“How did you do that?” Jane asked a few minutes later after they’d waved good-bye to Grumpy and thanked him profusely.
“Yeah,” Evie echoed Jane’s disbelief. “I never thought he’d ever agree to that.”
Carlos shrugged, his confidence growing by the minute. “What can I say? I guess I’m just a natural-born leader.”
The entire way to Lumiere’s Bistro, Evie and Jane couldn’t stop talking about my amazing feat. I’m not going to lie; I’m loving the praise and attention, even if I did have a little help getting it.
When the group arrived at the restaurant and pushed open the door, they nearly crashed right into Jordan, Ben, and Chad, who were coming out, looking frustrated. “It’s no use going in there,” Jordan griped. “Lumiere is not giving out his secret recipe for the gray stuff.”
Jane sighed and started to turn around. “Oh, well. Our little streak was fun while it lasted.”
Carlos grabbed her gently by the arm and spun her back around. “We have to at least try.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” Jordan said. “He’s not giving it out.”
“It’s true,” Ben offered sympathetically. “We tried everything.”
“I haven’t tried yet,” Carlos said smugly.
“Well, good luck,” Chad said sarcastically. “Lumiere is best friends with Ben’s parents, and if he wouldn’t give the recipe to us, he’s certainly not going to give it to two VKs.”
Carlos shrugged, undeterred. “I don’t know, I’ve been known to be pretty persuasive.”
“It’s true,” Jane admitted. “You should have seen what he just did at—”
But Carlos quickly covered her mouth with his hand. “Shhh!”
Jane shot him a strange look. “What? What’s wrong? Why can’t I tell them?”
Carlos didn’t want the whole school knowing that he’d convinced Grumpy to take a selfie with them. It might raise suspicions. And he couldn’t have a bunch of distrustful gazes pointed at him right now. The last thing he needed was to get caught using magic to win the scavenger hunt and get disqualified from the whole thing.
He smiled innocently at Jane. “We can’t be giving away all our secrets.”
Jordan rolled her eyes. “We don’t care about your secrets. We’re going to beat you guys anyway.” Then she, Chad, and Ben hurried off into town.
Carlos reached for the door handle of the bistro.
“Don’t you think we’re wasting our time?” Evie asked, glancing up from yet another message on her phone. “If Ben couldn’t get Lumiere to give up his recipe, what makes you think we can?”
“Now what kind of leader would I be if I let other people tell me what I can and can’t do?” Carlos grinned and walked into the restaurant, just managing to catch the concerned glance Evie and Jane shared behind him.
The bistro was currently closed to diners. The waitstaff was busy setting the tables for dinner, positioning gorgeous china plates between sparkling silver knives and forks, shining up clear crystal goblets, and lighting long tapered candles in ornate brass candlesticks.
As soon as the group assembled inside, Lumiere came rushing out of the kitchen, babbling in his charming French accent. “Oh, no. No, no, no. Not anozer group of scavenger hunters. S’il vous plait, you must go. Allez! Allez!”
“If you’ll just hear us out—” Carlos began to say, but Lumiere was quick to interrupt him.
“Like I told za last group, no one gets my secret recipe for za gray stuff. Not you, not Ben, not anyone.”
Evie crossed her arms. “Why would Fairy Godmother put it on the scavenger hunt list if you’re not going to give it out?”
Lumiere’s expression soured. “Zat, I have no idea. But you’re not getting eet. Eet’s an old family recipe and I won’t have eet floating around all of Auradon.”
“We just need a picture of it,” Jane said. “We promise to delete it as soon as the points are tallied.”
Lumiere chuckled. “Zat’s what za last group said, too. You Auradon students are quite za little negotiators, but my answer ees still no.”
Carlos cleared his throat and pushed his way to the front of the group. “Let me handle this,” he whispered over his shoulder to his teammates. He bowed to Lumiere. “Bonjour, monsieur,” Carlos said with terrible pronunciation. “Lovely bistro you have here.”
“Merci,” Lumiere said tightly, his expression stern.
“We really need that recipe.”
“And I told you—” Lumiere began, but Carlos held up a hand.
“Let me rephrase,” Carlos said, twisting his wrist until he felt the smooth, worn surface of the collar beneath his sleeve. “You will give us that recipe.”
And right as Carlos said the words, Lumiere’s gaze turned glassy. He stared at Carlos, his mouth slightly ajar, his head tilted. “I will give you zat recipe,” he repeated. He snapped his fingers. “Jacques!” he called to one of the waiters. “Bring me za recipe for za gray stuff!”
“But monsieur…” Jacques argued, looking concerned.
“Maintenant!” Lumiere called out. “Now!”
Jacques scurried into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a heavy black leather book. He had it open to a page in the middle, which Carlos could see was a recipe. Jacques handed the book to Lumiere, and Lumiere proffered it to Carlos, his expression still vacant.
As Carlos pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped the picture of the recipe, he could hardly contain his excitement. This was going to be another twenty points! They were really cruising now. But in his eagerness, Carlos’s phone slipped from his fingers and, for a moment, seemed to be flying through the air in slow motion, tumbling around and around. Carlos dove for it. He couldn’t risk the phone falling to the ground and breaking. They had too many of their photos for the hunt on it and he hadn’t uploaded any of them to the Auradon Prep server yet.
Thankfully, Carlos managed to catch the phone before it hit the floor, but he was not able to catch himself before crashing into a waiter carrying a trayful of water glasses. The tray tumbled over and every single glass of ice water poured right onto Jane, completely drenching her. Jane screamed from the shock and cold.
“Oh, mon dieu,” Lumiere said, rushing forward to help Jane.
“Don’t worry,” Carlos said, reaching her first. “I’ve got this.” He put an arm around Jane’s shoulders. She was soaking wet and shivering. He felt horrible. After all, he was the one who’d knocked into the waiter. Without a second thought, Carlos shrugged out of his leather jacket and draped it around Jane’s shoulders.
“Thank you,” Jane said through chattering teeth.
“C’mon,” Carlos said, leading Jane toward the door. “Let’s get you out in the sun where it’s warmer.”
But Jane didn’t move. She seemed frozen to the spot. And before Carlos could ask what was wrong, he noticed something had caught Jane’s attention. She was staring at Carlos’s left arm.
“What is that?” Jane asked, and Carlos could hear a trace of accusation in her voice.
“What is what?” Carlos asked, confused.
“That.” Jane stretched out her finger toward Carlos’s wrist, and Carlos suddenly felt a chill rack his body, even though, unlike Jane, he was 100 percent dry.
Jane was pointing at the dog collar.
Uh-oh. I think I’m about to be in trouble. And I probably deserve it.
“So, what do you say?” Carlos asked as they stepped out of Lumiere’s Bistro. “Should we try to find a bowl of Tiana’s world-famous gumbo? Do they even serve that outside of the bayou? Or maybe we should try to find that hazelberry tree Evie was talking about. Does anyone know where we can get an old Auradon Prep gym T-shirt?” He was rambling now, and he knew it. But he just couldn’t bear to look at Jane. She was still staring at his left wrist. He tried to cover the collar with his right hand, but it was too late for that. Jane had seen it and she could clearly tell something was up.
“Carlos,” Jane said, her voice curious,
like she was trying to put the pieces together. “What is that?”
Evie glanced up from the message she was typing on her phone. She peered at the dog collar, which poked out from underneath Carlos’s hand, and shrugged, seemingly not as concerned with the item as Jane was. “It looks like a dog collar. I like it. Very fitting for that whole Dalmatian chic look he’s got going on. In fact, I really love it. I’m going to make a note to put more dog collar accessories in my next season’s line.” Then she went back to tapping on her phone.
Carlos looked hopefully to Jane, wondering if maybe Evie’s little speech had convinced her to drop her suspicion, but Jane was too smart for that. And with magic in her blood, she could clearly sense something was going on here.
“Where did you get it?” Jane asked Carlos.
Carlos’s immediate instinct was to lie. To tell her he’d found it lying around somewhere. Or that he’d bought it in a store in downtown Auradon. This was his out, his chance to get off scot-free and continue with the hunt as though nothing had happened. But then Jane took a step toward him and captured his gaze with hers. Carlos looked into her big blue eyes and knew right away that he couldn’t lie to her. Not to Jane. He cared too much about her. Besides, he wasn’t on the Isle anymore. His days of lying and cheating were supposed to be over.
And yet here he was…a cheater. The proof was clasped right around his wrist. The guilt suddenly hit him like a punch in the chest.
Carlos closed his eyes. He couldn’t look at her while he said it. He couldn’t stand to see her reaction when he admitted to her that he’d cheated. That he’d fallen back into his old ways. That the temptation of winning—of proving something—had been too much for him. He just wanted to be seen as a leader.
And then, an unsettling thought struck Carlos.
Maybe I’m just not a leader. Maybe my mom was right. Maybe I’ll always be a sad, weak little follower. Maybe I just don’t have what it takes to be a good team captain. After all, I had to cheat just to get us a few lousy points. Maybe I should just accept my fate as the forever sidekick. The nice guy who helps people out. That’s all I’m really good for.
Carlos sighed, and with his eyes still shut tight, he said, “I got it from my mother. It’s a magic dog collar. She gave it to me before I left the Isle. Whoever wears it can convince anyone to do anything. Like a dog obeying its owner.”
When Carlos finally found the courage to open his eyes, he looked first at Jane, then at Evie. Jane wasn’t wearing the disappointed expression he was expecting to see. Her face was more pensive and thoughtful. Evie’s was twisted in surprise.
“That’s how you were able to convince Grumpy to take the selfie?” Evie asked.
Carlos nodded.
“And how you were able to convince Lumiere to give up the recipe,” Jane concluded.
Carlos nodded again, feeling shame cover his whole body like a heavy fur coat.
“But…but…” Jane stammered, as though she were trying to find the right words. “But why? Is that really how you want to win this?”
Carlos sighed and looked at the ground. He kicked a stray pebble with the toe of his boot. “No…yes…I don’t know! I just…” He stopped and tried to summon the strength to admit to his teammates what had been bothering him for the entire day, maybe even for his entire life. “I just wanted to be a great leader! I wanted to be more than just Carlos, the nice guy, everyone’s best friend. The guy you come to when you need help with your computer. The guy you come to when you need advice about who to ask to the next ball. I’m never the guy you ask to be in charge.” He felt his shoulders slouch. Getting all that off his chest was a relief, but the weight of what he had done was right there waiting to press down on him again.
Jane frowned and shared a look with Evie, as though they were both trying to come up with the right words to say, but both were unable to find them.
“I’m not like you, Jane,” Carlos went on. “Everyone thinks of you as a leader. Even with that app we have to design for Safety Rules for the Internet class. Everyone immediately turned to you when it was time to pick a project manager. No one ever turns to me for that kind of stuff.”
Jane let out a sad little chuckle. “That’s really sweet, Carlos, but no one turns to me because they think I’m a leader. They turn to me because I’m organized. And because of the internship I had with Carina Potts last summer. They assume I must know how to plan things.” Jane grew quiet. “Although I don’t think Carina Potts would agree with them.”
“That’s not true,” Carlos said. “I’m sure you did an amazing job with that internship.”
Jane shook her head. “You don’t know that.”
“I do,” Carlos insisted. “Because I know you and I believe in you.”
“And we believe in you,” Jane was quick to reply.
She turned to Evie, who nodded. “Absolutely!”
Carlos scoffed. “Well, you shouldn’t. Before I put on this collar, we’d scored a measly ten points! Ten! I’ve been failing at being a team captain all day. We missed the picture at Belle’s Boutique. We missed the train ticket originating in Charmington—”
“Yes, but that was only because you helped Henry find his mother,” Jane pointed out.
Carlos threw his hands up. “Exactly! We missed a huge item on the list because good ol’ reliable Carlos had to go help someone. What a surprise.”
“Are you saying you regret helping him?” Jane asked, baffled.
“No!” Carlos replied, feeling flustered. “Of course not. I just…this is the problem. I’m not a leader. And I may as well just accept that.”
“That’s not true,” Evie said, stepping forward and putting a tender hand on Carlos’s shoulder. “The whole thing at Belle’s Boutique was my fault. Not yours.”
Carlos snorted. “Exactly. I can’t even get you—one of my best friends—to listen to me. That’s how horrible of a team captain I am. You won’t even follow my lead.” He nodded toward the pocket where Evie had stored her phone. “You clearly have better things to do than listen to what I have to say.”
For a full ten seconds, Evie didn’t respond. She just stared openmouthed and speechless at Carlos. Then, finally, after what felt like ages, she blurted out, “Oh my gosh, Carlos! No!”
Tears welled in her eyes, taking Carlos by surprise. He hadn’t expected to make her cry. Now he felt even worse than he had before.
Evie walked over to a nearby bench and plopped down. She rubbed her hands under her eyes. “Carlos, this has nothing to do with you.”
Sensing there was something bigger going on, Carlos sat down next to his friend. “Evie, what are you talking about? What’s going on?”
Evie let out a shuddering breath. “It’s…it’s…” Then words started to flow out of her so fast Carlos had a hard time keeping up. It was as though she, too, was unburdening herself for the first time. Casting off everything that had been weighing her down. “It’s my fashion company—Evie’s Four Hearts. I messed up. Big-time. I was so busy and stressed out with all the orders for dresses that were coming in and all my school work, I made a huge mistake.”
“What mistake?” Carlos asked. He hadn’t heard anything about this.
Evie sniffled. “I accidentally placed an order for two hundred slippers instead of two hundred zippers. I needed the zippers for the dresses that people bought but instead I’m now stuck with a bunch of house slippers with bunnies on them. I’ve been emailing with the supplier all day trying to fix it. Not to mention all the customers I have to contact. Do you know how hard it is to tell a princess that her dress is delayed?”
Carlos chuckled politely. “I don’t.”
Evie sighed. “Well, they don’t like it. And I’ve pretty much been doing that all day. I’m so sorry, Carlos. I feel horrible that you thought, even for a second, that this was about you. I think you have the ability to be a fantastic team captain. People like you and respect you.” Evie grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “Trust me, I wouldn’t wan
t to be on anyone else’s team but yours.”
A moment later, Jane sat down quietly on the bench next to Carlos and grabbed his other hand. “Neither would I.”
Carlos felt a swell of love for his friends pass through him, followed shortly by another wave of guilt. Even though he believed Evie and Jane, the fact remained: he’d still cheated. He’d still used magic to help his team earn points in the scavenger hunt. And now he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to chase this guilty feeling away.
Carlos stood up and turned to Evie and then to Jane, flashing them both appreciative smiles. “Thank you guys. I couldn’t have asked for better teammates.”
“Where are you going?” Jane asked. Her voice was patient and kind. Jane was always so kind. It was what Carlos liked most about her.
“I don’t know,” Carlos admitted. “I just…I guess I need to think.”
And before Jane or Evie could convince him to stay, Carlos took a deep breath, turned, and walked away.
It was true what he’d said. He didn’t know where he was going. He just wandered aimlessly around downtown Auradon, thinking about everything that had happened that day.
As he walked, passing small shops and restaurants, Carlos rubbed his hand against the soft leather of the dog collar, feeling regret over what he’d done.
He knew he could never really win the competition now. It wouldn’t feel right. He supposed he could just delete the photo of Grumpy and the photo of Lumiere’s secret recipe, but that didn’t feel like enough.
By the time he reached the entrance of the Auradon Prep campus, Carlos knew what he had to do. He had a feeling his decision would disappoint his teammates, but it was his only option. Evie was right. Good leaders are trustworthy. And Carlos had broken that trust. Now he had to repair it.
And there was only one way to do that.
Carlos had to resign from the annual Auradon Prep Scavenger Hunt.
I can’t believe I’m doing this. I know it’s the right thing to do…but then why does it feel so bad? Why does it feel like I’m letting my whole team down?