More Than This

Chapter 8

Evie joined her friends at the picnic table for lunch that day, but her mind was elsewhere as she finished up designing the final touches for the dresses. Only two days until the dance.

"Evie, relax," Mal said as she closed Evie's design book.

Evie sighed as Mal put the book on the other side of the table, out of her reach.

Carlos, Jay, and Ben came to the table with their lunch at that time. Ben sat next to Mal and the other two boys sat across from them.

"What's this?" Ben asked as he opened up the design book to the page dedicated to the dance.

"Those are our dresses,"Mal announced.

"Amazing," Ben praised as he turned the page. "And what's this?" He asked as he held up the book to reveal a page full of hearts.

"That was... Mal," Evie lied.

"Yeah okay, no one believes that," Carlos pointed out. "If you're gonna lie, make it believable."

Evie blushed and looked down at her lap as Ben closed the sketch book and returned it to the blue-haired girl.

"So are you excited for the dance?" Ben questioned cheerfully.

Evie smiled and nodded, and the rest of the group shrugged.

"I saw them bring in a few chocolate fountains," Ben announced.

Jay and Carlos looked at eachother, smirking.

"...and they ordered strawberries," Ben taunted Mal.

Mal just shrugged. "I'm not a big party person," she clarified.

"Since when?" Ben scoffed.

"Ever," Mal shrugged.

"She was the biggest kill-joy on the isle," Jay teased. "She had a giant castle and she only ever threw one party. And it wasn't even at the castle!" Jay exclaimed. "It would have been so cool."

"Hey, I thought my chandelier swing was pretty sweet," Carlos announced.

"Until the Gaston twins broke it," Mal replied.

The four laughed at their memories. That was the night when Evie first thought of Carlos as her little brother and promised to get him his first pillow. It was also the night that Mal saw that behind the tiaras and skirts, Evie was tougher than she looked.

"Well the dance will be fun," Ben assured his friends. "Didn't you guys have fun at the after party for my coronation?"

"Heck yeah," Jay smiled. "Just wish I hadn't wasted my time with Audrey."

Evie nodded. "And I danced the night away with.... With... Doug." She smiled softly and looked down at her lap.

"We'll all hang out," Mal assured her. "Right guys?"

"Yeah," Carlos agreed.

"We're gonna dance until our legs fall off," Jay laughed.

The rest of the group rolled their eyes, knowing how much Jay loved dancing. The only thing he loved more than dancing at parties, was winning dance contests at parties.

"Well I'm done for the day, so I'll be seeing you all later," Evie smiled, getting up.

"Don't you have Social Graces?" Carlos asked.

"Are you skipping?" Jay said in awe.

"No," Evie corrected. "I'm excused. They're taking a fieldtrip to the jail, and I don't feel like facing my mother."