𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 . . . drēm
༢ ͎۪۫ ༊ ❛ 𝗆𝗈𝗏𝗂𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝖾 ﾉ 𝖽𝖾𝗌𝖼𝖾𝗇𝖽𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗌. ❜
▇ ¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚ ╱ 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒐 ❜
. . . ➾ ˗ˏˋ princes , royal status , princesses ࿐ྂ

      "𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐒𝐎 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐋𝐋." Ben's voice was warm and inviting as he stepped forward, clapping his hands together and looking around at the group with a genuine smile. "I'm Ben."

      "Prince Benjamin!" Interrupted the girl beside him, pointing over at Ben with a large smile before looking back at the VKs. "Soon to be king," She added with a satisfied squeal.

      Evie, with a sparkle in her eyes, took a graceful step forward, folding her hands together as she curtsied. "You had me at prince!" she gasped. "My mom's a queen. Which makes me... a princess."

      Elizabeth, a few steps behind Evie, looked equally thrilled. She stepped forward, giving a curtsy of her own. "I too, am a princess," she said, her voice filled with excitement. "My mom is the Queen of Hearts."

      The girl's cheerful expression faltered a bit as she looked at Elizabeth and Evie, her lips twisting slightly. "The Evil Queen and Queen of Hearts have no royal status here," she replied, her tone laced with a sugary dismissal as she scrunched her nose. "And neither do you two..."

      Ben coughed awkwardly, glancing between her and the VKs as he saw Elizabeth and Evie's smiles falter. He decided to jump in, gesturing to her. "Uh... this is Audrey..." he began, trying to ease the tension with a gentle smile.

      "Princess Audrey," she corrected, flashing another pointed smile. "His girlfriend. Right, Benny-boo?" She added the nickname with a little tilt of her head.

      Fairy Godmother stepped forward, cutting in just in time to relieve some of the awkwardness in the air. "Ben and Audrey are going to show you around," she announced with a warm smile.

     "And I'll see you all tomorrow!" She placed her hands on top of Ben and Audrey's interlocked hands, lifting them in the air before exclaiming, "The doors of wisdom are never shut! Though the library hours are from 8:00 to 11:00. And as you may have heard, I have a little thing about curfews."

      The VKs all laughed politely, nodding their heads at what she had said before watching as she walked off and the marching band followed behind her.

      Once they were alone, Ben approached Jay, extending his hand with a bright smile. "It's really, really good to meet all of you!" he began, only to be taken aback as Jay met his outstretched hand with a friendly punch to the stomach. Ben let out a small cough, trying to laugh it off.

      He then went over to Mal, shaking her hand and looking down at her as she stood glaring up at him ━ ripping her hand out of his as he slowly moved towards Carlos. "This is a momentous occasion, and one that I hope will go down in history . . . that chocolate?"

      Carlos licked his finger as Ben moved over to Evie, giving her hand a shake. Finally, Ben moved to stand in front of Elizabeth. As he grabbed onto her hand, Elizabeth felt a warmth in her hand as she held back onto his, listening to him continue.

     ". . .as the day I hope our two peoples began to heal."

      Mal rolled her eyes, looking over at him. "Or the day that you showed five peoples where the bathrooms are!"

      Ben looked over at her as she made her comment, slowly letting go of Elizabeth's hands as he walked back over towards Mal. "A little bit over the top?" Ben questioned, looking at her with a raised brow. 

      "A little more than a little bit." Mal replied.

      "Well, so much for my first impression." Ben laughed.

     Audrey leaned in, breaking the moment with a dazzling but pointed smile directed at Mal. "Hey! You're Maleficent's daughter, aren't you?" Audrey asked, her tone feigned innocence. "You know what? I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill my parents and stuff. Oh, my mom's Aurora," she added with a pointed look. "Sleeping. . ."

      "Beauty!" Mal interrupted, nodding. "Yeah, I've heard the name. You know, and I totally do not blame your grandparents for inviting everyone in the whole world but my mother to their stupid christening."

      Audrey laughed and shook her head, "Water under the bridge!"

      "Totes!"

      The two both laughed in each other's faces, both very, very fake laughs. As the laughs slowly died down, Ben looked awkwardly between Mal and his girlfriend, not liking the way they were already interacting with each other, having just met.

      "Okay!" Ben clapped his hands together. "So, how about a tour?"

      The VKs all watched as Ben held a hand towards the school, turning around. Jay, Carlos and Mal standing there casually, while Elizabeth and Evie were obviously trying to contain their excitement. Elizabeth holding her hands together as she smiled towards Evie, then looking back over at Ben.

      As they began walking, Ben led them across the courtyard, gesturing to the grand campus of Auradon Prep. "Auradon Prep," he began, "originally built over three hundred years ago, and converted to a high school by my father when he became king."

      The group walked by a statue of King Beast, which morphed from a human to a beastly figure. Carlos screamed, practically jumping into Jay's arms, while Elizabeth stumbled backward, bumping into Jay and holding tightly to his arm.

     Carlos and Elizabeth shared scared looks with one another, before looking back at the statue ━ Carlos holding tightly onto Jay's shoulders while Elizabeth gripped onto his arm.

      Ben turned around, smiling at the two. "Carlos, Elizabeth, it's okay. My father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man to remind us that anything is possible." Ben reassured.

      Embarrassed, Elizabeth released Jay's arm, stepping forward with a slightly flushed face. Mal, sensing her friend's discomfort, took over with a smirk. "Does he shed much?" she asked Ben, her eyes glinting mischievously.

      "Yeah, mom won't let him on the couch." Ben replied before starting to walk again. Jay then dropped Carlos back onto his feet, everyone starting to follow behind Ben. Jay laughed slightly at his friends' fear as he linked arms with Elizabeth who walked beside him.

      Carlos stayed still, looking up at the statue and clapping his hands, though nothing happened so he ran after the group in fear.

     Coming inside the school, Mal looked around. "So. . . you guys have a like of magic here at Auradon?" She questioned. "Like wands and things like that?"

      "Yeah, it exists of course, but it's pretty much retired." Ben answered. "Most of us here are just ordinary mortals."

      Mal raised her brow, shrugging. "Who happened to be kings and queens."

      "That's true!" Audrey smiled with a nod as she leaned forward. "Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years." Audrey added, putting Ben's arm over her shoulder as he laughed awkwardly before quickly pointing over at Doug as he came down the stairs.

      "Doug! Doug, come down." Ben exclaimed, going over to the staircase as Doug came all the way down the steps. "This is Doug. He's gonna help you with your class schedules and show you the rest of the dorms." Ben informed.

      Walking up to the group, a blonde and her boyfriend smiled. "Oh! I can show you to your dorm. Which happens to also be my dorm." She smiled, looking at Elizabeth.

      "M ━ Me?" Elizabeth questioned, pointing to herself. The girl nodded with a smile. "I can't have a dorm with Mal and Evie?"

      Ben sighed, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, the rooms only have two beds each, and it's two students per dorm. But don't worry — Ashlynn here is one of the best roommates you could have." He gestured at the girl.

      Ashlynn smiled kindly, waving again. "Hi," she introduced herself. "And this is Hunter." She motioned to the boy beside her, who gave a casual wave.

      "Lizzie." Elizabeth smiled back, feeling as though she was actually going to make friends.

      Elizabeth then looked back over at Ben as he began talking again, seeing as their conversation was over and he could continue. "I'll see you later, okay?" Ben said to the group. "And if there is anything you need, feel free to. . ."

      "Ask Doug!" Audrey interrupted.