(Mal)

Mal let it show how furious she was through disobedience as the King's guards forced her into a chair, keeping her gaze locked on the aged man with an icy glare, completely ignoring the burly guards as they stationed themselves on either end of the chair. It doesn't surprise me that the royal family can't take any potential ego-deflation, but this is ridiculous, she noted, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"My son may only be seventeen," the aged man spoke, taking a seat in front of her on the opposite side of the table; she didn't fail to notice it was due to the magic she had already proven she had. "But he is the King, and you will show him the respect he deserves."

"Good, it's settled then, I will show him none because by my standards he hasn't earned any respect," Mal replied coolly, her strong gaze never faltering. "I don't owe him anything."

"He is your King, you owe him everything," the man argued, and it amused her to see just how much he struggled to keep level-headed.

Mal snorted. "He's not my King."

"He is King to everyone living in Auradon."

"Then it's a damn good thing I don't live here."

Silence fell over them, but neither of them broke their eye-contact. The man ended up breaking it first, shifting his gaze down across the table as if he were calmly disappointed; though she knew he was the exact opposite. His exterior told a different story than the one Mal could read in his posture.

He rephrased it. "He is King to everyone presently within Auradon's walls."

"I don't abide by inanimate objects," Mal stated, finding amusement in angering the man. Nothing can close me in if I don't want it to, she thought, referencing her ability. "I'm not going to follow any 'within walls' rules, so you might as well just let me go."

"You will obey the rules set in place, and you will show King Ben the proper respect expected of Auradon residents."

"Oh, will I?" Mal arched her eyebrow, an amused smirk tugging at one corner of her mouth.

"Yes, you will, or I will be forced to make you," the aged man tried to threaten, little did he know, threatening was what set her off.

"Then get off that unrightfully royal ass of yours and try."

The man stood quickly from his seat in an intimidation attempt and slammed his hands against the surface of the table angrily.

Mal didn't flinch.

And that's when another presence in the room made itself know. "Please, father, calm down."

It was the boy again; King Ben, she scowled. She had no idea why he seemed to be defending her against his father, but she disliked it, once again wanting to connect her fist to his nose. A compassionate King, whoopty-freaking-do.

"Calm down?" The man was outraged. "This girl hasn't shown an ounce of respect to our family name."

"She's not from here," Ben shrugged, shifting his attention from his father to her. "Are you?"

That irritating smile was still present on his face as he studied her briefly, waiting for a response. She narrowed her eyes at the boy, setting a deep scowl into her mouth.

"No, but I wouldn't respect you if I was."

The aged man didn't seem to like that answer, but his son merely chuckled. What is wrong with this boy? She almost wished he would throw her in a dungeon instead – at least, I think castles have dungeons – figuring it would be better than having to deal with his constant, creepy smile.

"Where do you come from?" Ben asked, stepping up just in front of her and leaning his lower body back against the table.

"You don't get to know," Mal shot back without missing half a beat.

His smile only widened.

"Ben, you need to…" But he never got to finish.

"How old are you?" The boy spoke over his father, never taking his eyes off her.

Mal chewed on her cheek in debate. "Seventeen."

"Oh, so you attend Auradon Prep?" Ben questioned curiously.

"No," Mal laughed, scoffing slightly as well. "Why would I?"

"Every underage citizen is required to attend Auradon Prep," Ben explained, and Mal felt her stomach drop, knowing what was coming next. "Come on, let's get you enrolled."

"What? No," Mal stayed where she was, shocking the guards again when they tried to force her to her feet. "I'm not attending any prissy school."

Ben's father had his objections as well, only different. "Son! This girl has consistently disrespected our royal line, she should be punished, not given the chance to attend our school."

But Ben only replied to her. "Prissy? Is that what you think of us?"

"Oh, I think many things about you lot," Mal replied, fingers gripping the arms of the chair tight enough to remove the color from them.

She thought of Evie, trying to ignore the fact that she didn't think that way about the girl. You don't even know her, Mal, she told herself, scoffing at her interest in the blue-haired girl.

"I think you'll change your mind once you settle in," Ben urged, gesturing for her to get to her feet. "Unless, you want to be dealt with by my father."

This prick knows just where to hit to get his way. Chewing on the inside of her cheek angrily, she got to her feet and blew out a heavy breath as she over-dramatically – and disrespectfully, one might add – bowed to the boy. "After you, then, Your Majesty."

Once again, she got two completely different reactions from Ben and Ben's father. And, once again, Ben silenced his father's disapproval by leaving the room. Mal got the que and followed the boy out, glancing over her shoulder to smirk in triumph at the aged man; that's right, you've lost this battle, old man. Though she didn't particularly think she had won either. Ben had. Like I'm sure he's used to.

That would change soon if Mal had anything to say about it.

"So, you're not used to having a high ruler, are you?"

Ugh. He's trying to keep up the friendly conversation thing. Can I please just break his nose? The more logical part of her denied her own request.

"They're pointless," Mal responded dully, following behind the boy a few feet.

Not for long, however, because the messy-haired boy noticed their distance as he glanced over his shoulder, and he slowed to a stop until she was walking beside him. She stopped as well, looking up at him with a silent question in her slightly widened eyes; a silent challenge. He cleared his throat and continued to make his way to the stone building she knew to be the school.

"And what makes you say that?" Ben questioned, once again, chuckling at her answer.

She really wished he'd stop laughing as if they were friends. Okay, so maybe it's okay for him to laugh, but at everything I say? Really? Get over it, buddy. I'm not your friend.

"Oh, let's see, mainly… everything," Mal drew out the fourth word dramatically, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth for added affect. "Kings and Queens tend to ruin everything, you know, mess up the entire area they rule over."

Ben pushed open a door, holding it for her. "You don't think highly of me, do you?"

"What gave you that idea?" Mal asked sarcastically, brushing passed the boy while knocking her shoulder into him.

He laughed again, the action causing his eyes to thin. "Well, anyway, this is Auradon Prep High School," Ben started, following closely behind Mal; which she didn't like. "The Fairy Godmother's room is right up here, and after we've got you signed up for classes, I shall escort you to the dorm you will be staying in. There's currently a dorm with an open slot, so you will be sharing with someone, I hope you'll be alright with that."

"Yeah, you better hope," Mal rolled her eyes, knowing extremely well that she wouldn't be able to get along with anyone that attended this school. "It might be an empty hope, though."

Ben politely gestured her into a room. "I have another hunch."

"That I don't want to hear," Mal stated, blowing out a heavy breath as she entered the room reluctantly. "But I have a feeling you'll tell me anyway."

The boy only laughed again. "My new hunch is that you're not much of a people person."

"Wow, you really strayed far from the mark on that one," Mal let out a laugh, trying to cover up the fact that it was actually real; she couldn't help but laugh at that one, though. "You must have gotten your facts mixed up, or something, you couldn't possibly be talking about me. Me? Not a people person? That's insanity," of course, she said everything sarcastically.

Ben stared at her in wonder for a moment, an amused smile plastered on his face as he studied her. He looked up at someone as they approached. "Fairy Godmother! This is Mal. Mal, this is Fairy Godmother, she will be helping you figure out your classes."

"Helping? Or forcing?" Mal questioned, arching her eyebrow as she ran her eyes over the woman that had appeared before her; she already didn't like her.

"Helping," Fairy Godmother answered, her voice high and bubbly, making Mal internally cringe. "Forcing isn't practiced here in Auradon Prep."

"Tell that to the King," Mal breathed out quietly, tucking her hands in the back pockets of her leather pants.

The woman laughed awkwardly, as though she was attempting to buy time for Ben to take her from the room. "Well, what age are you, dear?"

"Seventeen," Mal answered disinterestedly.

"Birthday?"

"That's unimportant," Mal deadpanned.

The woman awkwardly laughed another time. "No, it isn't. See, we need to know the cut-off date in order to place you."

"July," Mal huffed, figuring it'd be easier to just go along with whatever the woman wanted, so she'd be out of there faster. "That's all you're getting."

"That's all I need to know in order to decide you'd be a senior," Fairy Godmother said, smiling over at Ben with widened eyes, a question set in them; goodness, where did you find this girl?

You have no idea, woman.

Mal stood there with the inside of her cheek clamped between her teeth and her hands stuffed in her back pockets, impatiently waiting as Fairy Godmother flipped slowly through the pages of a strangely structured book, the print on the papers making it clear that it wasn't a story-book. Must contain all the classes, she sighed over-dramatically; classes I won't be attending. Though – unusually – it wasn't because she wanted to be defiant. It was because she would be attending all of Evie's classes. That sounds so incredibly creepy. She already couldn't wait to get back to her normal lifestyle.

"Okay, so we don't have too many open classes for new enrollment, meaning you'll just have to settle for whatever is available," Fairy Godmother spoke up after minutes of near-silence, straightening up to look over at her.

Mal sighed, somehow I already knew I'd have to do this. She turned to Ben, giving him a faux-smile. "Can you please give us a minute, King Ben," she still couldn't find the ability to speak the title seriously.

Smiling brightly, Ben nodded his head, his hands still clasped against his lower abdomen. "Of course, I'll just step out for a brief moment. If there's any trouble, you know where to find me."

Mal returned the smile for as long as it took the boy to leave, then she shifted her attention back to the woman who remained inside the large room with her, noting that Fairy Godmother looked terrified to be left alone with the girl she had just met. Maybe she saw the magic I used on the guards. She shrugged it off and slowly advanced on the woman, well aware that the longer she took the more intimidated the woman became.

"So, about those classes, ma'am," Mal began, stopping when she was inches away from the short woman. "I'm going to need you to relook at those available classes."

"I'm sorry, dear, but we only have so many seats…"

"You're not hearing me correctly," Mal interrupted, locking the woman's gaze into her own as magic warmed her entire body and stretched toward Fairy Godmother. "You are going to recheck those available classes, and you will give me the exact same schedule as that girl named Evie. I don't know if she has a last name, but you know the one I'm talking about, I do believe."

She was hyper aware that being in the same classes as Evie was risky for the girl figuring out she existed, but after the two of them had brushed gazes she knew that ship had sailed; Evie knew she existed. She just didn't know anything about her, or who she was, and it would stay that way whether she had classes with the girl or not. If she was going to be forced to attend classes she figured it'd be best if she could follow Evie around the school and keep a closer eye on her throughout the day. Again, creepy as fuck. She tried to shake the thought from her mind, leaving it at; I'll just stick to the back, make sure I'm seated directly behind her, and hope she never looks back.

After only a brief moment of hesitated resistance, Fairy Godmother nodded before turning around and plucking a pen from the holder to begin inking words into the paper. Mal smiled in triumph as she watched the woman legibly scrawl course names in the order she would be forced to attend. Gross, advanced chemistry. I don't even know what that means, but it sounds terrible. She read over the woman's shoulder as she finished writing down all the classes; what kind of classes is this girl taking? There's definitely something very wrong with her.

Fairy Godmother straightened back up, smiling brightly as she held the piece of paper out in front of her. "Here you are, my dear. I hope you enjoy your short time at Auradon Prep. Go Fighting Knights!"

"Yeah," Mal drawled, snatching the paper from her hand. "No. There will be zero school spirit from me, you can count on that."

Fairy Godmother looked as though she were about to protest against what she had said, but instead she didn't get the time to do so before Mal locked her gaze into her own again.

"Shut up," Mal smiled forcibly, speaking with as friendly of a tone as she knew how to.

And she wasn't surprised when the woman reclosed her mouth as if her lips had been suddenly glued together. With a small sigh of relief from escaping the lecture about school spirit, Mal turned away from the woman and pushed through the doors where she knew she would find Ben. She didn't like him, but at least he was more tolerable than Fairy Godmother; and everybody was more tolerable than that first girl she had met, though she didn't remember the girl's name anymore.

"Everything good?" Ben asked once he saw her, his smile still perfectly in place.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Mal smiled innocently up at the boy, crumpling the paper in her hand and shoving it in the front pocket of her leather jacket. "Now what, pretty boy?"

Ben smiled even more at that, his gaze averting to the floor just in front of his own feet as he chuckled nervously. "Well, now I'm going to escort you to your dorm to meet your roommate."

"Ugh, right," Mal groaned externally, rolling her eyes at the reminder. "My roommate."

"I'm sure you'll change your mind once you meet her," Ben laughed amusedly, beginning the descent down the stairs they had come up earlier. "She's really sweet, you'll love her."

"I don't love anyone, buddy," Mal replied with a breath as they reached the doors that led outside; Ben holding them open for her, to which she merely rolled her eyes at as she passed by him. "But I guess I'll keep my mind open."

Well, that was the biggest lie I've ever told in my life, Mal thought, internally laughing at her own words. Oh, wait… she paused for a brief moment; I told Head he was good at what he did. Once again, she laughed at her thoughts. She may not be good with people, but she sure knew how to work her way around them when necessary.

"That's the spirit!" Ben exclaimed, falling in step beside her after closing the school doors. "I think once you settle in you'll find that you like it here."

"Oh, I doubt that," Mal breathed out heavily, not caring if he heard her or not; I will definitely never like it here.

It took Mal a while to realize that the path they were taking was familiar to her, and it took her even longer to figure out it was because they were headed to the same dorm she had slept in a tree outside of the night before. Evie's dorm. Is this the only dorm you have, big 'ol mighty King? She figured most of the people were royal and pompous in some way, placing them in the many castles spread out over the land. So who are the people who sleep in the dorms, then? The 'still royal but not royal enough to own a fancy castle' students? She shook her head at her own jokes, realizing she was having far too much fun making fun of everyone living in Auradon. She figured the building beside Evie's dorm that looked identical to the familiar stone building was another dorm, more housing.

"Have you ever attended a school before?" Ben questioned as he moved forward to open and hold the door for her; would you stop that? It's getting annoying.

"Not legally," Mal answered honestly, glancing over her shoulder to gauge his reaction; clearly he perceived it as a joke. "What's funny about that? Shouldn't you be threatening to take me in, or whatever it is you royals do here in Auradon."

"You weren't serious, were you?" Ben asked, seeming slightly baffled. "Though, with what I've learned about you in the short time I've had the pleasure of knowing you, I honestly wouldn't be surprised."

"Then why are you?" Mal questioned, wondering why the boy – being the King and all – wasn't judging her for anything she told him.

Ben shrugged, a light laugh escaping through his thin lips. "I just want to give you the benefit of the doubt, that's all."

"Well, stop," Mal growled lowly, her jaw clenched. "I don't know what you've been raised to think, but it's different with me. So. Stop."

Once again, Ben laughed awkwardly. "You know, sometimes you have to learn to get used to different customs when you move drastically."

Utterly tired of the boy's attempts, Mal sighed heavily in relief when Ben held out his hand, gesturing to a door that she assumed was their destination. Ugh, finally, I'm done with this major dork. Without thanking Ben, or even showing the slightest bit of appreciation for him saving her from his father, Mal burst through the door obnoxiously, delighted to be rid of the irking King; however, instead of being grateful for the door she could put between them, she found herself immediately wishing to turn back around and slam the door with her outside of the room. In result, she did neither of the two options. Instead, she stood there dumbfounded, her eyes locked on a certain brown pair she had never wanted to – and secretly wished to – see up close.