by Eric Geron
Mal frowned.
“You know I’m right,” added Evie.
“Don’t you ever miss just running wild and breaking all the rules?” Mal asked.
Evie grinned. “Like stealing, lying, and fighting?”
Mal smiled dreamily at Evie’s words. “Yeah!”
Evie’s grin faded. “No!” she shouted, breaking Mal out of her fantasy.
“What—” Mal started.
“Why would we?” Evie laughed. “M, come here!” She took Mal’s hands and led her off the bed and toward the TV. “Look at where we are! We’re in Auradon! And we’re Auradon girls now.” Evie gazed at the screen, and her face broke into a smile.
A video showed Mal, dressed in a crystal-encrusted gown, with Ben, who wore a smart suit. They were seated at a table, covered by a white tablecloth, with strawberries in a dish and steaming cups of coffee. Ben fed a chocolate-covered strawberry to Mal. She then took a strawberry in her white-lace-gloved hand, dunked it into the molten chocolate, and fed it to Ben. She got chocolate on his face and helped him wipe it off, laughing happily. Ben dipped another strawberry in the chocolate and fed it to her. Mal took a bite, nodded dreamily, and nestled her head in the crook of Ben’s neck.
“And of course, there’s Mal’s wardrobe!” exclaimed the news reporter. “Auradon has never seen such a fresh, exciting look. Our hottest new designer, Evie, just keeps surprising us!”
“See? This is the land of opportunity!” Evie faced Mal. “We can be whatever we want to be here! So please, let’s just leave the past in the past, okay? Besides, have you seen the shoes?” Evie lifted a pair of blue-and-gold high-heeled shoes off her worktable. “I mean, can we talk about the shoes?”
“Those are severe.” Mal forced a little laugh.
The truth was Mal wasn’t ready to leave her past behind. And she had never felt more distant from her best friend than she did at that moment.
As Mom used to say, fake it till you make it.
(Well, actually she used to say, “Nurse it till you curse it,” but same thing.)
Between classes, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos strolled outside the school.
Mal wore a frilly pale green dress, with her hair in long blond tendrils, and she clutched a textbook from Fairies 101. She kept her head down and walked beside Evie, who was the epitome of fashion in her blue dress and blue box purse, both of her own making. Jay and Carlos led Dude, Carlos’s scruffy but adorable dog, on a leash. The friends climbed up steps onto a breezy open outdoor patio.
Fellow students, holding textbooks, were milling about, perching in the niches of the school’s stone wall, or sitting on a stone railing. They smiled at Mal and her friends. The VKs had come a long way since they had arrived in Auradon. They used to be looked down on for being the kids of terrible villains, but now the four were treated with respect. It helped that Mal was gearing up to be the lady of the court.
Jay nodded and pointed at a group of girls, who swooned.
“Why do you torture them?” Carlos asked. “Just pick someone to take to Cotillion already.”
“I’m going solo. That way, I can dance with all of them.” Jay squeezed Carlos’s shoulder and grinned, waggling his eyebrows.
“Ah, you’re the expert,” said Carlos. “Let’s say that you were going to ask someone….What’s the best way to go?”
“Listen.” Jay rested his hand on Carlos’s shoulder. “All you got to do…is look like me.” Jay howled with laughter.
“Oh, ha-ha.” Carlos rolled his eyes.
Evie chuckled, but Mal seemed lost in thought.
“Mal!” said Jane.
Mal snapped to attention.
Jane had appeared before Mal and her friends, clutching a tablet. Lonnie, daughter of Mulan, stood by her side, looking as chipper as ever. Lonnie’s long black hair stood out against her bright pink dress.
But Mal was in no mood to answer more Cotillion questions from Jane, who was helping plan the event.
Carlos unwittingly distracted Jane. “Hey, Jane,” he said nervously.
“Hey,” said Jane, smiling at him.
“Uh, I was wondering…if you…uh…liked the carrot cake last night,” he said.
“I had the pumpkin pie,” she said sweetly, a bit confused.
“Oh. Cool.” Carlos stared at her, unsure of what to say next to impress her.
Jay walked up behind him and gripped his shoulders. “Smooth,” he said in a low voice. Then he swiftly dragged Carlos and Dude away to their next class.
Mal braced herself for the barrage of questions. Lucky for her, Evie chimed in.
“I have an opening for a fitting at three! Who wants it?” Evie asked the girls.
“Me!” Lonnie leaped in front of Jane, then winced. “Sorry,” she added.
“Okay, so I’ll see you later,” Evie told Jane as she pulled Lonnie to the side to chat.
Mal was alone with Jane. She felt like a deer in headlights.
And Jane wasn’t slowing down. “Mal! I hate to keep bugging you, but the Cotillion decorating committee needs more answers. So as much as I hate to…uh…to…uh—”
“Bug me,” said Mal.
“Right.” Jane nodded.
“Yeah. Uh, no. Totally. I—I just have to get to class.” Mal jerked her thumb.
“You know what? Just nod if you like it.” Jane held up her tablet.
“Okay,” said Mal.
Jane used her stylus to sweep through an array of photos on the screen, one after another in a dizzying flurry. “Chair swags. Entry banner. Twinkle lights. Uh, let’s see. Napkin design. Table bunting…” Jane scrolled through even more photos.
Mal bobbed her head at each image.
“And you still haven’t picked the party favors yet,” Jane added.
“Jane, whatever you want to go with, I totally trust you—”
“I mean, we could do chains, key charms, pen toppers,” interrupted Jane, continuing to tap through images. “I kind of love the pen toppers,” she blurted out.
This was making Mal so anxious she could barely breathe.
“I mean, we could do all three if you want to…” continued Jane.
“You know—” Mal’s eyes suddenly flashed bright green. Then she took a breath, and her eyes returned to their normal shade of green. She smiled and rested a hand gently on Jane’s arm. “Pen toppers,” she said.
“Uh-huh?” asked Jane.
“Yeah,” said Mal. “Yeah.”
“Okay! You won’t regret it!” Jane beamed.
Evie and Lonnie walked back over to Jane and Mal.
“I can hardly wait to see what your wedding will look like!” Lonnie exclaimed.
“Oh yeah, me too,” said Mal with a vacant smile. She froze then, realizing what Lonnie had said. “Wait, what?”
“Yeah!” said Jane. “The Royal Cotillion is like getting engaged to be engaged to be engaged!”
“I knew it!” Evie clasped her hands together, delighted.
“Everyone knows it,” said Lonnie.
Mal’s eyes bugged out. “I didn’t know it!” she said. “How come nobody told me that? Is my entire life just planned out in front of me and no one was—”
Ben appeared at Mal’s side in his royal-blue suit. “Hi, Mal!”
“Hiiii, Ben,” Evie, Jane, and Lonnie said in singsong unison.
Mal glared at them. The whole engagement conversation had put her in an even worse mood.
Ben smiled, then moved to give Mal a kiss hello.
Jane grabbed him. “Oh, a quick moment!” She pulled Ben to the side.
Mal watched from a distance, then inched away.
“All right, the surprise is almost finished for Mal’s big night,” Jane told him once they were out of earshot. She held her tablet in front of him and showed him images of a stained glass window that had a young couple on it.
“Make sure her eyes are green,” Ben told Jane.
Behind Jane, Mal caught Ben’s attention and nodded sideways as if to
say, Are you coming with me?
Ben called out to Mal that he’d catch up with her later before he turned his attention back to Jane.
“Which green should they use?” Jane asked. She showed a few rectangular pieces of green stained glass to Ben. The shades of green were all very similar.
“Uh…” Ben took them and smiled. He picked the darkest green. “This one.” He stared through it dreamily, clearly picturing his gift for Mal.
In the girls’ dorm room, Evie pinned the hem of Chad’s faux-fur-trimmed cape.
Chad Charming, the pampered son of Cinderella, admired himself in the tall mirror, from his shiny shoes to the top of his sandy hair. “Oooh! What about peacock feathers?” Chad asked. “I betcha nobody’s going to have those at Cotillion!”
Evie cleared her throat and let go of the hem. “You know what, Chad? When I look at you, all I can think of is…king.” She framed him with her hands as if capturing greatness, then stole a furtive glance at Doug, who sat at Evie’s worktable.
Doug, who looked every part the accountant in his owlish glasses, green bow tie, and long suspenders, had been tracking Evie’s fashion design business on his computer, tallying numbers. He swiveled around in his chair and winked at Evie.
Oblivious, Chad gasped and grinned at Evie’s words.
“And fake fur…Fake fur says it all,” Evie told Chad, shaking the cape’s trim.
Chad caressed the fake fur.
“Loud and clear,” said Doug with a nod and a smile.
Jay popped into the room for a second to shout, “In the amphitheater in five!”
“Amphitheater in five,” Chad said, mocking him. “Why did the coach make him captain instead of me? I’m obviously the better player.” He struck an arrogant pose and grinned. “King Chad, though. Don’t mind the sound of that….You know who else would like that?”
“Who?” asked Evie, feigning interest.
“Audrey,” said Chad.
“Hmmm, she would,” said Evie, playing along.
“Chad!” Jay yelled. “Let’s go!”
Chad frowned. “I’m coming!” He stepped off the fitting platform and made his way out of the room.
Evie carefully removed Chad’s cape as he exited. Then she dropped it on the fitting platform and walked up to Doug. They looked at each other and broke into laughter.
“Not a lot of there there,” they said in unison. Then they laughed again. Doug had said the same line to Evie about Chad when she had first shown interest in being Chad’s girlfriend much earlier. Her crush on Chad hadn’t lasted long: it turned out that vain and selfish guys weren’t Evie’s type. She was much more into the sweet and dapper Doug.
“Someone’s obviously having some serious trouble dealing with his breakup with Audrey,” Evie commented as she picked up a sketch showing a new dress with an intricate gold collar and belt.
Doug squinted his pale green eyes and peered through his glasses at his computer. “Hey, I’ve been doing the numbers.” He began to type rapidly.
“Yeah?” Evie marked up her dress design with a pencil.
“And after we collect from all the girls for their gowns and Chad’s cape…” Doug hit a few buttons.
“Uh-huh?” Evie set her paper down on the worktable and looked at Doug’s computer screen. Her jaw dropped at the number she saw, and she laughed. “No wonder people work! Wow…” She looked up at Doug. “What am I going to do with all that money?” She looked back at the computer.
Doug tapped a few keys.
“In a few years, you could buy that castle you’ve always wanted.” He looked at Evie with utmost earnestness. “That way, you wouldn’t need a prince.”
Evie took his hand and gazed into his eyes. “You’re right. I don’t. Because I have you.”
Evie loved her life in Auradon. It was everything she’d ever dreamed of.
Ugh! I’m so over this place. And apparently Cotillion is a way bigger deal than I thought. Great. Now I really have to keep up the perfect princess act. Can’t have some Isle hooligan ruining Ben’s big day!
Mal raced to her locker, grabbed her purse from inside it, and rooted around in the bag.
“Hi, Mal,” came a voice from beside her.
Mal staggered back and found Ben leaning against her locker door.
“Hi!” she said, trying to act cool. She let out a nervous laugh.
Ben smiled warmly at her. “I…have a little surprise for you.”
Mal grinned. “Another one. Wow, that’s, like, every day now.”
“Every other day,” said Ben, correcting her. “The even dates. Because you’re even more perfect than I thought.”
“That’s me. I am perfect.” She kept herself from rolling her eyes.
“Come on, let me spoil you,” said Ben. “You know, you didn’t have a lot growing up.”
Mal’s smile twitched. “We managed,” she said.
Ben peered inside Mal’s locker and saw her spell book sitting in a wire tray against the back. He pointed at the book. “Didn’t you donate that to the museum?” He reached for it, but Mal guided his hand away, closed the locker door, and smiled.
“Is that still in there?” said Mal playfully. She brushed Ben’s hair out of his eyes with her finger. “Um…I have to get to class. I do not want to be late, so—”
“No you don’t,” said Ben. “But…” He took Mal’s hand and led her by the arm.
A few steps away, there was a sparkly purple motor scooter with a gold bow on top.
“Ta-da,” said Ben, gesturing to it.
Mal gasped and cupped her hands to her mouth. “What?”
“Do you like it?” asked Ben.
Mal beamed, genuinely thrilled. “Does an ogre like cheese puffs?” She stepped closer to the scooter and inspected it, feeling the new seat and handles. “Ben! This is amazing!” She looked up at his smiling face. “I love it!” she said, examining the scooter again. She let out a joyful laugh. But then her face fell. “I haven’t gotten you anything,” she said, gazing at Ben.
“Oh, well, you’re making me a picnic with all my favorite foods, remember?” Ben leaned back against the lockers and smiled.
“No, that’s on Thursday,” said Mal, patting Ben’s chest reassuringly.
“It is Thursday,” said Ben, reaching into his royal-blue jacket.
Mal laughed. “No it’s not,” she said. She grabbed for her purse.
Ben quickly pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and showed the date to Mal. “Thursday,” he said, confirming what Mal had hoped wasn’t true.
Another slipup, Mal thought. Great. She sighed.
“But it’s okay, you know—” Ben started.
“No, no, no, no. I knew it was Thursday, I was messing around.” Mal laughed again. “I actually…I just have a few more things to finish cooking, and then I’m all yours! So I’m gonna go do that. It’s all good. I’m good.” Mal smiled like she truly meant it.
“What about class?” asked Ben.
“She multitasks!” Mal said, grinning. She patted Ben’s chest affectionately and ran off.
“She dabbles!” Ben called after her.
Mal broke out into laughter.
“You’re the best!” Ben shouted.
“That’s me!” sang Mal.
But Mal couldn’t help feeling that the opposite was true.
As captain of the R.O.A.R. team, Jay led practice in the amphitheater.
When tourney was having its off-season, some athletes at Auradon Prep took up all-new blue-and-gold uniforms boasting the school’s crest to play R.O.A.R. They held lightweight swords, wore mesh masks that hid their faces, and sparred within the confines of an indoor arena. That day, students watched from behind a rail and from balconies as Jay and Carlos sparred with other masked opponents. Some team members jumped on blue-and-yellow concrete boxes evenly spaced around the perimeter of the arena to gain height. Chad looked on from the sidelines, motioning with his sword to try to match Jay’s agile moves.
“Eyes on your opponent!” Jay shouted, demonstrating. “Light on your feet!”
Jay fought each of his opponents, forcing them to move out of bounds, where they removed their masks and watched from the sidelines as he faced his remaining competitor, who thrust a sword at Jay, challenging him. Jay removed his mask.
“Get him, Jay!” shouted Chad.
The masked fencer and Jay fought, sword striking sword.
It was an even match.
“Watch out, Jay!” said Carlos.
Jay and his adversary squared off again, sizing each other up.
Then they were back at it.
“C’mon, Jay!” Carlos called.
The masked figure spun, ripping Jay’s sword from his hand.
Jay gasped.
The figure battled Jay backward to the rim of the arena.
Jay kicked his opponent’s hand, sending his sword flying back into his own hand.
“Finish him!” shouted Chad.
But before either Jay or his opponent could make another agile move, the mystery fencer pulled off the headgear in surrender. A mane of shiny smooth black hair cascaded out. It was none other than Lonnie! Jay grinned at the revelation, impressed.
“Not bad!” said Chad as all the students applauded.
“You should put me on the team!” said Lonnie with a smile.
Chad stepped into the arena in front of her. “What?” He looked at Jay. “No, dude, we’d be the laughingstock of the league, right, guys?” sputtered Chad. “I mean, what’s gonna happen next, we’re gonna have girls playing tourney?” Chad smirked.
“So?” Jay asked him.
Chad scoffed. “So? So, have you not read the rule book? Let me do that for ya.” He fished the R.O.A.R. rule book out of his back pocket. “Section two, paragraph three-eleven-dash-four,” he said, opening the book. “‘A team shall be comprised of a captain and eight men’!” read Chad. He held the book in the air, turned in a circle for the other students to see, and lowered it in front of Jay’s face.
Jay pushed Chad’s hand away.
