[✔︎] 𝐈𝐅 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 ✫ POST-DESCENDANTS TWO ⁷

FOUR: Commotion

[ELISA]

Elisa reached where the commotion had occurred: Mal was being questioned by reporters again. She watched Maddie try to help the blonde to no avail. She herself was being questioned by the reporters now.

The reporters were vicious and asked questions that seemed too personal. Elisa had never enjoyed her experience with them. She'd hated it very much but she had to deal with it. She was the daughter of a princess. Of course they would want to know what was going on in her life, what had changed.

"Maddie!" A reporter talking to Mal called as Maddie's eyes widened as she walked closer, standing next to her newly blonde friend.

"Hi?" Maddie said as she was blinded by the cameras flashing.

"Maddie!" A reporter said. "How does it feel fitting into Auradon and not being called crazy?"

Correction: she was still called crazy though nobody dared call her it in front of Mal, Evie and the other VKs or in front of Ben and in front of the teachers...

Chad still managed.

"How does it feel being friends with the king?" Another reporter asked.

"What would you like to tell us about the identity of your mother?"

The questions caught her off guard and just like Mal, she couldn't answer any of them.

Maddie's head started spinning as she backed away from the reporters, stopping once she reached Ben, taking a deep breath.

"Are you not going to help her?" Maddie asked, tilting her head to the side, twirling a strand of her hair with her finger. "They really shouldn't be asking questions like that."

"She got this." Ben said taking another bite from his apple. "She can handle herself. I don't always have to be the one who saves her. She can stand up for herself. And I know, their questions are kind of personal."

"I guess you're right:" Maddie asked though she was proven wrong by the next question that came out of the reporter's mouth.

"Is your mother still a lizard?" A reporter asked Mal, as none of them seemed to give her time to answer, each firing questions and hoping for answers. Mal blinked stunned by the amount of questions being thrown her way.

"You know what? I change my mind." Ben said, standing next to Mal as he answered the question. "We'll let you know if and when the situation changes."

"Did you ever think you'd be with a VK?" A reporter asked.

Ben looked at them, laughing dryly, half heartedly.

"We're done here." Ben said leaning down towards the microphone.

And good thing they were saved by the lovely Fairy Godmother who hushed the reporters as Evie swooped in beside them.

"If you don't do a fitting right now you'll be dancing in a bathrobe." Evie said to Maddie and Mal who looked at her not knowing how to respond.

"Sorry." Mal said grabbing Maddie's wrist as she waved to Ben.

Ben was swarmed by reporters right as soon as they left so it felt like all of that had been done in vain. The reporters repeated the questions they had asked, as if they'd hoped for a change in answer now that Mal was gone. But the answers remained the same and they seemed quite sad. If there was no new drama to report what was there to be done? Surely there had to be drama in the royal family. They couldn't be so accepting of Mal.

But they were and the reporters didn't know how to stop and realize what questions were appropriate and that the royal family thought things in a completely different perspective.

Elisa waded her way through the reporters, ignoring the flashes of the cameras.

"Elisa!" A reporter called, though she tried to pay them no mind.

"Elisa!" Another called. "How do you feel about Annalina and Gino's relationship?"

"Are you really keen in splitting them up?" Another asked.

"How does it feel that all your friends are finding love but you aren't?"

Elisa blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. She couldn't be that weak. She couldn't let happen. She couldn't break down in front of them. In front of cameras. That's what they wanted. She didn't want to be their new piece of gossip.

"That's enough." Ben said. "Thank you. Thank you. But I have a meeting to attend and Elisa has class."

The reporters tried shouting other questions at them but Ben was already leading them away.

He turned to Elisa.

"Thanks." Ben said. "Are you alright."

"I'm fine." Elisa said, wiping a tear that slid down her cheek.

"Don't let them get to you." Ben said. "They're not worth your time or energy."

"I know." Elisa said. "I don't want it to bother me but it does. Where do they get such ideas?'

"They're just making assumptions." Ben said. "I'm not saying they're true. But they've been trying to look for a new dramatic story and aren't really getting anywhere."

"I wonder why." Elisa said with a sigh. "They're so fucking messed up in the head. I don't know how they get their jobs. It's a stupid profession."

"I know." Ben said. "You sure you're okay?"

"I think so." Elisa said. "But there's some truth in what they said."

"Is there now?" Ben asked. "What would that be?"

"How I felt alone because all my friends were busy." Elisa said. "Busy with love. Busy with life. Then it makes me wonder what I'm doing with my life."

"The person you're meant to be with will show up in your life sooner or later." Ben said. "And you'll know when they've came."

"Is that how you feel about Mal?" Elisa asked.

"I love Mal." Ben said. "And you'll find your someone okay? Don't let them get to you."

"Thanks Ben." Elisa said. "Thanks for listening to me."

"No problem, Elisa. No problem at all." Ben said as he headed off to his meeting. Elisa sighed heading toward the courtyard so she could get to her next class.