DESCENDENTS: Hidden Truths and Secrets
Chapter 16
Monday started like many Mondays for the students at Auradon Prep, dragging themselves out of bed for another school week. The only thing that could have made it worse was a test… which is exactly what Mr. Deley's chemistry class was having that day. Evie walked in happy and confident about the test. She and Doug had studied all weekend, and she was ready.
"Morning Doug," said Evie as she took her seat next to Doug and smiled.
"Morning Evie," replied Doug, who seemed to go redder than his uncle Bashful.
A few seconds later, Chad and Crystal walked in and sat down at the table.
"I'm so not ready for this test," said Chad as he propped his elbow on the table and rest his head on his hand.
"Don't be that way, Chad, think positive," said Crystal, trying to encourage him.
"I am positive. Positive I'm going to bomb," replied Chad as the others at the table laughed.
Evie opened her purse to get a pencil when Mr. Deley walked up to the table.
"Looking for something, Miss Evie?" asked Mr. Deley as Evie looked up from her bag.
"Just a pencil Mr. Deley," replied Evie.
"I thought you may have been looking for this," said Mr. Deley as he produced a silver framed mirror.
"Thank you for thinking it's mine, sir, but I've never seen that before," replied Evie looking at the mirror.
"That's a lie!" shouted Howard as he walked over. "I saw her with it, and she used it to get answers."
"Let me handle this, Prince Howard, if you please," said Mr. Deley, a little annoyed by Howard. "As you can see, Evie, Howard has leveled a serious charge against you. Now I don't want to assume one of my favorite students is a cheater, so do you have anything to say?"
"I'll just state again, sir, that the mirror isn't mine. You can always have Fairy Godmother check for any magic use to see if it is a magic mirror, but I don't think it is," said Evie, trying not to lose her calm.
"Why bring her into it? The school rules are simple. Get caught cheating, it's an automatic fail and expulsion," said Howard, earning another look from Mr. Deley.
"If I may point out we only have your word she is cheating, Howard. Besides, a mirror you handed Mr. Deley claiming it's magic, that's not grounds for anything," said Doug in Evie's defense.
"Shut up, dwarf, nobody asked you anyway!" said Howard, angry at Doug.
"Prince Howard, that's enough. I have the perfect way to settle this. I will have Evie take the test at my desk and have this mirror taken to Fairy Godmother for examination. That way, by the end of class, I'll know who's lying. Though I think I have a good idea who already," said Mr. Deley, with the last comment direct at Howard.
Mr. Deley walked Evie over to his desk to take the test and sent another student with the mirror to Fairy Godmother.
Meanwhile, across campus in the art room, Mal and the other students were working on their assignments. Rapunzel had told the class to draw a place that had special meaning to them, then use tiles to turn it into a mosaic. Mal liked the idea of doing a mosaic, but was having a hard time deciding what place to illustrate. Since coming to Auradon, Mal and her friends hadn't really been anywhere but campus. She had wanted to go to the Moors to see where her family came from, but wanted her first visit there to be with her mother. She didn't want to draw something from the isle because she didn't want people to pity her and the gang. So, there she was, sitting at her desk, just staring at a blank drawing pad. Pastel was sitting on the desk corner and saw Mal was having trouble. The little chameleon started changing colors to draw Rapunzel's attention. Rapunzel saw this and decided to talk to Mal and give her a guiding hand.
"Having trouble, Mal?" asked Rapunzel as she stood beside Mal's desk.
"Just can't think about what to draw. I really haven't been anywhere special," said Mal with a sigh as she put her head on her desk.
Pastel saw this walk over and hag Mal's cheek while turning purple. Mal sat up and cradled her hand over Pastel as a way to return the hug.
"Thanks Pastel, I needed that a lot," said Mal to her little friend.
"Don't stress, Mal. The project's due next Friday, so you have time to think of a place. If you're worried about your grade, don't. I'm giving extra credit for that project you're doing," said Rapunzel in a whisper so she didn't repeat her slip-up with Belle.
"Oh, that reminds me, I was able to finish it yesterday. Thank you for trusting me with the key to the room for the weekend," said Mal as she gave Rapunzel the key back.
"You're welcome, Mal. I can't wait to see how it looks," replied Rapunzel as she took the key and peeked at an easel that was covered behind her desk.
To make sure no one knew Mal was painting the portrait, she and Rapunzel decided to simply cover the painting behind Rapunzel's desk. They knew if anyone did look, they would assume Rapunzel was painting it, not Mal.
Rapunzel decided to dismiss the class early so she and Mal could discuss the painting. She made the announcement, and the other students were overjoyed, thanking Rapunzel as they left. As soon as the students were gone, Mal and Rapunzel moved to the easel to remove the cover.
"Oh, Mal, you did an amazing job. Everyone is going to love it!" said Rapunzel as she saw Ben's portrait.
"I'm more worried about what Ben thinks of it than everyone else," said Mal as she held Pastel while looking.
"I think it's the best painting of me there is, and I didn't even have to sit for it," said a voice that caused both Mal and Rapunzel to turn around and see Ben.
"Ben, what a surprise! What brings you here?" said Rapunzel as she walked over to greet Ben.
"I wanted to surprise Mal with something. Turns out I got the surprise instead," replied Ben, trying to be funny as he saw how nervous Mal was.
"Do you mean it? That you like it? I wanted it to be perfect for you. I mean, you're going to be king, your portrait should be perfect," said Mal as she nervously rambled until Ben walked over and hugged her.
"I don't care if it's perfect or not. The fact that it was painted by you means more. I wouldn't trade it for the work of any other artist, even my Grandfather Maurice," said Ben as he looked into her eyes.
The words claimed Mal as she looked at Ben, and she hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thank you, that means so much to me, Ben," said Mal as Rapunzel walked over.
"I'll lock this up in my special cabinet so no one else can get to it. Ben, why don't you walk Mal to her next class. You did mention a surprise for her, right?" said Rapunzel as she covered the painting and took it to the cabinet as the young couple left.
Meanwhile, back in chemistry class, the test was nearly done when Fairy Godmother came into the room.
"Headmistress, were you able to find the truth about the item I had sent up to you?" asked Mr. Deley as everyone looked on with interest.
"I did, in fact, Mr. Deley, and I can tell you the mirror was not enchanted in any way. I would like Prince Howard to come with me. I would like to have a discussion about his behavior," said Fairy Godmother as she looked at Prince Howard with pure anger.
"Fairy Godmother, you may also want this. It's an interesting conversation between me and Howard from my first day of school," spoke up Evie, as she showed Fairy Godmother the video on Doug's phone.
The video played, and Howard looked as white as a sheet. Fairy Godmother took Howard and the phone to her office, promising Doug to have it returned to him after she copied the video. The bell rang a few minutes later, and every student rushed out the door, many wanting to be the first to tell how Evie had exposed Howard as a cheat. Evie, Doug, Chad and Crystal were taking their time as Mr. Deley walked over with Evie's test, already graded to their surprise.
"I thought you may want this back, Evie, seeing all the trouble you went through to take it. I graded it quickly while you were showing Fairy Godmother the video," said Mr. Deley, handing Evie an A-plus test.
"Thank you so much, sir," said Evie in excitement at seeing her grade.
"Don't thank me, Evie, you earned that grade," said Mr. Deley as the group left the classroom.
While this was happening, on the other side of the school, Dusk was having a problem: Rose was avoiding him. Ever since she had come back Saturday night, she had been acting strange. Dusk was worried that he had done something wrong and she was angry with him. She wouldn't even look at or talk to him during Professor Thatch's class, and when he asked about working on their project, she suddenly got sick. Professor Thatch sent her to the nurse to make sure she was okay to continue the school day. Dusk volunteered to walk her there, but she ran out of the room before he could get out of his seat. So now he was walking down the hall, so depressed that he bumped into Harriet and Anthony without noticing.
"Hey bird brain, how's it going?" asked Harriet in a joking manner before noticing Dusk's sad expression.
"Terrible. I think Rose is mad at me, but I don't know why. She's been avoiding me since she got back Saturday and wouldn't talk to me in class. And then she got sick and ran to the nurse when I said I would walk with her," replied Dusk as he slumped against the wall.
"Typical. Rose always has trouble when she faces a problem like this. Dusk, go to the nurse's office and talk to her. She won't be able to leave until the nurse is certain she's okay. If she refuses to talk, tell her you'll come talk to me. That may force the issue," said Anthony as the two isle kids looked at him.
"What issue are you talking about?" asked Dusk in confusion.
"I'll wait till you've tried and talked about it with Rose, and then I'll say," replied Anthony, pushing the boy in the direction of the nurse's office.
"Okay, baker boy, spill. What do you know?" said Harriet when Dusk was out of earshot.
"I wish I could tell you, Harriet, but I promised not to say a word. I'm sure once Rose tells Dusk I'll be able to tell you, but until then I can't," replied Anthony, looking at her and begging with his eyes.
"Okay, I'll drop it for now, but you better tell me when you can," said Harriet as the two continued down the hall.
Outside at the picnic tables, Evie was with Doug, still excited about her A-plus.
"This proves to everyone I'm not just a pretty face," said Evie, looking at her test.
"Yeah, you're smart, kind, helpful, creative…" Doug started to say before Evie kissed him on the cheek.
"Doug, I know you like me, and I really like you. You're always there to help me no matter what. I know this isn't how things are done, but will you be my boyfriend?" asked Evie as Doug smiled.
"Hi Ho, of course!" replied Doug as the two embraced in a hug.
The new couple had little time to celebrate, though, as Mal came running up to them.
"Evie, I need your help!" shouted Mal as the Evie and Doug turned to face her.
"What's the matter, Mal?" asked Evie, worried.
"Ben asked me on a date! I don't know what to do," replied Mal, very flustered.
Doug gave Evie a head tilt with a smile, letting her know it was okay. The two girls ran back to their dorm room to get Mal ready.
In the nurse's office, Rose was feeling annoyed as the nurse asked her this and that about what symptoms she might have. She just kept saying no; it was better than revealing the real reason she got sick to her stomach. Having what Dusk told her and Sir George become a whole story had made her feel guilty at what her grandfather had done to Dusk's mother. She had tried to avoid him all weekend, but forgot about history class. Every time he talked to her or looked at her, she had pains in her stomach. When he mentioned the project, it was enough to make her feel sick. Now she was here and not allowed to leave until the nurse thought she was okay. It was at that moment that Dusk entered the room, and he looked worried.
"Rose, can we please talk? Whatever I did, please tell me," said Dusk, pleading.
The nurse could tell now what was going on and walked over to the door.
"I'm going to step outside so the two of you can talk privately. Princess Rose, I recommend you tell this boy what's eating you up inside. Problems don't solve themselves by being swept under a rug," said the nurse as she closed the door behind her.
Dusk walked over to where Rose was and sat down right next to her.
"Rose, whatever is upsetting you, just tell me. Anthony told me he would if you don't, but I'd prefer if you told me. Don't block me, please," said Dusk as he held her hands.
Rose looked at their intertwined hands and then in Dusk's eyes, seeing how sad he was. She pulled him into a hug, holding on as if he'd fly away.
Then Rose whispered softly into his ear, "I know the truth."
Finally, back with a long overdue update, sorry about that. I've been lacking creative energy was having a hard time writing. I hope you enjoy this new chapter; I hope to get started on the next one soon. I just started back to work after being off six months. Add that I got a letter for jury duty so I may have little free time. Thanks for reading my story, as always be patient with updates and please review. Until I deal the next hand, Wildcard out!