Roses and Hooks /// Harry Hook

Chapter 1: Fake Princess

Summer. The hottest season ever, and the most annoying season ever. I hated summer because it was too hot to weather any of my leather clothes, and I have to find things to wear that hid my tattoo. Ben and my friends are they only people who know about it, and I'd like to keep it that way. I can only imagine how appalled my mother would be.

Luckily, I managed to keep myself busy during the summer, so I didn't have a high risk of anyone seeing it. Plus, I learned some really cool things along the way. First off, I had my studio and the room next to it converted into one giant studio. This way, Evie and I have plenty of space to work in, especially with the orders Evie gets left and right. We started to run out of room with all the dresses we had hanging around waiting to be picked up.

The second thing I did was I had Jay and Lonnie teach me to sword fight. After the fight with Mal's mother, I realized just how useless in a fight I actually am. I also had Mal and Evie teach me to fist fight Isle style, that way I'm ready to fight the worst if it comes down to it. Now, I have a sword that I carry around on my right side, much to my parents' horror. It's been confiscated several times, but I always steal it back. Eventually, everyone just let me keep it.

Third, Mal had finally asked me if I could get her own art studio made, which is now down the hall from our fashion one. I left the room blank and gave Mal every single thing of art supplies I could order so she could decorate it however she wanted. The whole back wall is a giant mural of the five of us standing together. Her and I in the front, Jay and Carlos behind her with Evie behind me. It made my heart swell when she showed me.

Now, the summer is coming to a close and the preparations for the new school year, my 16th birthday, and Cotillion are coming up. I stand in front of my mirror and look at my outfit, making sure everything is the way I want it. Black skinny jeans, a red tank top, and my red leather strap heels. My makeup is the same as I had worn it for my brother's coronation, making it my new look. I liked the look so much that day, I decided to do it every day. I grab my sword, which is just a regular steel sword with a handle that has silver steel roses around it.

"Rose, we're going to be late! We have to get going." Mal says from my doorway, and I nod at her. She uses her spell book to spell her hair every month to be washed out blonde with purple tips, and I hate it. I miss her purple hair, which makes her part of who she is. She's also completely removed all leather pieces from her wardrobe and is now sporting bright princess dresses every day. She's trying to be someone she isn't because she thinks my brother wants a pretty princess. I've tried to tell her that he loves the real her, the purple haired girl dressed in leather from the Isle, but she won't listen. Doesn't help that Ben doesn't even notice that Mal is stressing herself out trying to force herself to be this fake princess.

We rush through the school as fast as Mal will go. We had been scheduled to speak to the press in front of the school about the Cotillion coming up in a few weeks. They wanted to know Mal's thought since she is the guest of honor, and she didn't want to face them alone, so here we are running through the halls. Mal has some of her schoolbooks in her hand, and I wonder why. School doesn't start until tomorrow, so she shouldn't have any reason to need them.

We finally make it out the door, and into the front courtyard where the four villain kids showed up all those months ago. It's hard to believe that it's almost been six months since then. So much has happened.

The media is crowded around in front of my dad's statue, and I chuckle at the memory of Carlos screaming like a girl at it. Once the press sees us coming up, they descend on Mal like a pack of hungry wolves. The thought makes me laugh because I know for a fact Mal is scarier than any wolf.

"Mal! Mal, over here! Please, Mal!" Reporters shout at her, and I walk up throwing my arm around her shoulders. I can already feel a headache coming on. "Only three weeks until Royal Cotillion, what are your thoughts?" Mal opens her mouth to speak but doesn't get the chance.