Benjamin Florian Villenueve served as one of six student representatives on the Auradon Preparatory School Admissions and Scholarship Board. He was also freshman class president and a journalist for the school newspaper, and everyone knew that he was very committed to doing what was best for the school. So his fellow board members were all quite shocked when he made a bold suggestion one Monday afternoon in early April.

"I think we need to provide scholarships for some of the students at Dragon Hall," Ben said, trying to infuse his words with as much confidence as possible, all while steeling himself for the backlash that he assumed would follow.

"Excuse me, Ben," squeaked out his Headmistress amidst several gasps and a bit of whispering. "What makes you think that we ought to do such a thing?"

Ben smiled. "Thank you for asking, Headmistress Paxson. The fact is, Dragon Hall is one of the worst schools in the state. And yet, they have some brilliant students. I know that that town is not great. I know those neighborhoods are full of crime and poverty and brokenness. But those students have just as much right to a good education as I do. And they need it more. Because I'm going to succeed no matter what. My parents can afford to send me to college-any college I want, in fact. Those kids need all the help they can get."

The muttering continued, but Miss Bell, the AP US History teacher, stood up. "I think that's a great idea. This place could use a bit of shaking up." When that statement earned her an angry glare from the chemistry teacher, she grinned mischievously. "We want to be the best and produce the best. Sometimes, that means shaking things up a bit. In an earthquake, the strongest and most necessary structures are revealed. Then, from the rubble, you can rebuild better than before, taking all of that into account."

The muttering got louder and became a full clamour within a millisecond. Headmistress Paxson tried to clap her hands to get everyone's attention, and when that didn't work, she had to shout. "Would you all please refrain from all of this chatter!" She exclaimed, and finally, the students, teachers, and trustees who made up the ASB quieted down and looked at the headmistress expectantly.

"Now tell us, Mr. Villenueve, what students you have in mind for these scholarships. And how did they come to your attention?"

"My friend Doug and I were chatting with Fred White, you know, he runs that diner in Pixie Hollow? And he was telling me about his niece and her friends, and how incredible they are in spite of the situation they grew up in. And it got me thinking, maybe I could help. Their names are Evelyn Grimhilde, Carlos DeVil, Jason Vizier, and Mallory Faison. Fred showed me Evelyn's transcripts and said that the other kids are just as good academically. He even said that he and his wife Snow would take them all in for the school year if tuition was covered. They do live in a pretty big place, you know. I hear she's an heiress."

Headmistress Paxson sighed. "Benjamin, it is noble to want to do something so kind for those in unfortunate circumstances, but we cannot simply hand out scholarships based on your friendship with this diner owner."

"Technically, it's more Doug's friendship. He's the one who lives in that town. But, more to the point, we can't just refuse them scholarships without consideration if they submit formal applications." And with that, Ben placed four application packets in front of the headmistress with a flourish.

"I see…" the headmistress was clearly thinking. "If the materials they have provided are sufficient, they will still have to take an aptitude test for the scholarships."

"Definitely, yeah, they know that. They're prepared to take it next Saturday. If you accept their applications of course," he finished quickly, trying to show deference to the admissions board.

The headmistress picked up the application packet on top of the stack. "Mallory Faison. Hmm." She handed all of the applications to her secretary. "Please make copies of all of these applications for the board. And one for our files, of course. Everyone, please consider their applications and come to Wednesday's meeting prepared to discuss admission for these four students. Now, let's move on to the applications for incoming freshmen."

Ben pulled his phone out under the table and sent Doug a quick text: "There's a chance!"

The following Saturday, four teenagers dressed mostly in leather arrived at Auradon Prep to take an aptitude test. Mallory, who preferred to go by Mal, had deep violet hair, green eyes, and clean pale skin. On her right was Evelyn, Evie for short, with waist-long black hair that looked almost blue in bright light, flawlessly made up skin, and clear brown eyes. Carlos stood on Mal's other side with bleached white hair, thick, dark eyebrows, and covered in freckles. Jay, short for Jason, was the last member of the group. His long brown hair hung down near the bottom of his ribcage, and his dark eyes swam with emotion, even though he tended to be a man of few words.

Ben saw them walking toward the building from the Headmistress's office, where he was waiting as the Student Ambassador to these potential classmates. "They're here!" he exclaimed. Headmistress Paxson waved vaguely at him while she maintained focus on her computer screen.

"That's nice, dear. Go ahead and meet them at the entrance and escort them to Ms. Bell's classroom, as she will be proctoring their test. I'll come and see them after they finish."

Ben didn't hesitate to step out of the headmistress's office and move toward the double doors that led outside. He was so relieved to have gotten to this moment. The follow-up meeting about these four had been tense, but ultimately, Ben had swayed enough of the faculty members and trustees on the ASB, including his mother, who was the school librarian. Now, all the Dragon Hall kids had to do was pass this test, and they were in!

When Ben reached the entrance, he flung open the door and felt a huge smile come over his face. "Welcome to Auradon Prep! This is such a big deal! I am overjoyed at the fact that this moment has come upon us! Please, step inside!" He gave them a welcoming, albeit a tad dramatic, flourish of his arm and stepped aside to invite them in.

Mal rolled her eyes. "Can you show us to the bathrooms before we go through with any cultish ceremonies surrounding admissions?" She asked. "We had a long bus ride."

"Of course. Sorry. A bit too intense?" Ben chuckled, trying to show that he could laugh at himself, even if he was also laughing from nerves. Do they ever smile he thought to himself.

"Ha. Yeah. Just a little," Mal said with a scrunched nose and a slightly sarcastic smile. "I'm Mal. This is Evie, Carlos, and Jay." Mal gestured to each of her friends as she said their names. "But I wasn't kidding. I want to hit the bathrooms before I have to sit for a four hour test."

"Oh, for sure!" Ben led them down the hallway toward Ms. Bell's history classroom. "It's super convenient, the classroom where you guys are taking the test is right across the hall from the bathrooms, actually." No one responded, and Ben was feeling a little uncomfortable in the silence, so he tried again. "So, what do you guys do for fun? I'm a big reader, and I hang out with my friend Doug, who's in a band, and my parents and I are really close, especially my mom. It's the whole reading thing. She's actually the librarian here, which is cool. She always has a great book recommendation and is full of random facts and-wow. I'm rambling. Sorry. I asked what you guys like to do."

Mal snorted. "Are you always this nervous talking to kids from the slums?"

"I don't know?" Ben said sheepishly. "I don't think it's because you're from a slum, exactly. I think it's because you guys are an unknown for me? Like, I'm from Auradon, which is a decent-sized city, and my best friend Doug is from Pixie Hollow, which is a quaint small town. And I've been to the bigger cities too, like Camelot and Paris, I even visited Northern Wei once. I've met people from all over, but I don't know anyone else who comes from a culture like yours. And I know very little about it."

"All you need to know is that we would do just about anything to get out of it," Jay chimed in.

Ben didn't know how to respond, so he just didn't. After a moment, Evie spoke up. "I'm really into fashion. I spend a lot of time designing and making my own clothes. And Mal's." After a strange look from Carlos, she shrugged. "He asked what we like to do."