Chapter 9

Time passed with Mal not believing how fast it went by or how fast her baby was turning into a little girl.

As previously planned, Mal would miss nearly three hours worth of classes to look after her baby girl, giving her father time for himself or if he needed to run a personal errand. Jay would occasionally skip Dr. Facilier's class, but not too often so suspicion wouldn't arise. Surprisingly, no one questioned their disappearances, especially Mal's. However, that may have to do with the fairy asking for some 'fresh air' when she returned to school since she was still feeling under the weather due to her 'strange illness'.

Mal also couldn't believe how easy it was to care for her daughter. Mallory always woke at appropriate timed in the morning, only cried when she wanted someone to hold her—which was one to two times a day—and always ate her baby food with no fuss. The only trouble had been Mallory's habit of tugging on her mother's hair, so Mal had to cut it to chin level.

It was as though the Fates awarded Mal with an angel for making the decision to keep her child, and she couldn't be more grateful.

Of course, Mal couldn't have a big celebration for her daughter's first birthday, which was also her sixteenth birthday. Even if Mal wanted to do something, she couldn't due to her mother, Maleficent.

You see, about a week prior, Mal had accidentally bumped into her mother while skipping her lunch period. The elder fairy 'requested' Mal be seen with her for a couple hours on her birthday so no one would think Mal was staying elsewhere.

A 'couple hours' turned into seven.

Although she was extremely irritated for the extended time, Mal felt just a tiny bit relieved that the 'bonding time' didn't involve her mother asking why her father was so keen on having her stay with him. The day was nearly gone when Mal finally returned to her home in the cave, which made her annoyance mold into unchecked rage.

But seeing the way her daughter lit up at her appearance made all of Mal's anger melt away like snow in the summertime.

After all, Mallory was the greatest gift Mal could ever ask for.

A few days later, Mal had finished getting ready for school and proceeded to change her daughter's diaper before dressing her. Then they walked into the living room to eat. Since they didn't have any kind of high-chair for the kitchen table, Mal opted to feed her baby girl on the floor, having no fear that Mallory would make a mess. Meanwhile, Hades was cooking his breakfast in the kitchen and something small for Mal, as per the usual routine.

Once both the mother and daughter had only a little bit of food left, Jay arrived unannounced and turned on the television set to the Auradon News Network—since he still firmly believed there would be some kind of big announcement in the near future. Mallory had just finished swallowing a bite of food when she perked up at something on the screen. "Dada!"

The three 'adults'—technically two teenagers and a god—whipped their heads to the toddler, surprised that her first word was such. When Mal gazed at the same screen, her whole body tensed up in recognition. On the news was none other than Prince Ben, who would in a couple months become 'king'—

And the mystery prince-king from her dream.

"No, Lory," Mal denied softly, careful to hide her tenseness. "He's not your daddy."

Either the one-year-old didn't understand or she didn't care. Mallory easily stood on her chubby feet and toddled to the television set, surprising the trio of her first steps too. "Dada!" she repeated while touching the screen, specifically where the prince was shown.

"We better go," Mal abruptly announced while cleaning up. While shouldering her bag, she swiftly turned off the electronic and scooped her daughter in her arms. "Bye, Mallory."

Kissing her daughter's cheek until she started giggling, Mal gave her over to her father before rushing out of the cave, Jay following her in confusion.

Before they could leave from the above ground entrance, Jay forced his friend to stop, interrogating, "What was that about? Why did you freak out back there?"

Knowing she couldn't avoid it, Mal admitted with a grumble, "A couple months before I gave birth to Mallory, I had a dream about a king that Mallory took a fondness to."

"So?"

"That king was Prince Ben," Mal revealed, like her friend should have come to that conclusion himself. "In the dream, Lory called him 'daddy' before jumping into his arms without a care in the world."

"That may be a good sign!" Jay reassured hopefully. "Maybe that means—"

"It means nothing," Mal argued forcefully. "We aren't going to Auradon, not together. After Lory was born, I had another dream that I would have to leave her behind."

"That won't happen," Jay promised quickly.

"You're right," Mal agreed with a sigh. "Because we are never going to Auradon."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Arriving to school nearly half an hour later, the duo heard many of their fellow classmates whisper and gossip about a new student. Some claimed it was a princess who has been castle-schooled most of her life. Mal had small suspicion on who the 'princess' could be, since the only other royal on the island was a queen that was banished ten years ago because Mal wasn't invited to the daughter's birthday party.

Honestly, Mal couldn't care less about that incident since it was so long ago. Her priorities had changed completely since that day.

Besides, Mal was more concerned about her first hour class, which was with the always tardy Mother Gothel. Since the beginning of the school year, the beauty-obsessed teacher has been showing up to class later and later 'til nearly half the learning period is gone. Due to that, Mal has really considered skipping the class altogether, which meant she would arrive to school a couple hours later than anyone else. Maybe if she talked to the headmaster, her father would allow her to do so. . .

Suddenly, Mal abruptly stopped outside the classroom when she saw something inside the room. "There's someone in my seat."

Slightly curious, Jay peaked inside to see an unfamiliar girl with blue hair sitting at a larger cauldron at the front of the classroom. "Must be the new student," he assumed before raising a curious eyebrow at Mal. "Are you going to cause a scene?"

"That would be too childish for someone who has a child," Mal remarked under her breath so no one else could hear her. "I'll just tell her it's my seat and we can switch on a different day. I don't need any kind of trouble."

Inhaling a breath to muster up her courage, Mal walked inside with Jay trailing behind her. The blue-haired girl was gazing down when the fairy stood in front of the to-be-disputed desk. After a moment, Mal cleared her throat to get the new-girl's attention.

Timidly, the princess raised her gaze, revealing her pretty brown eyes. Mal had to admit, the girl was gorgeous, and she could clearly tell by the way she tensed up that she was nervous and knew who the fairy was. "Hi," the teenager greeted. "I'm Evie."

"Mal," the purple-haired girl introduced before nodding at her. "You're in my seat."

"I'm so sorry!" Evie apologized with a bright smile that clearly showed her discomfort. "I had no idea it was your desk."

"Innocent mistake," Mal agreed calmly in a way to ease the princess's trouble. "In fact, I'll let you have it tomorrow. Today hasn't been going well for me and I would appreciate some familiarity to help me get through it. Sound good to you?"

Instead of waiting for a response, Mal tossed her backpack into the cauldron. Getting the message, Evie reluctantly collected her belongings and found an empty cauldron in the back of the classroom. With a slight huff, Mal rested her head on her hand in exasperation, knowing it was going to be a very long and eventful day.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After Mother Gothel's class, Mal didn't bother going to Lady Tremaine's, since the old woman knew where she would be. Spending nearly an hour on trying to get her daughter to say another world, Mal rushed back to school just in enough time to catch up with Jay—

And to catch Ginny Gothel and the Gaston twins harass Carlos—the nerdy son of Cruella de Vil—who was standing with new girl Evie. So those two became friends . . . Mal was not expecting that something like that would occur.

Waiting until the trio of misfits left the strange friendship duo alone, Mal approached with Jay loyally at her side. "Carlos," she greeted with a nod, though the boy flinched about her arrival. "What was that about?"

"Ginny and the twins are wanting me to host a party for them tonight," Carlos informed with slight nervousness in his voice. "I think they're planning something for the project in Tremaine's class."

Mal rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Carlos, you shouldn't let them bully you like that," she scolded motherly. "You need to stand up for yourself, or at least have Jay or I help you when we're around."

"Will you come to the party tonight then?" Carlos requested hopefully. "I know I'd feel better about having it if both of you were there."

Jay gave a sideways glance to Mal, who seemed to hesitate at the idea of attending a social event. "I don't like parties," she reminded evasively, "or crowded gatherings."

"Is it because of me?" Evie questioned softly. "Because my mother—"

"I promise you, I don't care about that," Mal insisted with a shrug. "It was just a party when we were kids; I'm over it. There . . . was another incident a couple years ago that made me hate parties. I actually want to be your friend and let the squabble between our mothers stay between them."

"Then come to the party tonight," Evie implored with a small smile. "Gives us a chance to hang out as friends."

"I'll think about it," Mal assured before quickly walking off with the thief following behind her—

Not realizing that their life on the Isle was going to get a lot more interesting.