Hello, my usual excuses. However, this is my first post since taking down my other stories "Finicky Fate" and "Dreadful Destiny". I really wanted to really go back to the drawing board with that one, so I've been looking at this one and I was able to figure out where to go in this one. So please comment, fav, and follow.

CHAPTER 5

Antoinette woke later to the afternoon warmth that could only be found in Auradon that late in the season. She felt much better then she did when she first entered the doors of the medical wing. Rising up onto her feet, the young girl made her way to one of the windows and saw that the tourney match had already begun. Shouting and cheers carried across the field to the window, and even Antoinette-who didn't like sports too often-was infected by the excitement in the air. Antoinette left with a quick run in her step, leaving the nurse's office feeling much better.

"What have I missed?" said a voice beside Lonnie. Turning her head, she was surprised to see Chad's cousin there. The daughter of Mulan and Shang heard about the accident.

"Lonnie, what did you do to your hair?" Antoinette asked, her brow furrowed in curiosity. Lonnie grinned and grabbed a lock of her longer-than-usual hair.

"Isn't it amazing! Mal did it for me!" Lonnie said, turning around to look at the villain kids beside her. Antoinette followed her gaze and was met with two very different looks from two very different individuals. Whereas Mal stood staring at her hard, trying to prove that she didn't do anything wrong, Evie grinned at her with a smile that tried only a bit too hard to be innocent. Finally, Antoinette returned the grin.

"It's beautiful, Lonnie." The new hair did wonders for the girl beside her, and she wasn't about to squash that. Lonnie placed a hand on Antoinette's arm.

"Wait until you see Jane's, it's just as beautiful." Antoinette nodded, she could hardly wait to see her close friend's hair indeed.

"He's bringing in that hothead Jay from the Isle of the Lost and that little guy Carlos who can barely hold a shield," the commenter interrupted. Turning her full attention to the game, she saw that the commenter hadn't made a joke about them coming on the field, his tone was too genuine and she could see for herself the two boys were running to the huddled team. Her heart jumped to her throat in excitement. Antoinette's own voice soon followed the crowds.

With only a few short seconds left in the game Ben had shot the winning goal with the help of Jay, Carlos, and Chad. Something in her heart tightened in joy as the team lifted Jay into the air. She was jumping with excitement. There was always something that always brought out the most excitement in everyone when playing against Sherwood Falcons. As the announcer was about to ask Ben how it felt to win, a nervous twist came to Antoinette's stomach.

"Excuse me. Excuse me. Can I have your attention, please? There's something I'd like to say. Give me an 'M'!" Antoinette was thinking.

"'M'!" Everyone shouted back, copying the movement of the soon-to-be king.

"Give me an 'A'." Antoinette turned to look at Mal. Her face blank, trying hard to cover it's emotions.

"Oh my God," Antoinette mumbled as Ben asked for an "L".

"What does that spell?" Ben asked.

"Mal!" The crowd had responded. Ben, what are you doing? Antoinette's thoughts asked, as he asked for a beat from the band. Her eyes followed a young cheerleader who had run off instead. Sighing to herself, she knew Antoinette could not do anything with Ben at the moment, however she could at least speak to Audrey. Even if Audrey wasn't one of her favorite individuals, serenading another girl was a bit harsh.

Antoinette detached herself from the crowd, just as Ben and the others went down on their knees. She followed the direction that Audrey went and found herself by the picnic tables under the trees. Looking around she saw Audrey's back against a tree in front of her. Gathering herself, the red head was looking down to think of what to say. Deciding on how to start she stopped just around the bend of the tree and looked up. Her mouth was open ready to say something, something which would make this girl who she deemed a bully feel better, but her mouth quickly fell shut. Anything Antoinette said would apparently not be worth hearing, for Chad was kissing Audrey rather thoroughly.

"Ahem," Antoinette coughed. The two broke apart immediately, but neither looked bashful in any way.

"Glad to see Chad was able to make you feel better, Audrey." Audrey rolled her eyes at Antoinette.

"Whatever. It's not like Bennybo- I mean, Ben, will ever actually stay with her. Whereas Chad and I will stay together," Audrey said, taking hold of Chad's hands and smiling at him. He gave her a smile in return, while the red head raised an eyebrow.

"Great, then I'm sure Aunt Cinderella will love to start planning the wedding immediately," she retaliated. Audrey glared at her while Chad looked at her with mild shock. He hadn't thought about any weddings.

"Don't you have some photographer to scare off. Come on, Chad." Audrey grabbed his hand and led him back to the field, where from the silence of any brass instruments, Antoinette could only assume that the song was over. Walking to the field, her phone started going off.

She looked at the small device and notifications were already popping up. A tapping-like sensation began in her left temple. Somewhere in the distance she heard Audrey state that Chad was her boyfriend, and that she no longer wanted Ben to take her as a pity date. Another notification popped up, someone was live streaming the game, and apparently was close enough to the soon-to-be-formed couple to hear everything. As soon as Mal had shouted "Yes!", Antoinette's head began to thump even harder.

Media's going to have an actual heart attack. She let out a sigh, and then began walking again. What was Ben thinking? Was this a political move that he was keeping in his back pocket? Did Mal know about it?

A breeze passed by her, and she paused. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek when she made a decision. Turning around, Antoinette followed the breeze and walked towards the changing rooms. She was going to get answers one way or another. Antoinette leaned up against the brick wall, and pulled out her phone. Pulling up her most recent text messages she clicked Beast Bro.

Either you hurry up and get dressed within two minutes, or I'm going to come in there. Someone did a live video, and the media is going to latch on to it soon.

She let out a sigh. The smell of salt water invaded her nostrils as a smile swam across her lips. Antoinette's imagination always knew when to come find her when she needed it. The sounds of waves lapping and seagulls squawking invaded her ears. A door opening interrupted everything and brought her back to the present situation.

"Waiting to give me a congratulatory kiss?" A warm voice said. Antoinette opened her eyes and saw Jay's big, brown eyes staring at her. A small smirk dancing across his own lips. She frowned.

"Actually, no. I'm about to nag Ben for what he just did." Jay's smirk dropped, and his eyebrows scrunched together.

"What do you mean?" He then smiled in an amusement. "I thought if you liked someone you'd serenade them when you asked them out."

Her right eyebrow raised up, showing she was not as amused as he was.

"No, you don't actually. My boyfriends never did anything like that before," Antoinette stated, glancing off to the side. Her phone was held tightly in her hand. She didn't want to see the damage the stupid serenade had done just yet.

"Maybe you need a new boyfriend." Antoinette jumped slightly from the close proximity of his voice, turning her head, she saw him standing next to her. His elbow was braced against the wall, and he was smiling down at her, rather cheekily. Antoinette smirked at him, before shoving him.

"Maybe I should go find one. I hear that this one guy is single, and he's pretty cute."

"Yeah, what's so cute about him?" Jay asked, both would never admit it but they wanted nothing more than to laugh at this conversation. Antoinette more than him, with the card she was about to pull.

"Oh, well he's older you see," she turned her head and began twisting her fingers. "And he's tall, and has this great hair. He's super mysterious too, especially since I don't know too much about where he's from."

"He sounds like a great guy. Maybe you should say something to him."

"Yeah, I'm sure Aziz would like to hang out sometime," Antoinette said. Jay's face twisted into one of great confusion and Antoinette's stomach began to squeeze together from the laughter she kept in. The sound soon released out of her. Laughter echoed throughout the halls, and filled Jay's ears. For a moment, he thought there would never be a sweeter sound. Something seemed to have possessed him. Auradon had to be making him soft! Otherwise, he never would have bent down and kissed her on the cheek. The laughter stopped.

Antoinette's neck and ears turned a bright red, and turned to look at him. He smiled and she smiled.

"I, um, I should really get going. I have to, um, prepare! I have to prepare Ben's mock interview for, um the, um, conference," Antoinette stuttered through. Her eyes never left his, and that almost scared her. Almost. Instead of her heart contracting, it began skipping. Her heart skipped so much so, it felt as if it was a school girl playing jump rope. She turned around and walked away, forgetting why she was originally there.

A few short seconds later Ben and Carlos came out together, they were laughing about something. They glanced up to see Jay leaning up against the wall, a small smile on his lips.

"You okay there, Jay?" Carlos asked. His head cocked to the right in confusion. It was very rare for the older teenager to be as relaxed as he was then. Jay opened his eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good," He said. Ben smiled to himself. He wondered what had distracted his no-nonsense best friend. Ben should have known better, she very rarely went back on her word on any matter. He really was expecting her to come storming into the changing rooms, and was mildly confused when she didn't make an appearance.

"Come on. The team's getting pizza. I hope you guys like pepperoni," Ben said as Chad and several others exited the changing rooms. Carlos and Jay briefly looked at each other. Before Carlos turned back to the team, Ben in the lead smiling at the pair.

"What's pepperoni?" Ben reached out and grabbed the younger boy by the shoulder before leading the two newest members away.

Antoinette sat at her laptop reviewing all of the news articles that had started popping up.

Prince Benjamin has New Love

Mysterious Girl has Accepted Future King's Date Offer

Purple instead of Pink: Everything We Know About Ben's New Girl

She sighed. It was only a job. The job of a fifty-five year old with a college degree. Nevertheless, it was her job, and Antoinette was proud of the work she did. The face of the last person employed in the position she currently held swam into her thoughts. Antoinette hadn't thought about him in years. Almost two years, nearly as many as the time she had the job. Antoinette glanced at her phone as if expecting it to ring. She sighed one more time.

"I just need some advice. That's all it is. Okay," Antoinette muttered to herself, convincing the only person in her room. Scrolling through her contacts, she found the name that had been buried for so long. Clicking the name Cristian Andison, she listened to it ring.

"Hello?" A deep male voice said on the other end. Relief filled her.

"Um, hi Cris? This is Antoinette; I don't know if you remember me-"

"Oh, I remember you. Forgive me I'm currently visiting my family in the Arendelle so reception might be a little sketchy at best," he explained after cutting her off. "Heard Ben has a new girlfriend."

"Yeah. Yeah, I don't really know how it happened." Antoinette ran a hand through her hair. She had decided a shower would help with the chaos of emotions that followed her.

"Kid, come on! That's the first rule. You need to know everything about any relationships the prince has. The number one thing that any news outlet will grab a hold of is the friendships or other types of relationships that the royal family has, especially this close to such an important event," the older man finished explaining. Antoinette rested her cheek on her hand. An overwhelming amount of exhaustion crashed through her body.

"I applied for the internship," her brain instructed her mouth to say. The moment it left, she wanted nothing more than to bring the words back. Those words were not necessarily forbidden, but at the moment they were taboo. They weren't bitter, they were sour. Yet, at the same time so deliciously sweet.

"Is that what you want?" He asked.

"Yeah," Antoinette admitted. She thought about how Cristian said it. He didn't seem worried or scared about anything. He wasn't excited so much so either, she thought maybe he would have been so he could get his old job back. Instead he sounded curious on her behalf.

"I haven't gotten it yet, probably won't, but I wanted you to be aware in case the king and queen call you back sooner than expected." She ran a hand through her hair. A weight seemed to have been lifted off her shoulder.

"Sweetheart, I have been with the royal court for as long as you've been a twinkle in your mother's eye," he said with a chuckle. Antoinette found herself laughing too.

"So, what's this new girlfriend like?" He asked. Her body turned rigid. She knew that the conversation was going to turn there but she wasn't sure how to answer.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure. I haven't had too many interactions with her specifically. Her name's Mal and she's Maleficient's daughter. I guess she's been doing some hair magic for the girls here and-"

"Up up up. Hold on. She can do magic?" The voice on the other end said. Antoinette stiffened.

"Yes? Is that bad?"

"What kind of magic?"

"Well, I'm not really sure. I know she did some magic for Jane and Lonnie and a few other girls to make their hair pretty, but I-"

"She needs training." Cris had cut her off, and normally that would have annoyed her, but she was caught instead by how he said it. It wasn't a suggestion, the words "should" or "recommend" or "maybe" weren't involved in the sentence anywhere.

"Do you think that's really necessary?" Antoinette asked with a little bit of hesitation.

"I don't think, I know. If that girl has only been exposed to magic from Maleficent, well let's just say I think there's going to be a bit more than hair spells in there. She needs to see both sides of magic and learn even more." He hadn't left any room in his voice for arguing. There was no need to argue because he was right.

"Cris. What about the others? They can't really do magic, but-"

"I remember meeting the Evil Queen, she didn't use magic. Jafar had his magic taken from him before the trials even started. No, Ben's new girlfriend needs to be magically trained. The others, including your new boyfriend, won't need any sort of training." Antoinette's eyebrows furrowed.

"He isn't my boyfriend. How do you even know about him?" A chuckle sounded from the other end of the phone.

"I told you you need to know every relationship, or in this case, budding relationship related to the king." A sigh came from the old mentor.

"Listen, Antoinette, this is my advice. Get Ben through coronation, get his new girlfriend into magic training classes, and," he paused. When he started talking again a smile was heard within his voice, "Get your internship. I'll keep my eye on you, make sure you're doing good. That was the deal when you took my position temporarily. I watch from afar and give you advice where advice is needed. You're going to do great things one day kid." He didn't wait for her to say anything, not even a goodbye, instead he hung up. Antoinette looked down at her phone. Great things? She could barely talk to a guy without becoming flustered. She leaned back in her chair. Exhaustion really shouldn't be able to move that fast.

Sighing, she stood up. Her feet protested when she looked down at the cute little heels. The pair had been a purple floral print and were peek toed, but she couldn't wear them. Not now. Her feet hurt too much. Antoinette looked down at her clothes. The dress had been nice when she put it on this morning, but now she wanted nothing more than to wear a t-shirt.

Tugging off her dress, she looked through her drawers until she found a yellow tank top, and her most comfortable jean shorts. Putting on a pair of yellow tennis shoes, she grabbed a jean jacket out of her closet. The dark denim complimented the pale yellow. Pale yellow had always been more of her color than the frilly purple dresses she wore.

She soon left her room, dressed in her favorite outfit of a yellow tank top, jean shorts, a jean jacket, and tennis shoes. A far cry from the royal dresses that swarmed the halls.