Wicked ² ✓

2.04

Chapter 4: It Talks?

I pushed open the door to Carlos and Jay's room to find Mal pacing back and forth in front of the tv, looking more stressed than usual.

I locked the door behind me and took a seat next to Carlos and Dude on the bed.

Mal grabbed the tv remote and shut off the tv, her eyes flashing green as she struggled not to fall into another panic attack.

Mal hasn't told anyone else yet, but ever since she started doing all this lady of the court stuff, she's been completely lost and overwhelmed. She wasn't even going to tell me but I caught her in the middle of one of her episodes and gently forced it out of her.

"Woah. Easy, girl." Carlos looked worried at the sight of her glowing green eyes. Not that I could blame him considering they usually came before trouble.

"What? You think this is so easy?!" She shouted, obviously upset, "You don't have people taking a photo of you every single time you open your mouth to say boo! I mean, it's not that I could even say, boo, but, you know what I..." She trailed off, starting to calm down a bit.

Carlos just looked back down at his computer, "I'm sorry,"

"Carlos, don't you ever miss screaming at people and just making them run away from you?"

Carlos always was one of the friendly ones in our group, along with Evie, so I didn't really have to guess what he was going to say.

"You're thinking of my mother, and I was usually on the other end of that. So, not really. No."

I gave Mal a sympathetic look, I could tell that even though she loved Auradon, she missed the freedom of the Isle.

Carlos closed his laptop, looking at Mal, "Oh, hey! Did you bring it?"

Mal rolled her eyes but dug into her pocket, grabbing the small container. She was about to hand it over to Carlos when a noise grabbed our attention, causing us all to look towards the door.

The three of us watched as Chad snuck in through the door - which was definitely locked just a few minutes ago. He tried to be quiet as he slowly shut the door, completely oblivious to the three of us watching him.

He tossed a key up in the air, catching it all smugly. He walked a few more steps into the room, but stopped short when he finally noticed us, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"What are you doing here?" Carlos asked, the three of us still watching him confused.

"Hi. Just came to use your 3D printer. Won't be a sec." He said, trying to play off the whole situation, but none of us were having it.

"Better question," I interrupted, "How'd you get a key?"

He looked at the key as if he was shocked to find it in his hand. But we weren't buying it, and he couldn't come up with any other excuse, so he just came clean, "Oh, I printed it off last time I was in here."

Carlos, Mal, and I looked at each other confused. When was he here last?

"Uh... you guys were sleeping." He explained sheepishly before looking at the printer, "Look, I just- Your printer's so much better than mine, and you install these hacks and everything runs so much smoother than mine and-"

"Out! Now." Carlos pointed to the door.

"Fine. Fine."

He looked a bit like a scolded puppy, but angrier, especially with his shaggy curly hair. He turned towards the door, but Carlos stopped him.

"What? Hm?"

"Leave the key." Carlos gestured to the key in Chad's hands.

He rolled his eyes, but made a big scene of taking the key and setting it down on the table. He finally turned around and left the room, slamming the door shut on his way out.