FROZEN HEART ━━ 011

( THE INSIDE OUT )

          EVERY MINUTE THAT PASSED, THINGS ONLY SEEMED TO GET COLDER. Ellie's hair was turning more white as the ice spread and she had no idea what to do. There was a low possibility that her friends would understand the logistics of her heart freezing when her magic was literally ice and snow but this time it wasn't her ice. She didn't want to talk to Carlos because of how he was involved in the potential destruction of Auradon if they did succeed in taking down the magic barrier that surrounded the Isle. There was no doubt that she needed to tell somebody about Mal and what she was up to and she was going to have to settle for her roommate. She couldn't exactly hide her white hair and freezing fingertips from Kaia forever because she was going to notice eventually.

          Even though she was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater, Ellie was still cold. She had on a pair of fluffy socks and put on her shoes before grabbing a hat to cover her hair. Kaia had already left early for breakfast so Ellie needed to catch up with her before classes started. She tucked the rest of her hair into her sweater and grabbed her bag on her way out of the dorm. She knew that Kaia was going to be sitting where they always sat so that was exactly where she headed while avoiding Mal and the other Villain Kids. Once she found the brunette and the redhead sitting at their usual table, she ran over to them as they were packing up for class.

          "Hey, you missed breakfast," Kaia said as she stood up.

          "Where's Mal?" Ellie asked quickly and quietly.

          "She's already heading to class," Marisa said. "What is this about?"

          "And why are you dressed like that? It's hotter than a supernova right now," Kaia laughed while looking at Ellie's attire.

          "I'll explain later but right now we need to go somewhere quiet and where no one will see or hear us," she said.

          The others were confused but they followed her to a secluded area where nobody could see them or hear them talking. She didn't even know where to begin explaining everything that happened the night before. She wasn't sure they were going to understand how serious the situation was but she needed to start somewhere and let somebody know what was in the future for everyone in Auradon.

          "My goodness, Ellie. Just tell us what is going on," Marisa said with her arms crossed.

          Ellie looked around to make sure nobody was around before she started talking. "What I'm about to tell you is really bad and I could end up in trouble for telling you this but Mal put Ben under a love spell," she said quietly and both girls were confused.

          "What are you talking about?" Kaia asked.

          "Remember when Ben confessed his love for Mal at the Tourney game the other day? He was under a love spell because of Mal. There was no conversation between him and Audrey about breaking up and that was the first time Audrey ever heard about Ben being in love with Mal," she said and that just confused them even more.

          "Why would Mal go after Ben when he already had a girlfriend?" Kaia questioned.

          "Duh, she's Maleficent's daughter," Marissa laughed.

          "Mal wants to get Fairy Godmother's magic wand on Ben's coronation. Mal needed to get close enough and the only people who are allowed up front are Ben, his parents and his girlfriend so that's where the love spell comes in. If she became his girlfriend then she would get a spot up front and will be able to grab the wand," Ellie explained.

          "Why does Mal want the wand?" Kaia asked.

          "She wants to bring down the barrier around the Isle. Evie, Carlos and Jay are all in on it too. If they bring down the barrier, every villain and sidekick on that island will come to Auradon and destroy everything. Mal even put a freezing spell on me to make sure I kept quiet but I needed to tell somebody," Ellie said quietly.

          "How does a freezing spell work on you when your magic is literally ice and snow?" Marisa questioned.

          "Does this answer your question?" Ellie countered as she pulled off her hat. More of her blonde hair had turned white as snow and there was barely any blonde left. She rolled up her sleeves so they could see the ice covering her fingers. "The ice was at my fingertips and now it covered all of my fingers. Mal said that if I told anyone about this she will speed up the process and I will turn into ice."

          "Well we need to tell someone about what those kids are planning for the coronation," Kaia said as Ellie put her hat back on.

          "What we need to do is come up with a foolproof plan. I have no doubt that Mal will find out that I spilled so we need to play it cool until the coronation. I'm not sure if I will even make it until then which is why I told you now and if the King, Queen or even Fairy Godmother finds out about this, it will start a panic. We need a plan to counteract them," Ellie explained.

          "How do we do that? There's four of them and two of them have magic," Kaia said and Marisa scoffed.

          "Oh please. All Evie has is a magic mirror, what exactly is she gonna do with that?" she questioned.

          "So then that just leaves Mal," Kaia sighed.

          "There's something else you guys need to know. We all know that only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. My family won't be able to make it to the ceremony so if and when I do freeze completely, I'm hoping you guys will be enough to break the spell," Ellie said as she watched the ice cover more of her skin.

          "So, I guess Carlos is out of the question," Marisa sighed.

          "I honestly thought there was something more between you guys," Kaia said solemnly.

          Ellie sighed as she felt her eyes well up with tears. She honestly thought that Carlos and her could become great friends, maybe more than that. She wanted to believe so badly that Ben was right to give him and the others a chance to live a normal life like they did. She wanted to believe that he was the farthest thing away from a villain but that clearly wasn't the case and she was going to pay for being so naïve. The salty water couldn't be held back anymore and she let them fall silently as she thought about what was in store for her but she didn't have time to cry over her mistakes. She needed to act normal until the day Ben would be crowned the King of Auradon and come up with a plan to fight back if things went down south and Mal needed to believe that she was still the only one who knew her true intentions.

          "Just promise me that whatever happens, we stop them before they break down the barrier," Ellie said and the two girls nodded.

          "Promise."

( ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ )

          ELLIE HAD NO IDEA HOW SHE MANNAGED to get through a whole day of classes without anyone else noticing her condition but she did. Nobody noticed the ice on her hands or her white hair and as far as she knew, nobody suspected a thing. Nobody noticed that she was freezing from the inside out and that it was only a matter of time before she became solid ice.

          Once her last class ended, she immediately started heading back to her dorm but on her way there, she encountered a certain white haired boy. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights but Ellie felt the constrictions in her chest as she looked at his face.

          "Not a word from you," she said as she walked passed him but her stopped her by grabbing her arm. "Let me go!" she said as she tugged on her arm but her tightened his grip when he noticed the ice on her hands.

          "Is that . . ." he trailed off with his eyebrows furrowed.

          "Ice? Yeah! Guess who caused that to happen," Ellie snapped as she finally pulled her arm out of his grip.

          "What are you talking about?" Carlos questioned in confusion.

          "Your friend Mal put ice in my heart and now I'm freezing from the inside out. For goodness sake, why am I telling you this? If you really wanna know what happened, ask Mal," Ellie said as she turned away and rushed down the corridors of the school.

          Once she was far away from him, she released a heavy breath that she didn't even know she was holding inside of her lungs. All she wanted to do was run away and hide where nobody would find her but she knew all too well that it wasn't possible for her to do so. She was so sure that he was the best person she could ever meet but he obviously wasn't. She had be honest and admit that she still loved every moment she had spend talking to him or just being around him. Even though he turned out to be someone completely different from what she thought, every moment they spent together was still worth it and a part of her hated herself for believing that.

          Meanwhile, Carlos was searching the school for Mal so he could ask her what was going on with Ellie. He found her standing at her locker with Ben and he headed towards them with long strides.

          "Ben, do you mind giving us a minute?" he asked while looking at the brunette boy who nodded shortly and walked away.

          "What is your problem?" Mal asked once they were alone.

          "Why did you freeze Ellie's heart?" he asked bluntly.

          "What makes you think it was me?" Mal scoffed.

          "Her hair is white and her hands are literally ice. She said to talk to you," Carlos said with his arms crossed. "Why did you do it?"

          "She saw the anti love spell I was making and then she found the love spell I used on Ben. She knew what we were up to and she was getting too close to us through you," Mal said.

          "Why freeze her heart? Why not just make her forget she even got so close to begin with? You want to break Ben's love spell after all of this because you think that it would be cruel to make him stay in love with you yet, when it comes to Ellie you wanna make her suffer like this and let her freeze to death from the inside out?" Carlos asked as he shook his head in disappointment.

          "She was getting too close!"

          "So you make her forget instantly, not make her last moments full of pain and suffering! Ellie was not part of the plan!"

          "Plans change, Carlos! She was in the way. I can tell you cared about her but we can't have any distractions when we finally get that wand," the pale girl said and Carlos scoffed.

          "You really and truly are your mother's daughter," he said dryly before walking away.

          He was sure that Ellie didn't want anything to do with him anymore since he was involved but it still made his heart ache. The fact that she would suddenly freeze entirely scared him and he didn't know what he would do once that moment arrived. He enjoyed being around her and she was one of the very few people who welcomed him when nobody else did. If she froze into solid ice completely, he didn't know what he would do.