When Mal shows up at Dragon Hall on Friday it's nearly lunchtime. She had stayed in bed sulking all morning long, her bad mood from the previous evening worsening when she finally descended the stairs of Bargain Castle to be greeted by her mother, who called her weak and lazy for pouting and sleeping in.

Maleficent didn't actually care whether Mal attended school or not, she only cared how Mal's absence reflected on her. Being absent to plot or scheme? Perfectly acceptable in Maleficent's book. Being absent because your childhood best friend turned present enemy did something kind like return your sketchbook and made you momentarily forget you hate her which then sent you into extreme emotional turmoil? Not acceptable at all.

Mal returned to the run-down castle she shares with her mother last night after blowing off some steam with Jay after school. She had been on edge from all the one-on-one time she spent with Evie and Jay readily agreed to accompany her on her warpath. The pair spent hours running around the Isle, thieving and terrorizing the masses. After Mal had made three different children cry and Jay had stolen some much needed supplies for their hideout, the two parted ways and went to their respective homes.

Not that she'd ever admit it out loud, but Mal is grateful for Jay's companionship. He doesn't question her moodiness or try to push her to talk; he just walks beside her in the shadows and occasionally calls her out on her shit when necessary. And while Mal suspects Jay's aware that her recent unrest is due to Evie's sudden re-appearance in her life, she can't exactly explain to him why the blue-haired girl gets her so worked up—because she's not so sure herself.

She tells herself it's because Evie didn't invite her to her 6th birthday party. It's been ten years and she should probably be over such a slight, but grudges are kind of the family business. Mal still feels a sharp stab of hurt in her chest whenever she thinks back to the day she showed up at Castle Across the Way convinced there must have been a mistake or that her invite to Evie's party must have gotten misplaced.

The whole Isle had been talking about the party in the days leading up to it, surely if all those people who didn't matter to Evie were invited, Mal was too. Except she wasn't greeted at the door by an excited Evie throwing herself into Mal's arms and then leading her off by the hand to reign over the party by her side. Instead she was coldly turned away by the Evil Queen, Evie standing behind her mother in the doorway, dressed up in a frilly red and blue dress with a tiara perched on her head of perfectly curled sapphire locks. Mal called past the scowling woman to her friend but Evie remained silent, hiding behind her mother with her eyes cast downward as the Evil Queen berated Mal for being unsavory and unsuitable for her daughter.

When Mal returned home to her own mother, she was still holding the gift she had made for Evie in her hands—a leather-bond notebook like her own for Evie to sketch her designs in. It wasn't until her mother questioned her about the package, which Mal had painstaking wrapped in old newspapers and tied with twine, that Mal realized she was still holding onto the stupid thing. When she threw it on the floor in rage and burst into tears her mother angrily chastised her for having an emotional outburst like some sort of pathetic human. At her mother's scolding, Mal pulled herself together just enough to tell her mother what had happened. Her mother's face grew tighter and angrier as Mal spoke but when she was finished Maleficent just nodded and clasped her hands together.

"I'll take care of it," Maleficent vowed. "And after I do, I never want to hear that dreadful brat's name ever again! You will not speak of the Evil Queen, or her daughter, and you will certainly not indulge yourself in such vulgar displays of emotion ever again!"

And that was that. Mal didn't see Evie again. She was too afraid to ask her mother what happened to the girl as Maleficent's hatred for the Evil Queen only seemed to grow after that day, but not too long afterwards she overheard some women in the market square gossiping about Maleficent banishing the Evil Queen to her castle. Mal was glad to hear her mother's solution didn't involve killing her former friend, but she was also glad Evie was being punished for being such a bad friend.

At first, Mal thought of Evie all the time—she wondered what Evie was doing and what she would say if she ever saw her again. She imagined all the ways she'd tell Evie off and make her cry for hurting her. Sometimes she'd imagine Evie apologizing to her and asking to be friends again.

But as time went on, Mal thought of Evie less and less—she had to, it hurt too much to remember how she felt standing in the doorway of The Castle Across The Way all those years ago. And even despite her mother's warning, she still missed the girl who had once been her best friend. But her mother would punish her if she even suspected Mal was sad over Evie and so she had to push Evie from her mind as much as possible, because thinking about her best friend only ever made her sad.

And then Evie had shown up at school unannounced—breezing through the halls with so much grace and poise and even more beautiful than Mal remembered. Suddenly, Mal was forced to confront the feelings she had been suppressing for ten years and she didn't like it.

It didn't feel good to see Evie hug Carlos or laugh at Jay's jokes and wonder what she might have missed out on for all these years. So Mal did what she did best—she shoved any confusing feelings she may have had aside and latched onto the only emotion she's even been comfortable showing: anger.

Today concludes Evie's first week at Dragon Hall and Mal has taken every available opportunity to lash out and make the girl miserable. So why did Evie have to chase her down in the halls after P.E. just to return her stupid sketchbook? And why did Evie look at her with a soft smile and expectant eyes like she was just waiting for Mal to give her permission to take her by the hand once again? And why the hell didn't Evie point out the crown Mal had sketched on the cover of her book—the crown that looked suspiciously like the one Evie wore on her head and revealed way more than Mal was ready to. Why did Evie let her off so easy when she could have torn Mal to shreds with the secrets contained in that book?

Evie swore she didn't look inside the sketchbook and so help her gods, Mal actually believes her. Mal doesn't even take the word of her closest allies Jay and Carlos at face value because to trust on the Isle is to get played and Mal is no fool, but Evie speaks to her in that soothing honey-coated voice of hers and Mal accepts her words as if they're the only truth Mal has ever known.

It's only been a week and Mal can already feel her armor cracking. She can't afford to let someone make her so weak and off-balanced. She's the daughter of Maleficent and no matter what it takes, she will remain on top.

The tiny blue and gold crown stares back at her from the front of her sketchbook like some sort of beacon of ridicule and weakness. Mal shoves the book into her locker with a disgusted growl and pulls a can of spray paint from inside. Her locker closes with a clank and Mal walks off with a smile and a plan.


The cafeteria is already half-full when Mal walks in. She brushes her paint-covered hands against her leather pants and lets her eyes scan the room. She catches sight of Jay walking over to their table with an tray of meat casserole and mushy pea soup He grins when he notices her and motions for her to sit down as he slides into his own seat.

"Didn't think you'd show," he greets her.

Mal shrugs, helping herself to the seat opposite him. "Yeah, well, what else was I going to do all day."

Jay just shoots her a knowing look and starts shoveling food into his mouth.

"So where's Carlos?" Mal asks, trying not to sound too suspicious.

"He'll be here. He and Evie were working on some science project or some shit. They said they'd meet me here."

Mal raises a brow. "They?"

"Carlos didn't think you were coming in today so he invited Evie to eat with us," Jay explains around a mouthful of meat. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"No problem at all," Mal smiles as her eyes once again sweep the room. "Now if you excuse me I have some mystery meat to procure."

"Get me another plate!" Jay calls out as Mal rises from the table. .

Mal waves her hand at him and makes her way over to a younger boy standing awkwardly against the wall trying to balance his tray in one hand as he ate. There aren't enough tables in the cafeteria for every kid to have a seat so some of the less intimidating villain kids have to stand or sit on the floor at lunch.

Mal had a prior run-in with this particular boy—LeFou Deux, the son of LeFou. Like his father and namesake, LeFou Deux was a bumbling fool and had earned Mal's ire when he stepped on her foot and scuffed her freshly waxed boots a couple of months ago. Mal had let him off with a warning after Carlos stopped her from pummeling the little idiot on the spot. Carlos made the rather rational argument that LeFou would make a better lackey than punching bag—with spineless brown-nosing being in his blood and all. Of course Mal had wanted to punch the kid senseless but she couldn't deny the logic of Carlos's plan to use the boy's fear and desire to please her to her advantage sometime down the line. So she warned the boy that she'd be back to collect from him whenever she saw fit and left him sniveling and fumbling in the hallway.

Well, today is collection day.

After a brief but pointed chat with the boy, Mal leaves—but not before snatching his tray from his hands with a simple "I'll take that" and sauntering back over to Jay.

"Here," she says pushing LeFou's tray towards Jay.

"Where's yours?"

"Not hungry," Mal says.

Jay just shrugs and continues eating his meat casserole. Isle food was pretty hard to stomach and it's not unusual for someone to choose to eat nothing instead of the pitiful offerings of the Isle.

Mal's leg bounces under the table, her eyes repeatedly flying to the door as she drums the fingers of her right hand along the tabletop. There's only about twenty minutes left of lunch and Carlos and Evie have yet to show.

"You alright? You seem kind of wired," Jay asks, noticing Mal's less than composed state.

"I'm good," Mal brushes him off. "You sure they're coming?"

"Who?"

"Carlos and Evie."

"They said they'll be here," Jay says. "Is that what's got you so wound up?"

"I am not wound up!" Mal glares at him.

Jay laughs easily. "Sure you're not, but seriously, no need to sweat it. Carlos seems less pissed with you today."

Mal perks up at Jay's confession. "He does?"

"Yeah, something about Evie and P.E.?" Jay trails off, his interest in the conversation waning as he spots a couple of pretty girls a few tables over smiling at him.

Shit. Mal pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and lets her eyes fall closed for a moment. The only reason Mal had even been in that stupid locker room was because of Carlos. If he hadn't been such a killjoy about this whole Evie situation, she would have never gone to P.E. in the first place and she would have never left her sketchbook behind for Evie to find. If it wasn't for her actually sort of caring about Carlos, she wouldn't currently be in this emotional clusterfuck of a situation. And of course after all the effort she put forth to keep the little runt happy, she had actually forgotten to tell Carlos that she had done what he asked. Damn Evie for getting in her head.

Mal's stomach sinks a bit at the thought—she has a feeling Carlos is going to be more pissed than ever after today. She doubts herself for only a minute before deciding Carlos will get over it. He'll see that aligning himself with Evie is useless; Mal is the far superior ally to have on the Isle and Carlos is too smart to lose the protection she offers him. Clearly her mother had been right—friends do make you weak. Look at the predicament she's found herself in all because she wanted to keep Carlos from sulking.

"Uh, hey."

Mal's head snaps up at the sound of Carlos's voice. She had been too lost in thought to notice him approaching. "Carlos!" Mal exclaims, instantly cringing at the awkwardness of her voice.

Carlos peers back at Mal curiously, one hand in his pocket and the other balancing a tray of food. Evie stands at his side, her own tray in hand. She doesn't address Mal or Jay, eyes blinking as if she's waiting for something—most likely an insult, Mal thinks. But Mal has different plans for today.

"Carlos, sit," Mal says, flashing just the barest hint of a smile so that her words come across as more of a request than a command. "Come on. You too, Evie. Have a seat," she prods at his reluctance.

Evie eyes brighten with surprise and suspicion but it's Carlos who speaks, betraying his own uncertainty with a dramatic raise of his eyes. "You'd be cool with that?"

"Of course. Evie did me a solid by returning my sketchbook to me yesterday; it's only right I repay her kindness."

Evie's expression shifts and her face relaxes into a genuine smile. "Thank you, Mal. That's very thoughtful."

"That's me. Full of thought," Mal grins back.

Carlos seems less sure but wordlessly slips onto the bench, keeping his eyes on Mal as he does. Evie follows his lead and sits down as well, taking the seat beside Jay, opposite of Mal and Carlos.

"Hey Evie," Mal begins casually. "You didn't happen to stop by the lockers on your way here, did you?"

Evie shakes her head as she primly folds a paper napkin in her lap. "No. We didn't have time. It was so late by the time we finished working and Carlos thought it'd be best we come straight here to eat before they stopped serving food. Or whatever this is," she explains, poking at the meat on her tray with her spork.

"Why?" Carlos asks, eyeing Mal suspiciously.

"No reason," Mal smiles innocently. "I was just wondering how that new locker door was working out for Evie."

Carlos and Evie exchange looks but thankfully Jay takes over the conversation with his latest tale of narrowly escaping the henchmen at the docks who caught him snagging a box from the barge and the tension seems to dissipate.

Mal looks on as Carlos and Evie quietly exchange some of the food on their trays—she shovels half her meat into his plate and he gives her all his peas and tears apart his bread to share. The familiar exchange strikes a chord of jealousy in Mal's heart, although she's too afraid to confront which of the pair she's jealous of.

So what if Carlos and Evie are close—it's not like Mal's thinking about how she used to save her apples to bring to Evie when they were kids and in exchange Evie would sneak her some grape jam from the Evil Queen's secret stash.

Mal clears her throat and refocuses on the plan. "So Evie," she says, drawing soft brown eyes to her. "That's a lovely necklace you got there."

Evie's fingers delicately touch the ruby crowned heart hanging from her neck.

"Bet I could fence a pretty penny for it down at my father's shop," Jay chimes in with a low whistle. Being the Isle's best thief, of course he had noticed the necklace the second he laid eyes on Evie, but he doesn't usually steal from a chick before he's gotten the chance to get her into bed—it tends to spoil the mood.

"This? Thank—my mother gave it to me. It's very special to me," Evie beams. She stops herself from thanking Mal but she can't help but smile at the compliment. Mal has been so rotten to her from the moment she stepped foot inside the building, maybe this went they were finally turning a page. Maybe she and Mal could actually be friends again.

"The only thing my father has ever given me is a beating," Jay mumbles as he shovels another mouthful of mystery meat casserole into his mouth.

Evie frowns, her face taking on a more somber expression. "I'm sorry to hear that, Jay. Jafar can be quite ill-tempered."

It isn't a question and Jay wonders what Evie had possibly heard about his father, but before he can raise the question, he's interrupted.

"Yeah, well, not everyone has mommies who treat them like royalty and throw gifts at their feet," Mal cuts in with a sneer, all traces of affected good-will gone.

"No, I suppose they don't," Evie agrees easily. Maybe Mal isn't ready to be friends again. Evie doesn't let herself dwell too long on the disappointment. The day her mother gave her the necklace is one of the few good memories Evie has of the woman and despite all the pain her mother has caused her, Evie could never bring herself to part with the sacred jewel.

"It's a wonder King Adam and the royal council in Auradon didn't think of that before leaving a whole generation of kids to be raised by the very same villains they deemed too volatile and dangerous to occupy the same land as them," Evie adds, earning herself inquisitive looks from Jay and Carlos. She shrugs off the attention and brings a spoonful of pea soup to her mouth. It's cold and starting to spoil and Evie wrinkles her nose at the taste but continues to eat.

"What would you know about it?" Mal snaps, not in the mood to be condescended to about her island by some sheltered princess. "You haven't had to put up with half the shit the rest of us had to! If you ask me, my mother did you a favor!"

Evie tilts her head to the side, the curious look on her face betraying her skepticism of Mal's statement. Carlos stops eating and shifts tensely in his seat, his eyes carefully watching Evie.

"What's the matter, Princess? Was your castle too big? Too many pillows on your king size bed?" Mal continues in a mocking tone.

"Actually, my bed is a queen" Evie says sweetly, red-painted smile spreading across her face as she looks Mal directly in the eye. "Like I will be one day."

"Ooooooh! Damn, Princess!" Jay howls with laughter at Evie's witty remark.

Carlos shoots Evie an approving smirk from across the table, painfully aware of the green-eyed girl beside him glaring daggers in Evie's direction. Mal never did appreciate a snappy comeback—she was more of a brutal insult type of girl, emphasis on the 'brutal'.

"Okay, so I gotta ask," Jay says, eyes dancing between the two girls. "What's the deal with you two?"

"There is no deal," Evie answers with a noncommittal shrug. She sees no need to rehash decade's old drama.

"Of course you would say that," Mal scoffs. "Your birthday party? Remember?"

"Oh, come on, Mal, that was ten years ago! We were children!" Evie cries.

Evie, of course, knew how this feud with Mal all started, but the party was so long ago and they had been so young. How could Mal still resent her so much over something that happened when they were six-year old? Mal had had her banished to her castle, certainly that had been punishment enough.

"So?!" Mal snaps. " I thought we were friends!"

"We were! You were my best friend!"

"You usually invite your best friend to your birthday party, Evie!" Mal challenges, desperately trying to hold onto the decade-old feelings of rage and betrayal that have been spurring her on since Evie reappeared in her life.

"Of course I wanted to invite you," Evie says softly. "I made your invitation myself and everything but mother wouldn't allow it. You know how she feels about your mom."

"Oh please," Mal scoffs, tossing her head back to keep her tears from falling. "Like you couldn't stand up to your mother? You stood up to mine and she's way scarier than the Evil Queen. What'd dear old mommy do? Threaten to take your makeup away? Just admit it, E, you sold me out. You didn't even bother to fight for me."

Mal drifts back to the day in the market when Maleficent had caught her and Evie playing under one of the market tables. Evie had brought two dolls she made from her mother's discarded yarn with her from home that day. As soon as their mothers looked away, Evie pressed a doll with blue hair into Mal's hand and hugged a purple-haired doll to her tiny body.

At first, Mal protested and informed Evie that dolls were stupid and said she didn't want to play with them. But when tears started to pool in Evie's big brown eyes, Mal quickly told her she didn't mean it and pulled Evie under the table to play. She would have done anything to stop Evie from crying.

Evie grinned and laughed as Mal made her doll dance and talk to Evie's doll in silly voices.

"See, your doll looks like me because she has blue hair and my doll looks like you because she has purple hair," Evie pointed out after Mal's doll had saved Evie's from a hungry crocodile.

"So why don't you keep the doll that looks like you and I'll keep the doll the looks like me?" Mal asked.

"Because this way I get to take my best friend home with me and you do too! And we can play without having to hide!"

Mal grinned happily. "What should we make them do next?"

Evie's eyes lit up. "Kiss! Like in the storybooks!"

Mal nodded excitedly and continued playing until her mother's chilling voice cut through their excited giggling like a blade.

"Mal?! Mal! You get out from under there right this instant!"

Mal's eyes widened and locked with Evie's. The two little girls moved closer to each other instinctively, holding their breath and clutching each other's hands in fear of what Maleficent might do.

"Do not try to hide from me, girl. I know you're under there, I heard your ridiculous giggling! Now, come out here!" Maleficent roared.

Mal shook slightly, her body trembling as she kneeled on the dirty pavement. "She sounds mad," she whispered to Evie.

"It's okay. I won't let her hurt you," Evie quietly assured her.

If Evie wasn't scared then Mal wasn't going to be. Mustering up all the courage her six year old self could find, Mal crawled out from under the market table and stood tall in front of her mother. Evie followed right behind her, standing up confidently with her Mal inspired doll in her hand.

Maleficent's hard green eyes narrowed in on the girls, a sneer of disgust leaving her lips as she harshly yanked her daughter over to her. Mal cried out, her tiny body easily falling against her mother's.

"Sneaking off to play dolls with the brat of that vain bloated witch! Pathetic!" Maleficent ripped the doll from Mal's hand and threw it to the ground. "And you're not even good at sneaking around! You're shaping up to be nothing but a disappointment!"

"Evie's not a brat! She's my friend!" Mal countered defiantly. She twisted and turned in her mother's grasp but Maleficent's grip only grew tighter.

"Friend? Friend!" Maleficent bellowed. "Don't you ever use that word again! You do not have friends, you understand me, Mal? Friends are for the weak! Are you weak?"

Her mother punctuated every statement, every question, by shaking the child in her grasp. Mal let out a quiet whimper as tears pricked at her eyes and her teeth chattered.

"Stop! You're hurting her!" Evie cried out. The small blue-haired girl rushed forward and grabbed hold of Maleficent's forearm, trying in vain to loosen her grip on Mal.

"Shoo, brat! Begone!" Maleficent merely swatted at girl but Evie ducked and clung on.

"Let her go!" Evie cried, face pinched with intent.

And then Maleficent let out a surprised yelp and suddenly Mal was tumbling to the ground, free.

"That little brat bit me!" Maleficent cried in disbelief, her hand rubbing at the spot on her forearm where Evie had sunk her teeth into. "You must have a death-wish, little girl," she threatened.

Evie stared back at the woman towering over her, hand on her hip and chin held high. "No one hurts my friend."

Maleficent cackled, clapping her hands together and tossing her head back. "Do you see that, Mal? Everyone's more evil than you! Even the daughter of that pretentious waste of sorcery, the Evil Queen!"

Mal shakes herself from her memories and finds Evie's gold-tinted eyes staring back at her.

"That's not true, Mal. I did fight for you," Evie insists, voice strained with emotion. "And you had me banished to my castle, all alone with my mother. My life has been a living hell and you don't even care!"

"Yeah, well, you deserved it," Mal says defiantly. Her vision is blurred with tears but she can make out the unmistakable look of hurt on Evie's face. "Just like you deserve this."

Confusion flickers across Evie's face for the briefest of moments as Carlos jerks his head up—mouth opening in a warning that never makes it to his lips. Suddenly Evie is jumping from her seat and shrieking loudly as cold pea soup is poured over her head from behind.

Mal acknowledges LeFou Duex with a nod and the boy turns and runs, slipping and sliding in his soup-stained shoes. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he got the job done.

Evie's gasps and sputters, spoiled green slop running down blue hair and into the girl's open mouth. Her eye-lashes are caked with mushy peas and she wipes at them with trembling fingers, shaking her soiled hands off at her sides. Her beautiful blue and white dress is completely ruined with green stains and she suspects the smell won't be easy to rid herself off.

Evie's eyes bore into Mal's, angry and hurt, but Mal just grins in wicked satisfaction as she listens to the raucous laughter of the student-body at Evie's expense.

Jay shakes his head somewhat apologetically in Evie's direction but ultimately doesn't seem too fussed by the whole scene.

"You were right, Carlos," Mal smirks, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders. "LeFou was totally useful."

Evie's face falls as tears spring to her eyes and her mouth quivers, no longer worried about who sees her cry.

"What the hell, Mal!" Carlos angrily shrugs Mal off and leaps out of his chair. "Evie, I swear I didn't know she—"

But Evie if gone—spinning on her heals and running towards the bathroom before Carlos can get his explanation out.

"Why'd you have to go and do that for?" Carlos demands, turning to glare at the purple-haired girl.

Mal just shrugs. "Relax. It was just a little prank."