What IF Chapter 10

Ok followers, thank you all for the reviews. This chapter is more of a flashback, I am having a bit of a writer's block as to where I should go now. If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

Tourney T

Mal came back to her dorm room after dinner with Ben's parents to find it empty. Evie must be with the boys. Mal decided to take a little nap. It had been a long few days and it was finally catching up with her. She reached under the covers of her made bed, and pulled out her favorite pillow. It was her favorite because of what she had done just a few short days ago.

Mal came back from the tourney match with mixed feelings, on one hand she was thrilled her plan was working so quickly. Not only did Ben dump Audrey, but he asked her to be his date at the coronation, in front of the whole school. But on the other hand, that song, and then the tourney shirt…that was messing with her head. When Ben broke into that song at first Mal wanted to crawl into a hole. By the time Ben tossed her his tourney shirt Mal was, smiling. The attention, while over the top, was something Mal had never experienced before, and it was heartwarming. She had no idea why it was affecting her.

Mal took Ben's tourney shirt and tossed it onto her bed. She had no idea what to do with it, other than, she wasn't planning to give it back. Well unless Ben wanted it for another game. Looking at it on her bed, Mal knew Evie would make a big deal out of it, if she saw it. Mal thought fast, she pulled a pillow case off a pillow, slipped Bens shirt onto the pillow, than replaces the regular pink prissy pillowcase. Mal tossed the pillow back into the pile. And left her room for dinner. She knew the cafeteria would be full right now, and she needed to be present to carry on being Ben's girlfriend, and even though the attention she was about to get wasn't something she looked forward to, she knew it had to be done. She took a deep breath and went to face the crowd.

Later that night when she and Evie were finally alone and in bed, Evie finally asked the question she wanted to for hours. "M?"
"Yeah, E?"
"What happened to Ben's shirt?"
"Oh, I gave it back, he needed it. He just did it as gesture." She quickly fumbled, as her hand touched the shirt under the pillow case.

"Oh. That's too bad. I thought it would make a cute night shirt for you."

"Ew, E it was all stinky and sweaty." And taking a deep breath, 'smells like Ben' she added to herself.

"Well I figured it would get washed first." Evie teased.

"No, thanks, a little too goody-goody for me." Mal responded.

"Admit it Mal, by the end of Ben's little concert, you were smiling."
"Ok, I admit, it was…something. But it wasn't real, remember, he's under a love spell. Anything he says to me, isn't real, not really."
"Way to take all the fun out of it Mal." Evie says.

"Hey, just trying to remember our plan." She points out.

"I know, I know, but still…It's so much better here really. We have a safe place to stay, fresh food and we are starting to make friends."
"I know that…and that's great and all, but our parents…"
"Yeah, I remember." Evie said, turning over and shutting out the light.

'Great, first Jay and now Evie. I am beginning to think I am in this on my own.' Mal said to herself. She turned over and sighed. She put her hand back into the pillowcase and touched the 7 on Ben's shirt. She could smell him, and it was messing with her mind.

Mal decided to take the pillowcase off and expose the shirt. It was safe to say Evie would freak out to know Mal had been sleeping with Ben's shirt since the day he gave it to her. And at this point she was truly Ben's girlfriend. HE hadn't been faking anything, just about everything he had said and done with her, was real. 'I really love that lake.' Mal thought to herself. She snuggled into the shirt covered pillow and fell asleep.

About an hour after Mal fell asleep Evie returned to their room. She stopped short when she saw Mal cuddling her pillow with Ben's tourney shirt on it. "MAL!" She shouted "You lied to me."

"What!" Mal jumped up off the bed.

"Ben's shirt?"

"Oh that." Mal almost giggled. "I knew you would over react back then, so I hid it under the pillowcase. I figured it was safe to take it out now." Mal was actually blushing.

"Mal, when did you realize you had feelings for Ben, and not just your mothers plan?"
"Evie did I ever tell you about a dream I had about a month or so before we came from the Isle?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Sit." She patted her bed. And she told her about the dream she had about the boy and the lake.

"Ben?" Evie asked stunned.

"Yes. I didn't make the exact connection when we first met. But when we looked into each other's eyes, and shook hands that first day, there was something there. At first I had no idea what it was. Then slowly over the days, the dream came back, and the boy in my dream's face and voice became clear and it was Ben. That day on the tourney field, this shirt…I don't know why but I couldn't give it back, and well he never asked. Then we went on that date. And it was the lake from my dreams, and ….yeah I was a gonner. It was then that I started to really doubt my mother's plan. It wasn't until we saw them on that video chat that I knew they would ruin things here and well I didn't want that."

Evie pulled Mal into a huge hug.

"I am so glad you didn't want that. I almost followed you to the kitchen when you made the anti-love spell."

"You mean the one I didn't need." Mal let slip.
"WHAT!" Evie jumped back to look at Mal.
So for the second time in as many days, Mal explains how Ben's love spell had washed off just a few days after it was put in place. By the end of the story Evie was an emotional mess. "Mal…oh boy, wow. HE…really loved you from the beginning. Wow, just wow."
"Ok, calm down E. So then there is this." Mal went to her desk and retrieved the spell book fairy godmother gave her and read the passage.

"Love spells cast purely for personal gain will work on the recipient for only a brief time. In the end they will always back fire on the spell's castor. The only exception is if either the recipient or the castor has true feelings for the other. If both have feelings, whether known or unknown, the spell can magnify into untold acts of expression of love that both hold for each other. It is the recipient of the spell who performs these grandiose expressions." Mal looked at Evie who was sitting there wide mouthed.

"Ok, so that explains his song." Evie said, laughing.

"Exactly. I…he knows about this, I read it to him already." She taps the book.
"M. I have no words, yes I do. I cannot believe you and Ben, were in love from day one."
"Looks that way doesn't it?" Evie did a girly squeal and Mal just laughed at her friend.

"Want me to make his shirt into a pillow case?"
"Nope. I like it just the way he gave it to me."
"So you have been sleeping with it every night?"
"Yes." Mal blushed. Evie hugged her again.

"Good." Evie said. Mal smiled at her friend. She knew her friend was truly happy for her. And since she and Doug had, had a chance to talk and Evie had forgiven Doug for siding with Chad on Family Day, she knew Evie and Doug would have what she has with Ben, and that makes her happy too.