Stolen Waters (Descendants Jay x OC)

Chapter 32

Jay POV

Relieved and excited, Jay exited the car. He had finally done it! He had asked Syl to Cotillion. And she had said yes! He had been wanting to make a move ever since he had met her, but he had always been so nervous that she wouldn't return his affections.

In his excitement, he almost walked into Carlos, just stopping before he did. Carlos was watching the scene folding out before them, and curious, Jay watched too.

Ben was talking to Jane, while Mal stood to the side with Evie, watching them.

"Hold on," Ben was telling Jane. He spoke to Mal. "Do you want to cancel?"

Jane looked up at Ben and her mouth opened.

Jane looked from Ben to Mal. "Oh! I can come back. But, you know, like really, really soon."

"No, no, no. Now's fine," said Ben, turning back to Jane. Then, after a beat, he leaned in toward Mal, put a hand on her lower back, and whispered something to her. They gave each other one last long glance before walking away with Jane to talk last-minute details for the event.

Evie took Mal by the arm. "We need to talk," Evie told her, starting to walk away.

Jay went to leave as well, but Carlos cut in. "No," he said.

Jay looked at him and Evie and Mal turned around to face him.

"No?" Evie asked.

"No," Carlos said. "You guys are always going off in a huddle, whispering all your girl talk stuff, or whatever, and Jay and I are tired of it," He looked at Jay.

"I'm not," Jay protested, unsure of whether he should get into Evie and Mal's business.

Carlos ignored him. "We're your family too," he told Mal. "We've been through a lot together. We're not stopping now. So everybody sit." Carlos sat on the grass with Dude in his lap. jay hesitated for a minute before sitting down next to him. Evie and Mal sat, too.

"I don't actually know how to start girl talk." Carlos's eyes shifted from person to person.

Mal and Evie giggled uncomfortably.

"Whaddup?" Jay said in an attempt to break the ice.

Everyone looked at each other.

"Well..." Mal started.

Jay and the others looked at her. Mal looked back at them. "I'm a mess," she confessed, beginning to cry. "Six months ago, I was stealing candy from babies, and now... everybody wants me to be the lady of the court. And I can't keep up with the act."

"Then don't," said Carlos.

"See? This was dumb,"said Jay, planting his hands in the grass and moving to stand. Maybe he could get Syl to talk to Mal. She always knew the right things to say.

"Maybe it wasn't," said Evie.

Jay sank back down.

Evie took Mal's hands. "We're always going to be the kids from the Isle. I tried to forget it, but those are our roots. And we did what we had to do to survive. But it made us who we are. And we're never going to be like anybody else here. And that's okay."

"And we can't fake it," added Carlos.

"Yeah, especially without my spell book," said Mal.

"If Ben doesn't love the real you, he's not the one," said Carlos.

Jay agreed, and Evie seemed to as well. She looked at Mal. "I like that."

"Give him a chance," Carlos said.