This is the story of Evie after the events of "Call Me A Schemer, Call Me A Freak." Enjoy.
Leave a review after reading. Please.
Everyone's favorite blue-haired beauty, Evie, the daughter of Evil Queen, has become Auradon's most miserable person. The pain of losing both her best friend and the love of her life was too much to bear that she visits their graves practically every day. She does so again, but this time, she leaves a red rose on Carlos' grave. After another night of staring at gravestones, she returns to her dorm, only to receive a surprise. She saw someone sitting on Mal's bed. The purple hair and the purple clothes made Evie gasp in surprise.
"Mal? Is that you?" she asked.
The person turns around and looked at Evie. It was Mal. Evie's open mouth became a smile. She rushes over and gives her friend a hug, but Mal pushes her away.
"Uh, why?" asked a confused Evie.
"Do you really think that I'm here?" questioned Mal.
"Well, I can see you right there," said Evie.
"Wake up, Evie! You're dreaming!" yelled Mal.
"Then why am I not waking up?" asked Evie.
"Maybe because this dream is trying to send a message," said Mal. She stands up and looks at Evie in the eye. "And I think that message is... this is all your fault."
"Excuse me?" responded an offended Evie.
Mal grabs Evie by the shirt and continues. "Do you know why there are two gravestones carved with my name and your true love's?"
"Maleficent?" answered Evie in a nervous tone.
"No," replied Mal. "You."
"Me?" asked a confused Evie.
Mal pushes Evie back to her bed. "The reason why Carlos is dead and I had to sacrifice myself was because my mom was free to take over the kingdom, and my mom wouldn't be free if it wasn't for you."
"We've been through this before, Mal," reminded Evie. "I thought we agreed to leave this in the past."
"Think about it, E. What would our lives been like if you never went to the Isle of the Lost for that stupid rose?" asked Mal.
"I just... wanted to tell Carlos how much he meant to me," said Evie in a sad, soft tone.
Mal once again looks at Evie face-to-face. "Our lives would've been better. We could've been really happy. Have fun all day long. No worrying about the world ending. But that never happened because you just couldn't let the past be the past."
"That rose was a symbol of my friendship with Carlos," said Evie. "It became the symbol of our love."
"Well, now you don't have love anymore," said Mal disrespectfully. "Look at yourself. You've become a loner who just wants to mourn 24/7, and the only person you can blame for your pain is yourself."
"Mal, stop, please," begged Evie. "You're making me feel that guilt all over again."
"If that's not painful enough, maybe this." Mal swings her fist at Evie's face.
Evie gasped and woke up from her dream. She tries to catch her breath, but the sight of the empty bed across her just made her feel worse. Voices begin to echo in her head. First, it was Mal's voice in her dream.
"The only person you can blame for your pain is yourself."
Next, she heard the words of Maleficent. "If you hadn't foolishly taken a trip to the Isle of the Lost for 'this,' I would never be here."
Evie begins to suffer from anxiety and extreme guilt. She can barely breathe properly and she feels her heart meeting abnormally. She gets up from bed, runs outside, and leans towards a wall in the hallway, trying to calm down. She leans back on the wall and slowly descends in despair.
"What is wrong with me?"
The next day, in science class, the students were just chatting until Mr. Deley shows up. Evie, however, was not feeling her usual self today. She is just sitting down, silent, depressed, and doodling on her note pad. Doug couldn't stand seeing her like this, so he talks to her.
"Hey, Evie, what're you drawing?" he started.
Evie didn't want to speak to him. Doug takes a look. It was just a bunch of hearts, science equations, and her pendant.
"Evie, I know this has been tough time for you, but you can't let this affect your education," said Doug.
Evie still refuses to speak.
"Say, uh, maybe you can teach me how to balance chemical equations?" suggested Doug, trying to get Evie back into study mode.
Evie puts down the pencil and looks at Doug. "Doug, I know you mean well, but, please, just leave me alone."
"Have you seen yourself yesterday?" reminded Doug. "You weren't paying attention."
"I know," said Evie.
"I may not know how you're feeling, but you can't spend the rest of your life like this," said Doug.
"Why do you care?" retorted Evie.
"We're friends, aren't we? Friends look out for each other," said Doug. "You're not the only one in grief. We all are, but we can't go back, we can only move forward."
Evie wipes her eyes and looks at Doug again. "And to think, you're the dork I fell in love with once."
Doug smiled, amused.
"Doug, I'm sorry, but I can't promise you anything," said Evie. "Thank you for caring, though."
Doug was about to say something, but Mr. Deley finally showed up. Doug gets into a proper position and looks at the teacher, while Evie continues staring at her notepad.
After science class, Evie was at her locker, fixing her stuff, when she froze. Her eyes were fixed on a picture she taped in the locker. It was a picture of her and Carlos. The sight of this just brings further sorrow to her.
"Hey, Evie!" called out Chad.
"Not now, Chad," said Evie.
"We need to talk," said Chad.
"I'm not in the mood," said Evie.
The second Chad puts his shoulder on Evie, the girl grabs the Tourney player by the shirt and holds him towards the lockers, attracting everyone's attention.
"I just wanted to tell you that Mr. Deley partnered us for the next science project. I wanted to ask when you wanted to meet after school," explained Chad.
Evie, now ashamed, hangs her head in despair, still holding Chad towards the lockers. She lets him go and walks away.
"I'll see you at 6, then?" suggested Chad.
After the school day is over, Evie just sat outside Castle Beast by herself, still in despair, but reading her science textbook. She agreed to see Chad at 9 pm for their science project. The blue-haired narcissist's privacy came to an end when Jay and the hero kids - Ben, Audrey, Chad, Lonnie, Jane, and Doug - all showed up at the same time
"Hi, Evie," greeted Ben. "Why're you here?"
"I need a study spot where there's nothing that will remind of, well... you know," said Evie.
"Well, you might need to stand up," said Ben. "We have a special guest."
Jay holds out his hand. Evie takes it and Jay helps her up. Soon, a flying horse descends at the school. On the carriage, the kids can see Sofia, the future queen of Enchancia. Ben opens the door and helps Sofia down the carriage, like the gentleman he was raised to be.
"Sofia? What are you doing here?" asked a confused Evie. "Is there another evil coming for us?"
"No, not this time," said Sofia. "I came here to see you guys. After what happened a few days ago, I thought I'd be here for you."
"But don't you have school?" wondered Lonnie.
"Technically, I never dropped out of Auradon Prep. I have to make up for lost time," said Sofia.
"You were looking for loopholes, weren't you?" guessed Jay.
Sofia winked.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, you can lie," said Jay.
"That's not very nice," said Jane.
"Leave him alone. He does have a point," said Audrey.
"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" asked Sofia.
"We will, just not now," said Audrey.
"So, Sofia, you're staying here for the rest of the year?" asked Evie.
"You bet," confirmed Sofia. "I'll stay for the summer if I need to, or want to."
"Do you really have to?" asked Evie.
"What kind of friend would I be if I'm not there for my friends?" said Sofia. "Friends look out for each other."
Evie hangs her head. She just heard this from Doug earlier. Now, she feels bad for ignoring those words.
"Something wrong?" asked Sofia, noticing Evie's depression.
"I'm fine," lied Evie. "Maybe not completely, but I'm fine."
Ben's phone beeped. "I got a message from my mother."
Everyone turned their attention to Ben. The king says, "She wants us to meet with her at the orphanage. She needs help with the orphans who lost their parents in the 'light in the sky' situation. Hey, Sofia, do you..."
When everyone turned their heads back to Sofia, the spot she was standing just a few seconds ago was empty.
"Where did she go?" asked a confused Chad.
"Not again," said Lonnie.
Evie looks at Lonnie. "Wait, you mean she's done this before?"
"Yup," said Lonnie. She heard her phone beep. She got a message from Sofia. "But we'll see her at the orphanage later."
Later that evening, the teenagers, plus Sofia, have finished helping Belle at the orphanage and are now heading back to the school on a limo. However, they were all exhausted.
"That was way worse than our last visit," said Jay. "I prefer 8-10 year-olds, not toddlers."
"Give them a break. They're just children," said Jane.
"You should've seen us when we were kids," said Chad.
"Besides, you seem to make them happy," said Audrey to Jay. "They don't have parents, but you really grabbed their attention."
While everyone talks, Sofia notices that Evie, who is sitting next to her, is hanging her head with tears about to rain for her eyes.
"Hey, Evie," called Sofia, capturing the narcissist's attention. "Why the long face?"
"Isn't the answer obvious?" replied Evie sadly.
"I'm sorry," said Sofia, realizing her friend's grief. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'd rather not," said Evie.
The kids finally made it back to the school. Evie wasted no time running out the door and heading towards the cemetery.
"She's a mess," said Chad.
"Chad, please," scolded Lonnie.
"I know, I know," interrupted Chad. "But she threatened to beat me up because of a simple touch. She needs help."
Lonnie turns to her roommate. "Hey, Sofia..."
Once again, the princess from Enchancia just disappears the second no one has their eyes on her.
"How does she keep doing that?" wondered a discombobulated Chad.
Meanwhile, at the cemetery, Evie shows up at Carlos' grave with a red rose. Just like in her dream, she places the red rose next to the gravestone. She just sits down, staring at both Carlos' gravestone and Mal's. Tears once again rain down her cheeks. She buries her head in her knees as she continues crying. Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Reacting quickly, Evie grabs the arm and throws the person to the ground. However, Evie recognized who she just hurt.
"Relax, Evie, it's me." It was Sofia.
"Sorry," apologized Evie. "I'm just not feeling a friendly touch right now."
Evie helps Sofia stand up. Sofia looks at the gravestones.
"This is really hard for you, isn't it?" asked Sofia.
"You have no idea," said Evie. "Now I know how Carlos felt when you were buried."
"What he felt wasn't just grief. There was guilt," said Sofia.
"And I do feel guilty," said Evie.
"There was nothing you could've done," said Sofia.
"Nothing?" reacted Evie with a little anger. "Don't you understand, Sofia. I am responsible, and I just paid the price."
"How can you be responsible?" asked Sofia.
Evie takes the blue rose out of her hair. "This. I went to the Isle of the Lost for this, and how did it end? Maleficent came back."
"That was a long time ago. How can it lead to what happened to Mal and Carlos?" wondered Sofia.
"Think about it. Maleficent would've stayed a lizard if I never went back to the Isle," said Evie. "Everything me and my friends suffered was my mess."
"That's your guilt talking, Evie," said Sofia. "You can't blame yourself for this."
"I wish I can't," said Evie. "But Maleficent's words haunt me every day."
"Let me guess. She said you're the reason that her plans for world conquest almost succeeded?" asked Sofia.
"If that wasn't bad enough, I had a nightmare last night, where Mal came back to me just to blame me for her death," said Evie.
"Sounds like you need a therapist," said Sofia. "Lucky for you, the same person who treated Carlos' traumas is standing right in front of you."
"He said you really helped him," remembered Evie. "When he came back, he was no longer the traumatized mess suffering from grief and guilt. He came back as the sweet, sensitive genius we loved him for."
"Then let me help you," pleaded Sofia.
"Okay," agreed Evie. "We'll start tomorrow."
"No, we're starting now," said Sofia. "I don't want Mal yelling at you in your sleep. You need to fix your head, and you need to do it now."
"Alright, your highness, where do you want to start?" asked Evie, agreeing.
"Let's sit down," said Sofia.
The two sat in the grass as the therapy session began.
"First, can you clarify why you blame yourself for the fate of your friends?" started Sofia.
Evie hesitated to speak, but she had to. "I guess I just let Maleficent get to me. I let her words sink in to the point that I agree with her. All I wanted was to show Carlos that I don't want to throw away our friendship ever again. It may have brought us closer together, but some actions come with consequences. In this case, Maleficent turned back to normal and was free to lay waste to Auradon. I let go of my guilt over that a long time ago, but now it's coming back. The fact that I lost my friends because of Maleficent... I just can't help but feel responsible."
"From what I can tell, you wish that you didn't live through what happened last year," said Sofia.
"I was supposed to be dead, but I survived. I still don't know how or why," said Evie.
"When you sacrificed yourself, how did you feel?" asked Sofia.
"Everything was black. There was nothing. I feel like my time was up. But when I heard his voice, Carlos' voice, I just felt like opening my eyes again," answered Evie.
"I think it's no mystery why you survived from your sacrifice," said Sofia. "It was love."
Evie's eye widened from Sofia's words. "How could I've not realized that?"
"Sometimes, it takes time to find out the truth," said Sofia. "Let's review. You lost Carlos at the hands of Maleficent. Mal sacrificed herself to save everyone. And you believe that these events happened because of your choice that resulted in Maleficent's freedom."
Evie looks away from Sofia. "You have no idea how much I'm hurting, Sofia."
"I can help you if you just open yourself," said Sofia.
"What about you?" retorted Evie. "I can tell from that innocent look on your face that you wish you never came back to life."
Sofia drops her head in response. "You're right."
"How 'bout we switch roles for this one?" suggested Evie. "Why do you wish you remained buried?"
After a deep breath, Sofia answered. "You know what I've been through since I got here. I was trying to fulfill a promise to a friend. And all I've ever done is lie to everyone I care about, including my family. Mal succumbed to the dark side and all of us almost died in a fire. I betrayed everything I stood for and tried to end Mal's reign of terror myself. Sacrificing myself to save Carlos wasn't to fill the grave the Enchantress predicted would be dug. It was an act of selflessness. I thought that with my end, I've fulfilled my purpose. But now that I'm back, I just don't know what to do with my life."
"Between you and me, Mal didn't bring you back because we all missed you. She brought you back because of Carlos," said Evie. "She thought that the best way he can finally get over his traumas is if you were still alive. And from the looks of him when he returned, it worked."
"The world works in ways we can't comprehend," said Sofia. "But that doesn't mean I'm not happy to be back. Now, let's get back to your session."
"What else is left for me to say?" asked Evie.
Sofia answers her question with a question. "Did Mal say anything before she sacrificed herself?"
"She said, 'The past is past. Forgive, forget,'" answered Evie. "I still don't know what she meant."
"I do," said Sofia. "I'm guessing she knew you would blame yourself for what happened to your friends. She wants you to remember that past is just that. The past. Sometimes, our actions in the past can be unforgivable, but if you can't forget about it, the best thing you can do is forgive yourself."
"She's was a clever girl," said Evie, talking about Mal. "Allow me to give you my own piece of advice. You may have been robbed of dying a hero, but the best thing you can do is move forward. Whatever you had planned in life, you stick to it, if it is what you want."
Sofia lets Evie's words replay in her head and smiled. "Thank you, Evie."
"I think I should be thanking you," said Evie. She looks back at Mal's gravestone. "Thank you, Mal."
Evie looks back at Sofia, but the girl vanished, again. Evie looks around the cemetery, but the princess was nowhere to be seen. In the end, Evie just laughed a little. "I gotta ask her how she keeps on doing that?" Evie stands up, takes one more look at Carlos' gravestone, then leaves. Her therapy session with Sofia has finally lifted her spirits, and she hopes she can finally have a good night sleep.
That's about it. I hope it was great.
Leave a review. Please.