Descendants Junior Novel (9 page)

Ben looked at Mal intently. “And you still tried to save me.”

She scoffed. “Yeah. And do you thank me? No! All I get is soaking wet!” she said.

“And, uh, this fancy rock,” said Ben. He offered her a crystal he’d brought up from the bottom of the lake. “It’s yours. Make a wish and throw it back in the
lake.”

Mal chucked it into the lake, growling, then stood and walked over to sit on the picnic blanket. Ben followed her. He threw his letter jacket over her shoulders and sat next to her.

He touched her wet hair and held her gaze seriously.

“Uh, Mal,” he said, “when I told you that I loved you…What about you? Do you love me?”

Mal stared long and hard at him, then looked away.

“I don’t know what love feels like.” Mal sighed.

Ben gently turned her head so she faced him. “Maybe I can teach you,” he said.

Mal’s heart melted a little.
Maybe he can
, she thought.

I
’M RETHINKING THIS WHOLE STEALING-THE-WAND THING.

DOES BEN ACTUALLY LOVE ME? LIKE, FOR REAL? GAH!

In a classroom, Fairy Godmother strolled up to Mal and her three friends.

“Children,” she said, “excuse me, um, as you know, this Sunday is Family Day here at Auradon Prep. And because your parents can’t come, due
to…uh…distance…we’ve arranged for a special treat.” She walked over to a TV monitor on a cart and clicked a keyboard. A grotesque shot of Maleficent filled the
entire screen.

“I don’t see anything,” said Maleficent, backing up to reveal Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella gathered around her. “Nor do I hear…” she said.

Fairy Godmother beckoned Mal and her friends to the TV.

They obeyed reluctantly, with Carlos carrying Dude, who was dressed in a jacket.

“Is this thing on?” asked Maleficent. “It’s broken!” She clicked away at a remote and threw it down. “I hate electronics.”

“Evie!” shouted Evil Queen, watching as an image appeared on their dinky laptop. “It’s Mommy!”

Evie waved at the TV monitor.

“Look how beautiful,” said Evil Queen. “You know what they say: the poison apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Cruella cackled.

“Don’t you mean the weeds?” said Maleficent.

“Oh! Who’s the old
bat
?” asked Cruella, pointing.

“That’s Fairy Godmother,” said Mal with a smile.

“Still doing tricks with eggplants?” said Maleficent.

“I turned a pumpkin into a beautiful carriage!” said Fairy Godmother.

“You really couldn’t give Cinderella till one a.m.?” said Maleficent. “I mean, really. What, the little hamsters had to be back on their little wheels?”

Maleficent, Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella laughed.

“They were mice!” said Fairy Godmother. “They were mice.”

“Hi, Mom!” said Mal.

“Mal!” Maleficent shouted.

Evil Queen tapped Maleficent’s horns, as a reminder to calm down and be discreet.

“M—miss you,” said Maleficent.

Jafar said, “You children are never far from our thoughts.”

“I got it,” Maleficent told Jafar coldly. She turned and spoke to Mal. “How long must Mommy wait to see you? You know Mommy’s not good at waiting.”

“There’s a big coronation coming up,” said Mal. “I think probably sometime after that.”

Evil Queen’s face lit up. “When?” she asked.

“I said I got this!” Maleficent told her. She spoke to Mal. “When?”

“Is there an echo in here?” said Evil Queen.

“Friday! Ten a.m.,” said Mal.

“You sure I can’t see you before that?” said Maleficent sweetly. “I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t get my hands on that magic wa—”

Evil Queen tapped Maleficent’s horns again.

“You! You little nugget that I love so much!” Maleficent said with a smile.

Jafar, Cruella, and Evil Queen made kissy faces.

“Yes, I completely understand, Mother,” said Mal.

Cruella leaned over Maleficent and spoke into the monitor. “Carlos! Is that a
dog
?” She consulted the bejeweled stuffed-animal dog head on her vest. “Yes, yes, Baby, I
do understand. It would make the perfect size for earmuffs.” She cackled.

“He’s the perfect size for a
pet
,” said Carlos fiercely, hugging Dude close. “This dog loves me and I love him! And FYI, your dog is stuffed, so give it a
rest!”

Cruella stroked Baby. Her lip trembled.

Jafar laughed. “Oh! Burn!” he said.

“Oh, why don’t you go sell a toaster, you two-bit salesman?” Cruella told him.

“People who talk to stuffed animals shouldn’t throw stones!” said Jafar.

“Oh, well, people who sell toasters shouldn’t use mixed metaphors!” said Cruella.

“Enough!” said Evil Queen.

Mal and her friends stood in front of the monitor, shifting their weight and looking at each other, embarrassed. Jay hit the keyboard. The monitor went black.

“I’m so sorry,” said Fairy Godmother.

Jay turned to Fairy Godmother. “Thanks for the special treat.” He, Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Dude headed out of the classroom, leaving Fairy Godmother behind.

“M,” said Evie, “what do you think our parents are going to do to us if we don’t pull this off?”

Mal paused. “I think they will be quietly disappointed in us but ultimately proud of us for doing our best,” she said with a smile.

“Really?” said Carlos with hope in his voice.

“No, I think we are definitely goners,” said Mal, her smile sliding away.

They stomped back to Jay and Carlos’s dorm room and began plotting. The group gathered around a table and examined Mal’s sketches and a drawn diagram of the cathedral where the
coronation would be taking place. Mal had drawn Xs and arrows all over it: a detailed plan of the wand snatch. At the center of the map, Mal had drawn a picture of her hand reaching for the wand
that Fairy Godmother held.

“I will be in the very front,” said Mal. “You all will be up in the balcony. Carlos?”

“Okay, so I’ll find our limo so we can break the barrier and get back on the island with the wand,” said Carlos.

Jay looked at him thoughtfully.

“Perfect,” said Mal. She lifted a small atomizer, which looked like a pale blue bottle of perfume, and offered it to Evie. “Evie, you will use this to take the driver
out,” said Mal. She handed the atomizer to Evie. “Two sprays and he will be out like a light.”

Mal looked at Carlos, who looked at Jay, who looked at Evie, who looked at Mal. Mal sighed, sat down at the table, and turned to a page in the spell book that read
HOW TO BREAK
A LOVE SPELL
.

Evie peeked at what Mal was reading. “M, you want to break Ben’s love spell?” she asked.

“Yeah! You know, for after…” said Mal.

Carlos sat on his bed with Dude.

Jay sat on his bed with his tourney stick.

Evie sat down next to Mal.

“I’ve just been thinking, you know, when the villains finally do invade Auradon and begin to loot and kick everyone out of their castles…” said Mal.

Jay spun his tourney stick.

“…and imprison their leaders…” continued Mal.

Carlos absently stroked Dude.

“…and destroy all that is good and beautiful…” Mal said.

Evie took a deep breath and stared off.

“…Ben still being in love with me just seems a little extra…cruel,” Mal said.

Evie looked long and hard at her friend.

Mal closed her spell book and headed back to their dorm room.

Evie followed shortly after.

Jay flicked off all the lights and climbed into bed. Then he got up and walked over to his tourney trophy.

Carlos patted Dude.

In the girls’ dorm room, Evie lay in bed awake. She pulled the chemistry test out from under her pillow and reveled in the B+ again. The other bed was empty.

Mal was in the kitchen stirring a potion. The spell book was open. Alone and lonely, Mal finally allowed herself to feel…and her heart was breaking. She knew it wasn’t right for Ben
to be under her love spell. She felt guilty and horrible about it.

Enchanting him was a rotten thing to do—one she couldn’t bear any longer. Ben was good and kind and deserved to be spell-free—even if it meant he no longer loved her. A tear
rolled down her face and dropped into the chocolate batter. Next to the bowl was a beautiful little blue box. She’d break the love spell right before the coronation. As for stealing the wand,
she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to walk away from that one.

F
AMILY DAY.

OH, JOY.

The next morning, the sun shone over the rose garden on a breezy Family Day.

On the green lawn, Ben led a choir of students in singing “Be Our Guest” as a way to kick off the event. A student banner read
FAMILY DAY! GOODNESS DOESN’T GET
ANY BETTER.
Some students and their families danced, while others enjoyed plates of every type of delicious food imaginable from various tables and tents.

Mal grabbed a strawberry from a table as she, Evie, Jay, and Carlos stepped into the throng. Carlos handed off Dude to Evie and ate strawberries he dipped in a lavishly flowing chocolate
fountain.

The happy choir dispersed. Mal nibbled her strawberry and watched Ben join Beast and Belle. They stepped under a stone archway and posed for the photographer.

“Oh! And by the way, I have a new girlfriend,” Ben told his parents.

They looked at him and gasped.

“I never wanted to say anything,” said Belle, “but I always thought that Audrey was a little self-absorbed. With a fake smile”—Belle flashed a fake smile for the
photographer and continued to speak through it—“a kind of kiss-up.”

“Do we know your new girlfriend?” asked Beast.

“On the count of three,” said the photographer. “One…two…”

“Sort of…” Ben said, waving at Mal, who waved back. “Mal!” he called to her.

“Three!” said the photographer.

Belle’s and Beast’s frozen looks of shock were captured in the photo.

“Mal! Mal, I want to introduce you to my parents,” he said, going over to her. They hugged. He turned to his parents. “This is Mal. From the island. My girlfriend.”

“Hi,” said Belle, gawking.

“Hi,” said Mal.

Beast waved.

“I was thinking maybe she could join us for lunch,” said Ben.

“Of course,” Beast said. “Any friend of Ben’s—”

“Um, I actually came with my friends,” said Mal.

“Well,” said Belle, “you should…invite them.”

Belle gazed past Mal at the girl’s three friends. Jay was drinking directly from the chocolate fountain as Carlos, his face smeared with chocolate, jumped up and down, giggling, and dipped
more strawberries into the fountain. Evie bounced Dude up and down in her arms.

Belle smiled kindly. “The more, the merrier!”

“Okay!” said Mal, smiling. “I’ll go grab them.” She turned to get her friends.

“How about a game of croquet before lunch?” asked Beast.

“Of course!” said Mal.

“Game on!” said Ben, high-fiving his dad.

“Game on,” said Beast. He laughed. Belle smiled.

As Mal and Ben walked toward the croquet lawn, Belle’s and Beast’s smiles vanished. Belle nearly fainted, and Beast caught her.

Mal happily trotted toward her friends.
Maybe we will have a nice time after all
, she thought. She walked onto the lawn, picked up a croquet stick, and hit the ball. Students frolicked
around her. Mal smiled at an older woman in a pale pink suit, Queen Leah.

“Hello there,” said Queen Leah, strolling up to her with a smile.

“Hi,” said Mal.

“Now, have we met?” asked Queen Leah.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Mal. “I’m new. I’m sort of like a transfer student.”

Audrey appeared beside them in a pink dress, holding a glass of punch.

“Grammy!” Audrey said.

“Oh, Audrey!” said the woman. “Give Grammy a kiss, dear.”

“‘Grammy’?”
said Mal.

“Sleeping Beauty’s mother,” said Audrey. She turned to her grandmother. “Grammy, I don’t think you want to be talking to this girl. Unless you feel like taking
another hundred-year nap.” Audrey shot Mal a nasty smile.

Queen Leah stared hard at Mal. “What?” She backed away from Mal in horror, mistaking her for Maleficent.
“You!”
she cried. “How are you here? And how have
you stayed so young?”