When Georgiana snuck back in her room that night, she didn't think that either Mal or Evie would still be awake to catch her. They had been asleep the other nights when she came back. The lights were out and Evie was in bed, but Mal was sitting up in her bed and reading her spellbook with a lamp on.

Georgie froze as Mal cut her eyes over to her. After a moment, Georgie looked away and pulled her shoes off.

"It's kind of late, George," Mal whispered, looking back at her book. "Like way late, actually."

"I was in the library," she replied, shrugging. "Still working on reading."

"By yourself?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow. Yes, Georgie was getting better at reading, but she was still at a level where she needed someone's help. It was odd that she hadn't asked one of them to come with her.

"Um, no," Georgie said, biting her lip. "Ben was with me."

"I thought that was a one time thing?"

"I guess it's more of a nightly thing," she admitted. As she moved to her bed, Mal caught her face in the light and saw that she was blushing.

"Georgie?" she asked with a teasing note in her voice.

"What?"

"You don't have a crush on Ben, do you?"

"He has a girlfriend," she quickly replied while getting under the covers.

Mal chuckled, knowing she was right about Georgiana being too nice to think about taking another girl's boyfriend. But Mal wasn't.

"It's okay to like him," Mal said, shutting her book. "Maybe he likes you too."

"He's just being nice," Georgie said, looking at the ceiling. "He doesn't like me back."

Mal smirked to herself as Georgie basically admitted that she liked him. But then the smirk faded into a frown as she thought more about their plan. They were going to get the wand, no doubt about it, and when they did, there'd be no possible future for Georgie and Ben.

Mal quickly shook the guilt off and reminded herself that she was supposed to be evil and cruel, no matter how it affected her friend. She wouldn't let down her mother. She couldn't afford to fail.

|

It was late at night, and once again Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay found themselves without Georgie. They had snuck into the kitchen to make the cookies needed for Mal's love spell. Luckily, they hadn't been caught by Lonnie, who had left moments before.

"How come Georgie couldn't make it?" Jay asked as Mal placed the cookies in the oven. There was nothing left to do but wait for them to finish baking.

"I just know she said something about plans," Mal lied. She didn't know why, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them about Georgie meeting Ben in the library at night. Georgie clearly wanted to keep it private if she hadn't already told her friends. "Besides, she doesn't need to know about this. I didn't even tell her the plan."

"Wait," Carlos said, swallowing the mouth full of chocolate chips he had. "Why aren't we telling Georgie there's a love potion in these?"

"He's right," Evie muttered. "We've never lied to her before."

"Guys, you know I love her, but Georgie would never ever approve of using a love potion on someone. It's taking away his free will. She might even try to stop Neville from eating one if she knew," Mal said, frowning. "We have got to get that wand and prove ourselves to our parents."

The other three shared uneasy looks, still not convinced. Mal saw this and went for the weakest link when it came to Georgie — Jay.

"Jay, you know this is the best way to protect her," Mal said, crossing her arms. "I know she likes it here now, but what about when they find out she can't read? Or if she ever runs into the King and Queen? Once we free our parents, they can take care of her father and then she'll actually be safe and happy. You know I'm right."

After a moment, Jay nodded. "No one tells Georgie."

|

The next morning, Jay met Mal at her locker, where she was pulling out the bag of cookies laced with the love spell. Evie and Carlos were hanging around, waiting until Mal could be alone with Neville — he was currently a few lockers down talking to Ben and Audrey. Jay shot a group of girls a charming smirk before facing Mal.

"Are you feeling kind of weird about this?" he asked. "I mean, It's not so bad here, you know."

"Are you insane? Long live evil! You're mean! You're awful! You're bad news! Snap out of it!" Mal whispered so they wouldn't be overheard. "We talked about this last night."

Jay nodded to himself, still a bit on the fence but kept it to himself. "Thanks, Mal. I needed that." They shared a smile before Jay made his way over to the group of girls, who were all sporting new haircuts from Mal.

Mal kept her eyes on Neville, who dramatically rolled his eyes at something Audrey had said before the pair started bickering. Ben sighed and leaned against the lockers as he watched. After a moment, Neville scoffed loudly before saying goodbye to Ben. Then he made his way over to Mal, just as she wanted.

"Hey there, Neville," she greeted brightly and out of character.

"Hey, Mal," Neville greeted, giving her a shy smile.

Mal didn't let herself think about how cute the smile was as she held up the bag of cookies. "I just made a batch of cookies. Double chocolate chip, do you want one?"

"Oh, I, uh, I've got a big game. Unlike Ben, I don't really eat before a big game. But thank you so, so much. Thank you. Next time. Next time," he said, feeling a little bad. But he didn't want anything to slow him down before the Tourney game.

"No, yeah. I completely understand," Mal said, pouting, which made Neville frown. "Be careful of treats offered by kids of villains."

"No, no, no—"

"No, I'm sure every kid in Auradon knows that."

"No, that's not it. No, no, no, I... I really do—

"No, I get it. You're cautious. That's smart. Oh, well, more for me, I guess," Mal said, lifting a cookie to eat.

Neville was quick to snatch it out of her hand and take a big bite. "Hey... see that? Totally trust you. Totally."

Mal smirked to herself as he chewed and took another bite. "How are they?"

"They're good. They're great! They're amazing! They're, uh... I mean, they're chewy and, and you know, they... is that walnuts? I love walnuts. I mean, uh, you know, the... The chocolate... The - the chocolate...The chocolate chips are - I'm sorry. Uh, they're... They're warm and soft and they're sweet," as Neville trailed off and the potion took effect, Evie, Carlos, and Jay crept closer. Neville hardly noticed, too entranced by Mal all of the sudden. "Mal, have you always had those little freckles on your nose?"

Jay pat him on the back, grinning. "How you feeling, bro?"

"I feel... I feel... I feel like... Like singing your name!" Neville exclaimed. "MAL! MA—"

Mal was quick to over his mouth while Jay looked down at the cookies, wondering how strong they were.

"Why don't you head to the locker rooms to get ready, Neville," Evie said, giggling a little. "Mal will see you there."

Neville left with a lovestruck look in his eyes. The four villain kids sighed in relief, happy that their plan was working without any hitches so far. At least until —

"Guys, Georgie," Carlos whispered, seeing their friend round the corner. She had her math book in her arms and made her way to her locker next to them to put it away.

"Hey you guys. Jay, Carlos, are you excited for your first game today?" she asked, grinning at them.

"Super excited," Carlos said.

Jay nodded and crossed his arms. "We are totally gonna wipe the floor with the other team."

Mal discreetly tried to hand the bag of cookies to Evie to hide in her purse, but Georgie noticed the cookies. "Oh, you guys have cookies? I want one!" Georgie took the bag from Mal but before she could grab one, Carlos snatched it from her.

"Uh, they're chocolate chip," Carlos said quickly. "You wouldn't like them."

Georgie pouted and sighed. "Fine, but next time make some you know I'll like at least."

"Will do," Mal said, taking the cookies back again. "See you at the game?"

"Of course," she said, grinning. "Gotta support my two best boys."

Georgie waved at her friends before walking off, probably to their room or the library. Once she was out of sight, Jay groaned and rubbed his forehead. "That was way too close guys. I just want this all to be over and get that stupid wa—"

"Hey, Ben!" Evie exclaimed, cutting of Jay and stopping him from saying the rest of their plan out loud.

The Prince had finally left Audrey's side, hoping to catch up to Georgie, but she had already left. "Hey you guys," Ben greeted politely. "Did you see where Georgie was headed? I wanted to talk to her before the game."

"No, sorry," Mal said stiffly. "But if you go that way, I'm sure you'll catch up to her quickly."

"Thanks," he said, though noticed the bag in her hand. "Oh, cookies? Mind if I have one? I always love a good snack before a big game. Thanks!"

"No, no—"

Mal tried to snatch the bag away but Ben had already reached in and grabbed a cookie. No one was quick enough to hit the cookie out of his hand before he took a bite, shutting his eyes to enjoy the taste. As if fate wanted to play some kind of sick joke, Georgie ran back around the corner as he did.

"I'm back. I totally forgot to grab my homework for tonight," she said, rushing over. "Oh, hi Ben."

His eyes landed on her when he opened them again.

"Oh, shit," both Mal and Jay whispered to themselves.

The other four kept their eyes glued to Georgie and Ben, waiting for the love potion to take effect.

"I see you got a cookie. I'm not a big fan of chocolate, but I hope at least you and the guys can have a treat before the game," Georgie said, smiling. "Is it good? I didn't even know my friends could bake."

Ben chuckled and spoke slowly, not taking his eyes off of her. "Yeah, they're uh, great. I think... there's walnuts. They're really, um, chewy and soft and... pretty."

"Pretty?" Georgie repeated, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Georgie, have you always had those cute little golden flecks in your eyes?"

Georgie's cheeks felt hot and she bit her lip. It sort of sounded like Ben was flirting with her. "Um, yeah. You - you think they're cute?"

"I think all of you is cute," he said, taking another bite of the cookie.

Jay quickly stepped in and grabbed it before he could eat more. Then he put his arms around Ben. "Look at the time, dude! We've got to get to the locker room and change. The game starts soon. C'mon, Carlos. Bye everyone!"

Georgie could only watch with an open mouth as he practically dragged Ben away, who waved at her as he was pulled around the corner. Then she turned to Evie and Mal, who were sharing some kind of look but they quickly focused on her.

"Did Ben just call me cute?" she asked, feeling shy all of the sudden. "He was just probably being nice, right? I mean, he's still dating Audrey."

"Something tells me they aren't gonna be together much longer," Mal muttered.

Evie elbowed her before wrapping her arm around Georgie. "Of course, he thinks you're cute. You know, he's asked about you a few times and every time he's always blushing. The others won't listen to me, but I think he has a crush on you."

"I don't know," Georgie said, looking at her feet. "I mean, Audrey."

Mal narrowed her eyes at Evie. What are you doing? she mouthed to her when Georgie wasn't looking.

Just go with it, she replied, smirking.

Mal rolled her eyes but followed the two girls to the Tourney field. This was not going to end well.