There was one thing that Meredith, daughter of Merida, could never be brave about: being open to change. In her defense, her grandmother did turn into a bear because her mother was bold enough to accept a deal from a witch, so she'd rather not let h...
"So, you guys have a lot of magic here at Auradon? Like, wands and things like that?"
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Meredith perked up upon hearing that female voice, knowing now that it belonged to one of the girls from the Isle of the Lost since she heard them speak not too long ago. She pushed herself off of the railing she was leaning on and looked down at the dormitory's lobby.
Ben and Audrey were leading the way into the dorm building with Jay, Evie, Carlos, and Mal at their heel. The four new students kept glancing around eagerly, and Meredith and her fellow students stared back at the new faces in curiosity.
"Yeah, it exists, of course," Ben replied, facing them. As he did that, his head tilted up and his eyes met Meredith's as she watched the interaction. She groaned under her breath, having been caught by Ben.
"Oh, hey!" he said happily, waving her over. "Come over here."
Meredith scrunched her face up. She was so close to Ben not even noticing her standing there. She was also half-hoping that he would just forget their deal since he would be busy touring. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all, and he was asking for her to come down and meet the teenagers from the Isle of the Lost.
Now that Ben had called her out, all heads looked her way as she plastered a forced smile on her face and waved back at them in an attempt to appear more welcoming than she was feeling.
"Everyone, this is Mer," Ben introduced Meredith once she had reached the ground floor. "She's a very good friend of mine."
"Hello," Meredith greeted. Unsurprisingly, the four new girls and boys merely stared as if they were analyzing her every move.
"So, the magic?" Mal asked again, breaking the silence.
"Oh, right," said Ben, clapping his hands together. "Magic here... well, it's pretty much retired. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals."
"Who happen to be kings and queens," Mal added sarcastically.
"That's true! Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years," Audrey agreed enthusiastically, forcing Ben to put his arm around her shoulders. Ben seemed uncomfortable and looked anywhere but at Audrey. This time, his eyes landed on a boy from the marching band walking down the stairs.
"Doug! Doug, come down," he said, hurriedly removing his arm that Audrey forced to be placed around her, much to her displeasure. It was evident on her face and did not go unnoticed by Mal. Meredith took note of the great tension between Audrey and Mal as the two girls exchanged fake smiles with each other.
"This is Doug," Ben now said, voluntarily putting an arm around his close friend. "He's going to help you with your class schedules and show you around the rest of the dorms."
Doug gave a friendly smile and nod but seemed slightly nervous. Ben then let go of him and walked back to Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos.
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