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CHAPTER vi: CIRCLE OF LIFE
Kleo curses herself for getting lost in the light. Lost in the light of Auradon, of trying to be good, of what her life could have been, of being lost in the light with Ben. Now, it's to be completely blown out by she and her friends when they take that wand in front of all Auradon, among thousands of horrified eyes. And the worst ones to watch her break their trust and heart will be Ben's.
Kleo and her friends have already been shunned the last few days after what happened on Family Day. It's like the first day they arrived in Auradon: hundreds of Auradon students scared to death because Ben wanted to give them a chance to prove they were nothing like their villainous parents. Well, he was wrong. They were everything that their parents were and more. And he has let the enemy in without the knowledge of their revenge plot. Trojan Horse. He made it easy for them.
"Hey, Kleo, are you okay?" It's Tiger Peony. The native girl has been asking that a lot the past few days. She noticed how bummed out Kleo looked the past few days. She had been trying to cheer her up by taking her to Auradon's city and enjoy the sites, to get her mind off things, especially of what happened on Family Day.
Kleo repeats the lie she has been telling everyone. "I'm fine. Just thinking."
"Okay, well, if you wanna talk, I'll be here," says Tiger Peony before she resumes piecing together a bracelet at her desk.
Kleo nods. She checks the clock on her bedside table. It reads: 9:48 p.m. Curfew will be enforced soon, and she doesn't feel like causing any more trouble. So, she decides to bake the Anti-Love potion now.
The school's hallways are empty, but the lights are still on, that is for another, now, ten minutes. Hall monitors will be out warning kids about the curfew.
Just like she expected, the kitchen was empty. She got to work quickly, reading the instructions off of her phone carefully since she is not accustomed to magic, even when magic turned she and her family into humans.
About halfway through mixing the ingredients together, letting a single tear fall into the mix for 'A Tear of Human Sadness', a monsoon of emotions wave over her. How could she be so stupid! She didn't mean for any of this―caring so much about her (fake?) boyfriend and having to make him fall out of love with her minutes before he takes his place as King in the circle of life―go this far. Why did she even agree with all of her friends to play along with this once evil plan?
If only she had been to some goody-two-shoes Auradonian, maybe she wouldn't just feel this way at all. Because if she didn't have to feel so confused and hurt and so much melancholy, she wouldn't have to go through with this. It would be someone else's agonizing and heart wrenching problem.
She supposes if her father hadn't committed treason and just sucked it up and got over that fact that he would never be King, she could have been just like her cousins Simba, Nala, and Kato. Content with their lives and not have to look over their shoulders every five seconds or check their pockets if someone lowlife had pick-pocketed them. She'd be a princess―with tamed hair and well mannered, wear dresses and not know the feeling of being hated but envied.
