prince taylor of maldonia was a diligent and industrious individual, much like his mother who had instilled the value of hard work in him from an early age. however, he struggled to find a balance between work and play, unlike his sister and parents...
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The sun beamed down on Taylor as he stood at a table, his eyes inspecting the faces that were discarded amongst the field. Next to him stood the liquid chocolate fountain and fruits and other snacks that you could dip into the chocolate streaming from the fountain. Singing came from the student choir, which included his sister, Audrey, Ben, Lonnie, and Doug. He had been glad he chose not to join, singing was not his favorite thing in the world. When the song came to an end, applause and cheers came from the crowd that surrounded them.
Taylor rolled his eyes before sticking a strawberry on a skewer and dipping it in the chocolate fountain, coating the bright red fruit until he felt there was enough chocolate on it. Chuckles came from Carlos as he took hold of the chocolate-covered strawberry from the other boy who stood across from Taylor. A pleased hum escaped him as he ate the strawberry in one bite, painting his lips with the brown, sweet treat.
The prince of Maldonia couldn't resist giggling at him. "You really love chocolate, huh?" he inquired of the boy, taking a bite of his own chocolate-covered strawberry. Carlos looked at him with wide and bright eyes as he nodded his head in response. With quick hands, the white-haired boy took hold of another strawberry and began dipping it, the display caused a curious Jay to stroll over and do the same. When the muscular boy had gotten a taste of the sweetness, he leaned over and stuck his tongue into the fountain. Wild laughter escaped Carlos while a scowl came across Taylor's lips. "Oh, wow, okay," Taylor let out. He quickly made his way to where Evie stood with Dude in her hands. "Are they usually like that?"
"Sadly," Evie commented as she rubbed Dude's chest. "But you get used to it after a while."
"I don't think that is a sight you could ever get used to," a familiar voice declared. Taylor turned to find his mother in a long pal green dress. "Mom and Dad are looking for you, by the way. They said we're playing croquet in a bit."
"Really? Croquet?" Taylor let out in a tone of disgust. "We can't just have lunch or something?"
Croquet was something that Taylor had never liked growing up. It was a boring sport to him, despite his parents and Nia's current fixation with it. But there was an unexpected highlight to going to the croquet field.
"Come on, Dude," Carlos let out as he and Dude ran around the grass. The small dog released a bark whenever the boy would give a command. Amusing chuckles escaped Taylor as he watched the exchange.
"Hey, stop staring at Carlos and get your head in the game," Nia remarked after hitting her brother's shoulder. Taylor let out a scoff before shoving her in response. "Who is this Carlos fella?" Naveen asked with a raised brow and smirk on his lips. But before Taylor could even open his mouth to answer, Nia spoke for him, "Your future son-in-law."
"Nia!" Taylor whined out. His eyes scanned those around him to make sure that no one heard. His parents exchanged a glance before smirks came upon their lips.
"Taylor, do you have a crush-" "Not a crush," Taylor cut into his mother's words to make the clarification. "A liking to this young man?" Tiana pointed in the direction of the De Vil boy who had been playing tag with Dude, though it seemed that the dog did not fully understand the game.
"By all that is good, no," Taylor stated with a stern tone of voice. "Carlos is just a friend if that."
"Yeah, okay," Nia let out in a tone of disbelief. Her eyes ventured to where Carlos lay on the grass with Dude circling around him playfully. "Hey, Carlos!" Her brother's wide eyes snapped in her direction before they set on Carlos, who looked in their direction with confusion on his face. "Come here!"
"Nia, what are you doing?" Taylor muttered to his sister as he flashed a smile to the De Vil boy, who was currently leading Dude their way. Nia did not give him a response, she merely continued to wave the boy over. "Oh, my..."
"Taylor wanted to introduce you to our parents," Nia told the white-haired boy in front of them. Carlos' attention focused on Taylor, who had been looking down at the ground, before his attention turned to the couple. "Carlos, this is King Naveen and Queen-"
"Tiana!" Carlos exclaimed with a grin on his lips. Tiana was taken aback by the sudden outburst but in a pleasant manner. Carlos cleared his throat before apologizing. "I just... Taylor's told me a lot about you." Tiana's face lit up with a warm smile as she listened to the boy's kind words. Her gaze then shifted to her son. "I hope all good things."
"Yes, all good things," Carlos answered for the boy. "He told me that he learned to cook from you, a-and his food is great, so that must mean yours is absolutely spectacular!"
"You!" a feminine voice shouted within the croquet field. It dragged everyone's engagement away from what they had been doing or talking about and brought it onto Audrey, her grandmother, and Mal. "H-How are you here? And how have you stayed so young?"
"Oh, shoot," Taylor muttered, already knowing the direction this was going to take.
"Queen Leah, it's okay. Maleficent is still on the island," Ben advised her as he placed his hands on his girlfriend's tense arms. "This is her daughter, Mal. Don't you remember my proclamation to give the new generation a chance?"
"A chance to what, Ben? Destroy us?" Queen Leah asked. She turned to those around her, "Come on. You remember, don't you? The poison apples. And the spells," her eyes then set on Mal as she repeated, "Spells. My daughter was raised by fairies because of your mother's curse. So, her first words, her first steps, I missed it all!"
Mal was about to apologize, her mouth opening to form the words, but Chad had stopped her. "Go away! Stay away from her!"
"Don't do this, Chad," Taylor spoke as he strode to join aside Ben and Mal. "You're making a scene, like always."
"Stay out of this, Taylor, this has nothing to do with you," Chad declared, holding a hand up to block Taylor out of his line of vision. "They were raised by their parents. What do you think villains teach their kids? Huh? Kindness? Fair play? No way, okay?" he hummed a tune of denial as he went down the line of villain kids, starting with Mal. "You stole another girl's boyfriend." Ben was quick to step in front of Mal as he dropped the croquet stick in his hand. Chad loved along to Jay and then Evie. "You enjoy hurting people. You, you're nothing but a gold digger and a cheater." Taylor believed it was done, until Chad took one glance at the boy at his right. "And you, you're just a mutt who just follows anyone who shows you any sort of attention."
"Hey, back off, jerk!" Taylor warned as he began to step forward but was stopped by Ben and Jay. "What is your problem?"
"I'm just stating facts," Chad shrugged his shoulders. He turned to Doug and smirked at him.
"Mirror, mirror, in my hand, who's the biggest jerk in the land?" Evie asked the small mirror in her hand before showing it to Chad. Presumably, it showed his own reflection, causing Chad to smack her hand down. Jay released Taylor and took action, grabbing ahold of the collar of Chad's suit jacket. That gave chance for Evie to grab a perfume bottle from her bag and spray the light blue liquid into Chad's face. The son of Cinderella was left unconscious due to it.
Doug, Audrey, and Lonnie caught him before he could hit the grass. Evie began to lead Mal away from the scene. Taylor glanced in the direction of Carlos, who avoided his eyes. "Carlos-" "Just leave it, Taylor," the De Vil boy said in a hushed tone. He ran after his friends and Jay left after him.
