Wicked Love

Chapter 13

Audrey was fixing some stuff in her locker. When she closed it, she sees Jay standing right next to her.

"Hey, Jay," she greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, princess," greeted Jay.

"Let me guess. Your turn to pick a spot for our next date?" guessed Audrey.

"I know you prefer a simple picnic, but what I have in mind is a bit more... radical," said Jay.

"Does it involve me on roller skates or on a skateboard?" asked Audrey sarcastically.

"I was thinking a magic carpet ride," said Jay. "And this time, I bought it."

"That sounds nice," said Audrey. "When?"

"This Wednesday," answered Jay.

"Right, I forgot. Classes are cancelled that day," said Audrey. "Well, see you then."

Audrey kisses Jay on the cheek before walking to her next class. Jay just smiled as he watched her walk away.

"The princess and the thief."

Jay turns around and sees Carlos.

"You two are like Jasmine and Aladdin," he said.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," said Jay. "You okay? You look like you just got dumped. Did Mal dump you?"

"No, she didn't," said Carlos. "It's just... Jay, let's just say your girlfriend is hiding something big from you and you just found out and it's not good, what do you do?"

Jay's eyes widened at what he heard.

"Uh, what kind of secret?" asked Jay, pretending not to know.

"Something about curing me with a kiss," said Carlos. "Is something wrong with me?"

"Other than the fact that you practically stole Mal from Ben, not really," replied Jay. "Look, uh... I don't really have the answer to this so, um... good luck with that."

Jay walks away from Carlos.

- ROTTEN TO THE CORE -

Mal was lying down on her bed, fiddling with fire magic, while Evie was knitting a purple dress.

Someone knocked on the door. "Guys!"

The girls recognized the voice as Jay's. Evie lets him in.

"We have a big problem," said Jay.

"Uh, hello," said Evie.

"Right, uh, hi," said Jay, trying to be polite.

"What problem?" asked Mal.

"Carlos is onto us," said Jay. "He knows about the love spell and the cure."

"What?!" Both girls exclaimed.

"When was last time you two talked about the plan?" asked Jay.

"Last night," answered Mal. "Oh, no. He must've overheard us."

"Well, you were shouting," said Evie.

Mal glared at the daughter of Evil Queen.

"Okay, not what?" asked Jay. "He knows. This is, like, not good."

"I'll talk to him," said Mal.

"But what will you tell him?" asked Evie.

"The truth," said Mal.

"Won't he hate you for that?" said Jay. "You lied about liking him and just pretended to enjoy spending time with him."

"That's where you're wrong, Jay," said Mal. "I was only pretending that I was pretending to like him."

Mal gets up and walks out the door.

Jay scratches his head in confusion. Evie just shrugs at him.

- ROTTEN TO THE CORE -

After school, Mal runs after Carlos, who was heading back to his dorm.

"Carlos!" She called.

"What do you want?" asked Carlos.

"Jay told me that you knew," said Mal.

"You lied to me," said Carlos. "That cookie you gave me. There was a love spell in it, wasn't there? You were trying to get me to tell Jane how I feel. And when that didn't work, you were just trying to keep me happy."

Carlos tried to walk away, but Mal grabbed his arm.

"Carlos, wait," said Mal. "I know that you love me. I mean, for real."

"But you don't love me," said Carlos sadly.

"No, Carlos, that wasn't a lie," said Mal. "I... I... I do love you. I've always had."

"Then why not just kiss me?" asked Carlos. "Isn't curing me the plan?"

"The plan was to get you to open up to Jane, but I guess plans change," said Mal. "And I wasn't sure about kissing you, because... because it would mean that... you and me... I didn't know how you would react if you found out."

"You ever wondered how I knew?" asked Carlos.

"You were eavesdropping," said Mal.

"Because you walked away from me last night without a word," said Carlos. "I wanted to be sure we were still good. Then I figured out there was no we at all."

Not knowing what else to say, Mal leans towards Carlos, but he pushes her away.

"You think that curing me is gonna fix this?" asked Carlos. "Like I said, I may be in love with you, but I'm not stupid. Cure or no cure, this right here, it's broken and it's not gonna be easy to fix."

Carlos walks away from Mal. The daughter of Maleficent was about to go after him, but after one step forward, she stops.

All she can do now is ask herself, What am I going to do?