The Fifth VK (book two)

1.

After living in Auradon long enough, everything started to become normal to us. We all found our place. Evie went into sewing and fashion. No surprise there. If anybody within the kingdom needed a dress, they would go to her. Jay was a natural on the field. Everyone went crazy over number eight. Carlos studied animals. Dude was an exception. Mal became a princess, and I did, too. I could tell Mal wasn't cut out for it. I reminded her frequently that if she ever needed some to talk to, I'd be there for her, but she ensured me that she could figure everything out on her own. Though we were finally becoming close, I have a strange feeling she might be jealous that I was a natural at being a princess, but, truth be told, I'm just faking it. I've always been good with a fake face. The only problem is, though, Rupert can always see right through it. I have been more open to my emotions, though. Especially around Rupert. When school ended for summer break, Rupert introduced me to his parents. I was so incredibly nervous. They were a little skeptical of me at first. I didn't blame them. My mother enslaved one of them and stabbed the other. Me dating their son didn't look too good. However, once we got to talking and they saw me for who I am, not my mother, they were very happy with our relationship. For the rest of the summer, I explored Corona. They had such a beautiful kingdom. I was even able to meet Maximus. Rupert told me that he was the first horse he had ever ridden. I liked him already. In the fall, we went back to Auradon, but we stopped by the enchanted forest first. I got to pet a freaking unicorn! It was so pretty. Rupert promised me that he would take me to Neverland next summer. I can't wait.

When we made it back to Auradon, I was greeted by familiar faces. Jay was the first to reach me. He swallowed me in a hug. "You were gone too long, Y/n." He stated as he still entrapped me. "Aw, Jay." Was all I said. "Save some for the rest of us, Jay." Evie says. Jay reluctantly let's me go. Evie gives me a tight squeeze. "I've missed you." She says. I lightly laugh, and she looks at me. "Tell me everything." She demands. I give her a warm smile. Before I could say anything, Carlos walked up from behind her. "When is it my turn?" He asks. Dude was in his arms. I give him a hug, but carful not to crush Dude. "Long time no see." With his free hand, he wraps it around me. "I could say the same." He replied. I let him go. Behind him were my two new friends that I made. Ivy, daughter of Snow White, and Elias, son of Elsa and Jack frost. Ivy hugged me first. In the beginning of our friendship, I was a little scared Evie and Ivy wouldn't get along. However, the more they got to know each other, the more they found in common. Elias was always nice. He is also really good at biology. He was my partner for a project last year. We have been friends since. Ivy, let me go. "It's been a while." She says with a smile. She definitely inherited her mother's looks. "Yeah, it has." I say. "How was Corona?" Elias asks. I turn to him and give him a hug. "It was beautiful. You were right." Something I didn't know until way later: Rupert and Elias are best friends. Literally inseparable. I didn't even know this until I introduced them to each other. That was a very confusing day for me. I let him go. "Some day, I need to show you my kingdom. It's pretty cool as well." He says with a chuckle. "Arendelle. That sounds fun." I give him a smile back. Ben walks up to us. I give a dramatic bow. "Your kinglyness." I tease. He chuckles. I stand straight again. "How is it going ruling Auradon, princess?" I tease again. "Oh, you know. Hard work."
"It's nice to have you back, Y/n." He finishes. "Thanks, Ben." I look around, but not everyone is here. "Where's Mal?" Everyone looks around, but no response. Ben looks over and sees she's being swallowed by paparazzi. "Oh, hold on." He runs away from us. "Omg. What did Mal do to her hair?" I asks my friends. "She died it blonde." Evie answers. "Not my idea." She defends herself. I chuckle. I see Fairy Godmother sweep the crowd away. I look back at my friends. "What have I missed?"

For the rest of the afternoon, my friends educated me on what happened this past summer. Jay learned fencing. Plot twist: he wasn't very good at it in the beginning. Evie has saved up quite a few coins with dress making. She's apparently saving up to buy her own place. I've found out about a few more surprises as well. I eventually found my way into my dorm. Rupert, Evie, and Mal were in there as well. I was unpacking. Mal was wearing this very fancy gown. Evie straightened her poster. Evie started to zip the dress up. "Evie, I can not breathe." Evie was still looking at the dress. "Well, you can breathe after the Cotillion." Evie says back and lifts Mal's arm up. "
"I sincerely doubt that." Mal drops her hand. "I have at least twenty more events directly behind it." Evie was fluffing the dress. "And I can't even remember what a single one of them is." Evie gives a chefs kiss. "Impeccable." Mal looks at me. I give her a slight giggle. "How was Corona?" Mal asks me. Rupert perks up at the name of his kingdom. "Mal, it was so pretty." Take a dress out of my suitcase. Rupert chuckles at my enthusiasm. "Oh, yeah?" She scoffs a laugh. "What was your favorite part?" I put the dress up. "Umm..." I pause to think of the answer. "Maybe... the foods."  Rupert gives another chuckle. He was currently sitting on my bed. He had his knee up and the other leg folded on its side in front of it. He was playing with some of Evie's fabric. I warned him against it, but Evie was too occupied with Mal to notice. I take my last dress from my suitcase. I lay the dress on my bed and place my suitcase under my bed. I glanced at Mal. She looked to be zoned out. I put my last dress up. I turn around and place my hands on my hips. "All done?" Rupert asks. I nod my head. Rupert opens one of his arms. When I moved over to the bed, Rupert dropped his one leg and moved the other. He opened his legs, and I sat in between them on the bed. He started to massage my shoulders. I dropped my head, relaxing my muscles. I didn't even realize how much I needed that. "Have you guys ever thought about what we'd be doing if we were back on the Isle right now?" Mal asks. I lift my head up slightly. Just enough to see her. Evie chuckles. "That's funny." Guess I really haven't given that place much thought. After really discovering how dark that environment is mentally, I would be ok to never return there. Though I guess sometimes I do miss my mother. I know she wasn't very good to me, she is still my mom. Someone irreplaceable. My train of thought stops by the sounded noise of the TV. Evie gasps. "Look who's on TV." Evie says. We all turn to the screen. Rupert stops massaging my shoulders. I rest my back on his chest. He rests his arms on my stomach. Mal sits on her bed. We watched as Mal spits her bite into her napkin. Rupert and I try to hold down our laughs. The narrator on the TV spoke about not expecting Ben and Mal to last this long. "Yeah no kidding." Mal says under her breath. "Don't listen to that Mal." I say. "The only opinion that matters in yous and Ben's relationship is yours and Ben's." She gives me a weak smile. She looks at her nails and gasps. She jumps from her bed. Rupert shifts under me. "I have to go." Rupert stated. I raised up and angled myself to look at him without moving. "Why?" I whine. He smiles. "I told Elias we would play video games this afternoon." I rolled my eyes. He kisses my nose. I try to hold down a smile but hiding any emotion around Rupert was difficult. My smile broke lose. My cheeks lightly blushed. I turn around to face him. I kiss his lips. He smiled too. "Fine. Are we still on for dinner tonight?" I fold my legs underneath myself. He wraps his arms around my back, connecting them. "Yep. You have my whole evening." He kisses my forehead. "Are you too shy to kiss my lips?" I tease. He scoffs a laugh. "I am a gentleman." I chuckle. "And I am a sorceress' daughter." I stated and kissed his lips again. He kissed back making it last longer. He puts one of his hands on the back of my neck. His thumb was on my ear. I run one of my hands up his hair. My fingers between strands. He pulls me back. I open my eyes, but his was still closed. "You're trying to get me to stay here longer. Aren't you?" He opens his eyes after the question. A look of innocence made my expression. "Me? Why would I do that?" I ask to tease him. He gives me a rude expression to play along. "Uh-Huh." He rolls his eyes dramatically. I give him one more peck on the lips. I hop off the bed. He gets up. I walk him to the door. I knew he already knew where it was. I just didn't want to say goodbye. I open the door, and he walks through. "Wear something pretty for me?" I sniker. "I'm not a barbie." I defend. "I know. I just generally dislike your clothing style." I drop my jaw, acting hurt. He just walks away. "Did anyone else- Mal!" She placed a spell on her school book. Evie turns around. "I know Mal's secrets of fitting in, and Ben wouldn't like it one bit." Evie says. Mal just looks at her. "Haven't you guys had enough secrets between the two of you already?" I ask.  "You guys remember what I was like before I started using my spell book. I mean, I was a complete disaster." Mal defends. "Well, personally, as one of your best friend, I strongly believe that this spell book," Evie picks it up. "Ah."
"It belongs in the museum along with my mirror and Y/n's dagger." Mal drops her hands. "Don't give me the face." Evie warns. Mal does anyways. "Put the pout away." I say and sit next to her. "Mmm-hmm. You know I'm right." Evie walks away with the book. The mention of my dagger reminded me. That was probably the hardest decisions I made. I knew if I kept it around it would make Rupert uncomfortable. "You don't ever miss running wild and just breaking all the rules?" Mal asks.
"Like stealing and lying and fighting?" Evie questions. "Yeah." Mal confesses. "No." Evie answers. "What? Y/n? What about you?" She turns to me. "I mean sometimes I miss my mother, but I don't miss hurting people." That was the truth. Rupert has really helped me turn my life around. I truly hate what I did in the past, but I'm glad I'm not doing it anymore. "Really?" Mal questions. "Why would we?" Evie says with a chuckle. "M, c'mon here." Evie swings her around. "Look at where we are," Evie grabs my hand and brings me to Mal. "We are in Auradon. And we're Auradon girls now." Evie stated. "Since Mal revealed her love of strawberries, she has received hundreds of cartons from her admires." Evie squeals listening to the narrator on the screen. I sniker. Evie and I both gave her a tight squeeze on her sides. "See, this is the land of opportunity. We can be whatever we want to be here." I reasoned. "So please, let's just leave the past in the past, ok?" Evie asks serious. Mal doesn't answer. My phone buzzed, and I went over to look at it. I got a text. I look up. "I've gotta go, girls." They look back at me. "Everything alright?" Evie asks. I nod to reassure her. "Yep." I run out the door.