Hello lovely readers!
It is I, SmartyPants210, back with another story. This time it's about Descendants, because for some reason I love this movie, even though I'm probs too old for it. Oh well. If you haven't read my other story, I wrote one for Girl Meets World, so go check that one out if you're interested.
Anwyho, this is a story I've been working on for a while, actually. I am about a chapter or two away from finishing it, so that means I'm actually going to have a schedule for updating! Yay!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story!
I don't own Descendants, Disney does.
Chapter One.
"When you have finished your tests, turn them into the tray on my desk. Then you are free to go to lunch." The teacher announced.
Mal finished up the last question on her biology test before getting up and doing as the teacher requested. She looked around the room and saw all the other students still working, which was a first for her. She was never the one who finished before everyone else. In fact, she was usually the one to finish last.
But she felt really good about this test, probably because Ben had been her tutor throughout the last unit. He had really helped her start to understand this class, especially since he insisted that their study sessions be daily. She had teased him about this initially, saying that he was only doing this because he wanted an excuse to see her every day. But, she had to admit, it was nice being a part of the king's busy schedule. Without the study sessions, she would only see him at lunch. They had all the same classes, but they weren't ever at the same time. Ben had a special schedule that allowed him more time in his day to attend to his kingly duties.
Mal practically skipped to lunch, glad that the test was behind her. She was a horrible tester, and could almost never recall the information that she had learned in her lessons. Even with Ben's help, she had been dreading the test. But once she had sat down and started taking it, she was surprised at how easy it had been.
When she had gotten her lunch from the lunch ladies, she walked over to their little group's table, surprised to see Ben already sitting there. She was very early to lunch, as it only took her around half of her biology period to finish the test.
"Hey, Bennyboo," she teased, setting her tray down beside him before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek.
His face lit up with a bright smile, and he turned his head around for another kiss, which she received gladly. "Hey, how was your test?"
"It was actually really easy. I finished before everyone else."
"That's great, Mal!" Ben said, genuinely happy for her.
Mal beamed at the praise, and Ben leaned over to kiss her cheek.
"What was that for?" Mal asked.
"I just really love it when you smile like that," Ben confessed.
"Like this?" she asked, pulling a goofy grin.
Ben laughed. "Just like that."
"Aw, you guys are too cute together," Evie cooed, walking up to their table with Doug in tow.
The couple smiled.
"You two are here early," Mal remarked.
"Yeah, our AP Chem class got out early," Evie explained.
When Evie and Doug had been moved up to an AP class about a month ago, Evie had been ecstatic. Mal knew she deserved it, too. She was incredibly smart, and once she had shown the teacher that she was, she became his favorite student – next to Doug, of course.
They all chatted for a while before the others showed up. Once the group settled into their normal conversations, Mal began to sneak glances at Ben. He didn't participate in any of the conversations like he usually did. In fact, he didn't speak a word throughout the entire period. He just sat by her side, lost in his thoughts. Once the bell rang and everyone started to throw their leftovers away, Mal pulled him aside.
"Are you okay?" she asked him.
He seemed to snap out of his thoughts then, and assured her that he was fine. "Hey, I'm going to have to cancel our study date tonight," he told her. "I've got a meeting that can't be rescheduled."
Mal's face fell. So he was going to be distant with her all through lunch, and then cancel their time together?
"Is that okay?" he asked worriedly.
She wanted to tell him no, that it wasn't okay, but she instead opted to snap, "Yeah, whatever," and leave it at that.
"Can I walk you to class?" he asked, a little hurt by her harsh tone.
"I can find my way," Mal said, brushing off his offer. Normally she would be happy to spend time with him, but she was annoyed with him for being so distant at lunch.
"Okay," Ben said. Mal could tell that her words stung, and felt a pang of regret. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"
Mal nodded, and allowed him to kiss her cheek before walking off to her next class.
Two days later, Mal got her biology test back. The teacher gave it to her upside down on her desk, and she hesitated to turn it over. Once she did, she couldn't take her eyes off the score. 100%.
She didn't get a single question wrong. She couldn't wait to tell Ben.
After Mal had gotten angry at him, she had cooled down and realized that she had overreacted. She couldn't be Ben's number one priority because he had a kingdom to run. However, she couldn't apologize to him because of his meeting and then the day before he hadn't come to school.
As soon as the bell rang, she jumped up and hurried to lunch. Evie and Doug were already sat at the table, and Jay and Carlos were late as usual. But Ben was nowhere to be found. He wasn't usually late to anything, so Mal began to worry. She grew increasingly more and more worried as the minutes passed, but then Evie assured her that Ben was probably caught up in other things and she calmed down. Evie was right. He had missed lunches before due to his royal duties. She'd just tell him during their study date.
As the day dragged on, Mal started to get antsy for it to end. She really wanted to show Ben her score, but more importantly, she wanted to apologize to him for being rude a few days earlier.
Her last class of the day seemed to last forever. As soon as the bell rang, she was out of there and up to her shared dorm with Evie to freshen up before she had to go to the library.
Evie hadn't even returned before Mal was on her way. She wanted to surprise Ben by getting there before him, which was something she rarely ever achieved.
Sure enough, the library was almost empty when she reached it, and Ben was nowhere to be found. Mal settled at their usual table and got out her laptop, beginning her English essay.
She finished the essay, and Ben was still not there. So, she pulled out her giant history textbook (which was basically just a storybook) and started to read the assigned pages. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep, her head resting on the open book like a pillow. She slept for almost an hour before the librarian came over and woke her, telling her that the library would be closing in half an hour. Deciding that it wasn't worth it to wait any longer, Mal packed her bag and returned, dejected, to her dorm. Evie was sitting at her desk when she arrived, and she didn't look up from her homework when Mal walked into the room.
"How was your study date?" she asked.
Mal simply fell onto her bed and groaned.
"That bad, huh?" Evie guessed.
"He didn't even show up." Mal explained. Suddenly she sat up. "E, what if he's mad at me?"
"Could be," Evie said distractedly.
"How do I fix it?" Mal asked.
"You talk to him," Evie told her. "In fact, curfew isn't for another two hours. I bet you could go down to the palace, have a chat, and be back before anyone could punish you for being out too late."
"You think so?"
Evie nodded. "I do."
"Okay," Mal said. "I'll do that then." She stood up and grabbed her bag again. "Thanks E!" she said before running out the door. She called a taxi, and before she knew it, she was walking up the magnificent steps of the castle.
Mal had been there before – a few times for royal dinners, fewer times for more secluded study dates with Ben in his own personal library, and once she had stayed the night because she'd accidentally stayed past curfew and neither her nor Ben wanted to get in trouble.
Mal went straight up to Ben's room, but the maid answered the door and Mal knew that he wouldn't be in there while she was tidying up.
She tried his library, but couldn't find him there either. Finally, she tried the kitchen, knowing that it was one of his favorite places in the entire palace. He loved to sit and talk to Mrs. Potts and Chef Bouche. He once told her that he could listen to their stories about his parents all day.
Immediately upon arriving in the kitchen, Mal knew something was up. Both Adam and Belle were sitting at the counter that Ben usually sat, and from what Mal had gathered from her visits to the castle, they almost never went into the kitchen together. Mrs. Potts and Chef Bouche weren't cooking, as they seemed to always be, they were standing at the counter with the former king and queen. The looks on their faces worried Mal, as all four of the adults looked troubled and sad.
"Mal?" Belle asked quietly.
"I-I'm just looking for Ben," Mal assured her. She didn't want the woman to think she was trying to intrude.
Belle turned her face away, and Adam wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.
"Mal, honey," Mrs. Potts said carefully, "Ben is missing."
"What?" Mal asked, even though she knew exactly what the old woman had said.
"He was gone all yesterday, and wasn't here today either," Mrs. Potts explained.
"Then what are we all standing around here for?" Mal demanded. "Shouldn't we be out looking for him?"
"We have almost the entire royal guard out there right now, looking for him," Adam informed her. "Problem is, we don't know where he would've gone, or why."
"Mal, do you have any idea where he could be?" Mrs. Potts asked.
Mal shook her head. She pressed her lips together and looked up at the ceiling, willing her tears to go away. She couldn't cry. Not here.
"I-I mean, he was acting a little weird two days ago at lunch…but that doesn't tell us where he is," Mal said.
"It helps, Mal," Mrs. Potts assured her. "It helps."
"You said you had guards checking everywhere?" Mal asked.
Adam nodded.
"So where exactly is everywhere?"
"We're starting them closer to where we live," Adam said. "But if he isn't found around here, we'll move all over Auradon."
"Okay," Mal said, more to herself than to anyone else. "Make sure they know to check the Enchanted Lake," she offered, even though she was pretty sure they'd already thought of that.
"Thank you, Mal," Mrs. Potts said. She came around the counter and gave the teenager a hug that comforted Mal more than she cared to admit.
"I-I should probably get going," Mal said, checking the clock. "Curfew's in ten minutes."
Mrs. Potts nodded in understanding. "You go, honey," she said.
"Goodnight," Mal said to everyone before turning on her heel and leaving the place.
As she walked back to Auradon Prep, a million thoughts clouded her mind. Ben was missing. And the last thing she'd done with him was get mad for cancelling their date. How stupid was she?
Mal reached her dorm, and opened the door cautiously. She didn't really want to face Evie at the moment. She felt numb, and she probably had that look written all over her face.
Unfortunately, Evie hadn't moved since Mal had left, and looked up this time when Mal walked into the room.
"Mal?" she asked. "What happened?"
Mal sat on her bed and didn't meet Evie's eyes. "He's gone," she said vaguely.
"What?" Evie asked, confused.
"Ben is missing," Mal told her.
Dun dun dunnnn!
Alrighty that's all for now. You got to have some mushy Bal stuff in the beginning, and then we jumped right into the drama. Mwah ha ha! Don't worry, I won't deprive you of Bal the whole story. I love me some Bal fluff just as much as the next person.
I will be updating this story every Sunday, but I'm hoping to get all the chapters posted before the second movie comes out, so since there are 13-14 chapters in this story I might post twice on some weeks. We'll see.
Please leave me a review, I absolutely LOVE hearing from my readers. Who knows, maybe I'll start replying to reviews before new chapters like other authors seem to do. That'd be cool. Would you guys want me to do that?
Okay, so, I know I'm the most awkward person in my author's notes so I'll stop rambling now. But I hope you come back for the next chapter, because it'll be here next week!
Have an amazing day, and until next time!
~SmartyPants210
