Prologue: How it all happened

Mal took in the small table, loaded with all of Ben's favorite foods, that instant feast spell sure came in handy. As did the spells of concealment that she placed on her wrists.

Ben smiled as he appeared at the Pavillion, "Wow this looks amazing," he announced, pulling out his chair to sit down, as he popped something into his mouth, "This is the best thing I've ever had," he announced.

Mal chuckled, she had been worried she never used the instant feast spell before, and well, her mother had used dark magic, so she wasn't sure what to expect, "Do you like it?"

Ben stood up, reaching over the table, "I more than like it, I uh," he grabbed another of the bite-size appetizers, "I double like them," he insisted, before turning his attention to a small bowl of something next to him, "Is this beef ragu?" he asked, tasting it as Mal confirmed that that was indeed what it was. At least she hoped that was what it was, she really had no idea what most of these dishes were and assumed that Ben knew.

"This is amazing," Ben announced.

"Did I surprise you?" Mal asked.

"Oh yeah," Ben said, clearly enjoying himself. Mal was glad one of them could eat, her stomach was churning to the point that she was sure that if she tried to eat any of the food it wouldn't stay down, "You surprised me. This is every single dish that Mrs. Potts has ever made for my parents. What did it take you, three days?"

Mal chuckled, trying hard to squash the uneasiness that was creeping up into her. She didn't want to admit it, but since choosing good she had a bit of a conscience and she was always feeling guilty about all the lying she was doing. To her friends and to Ben, "You know, don't even ask me," she insisted, with a forced laugh. Why was lying a part of day-to-day life in Auradon?

"Well it means a lot that you took the time to put all of this together," Ben insisted, reaching out to grab Mal's hand. Mal forced herself not to flinch, not to pull away as Ben praised her for doing so well. For fitting into a world that she was never meant to be part of. Why was he lying to her? She wasn't fitting in, she had made a million mistakes, and the only reason she fits in now was thanks to magic.

She forced herself to smile as Ben cupped her face in his hand, complaining how they didn't have much time to just be them anymore. He could say that again. Mal hadn't been able to be herself since she announced to everyone that she was choosing to be good. The thought caused her stomach to churn, she should just tell him.

Ben had always been good to her, understanding, even after he learned that she had spelled him. Maybe he would understand. Maybe a little secret, like who her father was, or that she had totally forgotten about the picnic and used a cooking spell to prepare it.

She bit her lip slightly, no, she couldn't risk it, if there was one thing about Auradon that she knew to be a fact is that they were not understanding. She needed to change the subject so she reached over and wiped at his lip, where he had a smudge.

Ben responded easily, licking his lips, "can't take me anywhere," he said, quoting her from their first date.

Mal laughed forcefully, grateful that she had been able to draw the attention away from her before she gave in to that nagging feeling that sometimes sounded like Evie.

"Do you have a napkin or something?" Ben asked after looking over the table.

"I do," Mal insisted, looking around herself, she knew she had grabbed some napkins, but where had she put them, "I think I stowed them away," she finally admitted, and if she had forgotten them, well that was why she had brought her spellbook with.

Mal turned around to check the basket only to discover that Ben was already in it, his hand wrapped around her spellbook.

"What's this," he asked, flipping it open as if he didn't know that it was her spellbook.

"I actually threw that in there super last minute, in case it rained," Mal insisted, surprising herself how easily the lie flowed from her mouth at the same time her stomach twisted itself into a knot and her heart skipped a beat as Ben read the dog eared pages.

"Speed reading spell, blonde hair spell," Ben paused, looking at all the food on the table before adding, "Cooking spell."

Mal ducked her head, that's one secret out in the open, maybe if Ben handled it well she could tell him the other bigger secrets.

Ben snapped the book close, "And I was giving you props for fitting in so well!" he cried out basically shaking the book in her face, "For doing your best."

Mal frowned, trying to remember the memory wipe spell she had done on Evie the other night, from the looks of things she was going to have to use it on Ben. Her heart twisted with guilt, she had felt bad using it on Evie, now Ben. When did her life get so complicated? "Take back this moment that has passed. Return it…" What was after Return it? Ben still had her book. Wait, was it 'return it,' or was it, "Reverse it?"

Ben leaped out of his seat, "Are you trying to spell me?!" he growled. Mal could imagine how perfect pink princesses would be scared of an outburst like that, but to be honest, she had seen far worse on the Isle.

"Well, it's just been so hard for me," Mal finally blurted out, if only he knew the half of it.

"Yeah, things are hard," Ben exclaimed, "Do you think learning to be King has been easy for me?"

"No," Mal called out, but I have had to learn to be someone completely different.

"I thought we were doing this together."

"Ben," Mal exclaimed standing up, this was a small secret compared to the others if he was reacting to this one like this, then… she didn't want to know how he would react to her other secrets, "We are in this together," Mal surprised herself with that, especially when she realized that in a way it was true, she had been helping Ben in whatever way she could as he learned to become King. Ben just hadn't been helping her in everything she needed to do to forget her upbringing and be a force for good.

"But we're not Mal," Ben insisted, "We're not. You've been keeping secrets and lying to me."

He didn't trust her, it was obvious, he was furious, and nothing she did or said would change his mind, just like everyone else in this stupid perfect fantasy land.

"This isn't the Isle of the Lost Mal," Ben yelled.

Mal gasped, he wouldn't would he? Chad and Audrey talked about it, the notes that she would receive throughout the school day mentioned it. But could Ben really change his mind about the program and send her back to the Isle.

"Why did you do this?" Ben demanded, throwing the book onto the table with the food she had claimed to have made herself.

Mal didn't answer, reaching out to grab the spellbook, an odd expression on her face.

"Mal answer me!"

Mal didn't even seem to hear him as she clutched the spellbook to her chest and stormed off the pavilion, in such a hurry to get away that she didn't notice the tree root until it was too late.

"Mal," Ben called out again but she was already picking herself up, grabbing her book as she ran across the bridge back to Auradon Prep.

…

Evie opened the door to her dorm, it had been a crazy week, but it was almost over and she had all but Mal's dress finished, which made sense since Mal was so much busier than the other girls. She basically had to drag her into their room to get a fitting in. It was time to relax and enjoy a slumber party at Lonnie's and Jane's dorm room.

Evie grabbed a pair of pajamas from her drawer when her eyes landed on Maleficent's tank, the lid was open. Evie sat her pajamas on her bed and peered into the tank, it was devoid of any life, especially that of one finicky green lizard.

"Not again," Evie groaned, pulling out her phone to call Mal. A loud buzzing sound caused her to look over at the desk, Mal had obviously forgotten her phone.

Evie scoured the room, looking everywhere for the tiny green lizard, "Come on Maleficent, come on out," she pleaded, glancing underneath Mal's bed.

There was a shoebox, the lid wasn't quite on all the way, maybe Maleficent was hiding in there. She plopped down on her bed, pulling the box up to her.

The first thing that Evie noticed was the envelope on top, it had her name on it. Evie opened it, "First Chad then Doug, you're just like your mother, using men to get what you want aren't you?"

Evie frowned, it had obviously been opened, yet she had never seen it before in her life, Mal must have hidden it from her, the problem was why?

There were several other notes to her, comparing her to her mother, mocking her, telling her to go back to the Isle. There were notes for Jay and Carlos as well, taunting, insulting, and threatening them to go back to the Isle. What alarmed her however was how many letters were for Mal. They were a lot more graphic, one of them even had a picture of what they would do to her if they had a chance.

"Evie," Jane called out, appearing in the doorway, "I received your text, have you found Maleficent yet."

"No," Evie said, gathering up the letters.

"What are those," Jane asked, picking up one for Mal that was extremely graphic, as in having a picture of some faceless guy chopping off her head and the words, "What we would do to everyone on the Isle of the Lost if I was king."

Jane shuddered after reading it, "This is awful, have you talked to Ben about them?"

Evie shook her head, "I just found them, I think Mal's been hiding them from us."

Jane picked up the discarded pajamas only to frown, something was beneath them, "Hey, look a note," she exclaimed, handing it to Evie.

"E, I'm sorry to leave like this, but I can't do this anymore. I tried, but it wasn't good enough. I'm not good enough for Ben, I see that now. I'm doing him a favor and removing myself. Tell Jay and Carlos that I'm sorry, and don't worry about Mom, I took her with me. M.

"P.S. Please give this to Ben, tell him I truly am sorry for lying, and to find someone else, anyone would be better than me."

Taped to the bottom of the note was Ben's ring.