The Descendants Of Evil

Girl Talk

CHAPTER 26

(Val POV)

"Here we go," Jay says as he presses the button for the bridge. We pass through the barrier. I look over at Jay and smile. "Why don't you and Lonnie stop by practice later."

"What, in the mood to break some rules?" I ask him with a smirk.

"No," Jay answers and I give him a confused look. We make it back to Auradon and start heading towards the dorms. Jay grabs my hand in his and I smile.

"I'll get these back to the gym," Lonnie says as she gives me a 'we need to talk later' look.

"Thanks," Jay says.

"See you later," Lonnie says to me.

"Ben, there you are. Cotillion's tonight," Jane says as she walks up to us. "Come here. Look, this is the stained glass window for Mal. Isn't it beautiful? She's gonna love it."

"Do you want to cancel?" Ben asks Mal as he turns to her.

"Um, you know what? I can come back. Uh, but, like, really, really soon," Jane says.

"No, no, no. No, no, no. Now's fine. Um..." Ben says before turning to Mal. "Do whatever you need to do."

"We need to talk," Evie says as she grabs mine and Mal's arms.

"Yeah," Mal says as we go to walk away.

"No," Carlos says as he and Jay walk up while he holds Dude.

"No?" Evie asks as we stop.

"You guys are always going off in a huddle, whispering your girl talk stuff or whatever, and Jay and I are tired of it," Carlos answers and Jay looks confused.

"I'm not," Jay says in surrender which makes me give a small smile.

"We're your family, too. We've been through a lot together. We're not stopping that now, okay?" Carlos explains. "Everyone sit. Come on." Carlos sits down on the ground. I sit beside Jay as we all sit down. "I don't know how to start girl talk."

"What up?" Jay says causing Evie and me to laugh.

"Um, well... I'm a mess. I'm such a mess. I mean, six months ago, I was, you know, stealing candy from babies, and now everybody wants me to be this Lady of the Court. And I have no idea how to keep up the act," Mal explains.

"Then don't," Carlos says.

"See? This was dumb," Jay says as he goes to get up. I slap his arm which makes him stop.

"Maybe it wasn't," Evie states.

"We're always gonna be the kids from the Isle. I tried to forget it. I really tried, but those are our roots. And we all did what we had to do to survive. But it made us who we are," I explain as Evie nods her head in agreement.

"And we're never gonna be like anybody else here. And that's okay. That's okay," Evie adds on.

"And we can't fake it," Carlos says.

"No," Evie says.

"Yeah. I mean, especially without my spell book," Mal says.

"Mal, if Ben doesn't love the real you, then he's not the one," Carlos explains.

"I like that," I say and I notice Jay give me a glance.

"Give him a chance," Carlos says.

"I'm gonna make some changes to your dress. And if you're up for it... only if you're up for it... it will be waiting for you, okay?" Evie says as we all stand up. I sit back down by Mal when I notice that she doesn't get up.

"Come on, buddy," Carlos says to Dude as he, Evie and Jay go to walk away. Jay stops as he sees us both sitting there before he comes back and sits down.

"Come to Cotillion tonight, all right? If Ben isn't smart enough to love you or if I can't prove myself and you both can't stand another day, I'll drive you both back tomorrow myself. Okay?" Jay says and we give him a small smile. He gets up and walks away.

"He's right. We should at least go to the Cotillion," I say.

"You need to stay here," Mal says. "He truly does love you, Val."

"Yeah, I think I'm figuring that out but you're my sister," I explain.

"Val, we have both grown up so much since the Isle. I'll be okay with whatever I decide," Mal says.

"I'll support you no matter what," I say as I pull her into a hug. "I love you, big sister." Mal smiles and laughs as we pull back.

"By like five minutes," Mal says. I laugh as I stand up. She grabs my hand. "I love you too. Best friends by choice."

"Sisters by chance," Mal and I say at the same time.