ch. 6
a/n: i just wanted to say that i know that i'm spreading out the plot of the first Descendants movie. i'm doing that primarily because i just want to get more action in, and if i want to do that, i need a longer time frame. so to anyone asking, yes, they're still planning on stealing the wand; but that's only the subplot of my fic. after all, this fic does revolve around joy, not the VKs.
OOO
"I can't believe your first date ever is going to be with a prince!" Evie squeals in delight as she arranges Mal's purple hair with the air of an artist, dramatically waving her curling wand. It's been a couple of days since the tourney game, today an especially warm day here in Auradon. Not that it ever isn't.
Mal doodles on a piece of paper with a feather pen, making extravagant motions with her hand. "The most cliche prince I've met, to be exact," she adds in.
"That's what you brought me here for?" I pluck some gentle notes on my acoustic guitar, a birthday gift from two summers ago. The two girls invited me over after school, begging that I played some music for them (well, that was more Evie). Until I realized what this really is. Even I, a person of minimal social life, know what it is: the pre-date ritual with all your girl friends making you look picture-perfect and assuaging all your worries with excessively kind and unrealistic assurances. "Am I dressing up too much?" "No, darling! You'll be glowing and knock the daylights outta him!" "Is he going to like me? Won't I be awkward?" "Girl, you are the most likeable person here! If he doesn't see that, he's blind and not worth it." Gross. But I've been spending a lot of time with these two, and I don't think they're exactly like Auradon girls, even when it comes to dating.
"No, we really wanted you to play something," Evie says to me, "maybe to calm Mal's nerves."
Yeah, except Mal's always cool as a cucumber, relaxed in a velvet seat and examining her nails beds with disinterest. A perk of being a villain kid: you're naturally cooler than everyone else.
"I, for one, am surprised you agreed. Jay said you played but not for an audience," Mal mentions the name with such ease; it nearly catches me off guard.
...he talked about me? That's not weird in any way. "It's just embarrassing...most princesses sing and dance, and by the gifts of the gods are great at it. Me? Well, not as much."
"I don't believe that a bit." Evie pokes at the folder of music that lies in the empty guitar case on the floor. "Did you write this?"
"I dabble a little in song writing. You could call me a jack of many trades," I say jokingly as I watch her scan the crinkly pages (frustrated people don't always erase properly) and select one, planting it on the space before me.
"This is a duet."
The blue-haired girl nods assuredly. "I know. Mal can sing it with you. She has a lovely voice too."
Upon hearing her name, Mal starts as if being shot back to reality. "Uh, E-"
"Come on! Look at this! It's beautiful!" Evie hands the paper to the seated girl who reluctantly takes it. I bite my bottom lip, anticipating the worst.
"It's nice." I raise my brow. "But I think E should sing it. The other part's not exactly in my range."
"Oh...sure!" Evie consents, picking up the sheet. Oh...okay, I guess. We're seriously doing this...right now. Come on, Joy. You got this.
I begin to strum the guitar, my slim fingers nervous and visibly shaky but they find the notes. I start to sing, and when my voice first comes out, it's off-key and quaking, much to my mortification, considering it's my own song. But it evens out when Evie joins in, and I suddenly feel more at ease.
a/n: ok, I'm aware that Space Between is Mal and Evie's song but one: I didn't want to write a song of my own and two: this one just fit the situation well
Space Between
Evie:
I didn't know what you were going through
I thought that you were fine
Why did you have to hide?
Joy:
I didn't want to let you down
But the truth is out
It's tearing me apart, not listening to my heart
I really had to go
Evie:
And I would never stop you
Joy:
Even though it changed
Evie:
Nothing has to change
Together:
And you can find me in the space between
Where two worlds come to meet
I'll never be out of reach
'Cause you're a part of me so you can find me in the space between
You'll never be alone
No matter where you go
We can meet in the space between
Joy:
And nothing can stay the same
It's growing pains
Evie:
Be proud of all the scars
They make you who you are (oh, woah)
Evie:
I know you have to stay
Joy:
But I'll never really leave you
Evie:
Nothing has to change
Joy:
even though it changed
Together:
And you can find me in the space between
Where two worlds come to meet
I'll never be out of reach
'Cause you're a part of me so you can find me in the space between
You'll never be alone
No matter where you go
We can meet in the space between
Joy:
There are no words left to say
Evie:
I know you gotta find your place
Joy:
But this is not the end (no)
Evie:
You're part of who I am
Together:
Even if we're worlds apart
You're still in my heart it will always be you and me, yeah
And you can find me in the space between
Where two worlds come to meet
I'll never be out of reach
'Cause you're a part of me so you can find me in the space between
You'll never be alone
No matter where you go
We can meet in the space between
"We can meet in the space-" An abrupt knock on the door cuts in the middle of my finishing line and the notes of the guitar fade out.
"Oh my god, Ben." Mal, distracted by our singing, leaps up from her spot and answers the door where an anxiously smiling Ben awaits. "Hi."
From the awed expression on his face, he seems pleasantly impressed. "Wow. You look-"
"Incredible? I know," she flirts, all of a sudden shy. "Thanks, guys. I'll see you later, E, Joy."
We wave her goodbye and she disappears, leaving Evie and me to ourselves.
"That was incredible! You WROTE that?"
I feel a blush rising to my cheeks at her forward praise. "Yeah, it's...it's a song kinda close to my heart. I wrote it when my boyfriend and I were having problems but I always thought it'd work itself out, you know? We lasted through a lot of obstacles...but not the ones we made for ourselves."
She lowers her gaze, long lashes downward.
"Don't be sorry about mentioning it. It was fun...singing! I've never done that with someone else." I genuinely smile at her for the first time. "You know, you guys have been nothing but kind to me. Honestly, a lot kinder than people here. So...it's just been bugging me that I was kinda rude to you all when you first arrived."
Her perfectly-done eyebrows meet in bemusement. "Joy, we never thought you were rude. We thought we were burdening you!"
Seriously? They, of all people, thought they were burdening me? Geez, just when you think they can't get any nicer... "Not at all!" I exclaim, rushing to explain. "I've always had a bad attitude towards authority and school. And in my eyes, you guys were like a project I had to do so my spotty attendance record could be cleared."
"And now?" Evie asks.
"You're friends...and quite frankly, the only friends I have."
She doesn't question this, instead her eyes sparkling with tears. Whoa! I was NOT expecting that. She dabs at them carefully with a handkerchief she whipped out of nowhere. "Oh, God. I'm sorry. We literally just met a few days ago but...it means a lot that we're friends. I really thought we wouldn't fit in here, and we don't exactly but at least we're not unlikeable. Us, VKs? We try so hard to please our parents...but it feels like we're just not them. We'll never be them, and that doesn't make me unhappy! Is that weird?"
"No, totally get that. Everyone expects you to be just like them and in some ways, you are! But being group with them like you're not different...that really sucks," I agree, nodding my head. "And you are so not your mom. Beauty isn't everything to you, but making things beautiful is still important."
"Exactly!" She exhales, looking like a great load has just been lifted off her shoulders. "I've always wanted to say that, but I don't know how to tell the others. They just want to make our parents happy, but what makes them happy doesn't make me happy. I know that now. Thanks for listening, Joy." Gratefulness fills her watery eyes and she opens her arms for a hug that I return.
"Always. And just remember," I mumble into her hair whilst patting her back, "your parents aren't here. You can be happy."
OOO
Back in my bedroom, I had just set down my guitar and began my Basics of Chivalry homework when the door creaks open. A pungent scent of flowers floods the air and I cough, "Thanks for knocking."
"Oh, Lonnie's not here," Audrey ignores my comment. She's just about to leave but at the last second decides against it. "You know, Ben and Mal are going on their date today."
"So I heard," I murmur, flipping through my textbook for the right chapter.
"It's nice that you're so chummy with those villain kids...but if you're so chummy, you would think that you might've mentioned your history."
I internally sigh. Of course that's why she's lingering: to get under my skin. "That's none of your business, love."
"Oh no, but I'm just concerned for you when Mal and Jay and the other two find out...what will they think after you hid that from them?"
"They won't find out. Now, there's the door..."
Audrey scoffs, an unladylike sound for her if you ask me. She throws back her head, chestnut waves flying. "You really are your mother's daughter. A few screws loose so she can go missing all the time, talks to nature probably, considering all that time you both spend in the woods, and never will have any actual friends because she's just meant to be left behind?"
My blood is boiling at this point and the hair on my skin rising. I seriously can't believe she brought up my parents' divorce. I've never wanted to strangle someone more in my entire life. But I rein it in best as possible and say to her with clenched teeth, "I don't repeat myself, Audrey. There's the door."
She gives a little wave and bright smile as she goes.
God, I could kill her.
OOO
"Strawberry?"
Mal's gaze shifts from the glistening, still water of the lake to the boy in front of her with an outstretched hand and a box of the plump fruits that just so happen to be in season. She smiles not unpleasantly before taking one with her fork. "This is nice. I didn't even know such a secluded, quiet place existed."
"Huh..." Ben ponders this momentarily and takes in the scene around him, as if for the first time. "Yeah, I guess...hey, wanna go for a swim?"
"Hmm, you go for it. I think I'll stay here with the strawberries," she says with a cute little smile.
"Alrighty then." He steps down a few steps from the perch at which they settled their picnic, runs to a rock buried into the ground and tilted a tad upward in a similar manner to a cliff, and strips down to his shorts.
Mal snickers, "You can't be serious."
"What?"
"I don't know if you're aware of this, but there are little crowns on your shorts." She bursts into an innocent gale of laughter, her hand cupped over her mouth. "You can't get any more prince-like, can you?"
"Soon to be king," he corrects, bringing her to roll her eyes. Just as he prepares to cannon ball in, she notices something. Something peculiar.
"What's that on your arm?" asks Mal, rising to her feet and brushing the dust from her pretty purple dress, which by the way, is courtesy of Evie, who will probably kill her for getting it slightly dirty.
"This?" He twists his left arm slightly to reveal a dark brown spot on his relatively pale bicep. "It's a tattoo."
The girl leans her weight against the marble pillar that gave shade to their picnicking area as she interestedly spoke. "A tattoo? That doesn't seem a little out of character."
He lets out a light chuckle. "What? I don't seem rough and tough enough? Hey, that rhymed! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!"
"Now, that's why," she points a manicured finger in his general direction, "I assumed tattoos were out of your league."
"Typically, yes. But I'm full of surprises, Mal Bertha. Indeed, in my more youthful days, I was once a wild child who scampered about the woods and got tattoos." Ben cannonballs into the crystal lake with a holler and an intense splash and swims to where she is, his strokes smooth and steady. When he reaches her, he shakes aggressively, spraying her with water and causing her to screech and laugh. He offers her his arm for her to study the tattoo. "If you look one way, it's a lion. And if you look the other, it's a bird. Pretty neat, huh?"
She knits her thin brows together, her small hand frozen in place on his arm. "What'd you just say?"
"Pretty neat, huh?" he repeats, less surely now. "What's up?"
The dots in her brain suddenly connect. Shaken a little more than she'd like to show, she mutters, "Nothing."
"Uh, it looks like you just saw a ghost," Ben jokes in attempt to lighten the suddenly heavy atmosphere. "Is it that ugly?"
"No, not at all...it's just that...doesn't Joy have the same tattoo?"
OOO
r&r? much love, animeflufflife