As XJ and Harry walked into class, they saw that Uma and Gil were already there. Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay were also seated on one side of the room, actively trying to avoid Uma.
"How nice of you to join us Harry and XJ, welcome to your first class," Fairy Godmother said as she smiled warmly at Harry and XJ. "As you can see," She gestured to Mal and her bunch. "Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay will be joining you two along with Uma and Gil for this class."
XJ and Harry sat behind Uma, who nodded at the two and Gil, who smiled at them. XJ said, pointing at Mal and her friends, "I thought they would already be done with stuff like this."
"Ah, it's rude to point," Fairy Godmother pointed out, still smiling, "But yes, Mal and her friends are doing absolutely wonderful, but they still have to finish this class until the end of the year."
As the short pudgy woman turned to the blackboard and began writing on it with a piece of chalk, "Uma, Gil, Harry and XJ, I understand that since you four have just joined us, it might take some time for you all to catch up with the rest. However, I'm sure that you can do it."
Harry leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up onto the desk in front of him. "Glad to know," He muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," XJ called. "Harry's just being a grumpy idiot. He's not a morning person."
"Nobody's a morning person." Harry defended. "Who wakes up in the morning and goes 'Hey, it's a lovely mor - "
"Ahem," Fairy Godmother cleared her throat and dusted off her hands. She pointed at the first line that she had written on the blackboard, "I know that this is probably very different from the Isle, but no speaking out of turn."
"Whatever you - oh, sorry," Uma said, pursing her lips when she realized that she had done.
"Thank you, Uma," Fairy Godmother acknowledged before gesturing to the list of words. "These are the rules of the class, of mostly every class actually, that I thought we would go over. Everyone else knows them, but since you four are new here, it's best to quickly cover the basics. I'm sorry if this seems a little rushed, but we have to keep up with the new syllabus I had planned for this year.
"The first rule is to never speak out of turn, and this goes for every class. It seems like you four have already understood this, so I won't go into depth of the why." Fairy Godmother smiled. Uma looked bored; Gil was nodding his head enthusiastically; XJ was emotionless, as she usually was and Harry had his eyes closed and his head thrown back, resting on the top of the backrest of the chair.
Fairy Godmother sighed and walked over to Harry, who was knockout unconscious. She rapped on the table and said loudly, making Harry's eyes fly open and jump, "The second rule is that sleeping is not allowed in any class." Jay snickered and XJ glared at him. "If you do need to rest or require medical assistance," Fairy Godmother continued, "Simply ask and the teacher in charge will assess your situation and give you whatever treatment he or she deems is necessary."
Fairy Godmother pointed at the blackboard as she glanced down disapprovingly at Harry's feet. "The third rule is that feet are not allowed on desks. The only thing that should be on a desk are textbooks, stationary, food and the occasional cellphone. Feet belong on the ground."
Harry put down his feet, looking disgruntled. He was about to open his mouth to snap at the woman when XJ nudged him in the ribs. Harry growled as XJ sent him a look.
Fairy Godmother walked back to the front of the room and continued her speech. "The fourth rule is pretty simplistic - hand in all projects and assigned materials on time and not after the due date. I understand that this will be hard because you four have never had any homework, but I'm sure you will all manage to adjust."
Harry groaned loudly and XJ sighed at his incompetence. Fairy Godmother paid him no attention and instead continued, "The fifth rule is everything we're about to cover. I know it sounds like a lot, but don't worry; you should be able to keep up fine as long as you take notes and pay attention."
"Not something I'm very good at, but whatever," Harry muttered under his breath, just loud enough so XJ could hear him. XJ fought the urge to hit him.
Fairy Godmother started teaching. It wasn't rocket science, and everybody in the room was bored to death. Mal's side of the room tried to hide it, but Uma, Gil and Harry weren't even trying. XJ was the only one who seemed to be paying attention.
XJ was trying to find out what type of person Fairy Godmother was. From what she could gather, she was the typical old-fashioned, nagging, motherly woman, which was about what she expected from Jane's mother. She wasn't going to be easy to manipulate, as XJ's type of persuasion was the kind where she preyed on others' desires, as well as occasionally playing on their grudges against a particular person. It worked especially well when that particular person was XJ's target.
Fairy Godmother was a selfless person who didn't seem to take kindly to vengeance. That would be a slight problem. However, if XJ managed to become one of her favorite students, she might be able to play with words and be allowed access to everything on campus at anytime.
"When speaking to a teacher, what should you start with?"
XJ was listening just enough to know when Fairy Godmother asked a question. When she did, XJ raised her hand, something she had seen almost all of the students at Auradon Prep do when answering a question on her way to Remedial Goodness when she was glancing through the small glass windows on the doors.
Harry, Uma and Gil looked at her funny, and Mal and her friends looked shocked at the display of respect.
"XJ?" Fairy Godmother asked, looking pleasantly surprised at the daughter of Shan Yu's sudden politeness.
"You should start with 'May' if you want something and end with 'please'." XJ said, forcing her lips to form a respectful smile.
"Oh, that's very good, XJ," Fairy Godmother praised. "I knew I was right about you! You are a fast learner!"
XJ smiled at the woman, somehow managing to look sincere, "Thank you."
Fairy Godmother turned around and continued talking. Harry leaned closer to XJ and said, his voice low so the woman wouldn't hear him, "This is part of your plan, isn't it?"
"Obviously," XJ said out of the corner of her mouth.
"I trust you, as unnatural and weird as that was for me," Harry muttered.
"Good to know. Things are going well. You can talk to me later so things continue to be that way."
"Aye aye, lass."
---
After the bell rang, XJ and Harry had Chemistry together while Uma and Gil had History of Auradon. As XJ and Harry walked to their lockers to get their books, Mal walked up to XJ and scowled.
XJ raised an eyebrow, "Want something?"
"What are you playing at?" Mal snarled.
"What do you mean?" XJ asked, acting dumb as she opened her locker.
"You know exactly what I mean - people like you don't change that quickly." Mal sneered.
"Or," XJ said, looking extremely nonchalant as she closed her locker door after grabbing what she needed, "I'm determined to become a good person."
"No you aren't, you can't fool me." Mal narrowed her eyes at XJ.
"If you have a problem with my girlfriend," Harry stepped in, "Or 'people like us' as you say, don't forget that you're from the Isle too. You're exactly like us."
Mal scoffed, "No I'm not."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," XJ smiled sarcastically before grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him away. He was seething as XJ led him to the Chemistry classroom.
"Look at her, stomping around like she's so high and mighty," Harry snarled. "If she comes anywhere near me, I'm going to hook her."
XJ sighed and kissed Harry's cheek. "Calm down. When everything's put into action, she's not going to matter."
Harry growled, pulling XJ closer to him by her waist, "She'd better not."
The two walked into Chemistry class and, to their dismay, they found no empty table that they could have all to themselves. They walked to the back of the classroom and sat at the far end. The only occupant there was a petite girl with brown hair in a high ponytail who was tapping on her phone. She looked up and nodded at the two, not seeming to be put off by the fact that they were from the Isle.
"Audrey, daughter of Sleeping Beauty," The girl said coolly.
"Xiao Jun or XJ, Shan Yu's daughter." XJ greeted.
"Harry Hook, Captain Hook's son." Harry said, sounding bored as he turned his attention to the surroundings of the room.
"I heard you two are worse than Mal and her friends when they first came here." Audrey commented, still sounding very casual.
"His pirate captain captured Ben and threatened to toss him off board and I almost killed Fa Mulan's daughter, so yes, but that's still subjective." XJ tilted her head a small bit to gesture at Harry.
"You almost killed Lonnie?" Audrey asked, her eyes wide. "I don't suppose you would be interested in joining the tourney team then, with her being the captain and everything."
"Tourney is not my thing regardless."
"What about joining us cheerleaders? I'm the captain and there are spots available." Audrey offered.
"I'm not into singing and dancing around like a pixie, thank you very much." XJ said bluntly.
"Oh, there's much more to cheerleading than that, but suit yourself." Audrey shrugged.
From the way Audrey talked, XJ immediately knew who she was. She was the popular girl that everyone loved. She cared about her appearance more than anything else and was the stereotypical cheerleader. However, she didn't seem to be as mean as XJ originally thought. Maybe it was because of Mal's performance back at Ben's coronation that had changed her mind and had taught her not to judge by appearances.
XJ had no interest in trying to bait and catch her. She had nothing to ask for and she didn't seem to have any anger towards anything that XJ could harness. She wasn't of any use to XJ, manipulative-wise, although it would be nice to become her friend. It might give her some sort of influential pull if she was acquaintances with Audrey within the student community, but XJ preferred her intimidation tactics. Audrey would be plan B.
The teacher's name was Mr. Deley, and XJ immediately didn't like the man. He was uptight and he was clearly one of the teachers who thought just because he had power, he could humiliate students. XJ wouldn't even try to catch him - she couldn't stand him. He wasn't worth anything, not even taking over the world.
Harry and XJ shared a glance. Harry knew XJ's game, but that didn't mean he couldn't have any fun. XJ sent him a small nod of approval and Harry smirked. He kicked his feet up onto the table and leaned back in his chair.
Mr. Deley narrowed his eyes and frowned at Harry, "Mr. Hook," He said loudly, making the entire class turn their heads to look at Harry. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Well, I'm doing a lot of things," Harry retorted, "Breathing, blinking, listening to my girlfriend breathe - she's snickering right now but that's beside the point, thinking about how bad the Isle is, thinking about how terribly pretty Auradon is, thinking about how I could blow up said kingdom with a couple of bombs..."
"Mr. Hook, respect is a requirement here at Auradon Prep." Mr. Deley scowled.
"You didn't say respect to anyone or anything specifically, especially not a certain someone." Harry said with a bored look on his face.
The class was trying to hide their laughter as Mr. Deley fumed.
"Alright, Mr. Hook, if you - "
"Harry's fine," Harry interrupted, "Unlike some people, I'm not eighty-five years old with a bald spot."
Half the class snickered loudly and the other half gasped.
"If you think you're so wonderful, Mr. Hook, I'm sure you won't mind telling me the answer to some simple chemistry: what, pray tell, is the reaction of baking soda mixed with vinegar?"
"The answer, pray tell," Harry mocked, "Is a big load of HISS and BOOM!"
"That is incorrect, Mr. Hook," Mr. Deley said, looking triumphant over his pathetically petty victory. "The right answer is - "
"Baking soda is a bicarbonate - NaHCO3 and vinegar is an acetic acid - HCH3COO. Both have a lot of energy that they don't want and they can help each other get rid of it." XJ filled in.
The entire class looked shocked and they all turned to Mr. Deley, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. "That's correct...it's a simpler way of saying it but it's...right."
XJ hummed, "Uh huh. Isle kids aren't clueless."
Mr. Deley nodded awkwardly and turned back to the blackboard. He cleared his throat and continued teaching. The class continued to stare at XJ and Harry for a while before turning their heads back to the front.
Audrey asked, looking impressed, "You knew that?"
"Some people read up on the syllabus before so they don't have to slave over everything," XJ explained, "I have a good memory."
"You memorized everything?" Audrey asked, her eyes wide.
"Mostly everything." XJ corrected. "Some of it's common sense."
"I thought you would be the last person to care about school."
"It's easy for me to memorize things. I don't want to have to stay up late when tests come by."
"Smart," Audrey commented. "Although why you would even care about grades is a mystery to me."
XJ shrugged, "I want to see how it feels to be good, as revolting as it sounds. I can live through it. If I don't like it, I can go back to being myself."
"That makes sense I guess. How do you know that you being good isn't yourself?" Audrey asked, very interested in the conversation. She had never had such a conventional conversation with any of the VKs, and XJ didn't seem so bad from what she could tell.
"I grew up on the Isle. It shaped who I am. I'm not going to change." XJ stated.
"Mal and the others changed. How can you be so sure?"
"Mal doesn't have any willpower. That's one of the many differences between her and I. It makes me stronger."