Chapter Text
⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔⏔
Max Hatter, the son of the infamous villain Maddox Hatter, was finally stepping into Auradon Prep for the very first time. It was a rather overwhelming experience, considering the circumstances that had shaped his entire life.
Max knew that most people would look at him with suspicion wherever he went because of his family's notorious reputation, but he hadn't expected his arrival to become such a hot topic.
"Welcome! I've been looking forward to meeting all of you." Uma, the new headmistress of Auradon, said as she shook hands with each of the VKs standing beside Max.
Max only knew the basics of Uma's story - just enough to understand who she was.
"Oh, Max Hatter! I'm so glad you accepted the invitation to study here in Auradon. I hope you'll settle in well." She smiled warmly at the boy, who simply nodded in response.
"Hey, Max…" someone whispered softly, catching his attention.
Of course. It had to be Hazel Hook, his best friend.
"What is it, Hazel?" he asked, turning toward her.
"Have you seen this place? It's huge." She stepped closer, draping one arm around the back of Max's neck.
"It really is…" he murmured. "Must be easy to squeeze a few bucks out of these people."
Hazel laughed.
"Hey, what are you two gossiping about over there?" Felix Facilier, one of their friends, walked over with the Smee twins.
"We were just talking about how easy it'll be to get money out of these people," Hazel replied, stretching.
"I came prepared for that!" Felix said, fanning a handful of tarot cards between his fingers. "Hopefully it'll at least be entertaining. I don't think I can stand being stuck in a place full of heroes. It already makes me sick."
"Tell me about it," Max sighed.
"Hey, are you okay?" Hazel asked, looking him straight in the face. "I mean, you've been kind of quiet."
"I'm fine. Just thinking." Max smiled at his friend, hoping to steer the conversation away from the subject.
"Alright. If you need to talk, I'm here." She lightly nudged him with her elbow.
The VKs' attention was soon interrupted when Uma called the group over to begin their tour of Auradon Prep. As they walked through the hallways, they were met with countless unpleasant stares and hushed whispers. Max hated every second of it. He hated becoming the center of attention everywhere he went.
What truly made him uncomfortable, however, were the frightened and hostile looks the other students gave him whenever they laid eyes on him. Was the entire school year going to be like this?
Fortunately, things calmed down a little once the group reached the dormitory hallways.
"Now then, before you settle your belongings into your rooms, I'd like to remind you that, unfortunately, you won't be staying together." Uma stopped walking, watching as the faces of the five teenagers instantly fell upon hearing the news. "But I'm sure you'll adjust to the school just fine. If you need anything at all, my office is always open."
"Uh... thanks? I guess..." Hazel replied awkwardly. She definitely wasn't used to such a warm welcome - or rather, none of them were.
"Anyway, your roommates are probably in class right now, so feel free to unpack your things." All five of them nodded in unison, and Uma couldn't help but think it was actually a rather adorable sight. "Now I'll leave you to it. And once again, I'm happy you all accepted the invitation to come here." In the blink of an eye, Uma had already disappeared.
She's really fast, Max thought, staring at the now-empty hallway.
"So..." Felix began. "Looks like we're not rooming together, huh..." he said, forcing a smile.
"UGH!! This is a nightmare! How am I supposed to be away from my crew? And the worst part is, my room's in the other hallway, we're on completely opposite sides." Hazel buried her face in her hands with a groan of frustration. "Who's going to feed the Smees every two hours? This is psychological torture."
"Girl, relax a little!" Felix said with a sigh. "It could've been worse. At least we'll still have classes together, right?"
"I hope so," Max said, already exhausted by everything. "Honestly, I'm already starting to miss the Isle."
"Maxie, are you upset?" Squeaky asked, walking over to him.
"I'm okay. Thanks." Max smiled faintly, resting a hand on the blond's head and gently patting it in an affectionate gesture.
"So then?" Hazel asked.
"Let's go unpack our stuff, and then we'll meet up later," Facilier replied as he started walking down the hallway.
"Good luck, Hazel!" Max waved before running after Felix alongside the twins.
When Max stepped into his new room, he was genuinely surprised by how spacious it was. The room seemed to be split in half; one side was fully decorated and filled with someone else's belongings—though Hatter had no idea who they belonged to yet. Overall, his roommate seemed very organized, the complete opposite of Max.
Not that he was a complete slob - he just wasn't very good at keeping things organized.
"Alright... let's start unpacking this stuff," he muttered to himself before tossing his bags onto the empty bed.
[…]
After spending half an hour unpacking everything—from mechanical trinkets to his collection of nail polish - the boy was finally satisfied. It might not have been his best work, but it was better than nothing.
Max sat down on his bed, pulled out his small phone - which he only used occasionally to keep in touch with his group - and sent Hazel a message.
Max ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 -
"Done unpacking yet? :-)"
Hazel 𑄝੭ -
"Yep! I'm sharing a room with two other girls."
"What are you gonna do now?? >:O"
Max ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 -
"Actually, I was about to ask you the same thing."
"Where should we go? Think we can just crash our classes?"
Hazel 𑄝੭ -
"No idea, but we've already got our schedules, so..."
"Let's do this!!"
Max put his phone away and slipped it into his pocket. The black-haired boy with purple-tipped hair got up from his bed and headed for the door, finally leaving the room.
The first thing he saw when he stepped outside was Hazel running toward him.
"Hey." Max gave her a wave. "So, do you know what classes we have?"
"Yep! I wrote everything down right here!" She pulled a folded sheet of paper out of her pocket. "Sorry to say this, but Felix and the twins have different classes from ours. If I remember correctly, we only have two classes with them during the week."
"Damn it," the boy grumbled. "Do you think Felix can handle taking care of the twins?"
"I hope so. Otherwise..." Hazel shook her head, pushing the horrifying thought away. "Ugh! I don't even want to imagine the kind of chaos those two could cause."
"Anyway, what class are we supposed to go to now?" Hatter asked, trying to read the paper. "Potions?"
"That's right, sweetheart. This is gonna be our grand entrance." Hazel grabbed Max's arm, and the two started walking together.
"Please don't say that. I can barely handle everyone staring at us already. It's pretty uncomfortable," the boy sighed.
The walk through the school didn't take long. After less than ten minutes of looking for the classroom, they finally found it - or rather, Hazel did.
"Hazel, slow down. At this rate you're gonna throw the door wide open..." he laughed, shaking his head at how fast she was dragging him along.
Sure enough...
The classroom door burst open, instantly drawing the attention of everyone inside. One thing Max noticed right away was that the room was filled entirely with HKs; he and Hazel were the only VKs there.
But what shocked Max the most was seeing one particular person.
"Red," he murmured, staring at the girl sitting near the front beside another girl with curly blue hair whom he didn't recognize.
"Hey..." Hazel said, giving the teacher a small wave. The teacher looked startled, especially when his eyes landed on Max. "We're the new students."
"Hey." Max said with a casual wave.