Every villain has her lair, if I were Sleeping Beauty's son, where would I hide? And yes, I know my mother would know the answer to that question. That helps me how?
—————
In Ashton's dorm room, Sabrina stretched out on the lavish bed and flipped through Ashton's journal. She leafed through the pages, reading the private thoughts Ashton had recorded in his loopy cursive handwriting. Ever since Harry arrived at Auradon Prep, Ashton had felt invisible at school. And at home, her family acted like she'd let them down. Sabrina scanned another page. Ashton was humiliated and heartbroken when Cole publicly declared his love for Harry. Sabrina has assumed Ashton was some privileged rich boy, but maybe it wasn't that simple.
Sabrina was absorbed in Ashton's journal when Harry and Calum ran into the room out of breath. "He's nowhere in campus," Calum panted. They'd checked the cafeteria, searched the tourney field, and even rummaged around in the library. Ashton had left a long trail of pink fog and sleeping students in his wake, but the sorcerer himself had vanished.
"Found his diary," said Sabrina. "And dang, did you ruin Ashton's life."
Harry was starting to feel kind of bad. "Okay, so did you find anything in there that we don't know. or . . ."
"He hangs out at Fairy Cottage. You know where Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather hid her mom from your mom," Sabrina told Harry. The pirate leader rubbed her hands together and booted with evil glee.
"Yes, ha ha ha, the irony is not lost on me," said Harry.
Sabrina lifted her head form a poufy down pillow and ran her fingertips along the dreamy silk comforter. It was all so luxurious. "How could anyone with this bed ever be unhappy?" she wondered aloud. Kids on the Isle were lucky if they had a bale of hay to sleep on. Sabrina herself had spent a night sleeping on the hard wood planks of her pirate ship.
Calum nodded silently and thought. Note to self: every VK gets a great new pillow and comforter. He added it to his long mental to-do list. Thanks to the future King Harry, Auradon would soon to be home to every villain kid who wanted to live there. Calum smiled at the beautiful thought. Of course, there was so much to do to get ready for the new students to move into the dorms. Speaking of whom . . .
Navia had been busy pilfering through Ashton's vanity, and she swiveled around, proud to model her new image. "Okay, how do I look?" she asked, striking a pose. She wore several gold bangles, three strands of pearls, and Ashton's signature bluebird tiara. With Navia, more was more.
Calum looked her up and down. "Okay, but the tiara stays here," instructed Calum.
"But he's bad," Navia said, pouting.
"And we're not," replied Calum.
Navia removed the tiara with a disappointed sigh.
Mentoring all the young VKs who'd be moving from the Isle wasn't going to be easy, but there was nothing in the world Calum would rather do.
————
Meanwhile, Michael, Justin, Louis, and Ross trudged down an overgrown path deep in the Auradon forest. They called out for Cole. Nick sniffed around the trees for any signs of the king. Ross, who was in his own little joy bubble, scarfed down tiny red berries directly off a bush. "These things grow everywhere," he said with doltish wonder, popping another one into his mouth. "Hey, we should play that icebreaker. Um, Michael, I like the way that you can bounce around and jump off things," he said with a mouthful of fruit and bright berry juice dripping down his chin.
After years of stealing rotting food from rickety stalls and foraging through dumpsters for dinner, Ross was in paradise. "This is free, right?" he asked, plucking off two more handfuls of berries.
Michael found Ross's attitude refreshing and decided to play his game. "Yeah. I like how you get a kick out of a berry bush," he told Ross.
Ross looked slightly embarrassed. "I guess you've probably seen everything by now, huh? Furry rocks, giant fish. You're probably used to grabbing lunch off a bush."
Now it was Michael's turn to be a little embarrassed. "No—I mean, no, not really," he said. "I mean, I mainly just use the vending machine at practice. You know, tourney kind of eats up most of my time."
Louis snorted derisively. "Tourney? That's a wee boy's game."
Michael ignored him.
"You know what would be fun?" Ross said, looking out over Auradon dreamily. "To go rafting down a jungle river,"
"Find a lost civilization," said Michael, taking a shine to the idea. He'd been in Auradon a while but hadn't seen much of the country. He let the thought rattle around in his head as he grabbed a mouthful of berries. They were delicious.
"Or maybe a penguin," said Ross. He'd once seen a clip of the funny little birds while watching reruns on TV, and he liked how they wobbled.
"Well, you find those more on, like, icebergs," remarked Michael. "But I'd love to see one of those."
Louis found the cheery tone of their conversation sickening. He sauntered over and sneered. "You guys are killing me." The swashbuckler glided up to the bush and slowly picked a single berry with his glinting hook. He put it in his mouth, in what seemed like slow motion, and smiled. Much to his annoyance, Michael and Ross were right. The fruit was delicious.
Hoping to save face, Louis pointed his hook down a dark, shadowy forest path. "And PS: the mutt went thataway."
"Nick, what do you see?" shouted Justin, running off. They had a king to find. Louis and Ross followed. But Michael hung back for a moment and returned to the simple berry bush. With a new sparkle in his eye, he picked one more. Something felt right about the small set of freedom.
—————
Two hours later, Harry, Calum, and Sabrina hurried toward Calum's castle, ready to reunite with the boys as planned. Navia raced ahead.
"I hope they found Cole," said Harry, thinking of how happy he'd be to see him.
As they walked up the path, Sabrina eyed Calum's picturesque castle. She was truly impressed. Calum hadn't inherited the home like the other spoiled little Auradon princesses or princes Sabrina loathed. Calum's success was self-made, and Sabrina respected that. "Nice digs," said Sabrina, and she meant it.
"I got a really good deal," said Calum. He shrugged modestly and downplayed his good fortune for Sabrina's benefit.
Navia reached the front door first, threw it open, and bounded into Calum's living room. Her face fell when she spotted Corbyn and Asher tangled up in each other's arms, deep asleep on a comfy gray couch. Their glasses sat askew on their sweet slumbering faces.
Harry, Calum, and Sabrina took in the tragic scene. Calum's heart nearly broke when he saw innocent little Jesy curled up on the other end of the couch. She was still dressed in her green-and-pink ruffled dress and vintage stone brooch, ready for a party she never got to attend. Instead, she tossed and turned from a bad dream.
Navia reached over and did her best to soothe her buddy. "Don't worry, Jesy. We can fix this." She covered Jesy with a soft red afghan. "And once we do, they're going to let all the kids come from the Isle. So happy dreams, okay?"
Calum and Sabrina smiled at each other, their hearts warmed by hearing their shared VK goal mentioned aloud. Harry looked away, his face covered by a veil of guilt.
The tender moment was cut short by a booming snore that sounded from the next room. The noise startled the wits out of all the two girls and two boys. Sabrina followed the thundering sound through the doorway and stepped into Calum's glass work space, where she discovered Liam sprawled out on an imported area rug. "Who's the dude?" asked Sabrina.
Calum ran to Liam and shook him. "Liam. Wake up, wake up."
"He's spelled," said Sabrina. She turned to Harry, confused. "Is he not a fast learner?"
"He's emotionally involved, okay?" said Harry.
"In that case, he should be able to wake him up. True Love's Kiss? Works every time?" said Sabrina wryly. Her own plot to take over Auradon had been spoiled the past spring by one such kiss between Harry and Cole. The memory still smarted. Sabrina looked at Calum expectedly and braced herself for the mushy moment.
Calum diverted his eyes. "We haven't actually used the L-word yet," he confessed bashfully.
Sabrina raised her eyebrows. This was going to be good.
Calum looked at Liam adoringly. His head rested on a shagged pillow; his right arm was folded behind his head. He placed his hand affectionately on Liam's forehead, as if ready to wake him with a kiss. Then he furrowed his brow in a self-conscious expression and straightened back up quickly.
"Can we be alone?"
Sabrina and Harry exchanged knowing looks, walked out, and shut the door behind them. Then they immediately popped their heads back around the carved-wood doorway to watch. As if they were about to miss the big kiss!
Calum:
Don't freak out, it's okay
'Cause true love can save the day
And I think we feel the same
But I don't know
When we met, it was sweet
He was oh so into me
Seems like things are meant to be
But I don't know
Calum looked at Liam abject panic. He cared about Liam more than anything. He was kindhearted and funny, and his unwavering belief in Calum was something he'd never experienced before. For Calum, Liam was definitely the one. He thought they both felt the same, but he didn't know for sure.
They never actually talked about it. Does he love me, does he not? Do I love him? Is it strong enough? he thought.
Calum:
Does he love me? Or does he love me not?
Do I love him? And is it strong enough?
One kiss, one kiss
It all comes down to this
One kiss, one kiss
Oh, oh, oh, oh
One kiss, one kiss
This moment could be it
I, I, I wanna know
So here I go (go)
Keep it cool, keep it calm
Think he's loved me all along
But maybe I got it wrong
So I don't know (hey)
He's so good, got my back
But maybe I'm just too bad
Could we be a perfect match?
Now, I don't know
Does he love me? Or does he love me not?
Do I love him? And is it strong enough?
One kiss, one kiss
It all comes down to this
One kiss, one kiss
Oh, oh, oh, oh
One kiss, one kiss
This moment could be it
I, I, I wanna know
So here I go (go)
Yeah, here I go
I feel my heartbeat beating saying "It's gonna work"
But if I'm dream-dream-dreaming, this is gonna hurt
Either I will or I won't
What if I do and he don't?
Is he my Romeo?
Oh, there's only one, one way to really know
One kiss, one kiss
It all comes down to this
One kiss, one kiss
Oh, oh, oh, oh
One kiss, one kiss
This moment could be it
I, I, I wanna know
So here I go (go)
What if he kissed him, a real True Love's Kiss, and he didn't wake up! She couldn't bear the thought. But this was Liam and him, and they were perfect together. He stepped outside to think.
Calum:
Here I go
Here I go
Here I go
With a burst of realization, Calum flew back inside to Liam and kissed him on the lips. But Liam didn't wake from the spell—or so it seemed. Behind his glasses, Liam opened one brown eye, then shut it sneakily, in hopes of getting another kiss.
Calum caught him in the act and playfully swatted his knee. He tried to stay mad but couldn't. The kiss settled it. What Liam and Calum shared was definitely true love.
Harry smiled at his two friends, super happy for them. Then he looked at the clock with concern. Michael and the guys should have been there by then. He frowned and hoped they hadn't run into trouble.