▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 ━︎━︎ 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐰𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐍𝐎𝐓 wanting to go to watch the practice, Ilaria decided that she had nothing else better to do. She sat on the bleachers, a book in her hand as she silently read. Other girls were spread sporadically through out, watching the practices to either support their boyfriend or fawn over the guys. Ilaria just wanted to see how much of a fool the two new kids would make of themselves.

     Coach blew his whistle. "Jay, Ben, offense." He ordered. "Chad, you're defense. Taylor, you're the shooter." Coach turned his head, eyes instantly finding Carlos who was standing in the middle of the field with his helmet in his hand, looking around cluelessly as he tried to figure what was going on and what exactly he was supposed to be doing. "Hey, hey! Hey, you. Lost boy!" Carlos turned to him, raising his brows. "Put your helmet on! Get out of the kill zone!"

     Carlos furrowed his brows. "Kill zone?" He stumbled off of the red spray-painted grass, putting his helmet on his head as Coach blew the whistle again, indicating the game was about to start.

As the game began, Ilaria watched with the roll of her eyes as the cheerleaders all cheered, Audrey naturally front and center. Her eyes went back to the game, a smirk of amusement pulling on her lips when she watched Jay start aggressively shoving all of the players, even if they were on his own team. He was simply in it to win it. He flew through the kill zone with ease, flipping over a ball that was shot at him before dodging two more and headed straight for Carlos.

     Carlos's eyes widened with fear when he saw jay coming running towards him. "Jay, it's me! It's Carlos! Wait, stop! Jay, stop!" However, Jay didn't listen. Carlos tossed his tourney stick at Jay out of fear as Jay shot the ball at him. Carlos protected himself by holding his shield out in front of him. The ball bounced off his shield and Carlos toppled over, crying out as Jay used Carlos's shield to boost himself as he jumped, snagging the ball and throwing it into the goal.

     He threw his tourney stick down, tossing his gloves and helmet off as he let out loud cheers and began dancing in victory. Ilaria sat on the bleachers, a short chuckle leaving her lips as she shook her head in amusement. Coach blew his whistle, immediately pointing to Jay. "You! Get over here!"

     Ilaria sighed. "Must they always ruin the fun?"

     Jay jogged over to the Coach, coming to a stop in front of him. "What do you call that over there?" Coach asked, pointing to the multiple players that were still lying on the ground from where Jay had knocked them over. A stern look was on his face before it broke out into a smile. "I call that raw talent. Come find me later. I'll show you something you haven't seen before. It's called a rule book." He gave Jay a pat on the shoulder. "Welcome to the team, son." His smile fell as he looked at Carlos. "You ever thought about band?"

     "I'll work with him, Coach." Ben quickly volunteered.

     "Alright," Coach sighed. He blew his whistle. "Let's run that again."

     Ilaria stood, closing her book and beginning to walk away. She meandered to her next class, having shown up for the last thirty minutes of it before she was dismissed. She walked out of the class, smiling at Ben as he met up with her. Instantly, she hooked her arm in his. "My prince," she greeted.

     Ben almost rolled his eyes, but a smile was on his lips. "Princess," he replied. Instantly, Ilaria scrunched her nose in distaste earning a laugh from her friend. They walked outside. "I saw you decided to come to practice after all."

     Ilaria nodded. "It was quite entertaining if I do say so myself."

They approached the lockers, only to come to a stop when they were confronted by Audrey and Chad who had been laughing. Audrey's eyes immediately snapped to their interlinked arms, her eyes narrowing in a dangerous gaze. Ilaria allowed a lazy smirk on her face. Audrey's face screwed up in annoyance before she glanced past them to where Mal and Evie were standing, Evie giving Mal a soft bye as she headed to her class.

     Chad patted Ben's chest, pointing to Mal. "Those kids are trouble."

     Ben shrugged. "Come on, Chad. Give them a chance."

     Audrey let out a false chuckle, reaching out her hands to grab both of Ben's, resulting in Ilaria to remove her arm. "No offense, Bennybear, you're just too trusting." Ben let out a small annoyed laugh, plastering a smile on his face. "Look, I know your mom fell in love with a big nasty beast that turned out to be a prince. But with my mom, the evil fairy was just the evil fairy." She subtly nodded towards Mal. "That girl's mother."

     "My, you sure do know how to hold a grudge." Ilaria hummed.

     "I think you're wrong about them." Ben shrugged. "Ria's began trusting them."

     "Ria," Audrey spat her name like a disease, "is one of them. It's only right for her to befriend her own kind."

     Ilaria took a step forward, her smile sickly sweet and dangerous. "Say it again, Audrey. Please. I beg of you."

     Ben reached out and grabbed her, gently pulling her back. "Alright, calm down tiger." Ben looked at Chad and Audrey. "I'll see you later." He turned, beginning to push Ilaria away and towards the direction Mal was in.

     "You need a new girlfriend." Ilaria hissed, just in earshot of Mal who perked up. "If she wants to berate me because of my heritage, I will make her see where I truly came from." Ilaria stopped, turning to look at Ben. "I may have not been on the Isle for as long as the other villain kids, but that was still my home. I remember every second of it, and I remember my old instincts that I learned as soon as I could walk. She is playing with fire and she is going to get burned. I'll cut off her head."

     Ben placed his hands on either of her shoulders in attempt to calm her down. "Don't let her get to you, Ria. This is exactly what she wants."

     Ilaria clenched her jaw. "If she wants it, then she'll get it." She pulled out of his grip and stormed off.

     "Ria!" Ben called after her. "Ria!" A sigh left his lips.

     Ilaria clenched her jaw, gripping her back on her shoulder as she made her way to her chemistry class. She shoved the door open, causing the teacher to stop midsentence. Mr. Deley turned his head to look at her. "Ilaria, glad to see you could join us." Ilaria glared at him and made her way over to Doug, instantly taking a seat beside him. She hadn't noticed Evie on the other side of him.

     Doug instantly turned to her. "What happened?"

     "What's to say I don't make a potion right now and poison Audrey the same way her mother was." Ilaria snarled and Evie's eyes widened.

     "Actually, Aurora was cursed―︎"

     "I know!" Ilaria snapped. Doug flinched and instantly she felt bad. "Sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you."

     "It's alright." Doug assured, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

     Ilaria sighed, forcing herself to calm down. Her attention was immediately drawn when Evie's soft sweet voice flooded her ear. "Any chance he's in line for a throne? Anywhere in line?" Ilaria followed where her eyes were looking, annoyance instantly flooding her veins when she spotted Chad who was looking at Evie with a smile.

     "Chad." Doug answered. "Prince Charming Jr. Cinderella's son." Instantly, Evie perked up.

     "Chad inherited the charm, but he's not a lot of there, there." Ilaria added.

     Evie smiled dreamily. "Looks like there, there to me."

     Ilaria gave her a flirtatious smile. "Darling, if it's a throne you want, you are more than welcome to join me on mine."

     Instantly, Evie turned to her. Ilaria sent her a quick wink and Evie's face began to heat up as butterflies filled her stomach, her heart slamming in her chest. She swallowed, trying to pull herself together. "I-um, you, I mean, you have a throne? But. . ."

     "I'm from the Isle." Ilaria finished. "But, seeing as my aunt has no heir's, she's pronounced me as hers. Therefore, I am technically a princess. And when I am Queen, I would be more than willing to let you rule by my side."

     Evie stared at her, her face the same shade as Ilaria's hair. Her mother had always told her to win a throne, to win a prince that could give her one, but would it be so wrong of her to want a princess instead? She shook the thought from her head, snapping back to reality when the teacher called her name. "Evie. Perhaps this is just review for you. So, tell me, what is the average atomic weight of silver?"

    "Atomic weight?" Evie asked, fluttering her lashes. "Well, not very much. I mean, it's an atom right?" She and Chad both let out chuckles. Mr. Deley motioned her towards the board. Evie frowned and stood, subtly grabbing her magic mirror. She walked up to the board, a smile on her face. "Let's see. How do I find the average atomic weight of silver? That would be 106.905 times 0.5200, plus 108.905, time 0.4800, which, Mr. Deley, would give us 107.9 amu."

     Ilaria raised a brow as she and Doug muttered in unison, "Amu?"

     "I forget." Mr. Deley said. "Always a mistake to underestimate a―︎"

     "A villain?" Evie finished. She gave him a sweet smile. "Don't make it again." She tossed him the chalk she'd used to write on the board before turning and as she walked by Chad he handed her note. She took it with a shy smile before returning to her seat. She opened the note, reading it before looking at Chad and silently nodding with a smile.

     Ilaria scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Alright, Dougy, I'm out of here."

     "I'll tell you what you missed." Doug nodded and Ilaria sent him a grateful smile before standing up and grabbing her bag.

     "Miss Marmoreal, where are you going?" Mr. Deley called, causing Ilaria to pause in her footsteps. Evie watched her every move with interest.

     Ilaria raised her brows as if it were obvious―︎ which it was. "Leaving. Don't you worry your little grey head, I will turn the homework in on time."

     "Miss Marmoreal, this is new material―︎"

     "Which I have already learned." Ilaria interrupted. "Mustn't you forget who my aunt is?" She gave him a smile before turning and leaving, the smile instantly leaving her face. Of course Evie would choose Chad over her, she almost felt bad for the girl. Chad was a dick and Evie was going to get hurt, but who was Ilaria to step in her way of what she truly wanted? Without a second glance, she went to her room.

     Evie sat in the classroom, her dreamy smile beginning to fade as she watched Ilaria leave. She had the urge to chase after her, but she stopped herself. Why should she care if she hurt Ilaria's feelings? She was a villain, she wasn't supposed to care. But it seemed she did. Her eyes found the note Chad had given her, and suddenly she no longer wanted to meet him under the bleachers.

     Before Ilaria could make it to her room, Ben found her. Ilaria frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be working with Carlos?"

     Ben nodded. "Yeah, I'm giving him and Dude some alone time."

     Ilaria raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

     Ben chuckled. "Dude started chasing him and he went sprinting into the forest, thinking Dude was some rabid pack animal."

     Ilaria pouted. "Aw, that poor baby."

     "I know, they have it rough over there."

     Ilaria furrowed her brows. "What? I was talking about Dude, not Carlos." Ben furrowed his brows, a confused smile pulling on his lips. "Dude just wanted belly rubs and his victim ran from him, that poor dogs feelings must be hurt."

     Ben chuckled, shaking his head. "Only you would be more concerned about Dude than Carlos."

     Ilaria smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "What can I say? For a while he was my best friend. And then someone decided to replace him."

     Ben placed a hand over his heart. "You wound me, Ria. Truly you do." Ilaria chuckled. "Where are you headed?"

     "To my room. Class got. . . well, it was something."

     Ben frowned. "Isn't that the class you had with Evie? I honestly though you would want to stay."

     Ilaria forced a smile. "Well, it seems Prince Charming Jr. has caught her attention and she was too busy fawning over him to notice me. If she wants her feelings hurt, I won't be the one to stop her. Everyone has to learn one way or the other."

     "That's a little cruel, isn't it?"

     Ilaria shrugged. "Maybe, but who am I to step in and tell someone what to do with their life when they've only just gotten their freedom to do as they please? I won't take the choice of free will from her. That's the true cruelty." She took a few steps backwards, giving him a small wave. "I'll see you later." She turned on her heel and continued to her room.