CHAPTER 9

The villain kids had been invited to Auradon's family day. They stood on a balcony above everyone as they watched Ben, Addy, and a group of kids sing. Jay's eyes never left Addy.

"Ma chere mademoiselle, it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight.

And now we invite you to relax.

Let us pull up a chair, as the dining room proudly presents your dinner..." Ben and Addy sing before the rest of the kids join in.

"Be our guest, be our guest

Put our service to the test

Tie your napkin round your neck, chrie

And We'll provide the rest

That's right

That's right.

Soup du jour,  hot hors d'oeuvres

Why, we only live to serve

Whoo!

Try the gray stuff, It's delicious

All right!

Don't believe me?

Ask the dishes" The group sings and dances while Ben and Addy wave at people.

"Yeah!

They can sing, sing, sing

They can dance, dance, dance

After all, miss, this is France

And a dinner here is never, never second best

Come on, go on, unfold your menu

Go on, take a glance and then You'll Be our guest, be our guest

Be our guest, yeah, yeah, come on

Yeah, be our guest, guest, yeah

Yeah" Ben and Addy sing as she notices Jay up above and kind of motions for him to come down.

"We tell jokes, I do tricks with my fellow candlesticks

And It's all in perfect taste

That you can bet

Come on and lift your glass

You've won your own free pass To be our guest

If you're stressed

It's fine dining we suggest

Be our guest, be our guest, be our guest

Yeah

Yeah, uh, come on

Be our guest, be our guest come on, come on

Be our guest" They all sing as Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos make their way down to the food tables. Mal sees strawberries before quickly grabbing one. Evie takes Dude from Carlos so he and Jay could eat strawberries and chocolate.

"That was so lovely!" Belle tells Ben and Addy as they walk over to them. They then get ready to take a picture.

"Ready?" The camera man asks as Addy notices Jay eating the chocolate straight from the fountain and giggles.

"Oh, by the way, I have a new girlfriend," Ben tells his parents and they smile at him.

"Well, I never wanted to say anything, but I always thought that Audrey was a little self-absorbed. A fake smile, kind of a kiss-up," Belle says with a fake smile as they take pictures before they have Addy join them.

"I also have a boyfriend now," Addy tells them causing Belle to smile and hug her excitedly.

"Do we know your new girlfriend and boyfriend?" Beast asks Ben and Addy.

"On the count of three," The camera man says. "One, two..."

"Well, sort of," Ben answers Beast.

"Mal!" Ben calls at the same time Addy calls "Jay!"  They then wave them over.

"Three!" The camera man says catching Beast and Belle's shocked faces.

"Mal! Mal, I wanna introduce you to my parents," Ben says as he walks over to Mal before hugging her. Addy then walks over to Jay and hugs him.

"You got a little chocolate," Addy says before wiping Jay's face off causing him to smile at her. "I want you to meet Ben's parents." Addy holds his hand as they turn to face Beast and Belle with Ben and Mal. "This is Jay. From the island. My boyfriend."

"And this is Mal. From the Island. My girlfriend," Ben introduces.

"Hi," Belle says trying to get over her shock.

"Hi," Mal says sweetly.

"I was thinking maybe they can join us for lunch," Ben says.

"Of... course. Any friend of Ben's..." Beast tries to get out.

"Um, I hate to impose but I actually came with my friends," Mal says sweetly looking back at Carlos and Evie.

"Well, you should invite them. Because the more the merrier!" Belle says.

"Yeah, I'll go grab them," Mal says.

"Uh, how about a game of croquet before lunch?" Beast offers to Jay.

"Of course," Jay says with a smile.

"Game on," Ben tells Beast.

"Game on," Beast agrees as they fist bump.

"Have you played before?" Addy asks Jay as they walk away.

"No," Jay says worriedly.

"No? You'll be fine," Addy tells him.

Addy and Mal are standing together as they watch Jay and Ben play. Evie is currently talking to Belle and Beast while Carlos plays with Dude.

"Hello there," Queen Leah says as she walks up to Addy and Mal.

"Hi," Mal says sweetly as Queen Leah and Addy bow to each other.

"Now, have we met?" Queen Leah asks as she focuses on Mal.

"No, I don't think so. I'm new," Mal tells her. "I'm sort of like... Transfer student."

"Oh, yes," Queen Leah says before she turns away.

"Grammy," Audrey says as she walks up to Queen Leah and Addy has a feeling that things were about to take a turn for the worse.

"Oh, Audrey! Give grammy a kiss, dear," Queen Leah says before they kiss cheeks. Mal looks at Addy in shock.

"Grammy"?" Mal asks Audrey.

"Sleeping beauty's mother," Audrey answers and Queen Leah nods. "Grammy, I don't think you want to be talking to this girl, unless you feel like taking another hundred-year nap." Addy sends Audrey a glare because she just had to start something.

"What?" Queen Leah asks. Mal tries to smile at her but it comes off more like a smirk. "You! How are you here? And how have you stayed so young?" This gains everyone's attention. Ben rushes to Mal's side as Jay goes to Addy's.

"Queen Leah, It's okay. Maleficent is still on the island. This is her daughter, Mal and this is Jay, Jafar's son.  Don't you remember my proclamation to give the new generation a chance?" Ben explains to her.

"A chance to what, Ben? Destroy us?" Queen Leah questions before she turns away. "You remember, don't you? The poison apples. And the spells. Spells. My daughter... Was raised by fairies because of your mother's curse. So her first words, her first steps, I missed it all! You mustn't trust her."

"I'm so so..." Mal says as she steps forward to apologize.

"Go away! Stay away from her!" Chad says pushing Mal back.

"Don't do this, Chad," Addy says as Ben quickly brings Mal back to his side.

"What? They were raised by their parents, Addy. What do you think villains teach their kids? Huh? Kindness? Fair play? No way, okay? Uh-uh," Chad questions Addy before turning on Mal. "You stole another girl's boyfriend."

"Hey, hey!" Ben says stepping in front of Mal.

"Oh. You enjoy hurting people," Chad says as he turns on Jay.

"Chad, stop," Addy tries as she stands in front of Jay.

"And you, you're nothing but a gold digger and a cheater," Chad says as he turns on Evie.

"Mirror, mirror, in my hand, who's the biggest jerk in the land?" Evie asks as she pulls out her mirror to show Chad's face.

"What? Come on!" Chad says before he hits her hand causing Addy to gasp as Evie slightly stumbles.

"Back off, Chad. All right?" Jay says as he pushes Chad back. Evie then quickly sprays him with the sleeping potion as Ben shoves Jay back.

"Chad! Evie did something to Chad!" Audrey says as Doug and Lonnie catch him.

"Come on, Mal," Evie says as she pulls her away.

"Guys!" Ben calls trying to get them to stop.

"Jay!" Addy tries but he follows after them with a sad face.

"I feared something like this would happen," Beast says as Addy and Ben turn to his parents.

"This isn't their fault!" Ben defends them.

"No, son. It's yours and Addy's," Beast says before escorting Belle away.

"Mom?" Ben tries but she leaves with Beast. Ben straightens his suit as Addy straightens her dress and they try to stand strong in front of everyone.

Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos were all sitting at a picnic table when Ben and Addy find them.

"Hey, guys. How is everyone. Yeah?" Ben says before moving around and standing behind Mal. He squeezes her shoulders to try to comfort her. Addy hugs Jay but he doesn't return it. "Hey, listen. Forget about it. All right? It was nothing. Forget about it. Let it go. Tomorrow, after the coronation, I promise everything will be okay." No one says anything while Mal and Jay continue to stare straight ahead. Ben leans down to whisper in Mal's ear. "I have to go." Mal doesn't react. "I'll see you guys later."

"I'm sorry this happened," Addy says with a frown before leaving with Ben.

"Listen, Evie, I wanna talk about earlier today. I just..." Doug says as he walk over.

"Doug!" Chad calls.

"It's my fault, Doug. I'm sorry," Evie says.

"Doug!" Chad calls again.

"What?" Doug asks him and Chad gives him a 'really' look.

"Doug..." Evie tries.

"Sorry, I can't," Doug says before he goes sits with the others with his head down.

"How long do they think that's gonna last? Mal and Jay are just the bad girl and boy infatuation," Audrey says as she and Jane walk behind Mal.

"Yeah. I mean, he's never gonna make a villain a queen," Jane says before they walk away. Mal quickly grabs her spell book.

"Beware, forswear, undo Jane's hair," Mal says while moving her finger.

"Ew!" Audrey screams and Lonnie quickly checks her hair.

"There's a lot more where that came from," Mal says as she stands to face the girls.

"Excuse me, who do you think you are?" Audrey asks.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Mal says as she opens her spell book making everyone run away.

"I'm really looking forward to tomorrow," Mal says as she turns to face Evie, Jay, and Carlos.

"Let's grab that wand and blow this Popsicle stand," Jay says in agreement.