𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴. 𝘙𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘵. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴. 

𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦─ 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘔𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳-𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥.

"𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘢!" 𝘏𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦. "𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱!"

𝘐 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥, 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴, "𝘙𝘶𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳!"

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺.
𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵. 𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥.

𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘭 𝘜𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘺𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘜𝘮𝘢'𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 ─ 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵, 𝘐 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱.

𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳'𝘴 '𝘏𝘘'. 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 "𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳! 𝘍𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴" 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯. 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 ─ 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘋𝘳. 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘝𝘰𝘰 𝘋𝘰𝘰 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦.

     "Sam.. Wake up."

My arms stretched up and they ironically hit the headboard, as I was yawning. I fluttered open my eyes, finding a pair of brown ones looking right at me.

"Come on, you have ten more minutes to get ready." Lonnie said, thrashing the covers off of me. "And you missed breakfast."

Ten.. Minutes?!

"What?" I let another yawn escape my lips, "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"You said you wanted to sleep another five minutes four times."

I sat up straight, joints cracking as I turned around to face the clock.

Ten more more minutes 'till class, Sam. Ten more tic-tackin' minutes.

I got up immediately after looking at the mentioned clock, then grabbed my towel and, at lightning speed, got ready.

I brushed my teeth, washed my face and wiped the remaining water off with the towel I had gotten.

I picked the outfit for the day, which was of a blank white button up, a black necktie loosely tied around my neck and, to top it off, a red sleeveless cardigan. I then wore a pair of baggy black jeans, put on silver-coloured ribbon clip-on earrings and, last but not least, a burgundy leather jacket. And I almost forgot my pair of casual combat boots.
In a fragment of a second, before I locked the door, I turned on my heels, pulling on my rarely-worn black backpack.

That took me fifteen minutes, tops. Yay.

I sped through the halls, passing by multiple classes already in the middle of their lessons. My breathing became irregular, long exhales and short inhales, then short inhales and long exhales.

My boots made me almost slip side-first on the hard floor. I held on the side of the wall just to be safe, luckily, I was safe. Fairy Godmother wasn't here yet.

Or so I thought.

A small, pleasant, attention-catching cough came behind me.

Please don't tell me... I turned around, a small, innocent smile on my face.

For the love of Hades!

Fairy Godmother, aka my Remedial Goodness 101 teacher was behind me, holding... something in her hands which were behind her back.

"Hi?"

She hummed as a graceful smile plastered itself on her lips. "Take a seat, dear."

"Right."

Heh, got out of that one like water. Slipped right on through.

Right, we were safe. But just because it was Fairy Godmother, not Mr. Deley.

As I took off the innocent, but fake, smile plastered on my lips, I also took a seat, behind Evie and Mal. Alone.

I went ahead and got my sketchbook, a smaller one I have on hand just in case.

I didn't have any portraits of other people, since I don't draw much in this one. Mostly things I see around when I do open the book.

But when I do, my mind drifts off to a certain someone. He gave me this sketchbook, or some might say he stole it.
But some also might say, that he cared so much to have noticed the hobby.

I agree with both, he stole it for me because he saw my love for art. He stole the leather bound book and gave it to me because he cared.

Yet, that's how he broke my heart too. He cared ─ or still cares, ─ for another.

That's how the tables turned. We were happy, putting our troubles on The Isle aside until he came and ruined it, the first chance he got.

That's why I took the first chance I got to leave him, and left.

I hadn't realised Fairy Godmother had already started our lesson for today, her voice was muffled by the noise of my own train of thoughts.

Anyways...

I also didn't realize this: I was talking to
myself. Everyday, without noticing a smidge of it. The worst part, no one knows. But that can also be good, in a certain way.

Hey! I said, anyways..

Right. Heh

I pondered over how Celia and Freddie were doing on the Isle. I knew Celia had always wanted to go to Auradon. Freddie however had other ambitions, being an almost-neglected part of Uma's crew ─ The Tide, ─ she went with every order Uma or Harry gives her.

My thoughts drifted off to a different point, but same subject─ Uma.

Shrimpy, is Uma─ a nickname given by one of my closest friends, Mal. I can't put my finger on why she gave her that nickname though.

Why not Tentacles?

That's a reasonable name for her, just... why Shrimpy?

I would call Uma by her name, Uma. Nothing more, nothing special. Just Uma. Of course just when I was still on good terms with them.

But the 'good terms' rarely ever popped up. But that's only because Uma was ─ and still is ─ not on talking terms with Mal. And she knows Mal and I are close.

We barely talked, sometimes snarky ─ maybe playful ─ insults thrown to each other, rarely about me most of the time just about Mal.

But our routine only lasted 'till the end of November, when me and him finally parted ways, hopefully forever.

I basically adored my life back then, even though it was The Isle.

I wouldn't trade it for the world, even if it meant living a hard life where you had to fight to survive.

But of course... a voice─ my own voice, teased from the back of my mind. You would trade The Isle for Auradon, now. Right?

I mean... looking back at the life we had before we went here, I trailed, thinking how much we've changed over the past month or so. I probably would.

This happens, don't worry. And it can go on until... a few minutes or─

'Riiiiiiiiiinnggg'

Something disturbs the thinking train.
This time, the bell. Signaling the end of class, and the start of another class.

I swear, this week is kind of the worst. And it's only Wednesday.

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡 ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶
- I'm so, so sorry if you got random notifications (exactly 2) the day before I uploaded this. I was editing the cast/introduction (the first chapter of the book).

- And secondly, it's 4th of January. Happy (kind of late) New Year, everyone.

- Sage, is the only son of Taka (Scar), little brother of Scarlett (from chapter 'Mal's Date')

- So yeah... For this chapter, I decided it would be best if I didn't write as much as my mind thought (it was kind of crazy long).

- And, no, Sage would not be introduced officially in this act (Act One / Descendants One).