Love Is Not A Choice Yet a Possibility

Chapter 20: Cotillion Part One

After an awkward car ride, we finally made it back to Auradon Prep. We walked across the yard and I could only imagine what we looked like to everyone else. "I'll get these back to the gym." Lonnie said while holding up the swords. Jay nods. "Thanks." "See you later." She walks away as Jane comes running up to us. "Ben ! Liam ! There you guys are. Cotillion's tonight. Come here." I stood next to Mal as the two boys headed over to look at something on Jane's tablet. Liam comes back over and leans down to Mal. "Do you want to cancel ?" "Um, you know what ? I can come back. Uh, but like, really, really soon." "No, no, no. Now's fine. Um..." Liam looks back at the tablet and back to Mal. "So, whatever you need to do." Mal looks down as Evie grabs her arm. I quickly give Ben a goodbye kiss before following the girls and he follows Liam and Jane. "We need to talk." "Yeah." We continue to head back to our room before we are stopped by Carlos. "No." "No ?"  "You guys are always going off in a huddle, whispering your girl stuff or whatever, and Jay and I are tired of it." "I'm not." I chuckle at the boys. "We're your family, too. We've been through a lot. Together. I'm not stopping that now. Ok ?" I nod at his words. "Everyone, sit." I follow Carlos' lead and sit down. "Come on." The three of us slowly follow us and sit down on the ground.

It's silent for a few seconds. "I don't know how to start girl talk." "What up ?" I giggle at Jay. "Um... Well... I'm a mess. I'm such a mess. I mean, six months ago, I was, you know, stealing candy from babies. And now, everybody wants me to be this Lady of the Court, and I have no idea how to keep up the act." "Then, don't." "See ? This was dumb." "Maybe it wasn't." "Mal, Carlos is right. When we fought, you told me I was perfect and that I was meant to be a princess. But I'm not. Ben and I just had no secrets. I told him every time when I felt overwhelmed or that I didn't know what I was doing and he helped me. If you just reached out to me or Ben, we could have helped you." Mal looks down and nods. "Listen, we're always gonna be the kids from the Isle. I tried to forget it, I really tried, but those are our roots. And we all did what we had to do to survive, but it made us who we are. And we've never gonna be like anybody else here. And that's ok. That's ok." "And we can't fake it." Carlos inputs. We all shake our heads. "Yeah, I mean, especially without my spell book." "Mal, if Liam doesn't love the real you, then he's not the one." "I like that." Evie gives Carlos a small smile. "Give him a chance." I look at Mal and nod, agreeing with Carlos. "I'm gonna make some changes to your dress, and if you're up for it, only if you're up for it, it'll be waiting for you, ok ?" Mal nods and they hug. I turn to Carlos. "You're not so bad at girl talk." He gives me a small laugh. We all stand up and head for our dorms to get ready.

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I had to go to the boat early to make sure everything was in place, so I brought all my stuff with me. I was in the room that I was assigned and was putting on the last finishing touches on my dress. I could hear the music playing from my room and I was starting to get nervous. I heard a knock at my door and I went to open it. I smiled at him. "Hi." "Hi." I opened the door more and Ben walked in. "You look absolutely beautiful. You're stunning." A light blush comes across my cheeks. "You don't look so bad yourself." I walk towards him and straighten out his suit. "I wanted to come and check in before we go out there." "Ya, I was getting kinda nervous." He put his hands on my waist and attached his lips to mine. He slowly pulls away soon after it ends. "You are amazing. All you have to do is walk out there and look beautiful, which I think you have covered." I slightly laughed at him. "We're a team and I will be right by your side. Well, after I'm announced." A smile crosses my face and I pull him in for another kiss. It starts to get heated before we are interrupted by a knock at the door. "Miss, you are about to be introduced." I pull away and smile once more at Ben. "I'll see you out there." "Can't wait." I open the door and follow the guard to the entrance. I see Mal already there. "Wow, your dress is amazing." "So is yours." We both smile at each other. "I'm so sorry. For the fight and for spelling you. You were telling me stuff that was true, but I didn't want to hear it. Spelling anyone, especially my sister, should not have happened." "Thank you. I hope after tonight, we can start to rebuild our friendship." "I would like that." The two of us hug before we are informed that Mal is up.