This is a full story that will loosely follow the plot of descendants. Very loosely. Leave your reviews and let me know if I should continue, and I hope you enjoy.
One summer evening, one of the last they'd have for a while, Mal and her best friend (even though she would never admit it) Carlos were perched on top of Auradon Prep, watching the sunset over the miles of trees that swept around the border of the island, enjoying the cool air.
Mal let out a content sigh, watching the colors drip over the sky, changing beautiful shades of orange, pink, and red. Mal sat, quietly tracing the skyline on her old notepad, when Carlos had to go and open his mouth.
"Mal?," he started, a timidness in his voice as he spoke up, his eyes trained on the grass down below, where students walked to and from. He didn't wait for her reply. "Senior year is starting, have you thought that like, we haven't done much, since we've been here?"
Mal's curiosity was peaked and she set down her pencils and paper, leaning back on her palms, ignoring the pebbles poking into her hand.
"Which part was us not doing much? When we snuck out into the city on the late bus, when we tagged Chad's dorm room, or when we hid in the cafeteria until everyone was gone and ate all the desert? Or the million other things I've dragged you into?" She said, turning to look at the freckled boy.
He sighed, his eyes looking back down at the couples on the grass.
"No, that's not what I meant," he said, his voice trailing off. He looked back up to see Mal giving him curious eyes, flicking a strand of purple hair past her shoulders
She had gone with pink hair and bangs back in junior year, but went back to her roots over her summer. Literally.
"Just forget it," he sighed, stretching his feet out in front of him and suddenly feeling embarrassed under her frowning gaze.
"No come on Carlos, what do you mean?" She said, scooting over close to him and resting her head on his shoulder. He smiled and kicked his feet against hers; he always enjoyed when his best friend was touchy. She had come a long way from the hard, ruthless little girl that had left the Isle with him two years ago. It was moments like these that made him remember that.
"I guess I meant - god this sounds dumb - we haven't been in any relationships here. And, I don't know, it's so different from the Isle where that kind of thing wasn't even allowed, and all the couples look so happy, being able to see your boyfriend or girlfriend everyday at school. And I know we'll have that someday, but it'll be different once we graduate," he ended, reaching up to twirl a piece of Mal's hair as he talked, his voice kind of small and self doubting.
Mal picked her head up off his shoulder, looking at him. Her expression softened as she looked at the sort of embarrassed look on his face.
"It's not dumb Carlos," she said, running a hand that was on his shoulder comfortingly down his back, "I know what you mean, but it's okay. You don't need a girlfriend to have an amazing senior year, and it'll happen when it's suppose to," she said, tilting her head and giving him a warm smile.
This was another one of those moments for Carlos.
"Um Mal, about that, um can I talk to you about something else?" he asked, suddenly becoming fidgety, his fingers picking at each other.
"Carlos, the next time you ask me that, I'll hit you."
Yes, she'd certainly changed from that little girl on the Isle, but she was still his Mal.
"Well, for the past few months I've kind of been thinking, I don't want a girlfriend," he said, his voice growing quiet as she spoke, his gaze leaving Mal's.
Mal gave him a confused, kind of annoyed look.
"Well then why were you just talking about wanting a relati- ohhh..." she said, realization hitting her.
Carlos rolled his eyes.
"Well that's okay too. I know it wasn't talked much about back on the Isle," she said, her eyes subconsciously moving towards the dark Island that was placed far off in the water, "but there's tons of clubs here for lgbt people," Mal said, taking on a comforting tone.
Carlos squeezed Mal's hand, resting his head on her shoulder this time.
He sort of expected Mal to say something along with that, because a blind man could see the way her gaze followed girls a bit more than boys. But Carlos was not the kind of guy to bring that up until the person was ready.
"Thanks Mal," he said, shivering slightly at the breezy night air setting in.
She laughed and stood up, pulling him up with her and giving him a hug. He smiled, embracing her warmth and wrapping his arms around her smaller frame.
"You know I'm always here for you bud. Now come on, I'll sneak you into my dorm and we can watch that new Bisney movie. What's it called again?" She asked, keeping her arms around his waist as they walked to the ladder that led down to the back of the school.
"Um, I think it was called Descendant? I forget."
Later that night, after grabbing some plates of food from what was left of dinner in the cafeteria, Carlos and Mal were walking back to Mal's dorm, Mal carrying an overflowing plate of chocolate covered strawberries, and Carlos carrying, well, just a ton of plates.
Mal had her head thrown back in laughter about something Carlos had said, when she was stopped by a tall figure coming out in front of her.
"Mal! Do you have a second?" Ben asked, looking between the two shorter figures, smiling kindly.
"Sure Ben, what's up?" Mal asked, resting her weight on one foot and looking up into the beasts sons eyes.
"I'm so sorry to be putting this on you right now, but you know that fire that lit up on the west side of the school last week?" He asked, his face a little distraught at the memory.
There had been a huge fire that lit up and destroyed about three dorms on the other side of school, the reason why still unknown.
"Oh yeah, what about it?" Carlos said, answering for Mal.
"Well you see, we have all the kids that were in those dorms sleeping in the hospital right now because we thought it was just take about a week to get their rooms back together," he explained, and Mal tilted her head, clearly confused what this had to do with her.
"But it seems like it's going to take a bit longer than that. Auradon Prep is pretty old, and the more we looked into the rooms to fix them, the more we found problems with it. So we're forced to have some kids rooming with another, and you're one of our lucky winners!" He said, using that charming smile.
"What?" Mal said, standing straighter on both feet. "How did I get so lucky?" she hissed, and she only calmed down a bit when she felt Carlos hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Mal, but you're one of the only rooms left without a dorm partner. It won't be for long, I promise," he said, guilt in his eyes.
Mal opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Ben's cellphone dinging. He looked down and back up, giving an apologetic look towards the two.
"I'm really sorry Mal, but I have to run now. Thanks for being so, um, understanding," he said, before setting his hand on Mal's shoulder, giving Carlos a smile and disappearing down the hallway between them.
Carlos stared laughing, but was cut short by a rough hit to the back of his head.
A moment later, he chased Mal down the hallway.
"Oh by the way Mal, I invited this guy Jay to see the new movie and his friend Evie, if that's alright," he said, and Mal simply sighed and glanced at him, ready to snap at him.
She softened, seeing his nervous look. She wished she could show him he doesn't have to be so nervous and fidgeting, his mother isn't here anymore and he's safe now.
I probably don't help much with that, she thought. Then she decided that was a thought for another day.
"Of course bud," she said, knocking her shoulder into his and he smiled, staying quiet the rest of the way to her room.
"Mal, get the door!"
"You get it, they're your friends!"
"I'm setting up the movie, since you refuse to let me teach how to use your television, after two years!"
He had her there.
With a sigh, she pushed up off her bed and walked over to the door, pulling it open.
"Hi Jay," she said, pulling open the door wide for the boy. She had a couple classes with him, and they talked here and there when making fun of teachers behind their back.
"Hey purple!" He said happily, walking inside.
Mal rolled her eyes.
Then came Evie.
Mal had seen her on campus here and there, from far away. They had no classes together, since Evie was in all honors programs, of course.
But up close, oh. my. god.
She was stunning.
Long, dark blue hair that fell in waves down her shoulders, warm, golden brown eyes that reminded Mal of nature, and an amazing body that was adorably covered in a baggy sweatshirt, and long pajamas pants with apple prints on them.
"Hello, Mal, is it?" Evie said, and Mal for some reason felt like her mouth was a little dry.
"Y-Yeah, its Mal, come on in," she said, stepping aside to let the taller girl in.
Evie walked in, and Mal was hit with a strong smell of apples and vanilla.
"Alright guys, the movies starting, come on," Carlos said, pulling Mal out of her trance. The girls headed over and joined the boys on the couch, and Mal made sure to sit the furthest from Evie as possible.
An hour and a half passed and the four started discussing the movie.
"Oh Mallory shouldn't have needed up with that lame prince, what a disappointment," Mal said, tossing a piece of popcorn at the tv.
"Totally, and I can't believe that wonderful Everleigh had to end up with some dopey, borderline stalker. They should've just put the girls together," she huffed, and Mal stole a curious glance at her.
Carlos picked up the remote, asking around if they wanted to put on something else. Jay and Mal agreed, but Evie stood up.
"Id love to, but I have to get my bag from the hospital before the rooms close and find the dorm I'm joining tonight. Ben only bothered to tell me tonight, but I know he has a lot on his plate," she said, pulling her hair up into a bun.
Mal tore her eyes away from her fingers working in her hair to look at her.
"Oh, you were in one of those dorms that burned down? I'm so sorry Evie," Carlos said, turning towards the girl more.
"It's fine, at least I don't have to room with Aurdrey for a while," she smiled.
"Well what room are you in?" Mal asked, absentmindedly taking the necklace dangling around her pale skin into her mouth, playing around with it between her teeth.
"Oh gosh, what number did Ben say it was, um..." she trailed off, slipping her phone out of her pocket and scrolling through a couple things.
"Ah, here it is," she said, locking her phone and sliding it back in the pocket of her hoodie, "I'm in dorm 804," she said.
Mal realized before Carlos did, the necklace dropping from between her lips.
Carlos finally realized, looking over towards his purple haired friend.
"Mal, isn't that your dorm number?"
I hope you enjoyed, lemme know if you did.
-Melissa Jane