After getting something to eat for dinner, you and Carlos ended up in the school library, trying to find some evidence of a pink tree in Auradon. Whilst Carlos browsed for a book that may help, you were fully intrigued by the whole place. Sure, they had a library at your old school, but you were never allowed in it. This one had shelves and shelves of books reaching up to the tall, tall ceiling. It was beautiful, really.
Whilst exploring, you noticed Bethany curled up in the very corner of the room, surrounded by piles of books.
"Hey," you greeted her.
"Oh hi," she looked up from the book she was reading, "never pictured you as a library person."
"Neither did I." You admitted. "Are all libraries this...'grand'?"
"Not really," Bethany shook her head, "this one was actually a gift from my father to my mother. She's read just about every book in here."
"Damn, that's a lot of books." You commented. "How're you doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean...are you and Ben okay with each other?"
"I think we're fine now. We talked it out."
"And what about Anthony?"
"He's allowed to stay. Ben was just really panicked because...nevermind."
"Wait no tell me."
"I can't, I'm sorry. Let's just say it was due to something Jordan told him."
"About Anthony?"
"Oh no," she waved it off, "we're not sure who it was about. It might have even been false."
"Okay," you sat down next to her, "what do you think of Anthony by the way? Out of curiosity."
She paused for a moment before answering, as if she wasn't sure if she should tell you. "I know he's been a bit false with some of his behaviour with me," she said, "but, I think there's a lot more to him. People seem to just write him off as some terrible person, I don't believe that one bit. I think there's some genuine good in him, I've seen it. What do you think?"
"I'm gonna be honest, I agree with you," you told her, "as someone who has known him for years, I've seen that he can be kind. He's just so trapped within his family life."
"What is his life back on the Isle like?" Bethany questioned curiously.
"I don't know if it's my place to talk about it." You announced.
"I won't tell anyone." Bethany mimed zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key. "I can tell that there's something going on with him, I just want to help."
You've never believed that someone was being truthful more than you believed Bethany was. There was something about her, you knew she meant what she said. "Promise?"
"Promise." She shook your hand.
"Well, I'm guessing you know how many brothers and sisters and cousins he already has?"
"Two brothers, four sisters and he said seven or eight cousins; too many for him to remember."
"And out of all of them, he's Lady Tremaine's favourite. She likes to put all the pressure on him and spoil him the most." You told her. "All his siblings and cousins are jealous of how spoiled he is, but I'd say they're all jealous whenever anything decent happens to someone in the family that isn't themselves."
"Despite the siblings and cousins, that sounds relatively alright."
"One time his little cousin, Dizzy, came to me in tears and all that. You see, she's treated terribly by everyone in the family, including Anthony," you felt iffy about telling her this, but you believed to be going somewhere with it, "she came to me crying when she had a fight with Evie. She went on this whole rant, to be honest I'm not sure why she was telling me so many obscure and random details, but one thing I do remember her saying is that his mother, grandmother and possibly aunt hit him a lot."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I mean I guessed that something was already going on. It's not exactly uncommon on the Isle, and I've seen Lady Tremaine slap him quite a few times before."
"Why would she do that?"
"To discipline him. She's made sure that he is exactly what she wants him to be. I've even seen her concerned for his physical state - it was after Randy beat him up - then once we lied and told her he'd just fallen down the stairs, he slapped him across his already bloody face."
"Why did you tell her he fell down the stairs if he had been beaten up?"
"He asked us to."
"And you don't know why Dizzy was talking about it?"
"She was in a terrible state, and my guess is that she felt a little bit bad for him. While he seems to hate her, I think he's secretly got a soft spot for her."
"So you agree that he can be good?"
"He's just been taught to hide it, and damn does he hide it well." You guessed, but were honestly not completely sure of the true answer. "That's just what I'm assuming." You took a second before speaking again. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Do you like him? Like...really really like him?"
"I...I do." She seemed to be realising something. "I really really really like him. And I think he likes me too. I hope he does."
"I think he does."
"Hey Bethany!" Carlos came over, only just realising that Bethany was present. "You know a lot about stuff right?"
"Uh I guess so yeah."
"Are there any pink trees in Auradon?"
"I believe there's one in the centre of the Sherwood Forest in Westerly." She thought. "I visited it when I was younger, really beautiful. It's actually where people like to camp out when going to the annual archery festival."
"There we go, found a pink tree. What do we do now?" Carlos turned to you.
"Now we need to go to it and pull one of the branches three times, then we'll know where the rabbit hole is." You claimed.
"You guys are going to Wonderland?" Bethany joined in.
"Yeah." You confirmed.
"We're going to try." Carlos added.
"Sounds like fun, good luck." She smiled before going back to her book, cuing you and Carlos to leave.
The two of you decided that you would visit Wonderland on Friday evening. In the meantime, the sun was setting and it was a school night. You decided to grab some food and take it up to your bedroom for Arabella and Darcy, who didn't appear very grateful when they snatched it from your hands. As you watched them gobble it down, there was a knock at the door. You groaned and opened it ever so slightly, blocking the two girls. You groaned even more once you saw Randy at the other side.
"This might be really weird but...do you think I could borrow a bed? Or even sleep on your couch if you have one? Or even the floor?" He immediately wondered.
"Why don't you just sleep in your own bed?"
"I would but Anthony told me to get out and stay out of our room so..."
"Since when has anything he's told you worked?"
"If I'm being honest, I'm scared of that boy after the tree thing."
"Fair enough," you shrugged, "but sorry, my hands are full here, I can't let you stay. Try literally anybody else."
"But-"
"Keep in mind that the person you're running from is a good friend of mine." You were getting slightly annoyed by Randy. He understood, for once in his life, and left you.
"Does that mean we can see that little bitch?" Arabella spoke once you closed the door in reference to her brother.
"I think he's been released so I guess, I'll go get him."
"Wait, released?" Darcy stopped you. "You mean he did something to get in trouble? He slipped up?"
"No!" You tried to think of an excuse. "I mean...released from...being near...Randy..."
"I don't know who that is so I don't care." They went back to eating.
"Okay well...I'll go get him..."
"Just take us to him, I want out of this hideous room." Arabella stood up and dragged her cousin up.
"But you might be seen." You protested.
"I don't care, I'll just say I'm you." Darcy began to open the door. "Although I don't think I'm that ugly."
"I beg to differ." Arabella pushed Darcy out the way to open the door herself. It's just around past curfew anyway, so you were hoping everyone would be in bed by now.
"Just keep your head down, follow me and don't make any noise." You ordered them as you began to lead them towards the males section of the dorms. Just as you reached Anthony and Randy's dorm room, believing you'd made it without being caught, you heard Francis call your name. "Oh hey." You smiled at him trying to block the Tremaine girls. "Have fun with Ginny?"
"Yeah of course I did," he grinned, "I don't recognise you two." He looked at the girls. Once Arabella looked up at Francis, she instantly pushed you aside and introduced herself.
"I'm Arabella-" She took his hand, but was pushed out of the way by Darcy.
"And I'm Darcy, it's wonderful to meet you."
"You're so handsome." Arabella gushed, pushing her cousin out of the way once more. You placed your face in your palms at the sight of their flirting attempts.
"I'm sorry but we're really in a hurry." You tried to divert them.
"I'll lose some time for you." Darcy went to stroke his arm, but you pulled her and her cousin away.
"You guys are supposed to be acting lowkey." You scolded them quietly before turning to Francis. "I know this is weird and I'll explain it in the morning but we're really in a hurry. Could you please not tell anyone about this?"
"You mean lie?" Francis raised his eyebrows.
"It's not lying it's just...withholding the truth." You put your hands together and made a begging mime.
"Okay..." Francis sighed. "Goodnight."
"Night." The girls giggled and waved flirtatiously as he walked away. You rolled your eyes and banged your fist on Anthony's door.
"What-Oh." He swung the door open, his annoyed stature immediately changing upon seeing his relatives.
"Surprise." You said un-enthusiastically as the three of you entered the room.
"How did you get here?" Anthony closed the door.
"Secret tunnel." Arabella began to inspect his room. "Grandmother sent us."
"I gather that." He rolled his eyes. "I'm doing fine with everything she wants me to."
"Where have you been since you got back?" Darcy tried to intimidate him, but he didn't seem to care.
"Busy." He claimed.
"Doing what?"
"Nothing important."
"How long do you think it'll be before you get everything done?" Arabella looked up at him. "She's getting impatient. So are we."
"I think she'll understand that this takes time, and I honestly couldn't give a shit about your patience."
"You think you're so fucking great." Darcy sneered.
"I don't think, I know."
"You're a fucking bitch." Arabella huffed.
"No shit." He scoffed. "At least I'm likeable."
"Debatable." Darcy crossed her arms.
You jumped at the sound of knocking on the door. While the three of them continued to give each other dirty looks, you looked through the peephole and saw Doug standing next to Randy. "It's Doug." You announced, gesturing for the two girls to hide. They dashed off into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.
"You need to hide too." Anthony told you as there was yet another knock at the door. You dashed and hid behind the bed closest to the door. "What's up?" You heard him say as he opened the door.
"Sorry to tell you, but you can't just kick your dorm mate out." Doug said.
"You expect me to sleep in the same room as this freak?"
"Yes. If you have a problem with who you're sharing a room with, take it to administration in the morning." Doug explained. You heard huffing and shuffling about before the door finally closed.
"Stand up Y/N." Anthony said as soon as the door was shut. You saw that Randy had been let in.
"That razor works so well." Darcy popped her head out of the bathroom door.
"So much better than the ones at home." Arabella also poked her head out the side of the door, wiping shaving cream off her upper lip.
"Why are they here?" Randy's eyes widened.
"None of your business dickweasel." Anthony said harshly.
"I'm gonna tell." Randy stated.
"Do you really wanna do that?" The two boys looked at each other for a moment. Randy sighed and shook his head.
"Seems like you're getting in more trouble than you should be." Arabella fished for a reason to get her brother scolded.
"Just get out." He told them.
"We'll be back to talk to you later. Without these imbeciles." Darcy waltzed towards the door.
You mouthed an apology to Anthony as you followed Arabella and Darcy out. You weren't as successful staying 'low-key' as your initial journey, immediately seeing two figures walking down the hallway in your direction. Luckily, it didn't take you long to realise it was just Harry and Gil.
"OMG hey!" The two girls rushed over to them, with you walking behind.
"I forgot you guys went here now." Darcy latched onto Gil, while Arabella grabbed onto Harry.
"I didn't." Arabella said enticingly, tracing circles on your boyfriend's arm. "I couldn't forget about you."
"That's wonderful but," Harry spun Arabella around and away from himself, "can't talk right now."
"You're not meant to be here." Gil stated in confusion.
"Don't tell anyone." You demanded while Harry stood closer to you, trying to get it across to Arabella that he's not interested in her.
"It's our little secret." Darcy giggled flirtatiously.
"We should really be getting back to bed," you grabbed Darcy and pulled her away from Gil, "we don't wanna get caught."
"You sure you can't stay?" Harry whispered to you, placing one hand on your waist and running his hook down your arm.
"I'd love to," you shivered, "but I need to take care of them. Plus it's a school night, that would be very bad." You smirked.
"I'll stay." Arabella and Darcy both held onto Harry's arms.
"It's late." He shoved them off himself, so they went to cling to Gil, but he rushed inside his bedroom. "Night." Harry kissed you on the cheek before following Gil inside.
"Why would you turn him down?" Darcy questioned as the three of you began to walk back to your room.
"He's so gorgeous, I'd never turn down a guy like him." Arabelled gushed.
"He's my boyfriend." You informed them, to which they gasped.
"I don't believe you." Darcy shook her head.
"In what world would Harry Hook want a girlfriend?" Arabella scrunched up her nose. "Doesn't sound very believable."
"Then don't believe it," you shrugged, "doesn't make a difference to me."
You soon reached you and Ginny's dorm room, opening the door and letting the girls in before you. Ginny huffed as soon as she noticed them come in. "Gross, they're back."
"Shut up, you're ugly!" Arbella said defensively.
"Course I am." Ginny rolled your eyes.
"Okay you two," you pointed towards Arabella and Darcy, changing the subject, "can sleep in my bed. Ginny, we're sharing a bed."
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Hi guys
So once again I have returned and this time I'm spamming a few chapters on just for fun.
Idk if anyone's gonna read this or even read this author's note.
Omg if you're reading this, here's a little fun question just cause I'm curious:
Do any of you guys ship any characters in this story? (obviously Y/N and Harry is a given) If so, who're your favourite ships so far?!
I'm so curious bc I know I have my own and I want to see what you guys think if any of you even answer lol.
Anyways, hope everyone has an amazing day!
Bye y'all!