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Mal’s life was pretty miserable on a day to day basis but today was just cruel . It started off normal enough which meant waking up extra early to avoid her mother in the morning. Except for whatever fucking reason her mother was already awake. That had been the first bad sign-her mother hated mornings (as did Mal) and it probably meant Mal had done something wrong again . Except Mal’s not always sure she’s actually doing things wrong; she’s starting to think her mother just likes being mad. Thinking about that too much gets confusing though so she brushes off the “am I a shitty kid or is she a shitty mom?” debate and tries to slip out of the house before being spotted. Of course she doesn’t make it though because Maleficent seems to always know everything. Seriously, it’s creepy and Mal isn’t convinced that her house isn’t riddled with cameras.
Anyway, Mal was right. Her mother was in a horrible mood (is she ever not?) and lectured Mal in all the ways she wasn’t living up to expectations, blah blah. Mal stopped listening years ago. She finally managed to make her escape after giving all of the rehearsed responses (“I’m sorry for being such a burden” “Of course, Mother” “I’ll do better”) but the whole thing made her miss the early bus so she had to walk to the train. Which wouldn’t really have been that big of an issue except-she was tired and wanted to sleep more hence the bus. Whatever.
The walk itself ended up not actually being that bad, kind of almost nice, and everything was going fine again up until she got off the train. That’s when Mal realized she left her fucking bag on her seat. Now she kind of wanted to cry because like-Mal doesn’t own a lot but she liked that bag. Even worse her sketchbook was inside and it wasn’t like full or anything but any lost art at all makes Mal really want to cry. Mal doesn’t cry though and especially not in fucking public so she does what she’s best at and pretends she doesn’t care. Except she’s so exhausted and okay she still sort of has the “am I the problem or is my mother? Or is it both?” debate in her head even if she really doesn’t want to and she really cared about the dragon sketch she had been working on last night and-well it's harder than usual to shrug everything off.
She was running behind her usual schedule but because of her typical early morning starts anyway she still had enough time before class to get coffee and Mal was certain that if she didn’t get coffee in the next 5 minutes she going to actually cry. And that would be really bad because again-Mal doesn’t cry. That’s like basically admitting defeat and she won’t give her mother that satisfaction. Vaguely she’s aware that these are like, not normal mother daughter thoughts but she doesn’t have time for that this morning.
The line at the coffee shop was so long Mal briefly considered skipping it all together but after having thought about it for more than one second-yeah she needed this. So she waited (and waited and waited) and did her best not to make eye contact with anyone but luckily everyone else was sick of being awake in the morning and no one was feeling very chatty. Some guy already seated at a table was staring at her though and like, okay she knows she pulls a lot of attention with her vibrant hair and loud style but it was creepy and she was so not in the mood to be stared at by some guy so that made her uncomfortable the whole time. When it was finally Mal’s turn at the register she asked for a simple iced coffee and did her best not to snap at the nice barista who had probably never done anything wrong in their life. She reached for her wallet in her bag and then-oh my god. The wallet was in her bag. Her bag that was on a train going who knows where. She could tell the exact moment the barista figured out what was going on because they gave Mal the saddest most pitying look and she wanted to shrivel up and die. She must have looked like she was on the verge of a fucking breakdown because the barista actually paid for her drink and Mal promised to definitely come back again the next day.
In the back of her head Mal can’t help but think about how much her mother would enjoy hearing how awful Mal’s morning was going-and how much she’d love to lecture Mal about losing her things. Even if Maleficent thought Mal’s art was a waste of time.
They probably didn’t take any longer than usual to make her drink but Mal was barely holding on and the clock was ticking and she was cutting it so close to missing the first bell. As soon as they called her name Mal grabbed her coffee and bolted. If she walked really fast and nothing else happened she could make it to school in time. She didn’t start to relax until she could see the weirdly perfect green hills of Auradon Prep. Usually Mal enjoyed the walk through her school (it really was a beautiful area) but she was too miserable this morning.
She was so miserable and hurried that she didn’t even notice the overgrown tree roots jutting out of the ground and tripped right over one. Mal, who had pretty good natural balance, was able to catch herself before she actually face planted but her drink wasn’t so lucky. Mal’s desperately needed iced coffee (that she hadn’t even taken a sip of yet) slipped out of her grip and crashed onto the grass, spilling everywhere. Mal just stood there, frozen, and stared at the coffee seeping into the ground. This was too much.
“I am so sick of being alive.” Mal wanted to just sit down and never move again.
“That’s a shame,” someone said, nearby. Mal jerked her head up and stumbled back a step, surprised at the drop dead gorgeous girl approaching her. “You look like someone I’d love to know and I can’t do that if you’re not around.”
Mal was dumbfounded. This was the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen in her entire life, she was sure of it, and she was talking to Mal and also she had definitely just seen Mal throw her coffee everywhere and almost face plant. She thanked whatever gods in the world that she hadn’t actually fallen.
The girl spoke up again and Mal realized she’d just been staring this whole time. Could this day get worse? “I’m Evie.” She held out her hand and Mal, not wanting to look even more awkward than she already did, rushed to shake it and in the process probably ended up just being even weirder and too eager. Then Mal sort of just like, held her hand? Mal had never held a hand so soft before and she definitely forgot to let go right away. The girl-Evie-was smiling like Mal was being funny. “I think this is the part where you tell me your name.”
Oh my god. “Mal,” she says quickly, “I’m sorry, hi I’m Mal. That’s my name. Yeah.” Why is she still talking?
Evie’s smile turned into something more playful. “Hi Mal.” She opened her mouth to say something else but at that moment the starting bell rang out across the entire campus and Mal went white. She was supposed to be in class right now and like any other day she really wouldn’t care that much but. She’s just so overwhelmed with her entire morning and now this literal model is staring at her like Mal might be kind of crazy and-oh my god she’s crying .
“Oh my god,” she says, out loud this time, before Evie can say anything else. “I’m so sorry. I swear I’m not usually a mess. Well I mean I probably am but like I don’t- I never cry. Especially not in front of girls too pretty to actually exist.” Mal thinks Evie might have blushed a little and then her brain catches up and she realizes what she actually said and Mal’s face burns . “I didn’t, I mean I shouldn’t,” she stumbles over her words, not even sure what she’s trying to say. This is the worst fucking day ever and Mal is such a fucking idiot. “I’m so sorry. Again. I’m having, like, the worst day of my life please just forget the past 10 minutes.”
Mal has to commend Evie for not looking totally freaked out. This girl has some serious will power and patience. “Mal, it’s okay. I promise you have nothing to apologize for.” Yeah right, bullshit. Mal is apologizing everyday of her life. Evie’s face softens and the look she gives Mal is so honest that Mal has no idea what to think. Evie brings a hand carefully up to Mal’s face and she tenses for a second but Evie just rubs a thumb against her cheek, brushing away tears. Mal is pretty sure she stopped breathing like an hour ago and her brain does not know how to handle any of this. She’s pretty sure no one has ever been this caring in her whole life and it’s overwhelming just like every other part of her morning. Well actually no-it’s a different overwhelming. When Evie lowers her hand again Mal misses the contact. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Evie seems genuine but Mal would never talk to someone like that. “No, no,” she says, closing her eyes tight for a second and making sure the crying has stopped completely. “It’s totally fine, really, it’s just,” and then Mal, having no idea what’s happening, just keeps talking. She barely even thinks about it as she tells Evie all about her morning from her mother delaying her, leaving her stuff on the train, the guy in the cafe and her missing wallet. All the way up to the iced coffee at their feet. “-and when I realized I was not making it to class on time it was just too much,” she finishes, nearly out of breath because she barely stopped at all. “Oh my god class. Did I just ruin your morning? I’m so sorry,” Mal says again, talking too fast. She’s always ruining everything.To her absolute humiliation she thinks she might cry again and Evie (who has remained perfectly passive this whole time, bless her) looks panicked for the first time.
“Hey, hey,” she says softly, making sure to catch Mal’s eyes directly. “You didn’t, I don’t have class this morning. Promise.” She smiles carefully, like Mal might break (which- fair enough) and glances towards the buildings. “Do you want to go to class now? You’d be really late but I can walk you and we share the same art teacher who totally adores me.”
Mal literally can’t believe this girl is still being so nice to her. “No,” she answers. “I’m just…” she trails off. Mal really just wants to go home and lie in bed for the rest of the day but she definitely can’t go home before school is over or her mother will get super pissed and Mal doesn’t even like going home right after school either. “I don’t know what I’m going to do but I don’t think it’s going to be classes today.”
Evie gives her a wicked grin and Mal’s heart stops again. “In that case, can I buy you another coffee? I think I’ve found something much more interesting than my own classes as well.”
Mal can’t believe that Evie is willing to skip school for her (Auradon kids are so proper). Her first instinct is to say no of course (Mal doesn’t want to owe anyone anything) but then she has a thought and-well her face is burning again. “Are you, um, are you asking me out?”
“If you say yes, then absolutely. If you don’t want then I’d still like to take you as a friend,” Evie answers easily. “I’d really like option number one though.” She winks and Mal grows even more flustered than she thought possible.
“I’m saying yes,” she fumbles out and then, hoping it sounds smooth and not desperate, she adds, “but you have to go to dinner with me tomorrow.”
“I can definitely agree to that,” Evie responds and Mal swears there’s a dangerous twinkle in her eyes and she smirks at Mal, like she knows something Mal doesn’t. And then she raises their still joined hands and Mal understands and feels like sinking into the ground along with her coffee. “Did you want to hold hands the whole way there or do I get mine back? I totally don’t mind either way.”
“Oh, fuck ,” Mal whispers and Evie laughs. She laughs loudly, with her whole body, and Mal swears she’s just fallen in love because nothing in her whole life will get more beautiful than that.
Actually, all things considered, this might have been the best day of her life.