You may know what happens next, but I am going to summarize a few things for you since there's been a few changes that you aren't aware about.

Although it was established that six months had passed in the original tale, over a year has passed in this reiteration. In fact, it was almost the end of Mal's junior year of high school. With it being mid-March, it was everyone's first week back to school after spring break.

Well . . . almost.

There were a couple students that haven't come back to school yet, but that will be explained later on.

For now, I will inform you that Mal's appearance has changed dramatically since the last you've seen her. She started to wear prissier clothing to fit in with the Auradon crowd and grew out her hair to near waist length, enchanting it so it was now ice-blond with purple tips. Through the daily letters that she still received from father, the fairy learned that her father disliked her new appearance. He preached nearly every other letter that she didn't have to change who she was to fit in since so many Auradonians already like her for who she is. When asked if Mallory liked her appearance, Hades remained silent, giving Mal the impression that her baby girl didn't like her change either.

But this was for Mallory.

The quicker Mal and the rest of the Core Four are accepted by the Auradonians, the quicker the barrier over the island will be removed.

And the quicker Mal could be reunited with her daughter.

Before we can continue the story, there is still a few things I need to tell you regarding the rest of the Core Four.

Carlos grew out his hair and grew out of his shy phase, though he is working up the courage to ask Jane to the upcoming cotillion—something I'll speak about later. Evie started a new clothing business called Evie4Hearts and plans to use the profits of the money to buy herself a castle. Jay became the captain of R.O.A.R.—a sword fighting sport, to put it simply—and has recently spent his spare time working for Evie to get some money in his pocket. Due to an unfortunate circumstance within his boyfriend's family, Jay has been saving up his money to . . .

Wait! I don't want to spoil anything just yet.

For now, I will tell you about cotillion!

Since Mal has been dating Ben for quite some time now, a royal event is to take place to make her 'Lady Mal' and part of the royal court. Hades warned his daughter during the beginning stages of planning that the cotillion was basically an engagement to be engaged, making Mal somewhat hesitant to go along with the event. Don't get her wrong: she does care a lot for Ben. She just isn't ready to marry yet, especially since she still has her daughter on the island.

Originally, Audrey was supposed to assist Mal with the cotillion since she is head of the planning committee, but the princess 'suddenly' had a two-week spa vacation with the three fairies that conveniently wouldn't end until the day after cotillion. Jane was placed in charge of helping Mal, though it seemed more like unintentional harassment with all the interrogations the fairy goes through every day.

Nonetheless, despite having her hands full with cotillion, Mal still had to attend her daily classes while playing the role of the perfect Auradon girlfriend to King Ben.

As of now, the Core Four were headed to their next class together. Mal kept her head down as she walked beside Evie, who was the epitome of fashion in her blue dress and blue box purse. Jay and Carlos took the lead as Carlos had hold of Dude on a leash. Fellow students milled about as the four friends climbed the stairs to the breezy outdoor patio.

"Have you heard from Aziz today?" Carlos wondered to get a conversation started.

"Only for a few minutes," Jay informed with a sadden sigh. "It's going to be any day now. Aziz is afraid that if he leaves Agrabah, he will be gone."

"So, he's going to miss cotillion?" Evie naturally assumed.

"He will be back only for that day," Jay corrected as his own mood slowly became gloomier at the thought of not seeing his boyfriend for a while longer. "Aziz is going to grab all the school-work he missed so far, go to cotillion for a couple hours, then head back home to Agrabah. He will be back in school at Auradon Prep soon."

Mal perked up at the information, mainly because she heard slightly different. "That's not what he told Ben," she argued softly. "Jay . . . Aziz is—"

"Mal!"

The fairy snapped to attention, plastering a fake smile on her pale features when Jane magically appeared. She has changed only slightly due to her hair 'growing' so it was much longer than before. Since Jane was here, it meant more questions about cotillion right about—

"Hey, Jane," Carlos greeted nervously, unwittingly distracting the eager girl for the fairy, but his confidence was slipping away from him. "I was wondering . . . if you . . . uh . . . liked the carrot cake last night?"

"I had the pumpkin pie," Jane corrected sweetly, a bit confused by the question.

"Oh. Cool." Carlos stared at her, unsure of what to say next to impress her. "Um . . . I'm gonna go."

Before another word could be said, Carlos scurried off like a cowardly dog, causing Jay to snicker at his friend's misery while Evie went after him to cheer him up. Now, before Jane could start her usual interrogations with Mal, Ben suddenly appeared behind the two remaining Core Four.

"Hi, Mal," Ben greeted as he gave his beloved a soft kiss to her forehead, the only kind of affection he could give her without her tensing up on him. Afterwards, Ben adverted his attention to his best friend's boyfriend. "Jay, I have the list for you," he informed. "It's in my school office. They are out of your range now, but, after cotillion, you should have enough."

"That is perfect," Jay quickly reassured. "I still plan on waiting a couple months to get one."

"Get . . . what?" Mal wondered, as she was out of the loop with the situation.

"A gift for Aziz," Jay slightly fibbed with a careless shrug. "I just thought he needed something to cheer him up with his family's issue. It's nothing big."

"I beg to differ," Ben argued good-naturedly. "Aziz is going to be so happy that he's going to want to marry you sooner than he already does."

Obviously, Mal's and Jay's jaws dropped at the . . . interesting revelation. Eyes going wide, Jay rhetorically wondered, "He wants to what—?"

"Quick moment!" Jane conveniently interrupted, pulling Ben to the side before he could spoil any more of the plot.

"Alright, the surprise for Mal is almost finished," Jane informed Ben once they were out of earshot. She held her trusty tablet and showed him images of a stained-glass window that had a young happy couple on it, better description to come in later chapters.

"Make sure her eyes are green," Ben requested, wanting to make sure his gift for Mal was perfect. "And did you talk to your mother about—"

"Ben?" Mal called to get the king's attention. "Are you coming to class with us?"

"I'll catch up in a minute," Ben reassured, moving his attention back to Jane once the best-friend couple headed off to the classroom without him.

"I did," Jane answered the unfinished question, sighing slightly dramatically. "Mom is still adamant that there be no travel during the school year with the exception of vacations, no matter how homesick Mal may be. The perfect time to plan her visiting the Isle would have been last week during spring break. Mom is only making an exception for Aziz because of his family issue. Speaking of that, has Aziz told Jay—?"

"Not yet," Ben claimed with a sigh of his own. "He's going to wait until cotillion to break the bad news, but plans on evening it out with some good."

"Well, which green should the artist use for Mal's gift?" Jane wondered as she showed a few rectangular pieces of stained glass, all shades of green that were nearly identical.

"Um . . ." Ben looked through the shards before picking out the darkest green. "This one." He stared through it dreamingly, clearly imagining that he was staring straight into his beloved's eyes.

Although he wished to give her two gifts, this one will have to do.