Sylphrenia sat in chemistry class, bored out of her mind. After she had discovered Mal's spell book, she had been forced to return to class. She didn't want to cause any suspicions if she skipped class, but at the same time, she felt no motivation to learn about Atomic Mass. What she really wanted to do was to see if she could find what the villain kids were going to do. And, Salophena forgive, she... genuinely enjoyed spending time with them.
Syl's reverie was broken off as Evie started whispering to her and Doug. "Any chance he's in line for a throne?" Sylphrenia turned to see where she was looking at and saw Chad Charming staring off into space with a lazy grin on his face. "Anywhere in line?"
"Chad. Prince Charming Jr., Cinderella's son," said Doug. Evie looked at Doug excitedly before turning to stare lovingly at Chad. "Chad inherited the charm, but not a lot of there there," continued Doug. "Know what I mean?"
Sylphrenia snorted. She couldn't help it. "He's a complete and utter idiot. With a lot of royal bias."
Doug gave her a semi-thankful. He disliked Chad as much as she did. "That's not how I would have worded it, but yes, Sylphrenia is correct."
Evie rested her head on her hand. "Looks like there there to me," she said, completely ignoring what the two had told her.
"Evie!" said Mr. Delay, the teacher. "Perhaps this is just review for you. So tell me, what is the average atomic weight of silver?" He straightened up smugly, waiting for her to answer. Doug straightened up as well, looking at his fingers and seeming to calculate in his head what the answer was.
Evie stared at the teacher blankly. "Atomic weight?" She said. "Uh... well... not very much. I mean, it's an atom, right?" She smiled and let out a laugh. Chad laughed too, but Syl winced. She hadn't been paying attention to the teacher, but at she knew what they were talking about, and everyone should have learned it months ago. It was not a particularly hard topic to grasp, but Evie had gotten it wrong all the same.
Mr. Delaty beckoned Evie forth.
Sylphrenia glanced at Evie as she saw her pocket something before heading to the teacher. Maybe Mal hadn't been the only one to receive something from her parents. Sylphrenia watched with a renewed interest as Evie flounced up to the chalkboard. "Let's see." She took the chalk from Mr. Delay, and spoke while looking down at something. "How do I find the average around weight if silver?"
Syl's classmates looked on, impressed, as Evie wrote out a long calculation onto the chalkboard. Sylphrenia sat back in her chair as Evie was writing. What was a magical object that was related to the Evil Queen that if you asked a question, it would give you an answer? It really wasn't hard to guess. Somehow the Evil Queen must have gotten her hands on a shard of her magic mirror after the council had smashed it.
And she had given it to her only daughter.
Her only daughter who was using one of the most powerful magical items in the history of Auradon to cheat in class.
As Evie flounced back to her seat after showing off hit the class, Syl saw Chad slip her a note. Evie opened it and nodded at Chad after reading it. Syl looked at her three classmates: Evie with a dreamy look, Chad with a longing one, and Doug with a frown.
This was not going to end well, Sylphrenia realized.
Sylphrenia came back into her dorm to find Mal, Evie, and Jane sitting in different places around the room. Mal was drawing, Evie was sewing, and Jane was sitting on one of the beds.
"Mom said, 'If a boy can't see the beauty within, then he's not worth it,'" Jane mimicked in a singsong voice, looking up at Syl as she came in. She looked back at the other two and continued. "Can you believe it? What world does she live in?"
Sylphrenia was confused. "What happened?"
Jane humphed, looking at her. "I tried asking my mom to use her magic to make me look beautiful. She said no."
Syl turned to Mal, raising her eyebrow. "Huh." She walked over to her desk, setting her book bag down by it and sitting in the chair.
Evie held up the dress she'd been sewing. "Mal? Do you like?"
Mal looked up. "Yeah. It's cute. It brings out your eyes," she said.
"I know," Evie said, smiling. Sylphrenia rolled her eyes and and produced her clearence papers. She swiped a pen from her desk and signed paper. With a final flourish, she set the pen down and straightened the papers.
"Here," she told Jane, handing the bundle to her.
Jane reached out, grabbing the papers and taking in the bolded letters reading CLEARENCE OF ASSEMBLY at the top. "Thanks," Jane said. "Syl, do you think a boy will ever like me?" she asked as she stuffed Syl's papers into her bag.
Sylphrenia looked at her. "Boys are stupid. Just smile at one and they'll worship you." She sat back down at her desk.
"Easy for you to say," Jane muttered. "I'll never get a boyfriend." She flopped down on Evie's bed.
"Boyfriend are overrated," Mal said.
"And how would you know, Mal?" said Evie. "You've never had one."
"It's 'cause I don't need one, E," said Mal. "They're a waste if time. Syl, she understands me." Syl nodded in agreement
Evie gasped. "I forgot to do Chad's homework!" She stood up. "Oh, no. Oh no, no, no, no, no!" She grabbed Chad's backpack and sat it against her desk, rifling through it frantically.
Syl looked up incredulously. "You're doing what?"
There was a knock at the door, and Lonnie stepped into the room. She was wearing a pink floral shirt with a pink sash and a short teal skirt. "Hey, guys! I'm Lonnie! Oh, hey, Sylphrenia, you ready for my lesson tomorrow?"
Syl nodded. "Of course." One of her favorite pastimes was swordplay, and a few years back, Lonnie had asked to be taught, since she one day wanted to join the ROAR team. She needed to improve her skills with the sword before she could try out because there was a policy against girls joining. One that they both agreed should be abolished. Ever since, they had been tentative friends.
"My mom's Mulan...?" she said, turning her attention back to Mal and Evie, who were looking at her. They gave her blank stares. "No? Anyways!" said Lonnie. "I love what you've done with Jane's hair. And I know you hate us. And we'll, you're evil... But do you think you could do mine?" Syl looked at Jane's hair, noticing for the first time that it was indeed different.
Mal scoffed. "Why would I do that for you?" she asked.
"I'll pay you fifty dollars," said Lonnie, holding out a silk bag of money.
"Good answer," said Evie, standing and taking the bag. "I need to buy more material." She squinted at Lonnie and started talking about hair. Sylphrenia was studying Mal. Surely she wasn't going to...
"Um... no, no. I want it cool," said Lonnie. "Like Mal's!"
Mal looked at Lonnie, and Evie laughed. "Really?" She asked. "The split ends, too?"
Mal rolled her eyes and put down her pencil. She pulled out her spell book. Sylphrenia was aghast. She was blatantly using magic in front of others! The council would have a field day with this.
Mal flipped through her book. "Okay... Beware, forswear, replace the old with cool hair," she said. With a few swipes of Mal's finger, Lonnie's bob transformed into long soft brown locks.
Syl relaxed in the chair, grateful it was merely a simple switching spell. Sometimes changes to someone could go... badly. Glamours or illusions were far safer.
Lonnie checked herself our in the mirror and frowned.
"I know, I know," said Evie, going over to her. "It looks like a mop in your head. Let's cut it off, later it-"
"No, no, no, no, no,!" said Lonnie. "I love it." She smiled, stroking her hair.
"You do," said Evie.
"It's just..." She tied her skirt up the side. "Now I'm cool," she said.
"Like ice," said Mal, flashing her a smile.
"Helps maneuverability as well," added Syl. "Now if you just stopped wearing skirts and wore pants instead..." she trailed off.
Lonnie rolled her eyes at her. "Just because I want join ROAR does not mean I'm not allowed to want to wear pretty things." She turned back to the mirror, admiring herself. "And besides, you wear dresses too."
Jane stood up and joined her before ripping her skirt as well. She instantly gasped. "What did I just do?" Jane cried. "Mom's gonna kill me!"
And with that, the whole room burst out laughing, with Syl hesitating before joining in. She enjoyed having company. Maybe this was what it was like to not be alone.