Here is the next chapter!

Seventeen chapters later, we are finally starting the events that occurred in the book. I thought I would get to this point in the fourth or fifth chapter, but that obviously didn't happen. I don't think anyone's going to complain since everyone seems to like it so far.

I won't say much about the next few chapters, but you may or may not see a snit bit of Maurice and/or Ben. It may be sooner than any of you expect.

Enjoy.

Within the next twenty-four hours, everyone on the Isle of the Lost heard about the incident between Mal and the Gaston Twins. Of course, Hades was infuriated when he learned that those boys had hurt his godson, but not enough for his hair to turn red like he claimed it would.

However, he managed to successfully mask his anger with pride, which wasn't that hard to do sine he was so proud of his daughter for handling the situation on her own, even though she used her lineage to three godly kings to threaten the boys. Hades couldn't really blame her since it got the job done.

Two years have passed since the confrontation, and the twins have yet to do anything to Carlos again. In just a few short hours, he would be starting his first day as a freshman while Mal would be starting her first day of sophomore year—

But not before she had a crazy dream to spice up her morning.

Mal was sitting by the edge of a beautiful lake, on the stone floor of an ancient temple ruin, eating the most luscious strawberry. The forest all around her was lush and green. The sound of the water rushing at her feet was soothing and peaceful. Even the very air all around her was sweet and fresh.

"Where am I?" Mal wondered out loud, reaching for a plump grape from the gorgeous picnic set before her. She would never be able to find such delectable fruit on the Isle of the Lost, so why . . .?

"You're at the Enchanted Lake," answered a masculine voice just a few feet from her.

She hadn't noticed him until he spoke, but now that she had, she wished she hadn't. The teenage boy was the worst part of all this—whatever this was. He was tall, with tousled honey-brown hair, and painfully handsome with the kind of smile that melted hearts and made all the girls swoon.

Mal was no exception. Once she saw him, her breath was taken away. There was something about him . . . has she seen him before?

"Who are you?" Mal demanded as she snarled her nose at his fine blue shirt embroidered with a small golden crest. "Are you a prince or something?"

"You know who I am," the boy claimed. "Like you know that we are in Auradon."

Mal felt instantly relief. "Then this is a dream," she retorted with a crafty smile. "Because I am never going to Auradon."

His face fell at her bold statement. Before he could argue, a voice boomed through the peaceful vista.

"Time to get up, Mali!" it thundered. "You'll be late for school!"

Mal awoke with a start.

Thank goodness her father was so insistent on her being so punctual. She had no idea what she would have done if the dream turned out to be a reality.

"Mali?" Her father called.

"I'm up!" Mal shouted before he or her mother could barge in. "I'll be ready in ten!"

Heart still pounding from her nightmare, she kicked off the purple satin covers to dress for the day. What on earth was she doing dreaming of Auradon? And why did that teen seem so familiar to her?

After pulling on her purple patchwork biker jacket, she carefully put on her fingerless glove, which hid the scar Mal received when she was a young child. She could remember that day clearly. Every now and then the scar aches to remind her of her one weakness.

Once she was completely dressed, Mal walked to the kitchen to find her father finishing cooking breakfast and her mother waiting patiently for her portion.

"Are you going to eat here Baby Girl or get something at the Slop Shop?" Maleficent wondered as her husband placed a plate in front of her before kissing her lovingly on the forehead.

Swooning at her parents' affection for one another, Mal shook her head in denial. "I'll grab a coffee and scone at the Slop Shop," she insisted. "That way I know Jay ate something."

With every school year, Mal developed a routine of grabbing food at a restaurant in the morning so Jay could eat something, since he doesn't have regular meals during vacation.

Hades tilted his head curiously at his daughter while he stood next to his seated wife, unconsciously wrapping an arm around her waist. "Everything alright Mali?" He wondered between bites of his breakfast. "You seem off. Did you have a bad dream or something?"

"Or something," Mal agreed as she strolled to the other side of the kitchen island. "I had a dream about some kind of prince. I think I've seen him from before, but I'm not sure where."

"Maybe you'll remember at school," Maleficent suggested. "Meanwhile, don't forget to come straight home after school today. Cruella is supposed to measure you for your birthday present: a completely new wardrobe."

"I thought she was working on your anniversary dress today," Mal commented as she swiped a piece of bacon from her mother's plate.

"No, I'm cutting your father's hair today."

"What!" Mal cried somewhat hysterically. "But you said I could do it last year!"

"If you did a good enough job last year," Maleficent reminded sternly. "However, all you did was cut his dead and split ends, which made him grow a larger mohawk. To make up for you two tricking me again, I'm cutting it shorter."

"Malef," Hades complained with a soft whine. "Do you have to?"

Maleficent smiled up at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "If you want to keep our yearly routine, you will let me with no complaints."

"On that note, I'll be staying the night at the hideout on my birthday again and I'm heading to school." Swiping another piece of bacon, Mal quickly strolled out the door, but not before shouting back, "Love you!"

"Here you are, Your Highness." A goblin pushed a dark, murky cup and a napkin with a biscuit on it toward her. "One cup of black coffee with month-old milk and slightly hard scone. Anything else?"

"That will be all." Mal graciously took the food and drink with a pleasant nod. "Thank you."

After paying for the meal—and leaving a sufficient tip—Mal continued on her way to school, taking a small sip of the coffee. For the last two or so years, word about her being 'Queen of the Isle' quickly spread, along with some of the villagers treating her as such for fear of her parents. The goblins hoped that by being respectful to her, she would one day get them off the dreadful island.

Maybe everyone could go to Auradon one day . . .

While musing that thought, Mal attempted to take another sip of the coffee, to only feel only thin air. Someone stole the drink and the scone. That someone was—

"Really, Jay?" Mal complained as she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You couldn't let me have one bite?"

Hearing a snicker, the thief appeared next to her with the stolen goods. "You've already ate today," Jay teased good-naturedly before taking a sip. "Mmm, pressed mud. My favorite."

"Which is why I bought it," Mal insisted.

Jay snarled his nose at her phrasing. "I still can't believe you are so good."

"Because my parents raised me to be good and have manners," Mal reminded. "Meanwhile, all the other children were raised to be evil, vicious, and cruel. My parents believed I could be something more than a villain."

With that little announcement, the two fell into step on the walk to school. "Heard the news?" Jay wondered.

"Don't watch the news," Mal retorted bitterly. "And hurry up, or else we'll be late."

They turned off the main road, toward the uneven, broken-down graveyard that was the front lawn of Dragon Hall.

"I mean about the new student," Jay explained, his heavy combat boots stomping through the root-ripped graveyard. "A girl."

"New girl?" Mal repeated incredulously. "From where, exactly?" Nothing and no one came in or out of the magical dome, so there wasn't ever a whole lot of new.

"Not sure," Jay admitted as they came closer to the entrance. "Rumor has it she's a princess."

Mal scoffed at the reveal. "They were probably just talking about me."

"No, they say she's been castle-schooled most of her life," Jay continued as the crowd that gathered around the entrance parted to let them through. "I think she's the girl that was banished a few years ago—"

"Because her mother refused to invite me to the birthday party," Mal finished as they passed through the crumbling, moss-covered archway and into the main tomb, which was buzzing with activity. "I remember her. Her mother basically went after me to get petty revenge on my mother."

Frightened students scrambled to get out of their way as the duo walked past the dead ivy-covered great hall toward the rustling double doors that led to the underground class-tombs.

After a few moments, Jay suddenly asked, "Why not throw a party of your own instead of sulking about it?"

"I'm not sulking," Mal argued unconvincingly. "I just got in the middle of my parents' somewhat of a feud with her mother, because she is an overly-jealous woman."

Jay didn't respond. He was too busy hugging himself tightly to keep himself worse. The temperature had dropped the usual twenty degrees as they ventured down the cold marble stairs to the damp basement gloom of the campus.

Suddenly, Mal snapped her fingers with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "You're absolutely right, Jay!"

"I am?" Jay wondered. "'Bout what?"

"Having a party," Mal insisted. "And I know what you're thinking: this isn't a revenge plan for the princess, who had nothing to do with her mother's dreadful plan. It's a plan to help Carlos gain more confidence."

Jay raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Would you mind explaining or . . . ?"

"We'll throw a party at Carlos's place," Mal insisted. "Make him think that his mother has no idea about it so he will finally stand up to her and rebel against her if she finds out. Of course, she will know about it so we aren't going behind her back. She's coming over to my place after school so I will let her know then."

"I'll come over then . . . to help you explain the plan to her."

"Hell no!" Mal denied a little loudly. "You only want to come over so you can ogle my mother, again!"

"Hey, I didn't have a mother growing up," Jay argued. "And you can't blame me for yours being so beautiful. It's no surprise that your father is so protective of her. I wouldn't want anyone else seeing my wife looking so beautiful as she does at home."

"He's more protective of me," Mal corrected with a shake of her head, "because I ended up inheriting her figure. Why else do you think I have been wearing baggy clothes for nearly sixteen years? Because he wants me to hide my figure. It took Mom three months to finally convinced him to let me get a new wardrobe for my sixteenth birthday."

"Speaking of your birthday," Jay began as he purposely changed the subject, "are you staying at the hideout that night."

"Obviously," Mal retorted with a snarl of her nose. "There's no way I'm staying home when it's their anniversary. The one time I came home early from school, I walked into my house and heard them going at it in their bedroom."

Jay snarled his nose in disgust. "I didn't need to know that."

Mal laughed at his reaction, before teasing, "Maybe that will stop your crush on my mother."

"I don't have a crush on her!"

Laughing once again, Mal insisted, "Let's get to class and maybe I'll stop teasing you about your crush."

"It's not a crush!"