Chapter Text
If Chloe Charming took the time to list every lesson of etiquette she had encountered and internalised in her life, she’d have to spend hours chained to her desk with a scroll of parchment that spilled to the floor, with post-it notes between sentences to add the details she had initially forgotten. Overall, it would be a strenuous task that she would rather avoid, alas, it’s a task she undertakes every single time she’s in the same room as her infuriatingly whip-smart roommate.
The new semester at Auradon Prep had started a little over a month ago, and Chloe and her begrudging roommate had yet to find any common ground. In the first week at the academy both girls had actively avoided each other after their disaster of a first meeting. In the weeks following, both were teetering on the border of being called acquaintances, and yet that was enough to inform them that their routines, study habits (or lack thereof), and hobbies were entirely contrasting.
It’s logical to conclude that they didn’t like one another.
Chloe paused, criticising herself for such a stern judgement, even if it was within her own head. It would be more proper to say that they weren’t the best match, or even that they were just slow to warm up to one another. She smiles to herself, accepting the rephrase in stride, though the moment didn’t last long before she was snapped out of her thoughts by a scratch of chalk on blackboard.
She looked around, the realisation that she had spaced out during her Alchemy class slowly sinking in. She let out a small breath as she got up from her chair, noting that all the students around her already seemed invested in the practical task of the lesson with their professor writing additional instructions at the front of the class, all while she had remained with her head in the clouds. Quickly tying her hair back and ignoring the irritating tickle of blue strands against her neck, Chloe flipped to the bookmarked page of her Beginners Tincture Guide. Running her finger against a stark white page as she muttered the starting instructions to the draught the class was supposed to be creating, she barely registered someone placing their bags down and sitting next to her until they started talking.
“I wouldn’t have taken you for someone who slacked off in class, given your perfect record that is,” they said with a teasing lilt. Chloe blinked a few times before turning her head to see none other than her roommate and the object of her grievances, “Red.”
The Wonderland girl flashed a smirk before going to rummage through her satchel; a white denim bag that was littered with patches, pins and weaving embroidery. Red let out a hum of approval as she pulls out the same textbook Chloe had been looking through, though Chloe notes the difference in conditions; her own edition had been kept in a displayable condition with a few slips notes paperclipped to some chapters, whilst Red’s book had a multitude cracks up its spine, a scratched dust jacket on it’s covers and as she flipped through the pages onto the eighth chapter, Chloe could spot multiple paragraphs highlighted with little annotations and and doodles.
“You’re late to alchemy, again ,” Chloe spoke up. Red looked at her through her lashes as she remained silent to Chloe’s statement, “and why are you sitting next to me?”.
“It’s a paired experiment, princess. All our other classmates have started already, too.” Red responds, reaching across their shared workbench to switch on the heating mantle underneath a miniature tin cauldron, “And if you’re going to complain about my tardiness, I get to point out how you should have completed instructions one through five instead of having your head in the clouds.”
Chloe took a deep breath, plastering on a smile. “Let’s call it even and try to get our drought done then.” Red responds with a half-hearted thumbs up, “I’ll measure out the powdered copper whilst you stew the holly sprigs in rosehip oil then.”
Chloe hums, diligently carrying out her tasks in silence alongside the other girl. She would have even argued that it was a comfortable silence, so long as you ignored the occasional murmurings and an awkward squeak of a chair as they tried to manoeuvre past each other and the exponentially increasing clutter of ingredients on the counter. Though, of course with their track record, the two would eventually splinter the peaceful reverie they were in.
“What are you doing?” Chloe asked, brows furrowed as her attention centres on the glistening cichlid scales in Red’s palm.
“Adding more ingredients to the cauldron?” Red answers, placing her free hand on her hip.
“That seems like too many…”
“I’m sure an extra scale or three wouldn’t hurt.”
The blue-haired girl shakes her head, going to stand next to Red as she flips to the next page of her textbook. Chloe grins once she finds the instruction she was searching for, tapping her ring against it for emphasis, “ Hah! See?”. Red leans forward, causing a few crimson strands of her hair to fall across her cheekbones.
“We’re supposed to add one scale, and gradually increase the amount to seven”
Red shrugged, looking at her palm and removing two of the delicate scales to place back into the ingredients jar. “I’ve got seven in my palm - we’re all good to put them in now.”
“But you’re supposed to add them gradually!”
“I think we’ll live, this is beginner's alchemy. What’s the worst that could happen?” Red proceeded to drop her voice into a hushed whisper, “Besides , we’re literally the last two left with anything to do in this class, everyone else has left.”
Chloe looked around, slightly shocked to find that Red was right. How had she not noticed all their other classmates leaving? Sighing, she looked to the corner of the classroom to see that their alchemy professor was passing the additional time by grading a pile of essays. “Still… Shouldn’t we just follow the guide? We’re already here after the class’s hour ended, so might as-”
“Oops.”
Chloe snapped her attention to Red and their cauldron, which had just received all seven cichlid scales at once. “Red!” she hissed under her breath.
“What? My hand slipped,” Red responded with an exaggerated pout, “Anyway, the draught looks exactly like it should.” She does a sweeping motion with her arms, and Chloe looks into the cauldron to see the murky reddish-brown liquid inside start to bubble and golden as per the textbook illustrated.
“You can start praising me for saving us thirty minutes now.”
“I hardly think that praise-” Chloe stops herself at the sight of Red; the girl is leaning back against the workbench with her arms crossed, her eyes are squinted in amusement and she has this smirk plastered on her face that irks Chloe enough that she wants to find a way to wipe it off. “Oh, you’re joking.”
“Obviously, princess.”
The Wonderland girl lets out a laugh, and walks past Chloe to pick up her bag. “See how bending the rules doesn’t lead to havoc all the time?”.
Chloe shrugs, reaching to take down her hair, “Just don’t make a habit of it, please.”
“No promises,” Red chuckles before murmuring to herself, “Besides, oh what was that saying… There’s so much more here than in Wonderland... Ah, no harm, no foul. Right?” She grins wildly.
Though what the two girls failed to notice during their conversation was the morphing and excessive bubbling of what was supposed to be their draught to counteract common poisons. A violent whistle sounded out, followed by the contents of the cauldron shooting upwards. Both Chloe and Red had stumbled back, hands protectively placed over their own heads as they took in the new scene; their cauldron had now become discoloured and fractured, their workbench slightly scorched and spoiled by the spillage of ingredients, and the ceiling had been stained with their coursework, which was crystallising at an alarmingly fast rate.
“Do you think Professor Arnault noticed..?” Chloe whispers, wide-eyed and staring up at the purple liquid dripping from the ceiling.
She grimaces a moment later when said professor's voice rang out from the other side of the room, “Miss Charming! Miss Hearts! What in Merlin's name have you two done? To the principal's office, now!”
“I’d say so, yeah,” Red whispers back.
- ⚔ -
Both the girls had been escorted to sit inside principal Uma’s office and were told to wait until they were able to be seen. Chloe had a sour expression on her face as she sat up straight. Red looked more bored than distressed, and had sprawled herself across the mahogany chair next to Chloe’s. Both were now in an awkward silence once Red’s amused expression was met with Chloe’s apprehensive frown.
Chloe tapped her glass heel against the floor, making a repetitive noise a few paces faster than the grandfather clock in the corner. She’d never been in much trouble in the past, let alone being sent to the principal's office, and that fact was slowly working its way back and forth through her mind. She chewed on the inside of her cheek anxiously. Would her parents be notified? How will this reflect on her report cards? Is Chad going to tease her every time he comes home to visit? That last possibility is the worst outcome in her mind.
Various questions kept popping up, and it took a moderate amount of willpower for Chloe to distract herself from her thoughts. She inhaled slowly, noting the thick fragrance of tulips that were surely growing outside the stained glass windows of the office. Chloe kept herself occupied by studying the details of the office she was in for quite a while, but as minutes stretched on, she grew bored of refocusing on the gold detailing of the tallest bookcase for the third time. She blinked, before tentatively looking over to look at Red. The other princess had her eyes closed and head leant back on the back of the chair she lounged on.
Was she seriously relaxed enough to nap?
Chloe frowned and rolled her eyes, she was tempted to wake the other girl up as a form of petty revenge. Though that train of thought didn’t go far before the loud swing of the office doors snapped her out of her plotting, and Red out of her light slumber.
“With the amount of time I have to spend in meetings, I’m surprised I get to interact with any of my students at all,” the powerful voice of their principal announced. The ex-pirate rounded the corner to sit across from the two students, leaning back on her chair and putting her boots up on the ornate desk. “Though it would be nice to meet more of my students under more positive circumstances,” principal Uma pauses, taking a look at the two girls. “So, can one of you explain to me why I received a note during my school board meeting about sudden property damage?”
“It was minor property damage-” Red started, before being cut off by Chloe. “We’re so sorry!”.
Uma raised her brows, slightly amused. “Still, Miss Hearts. Property damage is typically something you’d get written up for, no matter how tiny it is.” The older woman looked to Chloe, noting her anxious expression. “Though , I suppose I could let it slide as long as you tell me what happened and promise to be more careful next time.” There was a beat of silence. “Well? Don’t leave me hanging, I want to know how you both blew up a cauldron in a beginners alchemy class.”
“We were trying to make an antidote to common poisons…” Chloe answered, feeling her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. “It was going well but then… There was a little issue with the ingredients.”
Uma hummed, leaning forward to take out a quill and note down the details on a form she had pulled from the top drawer of her desk. “Anything more specific?”
Chloe blinked, looking to her side to see Red playing with the tips of her own hair. She cleared her throat, and Red met her gaze. A moment later, the Wonderland princess gave a small sigh. “I was the one who may have… Been a bit generous with the dosage.”
“‘Generous’ is the term we’re going with?” Chloe frowned. She could think of a million other descriptors that were more accurate.
“Would you like me to list some synonyms for you?” Red retorted, shooting a scathing glare to the blue-haired girl.
Chloe opened her mouth to reply, though Uma had beaten her to it with two firm clicks of her finger. “Okay, you two, calm it.” The principal sighed, scratching on a signature to a second piece of paper that she paperclipped to the form she had been working on. “Luckily for you both, the damage will be taken care of as this academy isn’t exactly worried about its funds, and, I won’t be writing a letter home to your parents given that what happened seemed enough like an accident.”
Principal Uma rose from her chair, “You both are dismissed. But I promise you I won’t be as lenient if I see you both in my office next time. Now head back to your dorms, and I better not hear you two arguing in the hallway as soon as I close my office doors.”
The two girls rose up after their dismissal, heading to the door. “Oh, Miss Hearts and Miss Charming?” Both paused. “I’m hoping you’ll get along better in the future, I’ve had a few complaints about your disruptive interactions, which I may feel more compelled to write to home about if they continue.”
“We’ll make more of an effort to be friendly,” Chloe answered, nodding quickly. Meanwhile, Red crossed her arms and gave a noncommittal shrug, “Yeah, what she says.”
Uma looked between the both of them and shook her head before giving a flicking hand gesture to signal to the two that they were allowed to leave.
- ⚔ -
As the doors to principal Uma’s office closed behind them, Chloe and Red made it past the main stairwell and the corridor towards their shared dorm before one of them decided to speak.
“I can’t believe you got us in trouble,” Chloe huffed. Red snorted in amusement at the other girl's snippy tone. “I’d hardly classify that as actual trouble.”
“I had half a mind to ask for a new roommate!”
Red paused her search for her keys in her bag in order to put her hand to her chest and let out a theatrical gasp, “Well we can't have that. How could I go on in life if I’m unable to trip over all your sports gear by our desks?”
“Hey! At least I don’t leave spray cans across the floor!”
“That was one time! How was I supposed to know they’d roll out of my bag?”
“Because you flung the bag across the room maybe?”
The two girls grumbled, still facing each other but looking everywhere but forwards. “Listen,” Chloe starts, “I’d rather not get sent back to principal Uma’s office and have my parents get notified about whatever issue we’re going to crash into next.”
“That’s something we can agree on. I’d rather attend my Remedial Goodness classes than get a scathing letter from my mom.”
“Which means we’ve got to find a solution to avoid our disagreements.”
“Like ignoring each other's existence?”
“What? No! We literally live together, that would never work.”
Red huffs, pausing her search for her keys in her bag to face Chloe. She has one arm bent to support her leaning frame against their door and a bored expression, “Well we could always switch dorms then?”
“That would require parental permission.”
“You’ve looked into the fine print of the forms then?”
There’s an awkward pause before Chloe sighs, changing the topic, “Look, we can’t keep hating each other all year.”
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short, princess , I’m sure we can if we put the effort in,” Red replies, a cheshire smirk plasters itself onto her face to reveal perfectly white teeth.
Chloe ignores the other girl's remark and carries on, “So, I suggest we allocate a few hours every week to get to know each other more, and maybe, we’ll find some common ground.”
Red scrunches her nose a little as she thinks. Chloe offers up her hand as she adds to her previous point, “It’s either that or we try to tell our parents about all the small arguments, and minor property damage, that led to us requesting a room change.”
Not a second later, Red grabs her hand and shakes it, “Fine”. Chloe smiles, feeling slightly triumphant whilst mentally preparing herself for what’s to come.