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"The Evil Queen has no royal status here, and neither do you."
Evie knows anger isn't a good colour on her, so she presses it down, swallows the rage, and steps back.
Audrey doesn't notice.
Carlos does, but he doesn't question it, he doesn't even look her way. He just knows.
When they are finally away from prying eyes, the four of them stuffed into a bedroom only fit for two, he asks, "What are you going to do?"
Evie grins, all teeth and bad intentions. "Break that little heart of hers."
He sighs, knowing, and expecting the fallout that is to ensue because of this, but doesn't try to stop her.
*
"I'll do it." Evie speaks up, uncharacteristically taking charge.
Mal raises a brow, but doesn't protest. "Okay, you give him the cookie, and pretend to be all lovey dovey with him until the coronation. Once you grab the wand, we'll get down there, and I'll break the barrier."
They all nod, the bits and pieces of their plan finally coming together.
Carlos gives Evie a look, as if he was asking her why she volunteered for this.
All she has to do is mouth Audrey, and he understands.
*
To Evie, boys have always been easy.
A look here, a touch there, a smile and a half, and they're completely under her control.
She giggles, shy, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, and Ben is leaning in closer than he was a moment ago.
She hasn't even given him the cookie yet.
"I'm sorry, but I really should be getting to practise."
He makes a move to leave, but then she pulls out the pout, the sad eyes, and he freezes for a moment.
A moment is all she needs.
"Oh... I understand... I just thought- um, never mind. Have a nice practise."
When she turns to leave, he stops her, and she smiles secretly to herself.
"No, wait! I can uh, stay for a bit, was there something you wanted to talk about?"
She lifts up the bag of cookies, sheepish and blushing, and he seems hesitant to take one at first, but that's quickly gone the moment her eyes water.
He takes a big bite, decisive, and is about to smile, before something shifts. His eyes lose focus, and he seems to drift out of consciousness for half a second, before he sees again.
When he regains his senses, all he sees is Evie, blue and beautiful, Evie.
*
Evie stands in the bleachers, cheering with half hearted enthusiasm, as she watches a bunch of boys run and tackle each other.
Mal is about as bored as she is, not even bothering to pretend like she wants to be there.
Then they win, she thinks, and Ben takes the microphone and looks right at her.
"Give me an E!"
Evie knows immediately where this is going, but feigns innocence.
"Give me a V!"
Audrey cheers, oblivious.
"Give me an I!"
Mal catches on, and opens her mouth as if to vomit.
"Give me an E!"
A few people turn to look at her, having finally noticed.
"What does that spell?"
She fakes like she's surprised, like she's a little embarrassed.
"Evie!"
Everybody cheers, loud and synonymous, but Evie zeroes her sights onto Audrey, onto the way her expression falls, the way her confusion is overtaken by anger, by bitterness, by despair.
"I love you, Evie! Will you go to the coronation with me?"
Evie yells out a 'Yes!' and pretends she's smiling ear to ear not because of Audrey, but because of him.
*
She'd always wondered what it would be like to go on a date with a prince.
It's surprisingly simple.
There's a picnic laid out, with food so fresh Evie has to wonder if it's real, and a view that she isn't sure how to take in.
The drab, dark colours she's grown so used to are nowhere to be seen now. And she lets herself be stunned for a moment, lets the date have at least some genuineness to it.
"Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone."
It's cute, she thinks, Ben wanting to know something about her that no one else does.
She doesn't think he's entirely ready though, for the real secrets she keeps, the dark ones.
"Hm... when I was younger, I had a crush on Mal."
The memory isn't very fond, not to Evie, but that doesn't mean it hadn't been pleasant.
Evie had always been drawn to powerful people, ever since she was a child. Mal was no different, she radiated this strength, this wrath, and Evie had been transfixed.
When she had asked Mal if she'd ever had a crush, Mal had only made this face of disgust, like romance was so beneath her, like it was unworthy of her time. Evie had recoiled, as if burned, but didn't hold that against the other girl. That was just one of the many things she had liked about her, after all.
"Really? Me too! I mean, not with Mal but, I had this crush on Chad when we were kids."
That surprises Evie. She's met Chad, she's heard him speak. Evie does not understand how anyone can like scum like him.
She doesn't say that though. Instead, she laughs, and makes sure not to smudge her lipstick when she pops another strawberry in her mouth.
"I have to ask... do you still... have any feelings for Audrey?" She asks this, with her lower lip trembling, like she's worried, like she's scared of losing him.
His hand reaches out to her as if on reflex, fingers brushing against her cheek, tilting her chin up so she was properly looking at him.
"I love you, Evie. I mean it. I was only dating Audrey before, because I thought that was what was expected of me. Trust me, I don't have any feelings for her, not anymore."
Evie hears a squeak from behind the trees, where Audrey had been hiding and watching them for the past ten minutes, and smiles unbelievably wide.
*
Audrey, for all her prettiness and charm, shacks up with Chad of all people.
It doesn't really make any sense to Evie.
"What do you want?" Audrey hisses, low, long nails tapping against her arm.
Evie doesn't act with her, doesn't think she needs to pretend with her. "Just wanted to see how heartbreak looks on you. I think it goes pretty well with all that pink."
She gapes, clearly not having actually expected Evie to respond with equal disdain.
"Wha- I knew it! You- you villains are awful! You haven't changed! I bet you even stole Ben as part of some big evil plan, didn't you?"
Evie has to give her props for figuring out that much at least.
"You would think, wouldn't you? But I didn't do anything to Ben, he fell for me all on his own." She lies effortlessly, with practised ease.
Audrey flushes, red and angry. "No way! I know you had something to do with it! He would never just- just dump me like that! It must've been because of your influence!"
Grinning, Evie twirls a strand of her hair between her fingers, playing coy. "You're free to ask him, if you'd like, I think he'd tell you otherwise though. But why does it matter now anyway? Don't you have Chad?"
Audrey's anger falters for just a moment, clearly having forgotten about her new boyfriend.
Evie almost laughs.
"That's unrelated! Ben's always been the love of my life, everybody knows it! We were supposed to get married, I was supposed to be Queen!"
This, Evie does laugh at, much to Audrey's dismay.
"We'll see who really has the royal status here." Evie promises, before disappearing around the corner.
*
Ben introduces Evie to his parents, and she turns on her charm and grace, goes through everything her mother has taught her, and executes it all without a hitch.
His parents seem caught off guard, like they had expected a girl with no manners, a girl with rough edges and the Isle written all over her skin.
Even this, to her, is a breeze.
She speaks to his mother with a small smile, polite, caring, a little withdrawn and shy. She sees Evie is not a threat, but a girl, so she smiles.
With Ben's father Evie is a little more playful, a little more relaxed, like a teenage girl trying to act like an adult, and he eases the tension in his brows, he loosens his shoulders.
Any time she turns her head slightly to the right, she catches a glimpse of Audrey, hanging off of Chad's arm, looking absolutely miserable. The sight fills Evie with so much glee that she has no idea how to contain it all.
Ben seems to misinterpret her excitement for nervousness.
"Worried?" He asks, slightly concerned.
She leans into him, and his assumptions. "Just a little. Do you think your parents liked me? What if they hate me? I don't want to mess anything up-"
He cuts her off before she can finish, dipping his head down to press his lips to hers.
Briefly, she wonders if Audrey is watching, before she gets caught up in the kiss.
Ben's a good kisser, she's surprised to find. She makes a mental note to kiss him more often.
"I'm sure they loved you."
Evie opens her mouth to reply, but before she can, someone shouts to her left, and her attention is whisked away.
Mal stands, defiant, looking as if she wanted nothing more than to breathe fire.
Jay has his arm out in front of her, stopping her from doing so.
Carlos is looking to Evie, silently begging her to make her way over.
She frowns, and both her and Ben make their way over to the commotion.
"... Her first words, her first steps, I missed it all!"
Carlos fills her in quickly, and Evie's eyes make a beeline for Audrey.
She looks smug, proud of the chaos that's occurring. Evie would give nothing more than to wipe that expression off her face.
Mal doesn't even get a chance to respond, before Chad is stepping up, intent on fuelling the fire as much as he can.
Then he turns to look at her, and his hand reaches out, and Evie can see Jay start to move in her peripherals, so she stops him with a little twitch of her lip.
He recognises that signal for what it is, so he stops in his tracks.
Evie lets Chad's hand, filthy and soiled, grab her arm, lets his stubby, dirty fingers leave a mark on her skin.
She cries out, as if the pain actually means anything to her, and jumps back in pretend fright.
Chad, startled by her response, drops his hand and takes a step back.
Mal, Carlos, Jay, they all rush to her side. Ben stands tall, glares at Chad like he doesn't know who he is anymore, like he doesn't know where his old friend had gone.
The villain kids, they are not the aggressors here, and now everybody knows it.
Jay looks at her, questioning. "Did you want this to happen?" He whispers.
Everybody around them, who had witnessed everything from start to finish, begin to whisper, begin to say awful things about Chad Charming, Chad Charming who has hurt someone on purpose, Chad Charming who is not as good as they had all thought, Chad Charming who is now, without a doubt, just like a villain.
Evie starts to shake, trying to contain her laughter. For everyone else, they are looking at a girl trembling in fear.
"People never think victims can be villains." Evie whispers back, grinning, "Works out pretty well for us, don't you think?"
Mal almost smiles. They know to take that as a job well done.
*
Evie stares down at the bruises, remembering the feeling of fingers pressing into her skin.
It was a good call, no doubt, but at what price?
She tugs on her shirt sleeve, huffing, and stares up at her bedroom ceiling.
"Hey, Mal?" Her voice is soft, quiet.
Mal senses the tone, stops looking through her spellbook long enough to cast a glance in Evie's direction. "What's up?"
"Do you hate living here?"
Evie doesn't have to be looking to know what expression Mal has on her face.
"... No. I don't. Why?"
Evie sits up, looking into Mal's eyes now, so that she knows she means what she says next.
"Then why don't we just, stay? Why don't we just live here, like we are now."
Mal's eyebrows furrow, but she is not angry. At least, not yet. "So, are you saying we just abandon our parents? Abandon the Isle?"
Evie shakes her head. "Abandon the plan, yes. Parents? Yes. The Isle? No. Ben brought us over, that must mean he plans to bring other kids over eventually too. I don't think we could ever fully abandon the Isle, not if they'll be coming here in droves soon enough."
"Why are you saying this now?"
There's one reason, and Evie knows Mal has already figured it out.
"I want Ben. If we took the wand, broke the barrier, I don't think I could have Ben."
Mal sighs, at how Evie seems content to abandon their entire plan just for a boy. "And you think I'm just going to say yes? Just because you have a thing for Ben?"
Evie smiles, and thinks, yes. "I know you, Mal. I know that you hate your mother, I know that you're smart, I know that you've already thought about this yourself. You're powerful here, with your magic, more powerful than you ever were back on the Isle. You and I both know if your mother were here, if your mother were to know, she would try to snuff that out. I know, too, that we are your family, that more than Carlos himself you don't want to see his mother sink her claws into him again. I know you."
Mal doesn't say another word, and that is answer enough.
*
Evie watches Ben eat the cupcake with just a hint of trepidation.
Mal had looked at her like she was trying to be good when Evie had said she wanted to de-spell Ben. In truth, Evie just doesn't like to think she'd won so easily. If she wanted Ben, she wanted all of Ben, the real Ben. Having him handed to her on a platter wouldn't be fair, would be too easy. So she decides to de-spell him, decides to charm him and win him over all by herself. If Mal wants to believe she's going soft, she can. Evie knows better.
"How do you feel?" Evie asks, nervous this time without having to pretend.
Ben looks at her oddly, but is smiling still. "I feel fine."
"You don't... feel any different?"
She's in disbelief, wondering if she had somehow messed up the recipe.
Ben just smiles, like normal. "A little. Maybe like I've had a spell removed from me. But otherwise, I feel pretty normal."
Evie likes to think she's always prepared, for anything a situation can bring. But that, that is the one thing that has truly, actually surprised her since she had arrived on Auradon.
"Wait- you-? You knew?" She hasn't fumbled over her words like this since she was a child, she hates how ineloquent it makes her seem.
"Remember our first date? At the Enchanted Lake? When I took a swim there, it washed the love spell away."
Evie hates being surprised. She hates thinking that she wasn't able to properly prepare for something, that she wasn't always a step ahead.
The fact that Ben of all people, is the only one to surprise her however, doesn't irritate her like she'd expected. It entices her, in a way, makes her feel their relationship might be more exciting than she had first thought.
"And you still... you still love me? You don't hate me for spelling you?"
Ben sighs, fond, and presses a quick kiss to her lips. "No, I don't hate you. You had a crush on me. I was with Audrey. You didn't trust that it could happen on its own. Right?"
Evie's lips curl into a smile, at how wrong that statement is. "So you knew this whole time?"
"Yes. And I love you, regardless."
This time, when he says he loves her, it sits with her different. It sinks in, beneath her skin, into her bones. Because he means it, from some place beyond magic, from some place in his heart. And hearing it like this, knowing that he meant it, pleases Evie in a way she didn't know possible.
She smiles, but something real, and genuine for the first time.
"I love you too." She says, and she thinks she might actually begin to mean it.
He kisses her again, longer this time, and Evie lets herself go.
*
Nobody touches the wand, and things continue as they've been.
Jay goes off to tourney practice, Carlos takes Dude on a walk, Mal practises her magic in their locked room, Ben does his paperwork in his office.
Evie strolls the halls, leisurely, looking down every now and then to the new ring on her finger.
She sees Audrey, who looks nothing like the girl she was a month ago.
This Audrey is tired, eyes dark and downcast, gaze trained onto the floor.
Evie had taken her first boyfriend, then turned her second into a monster.
Evie smiles, proud, admiring her handiwork in the way Audrey whimpers when she gets close.
She pushes her hand in front of Audrey's face, so she can see the ring on her finger, and so that she'll know what it means.
I win.