Princess of Hearts

Chapter 8: Good is the New Bad

"Make sure to write that down as it will be on your test next week." the teacher underlined it on the blackboard. I was doodling on my notebook and almost fell from my chair when I heard the word "test". 

Well, that for sure woke me up.

"What did he say?" I whispered to Carlos, my trio in advanced biology along with Jane.

"He wants a full essay on human embryology because it will serve as a test prep."

I tried to hold back a yawn. Carlos looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"What? I was up until late to finish my homework in Auradon History." I replied. Jane leaned  in to participate in the conversation, but the teacher started talking again, his voice going over our rushed whispers.

"I also need you to read through pages 189 to 347 for next week. I will randomly choose two students to give a presentation, so I expect you all to be sharp on the subject."

I sighed. One more to top the readings for english literature, the essay for chemistry, and the pile of homework I had that never seemed to stop growing. Go ahead, Isabelle. Take five advanced placement classes. What a great idea, I thought. And I still had the essay for Safety Rules for the Internet with Harry, that we haven't presented yet.

The bell finally rang before the teacher could give us more homework. I threw my backpack on my shoulder, and suddenly all of those textbooks felt a lot more heavy than they actually weighed. They reminded me of the decisions I had yet to make. The dreadful question every student has to face at some point in their lives. What am I going to do?

It's not that I didn't have a plan. I just had a lot of things to consider before actually deciding something. See, my brother, he always had a very definitive course for his life: we would be king. Mal would be his queen, and Evie was born to be a stylist. Carlos had discovered his love for animals after coming to Auradon and decided he wanted to be a veterinarian. Jay hasn't sorted out everything, but he was a free spirit. Jamie was basically good at everything, especially in arts.

What would I be? I knew Ben would be more than happy if I just went to work with him, but that just seemed so obvious and unchallenging. I was good at dancing, but I don't think cheerleading qualifies for special talents in a university application. Event planner? I was okay at it, but no one was better than Jane.

"Hey, are you even listening?" Carlos was waving his hands in front of my face. I looked at him, bringing myself back to reality.

"Oh, sure." I tried to lie. But it must have been obvious that my mind was far away, because he just laughed. "Okay, I'm sorry. I just... have a lot to think about. But what were you talking about? I promise to listen this time."

We walked to the cafeteria while Carlos and Jane talked about how nervous they were for this weekend, as they had plans to have dinner with Fairy Godmother and Cruella, for their parents to meet officially.

I remembered when we threw a dinner party to celebrate Mal and Ben's engagement, with our parents and Hades. It ended with a decapitated statue of my father and claw marks on the dining room wallpaper.

It was fun.

I wondered if I would ever introduce someone to my parents as a significant other again. Since we all had grown up together, Cynthia insisted that we didn't needed the dreaded "meet the parents" moment; Aziz, on the other hand, was facetiming his parents and calling me his girlfriend after barely a week, and had even insisted that I should spend winter break in Agrabah with his family.

"Princess Isabelle, hi." someone called from behind me, and I was once again taken out of my own thoughts.  I turned around and saw two girls; they had matching purple and pink hair.