Princess Mal - A Descendants Fanfiction

Chapter 4: Lesson 2 - Waltz

A/N: Big thanks to people who have seen my work, especially to Eherreraloera for voting for me :) you are awesome~

Mal had stripped off her princess uniform - that Audrey had forced her into - in favour of her old leather jacket. She took off her fake tiara as well. She stood in her dorm room and stared at the tiara. Audrey had dressed her up as a princess, accessories and everything, and it completely changed what she looked like. After she had taken off the princess uniform, she felt a large weight had rolled off her shoulders. The collar of the dress made her feel stuffy and suffocated anyways.

Mal had hoped Evie would be here so that she could tell her that she didn't want to carry on with the lessons anymore, but apparently she had gone out to the library with Doug to study for the next Biology test. She noticed Dude, Carlos' pet dog on her bed licking his back. The scruffy fellow hadn't noticed Mal's presence in the room.

"Hey Dude. Are you here in replacement of Evie?" She stared at him as he looked up and stared back at her. She was talking to a dog, but hey, he was the only one in the room.

She didn't realise that another person had walked in.

"Whoa, were you just trying on clothes? Are you meeting Ben or something?" Carlos asked, pointing to the strewn dress on the floor. Mal froze like a deer in headlights - she had forgotten that her dorm room door was slightly ajar. Carlos was dressed in a black shirt with red shorts. "No, I'm... actually getting rid of that." Mal said simply as she put the tiara down on her chest-of-drawers. Carlos walked over to pick up the tiara.

"Why? It's a nice dress." Mal chuckled. "You know I don't wear dresses." Carlos nodded. He had seen Evie in many dresses, but he had never seen Mal in a dress before, except for Coronation Day and the after party. It made her look more feminine... and sparkling... Carlos felt a strange, funny feeling settling at the pit of his stomach. He clutched his stomach. Weird.

"Where's Ben?" He asked, trying to appear nonchalant as he fiddled with the tiara, that feeling in his stomach didn't go away, though.

"Away. He's a king. He can't just abandon everything and stay here."

Carlos nodded slowly. "What's with this?" He lifted the tiara. Mal gave a huge sigh. "I was trying to learn how to be a princess so I could impress Ben's parents."

"I can help you with it," Carlos suggested, flashing a small smile. Whoa, where did that come from? He placed the tiara on her head. When did he have that much courage to do that?

"But I know Ben wouldn't want to change you any other way. He'd disapprove what you're doing right now." What was he saying? Why did his stomach feel so funny after he said that?

"What?" Mal murmured, stunned. Carlos simply stared into her eyes, his face turning scarlet. Before she could ask, Audrey had already entered the room. "Aw, you look so cute in the tiara." Audrey's voice dripped with sarcasm as she took it off Mal's head. "Why did you run away?" Audrey said ignoringly as she placed it on her head and began admiring herself in her compact mirror. Carlos and Mal both rolled their eyes. Such a diva.

"I'm so sorry Audrey, I wasn't thinking. I'd really like to try again." Mal said.

Snap! The sound of Audrey closing her compact mirror made Carlos and Mal jump.

"Great! Let's move on to ballroom dancing." Audrey replied. She turned to Carlos. "Carlos, will you be Ben?"

"What?"

...

Mal rolled her eyes when she saw her dance partner in Ben's uniform. The uniform was now crumpled and covered in jam stains. Jay didn't even bother to keep it clean. She mentally cursed Jay. The uniform was too big for scrawny Carlos, his fingers were barely seen in the sleeves. His feet could not be seen as well, with the hem of Ben's pants sagging on the floor of the empty ballroom they were in.

"You don't look so good in blue."

"That's why I wear red and black."

Mal was dressed in a ballgown, after being berated by Audrey for half an hour for the dress that was lying limply on the floor of the dorm room earlier.

Audrey tried her best not to laugh when she saw Carlos stumble into the room. "Now, Bennyboo, grab onto Mal's waist like this." Audrey showed Carlos by placing a hand around her waist. Carlos did as instructed. "Mal, Carlos, hold each other's hands." Carlos quickly wiped the sweat off his free hand and held Mal's hand. Why was sweat forming on his palms? Was he nervous?

"Mal, your other hand on his shoulder." Carlos watched Mal's expression. She wasn't as nervous as she is. He wanted to slap himself silly. Was he nervous because of the close proximity at this moment? His thoughts were interrupted by a squealing Audrey.

"Alright, now for the fun part. Dancing!" Audrey sang as she pressed the button play on a radio.

"Ow!"

"Sorry!"

Mal was furious. "Stop stepping on my toes!" She hissed. "I'm sorry, but I can't even see my toes!" Carlos snapped. "One, two, three, one, two, three." Audrey repeated, looking at the two. Carlos tried looking anywhere besides her face. Mal was so close to him that she could feel her breath fanning his face. His legs were shaking and his palms were sweating. But Mal hadn't noticed, her head was facing the floor, concentrating on her toes. Carlos felt giddy and lightheaded. Was this what Audrey classified as a.. waltz? He liked it. People don't waltz back at The Isle. There's dancing, sure, but it didn't look like dancing. His mom called it a series of wild movements mashed together with music playing - which were only created with pans and pots that were found in The Isle that were used as instruments.

This... waltz as beautiful. He wondered if waltzing actually required a partner to do so. Even though the two were shifting awkwardly, they were in tune with the rhythm of the music, and Carlos felt relaxed with this dance. Mal suddenly imagined herself dancing with Ben, in front of his parents. She began humming the song that was being played. She felt herself fluttering, for some reason. Perhaps that was what a waltz can do to you - make you feel free and relaxed when you're dancing.

Finally, the two got the hang of the dance. Carlos even dared to twirl Mal around. The two were enjoying themselves, giggling and laughing when their arms bumped into each other consistently. "Not so bad, short stack." Mal grinned. Carlos chuckled as he pulled Mal closer.

The music ended, much to Carlos' dismay. He had realised that his heart was beating abnormally fast now, his hair stuck up in a weird way and beads of sweat was dripping down his forehead. That funny feeling still hadn't died down. His eyes drifted over to Mal. She wasn't sweating as much, but her cheeks appeared puffy and her eyebrows were twisted into a knot. The two stared at each other, until Audrey clapped her hands in delight, distracting the both of them. "Great job, guys! Ben will be sooooo impressed." She gave Mal a wink.

Carlos' face fell.