Yearly Tribute, Year 1:

Hair-Dye

Carlos believed he had everything under control when it came to his family in New York. Though it was only the first week of the new arrangements, he made sure to send text updates to his 'nanny' so she and his 'siblings' wouldn't worry with him being so far away. In that week, his close friends encouraged him to tell them the truth, but there was something inside Carlos that couldn't bring himself to take that leap.

So, on the day he promised to video-chat with his other family, Carlos took every precaution to make sure his 'cover' wouldn't be blown.

Saturday afternoon, he had readied himself for the call. Carlos set-up his laptop at the picnic area of the school where no one else would be. He had Jane with him so she could explain details about the school that he probably couldn't without fumbling. Jane would also help with the illusion that Auradon Prep is a normal preparatory school; not one meant for royalty, heroes, etc.

With everything he had done, there was one 'minor' thing he forgot about.

"What did you do to your hair?" Jessie interrogated once she and the three siblings appeared on the screen. "It's almost completely white! What were you thinking?"

"He and the two girls you met before lost a bet," Jane fibbed way too easily, almost like she had the lie at the ready. "They had to dye their hair as a consequence."

"We could choose the color," Carlos added to make the lie sound more believable. "Evie chose blue and Mal chose purple with blue highlights. I chose white because it's the least unnatural color."

"Your hair does look better straight than curly," Zuri complimented with a careless shrug.

"But I am loving your outfit, Luke!" Emma flattered the 'younger' boy. "Where did you get it?"

"Evie made it," Carlos truthfully answered with a relieved smile. "She's an up and coming fashion designer and her friend, Dizzy, is an up and coming hairstylist. After Dizzy dyed my hair, Evie used it as an opportunity to give me a complete make-over. Honestly, I have never felt this confident. This is the first time I actually feel like me; not the adoptive son of two celebrities."

Jessie's stern attitude softened at the proclamation. "Well . . . as long as it makes you happy, I'm sure your parents will be happy with it too."

Name

A couple weeks passed with Carlos becoming more comfortable with video-calling his 'siblings' in new locations around campus. On a particular Saturday afternoon, Carlos thought it would be perfectly fine to call from the bleachers on the Tourney field. Practice wouldn't start for another few minutes, giving enough time for him and Jane to make the call.

That was such a terrible idea . . .

"Carlos!" Coach Jenkins shouted from the sidelines. "Get off the phone! If you aren't on the field in the next three minutes, you'll be running laps the whole hour!"

On the telephone screen, Ravi raised an eyebrow when his 'brother' adverted his gaze off screen. " 'Carlos'?" he repeated in confusion. "Why did that man call you that?"

"There's another 'Luke' in our class," Jane easily fibbed, her silver-tongue skill growing better the longer she 'hanged' with the VKs. "The first couple days, the teachers had trouble establishing which 'Luke' they were calling on."

"Jane and my new friends tried coming up with nicknames for me," Carlos informed as quickly as he could to end the conversation. "Evie thought my new image was similar to Cruella de Vil, the villain in the '101 Dalmatians' movie. She suggested 'Carlos de Vil', playing off the idea that I could be the son of Cruella de Vil. Afterwards, the name stuck. What do you think?"

"I guess it makes sense," Jessie encouraged feebly. "But why wouldn't 'Ross' work? It sounds like a cooler name while 'Carlos' is more . . . geeky."

"Well Carlos has gained the reputation of one of the smartest boys in class," Jane subtly praised. "I wouldn't be surprised if he ends being at the top of our class when graduation comes around in a couple years."

"More like at the bottom of the class," Emma retorted in disbelief. "Luke used to do everything he can to get out of class and doing homework."

"Used to," Jane reminded, using the blond-haired girl's words against her. "Trust me, you don't know how smart my boyfriend truly is."

Grades

To the surprise of Carlos's 'siblings', his grades were somehow better than Ravi's!

When the nanny first received the perfect grade card—every class marked one-hundred percent—Jessie called the headmistress to make sure 'Luke' didn't tamper with his grades to stay in that school. It was the first thing Jessie thought of when she saw it.

"I assure you, Miss Prescott, the grades you received are accurate," Fairy Godmother—though Jessie was told her name was 'Ms. Paxson'—promised the nanny during a phone call the following afternoon. "Carlos, or 'Luke' if you prefer, is an exceptionally smart student and one of the brightest in the school."

"Really?" Jessie leaned her back the kitchen island with her cellphone in hand, having place the device on 'speaker' so the siblings could hear the conversation. "That doesn't sound like the Luke I know."

"Luke has changed from when he first attended Auradon Prep," Fairy Godmother insisted. "Admittedly, he would show up late and turned in shoddy work the first week or so. After that, he straightened up his act. My daughter may have something to with that since she threatened to end their relationship if he didn't change his ways. Now, he's the first to arrive and first to finish his classwork."

"Luke must really like Jane then," Jessie commented offhandedly. "He would never change that much for anyone else."

"The same applies for Jane," the headmistress informed before sighing softly. "She used to care so much about her appearance and feared she would never be as beautiful as some of the other girls in our school. Carlos showed her how beautiful she is on the inside and out. He easily brought her out of her timid shell when I struggled to do so. He is the reason she decided to try-out for the cheer squad and made the team with his help. They are perfect for each other."

While the siblings stared at one another in surprise, Jessie took a moment to process the information. "If anything changes, please let me know," the nanny requested. "Especially with their relationship. Luke can be a heart-breaker when he wants to be."

Surprisingly, Fairy Godmother chuckled at the accusation. "I can promise you Carlos wouldn't do such a thing," she commented knowingly. "After all, he asked my permission to give Jane a promise ring for her sixteenth birthday. You see, he doesn't just 'like' her. He loves her."

Girlfriend

After the conversation with the headmistress, Carlos's siblings wanted to know more about the 'mysterious' girlfriend of his. Luckily, a week passed before a three-day-weekend was given to the students of Auradon Prep. Since he would be returning 'home' for the special holiday, an invitation was extended to Jane to join him.

When they arrived with their over-night bags, Carlos politely carried Jane's luggage to his room, but requested that she didn't join him for a few minutes. He bashfully admitted about being unsure of the condition of the bedroom since he hasn't been home in a few weeks. He wanted to make sure the room was clean, pristine, and perfect for Jane's temporary stay, as Carlos had essentially volunteered to sleep on the couch so she could have his bed.

While Carlos was busy straightening up, his siblings and nanny used it as the perfect opportunity to interrogate his unsuspecting girlfriend.

"We've been together for quite a while now," Jane answered with no hesitation. "There was a dance not too long ago and it took him forever to ask me to be his date because he would get so nervous. It wasn't until the day of that he finally gained the courage to ask me."

"Luke? Nervous?" Zuri repeated in disbelief. "He went all-out to ask a girl to a dance a year ago."

"People can change in a year," Jane insisted with a knowing smile. "Before we became official, he would get so tongue-tied when trying to talk to me. Even now, he occasionally stutters when he's giving me a gift."

Pausing for a moment, Jane adjusted the necklace around her neck so the four could see it better. "Carlos made me this necklace of our names mixed together for our anniversary," she revealed. "He was afraid I wouldn't like it because of how our 'couple name' was mixed."

" 'Jarlos' ?" Emma read with a scrunched nose. "So he used his nickname from the school?"

"It was either that or 'Cane'," Jane joked with a small careless shrug. "I didn't want Carlos to change anything about the necklace because I loved it. I love him."