My Anchor ~ Harry Hook

CHAPTER FOUR

'I just don't think they should be in civilised society, and I certainly don't want them anywhere near me!' Chad complained while walking beside Aria down one of the hallways at Auradon Prep.

'Have you even tried talking to them?' Aria questioned him, feeling defensive over the kids she barely knew.

'No, but—but they tried to kill me!' Chad exclaimed in a sudden outburst of emotions.
'Chad. They didn't try to kill you; you're unharmed with absolutely no injuries. You lunged at them; it was self-defence, you dimwit.' Aria said, stopping in her tracks, overwhelmed with anger at his ignorance.

'You're being extremely rude, Ria. What would your mother think of this behaviour? See, this is exactly what I mean—they're a terrible influence!' he retorted.

Wow, that was a low blow.

'Quite frankly, I don't give a fuck what my mother thinks. And I also couldn't give less of a-' She started arguing, raising her voice with every word she spoke, but was interrupted when Evie walked by.

'Hey! Evie, right? I'm Chad.' He put his arm out, stopping her in the corridor, completely dismissing whatever Aria was about to throw at him.

'Yeah, that's me. Did you need something, or...?' Evie said nervously, not knowing what was going on.

'I was just wondering if you could do my homework. You know, I've just been so swamped with everything recently, and you seem like such a smart girl,' Chad blatantly lied to her face, putting on that Chad Charming charm leaning against his locker behind him, leaving Evie at a loss for words.

'You're fucking ridiculous,' Aria scoffed, storming off down the corridor towards her locker.

After shoving her bag into her locker and grabbing her magical history textbook, she slammed the door closed, still enraged by Chad's lack of empathy, before shrieking when Ben had suddenly appeared on the other side of the door.

'For the love of God, break up with the prick before I break his goddamn nose,' Ben said before he had even said hello.

'Alright, beast boy, calm down,' Aria chuckled, avoiding the topic.

'I'm serious, Ria; break up with him,' he said more seriously this time.

'You know I can't; my mother would be furious if there's one thing that I could do to make up for my lack of tail, it would be to stay with Chad, for the families sake. Plus, you're one to talk; you stay with Audrey even though it is painstakingly obvious that you couldn't care if she lived or died,' Aria argues, her anger bubbling all over again. She feels a hand gripping her elbow and pulling her into an empty classroom nearby.
'Aria What the fuck do you think you're playing at? What has gotten into you recently—you've been so irritable, and then you go and play a stupid stunt like that?' Ben asks as he places his hands on the desk in front of him, leaning forward.

'Nothing's gotten into me, Ben. I'm just sick to death of everyone believing that they know what's best for me and that they feel as though they can control my fucking life. No, Ben, I shouldn't break up with Chad because he's a dick. I should break up with him because I feel safe enough to do so. When I know my parents won't come for me and completely cut me off. I have done nothing but support your villain kids initiative and your transition to the throne, and what do you do for me?' Aria argued, unable to stop herself once she started beginning to cry as she let out everything she had bottled up.

'Hey, hey, hey, Ria. I'm sorry, come here,' Ben rushed, trying to fix things, enveloping her in a hug in an attempt to calm her down.

'I'm sorry,' Aria apologised, but she was quickly shut down by Ben, saying she had nothing to apologise for but that he was sorry too.

Once she had calmed down and they had settled on the floor with their backs against the wall in comfortable silence, Ben suddenly turned his entire body to face her.

'You're right,' he confessed, to what? Aria didn't know.

'I mean I always am, but about what exactly?' She asked, rolling her head against the wall to the side to look at him quizzically.

'Haha, very funny, but you're right about me not caring about Audrey. I never have, and I don't think I ever will. I'm with her because my parents saw her as a 'suitable match' not because I love her; if anything, I hate her,' Ben confesses before going silent and waiting for Aria's response.

With a grin slowly forming on her lips, she shouted, 'I fucking knew it!' hitting him on the shoulder before slapping a hand over her mouth as if trying to push the words back down her throat and shooting him an apologetic look. 'Sorry, carry on,' she apologises.

'Erm, I was just going to say that with all that aside, I broke up with her earlier,' he tells her, causing her to open her mouth to speak.

'Let me finish, please,' he asked, waiting for Aria to nod.

'I do have another confession to make. I have recently developed some feelings for someone who isn't from here,' he tells her, avoiding the facts.

'And that means...,' Aria pressed, not completely understanding what he meant.

Ben took a deep breath before rushing to say his next sentence, 'I like Mal!'. Aria looked at him, tilting her head and smiling, raising her eyebrows as if to say, I'm going to say it.

'Don't,' Ben protested, and Aria went to protest before he gave her a stern look, and she slouched, acting like a little kid that had just been told off.

After a couple of seconds of complete silence, she whispered, 'I knew it,' before he attacked her, tickling her sides, leaving her gasping for breath and tapping the floor like it was a wrestling match.

'Okay, okay, but like, what are you going to do?' Aria asked once she had composed herself but is sitting slightly further from him now.

'I dunno. Pretend feelings don't exist, I guess.' Ben shrugged.

'Okay, so what we're not going to do is that,' she said, waving her hand in front of his face. 'However, what we are going to do is get with Mal, if you're serious about this, of course,' she said, already planning it out.

'And how may I ask, do you propose I do that?' He asked, putting emphasis on 'I' subtly hinting that this was not a team effort.

'WE are going to take Mal out on a romantic date,' Aria began to run through her plan, stopping when Ben gave her a seriously look. 'Okay, fine, YOU are going to take her on a romantic date to the enchanted lake, go swimming, have a picnic, oh, and I don't know, maybe confess your undying love for her,' she teased.

'Hmmm, that could work,' Ben said pensively.
'Full of good ideas I am,' she said smugly, picking up her phone to check the time, 9:15. 'Fuck class started fifteen minutes ago. I'm going to be in so much shit with Fairy Godmother.' She said she was hurrying to get up and collect her things.

'Hey, don't stress,' Ben eased before Aria's eyes widened at him. 'I'm just saying being best friends with the soon-to-be King of Auradon has its perks,' he said, smugly smirking at her distressed state. 'Come on, then let's get you to class.'