Carlos's Scavenger Hunt

by Jessica Brody

  Copyright © 2017 Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Disney Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney Press, 1101 Flower Street, Glendale, California 91201.

  ISBN 978-1-368-01648-3

  For more Disney Press fun, visit www.disneybooks.com

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Unleashed

  Good Boy

  Top Dog

  Runt of the Litter

  Pavlovian Response

  Alpha Dog

  Red-Collar Job

  Itching to be Captain

  Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

  Stay What?

  The Annual Auradon Prep Scavenger Hunt List

  Fetch

  Hot on the Trail

  Roll Over

  Mystery Whimper

  Lost Pup

  Licking the Wounds

  Dog with a Bone

  Tail Wagging

  Tail Between My Legs

  In the Doghouse

  Back to My Pack

  Underdogs

  Sit, Stay, High Heel

  Digging Up the Truth

  Bad to the Bone

  Lickety-Split

  Leader of the Pack

  Get All the Books in the School of Secrets Series!

  The teen had never left the island before. No one who grew up on the Isle of the Lost ever left. It was his home and his prison. But not anymore.

  For the first time in his life, he was crossing over the sea. He was breaking through the barrier that separated the Isle from the great United States of Auradon. He was leaving.

  And he’d never been more excited.

  No more stealing. No more forcing down goblin slop for breakfast. No more of his mother’s bossing him around. The teen had never been a very good villain—something his mother never failed to remind him. That was why he was so eager to leave, to start fresh and see how much he could shine in a new place.

  A place like Auradon Prep.

  The teen packed the last of his clothes and belongings into his duffel bag and zipped it up tight, giving it a pat. He was more than ready.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” came the ominous, screechy voice of his mother. The teen startled at the sound and turned around. He was always jumpy around his mother. She had that effect on people, especially him.

  The teen unzipped his bag, studying the contents. “No. I don’t think so.”

  His mother smiled that creepy, sinister smile of hers. It was a smile that could make even the most fearsome dogs shake in their furs. “You’re forgetting this.”

  She reached into the sleeve of her fur coat and pulled out a small red bracelet. At least, it looked like a bracelet. But upon closer inspection, the teen noticed that it had a buckle and a silver bone-shaped tag hanging from it. Almost like…

  “Is that a dog collar?” the teen asked, instinctively stepping back. He’d had a fear of dogs ever since he was little.

  “It’s not just a dog collar, my boy,” his mother replied silkily. “It’s a magic dog collar.”

  The teen frowned in confusion. Magic did not exist on the Isle of the Lost. And he’d never known his mother to use magic, even in her villainous heyday. “What does it do?”

  “Whoever wears the collar gives the commands,” she replied with a mischievous sneer. “Like a master with a well-trained dog, the wearer of the collar can make people obey them.”

  “Obey them?” the teen repeated with obvious doubt in his voice. “Really?”

  “Are you calling your mother a liar?” she snapped, throwing her arms in the air. The teen cowered. He was used to his mother’s short temper, but it still terrified him.

  “N-no,” he stammered.

  His mother huffed and shoved the collar into his hand. “Just put it in your bag. It will work in Auradon.”

  “But why would I need it?” the teen asked, still unsure why he was being offered the supposedly magical gift.

  His mother started to laugh. It was her signature maniacal laugh—the one that rattled the boy’s teeth. “Oh, foolish, foolish boy,” she said. “You need it because you’re weak. You’re not a leader. You’re a follower. And if you ever want anyone to do what you say, you’re going to need help. Lots of it.”

  Then she laughed her evil, grating laugh again and stormed out of the room.

  The teen stared at the red collar, still in his hand. The little bone-shaped tag brushed against his fingers. He clenched the soft leather of the strap as anger pulsed through him. His mother had never thought much of him. She’d never had confidence in him—which was why he had always had to find confidence in himself.

  As he tossed the collar into his duffel and zipped the bag back up, he thought, I’ll prove her wrong. I’ll show her that I am a leader. I’ve just been living on the wrong island.

  Hi. I’m Carlos, son of Cruella De Vil. But don’t worry. I’m nothing like my mother. I love dogs. And not for making fur coats out of. It took me a little while to get over my fear of them, but now that I have, one of my best friends is a dog. His name is Dude. We met shortly after I moved to Auradon Prep.

  It’s one of the many things in my life that has improved since I left the Isle. Let’s just say I wasn’t quite cut out for life on the Isle of the Lost. It never suited me the way it used to suit Mal and Jay and even Evie. I was never very good at being evil. I’ve found I’m actually much better at being good. It turns out being good is not so bad. It’s made me a lot more friends than I ever had on the Isle. Friends like Jane, Fairy Godmother’s daughter, who happens to be one of my favorite people at Auradon Prep. She’s so kind and sweet and, okay…very pretty. But I’m getting off topic….

  Making friends isn’t my problem. My problem is that everyone around here seems to think of me as just Carlos, the nice villain kid (or VK, as we are known), the guy you can always rely on if you need help. But I want to be more than that. I want to be a leader. The guy who makes the plan, not the one who just helps out when the plan goes wrong.

  All of my fellow baddies have become great leaders since we got here. Jay is tourney captain and almost always manages to lead the team to victory. Evie has basically created a fashion empire with her Evie’s 4 Hearts company, and she makes huge business decisions every day. And Mal has kind of always been our unspoken leader. She’s the one who came up with the plan to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand. Even though that plan never actually panned out, people still look up to Mal.

  And now it’s my turn.

  I’m determined to be a leader, too. But not just any leader. A great leader. A memorable leader. The kind of leader who goes down in history!

  I just have to find my place to shine….

  I hope no one notices how fidgety I am. As my mom would say, I’m as jumpy as a flea.

  “This is the coolest school project ever!” Jane said, sitting down in one of the large armchairs in the Mad for Tea tea shop and pulling her notebook out of her bag. “I can’t believe they’re letting us design an actual app!”

  “It is quite a fun idea,” Ally agreed in her posh English accent. Ally was the daughter of Wonderland’s Alice, and her family owned the tea shop. She had invited Jane, Carlos, Freddie, and Audrey to have tea on Friday afternoon while they discussed the group project they’d just been assigned in their Safety Rules for the Internet class.

  Carlos was excited about the project, too, but he was also nervous.
The teacher had divided the class into groups of five and told them that each group had to not only design an app but choose a project manager—someone who would lead the rest of the group and keep everyone organized and on task. Plus, that person would be the one to present the app to the entire class the next week.

  Carlos had always wanted to design his own app. And he knew the project was just the kind of thing he’d been looking for. He could totally be the project manager. He should be the project manager. After all, he knew the most about technology. He just needed to figure out a way to convince the rest of his group that they should choose him.

  Ally poured Carlos a cup of tea and flashed him a smile. He smiled back, but it felt forced. Should he just come right out and say it? Like “I think I should be project manager.” Or should he lead with something more subtle? Like “So, what was that thing the teacher said about choosing a project manager?”

  “What kind of app do you think we should create?” Jane asked, her eyes twinkling. Carlos loved when Jane’s eyes twinkled like that.

  “Perhaps some kind of tea party app!” Ally suggested. “It helps you plan your own tea party.”

  “Or,” Jane said, “what about an app that organizes all of your school schedules?”

  “Hmmm,” Audrey said, clearly not liking either of those ideas. “I think we should build a princess makeover app. You upload a picture of yourself and the app turns you into a princess!”

  “No,” Freddie said immediately.

  “And why not?” Audrey asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “Because not everyone wants to be a princess,” Freddie snapped back.

  “Well, what do you suggest?” Audrey asked. “An app that turns people into frogs?”

  Freddie nodded, clearly liking that idea. “Not bad.”

  “I was kidding!” Audrey said grumpily. “We are so not building an app that turns people into frogs!”

  “And what is wrong with frogs?” Freddie asked defensively.

  See? Carlos thought. This is exactly why I need to be project manager. They’re already arguing over what kind of app to build.

  “We should vote,” Jane said diplomatically, and Carlos mentally kicked himself for not having thought of that first. That was an excellent idea—the kind of idea a good leader came up with.

  “Good idea, Jane,” Audrey said. “All in favor of my princess app?”

  Audrey was the only one who raised her hand.

  “All in favor of my tea party app?” Ally asked, and raised her hand. She was also the only one.

  “All in favor of my school schedule app?” Jane said, but it was becoming apparent that everyone was voting for her own idea.

  “This isn’t working,” Audrey complained.

  Carlos’s leg began to bounce anxiously. He should speak up. He should point out that they should choose a project manager before they decided what the app should be.

  “Carlos, you’re spilling your tea,” Ally complained.

  Carlos blinked and glanced down at the teacup on the coffee table in front of him. His knee’s bouncing had been rattling the cup, and now tea was sloshing all over the saucer. “Sorry,” he muttered.

  “What do you think, Carlos?” Jane asked, flashing him a warm smile that made Carlos’s stomach do a flip.

  “Um,” Carlos said, knowing this was his chance. It was now or never. He had to take it. “I think before we decide what app to build, we should decide who the project manager is.”

  Ally grinned. “Oh, yes! Brilliant idea, Carlos! Well done. Of course!”

  Carlos felt incredibly proud of himself. He was acting like a project manager already. Taking command of the situation. Setting the team on track. He knew he could lead people. He just knew it.

  “And I think—” Carlos began, ready to nominate himself for the role, when suddenly Audrey interrupted him.

  “Jane! You should definitely be the project manager,” Audrey said.

  “Oh, yes,” Ally immediately chimed in. “I absolutely agree.”

  “Just as long as it’s not me,” Freddie said.

  “Really?” Jane said, seeming uncertain. “You want me to be project manager?”

  “Of course,” Audrey said. “You were the one who had that amazing internship with Carina Potts last summer.”

  Carlos felt a swell of disappointment. That was true. The past summer, Jane had done an internship with Carina Potts, the daughter of Mrs. Potts and the most famous party planner in all of Auradon. That definitely made Jane a good candidate for project manager, but Carlos still really wanted it.

  “Yes,” Jane said, “but that didn’t really give me any experience with apps.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Audrey said. “Anyone who interns with the almighty Carina Potts has to do great work under pressure.”

  “Yeah, she only hires the best,” Ally agreed.

  Jane glanced down at her lap, looking uncomfortable, like she was desperate to change the subject. “I don’t know about that. Doesn’t anyone else want to do it?”

  “Actually,” Carlos said, “I was thinking maybe I could do it.”

  All four girls stared at him, like he was speaking another language. Then Audrey decidedly shook her head. “Carlos, you can’t be project manager. You need to be in charge of all the tech stuff. The programming. You’re the best there is. And we need your help.”

  There it was: that word Carlos was beginning to despise.

  Help.

  He was always the helper. Always the support staff. Just once he wanted someone to see him as a leader, not a helper. The commander, not the soldier.

  Carlos opened his mouth to speak, but once again, Audrey cut him off. “Jane is the most obvious choice for the project manager. She’s the most organized. She’ll keep us on track.”

  And before anyone—including Carlos or Jane—could argue, Audrey said, “All in favor of Jane being our project manager?”

  Audrey, Freddie, and Ally raised their hands. Then all four girls looked at Carlos, and Carlos’s shoulders sagged. He slowly lifted his hand into the air.

  Audrey clapped once. “Then it’s settled. Jane is the group leader.”

  For once I want to be seen by my friends as a leader—not just the guy you come to when you need help fixing your smartphone.

  Later that night, at dinner, Carlos thought about what had happened in the tea shop. How everyone had immediately thought of Jane when it came time to pick a project manager. No one had even taken his suggestion seriously. Sure, he was good at all that tech stuff, and he loved doing it, but he could be good at the leadership stuff, too!

  Back on the Isle it had been the same. He was always the sidekick, never the chief villain. And when he’d come to Auradon with Evie, Mal, and Jay, and they were tasked with stealing the wand, even then Carlos was just the helper. He got the alarms at the Museum of Cultural History turned off so they wouldn’t get caught. The team needed him when they got into trouble. That was the problem. They never looked to him to lead them away from trouble in the first place.

  Carlos wondered what it was about him that made people fail to see his leadership qualities. He could be trusted to run things. He could come up with a solid plan. He could lead a team to victory. He just needed his shot.

  Carlos tried to join the conversation at dinner. He was seated at a table with Mal, Evie, Jay, Lonnie, Ally, Audrey, Freddie, and Jane. They were playing the “Most Likely to” game. It was something that had sprung up recently at Auradon Prep and had become popular among the students. Normally Carlos enjoyed playing. But that day he couldn’t focus. His mind kept drifting back to the tea shop.

  “Most likely to own a cupcake shop?” Audrey said, starting a new round of the game.

  “Ally,” Jane immediately replied. “She makes the best scones in the world.” Everyone nodded their agreement.

  “Most likely to smuggle a pet dragon into their dorm room?” Ally asked, and the whole group immediately turned and pointed at Mal. />
  “Hey! My mother is not a pet,” Mal said jokingly.

  Everyone laughed.

  “Oh, I’ve got one,” Lonnie said. “Most likely to end up on the cover of a fashion magazine?”

  “Evie,” Mal replied immediately.

  Evie tilted her head tenderly toward Mal. “Awww, thanks, bestie.”

  “No problem.”

  “Hello?” Audrey said, clearly offended. “What about me? I could be on the cover of a fashion magazine! A princess fashion magazine.”

  “Absolutely,” Mal said, flashing Audrey a fake smile. Then she quickly asked a new question before Audrey could speak again. “Most likely to win a chess championship?”

  Jay guffawed. “That’s easy. Me.”

  Mal shot him a doubtful look. “Why you?”

  Jay brushed imaginary dust off his shirt. “I’m the best at sports.”

  “Chess isn’t a sport,” Evie pointed out.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Jay said. “If the word ‘champion’ is in the title, it’s mine.”

  “I don’t think so,” Audrey said. “If anyone is going to win a chess championship, it’s Jane. She’s got the most analytical brain of us all.”

  Jay opened his mouth to argue, but Evie quickly interrupted with another question. “Most likely to drop their phone in the Enchanted Lake?”

  “Chad!” the entire table called out at once.

  Chad Charming looked up curiously from the next table. “What?”

  “Nothing!” Evie called out. Then she leaned in conspiratorially and added, “He’d probably drop it in because he was so distracted staring at his own reflection.”

  Everyone at the table broke out into hoots of laughter—everyone except Carlos, that is. He was still lost in his own thoughts.

  “Most likely to lead an army into battle?” Mal said.

  Carlos perked up at that one, hoping someone might throw out his name. But they all immediately turned to Lonnie. Of course, her mother was Mulan, the great warrior. She was definitely the obvious choice.

  “Most likely to become a sidekick?”

  “Carlos!” the group shouted at once, and Carlos felt his shoulders slouch with disappointment.