Here is the next chapter!

I got a review asking if Mal's hair color changes into other colors, like green or yellow. That won't necessarily happen, and her hair doesn't really change to blue or red like some of you may think.

There are different shades of purple, which is because there is more red or blue in the mix. Her hair changes to different shades of purple. When I say her hair has more of a red hue, it's like the color hair she had in Descendants 2. When I say her hair has more of a blue hue, it's like the color at the beginning of Descendants 3 when she is at the back balcony of Auradon Prep.

Hopefully that will help you when you read future chapters, or when you are rereading the story.

Next chapter we will see the Core Four speaking with their parents via web cam. Of course, there's going to be a couple twists here and there.

Enjoy.

Thursday afternoon, Mal had been walking to class when she suddenly bumped into Ben in the hallway. They barely had time to talk since they had only a few moments to get to class. However, Ben had just enough time to ask her out on a proper date for the next day. They would go out for a picnic in the forest by the Enchanted Lake. Best part of it is Mal wouldn't have to worry about ditching class since Ben would create some sort of excuse for Fairy Godmother.

Excited about the prospects of her first date, Mal went in search of her best friend to tell her the wonderful news. After scouring nearly every area of the school, she finally found the blue-haired princess sitting in the picnic area of the school with the green-wearing band member.

"There you are!" Mal shouted once she came closer to the couple. "I have been looking for you literally everywhere!"

"Sorry," Evie apologized insincerely as a smile graced her lips. "I just wanted to tell Doug about the 'B+' I got on my test today thanks to him. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Mal reassured as she started grinning from ear to ear. "Ben asked me out on a date for tomorrow and I need fashion advice from my fashionista friend, especially since I still have an entirely new wardrobe from my godmother."

Evie chuckled at her friend's description of her. "Well, we better get started." As she stood from her seat, she quickly gave Doug a quick smooch on the cheek. "Thanks again for your help." She offered him a kind smile. "And I would still like to be your date to the coronation, if you still want to take me."

With another quick kiss on the cheek, Evie quickly walked away with Mal to plan her outfit for her date. Once they were out of earshot, Mal teased, "Looks like somebody has a crush of her own!"

Although she didn't have magic hair, the dark red blush on Evie's cheeks was enough to tell Mal that her suspicion was true.

The next morning, Mal was seated on her bed in the dorm room as Evie applied blush to her cheeks, making them rosy instead of pale. She was dressed for her date in a terrific mix of punk and princess, with a scarf, dress, and leather jacket. Mal had to face it, her godmother had a great sense of fashion.

"Okay!" Mal jerked away when the makeup brush brushed against her eye. "Easy on the blush. I don't want to scare him away." She looked thoughtful as a small smile graced her lips without her knowing. "Not that I could."

"Please." Evie smiled. "Mom taught me how to apply blush before I could talk, which was the only thing she taught me."

"My mom was never really big on makeup tips," Mal claimed as she opened her mouth slightly so Evie could dab her red lipstick on Mal's lips. "She doesn't have a reason to wear makeup since she can only be herself at home. I think the only time she ever wore makeup was for her wedding."

"I seen their wedding picture hanging in your home." Evie smiled softly as she started putting away her makeup. "It seems like in every picture, your parents always look madly in love."

"My mother told me, in the picture where my father proposed to her, she realized then that he was her true love." Mal sighed happily at remembering the photograph. "She gave me that picture to give me hope that I would find my true love."

"Speaking of love," Evie began with a teasing tone, "you will love how you look."

Evie led Mal to the mirror to show off her masterpiece. Mal stared at her reflection in surprise, unconsciously laughing at the amazing transformation.

"I look . . ." Mal trailed off in amazement, ". . .like a real princess."

"No," Evie disagreed, shaking her head as she beamed at her handiwork. "You look like a queen."

Mal's face broke into a radiant smile. Just then, someone knocked on the door. When she opened the door, Mal looked into the face of the future king of Auradon.

Ben wore a letter jacket on top of casual clothing as he carried two helmets under his arms. "Wow." He gazed at Mal from head to toe in awe. "No wonder you are Queen of the Isle. Nobody could compete with your beauty."

Mal's smile grew a little larger at the compliment. Ben offered Mal one of the helmets. "I hope you like bikes."

Evie smiled and closed the door as the couple walked off, silently wishing her 'queen' good luck on her first date.

Grinning ear to ear, Mal held onto Ben's chest as they rode through the beautiful countryside. Sunlight dappled the ferns and trees. Birds chirped their afternoon song. Wild rabbits and young fauns watched safely from the tree lines.

Before Mal knew it, they were slowing through a grove of tall trees. Ben parked the Vespa of the side of the road, kicking the stand down to prevent it from tilting over. After helping Mal off, he began leading her through the forest and onto a suspension bridge high above a rushing stream.

As they took their first steps, Ben noticed Mal's nervousness about crossing the unsteady bridge. To keep her distracted, he instructed, "Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone."

"Um . . ." Mal began as she pondered on a couple ideas. "My middle name . . . is Bertha."

Ben chuckled at the innocent confession. "Bertha? Really? Why?"

She shrugged carelessly. "My godmother gave me that name. A few hours before I was born, another girl—Uma, the daughter of Ursula—was born weighing a little over three pounds. My godmother gave her the nickname 'Shrimpy' because of her small size. When I came into the world, I was twice the size of Uma, so obviously the first name that came to mind for me was 'Bertha'."

Mal shook her head at the ridiculous name. " 'Mal Bertha'. . . My parents are terrible at picking names, yet they don't even call me by either one of those names. My mother always calls me 'Baby Girl', only calling me 'Mal' when she has something serious to tell me."

"And your father calls you . . . ?"

Mal smiled fondly at remembering the name. " 'Mali'," she reminisced with a small smile. "He always called me 'Mali', no matter if he was happy with me or if I was in trouble."

Ben smiled at hearing the sweet story. "Well, my middle name is Florian."

"Florian?" Mal snickered at the name. " 'Benjamin Florian', how princely."

"I mean, you know, it's better than Bertha," he teased. "But I think you won with Mali."

Soon they finished crossing the bridge with their laughter echoing around them. Taking her hands, he gently pulled her this way and that way, over logs and across puddles.

After ten minutes, Ben finally stopped. "You ready?" he asked her as he soothingly rubbed her arms. When Mal nodded timidly, he whispered into her ear, "Open."

Slowly opening her eyes, Mal gasped at the sight.

Ben had brought her to the Enchanted Lake, the very one that Mal believed was just a myth. Mal looked upon the jade colored waters of the magical lake. A stone platform with a few ancient pillars wrapped in ivy with purple flowers protruded on the edge of the lake. Mal gaped at the beauty of it while Ben smiled at her reaction.

They carefully walked onto the platform and sat on a blue picnic blanket, where a lavish array of food had been laid out for them. Mal took a jelly doughnut and cautiously bit into the foreign food. Liking the filling inside, she practically scarfed down the rest, getting powdered sugar on the edge of her lips.

"So?" Ben smiled at her pure action. "What do you think?"

"Mmm . . . This is really good." She licked the sugar off her fingers as she spoke. "My dad is a pretty good cook, but he doesn't make a lot of desserts. The one time he tried making one, him and mom got into a messy food fight. Chocolate cake batter went everywhere! Dad had it in his mohawk for days!"

Ben chuckled. "You've got a . . ." He leaned forward to brush the sugar from her lips.

Mal laughed as she grabbed a napkin to get rid of the rest. "Can't take me anywhere, I guess."

Ben offered a nervous smile. "You know, I don't really know much about you." He leaned forward as his smile grew curious. "Tell me something about yourself."

Mal tilted her head curiously. "Like what?"

"How about your parents?" Ben suggested with a simple shrug. "Your face lights up when you talk about them, so they must mean a lot to you. Why don't you tell me about how your father decided to get a mohawk?"

Mal chuckled at the memory. "Well, when my parents first became a couple, my father used the idea of having a mohawk to distract my mother from having a child," she revealed with a soft sigh. "It was only a couple months before he proposed when she realized he was distracting her. My father was afraid that having a child would hurt their relationship instead of strengthen it. A couple months later he proposed to my mother, then six months later, on their two-year dating anniversary, they married. My mother and father are the first and only couple to marry on the Isle of the Lost."

Ben smiled in amusement. "So, when does the actual mohawk come to play?"

"When I was four," Mal answered with a smile of her own. "I was sick, so my mother went to town for medicine while my father had to stay at the house for a trial. Since he was taking care of me alone, the trial was postponed for a day. While my mother was away, my father devised a harmless scheme that involved me. We managed to trick my mother into allowing my father to grow a mohawk, with the condition that he has to cut it off every year on their anniversary. When I turned fifteen, which was also the same day as their anniversary, I asked if I could give him the haircut. All I did was trim the split-ends so it could grow larger."

Ben raised an eyebrow knowingly. "What did your mother do?"

"Grounded me for two weeks," she claimed, before snickering softly. "My father got the rougher end of the punishment. They didn't do their usual anniversary tradition and my mother refused to let him do anything for a good month. My father was absolutely miserable. My mother finally showed him some mercy, but they forgot that school was only going to be half a day. When I walked into my home, I heard them going at it their bedroom."

Ben snarled his nose. "I didn't need to know that."

Laughing at the prince's reaction, Mal decided to change the subject. "What about your parents? Any funny stories you want to tell me about them?"

Hesitating for a brief moment, Ben shook his head sadly. "I'm not really close with my parents," he admitted almost bashfully. "They were too busy ruling the entire kingdom to actually pay attention to me. I'm closer to our castle servants than I am to them. My grandfather probably raised me more than they did."

Mal tilted her head in faint familiarity. "Maurice?"

"That's him," Ben agreed. "Although most of the stories say he's a crazy inventor, he's actually an incredible painter, just like you. I think you and him will have a lot in common."

Mal smiled. "I'd love to meet him."

"Speaking of love . . ." Ben trailed off as he grabbed a strand of Mal's purple hair, which had a little more blue hue to it at the moment. "I told you I loved you. When I did, your hair turned this same color. Does that mean you love me?"

Mal's smile faded away to display her slight discomfort. "Ben . . . I can't say that to you just yet," she insisted with a sad sigh. "The first person that my mother ever loved stabbed her in the back, quite literally. I just need some time, so I know what I feel is love, not just admiration."

"I understand," Ben reassured as he smiled kindly. "That's the beauty of love. It makes a person want to wait forever for someone they love. If I can wait twelve years to say 'I love you' to you in person, then I will wait forever for you. I will never stop loving you."

Leaning forward, Ben brushed his lips against hers in a slow, soothing kiss that melted Mal's heart and made her hair have even more of a blue hue than it already had. Everything was absolutely perfect—

Which will change during Family Day.