Audrey wasn't going to lie—she felt incredibly stressed. More so than she felt back when she was dating Ben, when she thought she was going to be Queen of Auradon. Everywhere she turned, Natalie and her grandmother were there with more things she needed to be doing or critiquing her appearance. Had she done her lessons? Worked out so that she'd keep her figure? Why had she changed her dress?
The dress. While Audrey had loved wearing a copy of her mother's dress at Ben's coronation, she hated wearing what her grandmother had picked out for her. Somehow her grandmother had found a leather jumpsuit version of her mother's dress from when her mother was sixteen.
"Finally some good has come of those VKs coming to Auradon," Leah had muttered upon finding the jumpsuit online and ordering it. More importantly, she had ordered enough of the jumpsuit to fill Audrey's closet.
Audrey thought she had found a flaw in her grandmother's logic—after all, Audrey's closet was already filled with her clothes. Clothes she enjoyed wearing and that flattered her better than the jumpsuit did. But of course Leah thought of that too and Audrey was forced to watch as Natalie cleared out the walk in closet and replaced every item of clothing with the jumpsuits.
Do you just derive some pleasure out of this, Natalie? Or are you some mindless drone, existing only to make people miserable at Grammy's command? Audrey thought as she stood in the middle of her bedroom; her perfectly manicured hands balled into fists as she saw her clothes carelessly thrown into trash bags to be replaced with the leather monstrosity.
"After all," Leah said in that sickly sweet tone of voice that Audrey had come to loathe as she walked into Audrey's bedroom, "you couldn't have expected to walk away without some punishment, could you Audrey?"
"Punishment, Grammy?" Audrey asked, tilting her head and hoping she had misheard her grandmother. Audrey wasn't surprised her grandmother knew the word 'punishment', she just was surprised her grandmother could apply it to Audrey and not only Phillip Jr. "I...I don't understand. I'm grounded after all as you've reminded me, mother has punished me."
"Oh I'm not talking about your mother's draconian measures to make the VKs comfortable," Leah said, waving her hand in front of her face as if batting off a bothersome fly. "But you let Ben slip through your fingers. We've been planning to have you be queen since you were three and you just let Mal waltz in and steal him. Surely you didn't think that was going to go without reprimand?"
"Grammy, you were at the first viewing too. What was I supposed to do against a love potion cookie?" Audrey snapped. She honestly was getting sick and tired of her grandmother, a feeling that was foreign to her. Audrey normally longed for her two week stay at her grandmother's castle.
When are mother and father returning from Queen Snows's kingdom? Audrey thought. They should be back by now. Phil's already returned to Auradon Prep, classes have started...has no one noticed I'm not there?
She was sure that her phone, which was still in her grandmother's clutches, was probably filled to the brim with missed calls and texts. But if that was the case why hadn't anyone stopped by? Or called the castle instead of trying her cell? They did have landlines in the event the cell towers went out and the king was visiting just so he could be reached if needed.
"Ah but Audrey, you saw that it washed away on their first date...and Ben decided to stay with Mal, instead of return back to your side. I guess you weren't bad enough for him. After all you never spelled him like Mal did—and the only reason she did so was to destroy all of Auradon. Looks like she's getting her wish," Leah sighed, pulling Audrey out of her thoughts and back to the living nightmare before her. "You would have been the perfect queen of Auradon. But there's still time to correct this little mishap."
Audrey bit her lip, an idea coming to the forefront of her mind. "Grammy, I...I haven't had contact with Ben since you arrived, other than the yearbook photoshoot. If I am to...convince him that he and I are a better fit, wouldn't...wouldn't it be better if I saw him?"
Ben might not have been able to pick up the subliminal hints Audrey had dropped at their photo session but there was no way he'd be able to miss the obvious signs something was wrong.
Audrey's hair was bright blonde with streaks of pink and blue once more, just like it had been before the viewing. Ben had been there when Audrey had asked Mal to change it back. The fact that it was blonde once more should be a massive red flag to Ben—to this day, Audrey still didn't know what her grandmother was on about with her statement of Ben preferring blondes.
Not to mention she hadn't been outside all summer so her skin looked more washed out than it had previously. She looked almost sickly.
She and Ben been friends since they were three. If Ben didn't notice something was wrong after seeing her like this, Audrey was in serious trouble.
"Oh but Audrey, don't you know that chasing after boys never works?" Leah said, shaking her head as if they'd had this conversation already. "Let Ben come to you. Sooner or later he'll get tired of Mal's floundering and come back to you, a true bred royal."
"So does that mean I need to start pounding down a princess' door?"
Audrey had never been so happy or confused to see her little brother in her life as she whirled around to see him leaning on the doorframe. She'd stick with happy while her grandmother was there however. If Phillip Jr. had a plan, she didn't want to ruin it.
"Phillip!" Audrey exclaimed in delight, rushing over to hug him. "Don't you ever leave me alone with her again!"
Phillip chuckled to hide the hiss Audrey had just uttered into his ear. "Why Audrey, one might have thought you missed me or something," he said as they parted. "I thought I'd stop by for the weekend since I haven't seen my sister since school started. Now I understand I'm rescuing a princess from a crazy old bat? Oh, no offense grandmother."
"A prince shows respect to their grandmother Phillip," Leah sniffed. "I'll leave you two alone but Audrey, remember that it's almost time for your lessons. Don't dawdle now."
Leah walked out and Phillip Jr. stuck his tongue out at her retreating back, causing Audrey to burst into giggles as soon as she thought her grandmother was safely out of earshot.
"Are you okay?" Phillip Jr. asked, noticing the giggles as he turned back to his sister. "Normally, you're telling me to show Grandmother respect. Who are you and what've you done to Audrey?"
Audrey sighed, sobering up. "Phil, you've got to get me out of here!"
"Why? Being pampered by Grandmother getting to be too much for you?" Phillip Jr. scoffed.
"Pampered?!" Audrey exclaimed, more than a little taken aback at Phillip Jr.'s attitude toward her, considering he'd been downright jovial just a few seconds ago. Unless that had all been an act, a front to put on in front of their Grandmother? "Phil, she's trying to turn me into mother!"
"Finally caught on have you?" Phillip chuckled wryly. "Only took you..oh seventeen years?"
"Sixteen, I haven't had my birthday yet."
"Semantics," Phillip Jr. said, waving his hand as if the word was a fly that was irritating him just as Leah had done previously though he'd deny it if you dared to make the comparison. "Either way, you were content to let it happen back when we were younger. Why is now any different?"
"Because she wants to use me to break up Mal and Ben!"
The silence that hung between them after Audrey's declaration was palpable. Audrey watched as her little brother stared at her for a good five minutes. Then, to Audrey's horror, he began to laugh.
"Oh Audrey, you almost had me fooled. There's no way you'd actually be concerned about that," Phillip Jr. told her as his laughter died down. "You've dreamed about being with Ben since you were three. You sicced Grandmother on Mal for 'stealing' Ben from you at Family Day—remember the viewing didn't gain its golden frame until after you showed up during Grandmother's and Mal's conversation. Hell, Mal told us about how you called him 'Bennyboo' at your photoshoot."
"Mal told you about that?"
"Yep. Well, she told Evie who told Kitty who told Paige who told—"
"I get it," Audrey sighed, knowing how efficient Auradon Prep's gossip chain is. She had been the head of it back when she'd been dating Ben. Now it seemed that she was just a cog in the system.
Phillip Jr. shook his head. "Sometimes I don't understand you Audrey. If you weren't trying to get Ben back, then why'd you call him that?"
"I...Grammy was there. At the photoshoot. I needed something that would get Ben to ask me if something was wrong or pull me to the side. That was the first thing I could think of."
"And clearly that worked," Phillip Jr. scoffed. "You can't honestly expect me to believe that you're not loving this a little? Being lavished by Grandmother the way you always are?"
"You could have called mother or father you know," Audrey snapped, more than a little tired of her brother treating her like the villain. "Why is it my fault that Grammy's still here? You had your phone! You could have called mother and father the minute you saw Grammy was here!"
"How many times have I gone to mom or dad about Grandmother only for them to dismiss me as 'overreacting'?" Phillip Jr. snapped back. "How many times have they told me not to spread lies when I went to them about Grandmother calling me 'just a spare'? You were mom's favorite and Grandmother's favorite. You know, you seemed to be almost tolerable after the last viewing, finally growing up, but I guess you're just the same vain, self absorbed, crown obsessed—"
The resounding smack that cut Phillip Jr. off stunned him into silence as he stared at Audrey, her right hand still lifted in the air and shaking slightly in rage. She'd slapped him so hard, she had actually turned his head making it so that he was now looking at Audrey's bookshelf instead of at his sister.
"Get out." Audrey told him, her voice cool.
"Audrey—"
"No. If you're not going to believe me, then get out! You'd rather have this childish grudge against me for something I couldn't help, be my guest! But of course mother and father not believing you is my fault. Because I'm always to blame aren't I? I let Ben slip through my fingers, let Mal just slide in and steal him!"
Phillip Jr. shook his head. "Gods you've gone round the bend. Enjoy your time with Grandmother, Audrey. You two really deserve each other. But it'll be lonely because I'll tell you what, I will not step foot into this castle while she's here."
"And what would you do when school lets out?" Audrey shot back. "Fairy Godmother won't let you live in the dorms!"
"Melody invited me to stay with her," Philip Jr. said, rolling his eyes as if that should have been obvious to Audrey. "I told her and Elle that Grandmother was here and she had the invite out before I could finish my sentence."
"For...for both of us?"
Audrey couldn't even feel shame at the hope in her voice. All she cared about was finally getting out of the castle. Her childhood home had become her prison, her grandmother had made staying there almost unbearable and now that escape seemed within her grasp, she felt almost giddy.
"After what you used to do to Kitty? Sticking cat litter in her locker?" Phillip Jr. asked, raising an eyebrow, and Audrey felt her hopes drop just as quickly as they had risen. "After the time you messed with Elle's chair when you were thirteen? You're lucky Elle never told her parents otherwise Auroria would probably be in a feud with King Eric's kingdom. Not to mention Atlantica and Olympus, considering who Elle's mother, father and great-grandfather are."
"Phil, please," Audrey whispered.
Phillip Jr. shrugged. "I'd love to help sis, but you're the future queen of Auroria and I'm just a spare, as Grandmother always says. What do you need me for?"
Turning to leave, he said, "oh by the way? In the future, it's best practice not to slap someone when you need their help."
Audrey watched in shock as her little brother left, not just her room but the castle as well judging by the sounds in the main foyer. As she heard the front door shut, Audrey sank to her knees. Silent tears poured down her cheeks as she realized that no help was coming.
Ben had heard her call him Bennyboo and ignored it, Audrey had assumed that he just hadn't heard it. Mal had heard it and gone to Evie, not out of concern for Audrey but to complain about her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend.
And now...because she had snapped...Phillip Jr., her own brother, wasn't even going to help her! She truly had no friends left.
Other than Natalie and her Grandmother it seemed.
"Audrey?" Leah called and Audrey quickly stood up, wiping all tell tale signs of crying from her face. A princess never showed that she was upset to others, that was what her grandmother and Natalie always said.
"Phillip left?" Leah asked as she entered Audrey's room.
"Yes," Audrey nodded. "He asked me to give his apologies for not saying goodbye to you Grammy but he needed to run back to Auradon Prep."
Leah nodded. "At least your mother taught you manners. Honestly, where did they go wrong with that boy? Oh but that's neither here nor there. I just got off the phone with Fairy Godmother."
Fairy Godmother knows Grammy's here? Great! She can contact mother and father and they can come back from Queen Snow's kingdom!
"Since I am your emergency contact, she was rather thankful to hear from me seeing as you haven't been back to campus," Leah continued and Audrey's hopes were dashed for the second time that day. "I worked out an agreement with her however, and she will be allowing you to return to campus and graduate with your peers."
"Really?" Audrey asked, almost daring to hope for the third time.
"Yes. Unfortunately you will need to attend summer school to make up the work you've missed. This will require that you have a chaperone considering that you are not eighteen," Leah continued. "Thankfully I volunteered my services since there is nothing else for me to do as Ben stripped me of my title and your parents are still assisting Queen Snow with her emergency."
"So...so you'd be at school with me?" Audrey asked faintly. There was truly no escape...unless she got back with Ben. It was becoming clear that was the only option. Audrey hated to do it to Mal, it was clear that both the daughter of Maleficent and the son of Belle loved each other.
But Audrey needed her life back. She needed her sanity back. She needed her grandmother off her back.
"Sounds fun. I always look forward to spending time with you Grammy," she told Leah with a fake smile plastered to her face. Leah nodded and walked off, reminding Audrey of her lessons but Audrey paid her no mind. Gently closing the door to her bedroom, Audrey picked up one of the pillows on her bed and held it to her face.
She didn't know how long she screamed but she knew that she screamed at the top of her lungs, all her frustration and pent up rage spilling out with every high pitched decibel.
Audrey didn't know how she was going to get Ben back. But she knew it had to be done. Otherwise she'd have her grandmother on her until her mother and father returned or until her grandmother died. And honestly, it was cruel to think, but Audrey didn't know which one would happen first.
She sighed and put the pillow down and walked over to her vanity to smooth out the smudged makeup that had gotten messed up from the pillow; making her face flawless once more. The last thing she wanted to do was give her grandmother any sign that she was upset.
She had worn the mask this long—what was a few more months?