Chapter Text
The next day, Mal woke up first and used the extra time to take a nice bath. She soaked for a while, going back and forth on her plan to manipulate Jane. A crooked smile formed on her face when she thought about it. It had been a while since she had done something villain-like, and she was starting to crave it.
The plan was to gain Jane's trust and push her to rebel against her mother, so she would give her the wand. It was easy and had a really small margin of error, but it was risky because she wouldn't be able to blame someone else in case it failed.
Mal crossed her arms over her legs and stared at the water.
When Evie woke up, she got nervous. She couldn't see Mal anywhere, and yes, she was forgiving, but the fear was still palpable. The fear that she might betray her.
"Mal?" She cried.
"Bathroom." Mal's voice flowed from the white closed door, and Evie breathed out.
"Oh, okay!" She got up and began to shuffle around her clothes to find something to wear. She took a pair of shorts and a nice sweater that reminded her of her mother, as it was colored in a dark blue and had red details. She dressed while humming a song without a name, and thinking back to classes.
She wasn't so fond of going back and seeing Chad or Doug, perhaps she would be lucky enough to not bump with either of them. When she finished putting on the sweater, Mal walked in, already changed.
"Morning! How was your shower?"
"It was ok, I guess." She shrugged, noticing the positivity on Evie's tone. "You are still happy? After what happened yesterday and all, I expected to see you--"
"Frowning? Not really my vibe, Mal." She smirked. "My mom used to say that being sad took years of beauty out. I know one can't help but feel sadness sometimes, but I try to see the positive side of things." She shrugged. "If I only see the bad on life, what else is left?"
"I-- don't really know. I guess I am used to being negative." She stated. "It's not like I grew around much love. The last time my mother cared for the way I felt was when I was really young, during your birthday."
"When-- my mom decided not to invite you?"
Mal nodded. "Yeah. Though, looking back at it, she was probably just worried about looking like a fool for not being invited somewhere once again."
"I'm very sorry." Evie pouted, and Mal snorted.
"You were a kid, it's not your fault. If anything--" She stopped, considering if she should open up. She figured that it wouldn't hurt her, after all, they shared a room, and she woke up safe and sound. "I should say sorry. I tried to hurt you multiple times back home, it was-- shitty of me, I guess." She sighed.
Evie's face shifted into amusement. It was strange to see Mal ramble like that, being insecure. "Well, I forgive you. Do you?"
"Forgive you? Yeah."
"No, dummy! Forgive yourself." She smiled.
Mal stared at her with a confused expression on her face. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes opened wide. Evie saw Carlos reflected on that expression, she was presented with something that never truly crossed her mind.
"Mom used to say that, to love others, you had to love yourself first." She took her bag. "The same goes with forgiveness, at least in this case. Do you forgive yourself, Mal?"
And the girl was unable to answer.
After Good Deed class, they scattered in different directions, and Carlos winced when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned around violently, shaking.
His face relaxed when he noticed it was just Ben.
"Sorry, buddy! I didn't mean-"
"It's ok." He cut him off. "I'm guessing you are here for the track test?"
"Yep! The area is empty right now, and the Turney team is on-- well, the Turney field, so it will be just you and me." He smiled and it lit up his whole face.
Carlos couldn't help but smile too. "Ok, let's go."
Both walked towards the field, and Ben began to ramble about the school system. As they made their way towards the track area, Carlos eyed the Turney field and found Jay chatting with a few guys. He was glad that he could hold a conversation and ignored the growing feeling of worry that crossed his chest when Chad walked dangerously close to him.
Ben noticed his eyes and patted his back, glad that he didn't wince this time. "Chad's out the game for a while." He explained.
"Why?"
"I told the captain that he was a safety hazard, and he'll be serving water for at least a week until I see that he calmed down."
Carlos smirked. "Thanks."
"I'm glad you two made up!" Ben smiled.
Carlos frowned in confusion. "What?"
"You two had a fight, right? I mean, yesterday your exit was kind of-- dramatic. He said that he would try to keep getting closer." Ben explained. "It worked, I see!"
"We didn't fight, I just-- reacted out of instinct." Carlos placed his hands on his armpits, it was a rather windy morning.
"That's fine, at least you two are good now."
"Yeah."
They finally arrived at the track and Ben took off his jacket. "You might get heated with running, so you can take your coat off."
Carlos shook his head. "I'm fine." He shrugged and Ben explained the way he had to prepare for running.
"Ok! We'll check the time. Just run as fast as you can." He took a notebook from his bag in his right hand and a timer in the other. "Ready?"
Carlos nodded, though, it's not like he could back down now anyway.
"Go!" He pressed the button on the timer.
Carlos got up and ran. He wasn't sure where he was going, or when he had to stop, so he just ran. As he made his way past Ben, his mind had already drifted off.
The forest past the school made him think of the island and his cat. He missed his cat. It was the only thing back home that he couldn't take with him, mostly because it was a living being and he refused to lock it in his bag. Suddenly, he heard shouting behind him and stopped in his tracks, almost falling.
"Carlos!" Ben came jogging through the trees. "Where were you going? You scared me."
The taller teen's eyes fell dark. "Sorry, I didn't mean to! I just-- zoned out and didn't hear you. I didn't know where to stop, either." He moved his hands and began to pick his fingers. "It won't happen again, I swear."
Ben's face softened. "It's okay, I'm not mad, just- I got scared." He noticed the boy's state and took out the timer. "You did really well on the track test!"
Carlos's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah! You are quite fast." He nodded, and both began to walk back through the forest. "A lot actually, what were you thinking about to run so far?"
"I miss my cat." He confessed, staring at the floor.
"You had a cat back on the island?"
Carlos nodded and looked up, squinting his eyes a bit at the sunlight. "Yeah, Beelzebub. It was a cool cat, though it was quite old already."
Ben looked at him and back at the front. "Well, the Turney team has a dog mascot." By how Carlos's face changed, he guessed that dogs weren't his preferred animal. "Dude is not bad, but I understand if you don't want to see it. There is a cat, too. It's not the school's mascot, but it comes around at lunchtime and night, asks for food, and goes away. Maybe you can try and get close to it." Ben offered.
Carlos thought as they walked out of the forest, and nodded. "I hope I get to see it."
"You will, there's plenty of time for it to pop out somewhere." Ben patted his back, but Carlos wasn't so sure of that.
Meanwhile, Mal was roaming around the halls with her hands on her pockets. The students were waking up, and most of them were either in the dining room or enjoying the sunlight somewhere on the grass. She couldn't understand why they liked the sun so much, it made her face burn and sweat, which was extremely gross.
She thought about going to see what Evie was up to, or maybe annoy Jay during his practice (and take care that this Chad guy didn't touch him), but decided that she was going to the toilet. Again.
She had gone to every toilet she encountered in the halls, and this was the third one she entered. Mal pushed the door with her shoulder and her expression stiffened when she heard huffs and angry wails coming from the sinks. She peaked through the door and noticed Jane.
The girl was fighting with her hair, brushing from side to side, desperately trying to find a way to make it look stylish. She stomped her feet on the ground and Mal hid behind the door. This was her opportunity.
She thought back to the night at the museum and tried to think of a spell. What rhymed with hair? Air, affair, square--
"Who's that?" Jane's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Mal walked in with a bored expression, trying to look the most harmless she was able to. "Hey, sorry about that, I couldn't open the door until now." She lied. "Your name was Jane, right?"
The girl wined out a yes and Mal chewed onto the inside of her cheek to avoid smiling.
"Pretty name." She offered, looking at her own reflection and slightly frowning at the red on her nose and cheeks, a side effect of standing on the sun for ten minutes.
"Thanks." She said and began to leave.
"Don't go!" She roared, and the girl stood still. "Sorry, I just-- Was kind of hoping that we could be friends?" Mal breathed out a faked a smile.
Jane's face changed into confusion.
"But you probably have all the friends you need, huh?" Mal's eyes were dark as ever, but her face was soft, and the blush in her cheeks made her look innocent and sweet.
"Uh- hardly." Jane said without leaving her stiff position.
"Wait, really? Since your mother is so prestigious, and you seem to have an amazing personality--"
"I'd rather be pretty." Jane burst out, and Mal frowned. "I mean, look at my hair! I can't even shape it the way I want-- and well, you have such pretty hair." She pouted.
Mal seemed taken aback. Pretty hair? She woke up like that, and she hasn't brushed it since she was like- six. Hell, she cuts it herself every month, and she is no stylist. She shook her head lightly and smiled.
"Well, do you want me to fix it?" She offered.
"How?" Jane's eyes sparkled.
"Well, you aren't the only half fairy here." Mal bounced slightly on her feet, trying to look the most innocent she could. Jane pressed her lips together, hesitant. "I'll just do a spell and wallah! New hair."
"I don't know--"
"It will be fine, just let me--" Mal was still new to the magic thing, so she just placed her hand on Jane's hair and chanted. "Beware, forswear, replace the old with brand new hair." She felt kind of embarrassed with how dumb it sounded when said out loud.
In seconds Jane's hair began to move and Mal felt the shifts under her hand. The roots expanded and her hair took turns on the tips. When she removed her hand, the new hairstyle was done and it looked impressive on her as if she was a new person. The bob-cut turned into nice waves that reached her shoulders.
Jane turned around and stared at her reflection, slowly moving her hands to touch her new hair. A smile popped up on her face and she began to giggle while moving her hairstyle to enjoy the dynamism.
"So?" Mal asked, truly curious.
"I love it! Thank you so much!" The girl smiled and Mal smugly placed her hands on her pockets once more with a smirk on her lips. "Can you do something to my nose?"
Mal's face fell. What was this sudden entitlement? She bit her lip trying to swallow down the rage of her throat and shook her head.
"Sorry, Jane, but I'm a half-fairy, I don't have all the power I wish I had! I mean, I'm not like your mom, you know? With her wand and all." Jane's eyes twinkled as Mal spoke. "One swish from that thing and you could have any features you wanted."
"She doesn't use the wand anymore." The girl sighed, crossing her arms in resignation. "She believes that the real magic is on the books, not the spellbooks. Regular books with history and stuff."
Mal scoffed. "Yeah right." She rolled her eyes. It was a dumb saying, magic was magic, reading books made you intelligent, but that didn't mean anything that you became a warlock after doing so. "She used magic on Cinderella, and she wasn't even her real daughter."
Jane's expression fell, and Mal felt a sting on her stomach. There, the first brick had fallen.
"Doesn't she love you?" She pressed on.
Again, there was the look on her eyes, so sad and vulnerable that it created in Mal a feeling of power. "Of course she does." Jane sighed. "It's just- she says that you should work on the inside, not on the outside." And then, there was what Mal could only describe as the face one does when they are about to cry. That was enough.
"That face!" Mal faked having an idea and being overly excited about it. "Like your heart is about to break. Use that to make your mom understand that she is hurting you by not letting you enjoy who you are on the outside too!"
Jane seemed suddenly interested. "Do you think it would work?"
"Yeah. I mean, that's what Cinderella did back in the day, right? She cried a bit on her lap to push your mom into bibidi-babidi-boo her out of the sad life she had." Mal shrugged, leaning slightly on the sink. "And if she does accept at the end, call me. I'd love to see her in action."
Jane smiled and did something weird, something that pulled all alarms on Mal on. She hugged her. Mal felt like she was an animal who got stuck in a bear-trap, and there was no way to move or escape. But it also felt warm, extremely warm, and Jane's perfume had a touch of lavender that reminded her of clean clothes. She stayed still, taking in the situation, and Jane let her go.
"If I do convince her, you'll be there, for sure." Jane smiled and took her bag. "Thank you again, Mal!" She walked out of the bathroom as Mal followed her with her eyes.
It had been a strange talk and an extremely useless one too. Mal knew deep down that Jane was too shy and insecure to ever stand up to her mom, and even if she did, Fairy Godmother was too stubborn to accept taking out a wand just to turn her daughter's nose into something she liked better. The girl stomped her hands on the sink and looked up, finding her green eyes staring with hatred.
She spent too much time on that conversation, and it took her nowhere. Just in time for the first bell to ring.
Evie stepped onto her class with a sense that it would be long and painful. She sat down and before she could put her bag on the chair by her side, a guy sat by her. Chad.
"What now?" She hissed.
The boy seemed surprised that he had chosen a seat by her as if he wasn't really looking where he was going to.
"You again? Do we have every class together?" He hissed, but before he could get up, a teacher walked in and signaled him to stay put. The blond frowned but sat down once again. "Stuck again with the villain nerd."
"So sweet." Evie rolled her eyes and he scoffed.
"Do you really think I care about what a villain has to say?"
Evie growled and Chad eyed her. She was pretty as always, her hair carefully tucked over her ear, and her posture was incredible. Chad thought, though he would never say it out loud, that she could easily pass as a princess.
"What?" Evie asked, noticing the stare.
Chad was startled but stayed still. He looked at her for a while and finally let out a short: "You don't look like a villain."
"Well, you don't act like a prince, so that's that." She leaned onto her hand as the teacher began to explain the lesson of the day.
"What does that even mean-?" He couldn't finish because the teacher shushed him. He frowned but kept going over that phrase. What did that even mean? He was charming and athletic, and that was pretty much how a prince acted, right?
He took a piece of paper and scribbled something, to then pass it to Evie. She snorted and took it with an unamused look on her eyes.
The note had a single message in the prettiest handwriting she had ever seen: "What did you mean?"
Evie took out her pen and scribbled the answer, placing it by Chad's notebook without even folding it first. He took it and his eyebrows furrowed once more.
"I thought you didn't care what a villain had to say."
Chad stared at it with a lost look, and for the first time in a very long time, he was speechless.
Later that day, Jay found himself staring at his new homework. It was lunchtime and he had just walked out of chemistry, which was pretty much like poisonality back on the island, but boring. He didn't really pay attention to the class, as his thoughts were on the jacket he was given earlier that morning.
He had walked onto the practice and the coach gave him a jacket and a tour through the book of game rules. After that, a bunch of players decided to introduce themselves, such as Aziz, who was a really chill guy even though his parents were enemies to Jay's dad. He introduced him to others and explained that one of their players was missing for the day because they had to retake an exam or something.
"It's great that we are gonna have more players, and I'll be honest with you, I was kind of nervous about you guys coming to Auradon," Aziz explained as the two of them walked towards the field. "But my father always said to never judge a book by its cover, so I decided to give you guys a try before taking my conclusions."
Jay smirked. "Well, me too. My father might have been-- a power-crazy thief, but I'm not like him." He sighed. "I don't want to be like him." He confessed.
Aziz smirked and patted his shoulder caringly. "Welcome to the team, Jay."
And Jay felt happy, he smiled widely and placed his arm around Aziz's shoulders, causing the guy to giggle. He loved Mal, Carlos, and Evie, but it was nice to have someone that had the same energy as him and was accepting of his constant need to be touchy.
Jay snapped out of the memory as his eyes devised another tourney jacket passing him by on the hall. He couldn't exactly tell who it was so he just touched the person's shoulder.
A pair of dark eyes looked at him and he froze. They smirked and rose both eyebrows at Jay. Their look was kind of androgynous, and even though their face was rough and many characteristics hinted as male presenting, he didn't want to say something that could cause the stranger to get angry at him.
"You must be Jay, right? Aziz told me about you joining the team. I think we weren't introduced correctly, I am Lonnie."
Jay stared with a faint smile on his face as Lonnie extended a hand. "Ah-- hey." He took the hand and shook it lightly. "Jay."
Lonnie rose an eyebrow, still smiling. "I know, I said it."
Jay shook his head lightly. "Yeah, sorry."
Lonnie smiled softly and nodded. "Why are you were so stiff?"
Jay opened his mouth and closed it. "I didn't want to say something wrong, like misgendering you or something."
"You could have asked!" Lonnie snorted. "I'm a girl." She shrugged and Jay nodded, more comfortable now.
"Well, a pleasure, then! It's weird that you didn't say anything about me being a villain and all."
"I know how it feels to be judged without knowledge what-so-ever, so of course, I won't say anything, especially since I am a player on the Turney team." She smiled. "I'm guessing Chad already cussed at you?"
Jay mimicked a bell. "Exactly. He insulted my roommate too."
"Carlos De Vil, right?" She commented, taking her bag from the locker and closing it. "He looks like a cool guy."
"Yeah. He's pretty intelligent but gets scared easily. I think it will take him a while to get used to Auradon." Both began to walk the halls.
"I get it, when I started the year at Auradon it was super difficult, I don't know what I would have done without my brother guiding me." Lonnie explained.
Deep down, Jay wished he had a sibling, someone to play with when he was young, and before he met Mal. But it would have meant another life that would be on Jafar's hands, and no one deserved that.
"Well, I gotta get going," Lonnie commented, noticing the hour on her phone. "see ya at practice tomorrow!"
And Lonnie left, meeting Aziz at the end of the hall and turning over the corner. Jay smirked lightly and looked down at his phone. He was still trying to get used to it, but all the drawings and symbols didn't really make sense to him. He could bearly understand the time, and it was almost six.
Evie stormed into her room and fell onto her bed, causing Mal, who was doodling on her notebook, to look up. "Tough day?" She said, moving to her side to see Evie better.
"It was tough but better! I had classes with Aubrey, and she was really nice." Evie explained, sitting up.
Mal nodded. Aubrey was nice, though Mal couldn't exactly trust her yet, she also seemed too naive and easy to manipulate, but not in the way Jane was. It was strange for the girl to remind her so much of Ben, and to some extent, it made her wonder if they were dating just because of how similar their ranks and personalities were.
"Did she say anything interesting?" Mal asked, focusing again on her notebook. She was trying to draw starry skies since she learned about stars.
Evie walked up to her desk, leaving some of her paperwork there. "Not really, she was mostly talking about us and all the parties the school had. There's gonna be a party that focuses on families." She commented.
Mal rolled her eyes. "Dumb."
"I guess." Evie looked around the room as if she was searching for something.
"Did you lose something?" Mal leaned on her hand.
"Aubrey told me that every room had a sewing machine, except hers." She snorted at that. "But I can't find ours."
"You know how to sew?" Mal was suddenly interested.
Evie nodded happily. "My mom taught me! Well, she did because she was hoping for me to make a prince believe that I was a worthy wife, and then kill him or something." She giggled, and Mal let out a laugh.
Both stayed in silence as the taller teen stared. Mal frowned. "What?"
"It's the first time that you laugh at my jokes." She smiled. "I'm glad!"
Mal's eyes widened, and she seemed confused again. Evie was extremely weird! Yeah, she laughed at her joke because it had to do with a murder, who doesn't think that's funny? But she seemed to take it as a signal of something nice, perhaps friendship. Mal's expression closed and she went back to doodling.
Evie spent the next thirty minutes looking until she found the machine under the sink, in the bathroom.
"What kind of person storages a sewing machine in a bathroom?" She complained, placing the device on a smaller desk.
Mal stared as Evie walked around her room, and took a few cloth pieces to finally placing them on the desk. She sat there and began to organize the machine to make it work. After a few huffs and loud growls coming from the device, she finally let out a triumphant laugh.
"It works!" She clapped.
"What are you planning to do?" Mal asked, slightly looking up.
"Dunno." Evie snorted. "But a sewing machine is always useful." The corners of her mouth twitched and she sat on her bed. "How did the Jane thing go?"
"Shitty. She's too-- scared. She's not gonna be the way we get the wand, that's for sure, though she won't be a problem. I think she trusts me now, or something, because I fixed her hair."
"You fixed her hair? Did she pay you?"
Both stared at each other, and Evie rose an eyebrow.
"I was improvising! I wasn't thinking about money at the time, I had the wand on my mind!" She hissed.
Evie nodded and decided to leave it there.
Later, the boys stormed in too, and Jay made his way to sit by Mal. She complained but placed her legs on his lap, still doodling. Evie opened her arms and Carlos sat by her, leaning onto her and letting her hug him.
They stayed like that for a few seconds before Mal finally closed her notebook.
"Okay, let's recap. What did you do today?"
"I got a Turney jacket!" Jay said, gesturing to the jacket that was hanging on one of the chairs. Mal smirked.
"Cool, you are number eight?" She leaned on her elbows.
"Yeah! I don't know about you, but eight is a great number." He winked. "I also got to talk with two of my teammates."
"Ben and?" Evie joked
"It wasn't Ben, the guy was with Carlos during the whole practice."
Evie gasped and looked at the boy by her side. He shrugged and looked down, hiding a smile.
"They were Aziz, son of Aladdin and Jazmine; and Lonnie, daughter of Mulan." He commented.
Carlos's face twitched up. "The son of your dad's enemy?"
He chuckled. "I know! I was surprised too, but he is super chill and nice." Mal looked at him with a smirk. "So was Lonnie! It was great to know that there are better people than Chad in this school."
"Tell me about it!" Evie smiled. "I spent most of the day with Aubrey, she was so nice! We have most of the classes together, except for art, I think."
"You had art already?" Mal pouted. "I wish! I've been having super boring subjects all day, yesterday and today."
Carlos grimaced. "At least you didn't have to do sports two days in a row, and forced." He complained, dramatically sighing.
"Right! You had track today. I saw you running, you were super fast." Jay complained, leaning on Mal's leg and getting kicked because of it. She mouthed "ouch" and he mouthed "I'm sorry" back.
"Really?" Carlos asked, looking down at his hands. "Ben said that too, but I wasn't really paying attention."
"What were you thinking?" Evie asked, poking his cheek with her nose, and causing him to wince because of how cold it was.
"Ah- my cat." He said, blushing. "Ben said that there's a cat that roams around the school to steal food. Needless to say, that was the highlight of the day." He shrugged and gained a couple of laughs.
"So, you are a crazy cat lady?" Jay joked.
"He only had one cat." Evie rose an eyebrow.
"They all start like that." He wiggled his own eyebrows as an answer.
More laughs and Mal suddenly felt guilty.
"My plan with Jane failed." She blurted out, and the room fell into a sharp silence. She sat up and eyed Jay who's expression was too soft for him.
"Well, we still have time right?" He said, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Besides, we are all doing good, better than yesterday at least! And we are all still together. Nothing is lost yet, we'll come up with a plan."
"Yeah! I can ask Aubrey about any parties that require the wand being present, and Carlos can work on the device that opened the barrier once to have a more potent effect." Evie offered. "Right, Los?"
The latter thought for a few minutes but then nodded. "Though I might need to visit the library for that." He explained.
"I'll go with you! I've been looking forward to visiting the library ever since Fairy Godmother said there was one." She celebrated.
Mal let out a true smile, and she turned towards Jay.
"We could try to learn about the place, right? Find new places and all."
"Yeah, it settled then." She nodded. "Tomorrow is--"
"Wednesday." Evie pointed out.
"Okay," She took in the information. "we'll focus on this new plan, Evie and Carlos are in charge of gaining information; Jay and I will be examining the faculty. Okay?"
They looked at each other and nodded.
That night, when the boys left, Carlos looked at Jay's new jacket.
"It suits you." He said, nodding. "Though the colors are really ugly."
"Are you saying that I'm ugly?" Jay joked, raising an eyebrow.
Carlos's eyes widened. "No! Of course not, I just- the jacket is cool but-"
"I know, it was a joke." He smiled and placed his arm on his shoulders. It was relaxing when Carlos didn't growl or wince at the touch. "Are you gonna join the track team?"
Carlos snorted. "Not in a million years. I'm glad that people think I am fast and all, but it's not really my area." Jay hummed and the younger teen looked up. "Did Chad appear during practice?"
Jay tried to remember and then shook his head. "Nope, I don't know where he was, though." He looked down at him. "Why?"
Carlos thought about it, and even though he wasn't quite sure, he sighed and looked to the front. "I'll tell you, but you won't do anything weird about it, okay?"
Jay snorted. "Okay."
"I was worried that he might do something to you." He shrugged. "Ben told me that he would be out of the field for a while, but I wanted to make sure that he truly was-- out."
Jay stared at him and a dopey smile appeared on his face. "You care for me?"
Carlos looked around a bit and crossed his arms. "You seem to really be trying to be my friend, and no one has ever been so insistent before, not even Evie." He sighed. "So, I guess I do care."
Jay smiled and squeezed him lightly. "I care too." He looked at him and shuffled his hair lightly.