De Vil-Radcliffe

Chapter 13- Talking About the Truth

"We need to talk." Evie wrapped her arms around us.

"Yeah," Mal agreed.

"No," Carlos stopped us.

"No?" Evie questioned.

"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 explained.

"I'm not." Jay raised his hand.

"We're your family too. We've been through a lot. Together. We're not stopping that now, okay? Everyone sit," Carlos sat on the ground as Dude barked. "I don't know how to start girl talk."

"What up?" Jay shrugged.

"Um, well, I'm a mess. I'm such a mess," Mal admitted. "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."

"Then don't," Carlos said simply.

"See, this was dumb." Jay shifted.

"Maybe it wasn't." Evie stopped him from getting up. "We're always going to 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. It made us who we are. And we're never going to be like everybody else here. And that's okay, that's okay."

"And we can't take it," Carlos added.

"No," Evie shook her head.

"Yeah, especially not without my spell book." Mal looked at her hands.

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

"I like that," Evie agreed.

"Give him a chance," Carlos whispered.

"I'm going to make some changes to your dress. And if you're up for it, only if you're up for it, it'll be waiting for you, okay?" Evie questioned.

"Sophie?" Jay looked at me.

"What?" I said cluelessly.

"What's with the new look? Your family?" Carlos asked. "Why are you hiding everything from us?"

I looked down. "Ben took me to get my DNA test done. I was so shocked when I opened it. Turns out, I was... full villain. Mom didn't want to raise me, Dad offered but Mom didn't want me to be with him, so she sent me with the goblins that were being brought to Auradon."

"Who're your parents?" Carlos asked, looking at me with soft eyes.

I cleared my throat. "Madame Medusa, and... Chernabog."

"It's okay," Jay assured me.

"Only Mal and my parents knew," I said, motioning to the girl in front of me.

Carlos wrapped an arm around me as Dude laid at my side. The three of them left as we sat in the grass. "So, how can Dude talk?"

Carlos removed his arm nervously before looking me in the eye. "Mal gave me a truth gummy. Dude accidentally ate it."

"But, why? Wouldn't that spill even Maleficent's secrets?" I questioned.

"I was trying to work up the courage to talk to... you. To tell you I like you," Carlos said quietly.

My eyes softened. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. He smiled, playing with my hair as he hugged me back. I pulled away, smiling as he let go. "I was actually wondering if you would be my date for Cotillion tonight. And, if you don't hate me after, we can be more, if you want to."

I smiled, nodding. "I would really like that."

I got up, smiling brightly as I ran to the girls' dorm. I knocked eagerly. Evie opened the door and smiled at my giddiness.

"Ready for your new dress?" Evie asked.

"New dress? I liked how it was before," I said.

"Yeah, but I think you need to embrace a bit of your villain side, don't you think?"

The dress was red that faded into black toward the bottom of the dress. It was ankle length. Teal earrings that Madame Medusa was famous for were added to the dress. I wore bright red heels. Evie added black extensions to my hair, so the black extensions looked like they were curtains to my face. A small black tiara completed the look.

We were ready.