(Evie)
Cheerful chatter surrounded Evie from every direction, the crowd thicker than usual given the fact that it was Saturday, the weekend being the time the majority of people did their shopping; as did Evie. Her eyes scanned the seemingly endless rows of fabric, the sight of all the sewing material curving her lips into a smile. I could do so much with all of this. Unfortunately, she knew she could never spend that large of an amount of money on only sewing, which limited her severely. Typically, her gaze was drawn to the blue-dyed fabrics – and occasionally the colors Carlos and Jay preferred – however, this time she found herself sending several glances in the direction of a new color. Walking over to the table that kept stealing her attention she ran her fingertips over the dark-purple of the fabric, the smooth silk sliding beautifully underneath her touch.
And that's when a brilliant idea crept into her mind.
Not silk, though. Not a chance. An even brighter smile now gracing her features she moved down the table until she located the leather; that's more like it. Brushing her fingertips over each individual leather presented in front of her she wondered which one would work the best, trying her best to conjure an image in her mind of what the item had looked like originally. Once she finally managed to create the image with perfect clarity she knew exactly what fabrics and materials she would need to recreate the jacket.
How much will I need? She asked herself, tapping her fingers on the surface of the display table as she recalled the size of the girl. Not a large amount. Reaching down she grabbed the amount of dark-purple leather she estimated she would need, hooking it over her arm as she moved around the table and head toward the pink fabrics, determined to perfectly recreate the girl's jacket. After grabbing a smaller amount of pink leather she shifted to another table and grabbed a roll of green as well, remembering that one of the sleeves had green thrown into the mix of colors. Glancing around she debated what else she would need but found that it resulted in nothing. She had plenty of zippers stored in her room, and – from what she could recall – there was nothing special added to the jacket, just simply three mixed colors of leather and a diagonal zipper. Got it!
"What's with the colors?"
Evie started, turning around to find Lonnie, her eyes showing her curiosity as she scanned the fabric draped over her arm. She had almost forgotten she had shopping buddies, and sure enough, when she glanced over Lonnie's shoulder she found both Carlos and Jane as well, Dude sitting between them. However, there was recognition in Carlos' brown eyes while the two girls remained oblivious to the color choices.
"Oh… these?" Evie questioned, raising her arm the slightest bit to emphasize the various leathers. "They're for my roommate. I mean… I'm making something for my roommate."
"Those are Mal's favorite colors?" Lonnie asked, reaching forward to drag her fingers over the fabric. "And she likes leather, I'm taking it."
"Yeah," Evie laughed lightly, thinking of everything Mal had brought to Auradon, every article of her clothing being made of leather. "She definitely has a strong liking of leather."
"So you're going to surprise her with something when she wakes?" Jane asked, bringing to mind what none of them wanted to remember; that Mal was still in a coma.
"Um… yeah," Evie answered, her demeanor a lot less spirited at the mention of Mal's current state. "She… her jacket got ruined during the first accident, and I'm pretty sure it's her favorite one, so I just wanted to make another so she could still have it, in a way."
"That's honestly the sweetest thing I've ever heard," Lonnie smiled brightly at her, a soft sigh leaving her lips. "I wish Chad would do something that sweet."
Cheeks heating, Evie averted her gaze, suddenly becoming extremely interested in the ground beneath her feet. Is doing this really that sweet? She didn't want to scare Mal away.
"Like Chad would ever do anything even slightly romantic," Jane laughed at the idea, and Evie couldn't blame her.
"He can be…" Lonnie trailed off, clearly not even seeing where she was headed. "You're right. He mostly likes talking about tourney and complaining about school."
"Sounds about right," Evie noted, shrugging her shoulders lightly.
"Oh my…" Lonnie gasped, bringing her hand to grip Evie's shoulder. "I forgot to tell you about our date yesterday!"
"Well, you texted…"
"That was barely anything," Lonnie dismissed, expression brightening with joy as she brought her other hand up so that she was gripping both of Evie's shoulders tightly before bringing their bodies together in an embrace. "I have to tell you everything that's going on between Chad and I."
Carlos snorted. "Tell me why I came shopping with three girls again?"
"Because you love me," Evie replied without a single moment of hesitation, meeting his gaze over Lonnie's shoulder. "And I asked you to come."
"Right," Carlos chuckled awkwardly, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. "I need to learn how to say no to you."
"Come on, you're enjoying yourself," Lonnie said, reaching over to lightly shove the small boy. "You're just afraid to admit it because Jay would never let you live it down."
"If you say so," Carlos shrugged, trying his best to seem unamused, but Evie could see straight through him; he enjoyed their company.
Lonnie stared at him for a moment longer in disbelief before turning back to Evie. "Anyway, about the date..."
"I'm sorry," Evie interrupted, well aware of how long this might take. "But can I pay for these first?"
"I'll allow that," Lonnie nodded, letting go of her. "But don't think you're getting out of anything because we're going to have a nice discussion about this."
Shaking her head, Evie walked away from her friend and up to the owner of the outside shop to pay, curious as to what the girl could have possibly left out of her novel-length text message. On one hand, she wanted to gain further details about the date her friend had enjoyed so much, but on the other hand, she felt she already knew everything important.
As she watched the owner enter the charge for each one of her items the mix of colors had her mind switching directions, and she once again couldn't stop herself from getting lost in her own thoughts of Mal. She thought of the way Mal called her Princess, saying it with zero disgust – unlike the way she spat Ben's royal status; she thought of the way those bright-green eyes often stare so intently into the red-brown of hers; she thought of the way Mal touched her so gently, almost as if she were afraid of how she would react to the contact. But the thing she couldn't help but think about the most was – despite however the girl was acting toward her in the moment – the way Mal always came running when she was in pain, or when something seemed off about her. The time she had experienced an unbearable amount of pain in AP Chemistry; Mal had come to her side in worry. The time she had nearly fainted in the infirmary; Mal had touched her so gently as if afraid she was about to break. And even when she had uncharacteristically left her on the infirmary floor Mal had still come running after her. She just couldn't ignore any of those. She just wished she knew how Mal had felt about the moment they had shared in the infirmary when she was bandaging the girl's wounds, the girl's behavior directly afterward making Evie believe she had crossed a line, but the change of behavior when they had woken later that day making her believe the exact opposite. It was all too confusing the majority of the time, and she craved the girl's company, her snarky remarks and contrasting gentle caresses. She wanted Mal to be okay, for both selfish and selfless reasons.
Oh my goodness, I can't believe I got there from simply seeing the colors she wears.
After paying for the slightly expensive material she hooked her fingers in the handles of the bag the owner gave her to store her purchases, making her way back over to her friends, prepared for the rest of the day to be about discussing Lonnie and Chad.
"Okay," Lonnie started as soon as they started walking again, looping her arm through both Evie's and Jane's. "So you already know most of the details about the date, at least all the basic stuff."
Evie reached over to grab Carlos' free hand, not wanting him to feel left out by having to follow behind instead of walking beside them. A smile crept onto her face when she recognized the expression etched into the boy's features; poor boy got tied into girl-talk. She promised herself she'd make it up to the younger boy once they were finally freed.
However, it didn't seem as though that would happen. Lonnie's detailed explanation of her most recent date with Chad seemed to be never ending, and whenever Evie believed the girl to be finished due to a lengthy pause there was always more; it felt like she was merely creating a day-long date in her mind on the spot. Even Evie was getting a little tired of listening, but she would never show that, and she would definitely never interrupt one of her friends, especially not when they seemed so excited about whatever they were harping on about. She was glad that everything was going well between her best friend and her boyfriend.
"… and then he kissed me sweetly before taking me home," Lonnie brought the story to an end, much to everyone's surprise. "He's honestly so sweet, I don't understand where he was hiding all of this behavior before."
"You mean when he was being an ass?" Carlos asked, and Evie couldn't stop the laugh from escaping her at the blunt comment.
"Yeah, around then," Lonnie replied, seeming completely unfazed by Carlos' jab at Chad.
Jane sighed dramatically, getting all of their attention. "I wish a boy would do those things for me."
"You'll find that boy someday," Evie reassured the shortest girl, well aware of where she was headed. "But you don't need a boy to be happy."
"That's easy for you to say," Jane retorted, ignoring Evie's attempt to make her feel better about her lack of a boyfriend. "You like girls."
"That doesn't change anything," Evie stated, slightly offended. "I don't need a girlfriend to be happy. And you don't need a boyfriend to be happy."
"It'd be nice to have one for once," Jane sighed again.
"Yeah," Evie said quietly, her mind immediately straying to the thought of her roommate. "It would be nice to have someone, wouldn't it?"
"I think that if you don't have a crush on anyone then you shouldn't dwell on it," Carlos shrugged, joining the conversation and earning himself an arched eyebrow from Lonnie. "If you do like someone, yeah, it would be nice if they returned those feelings, but if you don't, why spend your time wishing you had someone when you technically don't even want anyone at that time."
Evie seemed to be the only one not surprised by Carlos' input on the conversation, and honestly, she couldn't have said it better herself, especially when it came to Jane. The girl always complained about no one finding interest in her romantically, but she herself had never been interested in anyone in particular either; Evie guessed she was just in love with the idea of having someone.
"And you said you weren't enjoying our company," Lonnie teased, reaching around Evie's shoulders to playfully ruffle the boy's hair.
Carlos shrugged. "I just wanted to end that conversation."
Not finding offense in the boy's words, Lonnie turned to Jane to continue reassuring the small girl that she would eventually find a boy that was well worth the wait. Noticing the way Carlos gently rubbed his stomach, Evie leaned closer to the boy.
"Are you hungry?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah," Carlos nodded, a laugh escaping his lips. "Incredibly hungry."
She smiled down at the boy before turning toward the other two, deciding to take advantage of the fact Lonnie was currently finished discussing Chad, well aware that – if given long enough – she would start up again. "Hey, we're going to grab something to eat, we'll catch up with you in a bit."
After receiving nods of acknowledgement from both girls she slid her arm from Lonnie's, keeping Carlos' hand in hers as they broke away from the other two and head in the direction of the outdoor restaurants. They walked for a few more minutes, Dude running beside Carlos' feet, before either of them broke the spreading comfortable silence between them.
"Where do you want to eat?" Carlos asked, eyes scanning the multiple options presented before them.
"I'm not that hungry, so you can choose whatever you want," Evie stated, knowing the boy would keep his desires to himself if he knew someone else was getting something as well.
Seemingly knowing better than to argue Carlos pulled her in the direction of the restaurant of his choice, and she followed the tug on her arm until they were in line where he released her hand. He reached down to scratch Dude's head before meeting Evie's gaze.
"Can you hold his leash while I get my food?" He questioned, holding the end of Dude's leash in front of him.
Evie reached forward to take the leash from him, a warm smile present. "Of course. Do you need any money?"
"No," Carlos quickly denied the offer; paying for him was something she often did, and each time she could tell he felt guilty about it despite her telling him not to. "I've got some money with me, but thanks."
She watched the boy move further in the line, staying where she was since she wasn't getting anything. Leaning down, she lifted Dude into her arms, holding him in a way that allowed her to scratch underneath his chin, feeling – in that moment – the best she had in the last five days.
That's when it happened.
A continuous pulse of heat started suddenly, thumping against her chest and quickening her heartbeat. No, no, no. Not this again. She glanced down at the necklace resting against the middle of her chest, tears immediately threatening to fill her eyes when she noticed the unusual glow shining from the red heart. The necklace hadn't caused a single issue since the night Mal had dropped unconscious, remaining perfectly still and silent, and she had nearly believed it to be just the same as every other necklace in the world; but of course that couldn't last. The rhythm of its beat was panicked, making her feel nauseous as she craned her neck to look over her shoulder, an invisible force urging her to. What are you doing? What are you trying to tell me? Just as she asked that question her gaze landed on something highly unsettling, and her stomach twisted in fear.
Looking utterly out of place, four overly large men clad in dark clothing had their eyes locked on her, their eyebrows furrowed in what looked like furious contemplation. Though she was terrified by the sight of the men contrasting with the rest of the crowd she knew she was safe; no one is idiotic enough to try anything in this large of a crowd. She wasn't even positive they would do anything, but the logical part of her brain and the rapid pulsing of her necklace warned her that there was something off about them, something creepy, something dangerous. Not daring to take the intimidating men from her sight she kept her gaze directed their way, trying her best to make it seem as though she wasn't watching them the way they were obviously watching her. Calm down, Evie. Why would they be staring at you? They're probably looking at the shops behind you. Despite her own attempt to reassure herself she couldn't get the idea from her mind that they were debating the simplest way to get to her without anyone noticing.
She was so worried about the strange men that she hadn't noticed Carlos' return. "Do you think Mal's going to wake up?"
Evie started, tearing her gaze from the burly men and shifting her attention to the boy standing beside her, a basket of food held in both his hands. When she threw a quick glance back over her shoulder she couldn't find them; they had disappeared. Or was I imagining things?
"Evie?"
"Hm?" Evie hummed, forcing her gaze away from the area she had seen the men. She met Carlos' gaze, her heart immediately sinking into her stomach at the worry present in the boy's brown eyes.
"I was just…" he trailed off, pain evident in his large puppy-dog eyes. "People have been talking and I just… do you think Mal's going to wake up at all?"
The sight of the boy's emotions running unrestrained through his eyes paired with the thought of Mal had her chest tightening painfully. She hadn't ever really recognized the possibility that Mal would never wake from the coma, her mind constantly looking to the brighter future, to the idea of the girl waking and giving her the chance to make amends for everything she had done to her. She had been worried about when she would wake, not if. Now, she couldn't get the thought out of her head. No, she told herself, wanting to remain blissfully ignorant about this; she's going to wake. She's going to be fine. She's not dead, she can't be.
And so she nodded. "Yes, I think she's going to be fine, she just needs some time to recover."
As she gave Carlos her response the flash of hope brightening his eyes didn't slip her notice, and she couldn't help but feel guilty now that she worried herself. What if she doesn't wake? What if I killed her? She would never be able to forgive herself for bringing that fate on someone else, especially someone who didn't even come close to deserving it.
When she remembered all of what Carlos had said she couldn't stop herself from asking; "Who's saying she won't wake up?"
Carlos seemed to become uncomfortable, kicking the stone beneath his feet as he continued eating his food. But Evie wasn't ready to let it drop.
"Carlos," she spoke softly, not wanting the boy to mistake her worry for anger. "Who doesn't think Mal will wake?"
"Mostly Jay and Audrey," Carlos answered, still seeming the slightest bit uncomfortable as he continued. "But Belle was starting to consider the possibility as well."
"She's considering it? Or she believes it?" They were two completely different things, and Evie needed to know which one.
"Considering," Carlos confirmed, the pain settling back into his features with perfect clarity. "I went by to see her this morning before meeting up with you girls, and I overheard Belle telling Ben that we might have to start preparing for the worst," he paused, building enough strength to say the next part. "She said that most people who go into comas never come back out."
"They're just worrying too soon," Evie said, trying to convince herself as well as Carlos. "I'm sure she'll wake up soon, I mean… she's still breathing," she was searching for scraps; and she may not be an expert on health conditions, but she was sure it meant something. "She's going to live, Carlos."
"I hope so," Carlos spoke quietly.
Finally, the worry started fading from her body, instead being replaced by curiosity. Though she definitely loved that Carlos cared about Mal, she started wondering why he cared to the extent he did. She was well aware that he was just a caring soul, but this felt different to Evie, it felt as though there was a connection between Carlos and her new roommate, one she clearly didn't know about. All she could conclude on her own was that he must have spoken with her after the first accident, and that they had somehow quickly become friends; though she didn't understand that considering how difficult Mal often proved to be. She decided she had to ask him.
"Hey, Carlos?" She started, watching the boy's reaction closely as he lifted his gaze from his nearly empty food basket. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you meet Mal?"
"No, it's fine, um… well, I first spoke with her that day I told you someone was asking about you," Carlos explained, not seeming the slightest bit reluctant toward talking about Mal. "Remember? I invited her to eat with us but she declined. But the first time she actually seemed interested in me was when I found her injured. She told me to leave her alone, but I couldn't," his gaze averted to his food again at that, but he continued. "I was there when she woke up again. Belle was still taking the wood from her skin and needed me to distract her."
Evie wasn't surprised that the girl had told Carlos to leave her alone, the seemingly stubborn nature of the girl shining brighter than any other behavior she had exhibited, but she was surprised to hear more about what had happened to the girl. Taking the wood from her skin? She still wondered what had happened that day, Mal having divulged little detail about the accident except that it wasn't actually an accident, which only further confused her.
"And you two hit it off really well?" Evie asked, her voice quieter than she had intended it to be, making her seem almost timid asking Carlos questions about Mal.
"Well, I wouldn't say really well," Carlos laughed lightly, his eyes dancing with amusement at the memory; the first sign of joy she had seen in him since they had split from the others to get him some food. "Like I said, at first she told me to leave her alone. And her eyes seemed to glow with anger, which I thought was strange, and intimidating, to be completely honest," his eyebrows drew together in slight confusion at this. "But after she had woken up and Belle was working on her she seemed different, almost thankful that I was there."
That's exactly what happened when I went to see her. Evie thought, recalling the way Mal had been annoyed by her appearance at first, but then seemed to gradually grow more grateful that she had arrived when she had. She's reluctant to let anyone care for her, she noted; she doesn't want us to care for her, or help her. Why is she so closed off? Again, she found herself wanting to be the first one to break through, to be the one Mal trusted the most. She pushed all those feelings to the side for now, knowing she should return to the conversation instead of remaining stuck in her own little world of thoughts and wishes.
"I don't think she's used to having anyone around for her," Evie said honestly, not completely sure she should be talking about the girl in this way; still, she couldn't help herself, she wanted to get these thoughts out of her head. "She doesn't want us caring for her."
"Do you think it's something that happened to her in the past?" Carlos asked, seeming just as eager as her to discuss this topic. "Because when I was sitting with her Belle asked her about why her mother would just let her get a tattoo when she was only fifteen, and she said she doesn't have a mother," as he spoke Evie noticed a glint entering his eyes, something like realization. "She also said that someone who called himself her father beat her close to death once."
Evie's chest tightened at the new information, and she felt acid threatening to burn through her throat in an attempt to meet the concrete at her feet. Forcing herself to breathe deeply to keep her breakfast from reappearing she closed her eyes, trying not to let an image form in her mind. She's faced death before, and now she may be facing it again. She wished she knew where her roommate had grown up, wondering if things like that occurred more often there, wondering if being nearly beaten to death was normal to the girl. The idea sickened her, but she couldn't push it from the front of her mind. Several questions she had already craved the answer to bombarded her mind again, and she was only a centimeter closer to getting the answers to them. What happened to you, Mal? Who hurt you in the past? It was obvious that the girl had struggled deeply before coming to Auradon, and Evie now found herself wondering how she had gotten here. When did she decide to leave the place she was raised? Why did she decide to come to Auradon? She wished she knew more, and continuously finding herself at a standstill frustrated her. She needed to know more about Mal, and she desperately craved to be the one to heal the wounds of the girl's past, and she knew that the first step to doing so was exactly what she had already been trying to do; show the girl that it wasn't a hopeless dream wishing for people to care about her. She cared about her, and so did Carlos, she just wished that when the girl woke up she would finally be able to see that.
"Should we get back to the others?" Evie asked, still feeling as though they shouldn't be openly discussing the possibilities of Mal's past when the girl was currently in a coma.
Carlos nodded, finishing the final bite of his food. "Yeah, probably. But I'm not dealing with anymore Chad talk, okay?"
"I don't blame you," Evie laughed, setting Dude back onto the ground and offering her hand to Carlos again.
He took it without hesitation, and together they made their way to the shop they knew Lonnie and Jane would be at. However, before they could even walk a few yards a sudden pain shot through Evie's chest, the excessive amount of it causing her to abruptly stop, the pull on Carlos' arm getting his attention.
"What's wrong?" Carlos asked casually, panic flashing through his eyes the second they locked on Evie. "Oh my god, Evie. Are you okay?"
Through the pain, Evie nodded, knowing Carlos would know she was lying but doing it anyway. She couldn't explain what was happening, so she didn't try, especially not when she recognized the feeling. It's exactly like what happened in Chemistry on Monday. The necklace shot a panicked pulse into her chest, making her heart feel as though it was centered in a globe of electricity, a cage it couldn't escape from. Like before, she felt an urge telling her to look in a certain direction and she didn't fight it, somehow knowing what she would find as her legs collapsed underneath her, dropping her to her knees before her friend.
And just like she had expected, the four men were standing where the invisible force was guiding her, staring angrily at her like they had been the first time, not even pretending they weren't watching her. What do you want from me? She wanted to shout it through the chatter of the crowd, the chatter that now seemed too loud, creating a ringing in her ears as the pain dug its claws deeper into her heart. And suddenly, there was only one word she could properly think; magic. The heat; the pulse; the warnings; the pain; the forced switch in her opinion of Mal; it was all coming from the necklace, an object that shouldn't do more than look presentable and change temperatures based on the weather outside. The necklace is magic. She had already contemplated the idea before, but had turned it down because of the facts that contradicted the possibility; now, she had no doubt.
It was warning her; but against what? It was controlling her; but what for? She had no idea what kind of game her mother had been playing saying it was nothing more than a casual necklace, and now, she felt as though she had been tricked into wearing a magical necklace that would cause her pain; but something about that feeling wasn't right. No one else can feel the necklace. And she thought, maybe her mother couldn't either. Maybe it was all just in her head, maybe the necklace hadn't done any of the things she believed it had, and instead it was just her own feelings causing all this; but that didn't feel right either. Use your own powers to control the necklace. Her heart suddenly began racing in hope; Mal. Mal knew the necklace had been controlling her, therefore she had to know the necklace possessed magic, and though she didn't understand how she could know she wasn't going to question it. The simple fact was; Mal was the only other one who knew the necklace was something more than everyday jewelry.
She could barely feel Carlos' hands grasping her arms; could barely feel the way he shook her in attempt to drag her back to him; could barely hear his panicked voice reaching out to her. She was lost to the real world, utterly unaware of what was happening around her, the only thing available to her being the feeling of the magic coursing through her body.