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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟒
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒

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Another day of classes and answering questions from their peers about the kids from the Isle finally passed. The two girls were starting to get tired of all the concerns the other students at Auradon Prep were expressing about Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos. It was like half the school was now fine with them on campus while the other half wanted them sent back to their former home as soon as possible. And no matter how hard Rylee tried, she couldn't figure out why the "children of heroes and do-gooders" couldn't find it within themselves to give the four from the Island a second chance. Especially when they haven't done anything wrong in the first place.

But Rylee put those thoughts behind her as she and Morgan walked out onto the Tourney field with Carlos. The boy who didn't seem all that pleased to be there stood to the side as the two girls set their bags down by the cannon. The redheaded girl grabbed her whistle while her blonde friend picked up her clipboard and timer before they both turned to meet the de Vil boy's gaze.

"Okay. Carlos, we're gonna do some sprints," Rylee said before she looked down at the clipboard Ben gave her. After she read over his notes, her eyes went back up to meet the white-haired boy's. "You ready?"

"Do I have a choice?" he mumbled just loud enough for them to hear before slowly making his way over to the line on the field without even waiting for them to respond.

As soon as he got into his starting position, Morgan blew the whistle while Rylee started the timer. Barking cut through the silence right as Carlos starts running. When they turned their attention toward the source of the sound, they found Dude coming out of nowhere before he began to follow the boy from the Isle. To the girls' surprise, the De Vil boy screamed as the brown dog continued to chase him across the Tourney field. Rylee and Morgan exchanged a confused look when Carlos ran straight past them and into the forest that surrounded Auradon Prep. Once the two of them realized what was going on, they turned around and sprinted as fast as they could after the boy and the dog.

"Rylee! Morgan!" Carlos' shouts cut through the trees that surrounded them before they rounded a corner to find the boy up in a tree with Dude wagging his tail below him.

"Guys! Help me!" the son of Cruella De Vil pleaded while he pointed down at the little dog standing on a log near the base of the tree, "this thing is a killer! He's gonna chase me down and rip out my throat! This is a vicious, rabid pack animal!"

"Who told you that?" Rylee smiled after picking up Dude and wrapping her arms around his small body.

"My mother."

"Cruella De Vil told you that?" Morgan questioned with a quirked eyebrow and a small smile on her face.

"She's a dog expert. A dog yellerer. Why are you holding him?! He's gonna attack you!"

Rylee and Morgan continued to smile up at the boy while trying to hold back their laughter. It wasn't until they looked back up at Carlos that they saw the true fear in his eyes while he clung to the tree trunk as if his life depended on it.

"Carlos, you've never actually met a dog before, have you?" Rylee asked while trying to hold back the amusement in her voice, causing the boy in question to look at her as if she just grew a second head.

"Of course not."

"Well then, Dude, meet Carlos," Morgan said as the smile on her face slightly grew while the white-haired boy continued to stare at the small dog in Rylee's arms with fear in his eyes, "Carlos, this is Dude. He's the campus mutt. And he won't rip your throat out."

"He doesn't look like a vicious, rabid pack animal," the De Vil boy responded as the terror on his face transformed into curiosity before slowly climbing down from the tree.

"That's because he's not," the Fitzherbert girl laughed while the boy from the Isle came over to stand in front of her as he proceeded to study Dude, "but he might steal your food if you're not careful."

"You're a good boy, aren't you?" he muttered just loud enough for the girls to hear him as he gently began to pet the small dog, "you're a good boy."

Rylee handed Dude over to the boy so that he could hold him as soon as she saw a huge smile form on the boy's face. After watching the white-haired boy hesitate for a moment, the two girls saw his grin grow wider than humanly possible, which only made theirs spread further across their faces. Rylee and Morgan let out small laughs when they found Carlos hugging Dude closer to his body as laughs continued to escape him.

After a moment of watching the joyful scene in front of them, the Fitzherbert girl's smile slightly faltered. Her eyes stayed glued to him as she thought about the life Carlos had on the Isle before a silent sigh passed over her lips.

"I guess you guys had it pretty rough on the Island," Rylee said before she could stop herself, causing Carlos' smile to slowly fade before he looked up at the girl.

"Yeah," he told her as he got a look on his face that made it seem like he was thinking back to his old life before his smile returned when he went back to petting Dude, "let's just say we don't get a lot of belly rubs."

"You know, you're a pretty good runner. You're fast. Faster than a lot of the other guys," Rylee said in an attempt to change the subject back to something positive, "I'm glad we have you on our team."

"Thank you," Carlos smiled at the two girls before looking back down at the small dog in his arms, causing Rylee and Morgan to exchange another quick look.

"Listen, we're gonna give you some space," Morgan told him, knowing this was exactly what the boy needed to come out of his shell, "take some time. Get to know Dude. You can find Rylee and me when you're done. Okay?"

"Okay."

"We'll see you later," the Fitzherbert girl told him as the three of us shared one last smile before she and Morgan left the grinning Carlos with Dude.

As soon as the two girls got back to the field, their attention fell on Jay and Coach Jenkins talking on the bleachers. They watched their exchange for a moment before they made their way over to the cannon. Once they got to Morgan's favorite thing at Auradon, the two of them sat down on the ledge where she usually stood. Rylee reached down into her backpack as soon as they were settled and pulled out her playbook for them to study.

The playbook had been by their sides since the moment Coach Jenkins gave it to them. Rylee and Morgan wanted to make sure they knew every play backward and forward so that they could prove to everyone that they deserved to be on the team. After flipping through the pages for a good five minutes, Rylee and Morgan heard someone walking toward them. The blonde girl closed the binder before they looked up to find Jay making his way over to them with a huge smile on his face and his hands behind his back.

"Hey, Jay," the Fitzherbert girl greeted with a smile as a matching one formed on Morgan's face before the former gestured toward his arms, "whatcha got there?"

"Oh, nothing," he smirked before pulling out a Tourney jersey from behind his back and turning it around to reveal his name and number, "just this!"

"You made the team!" the two girls exclaimed as they jumped off the cannon and pulled the son of Jafar in for a hug. After their conversation with Carlos, Rylee wasn't surprised when she felt him tense up. A short moment passed before he relaxed and returned their gesture.

"We're so happy for you," Morgan told him after they ended their embrace and she looked up at him with a giant smile.

"You and Carlos are going to make amazing additions to the team!" Rylee added while Jay looked down at them with a small smirk on his face

"I don't think I've ever been this happy before," he muttered just loud enough for them to hear as his smile did nothing but grow, "it's gonna be a different experience being on a team. On the Isle, you always had to watch your own back."

"Well, Morgan and I will always have yours and the other's backs. You also have Ben, Elliot, and soon the rest of the Tourney team. We'll always be here if you need anything."

"Thanks, guys," he responded then hesitated for a moment before adding, "I got your backs too. Always."

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Rylee and Morgan went back to their room to change after they helped Carlos for a few more hours. As soon as they were ready, they walked through the halls of Auradon Prep to meet up with Elliot in the cafeteria. They instantly found the older boy near the entrance before the three of them went to grab trays. Once they finished paying for their dinner, they walked across the cafeteria to their usual table.

Pete was supposed to meet up with them but he texted the Fitzherbert boy that he had something to take care of. Rylee hadn't seen much of him since he stormed out of the dorm the other day. But when she did see him in the halls or in the classes they had together, he stayed as far away from her as possible.

"I just don't get why he's avoiding me," Rylee said after her brother told them that the son of Peter Pan wasn't joining them.

"Don't blame yourself, Fitz. You haven't done anything wrong. If something's up, it's on Pete, not you," Morgan told her friend before taking a bite of her pizza.

"Has he said anything to you?" the Fitzherbert girl asked her brother after thanking her redheaded friend for her support.

"Not really. We may be roommates but, unlike the two of you, he doesn't tell me everything. That's more Doug's thing," Elliot told her before placing his burrito back on his plate when he saw the conflict in his sister's eyes, "don't hold me to this but it might have something to do with your new friendship with Jay and Carlos. He does complain about them a lot."

"I just don't get it. When Ben told the four of us that he wanted to bring over kids from the Isle, Pete was almost as excited as Morgan and me. He even convinced you to get on board with it. Why is he all of the sudden against them being here?"

"I don't know, Rylee," the Fitzherbert boy sighed while running his hands down the side of his face before placing them back on the table in front of him, "maybe he's just jealous that you're hanging around other guys. Isn't that something that happens a lot with couples around here?"

"But I hang out with the Tourney Team all the time," the blonde girl retaliated, not bothering to hide the confusion and hurt in her voice, "that never seemed to bother him before. What makes Jay and Carlos different?"

"Why don't you ask him?" Morgan suggested after taking the last bite of her meal and a long sip of water.

"I would but he won't even get near me. And when I try to approach him, he just turns the other way," Rylee explained before an irritated look formed on her face, "honestly, if he keeps this up, I'm gonna be done. I have too much going for me this year to be caught up in any drama."

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