going to meet her roommate, and she is going to be friendly, welcoming, and completely normal. No weird energy. No awkwardness. No whatever got in into her yesterday.
She slows slightly as she reaches her door, noticing the faint sound of music coming from inside. That’s good. It means her roommate is already there. Perfect. She won’t have to deal with that awkward “who gets there first” situation.
She takes a steadying breath, smoothing her expression into her brightest, most welcoming smile. She is going to be the best roommate in the history of roommates. She’d probably even bring them a welcome muffin.
Okay, she can do this.
She pushes the door open and is about to introduce herself, but the words die in her throat.
Chaos.
She’s met with complete, absolute chaos.
A massive boombox sits on the floor, thumping out a distorted rock track that makes the floorboards vibrate; the music so loud that her brain is having trouble processing the heavy smell of spray paint that is filling the air.
The right side of the room, what Chloe can only hope is her side, is still pristine and white.
But the right side... the right side is a disaster zone.
The wall has been blasted with a base coat of aggressive, blood-red paint. Wet black graffiti is being swirled over the top in the shape of a jagged, crown-like heart.
And in the center of the chaos stands a girl, her back to the door, her clothes covered in splatters, and a mask hanging around her neck.
And her hair…
Bright. Red. Messy in a way that looks intentional.
Chloe’s stomach drops.
No.
No, it’s not…
It can’t be…
Before Chloe can finish that thought the girl shifts slightly, like she’s just noticed the door opening.
She turns around, revealing a dripping paint can in one hand and a brush in the other, and then time does something strange, stretching just enough for Chloe to catch every detail as the mask is pulled down, revealing a familiar face and a slow, devastating smirk that Chloe recognizes immediately.
Red of Hearts tilts her head, her hazel eyes locking onto Chloe’s horrified chocolate ones.
"Oh," Red purrs over the sound of the music. "This is interesting."
Chloe’s suitcase handle slips from her grip, clattering loudly to the floor.
Red’s eyes flick over her, even more amused, taking in everything: her posture, her expression, the very obvious shock she hasn’t even tried to hide.
“Well,” Red says, gesturing lazily to the wall like she’s presenting something impressive, “do you like it, Princess?"
And Chloe can only stare. At the chaos, at the broken rules, at the girl standing in front of her who has her heart doing something funny and scary and that she doesn't understand or want to think about.
Oh fuck.
…
Wait, did she just swear?