I hate exams.

I should probably warn you my writing schedule is gonna be erratic for a long time now.

Another artwork by Estelita234 from DeviantArt using artbreeder. This time of Alia.

So, the ship name is... JALIA!

"What the hell?!" I asked, wrenching my hand away as soon as Jay's grip loosened. Professor Bones had moved out of the classroom to wait for the students (like he usually did, for some reason).

I couldn't understand why the VKs were acting so damn weird? They were just so... jumpy. ALL. THE. TIME. I usually would have just attributed this to nervousness or uncomfortableness but considering they were the ones seeking me out, I think it's highly unlikely. It was almost as if they were hiding s-

A jolt of pain shot through my head making me lose my train of thought. I let out an involuntary hiss and squeezed my eyes shut.

"Princess?" Jay's voice cut through my haze, "You okay?"

I opened my eyes, my eyelids feeling more like a ten-ton ship.

"Yeah, fantastic," I snapped sarcastically, "Just cursed into the worst headache of the century. Why wouldn't I be?"

I watched Jay's previously concerned face immediately fall.

"Well, aren't you just a bright ray of sunshine," he retorted, shoving right past me and plopping onto one of the many empty seats in the room, dropping his bag on the floor underneath. I huffed, lightly rubbing the shoulder he had bumped into.

What a big baby.

(Ok, confession time. I may have felt slight... a teeny tiny bit... really minuscule... honestly, it's so tiny you shouldn't even pay attention to it... guilty for behaving so rudely.)

I sighed and mumbled a short, "Sorry," as I took the nearest seat which caused Jay's head to shoot up like a rocket. I rolled my eyes.

Honestly, you would think I've just told I'm a secret fey goddess from a parallel universe.

"It's... alright?" Jay replied unsurely, though it came off more like a question.

Was this another one of the things villains didn't teach their kids? How to accept apologies? First with the whole 'tasting is feeling' thing and now this, villains have weird parenting priorities-

I smacked my head against the table with a groan as another painful jolt went through. I swear the magic was getting worse and worse by the day.

Speaking of magic, just then something really weird happened.

Ok, so don't panic. It may just have been the spell messing with my head but I swear, I heard Jay... I heard him...

Chuckle.

No wait, hear me out. It wasn't like I hadn't heard Jay chuckle before. But the thing was it wasn't one of those weird evil/mean/taunting chuckles. It was a genuine, amused chuckle. Like, the one you use with a friend. And we were all alone so it wasn't like it was directed at someone else. So, unless he was laughing to himself- which, honestly, wouldn't be any less likely than the alternative.

It's definitely the spell acting up.

"Glad my misery is providing you entertainment, Snake," I grumbled out though despite my internal musing, lifting my head up just enough to send a glare towards him. I couldn't muster up much heat in it though due to the constant headache so I'm pretty sure it came off more a petulant pout.

"What can I say?" Jay said smugly, crossing his arms behind his head, "There's just something about seeing you prissy, perfect royals be less than perfect that gives me the kicks."

I snorted, choosing to ignore his taunt. "Perfect? Have you met Chad?"

Jay grimaced.

"Fair point."

It was my turn to be startled.

Jay? Agreeing with me? Without any hidden insult underneath?

Ok, this has to be the spell. Otherwise, the world must be ending! (And no I did not exaggeratedly gasp at this thought in my head, thank you very much.)

Alright, alright, fine-I might be acting a tad bit dramatic. But in my defence, I'm in constant pain and perplexion nowadays. I think I'm perfectly justified to act less than stellar.

And alright fine, to be perfectly honest, Jay these days hasn't actually been that bad. In fact, you could almost consider him... nice.

Killa was insistent that this wasn't a sign of the apocalypse.

At the very least he was being polite. Maybe it was just his guilt on Mal's behalf due to the spell or maybe Fair Godmother's lessons were finally paying off (I highly doubted that. Don't get me wrong, I love the woman as much as the next person but her lessons from what I've seen were the farthest from effective). Nevertheless, Jay and the other VKs were certainly not the same people I had met on the first day. Just like Auradon wasn't the same since then either.

And I had a feeling this change was for the better.

So, maybe... Jay had also changed his commitment to fighting like cats and dogs whenever in my presence? It was certainly an idea worth considering.

After all, am I not the one who is constantly berating myself on how childish this fight is? Maybe it was time to bury this unnecessary hash and move forward.

I looked at the boy in question, who seemed to be lost in thought as well.

Yes, maybe... he was alright-

"After all," Jay said suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts, "look at you. You and the word 'perfect' are so far apart, it would put the great wall of China to shame."

- or not.

"Yes- and you're just the epitome of a flawless utopian boy, aren't you?"

"Definitely a far cry better than you."

"Did you hit your head in tourney? It's must be pretty banged up for you to be speaking so much rubbish."

"Really, then you must have a permanent head injury."

"TALKING with you is a head injury."

"And talking with you is mental torture."

"Great! I'll gladly call an asylum then."

"Anything to get away from you."

"Idiot-"

"Brat-"

"Dunce-"

"Dork-"

"Snake!"

"Princess!"

Let's just say when Professor Bones came in he was not pleased.

Professor Bones from the last chapter was 'Captain Buzzard Bones' from 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates'. I know he should probably be on the isle of the lost but he's just so cute! I refuse to believe he was locked up. In my mind, he is happy and free and burying loads of secret treasures. Since no one guessed it correctly, no shout out today.