Bella's POV
I feel tears prick my eyes as I watch my boyfriend grope and kiss the hell out of who I thought was my best friend.
"You son of a bitch!" Mal roars, grabbing the collar of Chad's shirt and yanking him away from Audrey. That's when Audrey notices me and stares at me in shock.
"Bella-" she starts to say before we're cut off by the sound of something hitting the wall. We look and see Mal holding Chad against the wall and Chad's eye is red, Mal must have punched him. Mal looks over his shoulder to look at me and I see worry and rage swimming around in his eyes. I let out a sob as Chad kissing my best friend replays in my head and run away, ignoring Mal's calls for me to come back. I continue running, and I don't stop until I'm curled up in a ball under the bleachers by the tourney field. I cry into my knees for a few minutes before I hear someone move in front of me. I lift my head up slightly to see Mal on his knees looking at me in worry. Before I can even think of restraining myself I launch myself into him and cry into his chest.
Mal's POV
I freeze as Bella wraps her arms around my stomach and cries into my chest. After a moment I get over my shock and wrap my arms around her, melting into her embrace as she sobs into my jacket. She looks up at me and I feel my heart crack at the sight of tears pooling in her beautiful green eyes.
"I-I know Chad didn't love me..but I thought he at least cared about me enough t-to not" she cuts herself off with a loud sob and I instinctively pull her closer, and she buries her face into my shoulder as I place her on to my lap.
'We should kill that idiot and hide the body, he hurt our mate'my inner dragon growls, not liking the fact that his mate is crying.
'Shut up, she's not our mate'I internally hiss at him, and my inner dragon growls in response.
''She is! You'll see'is all he says before quieting down again. I mentally shake my head and focus on the crying girl in my arms.
"Shhh it's gonna be alright, I'm here" I whisper into her ear soothingly. She shakes against me and I just keep my right arm around her waist while I rub her back soothingly with my right hand.
"Did you know that Malakai means 'my angel' in Hebrew?" I ask her softly after a moment of not knowing what to say.
"Really?" she sniffles, looking up at me.
"Yeah, my friend Hayden once told me that. He's the son of Hades and his dad taught him how to read Greek and Hebrew" I say with a small laugh, and she lets out a small giggle.
"That makes a lot of sense, because right now you're my angel" she says softly before hugging me again. I feel my cheeks heat up slightly before I hug her back.
"And if you ask me, Chad is a dumb ass" I say seriously and Bella looks up at me again.
"If he's dumb enough to cheat on a beautiful,smart, funny girl like you then there has got to be something seriously wrong with him" I explain, and she blushes when she hears me call her beautiful.
"Especially when said girl is the soon to be queen of Auradon and is friends with the Dark Prince of the Isle Of The Lost and under his protection" I continue smugly, and she giggles.
"We're friends now?" she asks hopefully and I nod with a small laugh.
"Why not? It's clear we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other since we're going to be the leaders of two different lands" I say with a shrug and she smiles.
"Plus having some type of friendship is good if we are to create a peace treaty between Auradon and The Isle" I continue, bringing up one of the things we talked about after lunch yesterday. When I'd first heard of it I'd gone along with it half heartedly, but now that I'm possibly thinking of not going through with my mother's plan I am really starting to consider it.
"Yeah" she says softly, giving me a watery smile. I smile back and hug her gently, resting my chin on the top of her head.
"Hey" I say softly after a few minutes of rocking her back and forth on my lap.
"Hmm?" she hums against my neck.
"How about you and I do something after school?" I suggest, and she removes her head from my neck to look at me. Even with her hair looking messy, grass stains on her jeans and her shirt rumpled up, and her eyes red and puffy, she's still the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.
"Sure! What do you wanna do?" she asks excitedly, her face lighting up at the idea of hanging out.
"I am going to teach you how to have fun vk style" I say with a small smirk, and she nods enthusiastically.
"Cool" she says happily, but I don't miss the tear that slides down her cheek. I remove my hand from her back and gently wipe it off with my thumb.
"No more tears okay, those traitors aren't worth it" I say gently, cupping her cheek.
"Okay" she says softly.
"You're absolutely right Mal, but what am I gonna do about Audrey? I thought she was my friend" she says as she carefully gets off my lap and standing up, looking down at her feet after she does so.
"Between you and me I have no idea what you saw in her as a friend. I automatically didn't like her when I first got here" I say honestly as I stand up, wiping the grass off of my knees. She looks up at me and I hate the lost look in her eyes.
"Look at me" I order gently, cupping her cheek again and moving so my face is a few inches from hers. She looks right into my eyes and I notice little golden flecks swimming around in her eyes.
"You are a strong, beautiful, independant woman. Audrey and Chad don't deserve to have an amazing girl like you in their lives" I say gently but firmly. She smiles at me and I swear my heart skips a beat. I smile back and before I know it she's kissing me, and I'm kissing back. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her back eagerly for a few minutes before coming back to my senses. I pull away and she manages to steal one more soft gentle kiss.
"I-I'm sorry" she says apologetically, panting after our few minutes of passion.
"It's ok" I say softly, restraining my inner dragon from taking over so we'll kiss again. We get ourselves sorted out and I look at my watch, we have fifteen minutes until free period is over. I reach down and grab my sketchbook before wrapping my free arm around her shoulders.
"Is this okay?" I ask her gently as I begin to lead her off the tourney feild and towards the school.
"More than okay" she says back, leaning her head against me. I grin and lead her to the school enterance. I remove my arm from her shoulders and open the door for her.
"My what a gentleman" she says playfully, going inside.
"Why of course, the soon to be queen deserves the best" I say playfully, following her side.
"Oh there's nothing special about me, I'm sure you say that to all the girls" she says bashfully, and I'm proud to see a light blush coloring her cheeks.
"What other girls?" I ask cockily, leading her upstairs and to my locker. I open my locker and put my sketchbook and drawing pens and pencils back inside. I pull out my schedule and see that I have 'Heros And Villains History' next.
"I have that class too" Bella says from beside me, looking down at my schedule.
"Would...Would you like to walk with me?" she asks shyly, and I crack a small smile.
"I'd like that..and maybe if you don't already have a partner maybe we could sit together" I say softly and she grins, nodding enthusiastically.
"Yeah! I-I mean I don't have a partner so I'd love to sit with you" she says coolly, trying to hide her excitement. I give her a playful smirk before grabbing the necessary items I'll need for that class and closing my locker.
"It's settled then, lead the way partner" I say playfully with a wave of my hand.
"Yes sir" she giggles, and moves in front of me as she begins to do as I said. After a quick stop to her locker so she can grab her stuff we are standing in front of the classroom a few minutes early.
"Good girl" I whisper in her ear from behind her as I follow her into the empty classroom and over to a two person desk desk in the back of the room. As I move my head away from her ear I hear her let out a shakey breath and I laugh, hugging her with one arm from behind for a minute before moving from behind her to sit down in one of the two chairs. After a moment of her not moving to sit next to me I look up at her and see her looking down at me on surprise.
"Did I do something wrong?" I ask her, silently wondering if I'm in her seat.
"No not at all, I just wasn't expecting you to hug me" she says automatically before sitting next to me, scooting her chair closer to me as she grabs the two texts books on the table and gives me one.
"Thank you, but shouldn't that be my job?" I ask playfully as I take it. She smiles at me and I playfully nudge her with my shoulder. Students start flooding into the room and I feel Bella freeze next to me when she sees Audrey enter the room. My chest tightens when Bella looks at me so unsure of herself, and without a second thought I take her hand in mine under the desk. Bella looks at our joined hands as I entwine our fingers and give her hand a reasurring squeeze when she looks up at me. I smile at her and mouth'It's gonna be ok'as I stroke the back of her hand with my thumb.
"Good afternoon class" the teacher says as she enters the room, Ms. Fauna if I remember correctly.
"Now today we are going to be going over the history of Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent" she announces, and that's when I remember she's one of the three faries that helped Aurora and Prince Phillip.
"Now can anybody tell me what they know about their story?" Fauna asks and I feel my free hand clench into a fist above the desk when Audrey raises her hand. Bella looks at me concerned and this time she's the one to rub the back of my hand with her thumb.'Are you ok?'she mouths and I mouth back'I don't know'.
"Maleficent was an evil fairy that cursed my mother for no reason except she's an evil person" Audrey says proudly and I feel my fist begin to shake.
"Um Ms. Fauna may we please change the lesson today?" Bella asks while raising her free hand, shooting me a worried look.
"May I ask why Bella?" Fauna asks.
"I don't think it's fair to Mal to have to sit through a class listening to everyone bashing his mom when he aready knows what happened" Bella explains softly and everyone turns to look at me as if I have two heads, like I'm some sort of freak.
"Um actually Ms. Fauna may I say something?" I ask quietly, raising my hand.
"And what exactly would you like to say devil?" Audrey asks and Fauna shushes her.
"Go ahead dear" Fauna says encouragingly.
"Once apon a time there was a young fairy named Maleficent" I begin and everyone's looks turn into ones of curiousity and wonder.
"She lived in a beautiful forest surrounded by other magical creatures. And one day she stumbled apon a young orphaned boy around her age who introduces himself as Stephen" I continue and Audrey's eyes widen as well as Fauna's, as if they didn't know any of this.
"She delivered him home and as the years went by they grew closer as friends, and not long after Maleficent began to fall for the poor young man and he for her" as I say this I begin to think of how my mother must have felt falling for someone so soon after meeting him, the same situation I am finding myself getting into the longer I stay here.
"After months of being distant Stephan pops back into Maleficent's life, saying he was in love with her and wanted to be with her..but that was only a lie" I say, sadness creeping it's way into my tone as I think of how hurt my mom must have been, having the love of her life betray her when she was my age.
"They spent a long happy night together reconnecting, and the next morning when Maleficent woke up she was horrified to see Stephen and her wings were gone, a burning pain on her back in their place" at this all of the students including Audrey wince and I swear I can see tears in Fauna's eyes. Out of the corner of my eye I see Bella looking at me as if she doesn't know what to think, like I'm some mystery to her.
"Maleficent cried for the loss of her wings, and for the hurt she felt from being betrayed by the one person she loved most in the world" I continue on, and everyone is looking at me with sadness and pity in their eyes, having never heard the story I'm sure they know well told this way.
"Soon after, the happy fairy found darkness and hate begin to grow in her heart. And the beautiful forest tansformed into a dark gloomy place called the moorse" I think back to the few times I've snuck away there, trying to picture it as the beautiful place my father had described but found it impossible.
"Not long after the transformation, Maleficent saved a crow trapped in a net from a barking dog and a man with a spear, by turning him into a man" I continue, smiling at the mention of my dad.
"The man introduced himself as Diaval, and in thanks for her saving his life he voluntered himself as her servent and became her wings" I continue on, and they all look at me in surprise at the mention of him, probably not knowing Maleficent's crow could turn into a man.
"Months later Diaval reported that Stephan was married and had become king of the kingdom he was from, and it didn't take a genious for Maleficent to figure out why" I deadpan, and everyone gasps.
"Maleficent vowed to take revenge on the man she had once loved, and so when she heard of his new born baby daughter's christening did she put her plan into action. She wanted him to suffer like she had" I say, remembering all of the times I'd asked my father this story.
"After two of the three good fairies presented their gifts did she appear, and she cursed the baby by predicting that the girl would prick her finger on a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday and sleep for all of time" this is the part of the story I always hated growing up.
"And so Stephen ordered for all of the spinning wheels in the kingdom to be destroyed, and they all were except one" my heart grows heavy as I continue.
"And to be safe Stephen sent his baby girl Aurora to live with the three fairies, and the four of them remained in a cottage deep in the woods for sixteen years until the girl stumbled upon a handsome stranger named Phillip" I continue on.
"She fell in love with him at once, and they'd planned to meet somewhere but Phillip had been captured by Maleficent who had figured out where the girl was thanks to Diaval" Bella squeezes my hand and I smile slightly, not glancing at her but just knowing she is there is enough for me.
"She used her magic to lure Aurora to her castle in the moorse, and she pricked her finger on the spinning wheel that was hidden away in one of the rooms in a tower of the castle. Meanwhile Phillip was saved by the three fairies and he fought the enraged Maleficent who turned into a giant black dragon with green eyes, using the sword of truth and the shield the faries had bestowed upon him" my tone changes through out this part, building the suspense.
"Phillip lunged the sword of truth into Maleficent's chest, who then turned into smoke after releasing one last mighty roar" and everyone jumps when I let out a roar of my own, a beastly dragon roar.
"Phillip and the fairies race up to the tower and are horrified to see Aurora asleep on the bed in the room with the spinning wheel. And as the three fairies are mourning their Briar Rose, Phillip places one last kiss on his love's lips. And she slowly wakes up, because on her christening the third fairy had contradicted Maleficent's curse by blessing the girl to wake up by recieving true loves kiss" I say softly, stroking Bella's hand which is still hidden under our desk.
"After king beast married Belle he created the Isle Of The Lost and all of the villians and sidekicks alive and dead were given a life long sentance to rot there with nothing to eat or wear but Auradon's unwanted scraps and contaminated water to drink, and had Fairy Godmother put a barrier around it to cut the villians off from the outside world" I see everyone lower their heads in shame as I mention the state of the isle.
"Four years after the isle was created, Maleficent who had now become queen of the isle gave birth to a son she named Malakai. And though she and Diaval don't have feelings for each other beyond loyalty and friendship, they remain close for the sake of their son" and Bella looks at me in surprise at the fact that I mention my up bringing.
"And for sixteen years he grows up under his mother's lessons to be an evil and cruel person, preparing him to take his place as the king of the isle. Then one day he and his friends are invited to Auradon by the princess and she turns his whole world upside down" I say with a laugh, giving Bella a knowing look while she looks pleased with herself.
"Look I don't agree with the way my mom handled things with King Stephen, Aurora had nothing to do with what Stephen did to her" I adress the whole class, looking away from Bella.
"But I can also say that she had every right to be angry, and she should have delt with it another way" I say softly.
"So I would formily like to apologize to Audrey and her family for everything my parents, mostly my mother did to them. And I'd like to say that I hold no animosity towards them and I hope that gesture is returned..I had nothing to do with what happened between our parents and her grandparents" I manage to get out before the bell rings. I quickly grab my stuff and exit the classroom, ignoring Bella's calls for me to come back and the shocked stares from the other students and Fauna.