Family and Protection

Chapter 4: I Never Got No Love

The four girls walked down the halls together. Although school didn't start until Monday, there were still many students roaming the halls and getting settled in. The girls were walking towards the guidance counselor's office for their classes. They were a little nervous, but they knew they would be just fine.

They approached the end of the hall and made a left just as Jane had told them. They then approached a wooden door with a sign that read "Guidance Counselor". On the side, there was another sign that read "Evie's 4 Hearts".

"Should we knock?" Brelyn asked. "What if she's busy?" The girls leaned in and put their ears against the door. They heard faint voices, but it wasn't clear enough to make out. Brelyn shrugged and knocked.

"Come in," the voice of a woman called from inside the room. The girls entered the room. They were surprised that the room held many dresses and sewing supplies. One side of the room had a desk with everything an office would have. The other half had sewing supplies, dresses, and many outfit designs taped and pinned to the wall. "Just a second," the lady said.

There were two women in the room. One was trying on a dress that included the colors pink and blue. She had dark skin with brown hair. The other woman had light skin and was wearing a royal blue dress. She also had beautiful blue hair upon her head. Elaina was surprised to see someone else that had an interesting hair color just like herself. The blue-haired woman seemed to be doing a dress fitting for the other woman.

"Evie," the woman wearing the dress that was being made said. "Evie," she said again trying to get her attention. Evie looked up at the woman. The woman nodded her head, motioning to the four girls. Evie turned around to face the four. She took one glance at them, and her jaw dropped. Of course, the first one she laid eyes on was Elaina. Evie was fixated on her. Elaina had inherited her blue hair and dark brown eyes. Evie placed her hand over her heart as it felt like it was melting.

"So," Elaina started, "is either one of you the guidance counselor?"

"Oh-um," Evie started getting out of her trance, "that would be me."

"Wait," Elaina said confused, "so our guidance counselor is also a fashion designer?" Evie nodded slowly, not knowing what was going on in the younger, blue-haired girl's head. "That's actually kind of amazing. Shows people that people can be skilled in more than one thing in life." Evie exhaled deeply as she seemed to have been holding her breath. She also gave the girls a warm smile.

"So," the darker-skinned lady started, "I'm just gonna wait outside until you guys are done with whatever this is." She headed out the door with a little skip in her step.

"Wha-Audrey!" Evie said as if she didn't want her to leave. Audrey mouthed the words "good luck" as she closed the door.

"So, we're supposed to get our classes, right?" asked Jacey.

"Oh right. You four are the orphan girls that Ben invited, right?" Evie said, despite knowing exactly who each girl was. She got on her computer and searched for each girl's schedules. "Life must have been pretty hard at the orphanage," Evie said trying to break whatever awkward silence was going on in the room.

"Yeah, it was pretty rough," Cayla said scratching the back of her head.

"I can imagine. I grew up on the Isle of the Lost, so I understand how hard it must have been. In case you didn't know, I am the daughter of the Evil Queen. Yep, I was a villain kid. One of the first King Ben invited to Auradon."

"Wow, must have been hard," Elaina stated. "I heard it's basically like you got no love over there. I know I sometimes felt that way when we were at the orphanage."

Evie's heart dropped at Elaina's comment; she felt so bad for the girls. Evie started remembering her time on the Isle and finally arriving in Auradon. She had been grateful to have been lucky enough to be given a chance. Thanks to the chance she was given, she was able to discover more about herself. Not only was she in love with fashion, but she loved spreading the love of learning to others. She decided to pursue both once she graduated from Auradon Prep. She was glad that orphans were being given a chance as well.

Though, she was a little tense with the girls in her room. She took deep breathes, so she wouldn't freak out. "Here are your schedules," Evie said reaching for the papers she had just printed out. As she handed them to the girls, she noticed something. "Elaina, I see you're taking chemistry," Evie said motioning to the blue-haired girl.

Elaina smiled. "Yep. I wanted to be ahead in science. I'm more interested in chemistry than biology. That's why I took biology over the summer."

"Smart girl," Evie said nodding. "Your teacher is one of the best in Auradon."

"So I've heard," Elaina replied.

Elaina and Evie smiled at each other for a while. Evie just could not take her eyes off of her; she was unable to take her eyes off her one and only child that she hasn't seen in thirteen years. She was so much like her. She finally noticed the young girl was wearing glasses. It made Evie wonder just how much Elaina was like Doug.

"Well," Brelyn said snapping both Elaina and Evie out of their trances, "We better get back to our dorms and continue to get settled in."

"Oh-um, yeah," Elaina said. "Thank you," Elaina said to Evie. Evie nodded in response. The four girls left together. Once the girls left, Audrey re-entered. Evie sat back down in her desk and put her head into her hands.

"Are you alright?" Audrey asked.

"I-I don't know," Evie said with a crack in her voice. "I-It's been thirteen years. She's everything I've ever imagined her to be."

Audrey could tell Evie was on the brink of tears. She did recall some of the others saying that if any one of them were to emotionally breakdown, Evie would be first. "Hey," she said with a comforting voice. "Everything's going to be okay. From what we can tell, for now, they're going to be safe. I wouldn't know what you are going through." Audrey thought of her two kids: Chad Jr. and Aria. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like if she had to give them up. "I'm sure when the timing's right, you'll be able to tell Elaina the truth."

"Audrey, what if she's mad?"

"She might be," Audrey said not wanting to say she wouldn't without knowing for sure. "She might not. Who knows how she was feeling all these years. Who knows how all four of them have felt. Though, if she's anything like you or Doug, I'm sure she's going to understand everything just fine when you tell her."

"I just wish I could give her the love I never got growing up," Evie said.

"Hey, you can still show her your love. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you checking up on her every now and again. Just don't make it too obvious to the point where she starts to believe something is up."

Evie giggled. "You know Audrey, we may have had our differences in the past, but I'm glad I have you as a friend. Thank you."

Audrey bent down to hug her friend. She didn't know what the VKs were going through; she didn't want to know what the VKs were going through. She wanted to be there for them though; that she knew.

"I have to talk to Doug," Evie told Audrey.

"You do that. It might help."