Queenie kind of liked Auradon.

Sure, it was always a little too bright outside and everyone seemed to have a thing for pastels, but it was really nice not being the only "nice" person around. For the first time in her life, her friends weren't making fun of her for being too gullible or likable and she actually had someone who really seemed to enjoy her conversations and - and Queenie could really, really get used to it. She could never admit it to her friends, though; they'd go nuts if they discovered that she could even stand being surrounded by so many goody-two-shoes.

So when Jay came to Mal with a conflicted look on his face, Queenie could feel her heart in her throat.

She followed him slowly, holding onto the glass door hesitantly and listening intently. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't the only one who actually - kind of - liked it here.

"Are you feeling kind of weird about this?" He asked softly, "I mean, it's not so bad here, you know." Queenie's heart was beating fast, she was right, Jay liked it here too and it was okay, it was okay, maybe she could admit it now and maybe they could stop the whole -

"Are you insane?"

Queenie's stomach dropped.

"Long live evil!" Mal insisted, raising her fist, "You're mean! You're awful! You're bad news! Snap out of it." Queenie looked down, her stomach uneasy with shame. Mal was right, they needed to snap out of it - mean, awful, bad news, that's all anyone would see, no matter what. She felt stupid for even thinking about it.

"Thanks, Mal," Jay responded, "I needed that."

So did I, she tried to convince herself. She watched Jay move and lean on ledge of the balcony, the flirtatious giggles below making her want to roll her eyes.

When Audrey finally turned away from Ben and walked away, Mal smirked and called out, "Hey, Bennyboo!"

The prince smiled and walked towards her, as Mal held up a bag containing the cookie. Queenie let out a deep breath, it was go time.

"I just made a batch of cookies," Mal claimed, showing it off, "Double chocolate chip, do you want one?"

"Oh, I, uh, I've got a big game," He tried to reason, "I don't eat before a big game. But thank you so, so much. Thank you. Next time." Just as he started walking away, Mal spoke up. "No, yeah. I completely understand." Ben stopped at that. "'Be careful of treats offered by kids of villians.'"

Ben tried to interrupt, looking shocked, but Mal continued, "No, I'm sure every kid in Auradon knows that."

"No, that's not it. No, no, no, I... I really do - "

" - No, I get it. You're cautious. That's smart." She then let out a sigh, opening the bag and bring the cookie to her mouth, "Oh, well, more for me, I guess."

"No, no, hey - " Ben grabbed the cookie out of her hand and shoved it towards his mouth, ripping a large chunk out of it. "See that? Totally trust you. Totally."

Mal looked back at them and Queenie began inching closer and closer to them, curious to see if the potion would work or not. "How are they?" She asked softly, with Ben giving a big grin. "They're great. They're amazing!"

"They're, uh - I mean, they're chewy, and, and you know, they - is that walnuts? I love walnuts. I mean, uh, you know, the - the chocolate - " Ben started to clear his throat, glancing more and more at Mal. "The chocolate - the chocolate chips are - I'm sorry. Um - Uh, they're warm and soft. And they're sweet." At that moment, all of the VKs surrounded the happy couple. "Mal, have you always had those little golden flecks in your eyes?"

Just as he tried to take another bite, Mal rushed forward and took the cookie away from him. Jay wrapped his arms around Ben, before asking with a smirk, "How you feeling, bro?"

"I feel - I feel - I feel like - like singing your name," he claimed cheerfully, before loudly singing out, "Mal! Mal!" Mal again rushed forward, handing the cookie off to Jay, before putting a hand over Ben's mouth.

Their plan had worked perfectly.

"This is a nail-biter, folks. There's 47 seconds left on the clock. We're all tied up."

Queenie quickly ate another handful of popcorn.

She really didn't care about the outcome of the game, though part of her really hoped that Auradon would win and there would be so much cheering and singing and then Chad would run over to her and take her into his arms and - Queenie blushed. She really needed to stop reading her mother's romance novels.

Speak of the devil, Chad ran out on the field, putting his helmet on, and Queenie couldn't help but clap and cheer along with the crowd. Mal glanced at her questionably, but didn't comment any further. Mainly because Jay and Carlos were both standing up and - and - no way. They were both heading out to the field.

This time, Evie cheered with her.

And when the game started up again, they, surprisingly, weren't bad. They were passing to Ben and everything was going so good, they had the shot open - but the goalkeeper on the other side blocked it.

"What is he doing?" Evie asked, leaning over to Queenie. Jay grabbed Carlos and was maneuvering him through the dragon fire and - and then everything went so fast, the ball bounced off of Carlos' shield, then Jay passed it and Ben scored.

The crowd and the announcer went wild, with Evie holding on tightly to her hand and jumping up and down. And Queenie couldn't help but cheer and scream as well.

"Excuse me."

Queenie turned away from Evie and Mal, her full attention on Ben, who had seemingly ripped the microphone away from the announcer.

"Excuse me. Can I have your attention, please?" The cheering stopped and all eyes were on the prince before them.

"There's something I'd like to say." Evie and Queenie looked at each other with wide eyes and - no, there was no way he was going to - "Give me an M!"

"M!" The whole stadium responded.

"Give me an A!"

"A!"

"Give me an L!"

"L!"

"What does that spell?"

"Mal!"

Queenie slapped a hand over her mouth, trying her best not to laugh at how indifferent Mal looked towards all of the sudden attention on her. "Come on, I can't hear you!"

"MAL!"

"I love you, Mal, did I mention that?"

The crowd both cheered and swooned at that, and Queenie could see Audrey running off the field in anguish. She felt bad for the girl, but before she could say anything, the music started. "What was in that cookie?" Mal asked, as both Evie began laughing and dancing along with the music.

"Did I mention that I'm in love with you?" Ben sang, "And did I mention there's nothing I can do? And did I happen to say I dream of you everyday? Well, let me shout it out loud, if that's okay, hey, hey."

"Hey!" The crowd cheered.

"If that's okay."

"Hey!"

"I met this girl that rocked my world like it's never been rocked. Now I'm living just for her and I won't ever stop. I never thought that it could happen to a guy like me. But look at what you've done, you've got me down on my knees." When Ben fell to his knees, Queenie started clapping and cheering along with the crowd, now unable to stop the laughter.

"Because my love for you is ridiculous!" Evie and Queenie started to sing along, mainly to try and make Mal look less stone faced. "R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S."

After the next verse, Ben took off his jersey and threw it - with Mal catching it right away and looking rather pleased with herself. Queenie was so focused on the jersey that she didn't know until the last minute that Ben was crowding surfing towards them. Suddenly, he was standing in front of them, his eyes only on Mal. The music was ending and he was leaning down for a kiss, which Mal moved away from quickly. He instead wrapped his arm around her, speaking into the microphone. "I love you, Mal, did I mention that?"

The microphone was then ripped away from Ben and Audrey was standing next to Chad.

"Chad's my boyfriend now! And I'm going to the coronation with him."

Chad looked shocked by that. "So I don't need your pity date," she finished before leaning over and - kissing him. Queenie's mouth dropped and - and she felt like she had been kicked in the gut. Chad's eyes caught her's after he pulled away and suddenly, he looked scared and hurt, but Queenie didn't care.

He had just been playing her the whole time. And judging by Evie's expression, he'd done the same thing to her.

She didn't hear Ben asking Mal to the coronation in Audrey's place or Mal leaning over to talk to Evie. She couldn't. All she could hear was her mother calling her an idiot and - and she was right. How could she be so stupid to believe that someone would like her? Or even have a little interest in her?

"Queenie!"

Queenie tried to walk faster, even rushing underneath the bleachers, but that didn't seem to stop him. She felt a hand enclose her wrist and bring her to halt. She yanked her wrist away from Chad, but didn't try to move away from him - through her mind was screaming at her to run, Instead, she turned to face him,

"What?" She tried to make her voice as cold and mean sounding as Mal's, but instead it came out sounding sad and pitiful.

"Look, I didn't mean - I didn't know she was going to do that, alright?"

"What about Evie then? You were playing us both!"

Chad looked shocked at that. "Evie? How did you - "

"I was going to find out sooner or later," Queenie claimed, "Look, you don't have to pretend you care anymore."

"Queenie, please, let me explain, you only know her side - "

"Goodbye, Chad," she said. As she turned and began to walk away, the tears finally overfilled and fell freely down her face.

How could she be so stupid?

...

So it's been a year now.

Hi.