- I have 41 document pages for you to read tonight. Why so many, you ask? Because, I had a great idea for the third chapter, one thing led to another, and then suddenly it was like 20-something pages and I had no choice but to split it into two separate chapters. So, you have four chapters tonight. Enjoy. Make sure to let me know which ones you like or disliked and why... probably no need to say I got off track, though. I try to make things realistic, and it's scientifically proven that no one stays on topic in a conversation for longer than a few minutes... Also, humans are notoriously bad at sticking to a single subject, and therefore so are authors. Yes, I'm flawed, just like every other person or nonperson in the world... You know, that one robot that said it's going to kill off humanity or something along those lines, probably wasn't such a smart idea to say that aloud.

Charming

(Day 103: Thursday Noon)

"Ben?" Mal asks, and then he looks up in confusion. "We were just asking how you're doing with everything."

"Fine," he merely says before looking back down at his blue tray.

"You sure?" she questions. "You seem really quiet, like more than usual."

It takes him a minute to respond, "I'm just tired."

"Maybe you should try a nap," Carlos suggests. "It's supposed to help heal, and you're probably spending a lot of energy just from, well… your injury." Ben looks up at him in annoyance. "What? I'm just saying."

Ben stands from the table, "I have homework."

Doug comments, "You haven't eaten yet."

Ben eyes over the five of them before glancing at his tray, "I will later." and then he turns around to walk away.

Doug gives Carlos a look, before Carlos interrupts the stare, "What?"

"He probably meant he was emotionally tired," Doug points out, "from all of the English in and out of class."

"Sleeping still would have helped with that," he defends.

"You know what doesn't?" Doug counters. "Talking fast and using big words. You really couldn't have simplified things for him?"

"Look," Carlos breathes. "When I think of Ben, I don't think of dumbing things down. He's a smart guy."

"Language has nothing to do with how smart someone is," Doug points out. "It's thought that Albert Einstein was dyslexic. Does his possible trouble with language make him dumb?"

Carlos narrows his eyes at him, "I so did not say that."

"Stop it," Mal frustrates. She turns to Carlos, "You. Make things easier for Ben." before she faces Doug. "And you. Stop acting like you know everything. You don't."

Doug frowns, "I never claimed I did." before Mal lets out a loud breath through her nose as she looks away. "I'm just trying to help."

She shakes her head before staring back at him, "You Auradon people always trying to help. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want someone to talk about me like I'm weak or fragile behind my back— to my girlfriend and her friends no less."

It takes a moment for him to say, "Like I've said before, Ben is bad at taking care of himself. He's bad at standing up for himself. Someone had to."

"Maybe there's a reason why he didn't say anything," Mal asserts. "Maybe he was afraid of being seen as dumb. Maybe he was embarrassed. Maybe he just didn't want to make such a big deal out of a temporary thing."

"His reputation isn't worth his health," Doug comments.

"That's not for you to decide," Mal loudly counters. "This is about him. It's his life. You don't have any say in what should or should not be important to him." He merely looks at her, failing to respond, before she shakes her head and grabs her glass of milk. "Seriously. Some people just really need to learn to mind their own business and stop 'helping' people."

"Hey," Ben hears Chad call after him, and he turns around in the hallway. "I've been wanting to talk to you. How are doing?"

Ben frowns, "Not great. You?"

"Fine," Chad shrugs off with a facial expression, before he smiles. "Word has it you got hurt from stairs. Is that true?"

He makes a disgruntled noise, "No. I got it from tourney."

"But you don't play tourney anymore," he disproves.

"Yes." Ben faces him, "That's how it should have. But no. I had to fall down stairs." He shakes his head, "How stupid is that?"

"It's better than getting stuck on pain killers," Chad grins, but it slowly slips as Ben continues to frown at him. "That was supposed to be a joke." His eyes shift, "I wasn't trying to make this about me. This is about you."

"Sorry," Ben breathes. "It's just hard. There's homework, teachers, and questions, and I don't get it. It's just a bundle of… garbage."

"I think you mean bunch," Chad corrects, and at Ben's clear confusion he explains, "The phrase you were trying to say is 'a bunch of crap' without the swearing, because you don't like to swear in English." He continues on, "Anyway." before he motions with his hands. "People say bunch, like a bunch of stuff. It's not bundle… Bundle would be like a bunch of objects in one package, like a video game bundle. Where, a bunch is just like a hand full of objects."

"Right," Ben sighs, before he shakes his head. "Sorry. My English is bad right now."

"Yeah," Chad nearly laughs. "I heard you tried to turn your English paper in in French."

"It was just one word," Ben defends. "I didn't know it, and I didn't like the translator."

"Why?" he questions. "Was it not working?"

"No. It worked," Ben almost rolls his eyes. "I just didn't like the words." He notices Chad's inquiring look. "Words have feeling. The words didn't feel right for the paper."

"So, you wrote it in French?"

"Yes," Ben gives in.

"Why do you make things so hard?" he furrows his eyebrows.

"I don't make things hard," Ben counters. "Things are just hard. It's English this. English that." His eyes shift in annoyance, "I'm tired of it. I wish I didn't even have to speak it."

"Then don't," Chad reasons, and when he sees Ben's confusion he smiles and continues in French, "Like I said, you always have to make things so hard."

Ben sighs before switching to French as well, "This isn't going to work for class."

"Like anyone pays attention in class," Chad disputes. "If they wanted us to pay attention in class, then they shouldn't be making us read the same stuff outside of it."

"And not everyone speaks French," he continues.

"So," Chad gestures with an open hand. "Avoid them. It's not that hard."

Ben gives him a look, "You want me to avoid my girlfriend?"

He partly smirks, "Hey. Whatever makes you happy." before he raises his eyebrows. "Unless you want to be a masochist about it, in which case you can go around torturing yourself with English all you want."

"Of course not."

"Good, then," Chad smiles. "Then it's settled. You're going to stop with the English, and of course you're going to need someone to hang out with. What do you say, this afternoon fiveish?"

"Wai— Hey," Ben's mouth gapes in near laughter. "I didn't say anything about needing someone to hang out with. I have homework."

"And who else better than me to help?" he smiles, before he keeps Ben from answering. "It would be like old times."

"We're not in elementary school anymore," Ben pointedly states.

"No. Of course, not," Chad agrees. "If we were, you would be coming to me. I wouldn't be needing to chase after you to get one conversation."

Ben wets his lips, "I'm sorry about that. Things have been busy."

"And now we can be busy together," he solves, crossing his arms. "It's not like you need help with homework anyway. All you need is a translator."

"Your French can't be good enough to translate law and psychology terminology," Ben frowns. "How are you supposed to help me?"

"Context and stuff," Chad makes a face. "And I can keep the English speakers from annoying you. It will be fun." Ben opens his mouth to speak, before Chad pretends to check his watch. "Oh. Look at that. I have to go." He moves backward, "See you at the library at five." before he turns and hurries off.

Ben's eyes furrow in evaluation, "What just happened?" before he glances between his destination and back towards Chad; however, when Chad can no longer be seen he merely shakes his head and walks to his dorm.

"You're so frickin' amazing right now," Ben enthuses as he finishes the assignment.

"I know," Chad smiles.

Ben gives him a look, "Don't let it get to your head." before he checks his watch for the time. "It's almost dinner."

He hears Ben's phone, "That her again?"

Ben groans before grabbing his phone, "Yeah. I think she wants to like hang out to, you know, get heat and stuff." before he translates the text. "But not anymore. I guess she got it from somewhere else."

"Or she just knows that dinner is soon," Chad counters. Ben doesn't respond, merely closing his notebooks inside the textbooks and stacking them. "You know you can still hook up with people without really speaking, right?"

"Mal's aggressive," Ben impartially informs. "If I'm making out with her, I want to be able to actually communicate. You know?"

He shrugs, "I guess, but where else is she going to get the heat from?"

"Her girlfriend."

Chad half grins, "You're joking."

"I don't know if I am or not," Ben frowns. "I'm pretty sure I caught them sleeping overnight together, which is against the rules. Evie tried to explain, I think, but I couldn't understand a word she was saying, and… with everything else… I think Mal's cheating on me."

It takes a moment for Chad to uneasily comment, "That's ruff."

"I don't really care right now," Ben leans back in the chair. "She needs heat and I'm not in the mood, so… Maybe she's not even cheating. I don't know. All I know is that I really don't feel like dealing with anyone right now."

"Except me," Chad smiles.

Ben snickers, "Yeah. You're just that special." before he stands from his seat; however, he frowns as he tries to slide the books towards his leg to gather them into his arm, and when they fall in between the space he looks up towards the ceiling and hums loudly in displeasure.

"Here." Chad goes to pick up the items, "Let me get those." before he stands up and notices Ben outstretch his arm. "What? Are you stupid? I'm carrying them."

"I can carry them myself," Ben insists.

"No, you can't," Chad grins, before he uses a free hand to mess up Ben's hair. "You can't even use a comb."

Ben fixes it with a smile, "Why do you have to be such a jerk?"

"Why do you have to be such a pansy?" he counters. "You're king. If you're too afraid to let people wait on you, then you should've just given the crown to me."

"I was going to let you help me with that, actually," Ben slowly says as they walk out of the library, "but since you're being so mean maybe I'll just find help elsewhere."

"Wait," Chad places a hand on his shoulder, and Ben winces. "Sorry," he grimaces and takes it off, but then he grins again. "You need help with king stuff?"

"After I'm caught up on all my assignments," Ben widens his eyes. "But then." He nods, "Yes… I could use some help."

"That's fucking awesome," Chad amazes, before he places a hand on Ben's back and guides him down the hall. "I can see it now. Chad and Ben Florian doing king stuff— together."

"You know this is just temporary, right?" Ben makes sure.

"Yeah. Of course," Chad makes a face, before he takes his hand off of him. "I'm not an idiot. You only want me right now, because you need me."

"You make me sound so horrible," Ben mumbles.

"I have that effect on people," he agrees. "A lot like your girlfriend. That cheater. If I had someone as great as you, I would never cheat on them."

"Aren't you with Audrey?" Ben disbelieves.

"Well, yeah. No," Chad explains. "I meant that if I was with someone as great as you who didn't have a thing against premarital sex, then I wouldn't cheat on them."

Ben takes a moment before slowly stating, "So, you're cheating on Audrey."

"Technically. Technically not."

He shakes his head, "You're so confusing."

Chad smirks, "That's just part of my charm." before he looks at him. "You're having dinner with me, right?"

Ben furrows his eyebrows at him, "Why would I be eating with you?"

"Well, you're not honestly going to eat with your non-French girlfriend, are you?" Ben's mouth hangs open for a minute in unsureness. "That's what I thought. Come on. We can use your books to make sure no one sits with us."

"And why don't we want people sitting with us?" he questions.

"To keep them from making us speak English," Chad excuses. "Obviously."

Ben sighs, "Right. Okay." before he follows Chad to a mostly empty table.

- When I was writing this I just could not stop laughing at Chad's interaction with Ben... It was less funny when I read it through for editing, but I hope you guys managed to enjoy it. I think one of my favorite parts was when Chad said "Chad and Ben Florian working on king stuff— together". In this world people only have middle names, which makes it a little less like that girl scribbling her crush's surname after hers in her notebook, but I still thought it was funny. Oddly enough, if I didn't have a compulsion against having single words left on one line, then originally Chad's full name was listed. I like this better.

- Danifan3000 So, yes, Evie's mother is a witch. I remembered that much from the animated movie... I mean, I don't know if they ever said she was a witch, but that's how I interpreted it at least. Anyway, so Evie's mother is a witch and Evie has inherited that. Now, I feel like generally speaking people would know that her mother was a witch, except that in this world it seems like anyone can make a potion... My line of thinking here is that even if everyone knows that Evie's mother is a witch, it would not necessarily mean that Evie herself is one and because Ben has betrayed his parents by not telling them about this they assume that she isn't. Because, someone that dangerous to their livelihood, surly Ben would tell them about it. By the end of this fanfiction Belle will find out about Evie being a witch, but I am undecided as to whether she will tell Adam and try to convince him things will be okay or if he's just going to find out himself during the summer which might be worse. Side Note: It's been a real long time since I saw Snow White. I always found the story boring. Does anyone remember if the Evil Queen had magic that could be interpreted as telekinesis? I feel like she did, but I might just be confusing the animated version with Once Upon a Time... Then again, so I remember a frame where an old woman's hand is stopping a number of arrows, and there's this smoke or forcefield animation... her nails might be sharp and purple actually, so I could be thinking of Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, another movie that I've only seen like once. Thank you to Elizabeth Annette and others who have been commenting. It's very appreciated.

- Posted: 11/19/2018