▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱 ━︎━︎ 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 Doug outside, giving him a small smile as she walked away from him when she noticed Audrey and Ben at Ben's locker. Mal watched her as she walked by and Ilaria glanced at her before continuing her way towards Ben. Naturally, Audrey was complaining because Mal had done some of the girls hair using magic.

     ". . . and then where will I be?" Audrey finished saying, a pout on her lips.

     "Hopefully in the trash where you belong." Ilaria commented, coming to a stop beside Ben.

     Audrey scoffed. "It's not me that belongs in the trash."

     "Audrey," Ben warned.

     Audrey looked at him with disbelief. She rolled her eyes. "I will see you at the game after my dress-fitting for the coronation, okay?"

     "Okay," Ben muttered.

     Audrey smiled. "Bye Benny-Boo." She gave him an air kiss on the cheek before turning and leaving.

     Ben stood there for a moment, pressing his lips together as he turned to look at her. "You know, it's hard for me to keep her from bashing you when you do it to her first."

     Ilaria smiled. "Well, what can I say? It does bring me joy."

     Ben shook his head, trying to hide the smile that wanted to crawl on his lips. "Are you coming to the game?"

     She lightly pushed his shoulder. "Of course I am. I have to support one of my only friends, don't I?"

     "You do," Ben agreed. "Hey, but I want to meet up after the game."

     Ilaria couldn't help but frown. "That doesn't sound good. Have I managed to piss off the ol' parents again?"

     Ben chuckled. "No. Surprisingly." Ilaria scoffed in mock offense. "I just feel like we haven't hung out a lot lately. Is it wrong of me to want to spend some time with my best friend?"

     Ilaria smiled brightly and shook her head. "No, I don't think that's wrong at all."

     "Good." He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. "I'll see you after the game." Ilaria nodded and watched as he walked away, running straight into Mal and watching as she offered him a cookie. She subtly leaned against the lockers, crossing her arms over her chest and watching the exchange. Although she couldn't hear what was being said, she watched as Ben ate the cookie and the other three VK's slowly began to creep forwards. She jumped in surprise when Ben suddenly starting loudly singing Mal's name, causing Mal to quickly cover Ben's mouth with her hand. Ilaria slowly stood up straight, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

When Mal finally managed to convince Ben to get ready for the game, she turned her head and her eyes instantly met Ilaria's. Evie, Jay, and Carlos all followed Mal's eyeline and Evie instantly tensed. She glanced at Mal and then back at Ilaria who did not look happy, quickly rushing towards the redhead and grabbing her arm to pull her to a more secluded area.

     Anger seemed to rush through Ilaria's veins as she quickly spun on her heel to face Evie. "What the hell did you do to him?"

     "Nothing that'll damage him. . . I don't think." Evie mumbled the last part, but Ilaria heard her clearly.

     "That doesn't answer my question." Ilaria hissed. "I swear to God Evie, if Ben gets hurt I will kill all of you."

     "He won't get hurt." Evie assured her. "He's in decent hands."

     Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "You call Mal's hands decent?"

     Evie grew nervous, coming to the sudden conclusion that she really hated it when Ilaria was angry with her. "Ilaria, I. . ." She trailed off, unsure of what to say.

     "Evie, these are people's lives you are messing with. Which, personally, I don't really care about anyone else's life, but Ben I do care about. Besides Doug, he is my only friend. I won't let anything happen to him." She clenched her jaw. "Leave him out of your stupid plan. I mean it. Or you will hate the consequences that will follow and you won't have to worry about how terrifying your mother will be because I promise you I will be worse."

     Ilaria pulled away from Evie, quickly storming away from her. "Ilaria!" Evie called her name and despite the way she felt, Ilaria couldn't help herself as she stopped. She didn't turn to look at her, instead she simply waited for her to speak. Evie frowned, and her chest began to ache. "I'm sorry."

     Ilaria said nothing and continued forwards. Evie walked back to the others, the frown prominent on her face. "I think I've made her my enemy rather than my friend."

     Mal glanced at her, almost disgusted at the pain on her face. "It won't matter anyways. Snap out of it." She snapped her fingers in Evie's face. "Why do you care so much anyways?"

     Evie looked at her, opening and closing her mouth for a moment before she softly whispered, "I don't know."

When it was time for the game, Ilaria stood there on the bleachers, and despite being surrounded by classmates she felt all alone. Doug was playing with the band, and of course Ben was actually playing the game, and that left Ilaria to herself. All of the students from both teams were cheering, the cheerleaders were dancing, and there was only forty-seven seconds left on the clock. The game was tied two to two, and even Ilaria couldn't help but admit to herself how anxious she was for them to win. She had to keep reminding herself that she was here for Ben and so she let out a cheer, clapping her hands. She watched as Jay and Carlos were sent out onto the field and she couldn't help but smile.

     "He's bringing that hothead Jay in from the Isle of the Lost and that little guy Carlos who can barely hold a shield." The announcer said and Ilaria let out a scoff. "When they break from their huddles this is going to be a big moment here." The two teams got ready. "And the tipoff is ready." The whistle blew, announcing the start. "Long pass goes to Jay. Jay dishes off to Prince Ben." Carlos kneeled down, using his shield to send one of the opposite players over his shoulder and onto the ground. "Nice little block by Carlos. He's doing a little dancing jig in the opponents face."

     "And now Jay gets the ball back. Here comes Jay!" Jay ran into the kill zone, skillfully flipping and dodging all of the balls that were shot his way. "Jay makes a nice pass to Prince Ben through the kill zone. Big block by Chad! Prince Ben moves over wide, gives it back to Jay." Jay ran towards the goal, quickly making his shot only for the goalkeeper to quickly hit it away.

     "Twenty-three seconds left. You could cut the tension with a sword. The long ball is played into Jay. Jay, great jump, great leap. And a great move by jay. Big block from Chad! Jay dishes off to Prince Ben." Carlos was quickly knocked down by another player, and Jay grabbed him and pulled him up, continuing to run. As they ran into the kill zone, Jay and Carlos quickly dodged the balls, and Jay quickly picked up the game ball. Carlos yelled for Jay and Jay tossed him the ball. Carlos used his shield, hitting the ball upwards before quickly crouching down allowing Jay to jump over him and snag the ball, tossing it to Ben who quickly sent it flying towards the goal and getting the winning point.

     Instantly, the crowd broke into cheers and Ilaria couldn't help but smile widely as she cheered for Ben. As the announcer was about to actually announce them as the winners, Ben snatched his microphone. "Excuse me!" Ben called, grabbing everyone's attention. Ilaria furrows her brows, cocking her head slightly to the side. "Excuse me, can I have your attention, please?" He took a step up on the small platform that held the ball shooter. "There's something I'd like to say." There was a long pause, silence and anticipation covering the crowd. "Give me an 'M'!"

     Instantly, the crowd shouted, "M!", moving their hands and arms into the shape of the letter.

     "Give me an 'A'!"

     "A!"

     "Give me an 'L'!"

     "L!" Instantly, Ilaria's eyes widened.

     "What does that spell?"

     "Mal!" The crowd shouted.

     "Come on, I can't hear you!"

     Again the crowd shouted, "Mal!"

     Ben instantly found Mal in the crowd, making direct eye contact with her. "I love you, Mal. Did I mention that?"

     Ilaria let out a laugh when she saw Audrey run away, instantly pushing her way towards Mal and Evie and taking a step beside them. "I don't know what you two put in that cookie, but whatever it was, seeing Audrey run away like that made it completely worth it." Evie and Mal looked at her and Evie smiled widely while Mal just had a look of surprise on her face. And then, Ben started singing. Ilaria watched in both complete horror and utter amusement, a shocked laugh escaping her lips when Ben tossed Mal his jersey which she quickly caught. He crowd surfed until he was standing in front of Mal, a wide smile on his face.

     He tried to kiss her and Mal swiftly dodged it, a laugh escaping her lips. He pulled her close. "I love you, Mal. Did I mention that?"

     Audrey and Chad quickly appeared behind him and Audrey snatched the microphone from Ben's hand. "Chad's my boyfriend now. And I'm going to the coronation with him. So, I don't need your pity date." Audrey turned and kissed Chad and Ben snatched the microphone from her hand.

     "Mal!" He yelled. "Will you go to the coronation with me?"

     "Yes!" Mal yelled into the microphone and the entire crowd cheered.

     "She said yes!"

     Ilaria laughed as Audrey stormed away before her attention turned towards Evie. A frown was on her lips and Ilaria gently placed a hand on her arm. "Hey, I'm sorry about Chad. He's a dick and he doesn't deserve you. You deserve to be treated like a princess, not like someone's side chick."

     Evie looked at her, forcing a small smile. "Thanks, Ilaria."

     Ilaria gave her a small smile. "Call me Ria." Evie's face brightened slightly. Ilaria peered over Evie to look at Mal. "Mal." Mal turned to look at her. "I guess I owe you a thank you. Now I don't have to deal with Audrey every time I try to talk to Ben." She let out a sigh. "Well, my duties here are done. I'll see you guys later."  She began her descent down the bleachers, and when she touched the ground, she couldn't help but turn and look at Evie and to her surprise Evie was already look at her. She gave her a small smile before turning and leaving.