Princess of Hearts

Mal's Gone

After school, I walked back to my dorm. When I entered, I could already tell Evie was getting ready to do Lonnie's dress fitting. She probably went to go get her. I walked over to the desk when I noticed something: Maleficent was gone. I walked over to the tank that Mal usually kept her in. It was then I realized Mal's jacket from the Isle was gone as well. I walked over to the desk it confusion and fear. It was then I saw it. There was a note on the desk with Mal's ring that Ben gave her. I read the note.

Evie, Heather,

I'm so so so sorry. I can't do this anymore. I can't keep on being somebody I'm not. I'm going back to the Isle to find myself. Please take care of yourselves and the boys for me. I love you.

-Mal

I had to sit down on the desk. I read the note probably around ten times before I finally broke down in tears. It was really bad timing as Evie and Lonnie entered the room. They were laughing and giggling, but they soon stopped as soon as they saw me. "Heather, what happened?" Evie asked frantically. I couldn't bring myself to speak, so I just showed her the note. Evie's face was shocked as soon as she finished.

"E," I said, handing her the ring.

"W-We have to tell Ben," Evie said. She then turned to Lonnie. "Lonnie, I'm so, so sorry. But we have to-"

"I understand," Lonnie said. "I probably should be heading over to the gym anyways."

"Thanks," Evie said as she grabbed my arm and we were out the door. 

We approached Ben's office quickly. "Ben?" Evie said as she opened the door just a crack.

"Evie! Heather!" Ben greeted happily. "Come on in."

Ben's smile dropped as soon as he saw our facial expression. "Mal's gone back to the Isle," Evie told him. I breathed heavily as I handed him the note that Mal left for us. He began reading the note frantically. "Ben," Evie said as she handed Ben the ring.

"This is my fault. This is my fault," Ben said with guilt in his voice. "I-I blew it. She's been under so much pressure lately, and instead of being understanding, I just went all beast on her." Ben looked out his window for a second before making a decision that neither Evie nor me could imagine him doing. "I have to go there and apologize. I have to go there and-and beg her to come back."

"Ben, you'll never find her," I told him.

"Ben, you need to know the Isle and how it works and..." Evie began. "You have to take me with you."

"Yes!" Ben said immediately. "Uh, are-are you sure?"

Evie nodded. "Yeah, she's my best friend. And we'll bring the boys too because there's safety in numbers and none of us is really too popular over there right now."

I took a deep breath; I couldn't believe I was actually doing this. "I'm coming too," I stated.

Both Ben and Evie looked at me in surprise. "B-But Heather," Evie started. "Your panic attacks. The Isle is the whole reason you have them, and if you have one on the Isle and there's no way to stop it, I don't know if-"

"Evie," I said, cutting her off. "I've lived on the Isle my entire life just as you, Mal, Jay, and Carlos have. I think I'll be fine. Plus, we can't worry about my problems right now; we have to worry about Mal."

Evie nodded in response. "Thank you," Ben said from behind us.

"But let's get two things straight," Evie said, facing the young king. "You have to promise me that we won't get stuck there again. Especially Heather."

"I promise."

"And there's no way you're going looking like that," Evie said bluntly.

Ben looked at me in confusion. I just nodded my head and shrugged my shoulders. Evie was right; Ben couldn't go to the Isle looking all kingly and such. He needed a new look, which I knew Evie had something up her sleeve for him.

Evie and I began walking back to our dorms. "Hey," Evie began. "I have to get started on Ben's clothes for the Isle. Do you think you could inform the boys of what's going on?"

"Yeah," I replied.

Before we parted our separate ways, Evie stopped me. "Heather, are you sure you want to go back? I remember when Mal and Ben went on their first date, you were crying to me that you didn't want to go back. Especially with your panic attacks, I really don't think this is a good idea. You don't have to go back if you don't want to."

"Evie, I can do this. I think at least. Let's just not think about what the worse of all of this could be. I'm going," I told her.

Evie nodded. "Alright. I'll see you later."

I waved back at her as I headed for Jay and Carlos' dorm. Once I approached it, I knocked on the door. Carlos was the one to answer it. "Heather, what are you doing here?" His smile then dropped when he saw the solemn look in my face. He could tell I had been crying and was distraught. He quickly pulled me into the room and shut the door. "What happened?"

Jay, who was lying on his bed, got up quickly as he, too, saw the sad expression on my face. He quickly rushed up to me. "Who do I need to beat up?" he asked. "Are you hurt?"

"There's nobody to beat up," I said. "It's just....Mal went back to the Isle of the Lost."

"What?" Jay asked in shock.

I looked over to Carlos who was in just as much shock. "Mal went back to the Isle because of all the pressure she's been put under lately," I told them. "Ben wants to go get her, but Evie and I told him there's no way he can do it alone because he knows next to nothing of how the Isle works."

"We have to go because without us, Ben doesn't stand a chance. And what would happen if, by any chance, someone on the Isle recognized Ben as the king," Carlos added.

"Exactly," I exclaimed. "That's why we have to go with him to go get Mal."

"How are we going to find her?" Carlos asked.

"If I know Mal, she's most likely at that hideout we had," Jay mentioned.

"That's probably where she is," I said. "We'll meet you guys later after dark. Probably want to start digging through dressers and closet for your Isle clothes," I said before I left the boys room.

As I walked back to my room, all I could think about was Mal on the Isle. I hope everything goes okay. I thought.