t was close to midnight. Carlos and Jane sat at the edge of the tourney field near the goalpost, a plastic trophy between them. He checked the list he and Jane had put together for the quest, and wondered how much longer it would take for the teams to arrive. He was starting to get a little hungry.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be here soon. It’s not an impossible quest,” said Jane with a reassuring smile.

They had spent months talking to all the respective parties, negotiating use of locations, and making sure everyone was in on the joke, while keeping things secret from the school administration. Jane had sent long letters to every prince and princess in the kingdom, begging them for access to their treasures, reminding them of their own glory years at Auradon Prep, while Carlos had been the one to keep track of the number of teams playing and make sure that there were enough objects for everyone to collect.

He looked down at the list again:

Collect a shard from Cinderella’s glass slipper.

Pluck a flower from Aurora’s rose garden.

Cut off a lock of Rapunzel’s hair.

Steal a banana from Terk.

Bring back one of Rajah’s collars. (Jasmine’s tiger had quite a collection.)

Pick an apple from Snow White’s orchard.

Take a slice of birthday cake from Mad Hatter’s tea party.

Grab a thingamabob from Ariel’s collection.

Bake a beignet using Princess Tiana’s recipe.

Kiss a prince.

Hum “Be Our Guest” when you get to the finish line.

“I think I hear something. They’re here!” said Jane excitedly. She stood up and craned her neck.

Mal and Ben burst out of Ben’s carriage. Mal was holding up a fork while Ben was balancing a plate of beignets in one hand and carrying his backpack in the other. The two of them were humming loudly to the tune of “Be Our Guest.”

At the same time, Evie and Doug raced to the goalpost from the other side. Evie was holding up a rose while Doug held a satchel of scavenger-hunt objects. They were humming just as loudly, with Evie occasionally bursting into giggles.

It looked like first place would come down to these two teams, but at the last minute, Jay and Lonnie burst from the hedges. Lonnie was carrying a basket with all the items on the list, apples and bananas piled high on top.

All the teams reached the goal line at the same moment, and Mal noticed Evie and Lonnie bolting toward Ben, which reminded her that she too needed to fulfill the second-to-last item in front of the judges: Kiss a prince. All three girls hurriedly leaned in to kiss Ben on the cheek almost at the same time. Almost, that is, because Mal kissed him first. “We win!” said Mal, cheering. “Yay, us!”

Carlos shook his head. “Nope, you all lose.”

“What?” they chorused. Mal did a double take, Evie looked affronted, and Lonnie frowned and looked as if she were about to go into battle.

But Jane only laughed and motioned to Chad, who was right behind them. Chad was kissing his own hand. “DONE!” he crowed.

“Ben is a king,” said Jane. “The quest is to kiss a prince. And well, Chad is kissing a prince, all right.”

The group groaned in unison, and Carlos handed Chad the trophy and the gift certificate. “Try the gray stuff. It’s delicious,” he joked.

“I don’t think they serve that at Ariel’s Grotto,” said Jane. “I think that’s Mrs. Potts’s recipe.”

“Oh, right,” said Carlos. “Congratulations, Chad!”

Chad screamed in delight and danced around the goalposts, hoisting the trophy up in the air as they all looked on with amusement. The rest of the teams arrived, singing and showing each other the treasures they’d scored.

“Congratulations, everyone!” said Jane. “You are all winners!”

“Midnight eats from Snow White’s Snack Shack?” Carlos suggested, as his stomach was growling now.

A cheer went up from the crowd of seniors, and they all piled back into their carriages, laughing and high-fiving as they went.

Over the late-night meal, they relived the highlights of the quest. Evie and Doug showed off the scratches on their arms from the thorns from the rose garden, while Jay and Lonnie laughed about how loudly Jay screamed when Rajah caught him sneaking away with one of the tiger’s jeweled collars.

When the laughter died down and the crowd at Snow White’s trendy new restaurant began to disperse, Mal cleared her throat and leaned in toward her friends. “So, the Royal Council said we can go back to the Isle of the Lost next weekend to talk to the kids there. Sound good to everyone?”

“Oh! Wonderful!” said Evie.

“Back to the Isle? For sure!” said Jay, who was always up for an adventure.

Only Carlos looked hesitant.

“Carlos?” asked Mal.

“In,” he said with a nervous smile. “Always.”

“It’ll be okay,” said Evie, placing an arm around his shoulder. “This is just what you wanted—for everyone to hang out and make the most of our time together.”

“Right, thanks for reminding me,” said Carlos.

Jane looked a bit worried, but he squeezed her hand. “It’ll be all right,” he said. “Maybe my mom will be at the spa.”

“By the way, it was the best Senior Quest yet! Thanks, you guys, for putting that together,” said Evie to Carlos and Jane.

“Wait till you see what we have prepped for graduation!” said Jane.

“We have something planned for graduation?” asked Carlos.

“You’ll see!” said Jane.

Carlos beamed. Jane was the best. And, actually, her birthday was coming up in a few months.…He’d organize something! She was always doing nice things for everyone else, and he wanted to do the same for her. He’d think of something special—he knew he would.