𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕌𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 - ℍ. ℍ𝕠𝕠𝕜

Chapter 12. - Brothers and Sisters

I'm sad, hurt, angry, mad, and disappointed. But you know what? I'll put on a smile and move on. It will hurt, but I will survive.

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I WAS NUDGED IN MY SIDE, causing me to stir in my sleep. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. I saw everyone glance at me with worry while trying to be subtle about it, except for Evie who was the one to wake me. I raised my eyebrow in question.

"We're almost there." She answered my unspoken question. I nodded in response and looked out the window. I recognized the scenery, we were about 5 minutes away. Dread filled me as I knew that it was visible that I cried. Evie grabbed my hand and smiled.

"Here, let's make you look presentable." She smiled. I almost thought she had read my mind but knew it was probably something Evie probably thought of before I even woke up. She mostly wiped away the remaining make-up, especially my mascara, and then put on some light mascara and a bit of lipstick. She also attempted to make my hair look okay but she got frustrated with all the knots and the dampness so she resorted to putting it back up in a ponytail.

The others had remained silent the whole time and I wondered if they had been the entire trip. If that was the case I didn't mind that I had fallen asleep, though the reason behind it was something I refused to think about at the moment.

We arrived at Auradon Prep just as Evie put the last finishing touches to my appearance. I smiled a weak thank you at her before we all got out. I was walking between Carlos and Evie and just kept quiet. Lonnie said something about returning the swords to the gym to Jay in front of us and Jane approached Ben and Mal who were walking behind us. I didn't hear anything from the conversation but when Ben walked away from Mal, Evie left my side after giving my hand a squeeze and Jay took her place. Jay wrapped an arm around my shoulder in comfort and I leaned my head on his shoulder and Carlos nudged my side while holding Dude in his arms in a way of showing he was there. Evie began to lead Mal away, probably to talk somewhere, but Carlos wasn't having any of that.

"No." He told them with determination. Both girls stopped in their tracks and I lifted my head from Jay's shoulder. I shot Jay a questioning look but he looked as confused as I was and shrugged his shoulders.

"No?" Evie questioned in confusion.

"You guys are always going off in a huddle, whispering your girl-talk stuff or whatever. Sometimes along with Hadee too. And Jay and I are tired of it." He elaborated.

"I'm not." Jay objected. Carlos shot him a look and I elbowed him in his side receiving an annoyed look from Jay. Carlos nodded his thanks to me before turning back to the girls.

"We're your family too." He told them and paused. "We've been through a lot. Together. We're not stopping that now. 'Kay?" Mal nodded slightly at him. Carlos looked at all us before dropping to the ground while commanding,

"Everybody, sit." We all looked at him in silence for a moment. "Come on." He urged and we slowly did as told. We looked at Carlos expectedly but his face was blank. "I don't know how to start girl-talk." I let out a snort but shut up when he shot me a glare. Jay thought for a moment before turning to Mal.

"What up?" Evie chuckled and so did I.

"Well," Mal started, gaining our attention. "I'm a mess. I'm such a mess." Same here, M, I thought. She tried to stop herself from crying but a few sobs escaped. Evie put a hand on her shoulder in comfort as she continued. "I mean, six months ago, I was, you know, stealing candy from babies and now everybody wants me to be this 'Lady of the Court' and I have no idea how to keep up the act." She confessed. I looked down at my hands and again thought, same here.