My Strange Addiction➳ Carlos De Vil

Out of Control

Carlos invited me to see the boys' fencing practice and I'm so late!  I almost regret asking Jane to sign me up.  But the girl was so flustered and drowning in work, and I felt bad for her.  I was trying to calm FGM down while ordering the banners, pen toppers, tables, balloons, and other dumb junk like that.

Why can't we just skip it anyway?

I walk into the fencing room, stepping on the balcony where the cheerleaders are.  Jane waves me over, "Hey.  What did I miss?"

"Lonnie is such an amazing fencer!  She jumped in and fenced Jay.  She really wants to be on the team...but Chad reminded them that it's a boys only team."  I roll my eyes, "Chad deserves a good smack, honestly.  Hey, I did a bunch of stuff already...but your mom's going insane.  We apparently can't find the right shade of blue.  I mean- it's just blue!"

Jane cringes, "Not exactly.  It's a cross between sky blue and deep ocean blue."  I blink and say, "Yeah, whatever.  It's just a color!  But I can't calm her down.  Can you try?"  I hand her my phone and she dials FGM.

"Madison!  Maddy."  I look down and see Carlos looking up at me from the ground level, "Hey Carlos."  He grins, "Hey.  Um...you just got here?"

"Yeah.  I'm so sorry!  FGM kept me on the phone forever, going on and on about the Auradon shade of blue.  Anyway...what's up?"

"Um...not much.  You joined the decorating committee?"

"Yeah...I did it for Jane's sake.  But now I almost regret it.  Can you believe we can't find the right shade of blue?  It's just a color!"

"Oh, yeah, no, that's a- that's a bummer. Um, speaking of Cotillion-"

"That's another thing.  Everyone keeps talking about Cotillion.  It's my first one and I already hate it."

"Well...it's my first one, too.  But I don't know how I feel about it yet."

Jane appears beside me, phone in hand, "Lucky. I always end up serving punch with my mom anyway."  She turns to me, "We gotta go.  We have so much to do."

I turn to look at Carlos.  I didn't want to leave yet.  I rarely have time to even talk to the VKs, because I'm on the committee.  He waves me off, "Go.  Try not to freak out."  I laugh, "I'll try.  Hey, when I'm done for the day, I'll stop by your dorm.  Maybe we can play with your 3D printer or your video game system, okay?"  Carlos grins, "Yeah.  Sounds like fun."

Jane grabs my arm and hauls me away, so I can only wave over my shoulder.

A few hours later, I am done for the day.  Classes are over and I've done my part for the decorating committee.  I head to Carlos's dorm and I'm blocked by Chad, "Hey Maddy."

"Chad, only Carlos is allowed to call me Maddy."  He nods, "Yeah, right, sorry.  Anyway, how are you?"

"Annoyed now.  I really need to get to Carlos's dorm."  He nods vigorously, "Cool.  This'll only take a sec."  I fold my arms, "Just spit it out Chad."

"Well, since Audrey and I...y'know...broke up...I'm wondering if you want to go to Cotillion...with me?"

I grin and say, "Chad...don't take this the wrong way...but I wouldn't go to Cotillion with you if you were the last guy in Auradon."

He winces and I walk by him, knocking on Carlos's door.  He yells, "Come in."  I open the door and see Carlos on his computer.  "Hey, I'm done for the day."  He looks up, "Hey Maddy."

Suddenly, Dude speaks, "Oh look.  It's Madison Hatter, Carlos De Vil's-"

Carlos covers his mouth and looks up at me.  I'm just left gaping at Dude.  Carlos grins, "Yeah...he can talk."  I laugh, petting Dude, "That's awesome.  So what do you wanna do?"

He holds up a video game and I snatch it from him, "Prepare to die, De Vil."  Before he can say anything, Evie bursts into the room.

"Mal's gone back to the Isle...and we're going to get her back."