Isle Problems

(Day 157: Tuesday Afternoon)

"Where is she?" Carlos complains. "I need to get to the library."

Jay gives him a look, "What for? It's the last week of school. Every class has us watching videos or just doing stuff."

"I'm meeting a friend. Okay?" he widens his eyes at him.

"Jane?" he suspects.

"No," Carlos looks away from him. "Not Jane."

Mal leans back, crossing her arms as she crosses her legs on top of the desk, "Well, I don't know where she is, but I have a pretty good clue what we're here for." and when the others look at her she points to the board. "Isle of the Lost Problems." She rolls her eyes, "The last thing I needed was another therapy session this week."

"That bad?" Jay questions.

"Just be positive," Mal quotes in an annoyingly high pitch. "There's nothing you can do about the past, so what do you do?"

"Obsess about it until you can fix the problem," Carlos reasons.

"Break something," Jay thinks aloud.

"Ooh. I know," Evie chimes in. "You put on a bright face and act like it never happened."

Mal gives her a look, "It's scary just how much this place suites you." before she shakes her head. "Move on and build a brighter future. That's what she said." Mal huffs, "As though it's just that easy to forget your mother tortured you or your father tried to kill you." Mal scans over them before facing Jay, "I'm so glad you're all here."

"Same," Evie smiles, before the headmistress comes in and their attention is brought back to the front of the classroom.

"Okay," Fairy Godmother pulls a chair out in front of the four of them, attempting to smile. "Sorry I'm late. I had another matter to attend to." The four of them merely glance at each other. "Right," the headmistress uneasily continues. "Well. We are here, because I believe it's important to accept your past, before you can focus on your futures. And what better time to do that than before summer break?"

"But we'll still be seeing you this summer for that French class," Mal reminds her.

"Well, yes," she starts to frown, "but there's no time like the present." The four of them give each other another look, and she continues, "Okay. So, what I would like for all of you is to open up about something, perhaps something that happened while you were still on the Isle of the Lost, and maybe say how it makes you feel."

"Does it have to be from the Isle?" Carlos questions.

"Just something that's been bothering you. It could be anything," Fairy Godmother inputs. "What's important is that it's something deep you've been struggling with, maybe even something you haven't even told each other." There's a brief silence, before the headmistress looks towards the student farthest on the left, "Jay. Why don't you start?"

"Or, how about I don't?" he counters, and then Mal frowns, sitting up more and taking her legs off the desk.

"What?" Carlos counters, "Not man enough to talk about your feelings?"

"At least I don't miss how it feels like to have sex with my mother," Jay loudly retorts.

"That never happened," Carlos quietly condemns.

"Because, you don't miss the way she hurt you," he doubts. "Being a masochist, you don't wish you could just feel that sweet stinging burn again."

"Shut up."

"What? That's why you want to go back, ain't it?" Jay continues on. "It's not even about missing her. You just miss the way she would fuck you over."

"Shut up," Carlos yells at him with widened eyes.

"Why? It's the truth, isn't it?"

Fairy Godmother notices Carlos on the verge of tears, "That's enough." before they turn back to her and she faces Jay. "This is what I'm talking about. You think you can avoid your own problems by drudging up someone else's. That needs to stop."

"I don't have any problems," he denies.

"Well, good," Fairy Godmother eyes him down, before scans over the others. "Now. Who else thinks they don't have any problems?"

"I was raped," Mal hears herself say, before she looks up and notices the others staring at her in awe. "On the Isle. Harry Hook. He, uh…" Her breathing becomes faster, "We were behind Ursula's restaurant making out behind the crates, and he—" She shakily breathes as her eyes begin to burn, "He held me down, forced my hands over my head, and held them there with that stupid hook." She runs her hands over her wrists, "My mother always told me to keep up my strength, that I would need it in a world like this, but… I didn't want to be like her, so when this happened—" Mal lets out a long breath, "I was the weakest being on Earth."

Jay deeply frowns, "You never told me this."

"I told others," before she sadly laughs. "They all just thought I was sleeping my way to the top, trying to knock him down on my way there."

"I wouldn't have thought that," he lets her know.

"No," she accepts. "You would have gone after him."

"And he would have deserved it," Jay asserts.

"But you don't deserve to die," Mal yells back, and she cries through the deathly silent room. "You were the one person I had in my life who actually cared. I couldn't lose you. And Hook." Mal gulps, "He wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone, especially not my—" She sadly smiles, "My brother. Because, then you'd be gone, and I— I'd be his again, probably."

"I don't understand," Jay comments. "How could you not have wanted revenge?"

"No. I did," Mal nods, before she shakes her head. "I still do. Every. Single. Day."

"I think the worst part was that I always had to act like I was fine," Evie admits, as she rubs her arm. "I wasn't allowed to cry or smile or speak— good princesses only speak when spoken to." She glances down, "And I like makeup and all, but on the Isle that makes you a target. You can never go anywhere alone, and you become so dependent on others to talk for you because you aren't taken seriously. You're a flirt. That's all. You could be asking to trade bread for fabric, and suddenly you're just some slut tricking them into some false sexual exchange." She folds her arms, "And I couldn't take it off ever, because—" Evie takes a deep breath as the tears intrude her eyes, "'Cause, then the bruises would be seen. You know, I think she hit me sometimes just so I'd wear the makeup and attract some guy. Find a prince, she said. Like there's any real princes on the Isle." She nods to the right, "She even had me set up with Jay at some point, because his father was Sultan for like five seconds."

"Wait," Jay confusedly looks at her. "What?"

"Yeah," Evie takes out her nail file to distract herself. "You're really not my type."

After a minute Fairy Godmother questions, "Evie. Do you have anything else to share?"

"Other than her outbursts of telekinesis and all the times she almost accidently killed me?" she sarcastically comments. "No. Not really."

"Okay," the headmistress takes a breath. "Maybe another time." She eyes between Carlos and Jay, "What about you?"

"Uh." Carlos points out, "It's kind of time to leave."

Fairy Godmother looks at the clock, "So it is." before she smiles. "Have a wonderful day, and I will see you all here tomorrow."

As the others hurry out of the room, Mal takes her time to stand from the chair and then eyes the board, "I think just Isle Problems would be good enough."

The headmistress examines the title on the board, "You think so?"

Mal smirks at her, "No one on the Isle calls it the Isle of the Lost." before she steps past her. "Also, a lot more clean and simple."

- Yeah. This is one of those stories (notice title). I hope you don't mind.