This is a really long chapter.
Cassie's POV
After leaving the ice cream parlor we immediately went to Ben. If I had to interfere Ben would probably like To know about this incident. We didn't have that great of a relationship with each other. Anna and him were pretty good friends. Aaron, Doug, and Ben were best friends. The only reason that I really even talk to him sometimes is because of Aaron but this time as important. I was still livid. Audrey had gone too far this time. What they do and say is none of her concern. Why should she care if they are lying or not? Abuse isn't anything to lie about. It's not some kind of joke. They couldn't be lying. Their body language prove just that. Another piece of evidence is the multiple cuts and bruises on their faces. There is no way those could be fake. Not even a chance. Audrey claimed that Evie easily could've pulled it off. I think otherwise. Abuse was a very touchy subject for Anna as well. I know for a fact that she would be able to tell if they were lying. She knows they aren't. We reach his door and Meredith knocks on the door. She swings her arms by her side as we wait. I can hear shuffle on the inside and the door being unlocked. Ben opens the door and looks at us.
"Oh hey guys." He says.
"Hey Ben. We need to talk to you for a moment." I reply.
His face turns to concern and he ushers us in. He closes the door behind us. Oh would you lookie at that. Prince Ben is breaking the rules. I smirk but don't say anything about it.
"Cassie!"
I look up form the ground and see Aaron grinning at me. I smile at him and go to sit by him on the couch. He wraps an arm around me and kisses my cheek.
"Ewww..." Meredith says throwing a pillow at us.
Aaron chuckles and Anna rolls her eyes.
"Meredith don't yu even dare mess with my ship. ITS SO CUTE! THEY ARE SUCH AN ADORABLE COUPLE!" Anna threatens.
Ben clears his threat also smiling.
"Oh yeah right." I say.
"You said you need to talk to me about something?" Ben asks.
I take a deep breath and start at the beginning. The three of us take turns explains what happened After we finish Ben just sits there. Her looks absoluely furious. I nervous but my lip as we exchange a look. Aaron leans into close and whispers into my ear.
"Remind me never to get you mad... or steal your water."
I shiver and smash his chest. He grins at me and I hold back laughter. Anna watches us intensely and smirks. Meredith rolls her eyes at us and Ben sighs. We turn our attention towards him. He shuts his eyes and rubs his temple.
"How did I something like this would happen? They don't deserve any of this. By them coming here I was trying to help them out. I didn't want to cause them anymore trouble. I wanted them to have the same experience as everyone else here in Audron." He says.
"Well, the rest of us do have to put up with her on a daily basis too." Meredith says.
He shakes his head.
"I think that this is sometime we should take up with my parents and Fairy Godmother. Thank you guys for telling me. I'm not putting up with her crap anymore. She's gone say over the lines this time. This was her own choice and now she has to deal with the consequences. I will be talking with my mother and father later on. Again, thank you guys."
I nod at them and we stand up we talk towards the door with Aaron following behind us. He grabs my hand and we walk hand in hand. I smirk remembering Anna's date tomorrow. I just hope that Jay is good to her. Well, he better be otherwise he'll have to deal with the wrath of me. I don't think he wants that. I'll make sure to talk to him tomorrow before they go off. I get lost in my thoughts and Aaron squeezes my hand bringing me back to reality. We are at our dorm. Meredith is already sitting on her bed reading a book. Anna has gone off somewhere. I turn around and peck Aaron on the cheek as a goodbye. He grabs my waist and pulls me into a sweet kiss on the lips. I blush and he rest his forehead up against mine. Anna squeals from behind us and I blush even harder.
"Bye Cassie. I'll see you later. I love you." Aaron whispers to me.
"I love you too Aaron." I kiss him once more on the cheek as walk into the room.
I close the door behind me and find them both staring at me. Anna is grinning ear to ear. Meredith looks disgusted. Meredith opens her mouth as to say something and I shoot her a look.
"Not even a word. Not. A. Word." I walk over to my bed and plop on it.
We all get situated into our beds and we shut off the lights. I smirk and turn towards Anna.
"Hey Anna?"
"Yes Mi amigo?"
"Good luck on your date tomorrow. Don't suck eachothers faces too much. I'll have to hunt him down if anything happens and I don't think anyone wants that. Also I'm going to have a little talk with him before you go."
It's silent for a moment. I feel a pillow hit me hard in the head and I laugh.
"Cassie, nuuuu." She whines.
I laugh once before saying a goodnight. I snuggle into my blanket and think about my day. I drift off determined to help these four people. They've been lied to. Mislead and mistreated. Hurt and misunderstood. Underestimated, neglected, broken, and lost. I'm going to help these Broken Souls one way or another. No matter what it takes. I'll do anything to help them. So help me God.
Jay's POV
DI pace around the room nervously. What did I get myself into? Carlos turns shoots me an annoyed look and pauses his video game. He takes off his headphones.
"Dude. Calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen. Trust me you'll be okay." He assures me.
I nod trying to gain confidence. I usually was overconfident but now I just feel sweaty and nervous. I'm actually wearing nice clothes. Evie demanded it. She usually wasn't scary. That is until it has to do with what you look like for a special event. After all she is the daughter of Evil Queen. She learned that looks were everything. I personally think that all that matters is personality. I would never admit thatt aloud but it's true. I actually could care less about looks. As long as that person honest, respectful, and good to you. I adjust my shirt and watch the clock. Twenty minutes left. I sigh and sit down next to Carlos. I pick up a controller and join him playing. Now I must wait.
Evie's POV
I throw another shirt across the room. Nope that one isn't going to work. Meredith doges it from behind me. She's been separating them into piles so we can put them back more easily. From what I've heard and learned from my own personal experience Meredith is usually the one to keep everyone in line and in check. She's hyper but follows the rules. Anna sits on the bed patiently waiting. I'd brought over all my supplies in a bag which sits in the foot of Meredith's bed. As I raid Anna's closet for the perfect outfit Mal, Cassie, Anna, and Meredith socialize. They talk about something called a Casaaron. I don't know what that is but Anna squeals about it. It makes Cassie blush a bright shade of red. Meredith and Mal laughs at the duo.
"So. Mal, who do you have a crush on?" Cassie asks wiggling her eyebrows at her.
"Uh crush what do you mean?" She lets out a nervous laugh. Her voice is an octave higher than usually.
I smirk quite curious myself. I nod at the piles of clothes that are a maybe with satisfaction. I mix and match tops and bottoms together trying to find the perfect outfit.
"Oh come on. It's pretty obvious you have one." Anna states.
"I have no idea what you mean by that. Heh." Mal response.
Meredith pops a cheese it in her mouth.
"Mal it will be much easier if you just do what they want. Don't hold back. Cassie can tell if you are lying. It will save you a lot of, well, everything." Meredith shrugs.
I put back a few items of clothings while waitin for Mal's response. They just weren't Anna. Of course I wanted Anna to look good, but at the same time I didn't want her wearing something that wasn't true to herself. I eventually come up with an outfit. Light wash high waisted jeans with a white tank top. I decided to go with something simple over top of it with a red plaid shirt that ties around the waist. I nod satisfied and turn around. Everyone is intensely staring at Mal.
"O-okay fine. I might have a little crush..." Mal admitted blushing a bit.
Cassie smirks and pulls at her sleeves. She crosses her arms across her chest.
"Who is it?" She says in a singsong voice.
"Uh... well.. you know..." she trials off.
"No I don't because if I did I wouldn't have to ask you!" Cassie continues in her singsong voice.
Mal looks down. Her face was bright red and she let her hair hide her face. She doesn't meet our eyes and nervously plays with her fingers. She bites her lip and looks up at us from through her hair. Cassie and Anna sit there look at her with excitement. They both have an expectant look of their face. Meredith looks more or less curious. I'm pretty sure that I looked like the other two. Mal sits there flustered. I wasn't going to get her out of this. I was curious myself.
"Imayormaynothaveacrushonbenbutdontyoudaretellanyone." She said in a rush.
Cassie blinks and shakes her head. We exchange a look of confusion.
"Wait say that again but slower this time." Meredith says tap her foot on the floor.
Mal takes a deep breath. We all sit there waiting and on edge. She looks at all of us. See meets my eyes. 'help me' her eyes say. 'Sorry but not this time sister'. She groans and shuts her eyes tightly.
"Mal... we aren't going to force you into telling us anything. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to. It's fine if you don't." Cassie says.
"No. It's fine I'm just a little embarrassed and nervous." Mal replies still looking at the ground.
I pick out a pair of black high tops converse shoes for Anna and pair them with her outfit. I throw the whole outfit to her. She yelps but grabs it. I start to put clothes back in their correct spot.
"I may or may not have a small tiny itty bitty crush on Ben but please don't tell anyone." Mal admits.
I drop a small pile of clothes that I was holding onto the ground. I squeal excitedly. Cassie and Anna gush on and on about how cute they would be together.
"Hmm we need a ship name." Anna says.
"A ship? What?" I ask confused.
"You don't know what a ship is?" Meredith questions astonished.
"Well you see you poor uneducated children, A ship is when you want someone to be With another person. Like when you think they'd be cute together." Explains Anna.
"So we need a ship name. Hmm Men? OH WAIT NO THAT SOUNDS BAD!" Meredith shrieks.
"Well, how about Bal?" Cassie suggests.
We exchange a look with each other and nod. Mal blushed furiously and hides her face in a pillow. I laugh at her and command Anna to go get dressed so we can continue. She groans, picks up the clothes, and heads to the bathroom.
"Soo.. Meredith you like anyone?" I interrogate.
"Nope! I'm going to be a Single Pringle forever. I don't think anyone could handle me to be honest. I'm good with that though." She explains.
I nod slightly disappointed that I couldn't "ship" her with anyone.
"What about you Cassie?"
"I have a boyfriend silly." She replies laughing.
I blush. Oops I forgot that.
"Yeah! Their ship name is Casaaron." Anna says from behind me.
Ohhh that's what they were talking about. No wonder Cassie was so flustered. I turn around and gasps. Anna nervously pushes her glass up more on her face and twitches with her hands.
"Anna you look so beautiful!" I exclaim.
"Thank you." She says.
I make her sit down and immediately get to work. I don't have to do much because she's a natural beauty. We make small talk as I finish Anna's hair. When I'm done her hair falls into soft, subtle curls just past her shoulders. She wears light natural makeup. She looks absolutely stunning.
"Wow. Anna you look gorgeous." Cassie breathes out.
Meredith nods in agreement. Anna blushes and says a thanks. There is a light rapid tapping at the door. We all turnout attention to Anna and the the door. She sighs and stands up. She head towards the door and opens it. Jay stands there. I almost laugh at the expression on his face. He runs his fingers through his hair. Anna smiles at him and he smiles back.
"Are you ready to go m'lady?" He asks and offers her his hand.
She nods and takes her hand in his. Her hand is tiny compared to his.
"Bye Anna! Have fun!" I yell as she walks away.
She waves to us and I close the door behind me.
"So.. what would you guys like to do now?" Meredith asks.
3rd Person's POV (im not too good at this)
Anna and Jay walked around the park in silence. They held hands and enjoyed one another's company. Jay lead her to an area by a tree. Next to the tree was an old bench. Jay had come here earlier to set up a nice picnic. Ben and Aaron has helped him. He wasn't too sure about what to do. This was his very first time on a date. Anna gasps from beside Jay. She was in shock at the very nice set up. It was sit fairly light outside but a few candles sat in the center of the table. A clothes was placed over the old table to make it look a bit better. A small wicker basket sat off to the left side of the table. Inside the basket were so plates, eating utensils, food, and some beverages choices. The tree above held several small lanterns. They didn't put the lanterns up there, no those were already there. Jay lead her over to the table and sat across from her.
"Jay... this is beautiful." Anna exclaims stunned.
"Thanks. I didn't do it by myself. Ben and Aaron helped me out." He confessed.
Anna nodded and her eyes wandered around. Her gaze fell on the basket and she gave his a quizzative look. She raised an eyebrow in question.
"It's food. For a picnic. After we finish we can walk around the park and talk a bit if you would like.." he rambled.
Anna laughed at his nervousness. She found it quite adorable.
"That sounds great."
He gave her a simple nod and started to grab things out of the basket. He gave them each a plate and sliverware. He grabbed the two root beer floats carefully out of the basket. Ben told him that it was one of Anna's favorites. Her eyes widen and she snatched one of them out of his hand.
"YES I LOVE THESE THINGS SO MUCH! THANK YOU!" She almost scream.
Jay chuckled and placed his cup down next to his plate. Anna took a sip of the drink and moaned in delight. Jay shifted in his seat as took out the rest of the food. They each took what they wanted and ate. They made small talk about school and such.
"So... how is your life at home?" Anna asked Jay.
He immediately stopped eating and tensed. He looked up at her and shook his head. Her brows furrowed in confusion and concern.
"I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that if you don't want to.." she trailed off.
"Its just a touchy subject for me. I have a lot of bad memories associated with home." He explained.
Anna's face darkened and she pushed her plate away suddenly not very hungry anymore. She shivered but not from the cold. She wrapped her arms around herself.
"Yeah. I can understand." Anna said.
He looked at her with curiosity but didn't push it. Anna could see this.
"When I was little.. I was sent to go with my dad sometimes for a period of time. He uh.. abused me when I was at the isle. Gaston was a jerk. After I told Belle about it she never made me go back there and I was sure happy about that." Anna explained.
Jay stopped to think for a moment. He wasn't psyically abused as much as he was verabally. His dad needed him in a good condition to help him steal stuff for his shop. He was also upset finding out about Anna. Why did innocent people need to get abused and hurt? It didn't make sense to him. Lastly he was hoping that Belle could help him and his siblings out. He found it as a slim chance but held onto that small gleam of hope.
"Anna... I'm so sorry." He said.
She shrugged it off but blinked but tears. Jay wanted to wait for the right moment to tell her about his own experience with abuse.
"It's okay it's nothing that you could've prevented and it's over now."
He shook his head not satisfied. No it's wasnt okay. He didn't say anything else. They packed up the stuff and Jay carried the basket as they walked around outside. They laughed and joked. Jay walked her back to her room. He wanted to make sure that she was to her door by curfew. He may be a Villian Kid but her definitely didn't want to get a Auradon kid in trouble.
"Thank you so much Jay. I loved the picnic and walk so much. I had a great time tonight." Anna gushed.
"Thank you for coming with me." Jay replied with a smile.
Anna kissed him on the cheek and said a quick goodbye before heading into the room. Jay held his cheek in surprise. He stood there for a few second before snapping back to reality. He quietly made his way to his dorm. He went into the room and found Carlos asleep. He sighed and quietly and quickly changed before getting into the bed. It took him only a few minutes to drift off into a blissful sleep.
~meanwhile~
Anna closed the door behind her and turned around. Meredith, Mal, and Evie all were asleep. Mal and Evie on Cassie and Meredith's bed. Cassie and Meredith on the floor. Cassie lifted her head up from her pillow and waved at Anna. Cassie has insomnia which made it impossible for her to find sleep and often found herself getting little to none.
"How'd it go?" She questioned.
"It was aweosme." Anna replied.
Cassie nodded and layed back down. Anna quickly changed and snuggled deeply into her warm covers.
"Night Cassie."
"Goodnight Anna."
Anna felt herself starting to drift off to sleep. She rethought the events for the day. She was compelled to help Jay and the others. That night she swore to herself that she was going to help them one way or another. She fell asleep with determination filling her whole body. Cassie, Belle, Ben, Meredith, Fairy Godmother, and King Beast didn't realize it but they all had silently agreed to help them out. Now they just needed to find someway to put their plan in action.