Ben found himself quite surprised when his Auradon classmates showed concern for him when he arrived at the Tourney field after his . . . meeting, with the ill Mal.

The injured boy had taken his sweet time while visiting the princess of the mainland. They didn't really talk. After their shared moment together, they simply stared into each other's eyes as Ben rubbed soothing circles on Mal's lower back, right below her injuries until she slowly fell back asleep. When she fell into the light slumber, he kissed her forehead lovingly before sneaking out of the room, grateful that Cerberus didn't try to corner him as he left.

The first to approach the Isle prince was Gil, since he could get away with leaving the field without any repercussions. Although he already knew about his conditions, Gil still asked how he was doing and if there was anything Ben needed for him. After getting the blunt reassurance that he was fine, Gil jogged back onto the field while Jay and Carlos snuck away while Coach Gaston turned his head in a completely opposite direction. Jay offered to go over what he missed in practice while Carlos said he would help with whatever class work he missed.

Taking them both on their offers, Ben continued on his trek for only a few moments before his name was shouted by his only friend practicing cheer on the sidelines.

Raising a concerned eyebrow, Audrey called out, "Faut-il dēmēnanger?"

"Je vais bien," Ben reassured. "Nous parlerons plus tard."

While the new cheerleader nodded in agreement, she still scrunched up her nose in confusion when she couldn't understand what her friend's intentions were.

Stopping just a handful of feet away, Ben cleared his throat to grab some attention but to also muster up his politeness. "Coach Gaston," he greeted. "I need to talk to Chad for a few moments . . . please."

Although surprised by the Isle boy's sudden manners, the coach had to ask, "Is it about the situation that occurred on Friday?"

"Yes . . .sir," Ben agreed, frowning at the way his voice sounded when giving respect. "I promise I'm not going to get mad, yell, or anything like that. I just want to clarify a couple things with him."

Keeping his gaze on the prince, Gaston nodded, trusting his word as he blew his whistle. "Chad," he shouted. "Come here."

Confused, Chad nearly paused in his strides before he realized Ben was standing next to the coach. Reluctantly jogging over, Chad grumbled, "What do you need, Coach?"

"Ben needs to talk to you." Gaston gave Ben a pointed look. "And he promised his temper will be in check."

Sighing in reluctant agreement, Ben jerked his head in a particular direction, but he wished he hadn't for it made his head ache. "Behind the bleachers. There's something I want to talk to you about in private."

Giving a slightly scared glance to the adult, Chad had to be ushered away before he trudged behind the short-tempered teen. After a couple minutes walk and then reaching their destination, Chad wondered, "How much are you going to yell at me for what I did?"

"From what I saw, you did nothing wrong," Ben claimed crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the support beams. "In fact, I saw that you weren't responsible for a lot of things that took place here or the Isle. I also know that you weren't the one that wanted to take Fairy Godmother's wand in the first place."

Although there was a gleam of surprise, Chad shook his head in denial. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"As a reward for me catching his daughter, King Hades allowed me to use the enchanted mirror that belonged to my father," Ben informed with a slight eye-roll. "One of the things I asked was who was responsible for mine and Princess Mal's injuries, since I didn't know. It showed Jane being negligent with watching Dude while you called him over with a simple whistle and command. It also showed your conversation with her where she plays victim to get what she wants while you take the fall for everything. I know she was the one that came up with the idea of getting her mother's wand, not you."

Slumping his shoulders—either in relief or exhaustion, Ben wasn't sure—Chad leaned against the bleachers as he grumbled, "Glad someone else can see through her act."

"I have to ask," Ben pressed, "do you really want to go after the wand? You told Jane you weren't going to let your situation be the same as the Isle. You still can."

Chad stared at him. "How?" he interrogated. "Do you know how many people I have pissed off in just the week we've been here?"

"Start by starting over," Ben advised knowledgeably. "Apologize for what you've done and see what you can do to make it up to them. This is Auradon, land of second chances, even when we feel like we don't deserve it."

"But what about the others?" Chad reminded. "You didn't care about the wand in the first place while Audrey has a boyfriend that she wants to stay with. The other three won't like the idea of forgetting the scheme altogether."

"Jane's the only one really committed to the idea of stealing it," Ben claimed, leaning his head against the cool metal to help with his throbbing head. "Lonnie and Doug don't know what they want to do, so we shouldn't have to worry about it for a while. So, what do you say about giving the idea up, starting over again in Auradon, and starting over with me."

Chad raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Starting over with you? You mean . . ."

"Clean slate," Ben reassured. "We keep what happened on the Isle in the past and pretend the more gruesome stuff or the worst arguments never happened. I'll even talk to Audrey about the situation and see if she would want to start over with you too. What do you say?"

The Isle prince held out his hand expectantly. Staring at it for a few moments in debate, Chad took hold of the hand, shaking it firmly in agreement. "Starting over," he confirmed, "but I do have a question."

"Ask away."

"You said one of the things you asked about was the accident Friday," Chad reiterated before wondering, "What was the first thing you asked to see?"

Honestly, Ben should have been prepared to hear that question. Instead, he had to advert his gaze to the ground as he tried to keep his emotions in check at the memory. Taking a moment to calm himself, Ben raised his gaze with a sad smile. "I asked to see my mother," he confessed. "It was only for a few seconds, but I learned that we both have the same favorite book, the same habit of starting a book over once we finish it, and she wore blue all the time like I do."

Chad nodded politely. "She sounds like your mother," he joked. "Do you think, if she was healthy, she would have taken you to Auradon when you were a toddler?"

"I've thought of 'if's with her my entire life," Ben admitted. "I stopped thinking that way because Beast beat it out of me. All I want to do now is focus on my new life in Auradon and how much of a fool I want to make myself Wednesday after the championship game."

This time, Chad raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "How?"