Breakaway

Chapter 7: Beginning Bonds

Evie stood in Lonnie's dorm, the girl's room organized and all in two colors: grey and coral pink. She would have guessed that her room would have been more focused on athletics, but it was filled with maps and concert posters. She stared at how visibly beautiful the entire space was and the things she had.

"You can take a seat, Evie," Lonnie said, noticing the girl's stance. "It's pretty okay in here, huh?"

"It's beautiful," Evie began as the girl with a shoulder-length hair looked up from getting her books out of her backpack and taking out Evie's purse. "What is it like to live here? To live so freely with everything being so fresh and nice? You're a Princess right?"

Lonnie shrugged with a smile. "I guess you could say that. My parents are Mulan and Li Shang. The warriors that saved China. We're not royalty, but we do have a high status in Northern Wei. I never thought about how lucky I was to be here. It feels like I'm living a normal life. The luxuries that I've noticed you marvel at, I don't see them with the same awe as you."

"I understand. You've grown up here so there's nothing too special about it anymore," Evie responded softly. She glanced around the room and took a seat on the girl's bed. Trying not to make a big deal out of Lonnie's bed, Evie wanted to squeal as she hadn't felt any sort of springs. It was so foamy and soft. Even her blankets were softer than anything she'd ever touched before.

The girls sat in uncomfortable silence, Lonnie finally turning to Evie with a smirk. "How'd you know Chad's sweater was 2-ply and 14-micron cashmere?"

"I've read about the finest garments in books enough times. I like fashion. Mummy taught me how to sew because that's what men like. A perfectly petite trophy wife."

Lonnie's face twisted as Evie spoke. "You were taught that from your mom?!"

"Not exactly taught, more so forced into believing that. But isn't that how men are? I've never really been around boys."

"Some, not all. You don't need to be a trophy wife to get a guy, Evie. What exactly did you do on the Isle? I know you mentioned that you were stuck in a Castle for ten years," Lonnie prompted, turning her full attention to Evie. The blue-haired girl fiddled with her delicate fingers as she seemed to ponder how to begin.

"My mother liked to tell me about makeup and every tip to look pretty. Sometimes she'd train me in how to make her look beautiful. Things like plucking eyebrow hairs that have gone astray and how to make an illusion of high cheekbones. My mother was very keen on making sure that I didn't know too much about academic subjects. I mean who would want a smart wife?" Evie questioned Lonnie, the Auradonian girl's eyebrows quirking in surprise.

"Actually Evie, a lot of guys. If Fairy Godmother allows you to dorm with me, we're going to have a lot to discuss."

Evie simply fluffed her hair and nodded. Her thoughts were occupied by wonders regarding how Lonnie's statements were true in Auradon. After all, the Princesses in the fairytales had the qualities her mother said were essential. Could it be that everything she knew was a lie? Even the values she held onto so dear, that her mother drilled into her head were wrong? She wondered what else her mother had been wrong about, considering Lonnie clear disdain for her brainwashed beliefs. 

***

The boys soon rejoined the two girls back in Lonnie's dorm a half-hour before the dining hall closed, with four plates of spaghetti, roasted vegetables, and dinner rolls. Seated on the floor in a circle, the three students ate their dinner, while Evie on the other hand, picked her food apart. She didn't touch the bread and barely made any progress on her pasta. The vegetables were the only thing she'd actually digested, but even most of those were still on her plate.

"I suppose you're not used to food like this, are you?" Ben inquired as he gladly took a bite of his honey bread roll.

Lonnie and Doug looked up from their plates toward Evie. She stopped chewing the carrot in her mouth to swallow. "No. I did not eat a lot back home. Either Mummy wouldn't let me or I didn't have portions this large. I hope you do not think I am being ungrateful."

Lonnie glanced down to her plate, Ben doing the same. Doug seemed to be the only one who was willing to respond. "No, I don't think you are. You're free to eat as much as you want. None of us will judge you."

A thin smile of you could call it that, appeared across Evie's lips and it disappeared just as fast as the sound in the room. Her fork clattered against her plate and she gently pushed it away from herself.

"Am I able to keep this if I get hungry later?" She inquired, lifting the bread roll from her plate. The three students nodded their heads while Ben handed Evie a plastic bag and she stuffed the bread into it. Zipping the plastic bag closed, she shoved it into her red box purse. Flipping the top of the purse and latching it shut, she turned her body toward the mat that Lonnie pulled out from under her bed. It was a thick mat, Lonnie usually used for yoga or some of her workouts. To accommodate Evie, Lonnie wrapped a sheet over it and gave the girl a spare duvet from the laundry room at the end of the hall. The only thing missing was another pillow, given that Lonnie used just one.

"Hey, do one of you have an extra pillow? All the spare ones are being cleaned right now and I don't use more than one." Lonnie asked Ben and Doug, reminded of the pillow situation when she glanced at the foam mat that Evie had taken to resting on.

Chewing his bread, Ben shook his head and turned to Doug who nodded his head. Doug's cheeks began to turn a bright shade of pink as he awkwardly put a piece of carrot in his mouth. When he finished chewing (which took years since he apparently wanted to avoid answering), he opened his mouth.

"I do. I haven't used it yet and it's totally clean. My mom sews these stuffed animal pillows and donates them to kids in hospitals. I received one as a gift after enrolling at Auradon Prep. If you don't mind or want to use it, Evie, it's just...like a bear pillow."

The three other teens in the room held serious faces until Doug began to chuckle at his revelation. They joined in a chorus of laughter regarding the pillow Doug was gifting to Evie. "I promise I don't sleep with stuffed animals anymore, my mom still thinks of me as a little boy."

Watching Doug's embarrassment over his mom, Evie giggled at the stuffed animal part, but felt an odd pain over the mention of his mother's clear love for her son. Like earlier that day, maybe it would take a while for her to officially break free from her mother's imposed "legacy." At least the first steps were now complete. The second part of the plan would go into effect as soon as Fairy Godmother okayed her attendance at the Preparatory Academy. Wishing the latter part of her plan to take a short time, she hoped to become an Auradon girl. Her most prized wish was only a few hours away.

She snapped out of her thoughts to the laughter still carrying on. An old reflex developed by habit told her to stop laughing, but it felt good for once. She was laughing amongst three people who cared about her despite knowing her for less than a day.That behavior must be an Auradon thing, she thought before continuing to join the others in their laughter and jokes.