I never thought my power would show me this. This is who I am. Not a forgotten thing, not a toy. My name is Valia Targaryen, and I will take what's mine with fire and blood.
☕︎☕︎☕︎
BOOK 1 in THE FIRE series.
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Chapter 8 First, shcool says turning bad already? ♛♛♛
Jay grinned and spun around to find Chad glaring at him with his chin and nose stuck up in a rude, snobby way. Jay squinted at Chad and walked past him, bumping him hard. Once Jay had passed by, Chad rubbed his arm. Valia walked down the bleachers, following the two boys sending a seething glare with her purple eyes at Chad.
Mal and Evie parted ways inside the school at Mal's locker, which had EVIL LIVES spray-painted on it—a little thing Mal did to make herself feel more at home. Mal dug around in her locker. She heard loud, obnoxious laughter and looked up to see Audrey and Chad. Audrey wore pink sunglasses and a pale pink sweater. Chad wore his letter jacket. Ben appeared behind them in a smart-looking jacket. Those kids are trouble," Chad told Ben, pointing to Mal.
Audrey nodded, shooting Mal a particularly nasty look.
Mal turned away and tried to ignore them.
"Come on, Chad," said Ben. "Give them a chance." Audrey took Ben's hands in hers. "Ugh! No offense, Bennybear—you're just too trusting," she said with a big smile. "Look, I know your mom fell in love with a big nasty beast who turned out to be a prince. But in my mom's story, the evil fairy was just the evil fairy." She nodded at Mal. "That girl's mother," she whispered. "I think you're wrong about them," said Ben.
Audrey sighed, let him go, and walked off.
Ben approached Mal as she shut her locker. "Hey!" he said with a coy smile.
"Hey," she said, squinting at him.
"How's your first day?" he asked.
"Super," she said smugly. "You should think about taking this talent off the locker and into art class," Ben said. "I could sign you up. What do you think?" He gave her a long, intense look. Then, Mal spied Jane passing by them. "Way to take all the fun out of it," said Mal. She shot Ben a flirty smile, spun around with her spell book under her arm, and followed Jane into the bathroom, remembering why she was in Auradon in the first place: the wand. What better way to get close to it than through Jane?
♛
"I'd rather be pretty," said Jane. "You've got great hair!"
Mal stroked her purple locks. "You know what? I have just the thing for that." She lifted her spell book and turned through the pages. "It's right...here!" She read from the page. "Beware, forswear, replace the old with brand-new hair." With a few waves of Mal's finger, Jane suddenly had long, beautiful wavy brown locks. Jane gasped in delight as she studied her new do in the mirror. "Wow! You almost don't notice your...other features anymore!" said Mal.
"Do my nose!" said Jane, turning to face her with a massive smile.
"Oh, I can't. I wish I could," said Mal. "I've been practicing, but I can't do huge magic. Not like your mom! With her wand! I mean, one swoosh from that thing, and you could probably have whatever features you wanted." Jane frowned. "She doesn't use the wand anymore. She believes the real magic is in books. And not the spell books. Regular books with history and stuff."
Mal laughed. "What a rip," she said. "You know, she used magic on Cinderella, who wasn't even her real daughter. Doesn't she love you?" "Of course she does. It's just, you know, tough love," said Jane. "Work on the inside, not the outside. You know, that sort of thing..." She trailed off, looking sad. "That's the face!" said Mal, pointing at Jane's low expression. "Yeah! And then look as if your heart is about to break." She pouted her lips and altered her voice to sound more like Jane. "Oh, Mother, I just don't understand why you can't make me beautiful, too." Her face broke into a grin.
"Think it would work?" asked Jane, blinking and smiling. "Yeah! I mean, that's what old Cindy did. And your mother Bibbidi-Bobbidi-ed the living daylights out of her!" said Mal. Jane laughed.
Mal's eyes flashed. "And, hey! If your mom does decide to break out the old wand...invite me! I think it would be so...inspirational." Jane smiled. "If I can convince Mom, you're so there!"
"Yay!" said Mal, clapping.
Jane took her purse and left the bathroom. "Bye," she said.
Mal smiled, pleased with herself. "Bye," she said.
♛
Jane may be more beneficial to us than I first thought. Hello plan B! also, I liked her short hair better. I was just saying. I also just hope Mal knows what she's doing.
In chemistry class, Evie sat beside Doug and stared longingly at Chad.
Across the lab bench, beyond the tubing, clamps, pipettes, and steaming beakers, Chad was bathed in his golden light. Evie couldn't stop gazing at him. Chad tried to see what his lab partner was writing so he could copy the notes down. Valia was sitting a little away from Evie and Doug, and Chad. But her eyes were gleaming the whole time, giving away that she hated this and could snap any moment. The chemistry teacher, Mr. Delay, scribbled a formula on the chalkboard.
"Any chance he's in line for a throne?" Evie asked Doug. "Anywhere in line?"
"Chad. Prince Charming Jr., Cinderella's son," said Doug.
Evie turned and looked at Doug, then back at Chad. Valia listened with a slight sneer on her lips. she didn't like Chad in the slightest, and she knew that he would use Evie to his advance just like any guy would if they saw her. "Chad inherited the charm, but not a lot of there there," said Doug. "Know what I mean?"
Evie rested her head on her hand. "Looks like there there to me," she said.
"Evie!" said Mr. Delay. "Perhaps this is just a review for you. So tell me, what is the average atomic weight of silver?" Evie stared at him blankly. "Atomic weight?" she said. "Uh...well...not very much. I mean, it's an atom, right?" She smiled and let out a laugh. Valia sighed but let Evie save herself out of this one. Chad laughed, too.
Mr. Delay beckoned the blue-haired girl forth. Evie pocketed her mirror and strolled confidently up to the chalkboard. "Let's see." She took the chalk from the teacher, stealthily removing her mirror and speaking down into it. "How do I find the average atomic weight of silver?" She glanced at her mirror, hidden at her side, which revealed the whole long calculation of the answer, which she copied onto the chalkboard. "That would be 106.905 times .5200 plus 108.905 times .4800, which, Mr. Delay, would give us 107.9 amu." She smiled.
Chad, impressed, copied her calculation into his lab notebook.
Doug looked at Evie curiously. "Amu?" he mouthed to himself.
"It was a mistake to underestimate—" said Mr. Delay. Evie spun around in a circle, whipping the teacher with her long blue-black locks. "A villain?" she said, smiling. "Don't make it again." She threw him the chalk and flounced back toward her seat. As she passed Chad, he slipped her a note and ogled her. When Evie sat down, she opened the letter. It read MEET ME UNDER THE BLEACHERS AT 3. She looked up at Chad and nodded at him. He rested his head on his hand, and Evie did the same. They locked eyes and shared a dreamy, longing look. Valia chuckled gently and quietly. Doug rested his head on his hand, too, and frowned.
