Courage || Carlos De Vil (Disney's Descendants)

Chapter 18

King Ben's coronation was only the beginning of everything. At least, that's how it felt like to Meredith. An entire semester and the summer break had gone by since then and a lot had changed for the better. It seemed like that day had removed most, if not all, of the prejudice that everyone held against the group from the Isle of the Lost. Having Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos around was so natural to the Auradon locals already. They were just like any other student at Auradon Prep — they had their talents, flaws, likes, and dislikes, you name them. They had friends here and there, but there were some who also didn't particularly like them, either.

Mal and Ben's relationship blossomed. Ben was busy but doing well as a young king, and Mal was more than supportive of him in his endeavors. As the current Lady of the Court, she was doing pretty well for someone who had no experience being a royal.

Evie continued to excel in fashion and academics. She also started dating Doug, and the two of them made an unexpected but very wholesome pair. He had never judged her for being the child of a villain from the beginning, and it wasn't a surprise that Evie soon fell for his understanding and humble personality.

Jay thrived in sports. After tourney, sword-fighting became a close second in the list of sports he loved. He made the Swords and Shields Team almost immediately, and few other notable teammates he had included Ben, Chad, and Carlos.

While Carlos improved in sports, he was also able to start showing off his talent for technology as well. He was able to dabble in it during the first few weeks he was at Auradon whenever they had to sneak around or plot their evil plans (which they were long done with doing), but now, he was comfortably playing around with it whenever he could. He even got his own 3D printer and had it placed in the room he shared with Jay.

Meredith seemed to be more or less the same as usual. She was still in the cheerleading team, still excelled in academics, and still shared a special bond with the campus mutt, Dude. Something that changed, though, was the people she surrounded herself with. She grew past hovering around only Ben and Chad. While she was still friends with them, she found herself reaching out to Lonnie, Jane, and Doug even more. She had even started becoming more friendly with Jay, Evie, and Mal. However, the one person she grew the closest to in the past few months was Carlos.

Ever since Meredith called Carlos her friend, it seemed like that was enough to remove whatever wall they had between them that was holding one another back from truly getting to know one another. It sounded like such a small thing, but it meant a lot to the both of them.

For Carlos, he needed that form of acknowledgement because he used to always question whether he was worthy of the kind of life he was living in Auradon especially since he was the son of a villain. His friendship with Meredith helped him see that he did deserve a good life like this, and that he could meet new people and do so much more things that he never had the privilege to do back in the Isle of the Lost. As for Meredith, this allowed her to accept that this change wasn't a bad thing at all and could actually be better for her in the long run. The two teenagers became so close to one another that it was hard to imagine that it had only been less than a year since Carlos first entered Auradon.

It was finally the start of a new semester. Many students were only just returning from spending their break elsewhere, like Meredith. She had spent the last few weeks in her birthplace at the kingdom of DunBroch, home to Merida, Queen Elinor, King Fergus, Lord Dingwall, Lord MacGuffin, and Lord Macintosh; so she hadn't seen any of her friends during, that time. Now, she was back in the Auradon Prep campus, passing by many familiar faces and getting herself accustomed to being back in school already.

"Meredith!"

Lonnie came barreling her way and tackled Meredith before she could even realize who had called her name. She let out a sound of surprise, eventually hugging the girl back. It was still taking some getting used to Lonnie being a very touchy and hyper person. Ever since they became close, Lonnie wasn't shy with showing her affection towards her friends.