Uncovered

Chapter 8: The Aftermath

EVIE

When I finish helping Doug with his Home Ec assignment, sewing a dress, I head straight to my room. Mal's probably back by now since she was released this morning. I open the door to something totally unexpected. Carlos and Mal are on the beds which are still pushed together. Her head is on his chest and her eyes, even though their closed, look puffy. She's asleep, but Carlos isn't.

"How long have you been there?" I ask taking off my jacket.

"I have no idea" Mal moves slightly, but she doesn't wake up, "She cried herself to sleep"

"She was crying?" I sit on the edge of the bed

"She broke up with Ben" he strokes Mal's hair.

"WHAT!" I raise my voice and Mal stirs. "When? Why? How? I mean-"

"Slow down Evie" he interrupts, "All I know is she broke up with him. She said something about always getting him in trouble and not getting the kingdom's approval, but I couldn't really understand her through the sobs".

"Poor Mal" I look down and think about the situation, "and poor Ben, I can't imagine what he's going through".

A quick know I on the door catches my attention. I leave Carlos and Mal on the bed and go open the door.

"Ben!" I'm shocked to see him.

"Where Mal?" His voice is frantic, "I need to talk to Mal?"

I close the door behind me and joint Ben in the hall. He doesn't look like he's been crying, but his expression is a mixture of worried, confused, and eager.

"She's asleep" I cross my arms, "Ben, what the hell happened?"

"I don't even know" he runs his hand through his hair, "one second she's fine and then she starts talking about how we can't be together anymore and-" his voice cracks and his hands are shaking.

"What happened to Audrey?" I try distracting him from having a full blown breakdown.

"She was in Fairy Godmother's office the last time I saw her" he takes in a deep breath and calms down a little, "Her parents and her grandmother were also there. Fairy Godmother is getting as much information about the blog as she can. I overheard that Audrey is finishing this year, but she is not going to be allowed back for senior year".

"That sucks" I mutter.

"For her" Ben spits out harsher than I would expect. "What should I do Evie?"

"Right now you need to give her some space" I say genuinely, "this dark magic vs. light magic thing has taken a toll on her, and she would probably kill me if she heard me but she can't handle all this drama on her own".

"Who says she's on her own?" He debates, "she's got you, Carlos, Jay, and she's got me"

"Maybe we see it that way" I explain, "but Mal wants to handle it all on her own. It's how she was raised, and it's going to take some time for her to realize she can't do it alone". He doesn't respond. "Go" I push him towards the exit, "relax, take a bath, get a massage, whatever, just give it some time". He leaves involuntarily with a miserable expression on his face.

I go back into my room and sit with Carlos and Mal until Jay decides to join us. This has gone on for far too long, and it needs to stop.

"We need to do something" I interrupt the boys who were talking. "I know you said we should wait and see if it would just pass" I turn to Jay. "But it's not, and it's testing Ben and Mal apart".

"We tried tracking down the person online and it didn't work" Carlos reminded

"Then we try something else" I encourage them. "Whatever it takes" I put my hand in.