This had to be the hardest scrimmage Ben ever participated in his life.
He did his absolute best to out-maneuver and outrun the other players, who were much bigger, stronger, and older than he was. At one point he was breathing so hard that he feared he was going to get sick or even pass out from the lack of oxygen in his lungs. The first and only time he was able to catch his breath was when Mal called him thirty minutes in, asking how he was doing. The short-lived conversation only lasted thirty seconds before the university coach reminded him players weren't allowed on their phones during practice.
As a punishment, Mr. Adams instructed Ben to run—not walk or jog—around the Tourney field five times. If he faltered in speed at any time, he would have to run one more lap.
Ben's dad sat in the stands, watching the practice closely with Philip, who didn't seem as interested as the high school coach. Mr. Jenkins, the coach for the University of Auradon's Tourney team, was right at the sidelines, keeping track of every move, every step, and every block his players made.
Eventually, Coach Jenkins blew his whistle to allow the players to take a break before walking over to Coach Adams and Philip.
"I like what I'm seeing with him," Jenkins complimented. "He definitely has some potential."
"Ben gives one-hundred-ten percent, twenty-four seven," Mr. Adams claimed. "That you can count on."
Coach Jenkins nodded thoughtfully, recalling the list mentally made. "Have Ben work on that step-back move. He has to be able to shoot pass taller players or else he'll never make it on the team."
"Ben hasn't started growing yet," Mr. Adams quickly argued, as though he didn't want the opportunity to slip away. "I grew four inches in college. We will work on the step-back move until he gets it, believe me."
Nodding once more, Coach Jenkins couldn't help cocking his head in curiosity at seeing an unusual sight. "What is that boy doing?"
Adverting their gazes, Mr. Adams clenched his jaw in aggravation at noticing what his son was doing. After taking a moment to rest, Ben started moving in a strangely fluid way, focusing mainly on his foot movements than anything else.
"He's practicing the dance part of his routine for the club talent show this weekend," Philip knowingly answered. "My son mentioned participating in it with Ben and their friends. My daughter is having her rehearsal tomorrow and their rehearsal is the next day, which is the day before the show. This year's show is going to be very entertaining, especially with how hard they've been working."
"Well my son could have spent his time on something much more useful, like practicing Tourney." Mr. Adams sighed, both annoyed and irritated. "There's no way I will let him do another musical, performance, or whatever during his senior year. I won't allow it."
The next day, just two days before the big talent show, a crew of workers from around the resort was pitching in to set up the stage and viewing area for the show. Continuing with the yearly tradition, Aurora took charge of designing the layout of the tables and the decorations for and around them. Knowing they needed a break from their labor-intensive work, Aurora chose all of the Auradon High students. No one had any complaints since they got the chance to hang out with each other for a couple hours.
Besides, working with Aurora watching them was so much better than either Stefan or Leah leering over them like hungry vultures—or tyrant royalty, as Mal had at one time mumbled under her breath. Aurora made sure she spoke with all of them at some point and fully welcomed their input on what they thought would look best. She tasked the boys with moving the tables and hanging the lantern lights—since that would be a time-consuming task—while she had the girls move the chairs and arrange the center pieces.
"With this table," Aurora began as she gestured to the one that was somewhat close to the front, "make sure it has as much flowers as it can hold, but form it so it looks like the same amount as the other tables."
Audrey, who was sitting on the steps of the stage, playfully snickered at her mother's request. "My father's parents will be at the show," she clarified to the confused classmates. "Mom doesn't care for my grandmother, especially when she was a teenager. Mom loves every flower you can think of, while my grandmother hates them and is allergic. Mom likes to purposely irritate her by having as much flowers as possible around my grandmother while she is visiting."
"I was raised to respect nature by a woman who had a green thumb at the time," Aurora defended her position. "When I first met my mother-in-law, she grabbed the flower I had in my hair threw it away with no warning. I thought it was incredibly rude of her, so I've been vengeful ever since."
Those who used to attend Dragon Hall snickered and giggle at the full explanation. It was something they could see themselves doing, which made them like Aurora a whole lot more.
Gazing at the seating chart, so a 'reserved' plate could be placed on the tables that were taken, Aurora asked the children, "Are any of your parents attending the show, besides Ben's?"
"Mine are going?" Ben wondered, clearly surprised by the information. "But Dad was mad when he found out I would be in it. He doesn't like the idea me doing anything extracurricular that isn't Tourney."
"I believe Stefan invited your parents and your grandfather." Aurora pointed to a table that was in the front row of the viewing area. "That's where they'll be seated for the evening if they decide to come. My husband handles the reservation process and has only heard back from your parents."
"I think my mother is coming," Jane, who was sitting at the grand piano on the stage, informed. "She has an idea for a play next school year and she's hoping the show will give her more inspiration. I don't think she cares where she sits, as long as it's not by Mr. Adams. They don't get along that well."
"I can place your mother around here." Aurora walked to the middle of the viewing area. "These two tables are reserved, but one of them only has two. If she wouldn't mind, my husband can speak with those who reserved these seats. I'm told they are nice and generous people."
"Mom?" Carlos called to get Aurora's attention, loving the way the word so easily rolled off his tongue. "Are you almost done? I know some of them are starting another shift soon, but Audrey and I are wanting them to watch her rehearsal. We don't want them to get a strike by Leah and Stefan because we made them late."
Practically swooning at her 'new' son calling her 'mom' so quickly, Aurora reassured, "The rest can be finished tomorrow. Let's see the routine."
Instead of beginning the song with singing, Audrey started rapping! The group of friends had their jaws dropped at hearing her sound so good. She was practically a natural! Her classmates were able to understand every single word she said and spoke slow enough that her words didn't slur together, unlike most professional rappers.
Her song, entitled 'Queen of Mean', was about how she was raised to get the 'crown', but it was supposedly taken from her. The song continued on about how she was tired of being 'nice' and that she was going to do something to make her earn the title of 'Queen of Mean.'
All of the sudden, the lights went dim as the machine-made smoke covered the entire stage. When the lights returned to their full brightness and the smoke dissipated, the group noticed a complete wardrobe change for Audrey.
Audrey's 'evil' new look was heart-stopping. Her pale, anemic hair had turned a rich magenta ombre, flowing from deep rose at the roots to midnight blue at the tips. Her demure pastel pink outfit was no more. In its place, she wore a wicked getup of black-and-blush fitted leather pants and a tea-length duster with alarming black feather accents. Her necklace now featured two charms, a bright bluebird and a dark black raven. Audrey looked exactly like the enchantress Mal drew her as—gorgeous and menacing.
"I want what I deserve!" Audrey sang on the top of her lungs. "I want to rule the world! Sit back and watch them learn. It's finally my turn!"
At the end of the song, Audrey brought her hands down, as though she was pretending to slam something on the ground. As soon as she did so, the stage went dark as sparklers went off for a moment, signaling the end of her performance. The small group of spectators cheered and applauded as the stage lights turned, just as Audrey was removing the pink and blue wig from her ash-blonde. It was clear to everyone that she was exhausted from the stage-rehearsal.
"Wow!" Mal exclaimed, a genuine, sugar-sweet smile on her lips. "You did such a good job, Audrey! You looked exactly like an evil enchantress!"
Chuckling softly at the compliment, Audrey half-heartedly said, "Thanks, but I have no chance of beating your group performance. Carlos showed me videos of your practice, and it looks impressive, nearly professional. I'm just doing the show for fun, but I really hope your group wins. It would be nice having someone else win."
Audrey really shouldn't have made that statement, for someone was hiding in the darkness of the alley-way behind the stage—
Plotting their next move to assure their family would remain victorious.
The next day, the Auradon Knights had just finished a shift and had gathered in the kitchen to walk as a group to the stage for their final rehearsal when they were given some depressing news.
Handing out the pamphlets to her fellow co-workers, Evie glumly announced, "Per Stefan's and Leah's orders, employees are ineligible to participate in the Star Dazzle Talent Show. Every employee has to work during the show. Those who refuse to do so will be terminated immediately."
"What?" Jay grabbed the paper to see it for himself. "They can't do this! Did Aurora or Philip approve of it?"
"I don't think they have any knowledge about it," Evie revealed with a reluctant sigh. "When Leah gave me the papers, Uma was with me. She asked that same question, but Leah told her off, saying Uma should learn to mind her place. Leah proceeded to insult Uma by calling her an offensive name for her skin tone, which I will not repeat."
Mal tensed at hearing the information about her cousin. "Where's Uma now?"
"She's waiting in the parking lot for her grandfather to pick her up," Evie informed, her facial expression displaying the same level of sadness as her tone. "Uma quit."
Allowing the information to process for a moment or two, Mal pulled out her phone, sending a text message to a certain someone. "I'm seeing if Uncle will wait for me." Placing her phone back in her pocket, Mal raised her gaze toward her friends, stubbornly announcing, "I quit, too."
Not even five minutes later, Ben burst into the kitchen, hoping to find his friends waiting on him so they could do their rehearsal. Instead the room was empty except for Jane, who looked upset about something. Noticing the other person, she wordlessly handed him the memo she had been looking at previously.
Quickly reading through the paper, Ben's blood boiled at the message. "This is messed up!" He proclaimed. "There's no way Aurora or Philip would approve this!"
"No one knows if they did," Jane revealed knowingly. "Uma quit because Leah blew up on her and Mal decided to quit too."
"What?" Ben asked incredulously. "That can't be right. Mal would have told me if she was going to do something as drastic as that."
"She's meeting her uncle right now since he's picking up Uma," Jane claimed with a saddened shrug. "You can probably catch her if you hurry."
Taking the advice, Ben bolted out of the kitchen and hurried outside the resort building. Passing the swimming pool area, he paused for a brief moment to see Mal crossing the wooden bridge.
"Mal!" he shouted, causing his girlfriend to abruptly turn around to face him. Stopping in the middle of the bridge, Ben asked breathlessly, "You're leaving without a good-bye forehead kiss?"
"I'm sorry," Mal apologized immediately, her eyes watering slightly. "I know you tried your best to protect me when you could, but Uma protected me when she was on lifeguard duty. Without her, I-I don't think—"
"Hey, hey, hey." Ben rested a hand on Mal's cheek, caressing her tear away. "It will be ok. We can still spend the summer together. We are still doing the talent show."
Mal cocked her head curiously. "How? Stefan and Leah won't allow it employees to participate in it, especially me."
"I will work it out," Ben vowed, his handsome smile making his beloved swoon. "We will work it out. Until then . . ."
Trailing off, Ben leaned forward to place the sweetest of kisses on her forehead, causing Mal to swoon once more. "I love you," he cooed ever so fondly. "I promise, they will get what's coming to them."
