~Mal's POV~

The new VKs and their parents have settled into Auradon pretty nicely. Most of the children lived in the dorms while the majority of the villains lived in rental apartments. They now had jobs and were learning to provide for themselves and their children other then stealing.

But even still, with everything going so well, there was something I was dreading that was coming up way too fast.

School.

I had no doubt the younger elementary-age students wouldn't have too much trouble after the first few days, but the middle and high schoolers I was more concerned for.

I'd gotten to know my siblings better. Evie convinced (read: forced) us to play one of her infamous icebreakers. On the other (negative) side, Evie taught the art of chewing gum to my siblings.

Yeah, you can probably guess how that worked out. From that point on, I have unofficially banned my siblings from ever being within arms' reach of any chewing gum. Ever.

We were all graduating Auradon College this summer. Even the new VKs that were old enough. They'd taken some tutoring lessons by Fairy Godmother and a few other teachers over the summer to put them at their age group.

It was now August second. School starts September fourth.

I'd tried getting a few of them into summer jobs to make a little extra money just in case, but that also didn't turn out too well. The citizens of Auradon, I learned, were still a bit suspicious of the VKs. Most of them time they wouldn't hire them, and if they did, they'd put them on the lowest-paying tiers and keep them under constant surveillance.

I got why they did this, but it was still staggeringly unfair. The Islanders deserved just as much of a chance as regular Auradon kids.

School supplies and other essentials were being provided to the new students by the school, which had spent most of the summer raising more money so the new students themselves didn't have to pay as much for tuition and housing. Evie, Carlos, Jay, and I had gone on a lot of fundraising day trips to help.

But nothing could stop the ticking of the clock and the days flying past.

Finally, September fourth arrived. We'd done the best we could to prepare everyone, but now we'll see how it all pays off.

With varying degrees of success:

Thanatos started by trying to read his schedule upside-down.

Maze and Penny were arguing loudly in the hallway before first period.

Charlotte looked bored as heck while she casually tossed a miniature fireball from one hand to the other.

Madison rifled through her backpack, looking for something. I hoped it wasn't a book she planned on whacking someone upside the head with.

Kades was probably still sleeping in.

Evie and I went down to the dining hall for breakfast. I spotted Celia and Dizzy sitting at a table, just chatting. Celia was flipping through her tarot cards. Dizzy fidgeted with some bracelets on her wrist.

Evie grabbed a plate of blueberry pancakes while I got a cup of strawberries and yogurt. At this point, I think I was basically living off of strawberries alone.

We sat at a table in the corner of the dining hall. Uma came in shortly after and sat with us with a plate of syrup-soaked waffles in hand.

"'Ello," she said.

"Hey," I said, taking another bite of my yogurt.

"Wassup?" she asked, twirling her fork in her fingers.

"Not much," Evie said.

"Basically," I agreed.

"So you're siblings are okay with the whole school thing?" Uma made a face as she ate her waffles.

"They probably won't be," I admitted.

"So they'll burn down the whole place?" Uma asked with a bit too much excitement in her voice.

Evie scoffed. "You only wish, Uma."

"Shrimpy," I corrected.

"I'm not Shrimpy," Uma threw a bit of her waffle at me. I leaned to the side so the crumb flew past my face.

"No food fights," Evie chastised.

"I don't care," Uma rolled her eyes.

"Of course you don't," I muttered.

"What'd you say, Dragon-Breath?" Uma challenged.

"Something," I responded.

"Yeah, right," Uma said.

~TIME SKIP TO AFTER SCHOOL~

I walked through the halls with Evie back to our dorm.

"That was fun... not really," I said as I pulled the key from my pocket and unlocked it.

"No kidding," Evie said, walking inside and throwing her bag down onto her bed.

"I didn't think any professor would be evil enough to actually assign homework on the first day," I complained.

A/N: One of mine actually assigned grammar homework on the first day...

"I know right?" Evie sat down at her vanity and reapplied some makeup.

I went to my desk and cleared off a space so I could start my work. Before I could even unzip my backpack, however, a knock sounded on our door.

"I'll get it," I said to Evie, then opened the door.

In the doorway stood Maze, another daughter of Hades. Not of Maleficent though.

Hades really couldn't stick to one woman.

"Hey Maleficent Child," she said in that annoying voice of hers that she puts on when she wants to be extra annoying. Which is all the time, I'm pretty sure.

"Hi Maze," I said. "And for the last time, it's Mal, not Maleficent Child."

"Whatever it is, Maleficent Child," she smirked. "We're having problems."

"What kind of problems?" I asked. "'Cause if you spray-painted another hallway and need me to magic it all away again, then you can go shove your-"

"No, no, not that," Maze cut me off. "And for the record, that was Charlotte and Kades, not me."

"Well, then," Evie walked up to the door. "What's the problem?"

"It's another Thanatos problem," Maze admitted.

Evie and I exchanged a nervous look. Thanatos problems were the worst kind of problems.

"Yeah," Maze said, reading the worried expresssions on our faces. "He doesn't understand his homework."

"Oh you guys got homework too?" Evie asked.

"Remedial Goodness homework," Maze clarified.

"But that's like, the easiest kind of homework," I said.

"I know, Maleficent Child," Maze said. "The rest of us went by your rule, 'just pick the one that sounds like zero fun' but Thanny over there keeps getting stuck."

"Great," I sighed in exasperation, ignoring the hated nickname. "So, you want me to help him before he burns down the whole dormitory."

"That along with the whole campus," Maze added.

"Fine," I grabbed a pen and my phone off my nightstand and shoved them into my pocket. "Let's go."

"I'm staying right here," Evie plopped back into her vanity chair.

I grabbed the key to the dorm and followed Maze back to Thanatos's dorm. Once we got there, Maze shoved the key into my hand, said "Good luck, you'll need it," and ran away before I could say something.

I inserted the key and turned it. Then my hand froze. What if Thanatos just blasted me to ashes as soon as I opened this door? What if he burned down the school?

He wouldn't, I told myself. He's good now...right?

I kicked myself in the ankle (it's a thing I do whenever I'm about to do something I don't want to do) and walked in.

My brother sat at his desk, absentmindedly spinning around in his chair with a pencil in hand. He looked calm... for now.

"Uh, hey," I said.

"Malsie," he said. "Wassup?"

"Maze told me you needed help on your homework?"

"Yeah," he picked up a sheet of paper and tapped his pencil against it. "I don't get it. Remedial Goodness is the stupidest f***ing class ever."

"You remember the rule of thumb I taught you?" I asked. "'The one that sound like the least fun'?"

"Yeah... and I got most of them down, but I just don't get it," he said in frustration.

"Okay," I looked over his shoulder at the paper. "Which one?"

"This one- the last one," he set it down on the desk.

"Uh..." I said as I read the question.

"You encounter a person you hate alone at night. Do you A- kill them, B- torture them first then kill them, C- steal everything they own, or D- say hi and leave them alone?" Thanatos read aloud.

"And which one do you think it is?" I asked.

"B," he said bluntly. "Torture then kill. It's more fun."

"But that's the exact opposite of what the rule is," I corrected. "It's gotta be the least fun."

"Ugh," he groaned. "Why do Auradonians have to be so boring? I'll die of boredom living here."

"You'll manage," I promised. "Now, which one sound least fun?"

"D..." he mumbled.

"Good," I said, watching him circle the last letter. "Was that all you needed?"

"Academic-wise, no," he said.

"Anything-else-wise?"

"Uh..."

"Yeah?"

"Evie's single, right?"

"No, actually, she's taken," I backed away from the desk. "Why?"

"Just curious," he said.

Liar. I'd always had a knack for detecting lies. It didn't work on everybody though.

I let it slide. "Okay."

"Thanks, lil' sis," Thanatos said. Well that was an improvement. When all the VKs came over to Auradon (including me, Evie, Jay, and Carlos), we rarely, if ever, used manners unless it was sarcastically intended.

"Welcome," I said, slowly leaving the room.

As I stepped back out into the hallway, the air hit my bare arms, making me shiver. I just realized how hot it was in Thanatos's dorm, and I had no idea why. It wasn't even that hot outside for this time of year. He seriously needed to learn how to use the AC.

I opened the door to my dorm, and immediately some clothes hit me in the face. I caught them before they could fall to the ground and shook them out so I could see what they were. A simple white, yellow, and blue Auradon College t-shirt and a pair of black leggings.

"Uh..." I looked up at Evie, the thrower of the clothes. "What are these for?"

"The tourney game tonight," she said.

Upon seeing my confused expression, she blew out an exasperated breath. "Don't tell me you forgot about it, M."

I tossed the clothes down onto my bed. "Can't forget something if I never knew it."

"Well there is one tonight." Evie said. "And you're going."

"I don't want to," I countered.

"Ben's playing," she said in a teasing sing-song voice.

"He hasn't played in years," I said.

"Well he is."

"And how do you know?" I asked.

"He told me," she said matter-of-factly.

"And he didn't tell me?"

"He told me to tell you. He had a meeting right after."

"Okay then."

"So you're going?"

"I guess."

"Yay!" she squealed. "And you're wearing that," she tossed the t-shirt she had previously thrown into my face back at me.

It hit my chest and I just let it fall to the floor. "No way. There's no purple," I said disgustedly.

"C'mon M," Evie whined.

"No."

"At least wear something Auradon-y," Evie said.

"Like what? I don't have anything..."

"Yes you do," Evie said, raising an eyebrow like she was expecting me to remember something.

"I don't..." I said. "At least I don't think I do."

She sighed and walked to my closet, pulling open the doors and rifling through the hangers until she pulled out something with a grand flourish.

I stared at the old Auradon Knights jersey. "That was from when we were sixteen," I noted.

"I know," Evie smoothed out the shirt on my bed. "But you remember it still."

"Duh," I said sarcastically. How could I forget? It was the one that Ben had thrown to me after I'd spelled him. That was probably one of the best days of my life. A bit embarrassing though. I mean, someone already taken singing me a love song in front of dozens of people I didn't even know? It would've been less embarrassing to have him do it in front of my mom.

Wait. I take that back. It's better that my mom knew nothing about that day.

"Okay!" Evie's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Put it on!"

"Fine," I grabbed the old jersey and quickly changed into it in the bathroom, along with the black leggings that were also on my bed.

Evie looked surprised when I came out wearing the shirt. "Huh. It still fits."

"Why wouldn't it?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

She hesitated. "No reason. It's just been sitting in the back of your closet for years."

"Yeah, I guess it has," I agreed.

"Game's at six," Evie said, sitting at her vanity and touching up her makeup.

"Okay," I said.

"Your siblings are going too," she said.

"You told them?"

"Nope. Jay just wants more people cheering for him."

"Sounds like something Jay would do," I noted.

"Exactly," Evie set down a fluffy brush. "By the way, did you hear that he has a sister?"

"He what?!" I dropped the old shirt in my hands.

"Yeah," Evie said nonchalantly. "Haven't met her yet."

"Do you at least know her name?" I asked.

"Alice or something like that."

"She'll be at the game?" I asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know."

"Okay..."

~TIME SKIP TO THE GAME~

"Evie!" I shouted toward the bathroom. "We're gonna be late!"

"Hold your dragons, M! I'm almost done." Evie called back.

For the sixth time.

This time, though, she walked out of the bathroom.

Looking exactly like she did before she spent like a full hour in there.

Except her blue hair was perfectly curled. She probably reapplied some mascara too.

"Sheesh its just a tourney game, not prom," I grumbled.

"Not much difference," she popped a gumball into her mouth. "Let's roll."

When we got to the field, the stands were completely filled, but I'd gotten a text from Jane saying that they'd saved us a seat in the front.

I spotted a girl dressed in a baby blue dress waving at us from a bleacher. "There's Jane," I said.

"Let's go," Evie said, walking down to the front row. I followed her.

"Hey girls," Jane greeted us both with a hug. "You're late."

I glanced pointedly at Evie, who only shrugged. "What's the score so far?" Evie asked.

"3-1," Audrey said, who was standing on Jane's other side. She'd quit cheerleading in senior year of high school.

"Auradon's winning?" I assumed.

"Yep," was Jane's reply.

"Who scored?" Evie asked.

"Jay got two and Carlos scored one," Jane said proudly as she glanced over at her boyfriend on the field.

My eyes scanned the players in yellow and blue jerseys before spotting Ben, #8. I waved towards him, but I'm pretty sure he didn't see me.

~TIME SKIP TO AFTER THE GAME (cause I wanna get this out ASAP)~

"Score for Auradon!" The announcer shouted into the microphone. The students on the bleachers erupted into cheers and plaudits.

The time ended. Auradon College Tourney Team won 8-5.

"Ya know," Thanatos said, standing in the row behind us. "The cannons and stuff look cool as f***, but I don't think I'd like actually being on the field.

"Language," I chided him as always.

"Shut up Maleficent Child," Maze said.

I turned and glared daggers at her. "That's not my name."

"Calm down Malie," Madison said.

I turned on my heel and left the stadium, joining the flow of people back on the way to their dorms. Along the way, someone bumped into me. The girl had dark brown hair and matching eyes.

"Hey Mal," she said.

"Uh, hi," I said.

"Sorry for running into you."

"It's fine," I said. "Who are you?"

"Alice. Daughter of Jafar."

"So you're Jay's sister."

"You bet."

"You went to the tourney game?"

"Of course I did. I wish I could join."

"Maybe you can. Lonnie joined.."

"Lonnie..." she thought for a second. "Name doesn't ring a bell."

"Mulan's daughter?"

"Oh... right. Her. Yeah I met her."

"She technically found a loophole, but that's besides the point."

"Seems like a VK-y thing to do." Alice noted.

"She's probably the most like a VK. Minus the evil part," I said.

"Well what's a VK but evil?" Alice said, looking at her watch. "I gotta go."

"Oh... okay. Nice meeting you."

She nodded and walked away. I went back to my dorm and paced around.

"Stupid Maze..." I muttered, clenching my fist. Sometimes she really didn't know how to take a hint.

I felt my eyes start glowing green. It was subtle, but I could always tell. And I could do it on command if I needed to.

I looked in the mirror. Luminescent green orbs looked back at me. I looked like my mother.

Too much like my mother. Maze was right. I was only 'Maleficent Child'. And I looked the part.

My rage boiled over and my hands heated up. Before I knew it, part of the carpet was on fire.

"What the-" my anger changed to shock and a degree of fear as I stamped out the little flames before they triggered the smoke alarms.

I looked at my hands. They were steaming slightly, but they didn't look like I'd gotten burned. It didn't hurt at all either.

"That was weird..." I muttered.

Evie soon came in and thankfully didn't notice the tiny part of the carpet that was charred. Maybe I could spray-paint over it later.

"M, it's late," Evie said after removing her makeup and changing into her pajamas. "It's late."

I was too on edge to sleep, but I changed into my pajamas at Evie's insistence. After she turned off the lights, I couldn't catch a wink of sleep. I was scared that I'd wake up in an inferno of flames in my own dorm. It was me that caused that fire. No doubt about that.

And to make it worse, we had school tomorrow.

When the sun had come up and I turned over on my side to face the other side, Evie was standing over the charred carpet. She looked up and noticed me awake.

"Wha happened to the carpet?" She asked.

I figured there was no point in lying. She could see through any fib I tried to tell. I hated that about her.

"I- uh..." I stuttered. "I set it on fire. Accidentally."

"What?" She demanded. "How do you 'accidentally' set something alight?"

"I don't know!" I said, getting out of bed. "I was just angry and next thing I know, that carpet's on fire."

"I didn't have any matches or lighters here," Evie mused. "So you're saying it was some magic?"

"I don't know what else it could've been."

"Okay... well get dressed," she ordered. "You look exhausted."

"Couldn't sleep," I admitted.

"Please don't tell me it was another nightmare, M"

"No," I said. "Just didn't want to accidentally set more stuff on fire."

"Let's go to FG," Evie suggested. "She'll probably know what's up."

I groaned. I liked Fairy Godmother, she was always kind, but I wasn't so stoked to go investigate some weird fire stuff. At least, not at this moment.

Getting yelled at Evie, though, was not on my to-do list for this morning, so I did as she said and got dressed and ready for the day.

We went down to the dining hall for breakfast, like yesterday. I looked around, but no sigh of Ben. I did see Uma and Harry at the other side though.

Evie looked to be scanning the area as well.

"Are you looking for someone?" I asked. She'd normally be going straight for the blueberry pancakes.

"I wanted to see if one of your siblings were here," Evie answered.

"Why?"

"To see if they knew what the fire was about," she said simply.

"Oh..."

"Don't see them anywhere. Do you?"

I didn't even look. "Nope."

"Okay," Evie grabbed some pancakes. "Well we'll just go eat."

"Okay," I said. I wasn't that hungry though, so I just grabbed some fruit and water and sat at a table with the daughter of the Evil Queen.

We ate and the bell rang soon after. Instead of going to first period, Evie whisked me to headmistress's office.

Word count: 3400 words