I'm back! I've been meaning to finish this chapter for so many days, but it's finally done! This picks up right where last chapter ended. Enjoy!

Mal followed Evie down towards one of the dorm hall practice rooms- there was a piano there.

There was a happy sort of electricity in the air, friendly chattering around and 'Hey Mal!'s and waves made her feel better.

"I can play like two songs."

Mal was impressed. "Wow,"

"Well, they're like those nursery rhymes. Like the one about the lamb who goes to school. They're simple."

"That's still cool." Mal smiled at Evie. That was quite an accomplishment, considering a few weeks ago she was afraid to touch a piano.

Evie smiled back. Little victories were still victories.

They were intercepted by an enthusiastic Audrey, all curly hair and pink dress and expensive perfume. It took everything Mal had to not roll her eyes. "There you two are!"

"Sorry, we got a little distracted." Evie replied. All best friend conversations about boys and feelings were private and should be treated as such unless someone could get hurt. That was Evie's philosophy.

"Oh, well, I suppose it doesn't matter. It's not very urgent." Audrey shrugged. She turned her attention to Mal. "I'm having a sleepover in my room tonight. I was hoping you'd join us." She sounded sincere and her smile was warm.

Is that what Audrey wanted to talk to her about? Why hadn't Evie just told her? Wait... why did Audrey want her to sleepover anyway?

"I know we haven't always been the best of friends, but I think it'd be a lot more fun if you came too."

Mal glanced at Evie, who looked anxious and eager. Evie would love a sleepover, but Mal knew her well enough to say that she wouldn't go without her. Of all the things she could be doing...

The half-fairy heaved a sigh. "I'll come."

"Fabulous!" Audrey clapped her perfectly manicured hands together. "We are going to have such a blast tonight. Meet at my room right after dinner, okay? Make sure you have all your stuff with you. And come in pjs. Sleepovers are no fun without pjs."

"Okay," Evie replied, beaming. Mal nodded.

Audrey bounced a little. "Ooh, I'm so excited. See you guys then!" And with that, the princess bounded away.

"Her New Year's Resolution is to spend more time with her friends before everyone goes to college." Evie explained once she was out of earshot.

"I'm not her friend. Not really. I just tolerate her for you, to be honest."

Evie shrugged. "She wants to get to know you better so you can be friends."

"Can you show me your piano skills now?" Mal asked abruptly, changing the subject. She and Audrey had made up a while ago. They didn't need to be friends. She was Evie's friend.

Evie's smile faltered for just a second before she agreed. They continued down the hall together.

Mal would like to say that walking to the other side of the dorm hall in her pajamas was the strangest thing she had ever done, but that would be a blatant lie.

She wasn't really excited to spend the night with a bunch of giggling cheerleaders painting their nails and doing their hair and giggling about boys like they were another species. At least Evie would be there to hold her sanity.

They reached a door with 'Audrey' and 'Lonnie' on paper flowers taped to it and they could hear music from the other side. Mal forgot Lonnie roomed with Audrey now. Audrey used to room with a cheerleader, but she graduated the previous year. Lonnie was pretty cool, so hopefully she was staying too.

Evie knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Audrey's muffled voice called from the other side.

Evie opened the door and went into the room, Mal right behind her.

Lonnie smiled at them from her spot on her bed.

"Great, now all we need is Jane!" Audrey commented. Just Jane? It was really just going to be the five of them? No giggling cheerleaders? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Put your stuff anywhere." Audrey told Evie and Mal.

They put their stuff in a corner.

It was pretty clear which side of the room was Audrey's and which was Lonnie's. Audrey's was ridiculously pink, gold and frilly. Lonnie's was more of a happy mix of colors, she had a bunch of paper flowers taped up on the wall behind her bed in a random, but beautiful pattern.

Lonnie scooted over and patted the bed beside her, inviting them to sit next to her, which they did. "So, once Jane gets here, we can put a movie on," She said, grabbing DVD cases from next to her and holding them up. "We've narrowed it to three. Pick one."

Evie pointed at the one in the center. It was a movie based off a book she loved. She had seen it at least three times (Mal had seen it twice). "I vote this one."

"Me too," Mal said. It was a pretty good movie. And she was pretty sure no one would cry watching it. That was always good.

"Cool," Lonnie slipped off the bed and stashed the other two in a cabinet before turning on the tv and putting the DVD in. She turned the volume all the way down so the DVD menu music wouldn't annoy them.

There was a knock on the door.

"Jane? Come in," Audrey called.

Jane came in and shut the door behind her. She smiled a little sheepishly. "Sorry if I'm late, Dude didn't want me to leave."

"Aw," Evie smiled.

"You're not late, Jane." Audrey promised.

"Jane, I think that dog is flirting with you for Carlos." Lonnie said as Jane stashed her stuff in the corner.

Jane blushed a little. It was pretty clear she had a crush on Carlos. Even Fairy Godmother knew, that's how obvious it was.

"You should ask him to Formal." Audrey told Jane.

Jane looked terribly confused. "Dude?

Audrey laughed. "No, silly. Carlos."

The girl's eyes widened in fear. "Me? Ask Carlos?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Is it Sadie Hawkins or something?" Lonnie asked.

"Who's Sadie Hawkins?" Mal asked.

"Sadie Hawkins is a name for a dance where girls are supposed to ask boys to go." Lonnie explained.

Mal raised her eyebrow and glanced at Evie, who shrugged. "Why can't they just do that anyway?"

"They do." Lonnie assured. "It's done a lot more frequently at the public schools, though, because, as I'm sure you noticed, the boys here are supposed to be perfect gentlemen."

She had noticed that.

"If they can pass Chivalry 101, that is." Audrey replied dryly. Everyone knew she meant Chad, so they laughed. Audrey and Chad dated for like two weeks until she realized she couldn't stand being his girlfriend. They worked better as friends. But they still had a love-hate relationship.

"Anyway, it's not Sadie Hawkins." Audrey went back to the dance. "Like Mal said, I think girls can ask guys whenever they want."

Jane shook her head, eyes still wide. "I can't ask him. I can't."

"Why?" Evie asked.

"What if he says no?" Jane's voice was quiet.

"Trust me, he won't." Evie said.

Jane still shook her head. "I can't."

"Hey," Mal looked at Audrey. "Why don't you take your own advice and ask Jay?"

Audrey's expression suddenly turned serious. "I already told you. My parents-"

"Audrey, you don't know what your parents will say." Lonnie interrupted. "I thought my parents would be horrified when I started dating Olivia, but they weren't. They just said she sounded like a nice girl and that she seemed to make me happy, so they were happy."

"Olivia is a nice girl." Audrey pointed out. "My parents still really don't really like that you guys are even here." she gestured to Mal and Evie.

"Does Jay make you happy, Audrey?" Jane asked quietly.

Audrey bit her lip. "Yes,"

"Then go for it." Evie urged.

Audrey thought for a moment. "You know what... maybe I will."

"Nice," Mal replied.

"Hey guys," Lonnie said. "Movie time?" She wanted to have a good time, not be sad about boys.

"Movie time." Audrey replied, turning off the radio.

Audrey came back from the bathroom at two thirty in the morning surprised to see Mal awake, the backlight of her phone illuminating her face.

"What are you doing up?" Audrey whispered. The other girls were asleep and had been for a while, so she had to keep her voice down.

Mal looked up and shrugged. "I don't know... couldn't sleep." She looked back to her phone. Why did she even care if she was up? All she was doing was looking at art and picture ideas.

Audrey stood beside her for a moment before sitting, pulling her knees to her chest. Mal looked startled. "I don't hate you, Mal."

"I know,"

"So why do you keep treating me like I do?"

"Because I know you still don't like me much. I know I'm only here because you wanted Evie to come."

"I invited you because I wanted you here." the princess replied sincerely. "I think you're pretty cool, actually."

Mal, stunned, blinked at her. She put her phone down in her lap.

"It's true." Audrey admitted.

"Audrey... I-" Mal tried to find the right words. "I stole your boyfriend." Was this an Auradonian thing?

"Yeah, well, to be honest, Ben and I started dating in like seventh grade. I say dating loosely because it consisted of splitting a granola bar at lunch once and maybe I kissed him on the cheek? Anyway, we were together a while, but... I've known him since we were in diapers... and I've never seen him happier than he is with you."

Mal didn't know what to say.

"I know he loves you. I see it when he looks at you. He never looked at me like that. But that's okay. I think a part of me always knew we weren't going to end up like our parents' fairytales and stay together forever. Not everyone can be that lucky. And so what if I didn't get my fairytale... at least he did. I'd rather him be happy with you then unhappily stuck with me. And yeah, the break up wasn't the best, but the girl he got is pretty cool."

Mal smiled a little. "...Thank you, Audrey."

"You're welcome."

It was quiet in the room for a few minutes. The only sound was the soft breathing of their three sleeping friends. The room was lit faintly by moonlight reflected off the snow. It was a very peaceful atmosphere. Mal was surprisingly comfortable in the room of the girl she once couldn't imagine having a civil conversation with.

Audrey was actually really nice. It was surprising. She cared a lot about her friends. Mal was surprised that she put Ben's happiness above her own

"You know Audrey, you can get your happily ever after too." Mal told the princess. "We're only eighteen, you've got a long time to find your prince charming."

"...do you really think Jay..."

"All he can do is say no." Mal said. "Now, I'm not promising he's your prince charming, but he could be, and all you can do is give it a shot."

"You're right. I'm being stupid."

Mal didn't say anything.

"It's late, we should get to bed."

"Yeah,"

Audrey got up from her seat on the floor. "Good night, Mal."

"Night,"

Audrey stepped carefully around Jane to get back into her frilly princessy bed and Mal adjusted her pillow-and-blanket floor bed to make it more comfortable.

The next morning she woke up way to her friends giggling and soon after, a pillow fight ensued for no other reason but having fun.

They should really have sleepovers more often.

A/N: So Audrey and Mal are better friends now! Yay!

So, do you think Jay will go to Winter Formal with Audrey?

Should I introduce Olivia (Lonnie's girlfriend), or just keep her mentioned? It's up to you guys!

I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know what you thought!

See you soon!