Georgie felt sick at her stomach as Evie woke her up for the first day of school. Yes, they had school on the Isle, but Gaston had never allowed his daughter to attend it. There was a lot of general things that she just didn't know, but it wasn't her fault. She knew, however, that unlike the kids on the Isle, the ones at Auradon would tear her apart if they caught wind of her lack of knowledge.

Over breakfast, Georgie informed the other villain kids of what happened in the library the night before. They had all been shocked that Ben, the future king, knew about her illiteracy. Mal immediately assumed that he would tell all of his friends, but the morning passed quickly with no one making fun of Georgie. Evie did her best to comfort a worried Georgie and assured her that Ben was nice and wouldn't tell her secret, especially if he was willing to help her read.

Their first class of the day was Remedial Goodness. Georgie sat in between Evie and Mal and did her best to pay attention. She appreciated the fact that Fairy Godmother wrote everything down on the board and then also said it out loud. It helped Georgie work out what the words were.

She slowly wrote all the notes down. Fairy Godmother thought it was because she wanted to soak up all the goodness she could from the class, but her friends just knew it was practice. Because she was focused on writing it down, Georgie didn't answer many questions. Mal was the only one to answer the questions correctly.

"If someone hands you a crying baby, do you, A, curse it? B, lock it in a tower? C, give it a bottle? Or D, carve out its heart?" Fairy Godmother asked them.

Mentally, Georgie checked C off as the answer, but didn't call it out because she was scribbling down the last option.

Evie raised her hand and was then called on. "What was the second one?" she asked, frowning.

Fairy Godmother sighed. "Oh, okay. Anyone else? Mal?"

Mal, who had been focused on her drawing of the magic wand, glanced at the board lazily. "C, give it a bottle."

"Correct! Again."

Carlos grinned at Mal. "You are on fire, girl!"

"Just pick the one that doesn't sound like any fun," Mal said in a 'duh' tone.

"Or the one I'm most likely to do," Georgie added.

"Oh."

"That makes so much sense," Evie said with wide eyes.

A small girl in a blue dress entered the classroom. She squeaked as she passed by the five villain kids and walked up to Fairy Godmother. Georgie couldn't help but frown at the girl's haircut, which was ugly and distracted from her pretty face.

"Hello, dear one," Fairy Godmother greeted with a smile.

"Hi. You need to sign off on early dismissal for the coronation," the girl mumbled, glancing at the kids nervously.

"Everyone here remembers my daughter, Jane?"

"Mom, no!" Jane snapped in fear. She clearly wanted nothing to do with the villain kids.

"It's okay. Jane, this is everyone," she introduced.

"Hi," she mumbled, avoiding eye contact with everyone. "That's okay, don't mind me. As you were."

Jane quickly scurried out of the room. Mal's green eyes stayed on the girl until she was out of the room. Georgie could tell that she had a plan forming in her mind.

"Ahem," Fairy Godmother said, getting everyone's attention again. "Let's continue. You find a vial of poison. Do you, A, put it in the king's wine? B, paint it on an apple? Or C, turn it over to the proper authorities?"

Carlos tried to raise his hand but Jay shoved it down to raise his own, wanting to get credit. Carlos tried to shove the bigger boy off, but it was too late as Fairy Godmother called his name.

"C. You turn it over to the proper authorities," Jay answered proudly.

"I was gonna say that," Carlos complained.

"But I said it first," Jay teased. "Come here!"

He grabbed Carlos and the two started fighting.

"Ow!" Carlos yelped.

"Come on, who said it first? Who said it first?"

Fairy Godmother looked at them disappointingly. "Boys. Boys! I am gonna encourage you to use that energy on the Tourney field."

"Oh, no. That's okay," Carlos mumbled, not sure what she was talking about. "Whatever that is, we'll - we'll pass."

|

Georgie's day seemed to stretch on forever. She wanted nothing more than to go back to her room and never come out. School was hard and she didn't see the point in it. Like they promised, all of her friends made sure that she had a seat next to them, which helped.

English was nightmare and definitely her hardest class, which she shared with Mal and Carlos. Ben was in that class too, but she barely spared him a glance. The teacher had called on two different students to read something out loud, which seemed to be something she did often. That meant there was a chance of her calling on her, and that would be a disaster. 

But eventually the school day had ended and there had been no mishaps. Sure, people threw the villain kids nasty looks as they passed, but they were all too frightened to say anything to their faces. Mal, Evie, and Georgie filled their new lockers up with their books. Mal had already vandalized her's with spray paint and her mother's symbol. Georgie made her promise to decorate her locker too.

"Those kids are trouble."

The three girls shared a look as they heard Chad Charming complain about them to Ben, Neville, and Audrey. Georgie didn't know how the son of someone as sweet as Cinderella and Prince Charming was so vile. She wondered if his younger sister was just the same.

"Bye, Mal, Georgie," Evie said, before leaving to go and get started on some homework.

"Bye," Mal called. Both girls pretended to root through their lockers while they listened in on the rest of the conversation going on a few feet from them.

"Come on, Chad. Give them a chance," Ben tried to defend them. That made Georgie smile a little at the ground

"Oh. No offense, Bennybear, but you're just too trusting," Audrey said, shaking her head. "Look, I know your mom fell in love with a big nasty beast who turned out to be a prince. But with my mom, the evil fairy was just the evil fairy. That girl's mother."

"Lay off, Audrey," Neville said, rolling his eyes. "At least Ben's trying time make a difference with his power."

Audrey tensed up and glared at Neville. Georgie glanced at Mal, who was watching Neville with new interest.

"And let's not forget the daughter of the man that tried to kill your father," Audrey added, brushing off Neville's defense. "She's just as dangerous and you should stay away. I bet she'd try and hurt you the first chance she got, just like her no-good father."

Georgie bit the inside of her cheek as she gripped her chemistry book tighter. Mal lightly nudged her and have her a barely-there smile, letting her know that no one that mattered thought she was like her father. Georgie nodded in appreciation. Besides, if she wanted to hurt Ben, she would've done it last night when they were in library alone.

"I think you're wrong about them," Ben told his friend. "I'll see you later."

Ben and Neville walked away from Chad and Audrey and towards Mal and Georgie. Mal shut her locker just as they reached them.

"Hey," Ben greeted brightly.

"Hey," Mal copied him, flashing a fake smile. Neville caught Mal's eye and smirked as he nodded to her.

"How was your first day?" Ben asked the girls.

"Super," Mal said sarcastically while Georgie stayed silent.

"You should really think about taking this talent off the locker and into art class," Neville said, nodding to the art on Mal's locker. "I could, uh, sign you up. What do you think?"

Mal hardly listened to Neville as Jane walked past, still obviously scared of the villain kids. Whatever her plan was, she was about to carry it out. Once Jane disappeared into the bathroom, Mal looked back at the boys.

"Way to take all the fun out of it."

As Mal strutted away, Neville watched her leave with a small smile on his face. "Huh."

Then he patted Ben on the back and said a polite goodbye to Georgiana before going off, leaving the two alone.

"What about you?" Ben asked her as she gently shut her locker. "Learn anything new on your first day?"

"I learned that I hate school," she mumbled with a smile. "I like my math class though. There are no words."

"There you go. Now you've got a class to look forward to every day," he said. "I'm glad we have English together. I wasn't sure if I'd have classes with any of you guys."

Georgie made a displeased face at the mention of English, making him chuckle.

"I'm sure it won't be the bad after you get settled in," he assured her.

"But she makes people read out loud," she mumbled quietly while looking at her shoes. She was still embarrassed about what happened last night.

"I'll help you out if that happens. I can volunteer to do it instead," he offered kindly.

"Thank you," she said, pushing some hair behind her ears.

Ben then cleared his throat and seemed to become nervous. "Um, also, I thought that if you wanted, we could keep meeting in the library and reading at night."

Georgie looked up at him with wide eyes and frowned. "You don't have to do that. I know you're busy and I don't want to be some charity case–"

"No, no," he rushed out. "Really, I want to. I liked spending time with you and I don't mind helping."

"I'm not used to people being so nice to me," she admitted. "But, if you really don't mind, I'd like that."

"Great," he said with a blinding smile. "Tonight at eleven. I'll see you then."

"See you then," Georgie mumbled before walking away, leaving Ben to lean against the lockers and watch her go.

|

Night came, and after Mal informed everyone of her plan involving Jane, the five friends went off on their own. Once Mal and Evie were asleep, Georgie snuck out of their room and toward the library.

She hadn't told them about meeting with Ben, though she wasn't sure why. Maybe because Mal didn't trust him or she didn't want to show that she liked living at Auradon. No, she didn't like school, but what teenager did? Anything was better than living with her father.

Ben was already in the library. He held a book in one hand and a blanket in the other. She grinned when she saw the little crowns on his pajama pants, but made no comment. She too was in pajamas, but they were plain yellow ones.

"I thought we'd read The Little Mermaid," he said, holding up the book. "Another one of my favorites, and Ariel's daughter Melody used to babysit me."

"The Little Mermaid," Georgie repeated, grabbing the book and looking at the title. She frowned when she saw a drawing of Ursula on the cover. "She makes some of the worst fish sticks in the world at her restaurant."

"You've met her?"

She nodded and they both sat down. "Yeah. She's not that bad. My brother is friends with her daughter."

"I forgot you had a brother," Ben said, frowning. "I-I should've brought you over together. I'm sorry."

Georgie gave him a small smile. "I think six kids would be pushing it with your parents."

"Do you miss him?"

"Of course," she said. "I never really fit in on the Island, and before I made friends with the others, he was all I had. I'd love for him to be here with me, but he at least he can take care of himself. Dad was never hard on him, so he'll be alright."

"Still, I'm sorry that I separated you," Ben said, still upset with himself.

"Ben, don't feel guilty," she said, taking his hand gently. "You got me away from that horrible man and you saved my life."

"Well, saved your life might be a little bit dramatic," he said, smiling. "But thank you."

Georgie smiled bitterly and let go of his hand. Ben still didn't really see how bad the Island really was. He had been so sheltered and loved for his whole life, and she wasn't sure how to make him understand how much he had done for her.

Without thinking too much about it, she pulled her sleeve to cover the heel of her hand. Then she brought it up to her face and began to scrub at her cheek. The makeup that Evie had been applying the last few days slowly came off, revealing the large, purple bruise she had gotten two days ago.

Ben was shocked when he saw the fresh injury that stained her otherwise perfect face. "Did - How did you get that?"

Georgie sighed. "This is nothing Ben. This is what happens when Gil is there and pulls him off so that I can run away."

Ben slowly reached up and brushed his thumb across her cheek, a defeated look in his face.

"I didn't show you so that I can get your pity," she told him in a firm voice. "I told you, because no matter what anyone says to you or about your law, I need you to know that it is a wonderful and amazing thing that you are doing. We can take Audrey and Chad saying mean things about us because it's a walk in the park compared to what's back home."

"This can be your home now," Ben said softly. "And I'll get your brother over here as soon as I can."

"Thanks," she said, grinning. "I appreciate it."

"That's why the others are so protective," Ben said looking off at the shelves. "When Audrey stepped toward you yesterday, it was like an automatic response to get in front of you."

Georgiana smiled softly. "Don't tell them I said it because they'll deny it tooth and nail, but they're all big softies. They may act like they hate it here, but I know Auradon is good for them. I'm glad we're here."

"I'm glad you're here too."

Ben looked down at her, making Georgie realize how close their faces were.  Wanting the intimate moment to be over with, she looked back at the book. "Alright, time for The Little Mermaid. I'm sure Ariel is much nicer than Ursula makes her sound."