Wicked Dawn | 'Till The Night Falls Book 1 (Disney Descendants)

Chapter 2: One Bad Apple

Evie had been in love with Auradon since day one.

From the moment the limousine had pulled up in front of the castle-like school and she'd gotten her first glance of what she'd been missing on the isle, she'd never once thought about going back home. Everything had been so perfect. The sparkling fountain, the clean campus, the pink curtains. To come to Auradon had been like a dream come true for an aspiring clothes designer like herself. She'd never imagined anything could go wrong in Auradon.

Until today.

Because today, right now, she was about to be a late and expelled clothes designer.

"Carlos!" she hissed at her white-haired friend as they dashed down the hallway toward the Physics classroom. "Hurry up! We're going to be late!" She tugged her backpack further up on her shoulders as they rounded a bend and shot towards the eastern half of the building. "Carlos! Come on!"

"Coming!" the white-haired boy dove out of the darkness after her, struggling to swing his satchel over his shoulder as he went.

This is all my fault. I should have known better! I should have kept a better eye on the clock! Evie mentally beat herself up as they rounded the last bend. She should have been better prepared! It was so unlike her to get carried away in something and lose track of the time--let alone cause anyone else to be late.

"The next time..." Carlos puffed. "You need someone to be your personal pincushion...ask Doug! I am still...finding pins...everywhere!" As he spoke, he yanked out a particularly red bobby pin from his shirt sleeve.

"I'm sorry!" Evie apologized for probably the fifteenth time. "I never imagined it would take so long to stitch the final hems on so many skirts!"

Carlos didn't respond. Evie figured he'd be mad with her for a while. Eventually, though, he would get over it. That was just who he was. Which was a good thing, she really didn't want anyone to be mad at her for very long.

They rounded one final corner and Carlos split off from her, heading for his own class--something to do with animals if Evie recalled correctly. She didn't really have time to ponder on it long, however, as she glanced at a nearby clock and realized once more how late she was. Oh, poisoned apples! She sped off down the hallway towards the science lab, locating it at the end of the hall on the left.

She burst through the door a moment later, causing a few students to glance up at her in surprise before returning to their work. Evie frowned. Something immediately felt off. She glanced around. Everything seemed to be in order. She turned toward the front of the classroom and that was when she realized what it was.

Mr. Delay wasn't there.

With a sigh of relief, realizing she wasn't about to be sent to detention for tardiness, Evie slid into her chair next to Doug who was busy reading over something that looked suspiciously like a manuscript. He hadn't seemed to notice yet that she was there. She guessed that was partly due to the earbuds blasting what sounded like hard rock. He was mouthing the words and Evie couldn't help but giggle a little. It was so unusual, it was funny. He was still dressed in his band uniform so she could only guess practice had just let out and this was his way to destressing. 

Slyly, she reached over and plucked out an earbud. "So! " she said loudly. "What's going on here?"

He jumped with a strangled gasp and yanked out his other earbud. "Evie!" he gasped, eyes wide behind his large frames. "H-hey! T-this? This is nothing!" He instantly tried to stuff the wad of papers into the back of his math textbook but Evie snatched it out of his grip and turned it over to the front page curiously.