Hello Everyone. I would like to explain a few things.
School just started again, and I am beyond stressed. The levels should go down as the year goes on, but the writing was really hard. I should be back on track now.
I am in my school's musical. I am featured ensemble, not huge but a couple extra rehearsals.
I am ok now, but there you are. Your kind reviews helped more than you think, and continue to help. Also, shoutout to Cactus295! She read It'll Be Us and answered the question right. Keep reading that story guys, seriously. READ IT!
Anyway. Things are starting to take a turn….
Chapter Summary
On December 18th, their last day in the dorms before Christmas break, Aria and Casey have a quick little chat about Halan, and Aria tells Casey she needs to sit down and talk to Rylan. Casey says that she will. Halan comes by and invites Aria to Christmas Dinner with his family and Ben. Rylan decides to take Casey Ice Skating at the enchanted lake.
Aria woke up and looked over to her side and looked out of the window to see all of the snow. The first time it had snowed, Rylan and Aria both thought it was a strange and dangerous substance that could kill you on contact. It took some deep explanation from Jane that they could go outside, it was just colder and they would need a coat. They had never had a coat before and so Evie made them both one, Aria's was a periwinkle blue and lavender purple. Rylan's was a deep red and white. Now, when Aria awoke and saw it snowing she was happy. She had become fond of the snow, and Casey's birthday was the next day. She saw Casey in a deep sleep.
Casey had told her the whole Finn and Rylan ordeal and she had been afraid to talk to Rylan ever since. Aria felt bad, she knew that Rylan liked Casey back. She saw casey stir in her sleep before she stood up and got ready for the day. She walked over to the sink and got her comb a little bit wet, then middle parted her hair, and then began to dutch braid the blonde she was finished she saw Casey sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes.
"Happy last day of being twelve." said Aria with a smile.
Casey smiled back and then stood up and continued to rub her eyes. She walked over to where Aria was and just gave her a hug.
"What's this for?" questioned Aria.
"Thank you for being my friend Ari." said Casey with a warm gleaming smile in her eyes.
"No problem CJ. Speaking of which, you really need to talk to Rylan. Make things right. By the end of the day too."
CJ let go, thought about it, nodded and then went into the closet to get ready for the day as Aria did some light makeup. She looked in the mirror and for a split second her eyes flashed a bright green and she got very dizzy. Aria tried to grab the counter to stable herself but she just couldn't find it. Her vision went all dark and blurry and she started to waver. She was able to look into the mirror for a split second and saw her eyes flash green, before her face gave an evil smirk. The last thing she remembered before her boy hit the floor was.
"My mom does that sometimes."
From inside the closet, CJ heard a thud come from outside of the closet. She finished pulling over her light blue sweater ad came out and found Aria unconscious and on the floor. Her mouth was bleeding and her face was pale. Cj immediately panicked yelled for help, hoping someone would be in the halls and could hear them. After waiting a couple of seconds she turned Aria to the side and grabbed her phone from her nightside table. Casey opened her phone and called her mom. While the phone was ringing, she yelled again.
"Help! Someone help!"
Evie was trying to get to the boys seventh grade hall and she was starting to pass through the eight grade girls hall. She heard a panicked scream coming from another hall. She started running, and then waited to hear if she would hear it again. This time it was clear who it was. It was Casey. She started running at full speed towards the seventh grade girls hall and when she got to the door knocked on it hard before hearing Casey practically scream.
"Come in!"
Evie turned the doorknob and covered her mouth as she saw arai on the floor with blood coming out of her mouth and a worried Casey shaking her.
Evie had flashbacks to when she had come back to the dorms and saw Mal the same way, except Mal's mouth wasn't bleeding. It was a magic overload. Their magic hadn't been used for too long and it had all tried to be used at the same time. Poor Aria probably didn't even know she had magic, nonetheless that his could happen. Evie calmly came in and got down to Casey's level and heard her talking to her mom.
"No! No! Mom! She was just fine then I went and changed and I came back out and she was like this. Mom! Please come help!"
Casey was frantic. Evie offered her hand out and asked for the phone.
"Here's Evie" said Casey passing the phone to the blue haired woman.
Casye stood up and got washcloth and ran it under some hot water and began to wipe Aria's mouth off. CJ saw that Aria must have bit a little bit through her bottom lip and would probably need stitches.
"Yes Jane. I will take her and CJ down. Thanks Jane."
CJ was surprised how calm Evie was being. If it had been Halan she would have been screaming.
Evie lifted Ari into her arms and then turned to Casey.
"Hey Casey J?" said Evie calling CJ by her special nickname. "You did a good job. It's just magic overload. She is okay. She is going to be okay. Will you go grab her some clothes and shoes for later and put them in a bag?" asked Evie before CJ ran to the closet and grabbed a lavender sweater and light blue jeans and white slip on shoes. Evie looked at Aria and realized just how much she looked like Mal. She was completely convinced that she was Mal's daughter, but apparently Ben said no.
They left the dorm and as they did to get down to the infirmary they passed Rylan, and Halan. Which was against their luck.
Rylan ran forward and immediately demanded answers.
"What happened to my sister?" asked Rylan in anger. He offered his arms, and Evie shook her head.
'She had a magic overload, she is okay. You and Halan go do something together.
Halan perked up.
"Can I go with her instead of you CJ?" asked Halan with a pleading smile.
CJ looked back and forth between Aria and Halan and then she looked at Rylan and decided that she needed to talk to him.
'Yeah sure Halan." said Casey. Handing him Aria's clothes.
Rylan smiled and Casey walked over to him. Halan, Evie, and Aria all went to the infirmary.
Rylan decided to walk CJ back to her dorm, and have her grab her coat and actually put on some shoes. She was so panicked that she didn't put on any shoes. She put on some boots and Rylan decided to walk her down to the cafeteria and get her a hot chocolate and they could walk around outside. He ordered his and then turned and asked how she would like hers.
"How do you like yours?" asked Rylan with a warm smile.
"I like whip cream and cookies and cream flavored."
Rylan turned them and then said.
"Double that order." He laughed and turned around to CJ.
"I like that too!"
They got their hot chocolate and then went outside and walked around. Sometimes some seniors would pass them and give them a warm smile.
Rylan decided to start the conversation.
"So, the whole you thinking I was Finn thing-" and before Rylan could even finish his sentence, CJ started talking.
"Rylan, I like you a lot and your sister is my best friend and I don't want us to be awkward and I just think you're a really good person. You're the sweetest person in the whole world dnad you care about Aria and are respectful and talented and smart and just so much more."
Rylan laughed a little bit and moved his cup to his other hand and with his free hand, he held hands with CJ's free hand.
"I like you a lot too CJ."
CJ smiled and they walked around a little bit more before Rylan turned asked CJ a very important question.
"Do you want to go ice skating at the enchanted lake tomorrow?"
Casey smiled. "Any special reason?"
Rylan smiled right back at her.
"I heard it's someone's birthday." said Rylan with a smirk.
CJ gently pushed Rylan a little bit, and he fell back into the snow. She offered her hand to help him up, but instead he just pulled her down with him. They landed next to each other and then Rylan began to make a snow angel. CJ id the same and they stood up together adn looked at their work, they looked slightly demented. They ran around and played in the snow for a while, CJ turned around for a couple of seconds and then felt a soft thud on her back. She turned around and saw Rylan trying to act all innocent before grabbing her own snowball and throwing it at him. It came right towards his face, and landed right on his nose. CJ laughed and then they went into an all out war.
They decided to not argue about who won when Casey asked rylan something that has always been on her mind.
"Since we can't stay in the dorms over Christmas break, where are you and Aria staying?"
Rylan knew the answer was probably going to be the castle. Far far away from everyone else he answered, CJ answered for him.
"Come stay with my family! Aria can go with Halan, and you can come with me!" Rylan nodded and then they came together and hugged. Rylan couldn't wait for the next day.
Aria woke up and smelled lots of latex gloves and hand sanitizer. She saw the ceiling was white and the walls were white and she turned over and saw Evie. Evie looked up at her from her phone and gave her a soft smile.
"Hey Ar, how you doing?"
Aria blinked a couple times.
"I feel weird and don't remember what happened."
Halan came over to the other side and reached for her hand. He squeezed it and then held it to his lips.
"Hi." said Aria.
"Hi." said Halan in response
Evie walked over to her and then said
'Hey, so here's the deal. You had a magic overload. The reason your mouth was bleeding was because you bit real deep through your lip when you passed out, you have stitches." began Evie she looked really uneasy. The doctors will come back in a minute and check on you, if the magic has gone down, then you can leave." Evie finished and then put her hand to her heart as she started to tear up.
"I gotta get out of here." She left the room and then Aria turned to Halan, confused.
"Is your mom okay, Hay?" asked Aria, in the couple of months, she had started to call him Hay and he called her Ar.
"I have three siblings," said Halan with no context at all.
"Last time I checked, you only had Allie." said Aria with a questioning smile. Unless his mom was pregnant with twins, he only had one sibling.
"No, Holden, Amelia and Allie."
Aria looked at him, puzzled then beckoned for him to go on. He did so.
"You know, Casey's birthday is tomorrow. And seven years ago, me, my mom, pregnant with Amelia, my dad, and my younger brother Holden we're headed home from Casey's house for her birthday party and Christmas get-together, and a drunk driver crashed into the passenger side. The impact broke Holden's back, and he was taken by ambulance and they didn't see he also had bleeding in the brain, he died. My mom was pregnant with my little sister, and my mom's right arm was broken, they thought they could save the baby, but they put my mom under for an emergency C-section and got her out, but the seatbelt went into my mom too deep, and it made her lungs flat. She lived for two hours. Now, around Casey's birthday, my mom can't even think about hospitals. She just sees in her head a two year old Holden and she remembers asking where I was and if I and Holden was okay. My dad is super distant around this time, and him and my mom spend a lot of time together."
Halan finished and Aria moved the best she could to give him a hug. He had lost a brother and sister.
"What were they like? How old would they be now?" asked Aria. "You don't have to answer."
Halan shook his head.
"I need to talk about it." He took a deep breath, and then sighed. "Holden, he was just like my mom. He was such a mama's boy. He even had the blue hair. He was like if you switched my mom's genders, and then shrunk him down to two years old. That was Holden. He loved to do fashion with my mom. He did little kids dance and was really flexible. He loved life. Everyone says I look like my mom, but then I show them a picture of Holden, and they know, Holden looks like my mom." He pulled his phone out and then showed his lock screen. She knew he changed his lockscreen, but had never seen the picture, it was the pregnancy announcement Evie had made for Amelia. It had a four-year-old Halan in a blue shirt, standing in front of his dad, smiling, he held a sign that said, "Not again?!" behind him was his dad, wearing a darker blue shirt, but in the same style, he held his left hand out and held up an ultrasound picture, the other person holding the picture was Evie, wearing Pink, her bump was showing a little bit and was smiling super big. In front of her, there was a little boy, like a smaller version of Halan, but with dark dark brown eyes, he also wore pink, and he held a sign that read "Future Big Brother!" The whole family was smiling, and at the bottom text read
"Baby Dwarfson Number Three, Due January!"
Halan was right, Holden looked more like his mom than he did.
When he was done, he explained.
"Now, in December, we all change our phone background to that, to show respect."
He put his phone back in his pocket. He decided to explain his sister.
"I saw her one time, she was in the NICU with all these tubes coming out of her. My grandma was walking around with me. I had a cut to my forehead, but had stitches, and was okay to walk around. All I know is she cried for her entire life, she was in a lot of pain. My mom was still asleep from the surgery, and she never met her." Halan started crying.
"I never got to see her grow up, I never got to see her healthy, and Holden would be starting school here soon, he was my best friend!"
Aria stood and felt slightly dizzy and hugged him. She held him tight and whispered into his ear, reassuring messages.
"They would be ten, and seven." said Halan through his tears.
They hugged until the doctor checked on Aria, thirty minutes later.
"When Aria was all checked out, she was cleared. She put her outfit on and decided to take Halan back to her dorm, with her luck, Rylan and Casey would still be gone, and they could just talk. She got to the dorm and then opened the door slowly, Casey was nowhere to be found. She looked to where she last remembered being, and looked on the ground, there was small bits of blood, and she knew it was hers. She and Halan walked all the way in and Halan closed the door. Halan sat on the chair in the corner of the room and then she sat on her bed. They talked for a while about her plans for Christmas.
"Same as always." said Aria flopping back on her bed. "Rylan and I say our favorite stories and then we go to sleep."
Rylan had texted him earlier and told him to tell her that he would be spending break at Casey's house.
He brought it up.
"Halan is spending the break at Casey's." said Halan.
Aria looked puzzled, but then an idea popped into Halan's mind.
"Every year, my family and Ben has a big Christmas dinner and this year it's tonight. Come to the castle with me tonight! I will pick you up at five!"
Aria thought about it for a couple seconds.
"Yeah, sounds great!"
Halan stood up to leave, eh had to look his best tonight.
"Okay, bye Ari!" he hugged her and then ran out the door.
When he left, Aria started to pack her stuff and get ready for break with Halan.
When Halan came to pick her up, she was in a long sleeve emerald green dress, it made her eyes pop, it had sparkles going down the dress, and went to her shins, it poofed out a bit when it did get to her shins. Her hair was curled again, and for the first time today, her makeup was done right. She was pacing her room. She had not even told Casey that she was having dinner with Halan tonight. She heard a knock on the door and saw Halan sitting there. He was in a black suit, and she looked down and was shocked, he was wearing black dress shoes. For the entire almost four months they had been in Auradon, he wore red shoes. Halan could sense the shock.
"The one day of the year I don't wear red shoes." said Halan with a grin. He wore a black tuxedo and his hair was somehow combed nicer than it usually was. He held his hand out, and she took it, and grabbed her backpack ad hoisted it around her shoulders, before they set off. They had barely gotten down the hall when she remembered she forgot her coat. She ran back to get it, and rejoined Halan.
They came to the front doors of Auradon Prep, and saw there was a limo there, waiting for them. A man, an Official Auradon Guard, asked for her luggage, and she gave it, then he opened the door for the pair.
Let's just say, the ride to the castle, was very sweet.
Dinner was filled with an amazing roast, funny stories from when Halan was little, them remembering the lives that were lost, and Arai shared funny stories of her and Rylan, the good ones. At the end of the dinner, the adults decided to share a glass of wine, and Halan asked Aria to sneak away with him, so he could show her the room she would be staying in.
They walked through the walls holding hands, when Halan reminded her that the play would be in January.
"You ready for the play? Tech week is right when we get back.' said Halan with a smile.
Aria nodded and then Halan noticed they were getting close to her room, and pulled her into an alcove. They laughed and then got really close, as there was hardly any room, and Aria asked the question back.
"Yeah, almost. Just one more thing."
And with that, he pulled Aria close, his lips locking on to hers. Aria was shocked but then sank into the kiss, and they shared a True Love's Kiss.
Aria's spell had been broken.
Rylan woke up, in Jason's room. He smiled and realized today was Casey's birthday.
He stood up and ran into her room ,he promised her an early breakfast at a small cafe, and ice skating at the enchanted lake. He decided not to open the door, but to run back and put on proper clothes to go ice skating clothes, he did that and then ran to her room, he knocked. His hair was combed like Halan's and he was wearing a red sweater. He had dark blue jeans on, and of course, his boots. He had his coat draped over his shoulder and he finished knocking when Casey came to her door.
She was gorgeous. She looked like she did everyday, but was elevated.
She wore light blue jeans, a baby pink sweater and grey boots, she had her coat also draped around her.
'There is my favorite thirteen year old!" exclaimed Rylan before she exited her room and said
"Ah yes, I can remember back when I was your age."
When they got into the kitchen, there were streamers and her mom had a twenty-dollar bill waiting in her hands.
"I will be paying for your skate rentals." she smiled warmly at her daughter before pulling her into a tight embrace.
"Happy Birthday to my Casey Jane!" Casey smiled and hugged her mom back.
Carlos ran down the stairs and gave a dude bro fist to Rylan before picking Casey up and spinning her in the air.
"CJ! You're thirteen!' He practically yelled.
CJ laughed and said
"Yeah Yeah, no biggie."
As the two decided it was time to leave. Carlos yelled after them.
"Be home in time for cake!"
They got to the lake, and got their skates, and CJ was crazy surprised that Rylan could skate. "Over on the isle, I found roller blades and I mastered them." said Rylan laughing.
They skated around for a while holding hands.
Most girls usually wish for their man to be older than them. She didn't care that Rylan was younger than her, he was perfect. That troublesome smile.
And it was the troublesome smile, that convinced her to sneak away and actually found where the water had not frozen over. They found a small spot, and an old bucket from the summer. They took turns designing stuff in the snow with the water, but Casey decided it was her birthday, and she should get to play a prank, so as Rylan was turned around, he took off his coat and exposed his rolled up sleeves, he set his coat on a rock. CJ filled the bucket up, and threw it at Rylan.
It became a long battle that ended when they decided they were too cold, and when they got back to CJ's house for cake, when she blew out her candles, she wished Rylan could one day open up to everyone about his birthday, and she didn't even realize.
The enchanted lake had washed away Rylan's spell.
Their spells are gone, which can only lead to one thing…
Keep reading and reviewing!