Il libro di Jaylos

The Bridges Between Us

taken from: Angel_of_Gryffindor on Fanfiction.net
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Being ignored was worse than being the centre of attention; that's what Carlos decided.
If people paid attention to him then that meant they had seen him, acknowledged his very existence, then they must care enough to pay him any kind of attention; at least that's what he told himself.
Carlos, the only child of ex-fashionista Cruella De Vil, had brought attention to himself on the isle by acting cheeky and in Auradon with his stamina on the Tourney field.
But that all seemed like a million miles away, as the months passed everyone seemed to drifting away.
Mal was still dating King Ben so she attended most royal meetings with him and had to attend lessons on correct protocol for royalty.
Evie had thrown herself into her studies and fashion designs, even fusing the two with great results.
Jay was immersed in Tourney, his whole day resolved around the sport, from the moment he woke up he worked out, had to check everything he ate and practiced every evening.
Whereas Carlos seemed to have lost himself in the sea of Good; slowly he became permeate on the sub-bench during Tourney games, nobody listened to him if he studied in groups and he was still seen as a trouble-maker.
Maybe it was because he hadn't spoken to anyone properly in a really long time but Carlos started thinking that going back to the Isle was a good idea.

Carlos wandered through the hallways of Auradon Prep, passing other students but they didn't even glance his way, he'd just left a study session with Evie that had turned into a fashion show on her part.
Having just turned sixteen Carlos was one of the youngest in the school, his white tipped hair had grown longer so he'd slicked it back revelling his pitch black roots, matching his eyebrows, honey coloured eyes barely made eye contact anymore and the freckles on his skin seemed to have gotten darken with his age.
The young De Vil had no idea where he was going; he'd already walked Dude, his mongrel friend, caught up on his homework and didn't feel welcome on the Tourney field.
Eventually he ended up back in the room he shared with Jay; the Arabian thief's side of the room was filled with sports memorabilia, trophies and ribbons on every surface and the mixed smell of sweat and cheap bodywash lingered on everything.
Carlos's was much less elaborate; a group photo of the gang from when they were still on the Isle, red and white covers on his bed with Dude still asleep on it and his precious laptop.
Everything he had was on that laptop, including cheat codes and passwords to every system in Auradon, every piece of research he'd done on all their parents and he'd even managed to hack into all the personal records of all students.
Of course Carlos would never use any of the information on his laptop against people; he just wasn't that kind of person but it was a sort of insurance.
The room was quiet, just Dude's snuffling breaths, but Carlos had gotten used to the quiet; back on the Isle the quiet meant that his mom wasn't home but here it meant that he'd been forgotten.
Carlos wasn't usually one to mope about, there was usually something to distract him; the freckled teen sighed deeply and flicked on his laptop to discover that it had discovered a new code while he'd been away.
The Barrier to The Isle of the Lost.
The young De Vil's breath hitched, with one simple click he could release all the villains or he could join them.
All thoughts were suddenly pushed from his brain as the dorm door swung open and Jay swaggered in still in his Tourney shirt but his long black hair was wet.
Carlos's face blushed red under his freckles and his heart gave a painful thud at the sight of his friend whom he'd loved for as long as he could remember; everything Jay did make the younger teen feel special.
"Hey Jay, good practice?" Carlos asked shutting his laptop quickly.
For a moment Jay didn't say anything, he threw his bag beside the bed and released his wet hair, "it was pumping." He grinned widely, "we are definitely going to win next game. Why weren't you there?" he suddenly asked.
"oh, um, I was studying with Evie." Carlos wasn't technically lying.
Like all the other times Jay swallowed the lie and got ready for bed, doing all his pull-ups and crunches before finally getting into bed.
The young De Vil watched his every move with hungry eyes and an aching heart because Jay was definitely something Carlos couldn't have.
Carlos hadn't realised how late it was, he must have been wandering about the halls for a while, so he slowly began getting into bed too, the barrier code swirling in his head.
That night the young De Vil didn't sleep, listening to Jay's heavy breathing, he couldn't stop thinking about how easy it would be to return to the Isle, maybe they would still remember him; Carlos knew it would be easy to slip away and he would close the barrier the second he was inside.
Any connection for his laptop would be lost the moment he closed the barrier so he'd never be able to open it again from the inside, if he went back then it would be forever.
Carlos felt a twist of pain in his stomach, he felt sick at the thought and quickly scolded himself at even thinking of leaving his friends, after everything they'd been through.
"left you behind though." Said a small voice at the back of his mind, "all getting on with their lives. Got more important things to care about that you."
It was his mother's voice, haunting him.
Carlos shook his dishevelling hair quickly, ridding himself of the voice, but the small flashing light from his laptop hounded him till he finally fell into an exhausted sleep.
Morning came too soon; as the young De Vil heard Jay banging about getting ready, not a single word uttered his way, so he laid perfectly still secretly hoping that his friend would speak to him.
But the Tourney captain was out of the door in silence, a hungry Dude at his heels and, once again, Carlos was alone; there were no messages on his phone from anyone.
The first lesson bell rang and Carlos still hadn't moved, he laid under the hot duvet half furious and half saddened that nobody was wondering where he was, even Dude had disappeared long gone breakfast time.
By the time lunch was over the freckled teen had got out of bed but only to pack a few things, he double checked the barrier passcode and checked the CCTV on the royal garage; there was all the fancy car belonging to students and faculty and in the corner was King Ben's motorbike.
Pulling on his black and red leather jacket Carlos finally left his room; he felt his heart thumping in his chest, for the first time in ages he was actually being bad.
With a few clicks of his keypad and all the CCTV camera were turned off or paused.
Carlos felt that maybe he was over reacting, even if they didn't speak everyday that didn't mean that they weren't still his friends, but as he checked his text messages again they were all him sending the messages without replies.
King Ben really should have made his locker number a bit more difficult then Mal's birthday; inside were the usual things, books, spare stationary, another shirt, photos of Mal and his motorbike helmet, along with the keys.
Grabbing both helmet and keys Carlos checked the hallways; empty.
Things were almost too easy, it was disheartening and for the longest moment Carlos stood outside the garage door, almost waiting to be caught, waiting for someone to ask where he was; waiting for a reason to stay.
The garage was cold and dark, the only light was from the emergency light, King Ben's motorbike had a unique design so Carlos scratched most of the fancy paintwork up the metal Aurodon Knights keychain hanging from the keys.
Carlos paused every so often to hear if anyone was coming but all was silent, even the CCTV was still turned off.
Finally the paintwork was destroyed, even the matching design on the helmet, the young De Vil stashed his bag inside the seat before pressing the button to open the door and pushed the motorbike outside.
Somewhere on the Tourney field Carlos could hear Jay shouting instructions to the other players and cheerleaders practicing their chants but they felt like another lifetime, another universe and soon it all would be.
Pulling the helmet over his styled hair and swung himself onto the motorbike, it was then at he finally saw someone; King Ben.
Carlos felt a sudden cold sweat all over, he faltered on the motorbike, hoping King Ben wouldn't recognise his destroyed bike but the young blond King wasn't stupid and he began striding over.
In a panic the young De Vil shoved the keys in the ignition and revved the motorbike; the roaring echoed across campus and Ben flinched back as Carlos sped past him; just a blur of red and black.
Growing up the freckled teen had to learn to drive several modes of transport to appease his mother so riding down the busy main roads on a stolen bike was no different, for someone naturally clumsy Carlos was graceful and nimble on the bike.
It took very little time to get to the end of Auradon; from that side it looked like the bridge had been started but then they gave up, it almost looked artistic, whereas on the Isle side it simply looked like it had fallen into the waters below.
Carlos dug out his laptop, his fingerless gloved finger hovering over the enter key, suddenly doubting his decision; King Ben had seen him steal his bike so he'd probably notified authorities and they would be tracking him.
"how would I explain myself?" Carlos whispered to himself, "I did it cos I wanted attention." He snarled at himself, knowing how pathetic he sounded.
Everyone would get on with their lives without him there and he wasn't going to let any of the villains off the Isle; so with that bitter thought Carlos pressed the button.