Here is the next chapter!
Just a warning, this chapter contains a fight that leads to a couple physical altercations. One person will slightly lose their vision while another will receive a small burn that will fade over the next few days.
One more warning, I don't know when I will be able to update again this week. I am going to shoot for Friday, but if not then Saturday.
Enjoy.
The weekend dragged by for the Core Four. Mal and Evie spent the two days watching Jay and Carlos practice for the big Tourney game on Wednesday. Knowing she would be bored out of her mind, Evie brought her sketchbook to start designing her dress and Jay's suit for the coronation. Evie didn't have to worry about Mal's dress or Carlos's suit since she wrote to Cruella de Vil, who reassured the blue-haired that she had everything under control.
Meanwhile, Mal read through her mother's spell book. She wanted to see if there were any spells or potions that would be useful for them. The love-potion was out of the question since she didn't need anyone to fall for her. There was a potion to knock someone unconscious for a few moments, but none of the four had any use for that. When she was about to close the book, Mal noticed a healing spell, which had a note to the side that claimed her mother used it to heal the injured. Maybe Mal could use it on Ben . . .
Monday afternoon, the four friends were hanging out at Mal's locker when they heard unusually loud arguing at the other side of the hall. Upon further investigation, they discovered that Ben was in the middle of a heated discussion with Audrey, neither one noticing that they were being filmed by the paparazzi.
Lonnie, who was standing awkwardly to the side of the fighting couple, noticed the Core Four and quietly strolled over in hopes that neither one would notice her.
"What's going on?" Mal wondered when their Auradon friend came over. "What are they fighting about this time?"
"It's my fault," Lonnie admitted with soft sigh. "I wanted to tell Ben about my new hair, since he gave me the advice to ask you, but I didn't see him during the weekend. I finally saw him a few minutes ago and eagerly told him the news, not realizing Audrey was with him. She got all mad that he was talking to me behind her back. Ben argued for probably the thousandth time that we are childhood friends, practically siblings. Now, I'm not sure what they are fighting about."
"And the paparazzi?" Evie questioned as she gestured to the news crew. "Why are they here? Did Ben call them?"
"Of course not," Lonnie denied with an adamant shake of her head. "For the past three years, they arrive unannounced, specifically on Mondays, in hopes of catching Ben and Audrey off guard. Some of the paparazzi believe they act too much like a perfect couple in front of the cameras, and now they got exactly what they wanted."
Now, let's tune in on their little 'disagreement', shall we?
"I don't see what the problem is!" Ben exclaimed a little too dramatically, though he was probably only trying to match Audrey. "Lonnie became self-conscious of her hair and came to me for advice. All I said for her to do was ask Mal for help since she helped Jane. What's wrong with a little magic?"
"It's against the rules!" Audrey answered almost hysterically. "No one is allowed to use magic, so we are treated equally—"
"No one is treated equally," Ben argued with a stern glare. "You and I get special treatment because we are royalty. Everything is handed to us while other students, like Lonnie and Doug, have to work their ass off to get any kind of recognition! Lonnie is the best sword-fighter in the kingdom yet she can't try out for R.O.A.R. because she's a woman! If she was a princess, she would have no trouble getting on the team!"
"Rules are rules," Audrey persisted with a firm gaze of her own. "That VK—"
"Don't call her that!"
"I'll call her whatever I want," Audrey retorted snidely. "And I will call her a VK because she broke the rules. She used magic on Jane's and Lonnie's hair when she isn't supposed to! Mal is going to use her magic to make everyone look pretty and leave me in the dust!"
Ben scoffed. "You're just jealous that Mal doesn't need magic to be more beautiful than you, because she already is."
He should have known better than to say that.
In a fit of rage from hearing what she deemed to be an insult, Audrey slapped Ben across the face. This wasn't a typical slap to the face. Audrey had gotten a manicure the day before and basically used that to her advantage. To put it simply, the princess practically clawed the left side of the prince's face from the top of his face to the bottom of his chin. Red lines followed the path her nails took, which went straight through his eye.
After a collective gasp, everyone went silent. Everything went still.
Ben instinctively raised his hand to face, which caused his sleeve to ride down, exposing his bruise that continued to grow worse instead of better. Whispering started among the audience, speculations forming about the real cause of the injury. Meanwhile, Audrey had no remorse or guilt in her eyes—
Which only fueled Mal's anger.
Ignoring her friends' protest, Mal stormed over to the prince and princess to end the fight before it could get any worse, her hair changing to a redder hue by the second. Mal stepped in front of the injured prince a moment later, her hands up in peace. "Audrey, listen—"
Instead of listening to the fairy's pleas, Audrey knocked Mal's arm away. Unbeknownst to Mal, Audrey was wearing an iron ring, which made brief contact with her porcelain skin. Hissing at the burning sensation, Mal jerked her arm back in pain.
The next few seconds were a blur. When the fairy blinked her eyes, Evie was now standing in front of Audrey, Jay stood protectively next to Mal, while Carlos stood behind Mal to be the supportive friend.
"Enough," Evie ordered with a sharp glare at the Auradon princess. "Don't you dare hurt our queen again. She was just trying to tell you that your entire argument was being recorded for everyone in the kingdom to see, including the moment that you hurt the future king."
Audrey turned her head slightly to stare into many many cameras. Fuming slightly, she adverted her attention back to Ben. "We'll finish this later."
"There's nothing to finish," Ben somehow managed to retort as he kept a hand over his injured eye, "because we are finished."
Wisely choosing not to say anything, Audrey turned on her heels to walk in the opposite direction of the chaos, not once realizing there would repercussions for her actions.
After watching the spoiled princess turn down a corner, Mal gazed at Ben sorrowfully, her hair reverting to its usual purple color. "I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely, "but my friends and I need to leave so no one can blame us for this."
"Don't worry about it," Ben insisted as he offered a small smile in reassurance. "Lonnie will take me to the nurse and I will keep you updated."
Giving a small smile of her own, Mal allowed her friends to drag her away to take care of the burn on her arm while Ben let Lonnie lead him to the nurse—
Neither one realizing that their parents had seen the whole thing.