Roses and Hooks /// Harry Hook

Chapter 8: The Truth

After the free run I got from chasing Carlos, I swing by the girl's room to get Evie to bring her to my studio. As I walk along the halls, I see more and more girls with different hair than what they originally had before. This must be more of Mal's work. I'm glad she's making friends, but I wish she wouldn't rely on her magic to do it. If people come to her for her magic, how can she tell who is real and who is fake?

I knock on the girl's door, and Mal swings it open.

"Hey. I just came to see if Evie still wants to see my studio." I hear a squeal come from somewhere in the room behind Mal, and I smile. "I take that as a yes."

"Hey, you said we could ask you anything, right?" I nod at her and her eyes light up. "Good. I was just wondering if we could stand in the front row for the coronation, you know, so we can soak up all that goodness." She asks me, and I frown at her.

"I wish you could. I'd have you guys standing there with me in a heartbeat, but unfortunately, you can't. The only people allowed there are myself, our parents, " I shiver, "and Ben's girlfriend, Audrey. Another unfortunate thing." I nearly gag in disgust.

"Girlfriend, huh? Well, thanks for clearing that up. We didn't know where we would be." She tells me before closing the door as Evie goes by.

"So, where's this amazing studio?" I grin and loop my arm through hers.

"I'll show you. It's not that far." We walk down the hallway and go up the stairs across from my dorm room. On the way, we talk about the different styles we each like and don't like. She talks about some of the latest designs she's read about in her magazines. Soon, we come to a dark blue door with a painting of the rose my father had been given during his curse.

"Oh, I love this artwork. Did you do this?" Evie brushes her fingers along the painting as I nod. "This is amazing. You could seriously rival Mal with this." I open the door and snort.

"I've seen Mal's artwork. She's so much better than me. I love what she's done with her locker." I flip the light switch, and Evie gasps. My studio is a large room with several sewing machines along the right wall, different mannequins with unfinished work on them stand throughout the room. The floor is a beautiful dark hardwood floor, and the walls are intricate scenes from my parents' story. The largest being the beautiful golden ballgown that my mother had worn. Rolls and rolls of different fabrics in colors and textures are strewn throughout the room.

"Oh my..." Evie trails off as she walks around in awe, taking in everything. "This has to be my favorite room of all."

"You're welcome in here at any time. I figured you'd like to make your own spin on the clothes here in Auradon." She looks at me and cries as she hugs me tightly.

"Thank you!" She looks around the room again. "Can I start now?" Laughing, I nod at her. Soon, me and Evie have music playing as we dance around the room making different kinds of designs. She's working on her dress for the coronation, and I'm finishing up my new dress that I started a few days ago. After a while, I remember that I wanted to talk to Evie anyway.

"Hey, Evie. Can I ask you a question? You totally don't have to answer it if you don't want." She looks up and hums at me. "Earlier, in class today, you answered that problem even though you originally walked up to it confused. What was that about?" I see her freeze for a minute before she sets the dark blue fabric down.

"Oh, that? Uh, I may have my mother's magic mirror. I used it to look up the answer to the problem." She tells me and my jaw drops in excitement.

"You have the famous mirror? Seriously? That's actually really cool. What does it look like?" She grins and pulls out this small hand mirror that's slightly broken. The metal around the mirror is a shiny gold with little gems littered on it.