Ava smiled as she curled up in her bed at Auradon Prep. The weather was rather overcast, a rare occurrence for Auradon, but for someone from the Isle of the Lost it was perfect. She could get more done when it was overcast, rather than be distracted by the beautiful weather and myriad opportunities.
She honestly couldn't believe this was her life now, being able to just laze about and take her time instead of needing to rush through her work because she was needed at Curl Up and Dye. Not to say that she didn't enjoy working at her grandmother's shop but...she did like the opportunity to be a teen.
I wonder how Dizzy's doing, speaking of teens. She'll be a teenager soon. I hope she'll be able to come to Auradon at some point...well come and stay.
Her cousin had told her all about the first viewing and how Mary Poppins had brought her to the room. Ava had to admit, she had been a little jealous. But Dizzy had deserved a taste of the sun...and hopefully she'd get a permanent taste soon.
"Ava?" Kitty's voice broke through her thoughts and the elder Tremaine child looked up to see the second eldest Charming child in her doorway.
"Hey Kitty. What's up?" Ava asked, setting her books to the side in case Kitty needed to talk.
"Oh you're busy," Kitty said, noticing the school stuff strewn all over Ava's bed. "I can come back—"
"Kitty, it's fine," Ava said with a small chuckle. "It's Saturday after all, I have plenty of time to get this done. What's going on? Is everything okay?"
She patted a spot on her bed near her as if to signal Kitty to sit next to her. Kitty chuckled and shook her head in amusement as she walked in to Ava's room. Sitting down on the bed, Kitty smoothed out the red and gold comforter before looking at Ava.
"I...I know we don't really know each other but you're the only older girl in the family I could really go to," Kitty said softly.
"You're not pregnant are you?" Ava asked, slightly worried. She didn't mean to interrupt and she certainly wouldn't judge but she wanted to know right off the bat. If she knew that, she would know what direction she would need to take the conversation.
Besides, she knew flings were prevalent on the Isle amongst the girls there. Not with her though-her grandmother always said that flings were uncouth for a lady of their stature. Plus there was no one on the Isle Ava ever saw herself having a fling with.
"No, no!" Kitty said, shaking her head.
"Okay," Ava nodded, leaning back a bit against her headboard. "Sorry but...I just wanted to be sure—"
"No worries. I understand," Kitty said with a small smile. "What I wanted to talk about does deal with boys but..."
Ava nodded. She wasn't going to lie, she felt a little honored that Kitty felt comfortable enough to come to her about this.
"Kitty, I don't know how much help I'll be. Dating and relationships aren't exactly a thing on the Isle," Ava told her younger cousin. "But I'll be happy to listen and see if I can offer any advice."
Kitty nodded and bit her lip a little as she brushed a strand of her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. "Roland and his family came back to Auradon Prep. They...they had moved to Sherwood in the months before Cotillion and now they're back. I had enjoyed going to Cotillion with Roland but now that he's back—"
"You don't know where the relationship's going to go?" Ava finished and Kitty nodded.
"I know it's stupid, I'm only fifteen after all. But at the same time...it'd be nice to have a relationship. After all, Lucy's had relationships. Nothing serious mind you, I think Mal's term of 'flirtationship' would bee a good descriptor of what Lucy's relationships were like."
Ava nodded. "Well Kitty, I know Lucy's your twin but you can't compare yourself to her. Every person's different after all."
"Easier said than done when The Gazelle does that whenever my name finds its way into their print," Kitty muttered.
Ava tilted her head in confusion. "The Gazelle? I don't..."
"It's a tabloid that runs every week," Kitty sighed. "You'll probably be getting a copy soon. They mainly target the kids of royals though for the longest time they went after Mal since she's dating Ben."
"And they're still around?" Ava asked in astonishment. Mal didn't seem like the type of person to put up with a week of that sort of thing.
Kitty shrugged. "That's what they're like. They write stuff where you try to brush off the comments at first but when they decide to be like a dog with a bone with your reputation, there's only so much you can brush off."
"Have you told Aunt Ella? That they're 'reporting' on you?"
One of the things Ava would probably never get used to would be referring to Queen Ella as Aunt Ella. But the older royal had given her and Anthony the choice—they didn't have to call her that if they didn't feel comfortable with it. After all, she hadn't been in their lives until now.
Ava had no hesitation at calling Queen Ella 'Aunt', especially after hearing Kitty, Lucy, Alex and sometimes even Chad refer to her mother as 'Aunt Ana'.
Anthony still refused to refer to their aunt by 'Aunt Ella' but at least he still referred to her by the title of 'Queen Ella' rather than the nickname their grandmother, aunt and mother had given her.
"She's...she's been dealing with Chad," Kitty said. "I haven't had as many articles written about me as Mal did so really—"
"Doesn't matter," Ava said firmly. "Besides Aunt Ella and Uncle Chip don't seem like the type of people who would let this continue if they knew. As well, I don't know what you mean by 'dealing with Chad'. My younger cousin has been nothing but pleasant whenever we interact."
"You realize you're only a couple of years older than Chad, right?" Kitty asked with a small chuckle.
"So? I'm still older," Ava chuckled as well. "Besides, if you want to talk about dealing with siblings, I've certainly got my hands full with Anthony. Mal's smoke bombs seemed to work for a couple of weeks at decreasing his ego but—"
A loud crash cut off Ava's statement and both girls quickly rushed out to see probably the strangest sight either girl had ever seen. Looking back, Kitty would give herself credit for not bursting out laughing at Chad running as fast as he could from Anthony. The younger Tremaine was certainly an odd sight, looking disheveled and purple.
Guess Mal did another smoke bomb assault. But why...why is Anthony going after Chad? Then again, Mal can turn into a dragon. Probably smarter to go after Chad.
"Anthony!" Ava exclaimed, breaking Kitty out of her thoughts. Meanwhile, Kitty watched in horror as Chad seemed to be chased toward one of the multiple broom closets scattered around the school. Kitty knew the choice her brother was about to be forced to make; seek sanctuary in the broom closet or just outrun Anthony.
The broom closet was closer but Chad had longer legs than Anthony and her brother was in shape from Tourney and R.O.A.R. Plus Kitty didn't know if Anthony would camp out in front of the door to the broom closet.
The last thing I want is for Chad to have to choose between his physical and mental health, Kitty thought. There may be days where she was embarrassed to call Chad her brother but family looked out for each other. Annoyances were temporary but blood was forever—besides now that he was trying to make a change, he was downright tolerable at times.
"Chad!" Kitty hollered, gesturing toward Ava's room as if to say he could seek sanctuary in their cousin's room. It was a lot bigger than the broom closet after all. Chad didn't give any outward indication that he had heard her but Kitty sighed in relief as he leaned to the left a bit and started to turn to run toward Ava's doorway, still trying to outrun the younger Tremaine.
There was enough hesitation, however, that gave Anthony enough time to catch up to and tackle Chad before the blond could reach the door.
"Anthony Tremaine, get off him!" Ava exclaimed as Kitty pulled the dark haired boy off of her brother. "Honestly, what has gotten into you?"
She had a point, he's acting more like how Jay would have acted his first few days here rather than a lord who has his head up his ass, Kitty thought.
"He's the one who told Mal to pelt me with smoke bombs!" Anthony growled, still restrained by Kitty's grip on his arms. Oh Kitty could have been more gentle with her cousin but he had been chasing Chad toward a broom closet.
Even when Chad was at his worst, Kitty had never been tempted to purposefully shut Chad in a closet. There was a reason why all the closets in their castle had pocket doors, to prevent the possibility of anyone accidentally getting locked in.
"Guilty," Chad said with a small smirk but Kitty could see the relief shining in his hazel brown eyes. Whether that relief was because Anthony was pulled off him or because he didn't have to make the choice between his mental or physical health, Kitty didn't know.
"Huh, didn't think he'd admit it," Kitty said under her breath. She had been the one to ask Chad to talk to Mal regarding Anthony.
Kitty walked into Chad's dorm without a care. She didn't care about what the state of the room was or whatever her brother was doing. She just needed to talk to Chad.
"I didn't do it!"
"I didn't think you did anything," Kitty said, raising an eyebrow at her brother's response.
Chad shook his head. "Sorry but when you just randomly storm into my room, you're usually upset—and normally it's because of something I've done."
"Have you done anything?"
"Not recently, no."
"Then you're fine," Kitty chuckled before sighing and shaking her head. "I'm more annoyed at Anthony. Chad, his ego is insane. He's like you only on steroids."
"I feel like I should be insulted but I'm mainly just impressed that there's someone you seem to hate more than me," Chad chuckled as he stood up from his bed.
"Chad, please! Do something!"
"What do you want me to do?" Chad asked. "I could talk to him but the minute I'm seen going to a VK, someone's either going to go to Ben or they're going to go to mom and dad."
"Chad, I'm asking you for a favor. When is the last time that's happened?" Kitty asked. "I promise, I won't go to mom or dad. I'm not trying to trip you up especially with how you've been legitimately trying to not be an ass to the VKs."
"Thanks. I think?"
Kitty chuckled again. "You know, you could always go to Mal. People know you're one of Ben's friends so it wouldn't be too strange to see you talking to her."
"I'll think about it," Chad told her. "Even with Cotillion out of the way, Mal still seems busy."
"That's called being a royal Chad," Kitty chuckled. "You know as well as I that even our easy days are rather busy."
"True," Chad nodded and sighed. "Fine Kitty. I'll talk to Mal about Anthony. I can't promise she can do anything though."
"That's all I can ask for," Kitty said, "and Chad? Don't worry about mom and dad finding out—I asked you to do this. I wouldn't let you take the rap for this."
"Thanks sis," Chad smiled.
"Hey, us older Charmings need to stick together," Kitty grinned in response. "I'll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing."
"Hey Kitty?" Chad called and Kitty paused, curious to see what her brother was going to say. "Knock next time okay?"
Kitty chuckled. "Got it. The last thing I want is to see something I wouldn't want to see...like you making out with Audrey or something."
"Yes I would like to avoid traumatizing my baby sister," Chad chuckled in response and ducked as Kitty tossed his Tourney jersey at him.
"Did you ever think that there might have been a reason why Chad would have talked to Mal to ask her to pelt you with smoke bombs?" Kitty asked, bringing herself back to the present as Ava helped Chad off the floor.
"Think about what you say before you say it Anthony," Ava warned. "You may be a Lord by mother being awarded the title of Lady but Chad and Kitty are a prince and princess. They outrank you and something tells me ranking hierarchy works the same here as it does on the Isle."
Anthony scoffed. "Just because I act the way a Lord should doesn't mean I should be pelted with smoke bombs!"
"Dad acts the way a lord should and he's only been a lord for a few months," Ava corrected her brother. "You two, walk off until you've calmed down and we can talk about this like rational people."
"You don't know any ration—"
"I'd hate to have to get King Ben involved Anthony wouldn't you?" Ava asked in a faux innocent tone that fooled no one. Anthony didn't respond but only glowered at his sister.
"I'm going to let go," Kitty muttered so that Anthony could hear her. "You go after Chad, and you're going to see what it's like having your ass kicked by a princess."
"Like any royals here know how to fight," Anthony scoffed.
"You really want to test that theory?" Kitty asked and had to smirk at Anthony's lack of response. Sure she didn't know how to fight but Lonnie and Mal had taught her how to throw a punch and how to knee a guy in the groin. She knew enough to incapacitate Anthony if needed.
Kitty let go and everyone stilled, as if waiting to see what Anthony would do. When it was clear that the younger Tremaine wasn't going to do anything, Kitty couldn't help but sigh a little in relief.
The last thing she wanted was to call home to tell her that there'd been a fight. Now that Alexandria was attending Auradon Prep, their parents expected Kitty and Lucy to serve as role models for their younger sister.
No one said we had to serve as 'good' role models though, Kitty thought as Chad and Anthony stalked off; each boy going in a separate direction.
"Well...that was exciting," Ava said after a few minutes of silence.
"Yeah," Kitty said softly. While she liked talking with Ava, she hoped her cousin wouldn't ask why she had directed Chad toward Ava's bedroom. The only one who knew about Chad's claustrophobia other than the family was Ben and that was probably because Ben and Chad had known each other since infancy.
But Kitty wasn't going to reveal it unless Chad told her she could. There may be days when she hated the ground Chad walked on but she wasn't cruel.
"So...do you need to keep talking?" Ava asked. "About Roland?"
"Oh," Kitty said. "I mean, you were studying and this excitement with Chad and Anthony's already taken out a chunk of your day—"
"Kitty, it's fine," Ava said. "Like I said, it's Saturday. I've got time tomorrow to finish up the work tomorrow. Besides, Fairy Godmother set Anthony and me up with a tutor when we arrived so we'd have someone to help if we get stuck. My tutor likes for me to bring my work to our sessions anyway."
"So basically what you're saying is for me to get my butt back in your room?"
"Only if you want," Ava chuckled.
Kitty shook her head in amusement. "Well if you're sure it's no trouble..."
The two cousins walked back into Ava's room, Ava closing the door to give them some privacy.
"So Roland?" Ava prompted and Kitty sighed.
"I like him but we were friends first," she said. "With The Gazelle back on the move in terms of targets, the last thing I'd want to do is throw him to the wolves like that considering he's not a royal."
"Don't you deserve a bit of happiness though?" Ava asked, her tone oddly gentle. "Don't stop living your life just because some jackass thinks a royal should act a certain way and can't keep their nose out of the business of teens."
Kitty chuckled and curled her legs up underneath her, content to keep talking to her cousin until the cows came home.