Chapter Text
Auradon Prep glittered in the morning sun like someone had polished every brick by hand. Gold banners fluttered from the towers, students crossed campus laughing, and birds, actual birds, landed on the windowsills like they were paid actors. Everything here was always perfect, to the point that it was exhausting.
I tugged the sleeves of my lilac blazer farther over my hands. My manicured nails shined in the morning sun. Mother always said purple looks good on me just as it does on her. Something about bringing out the brown in my green eyes or something like that.
"Aurelia!"
I don’t stop walking.
"Aurelia!"
Still walking.
"Aurelia Fitzherbert!"
I sighed through my nose. "What." I spat out. Princesses weren't supposed to answer like that, I knew better but still I couldn’t help it at the sound of that voice. I spun around.
Standing halfway across the quad was Max Hatter. His navy vest was somehow wrinkled and tailored at the same time. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows, revealing forearms that looked like he'd spent his free time lifting wardrobes instead of books. A silver chain dangled from one pocket, disappearing into a watch shaped suspiciously like a teacup.
His dark black and purple hair’s impossible. His grin was worse.
"There she is." He spread his arms dramatically. "I was worried you'd forgotten how to ignore me." His smile was cocky and sickeningly sweet.
"I haven't.” I attempted to begin walking again. “I've actually gotten better at it."
Several students nearby snorted while Max clutched his chest dramatically. It seemed most of what he did was dramatic. "Ouch." he jokes.
"I was aiming lower." I tell him dryly.
"Violence before first period?" he asked. "You wound me."
He laughed. And I mean actually laughed. I mean normal people got offended but Max treated my insults like invitations. Not that I ever insulted anyone else, it’s not princess like.
Max cleared his throat, "Anyways, I brought you something."
"No."
He quickened his pace to walk backwards in front of me. "You don't even know what it is."
"If it came from you, I don't want it." I sidestepped to move around him.
"It didn't come from me. It came from Wonderland." He caught back up to me very quickly.
"...Still no." Despite me saying that, he held up a tiny porcelain teacup painted with lavender flowers. I stopped walking in the hallway.
"I remembered those are your favorite colors." He seemed genuinely sure that he was right. Too bad he wasn’t.
"I don't collect teacups."
"I know."
"So why would you-"
"Because I thought it'd make you smile." He was still holding up the teacup, waiting for me to take it.
“It didn't make me smile."
His shoulders fell for approximately half a second. Then the grin came back. "Next time."
"There won't be a next time."
"There usually is."
I stepped closer until we were barely an arm's length apart. He smelled faintly of bergamot tea.
"Max."
"Princess." He sighed. I wish they weren’t so obsessed with titles in Auradon. Him calling me princess struck a chord. I expect it from anyone else but from Hatter? That’s a no.
I began to step towards him, slowly. Enough that he began to step back. “Next time, if you must, let it be known i hate lavender almost as much as i hate-“
“Hate is such a strong word princess” He smiled weakly, putting his objection of the word into the world.
"If you keep following me around—" I stuck my finger in his face.
"I wasn't following you." He put up his hands defensively and carefully guided my finger from out of his face. "I strategically arrived at the exact place you happened to be."
"...That's following."
"It's destiny."
"It's stalking."
"A thin line."
How was someone this impossible still alive? "Do you enjoy irritating me?" I being walking again, maybe this conversation will end if I make it to class.
"I enjoy talking to you and those aren't the same thing."
"They're unfortunately connected." I muttered.
Someone wolf-whistled from the stairs and a few students slowed down to watch. Exactly what I needed, just what I was looking for, an audience.
Max noticed them too. He leaned in just enough to lower his voice. "They think we're flirting."
"Then they're idiots."
"They're definitely idiots." His smile told me that it was anything but a sincere remark.
I rolled my eyes so hard they almost stuck. The first bell rang just in time to save me from this interaction.
"Saved by education," Max sighed dramatically.
"I’m pretty sure the saying is saved by the bell."
"You wound me again." He clutched his chest dramatically again, giving me his sad puppy dog eyes.
"I'll keep trying." I brushed past him. Thankfully he didn't follow.
"Aurelia." He called out to me.
"What now?" I snapped at him, not even bothering to turn around.
"I really do hope you have a good day."
I looked over my shoulder. He wasn't teasing. I didn’t see a hint of a smug smile. Just...earnest. Weird.
"I won't."
"Well." He shoved both hands into his pockets. "I hope you're wrong."
…
By lunch, I had already attended History of Unified Kingdoms, Magical Ethics, Advanced Diplomacy, and Pretending Everything Is Fine. The last wasn't technically on my schedule.
It just felt like it. I slipped away from the crowded cafeteria before anyone could wave me over to one of the royal tables.
The gardens behind the east library were quiet. Finally, I thought as I climbed onto the old stone wall overlooking the lake and let my legs dangle.
This was my spot.
A tiny scrape on my knuckle caught my attention. I'd nicked it this morning climbing through my bedroom window. Yes, my bedroom had a perfectly good door but the windows were quieter.
I watched a bead of crimson gather against my skin. Most people would've ignored it. I knew I couldn’t. I smeared the blood onto the stone wall without even thinking. The blood shimmered for a second. Golden light flickered beneath the surface.
I pressed my thumb against the cut and the warmth spread instantly. The skin sealed itself together as though it had never been broken.
Dad insisted secrets were safer than miracles.
"People get funny around magic," he'd told me when I was little. "Trust me. I used to steal crowns. The crowns weren't the dangerous part. It was what people thought they deserved."
Everyone remembered King Eugene Fitzherbert. Very few remembered Flynn Rider.
I had never met Flynn. But Dad never hid who he'd been or pretended he'd always been noble.
A twig snapped behind me. I sighed without turning around. "If that's you, Max—"
"Well, that's disappointing."
I froze. That wasn't Max. Slowly, I looked over my shoulder. A figure stood beneath the willow trees, half-hidden in the shadows. Watching me. I felt aware that they were looking directly at my hand. The hand that wasn't bleeding anymore.
Their smile was small. "...Interesting," they murmured.
And suddenly… My secret didn't feel quite so secret anymore.