***Author's note: For anyone who skipped the previous chapter welcome back. ;) Just a quick summary of important things to take away/understand from Chap 21 is that the VKs have a very physical way of reassuring one another. In this case, Jay was showing Evie that no matter what Audrey says Evie will always be their princess and Mal was soothing Carlos's protective instincts. ***
"Almost done," Evie promised as she smoothed the back of Jay's vest. "There."
Beaming, she took a step back to look them over. It had taken time, but she'd been able to finish what she thought of as their signature Auradon outfits in time for the first day of classes. Each of them reflected their wearers and she fought to keep her smile from widening.
Jay's had been the simplest, but she made sure that it didn't look simple. The base of the vest was a deep red leather that could be passed off as brown in darker lighting. On top of the base, she'd added patches of yellow, blue, and a brighter shade of red leather to better define the shape and the way it wrapped around his body. Instead of having it close down the center of his chest, Evie had it closing along the left side of his chest which allowed her to add a thin extra layer across his torso beneath the main vest for hiding knives and anything he might deem useful. Her favorite part was the back, where she'd managed to create a cobra, coiled and ready to strike, out of leather scraps and stitched the more intricate details. She kept his pants loose and a complimentary shade of brown.
For Carlos, Evie designed a long-sleeved red shirt, several shades brighter than Jay's and closer to a ruby or fresh blood, of thin fabric that would keep him comfortable in the heat while still covering his arms. Unlike Jay, his pants were more complicated. She'd used black as the base and then had added white accents and details: a white pocket on his right, white stripes down the sides of his leg, a wide diagonal streak of white on his left thigh. The vest she made for him was black on the left and white on the right with a thin accent of red on the hem. His kept the traditional center closure, but his was designed more to be left open rather than closed. Loose around his body to allow him to stash and hide anything he stole or an extra dagger. On the back was his symbol, crossbones with the left half of the X white and the right half black, using red thread to add the small grooves on the bones to highlight the shape.
Mal's outfit had been the hardest one to make, but also the most fun. While her pants were a simple black, her shirt was a shade of purple labeled plum. The sleeves were long and loose around the arms and tight at the wrists, billowing a little when Mal walked. Remembering the necklines of the dresses they'd been given their first day, Evie kept it to just beneath Mal's collarbone, but she made the back low enough to expose half of Mal's upper back. Which exposed most of her tattoo of a green dragon and purple dragon facing each other in a way that almost made them look like they were supposed to be her wings; her symbol. Finally, Mal wore a decorative black and green corset over the shirt.
After she made theirs, she focused on her own. The skirt of her ocean blue dress fell to her knees, longer than she was used to for daily wear but still easy to move in if necessary. Her own sleeves were the opposite of Mal's, tighter along her upper arm and flaring out at her elbow. Just inside the sleeves she'd added red to create a flash of color as she moved her arms. Her own corset was the same dark blue as the evening sky. A crown, broken down the middle and wrapped around a heart, was outlined in gold and red on the left side.
"Good work, E," Mal nodded, running her hands over her sleeves, eyes a little wider than usual, lips forming a small O.
"These are…" Carlos stopped and just shook his head as he checked the hidden pockets in his vest again.
"Evie quality," Jay grinned. "Better than everything else."
Cheeks warming with pride, Evie smiled. "I'm glad you like them. I was worried I might have overdone it, but it was the first time I had the chance to do something more."
Mal's eyes narrowed, sparking green, before she rolled them and focused on her. "Well, I expect to see something overdone next time," she smirked.
Evie laughed. "Next time I'll make sure I do too much."
"Um, guys, shouldn't we go to breakfast? Class will start soon," Carlos pointed out and Evie couldn't contain the thrill of adrenaline. They were finally going to class, to experience school. A real professor was going to teach them. She could finally learn more about the world and everything in it.
"Uhg, fine," Mal groaned. "Let's get this over with."
Breakfast was a blur of people and nerves and excitement as they grabbed their food and found a table off to the side.
"Good morning," Ben called, weaving through the crowd to their table. Evie brightened, her smile widening as she waved. Mal suppressed a frown while Jay gave Ben a nod and Carlos managed a weak smile.
"Good morning!" she smiled as he finally reached them. "I was wondering if we'd get to see you today. Everything is so busy."
Ben laughed, a warm laugh that was nothing but friendly and genuine. At least, as far she could tell and she was definitely watching him, Carlos doing the same. "I wanted to make sure I got a chance to talk to you before classes," he told them. "To wish you luck and remind you that I'm available if you have any questions or something you're worried about. And if you can't find me, Doug and Lonnie are available as well."
"How about 'do we have to go to class'?" Mal muttered and Ben gave her a sympathetic smile.
"If we could get out of class that easy around here, we'd all be doing it," he said, an attempt to lighten their mood and Jay at least snorted a laugh. "But I know you'll survive. If Doug, Lonnie, and I have, then you definitely will."
Mal smirked. "You Auradon kids are soft," she commented and Ben just shrugged with a grin.
"By the way, Evie, you did an incredible job." He gestured towards them, gaze lingering on each of them for a moment. "All of you look amazing and you did all of it in only a week."
"Thank you," she blushed, her smile real as she met his gaze. "Maurice Hall is the best place I can imagine."
Someone shouted Ben's name from across the cafeteria and he turned to wave. "I need to head to class. Maybe I'll see you at dinner." With a grin, he left and Evie watched him, admiring the way he moved.
"We should go too," Mal said, tapping Evie's shoulder as she stood.
Wishing the others luck, Evie joined the flow of students going in the direction of her class. When she reached the door, she hesitated. Moving into an out of the way corner of the hall, Evie took her mirror from an inner pocket. No too large pores. No wrinkles. No smudges. Eyeliner symmetrical and neat. Mascara emphasizing her eyes without being distracting. Perfect. She looked perfect. She spent one more minute making sure her clothes were clean and there were no unflattering wrinkles.
Finally, she entered the classroom. There were desks a bit larger than the ones in their dorm and each one had a selection of thread carefully organized on them, a pincushion with a few spare needles, and embroidery hoops. It was perfect.
During the next four hours, she listened to the professor explain the purpose of the class, what they would learn and focus on, and the projects they would be working on throughout the semester. She also embroidered a small rose based on a sketch the professor passed out as a way to assess how far along their skill already was. None of the other girls in the class really registered beyond presences to monitor for movement and Evie allowed herself to get drawn into the work just a little. There were a few comments that she caught pieces of, something about her dress, and she allowed herself a small smile. People were noticing her designs!
When they were dismissed for lunch, Evie returned to their dorm to meet up with the others for lunch and then for Math which they all shared. As she slipped into the room, she could hear the boys in the bathroom rinsing off—they'd all fallen in love with the hot water and while being Auradon clean wasn't important, they took it as an excuse to enjoy the luxury—while Mal was sitting on the window seat glaring at the world.
"How was it?" Evie asked, joining her.
"It's Magic Basics for a reason," Mal muttered and Evie didn't press the matter. If she'd been forced to take the class, she'd want it to at least teach her something she didn't already know about magic. Not that she'd let on that she'd learned potions and memorized some of her mother's spells.
Once they'd gotten their food and found a table away from the other students, though a lot of eyes and whispers followed them, the boys were more than willing to make up for Mal's irritated silence.
"We get to work with all kinds of animals, including horses," Carlos beamed as he scratched behind Checkers's ear. "It's a lot of basics, but I only really know goats and chickens so the basics are perfect."
"Fighting here is so weird," Jay said. "They actually have names for specific moves. There's a lot of different moves too. Some of them look similar to what we did on the Isle, but a lot of it is done on purpose, planned. Oh, and Lonnie helps the professor teach. Apparently, her mother is some kind of soldier."
"That explains a lot," Carlos hummed and Evie nodded. "How was your class, Evie?"
"It was wonderful," she smiled. "I don't think it'll be a difficult class, but the professor knows what she's talking about and I think I'm going to learn some new techniques and tricks. Are you ready for Math?"
Jay and Mal grimaced, Jay muttering something about a waste of time. Carlos, on the other hand, nodded. The desire to learn as much as possible was something he shared with her. When she'd learned that on the Isle, she'd made sure he learned how to read and taught him what math her mother had deemed important. Now that they had a chance to actually explore the world and what was in it, she knew he was as desperate as she was to get started.
"Gods, you two are weird," Mal sighed.
"See if we'll ever help you with class," Carlos retorted with a smirk, ducking the half-hearted attempt to smack his head.
"Smartass," Mal muttered.
"At least you know I'm smart."
As Mal grabbed for him and he slipped out of reach, Evie giggled. If they were on the Isle, Mal would be wrestling him to the ground and while they were more subdued in Auradon, she was relieved to know nothing had changed.
Math proved to be fascinating and yet still a little dull. She already knew basic addition and subtraction and how to apply it to double digit numbers. But reviewing the fundamentals was always a good idea. More importantly, this was where she wanted to be. While the tests they'd been given before weren't easy, she understood them much better than the others. If she'd actually answered all of the questions she'd understood and figured out she would've been separated from the others. This way they kept their strength in numbers and she could help explain things whenever they got frustrated or stuck.
While most of her mother's lessons centered on poise, makeup, how to entertain and how to pleasure, she did give lessons in math and reading. Ensuring Evie could correctly calculate and measure was essential for potion making and she had to be able to read the spellbooks containing all the necessary lists and measurements. Before Maleficent decided Mal was a waste of effort, she'd given her similar lessons that Mal passed along to Jay. Evie had taught Carlos how to read when he'd shown an interest and helped him with math; he had very basic knowledge from having to use the "budget" Cruella insisted he stick to whenever she sent him on errands.
"Evie. Perhaps this is just review for you, but I would appreciate it if you paid attention rather than stare into the distance," Professor Warner said, snapping her back to the room.
"Of course, professor," she nodded with a sweet smile even as she silently scolded herself for letting her expression slip enough to get caught.
"Why don't you come up here and try this equation for me?" The slight wrinkling of his nose and curl of his lip were poorly hidden signs of disgust.
He was challenging her. Deeming her unworthy. Like a lowly pirate thinking he was better than her and she wasn't worth the time. A glance at the chalkboard only added to the flicker of anger. It was a simple problem. Ten plus seven. It was a problem any of her pack could answer.
"Of course," she smiled, gliding from her seat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jay smirk and Mal's lips twitch. Carlos fidgeted, watching her closely. Selecting a piece of chalk, Evie said, "The equation is the addition of seven to ten. To add them together you go one column of numbers at a time." With a flick of her wrist, she drew a line between the one and the zero, separating them and putting the zero in the same column as the seven. "You then combine the numbers in each column. Seven added to zero stays seven." She wrote a seven beneath the equation. "There is no number in front of the seven so the space can be read as a zero." She wrote a zero beneath the one. "Therefore, this column is one added to zero which will equal one." As she wrote the one, she continued, "When put all together, the final answer, Professor Warner, is seventeen."
"Yes, well. I seem to have forgotten that one should never underestimate-"
"A villain," Evie finished for him, giving him another sweet smile. "It's alright, professor. It shouldn't happen again and I will be sure to pay better attention."