She Could Be Mine || A Malvie Fanfic

XIX

Mal

I couldn't stop thinking about my mom. It was like she was trying to reach me, to escape. I exhaled a breath and made my way to my history class.

Towards the end of class, my phone buzzed in my jacket pocket. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked it under the desk. It was from Evie. Meet me in the quad right after school. My heart stopped for half a second. I typed with lightning speed. Is something wrong?

I almost held my breath as I waited for her reply. Finally, I felt the vibration in my hand. Yes. My heart dropped. We haven't been on a real first date. I exhaled out loud, and my heart practically soared. She wanted to go on a real date! I smiled at my phone.

"Miss Moors!" my teacher yelled at me. "What is more important than my history lecture?"

"Nothing," I replied, shutting my phone off. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It better not," she glared at me. I didn't even care that I got called out. I was too excited.

~

I practically ran to the quad after my last class that day. When I arrived, Evie was already waiting for me on one of the wooden benches. I ran over to her and sat down next her, almost scaring her to death. "Hey, Mal," she said.

"So... what are we doing?" I asked excitedly.

"It's a surprise," she smiled mischievously. "Here. Put this on." She handed me a black blindfold.

"What? Why? I'm not putting this on."

"Mal, just do it!" she exclaimed. "I want to surprise you."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Okay, okay." I covered my eyes with the blindfold and tied it loosely in the back. Evie took my hand and helped me stand up from the bench.

"Okay, now follow my lead," she instructed.

"I don't really have a choice," I said sarcastically. She started to lead me somewhere through the grass field. After a while of walking on unsteady ground, we reached a door. She held it open for me and led me inside to an air-conditioned building. I could tell even through the blindfold that it was significantly darker than outside. I heard Evie's heels clicking against a tile floor, maybe wood. We walked down several hallways until Evie finally stopped me.

"Okay, take off the blindfold," she commanded.

"Yes, ma'am," I smiled. I untied the blindfold and slid it off my eyes. I gazed at my surroundings. We were in a dark room lit up by candlelight. In the center of the room, Evie had placed a picnic blanket and a basket of food. I looked at the walls surrounding us. They were painted plain white, and there were several paintings with information cards hung next to them, all roped off by velvet ropes.

"Why are we in the museum?" I asked while sitting down.

"This was where we had our first big adventure in Auradon," Evie smiled. "I thought it would be sentimental and a nice place to have our first date."

"In the middle of the day?" I laughed. "How did you manage that?"

"I may have pulled some strings with Fairy Godmother," Evie smiled mischievously.

"This is amazing," I said happily. "Let's eat some food." Evie laughed and started dishing out little sandwiches and salads. We laughed and talked as we ate. We finished the food quickly.

"What do you want to do now?" Evie asked me as I finished eating my last tiny sandwich.

"I don't know," I said.

"Let's go explore the museum," she suggested. She stood up and held out her hand to help me. Once we both were off the floor, she led me out of the room and into the rest of the museum.

We admired the history of Auradon as we explored the museum. Finally, we reached the place I knew very well. The place where they keep life-size statues of our parents -- the villains of Auradon. Just like last time, I couldn't tear my eyes away from my mother's statue. My mind flashed back to this morning. My heart began racing, and I started to breathe heavily. I felt myself almost hyperventilating. My head started to become lighter. My world seemed to be crashing down around me for just a second. I felt a sense of disconnection; I didn't even realize when I yelled for Evie until she was at my side.

Evie

I rushed to Mal's aid as quickly as possible. "Mal, what's going on?" I panicked. She was hyperventilating and shaking. Her eyes started to glow a bright green like they did when she was anxious or scared. I helped her to the ground and she clung to me for dear life. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. I sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. I let her lean her head against my shoulder. She closed her eyes but continued to breathe unsteadily.

I spoke to her quietly, mumbling words of encouragement to soothe her. I coached her through breathing exercises to try to slow down her breathing. Slowly but surely, her shaking steadied and her breathing slowed. She opened her eyes, and they were still glowing. I continued to soothe her and hold her until she calmed down. Finally, her eyes slowly faded back to their normal color.

For a while, she didn't say anything. She just laid there in my arms, inhaling and exhaling slowly and deeply. She closed her eyes for a while, and then opened them again to look at me.

"E," she finally mumbled, "what happened?"

"I don't know, M," I whispered. "What were you thinking?"

"I saw my mom," she said. "And I remembered that this morning, it seemed like she was trying to escape her cage."

"Did that scare you?"

"Yeah," she said quietly. "A little bit."

I nodded in a moment of realization. Panic attacks were a normal occurrence on the Isle. I knew what one looked like by heart. My heart's pace quickened just a little bit at the memory of the Isle. I hadn't seen a panic attack in a long time. I closed my eyes and prayed that I never, ever had to see one again -- especially from someone I love so much.