𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 𝑰𝑺 𝑨 𝑾𝑰𝑺𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟓

She didn't know. Of course, Mal didn't know the location of the one thing they needed to retrieve while they were here. When Delphina had gotten her answer, she scoffed in disbelief, pushed away from the table, and told them to come and find her when they did. Keeping her head down, Delphina trudged through the halls, back to her dorm so she could figure out her classes.

It wasn't until Delphina was standing outside her and Audrey's dorm that she realized she didn't have her key. She thought back to when she first saw the room and cursed, remembering the key had been on the nightstand next to her bed. Delphina cursed under her breath. All she wanted to do was lay down on her new bed for the first time, take a nap, and figure out everything else in her life later.

Sighing, Delphina crouched down, examining the lock on the door. It seemed simple, but the locks on Auradon were considerably more up-to-date and secure than the ones on the Isle. Getting a feel for it would take a bit. Delphina reached into her back pocket, pulling out the two bobby pins and a slightly jagged thin slab of metal Delphina always kept on her.

Delphina made quick work of wiggling one of the bobby pins and the piece of metal into the keyhole, waiting for some sort of noise or click. She was so focused, she almost didn't hear the approaching footsteps that were about to round the corner. The last thing Delphina needed was getting caught trying to pick her dorm lock and one of the students assuming she was robbing someone. Quickly slipping her materials back into her pocket, Delphina put on her poker face and began wiggling the door handle pathetically as the footsteps grew closer.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Audrey round the corner with a boy in a baby blue button up, dark jeans, and shiny blonde hair. Audrey paused when she saw her roommate pulling at their door and Delphina turned, sighing in fake relief. "Audrey! Hey." Delphina gave her a sheepish look and motioned to the door. "I just realized I left my key on the nightstand inside. Do you have yours on you?" She asked pleadingly.

"Definitely. Let me just--" Before Audrey could reach into her bag and retrieve her key, the boy she was with stopped her, watching Delphina curiously.

"Who are you, exactly?" He asked. Delphina didn't miss his challenging tone. Delphina didn't take offense to it. Most people had never seen her before in their lives. Suspicion was natural. Delphina kept her stance casual and held out a hand.

"Hi. I'm Delphina. I'm Audrey's new roommate." The suspicion on the boy's face only grew, glancing at Audrey.

"You have a new roommate?" He asked her softly. Delphina rolled her eyes. If he was going to be suspicious about her, the least he could do was interrogate her to her face. Audrey gave the boy an awkward smile, nodding briefly.

"Uh, yeah. Delphina, this is Chad Charming. Chad, this is Delphina." The mention of his last name had Delphina freezing up almost instantaneously. Charming. As in, Prince Charming. As in, Cinderella's husband. As in, the woman Delphina's grandmother hated more than anything. Delphina stared blankly at her step-cousin, blinking rapidly. Chad gave her a weirded-out look as Audrey continued. "Delphina just transferred here today."

Chad's brow furrowed in confusion, slowly putting the pieces together. Delphina practically saw the last piece of the puzzle click into place and his expression morphed from one of curiosity to one of realization to one of accusation. "You're one of the Isle kids. Drizella's daughter." Delphina sighed at his harsh tone and blatant glare.

"Yeah. That's me. It's a pleasure, I know." She snarked, pushing her baby hairs out of her face tiredly. "Look, I'm not looking for some dramatic confrontation over the bad blood between our parents. I just wanna get away from everyone here.." She groaned. Audrey chuckled softly, pulling out her dorm key before moving over to the door and unlocking it, holding it open for Delphina.