Always by your side - a Descendants story (Bal)

Chapter 2

Mal's POV

'Good morning class,' mrs. Delvon said. She was a quite small and old lady, with a very friendly appearance. It was like everyone literally loved her, but she also loved everyone.

'Good morning mrs. Delvon,' the class said in unison.

'As you all know, we've finished the fairytale of Cinderella, so now we're moving on to the next story. Go to page 296,' she said.

I went to page 296, and there I read what I hoped never to read. The story of The Sleeping Beauty. This was just what I had feared for for the last few months. Everytime we began with a new story, I hoped it wasn't this one.

Ben saw my face turning pale. He knew I had feared for this moment. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

'It'll be fine, alright? You didn't do anything wrong, remember?' He looked right into my eyes and I smiled a little.

'Thank you,' I whispered and squeezed his hand.

'So, who wants to start reading?' Mrs. Delvon asked and she looked around.

And of course, the last person I wanted to read, raised her hand.

'Yes, Audrey. Thank you. If you can read the first paragraph, out loud please,' mrs Delvon told Audrey.

Audrey who sat diagonally ahead of me, turned her head quickly and slightly to face me and gave me a kinda evil smirk. I turned my head to the other side, avoiding eye contact with her. Ben saw what happened and pulled me closer towards him, trying to comfort me.

Audrey began to read.

'Many, many years ago, there was born a princess called Aurora. She was the only daughter of King Stefan and Queen Leah. And as in tradition, there was a christening, where a lot of people were invited to. But of course, not everyone was invited. And some people just let it go, but some people would seek revenge. So when Maleficent, an evil fairy, heard about the royal baby, but thereafter not was invited to the christening, she was really angry. So she decided to, crash the christening and before anyone could do something, she cursed the baby,  foretelling that she will die on her 16th birthday by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle. Merryweather could, fortunately, change the curse. Now, she would fall asleep and could only wake up by true love's kiss. Trying to prevent the curse, the three good fairies raised her as a peasant in order to protect her, patiently awaiting her 16th birthday, the day the spell is to be broken by a kiss from her true love, Prince Philip.' Audrey ended reading with a proud smile on her face.

I could only look down to the ground. I knew that that wasn't my fault, but it was still my mother in that story. And I could feel, when Audrey read the name of my mom, people gave me a quick look.

'Thank you, Audrey. So that was a little summary of the story. In the other paragraphs, we'll look at the different characters in the story and we are gonna look at the storyline and its background in more detail. Are there any questions for now?' mrs. Delvon looked around the classroom. No one raised their hand.

'Alright then. You can make exercise 1, 2, 3 and 4 to test your foreknowledge. When everyone is done with that, we're gonna check your answers,' mrs. Delvon said.

'Don't pay any attention to Audrey. That's just what she wants, for you to feel miserable,' Ben said to me and gave me a hug.

'You're right,' I said with a little smile. 'We should get to work,'

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Mal's POV

'Alright class, in a few minutes the bell will ring, so you can pack your stuff. Wednesday we'll continue the story and we'll have a closer look at the characters. But for now, good job and I'll see you Wednesday,' mrs. Dolvin said while everyone was packing their stuff.

The bell rang and we walked out of the classroom. I said goodbye to Ben and walked to geography. Suddenly I bumped into someone.

'Hey, look out where you're going, you wretch,' Audrey said angrily.

'Uhmm excuse me, you're the one who should watch where you're going,' I said with a piercing look.

'Do you even know who you are talking to? I should watch my mouth if I were you. You don't want trouble with me y'know,' she said.

Without me even realizing it, my eyes glowed bright green. Audrey jumped backwards by seeing it.

'Now you listen to me. You probably seem not to realize who YOU are talking to. I won't let myself be threatened by some prissy pink princess like you, alright,' I said back. I was getting really angry at this point, but I wasn't going to lose control over myself, not because of her.

Audrey's head turned red. She seemed not to be really scared by my words. She seemed more to be getting really angry.

'Now you're going too far. I swear, you're gonna regret the day you were born. I'm not afraid of someone like you. You seem to have everything now, don't you? But watch out, it won't be any longer. Ben will see that it was a big mistake to choose you above me. You're just a villain and that's the only thing you'll ever be. And by the way, no one would ever make a villain a queen. Even Ben, who always gives everyone a chance, won't be that stupid to make some villain like you his queen. Keep that mind, alright?' After she said that she walked away, leaving me alone.

For some reason her words hurted me. Maybe she was right. Why would he ever choose me if he could have literally everyone else. I felt tears coming up, but I didn't care. A tear ran down my cheek. I fell to the ground, with my knees drawn up to my chest.

I heard footsteps getting closer, but I didn't look up. I just sat there crying and staring to the ground.

'Mal!' Ben shouted. 'What happened?!'

'A-Audrey,' was the only thing I could get out of my mouth. I don't know why her words hit me that hard.

He picked me up and carried me to his office. He sat in one of the chairs and put me on his lap. I was still crying, but I felt a little better because of Ben. I buried my head into his chest and he hugged me tightly while rubbing my back. We just sat there for a few minutes without saying anything, just letting my tears come out.

'Mal?' Ben said.

'Yeah?' I said back.

'I love you,' he said.

I looked up into his eyes and felt a warm feeling going through my body.

'Why?' I asked.

'Why what?' He said confused.

'Why do you love me? I mean, you could get anyone you want. And out of all people, all princesses, you chose me, the daughter of the most evil villain ever exist. Why would you love me?' I asked still a little shaking.

'Because, the very first moment I saw you, I got that magical feeling that I had never felt before. And still everytime I see you, I've got the exact same feeling. You can't choose who you love. You love someone, or you don't. And I just know that we are meant to be together, because I've always loved you and I will never stop loving you. Will you please promise me to never forget that?' He said still looking right into my eyes.

'I promise,' I said with a little smile.

'And never let Audrey or anyone else tell you otherwise, alright?' He said.

'Alright,' I said.

He pulled me closer to him and we locked our lips. He always knew how to make me feel better. I got a warm feeling inside, I wanted this moment to never end.

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