Daughter of Maleficent

Chapter Seven

"Mal, wait up! Let's talk, please.", Evie called out. Her best friend was far ahead walking in a hurry before stopping in front of the Visual Arts building. The bluenette, along with Jay and Carlos, caught up with her, worry and concern reflected in their eyes.

"We don't belong here.", Mal said softly after a few minutes.

"That's just what the old queen thinks.", Carlos argued.

"We don't belong here!", Mal repeated, shouting. "Can't you see? They can force us to take a bunch of goodness classes, but they will never accept us here in Auradon. To them, we will always be the evil kids of the evil villains."

The three couldn't bring themselves to disagree with Mal. Queen Leah's outburst and the reaction of the guests at the party earlier were enough proof.

"I want to be alone for a while.", Mal said as she entered the building.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Jay! Evie! Carlos!", Ben yelled. He jogged across the campus grounds towards where the three were. After he and his parents had pacified Queen Leah and decided to end the garden party early, he immediately went to look for the villain kids to check if they were doing okay.

"Yo.", Jay greeted. "Aren't you supposed to be back at the party?"

"We had to cut it short. Everyone was too rattled to continue.", the prince explained. "Where's Mal?"

"Inside.", Evie replied. "She's probably at the Drawing Studio."

Ben nodded, saying his thanks and marching through the glass double doors.

"We should warn you though. She told us not to disturb her.", Carlos spoke up.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, guys."

Ben made his way through the hallways and up the stairs to the studios located on the third floor. These rooms served as places where students can practice their skills. Being in the Visual Arts building, the studios here were, of course, for different forms of visual art, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, and fashion designing.

He peered inside the open doorway of the Drawing Studio and saw Mal sketching on a drawing pad as she sat behind one of the easels.

He stepped into the room quietly. When Mal made no move to cast him out, he decided it was safe to speak. "Hey."

There was a long pause as Mal continued to draw. She turned a page in the pad, and Ben wondered if Mal was ignoring him. "Hey.", she finally replied.

"Are you okay?", he asked hesitantly as he took a seat on one of the stools in front of the room.

"I've been better.", Mal responded briefly, her eyes still focused on the drawing pad.

Ben sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect that Queen Leah would react like that."

Mal went silent, and the only sound in the room was of her pencil on paper as she drew. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure.", Ben replied. "So uh, you like art?"

The girl nodded. "I can't say I'm very good at it though. The only experience I have is with spray paint."

"What are you drawing?"

Mal noticeably stiffened. "Just the view from the window at our dorm room. What about you? Got any hobbies?"

Ben thought for a moment. Much of his time was spent on studying his lessons and doing princely duties, so he didn't really have many chances of exploring and focusing on activities that he liked.

"Sports, maybe. Particularly tourney."

"That's Auradon's official sport, right? Are you part of the school team?"

"I am."

"Jay has been telling us about the try-outs tomorrow. It's a good thing someone they know will be there then."

"He's joining? That's great! I'd love to have him on the team."

"And Carlos too, but I'm pretty sure Jay's just forcing him.", Mal added. "I'd appreciate it if you can watch over them tomorrow. Jay can be extreme, and Carlos is small and too much of a coward."

"I will. Don't worry.", the prince assured her, his heart warming at how Mal was looking out for her friends.

A soft ping suddenly sounded from Ben's pocket. He took out his phone and saw that Evie had messaged him, asking how his talk with Mal was going.

"The others are still outside, you know. They're worried about you.", Ben informed gently. "Any moment longer, and Evie might storm in here herself."

Mal laughed at his words. She could picture her best friend doing exactly that. The bluenette—no, all four of them had always been there to look out for each other.

"I guess we should go then.", Mal said, standing up. She left the pencil on the easel and carefully ripped away the page she had been working on from the drawing pad. She rolled the piece of paper and held it in one hand.

Ben nodded, and they exited the studio together.

"Thank you, Ben.", Mal mumbled as they walked down the stairs.

"Anytime.", he replied, smiling warmly at her.

- - - - - - - - - -

The girls and Ben returned to the main building where they had to part ways with him as the prince still had to drop by the administrative offices. Jay decided to go to the Fitness Center, while Carlos chose to spend the rest of the day at the library.

"Okay, spill. What happened in the studio with Ben?", Evie asked excitedly as soon as she and Mal had entered their room.

"What are you talking about? Nothing happened!", Mal denied. She put away the piece of paper she had torn off from the drawing pad on her study desk. "Besides, I thought you had your claws set on him."

"I gave up on him a long time ago after I met someone else in Chemistry class."

Mal's eyebrows raised upon hearing this information from her best friend. "I don't think you told me about this."

"Oops." Evie looked at her sheepishly. "I promise I'll tell you next time. This thing of yours with Ben is much more exciting!"

"There is no thing between us.", Mal said pointedly. She climbed onto her bed and grabbed her mother's spellbook from the bedside table, flipping through its pages.

"M, I see the way his glances linger on you. He didn't have to check how you were doing after we left the party, but he did!"

"As far as I know, he checked up on all of us. Plus, he's the prince! It's his job to pacify his soon-to-be subjects.", Mal countered. "Besides, even if he is interested in me, he's got that witch Audrey already! He's too much of a gentleman to leave her."

Evie sighed. "That last point I can't argue with."

Mal suddenly stopped skimming through the spellbook. "On second thought..."

"What? What is it?", Evie asked, confused.

"Maybe this can deal with that last point.", Mal announced triumphantly.

She held up the spellbook, showing Evie a page with the words "Love Potion" on top.