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Six Year Old Evie looked up at Queen Belle and King Adam, both giving her encouraging smiles. She pulled at her backpack, before walking into the room. She saw all the other six year olds talking to each other and laughing. Evie had never felt so out of place. She turned back to Belle and Adam, who were still watching her. Evie took a step back, towards the adults.
“I wanna go home,” she told them, her eyes looking at the group of kids.
Belle knelt down in front of Evie. “I know you’re scared. But you need to go to school, you need to learn.”
“What if I’m dumb? Old Mommy didn’t let me go to school,” Evie said in a small voice.
Belle gave her a small smile. “You’re not dumb. You are really smart. The brightest I’ve ever met.”
Evie looked at Belle, a hopeful smile on her face. “Really?”
“You’re smarter than I was when I was your age,” Adam pitched in, giving the girl a smile.
“I-I am?” Evie asked, looking up at the king.
“Yeah. I was a small dummy,” he told her, and Evie felt better. She turned to the group of students, all who move to their seats. Belle placed her hand on Evie’s back, gently pushing her forward.
“Class is going to start soon, why don’t I go with you to go to talk to your teacher, yeah?”
Evie nodded, grabbing Belle’s hand and gripping it tightly. The two women walked up to the brunette teacher, who gave them the biggest smile. “Queen Belle, hello!” The teacher turned to the little girl. “Hi there.”
Evie looked up at Belle, who gave her an encouraging smile. Evie turned back and gave a small wave.
“I’m Anna,” the teacher introduced herself.
“I’m Evie,” the girl whispered, giving the woman a grin.
“Well Evie, are you my new neat student?”
The girl nodded, gripping Belle’s hand.
“That’s great. Have a seat in any of the empty seats, we’ll start shortly, is that okay?”
Evie nodded, turning and walking next to a glasses wearing boy, who gave her a small smile. Evie returned it nervously.
(Anna turned to Belle. “Evie’s mother?”
“Her biological mother has passed,” Belle said, not giving too much. “Adam and I are fostering her until her mother figure is able to adopt her.”
Anna turned to the little girl. “What should I know about her?”
“Evie is smart, but she hasn’t been to school until today,” Belle said, turning to Evie, who was sitting at the tiny desk, trying to make herself small as the other students stared at her. “She’s from the Isle. When Ben had the three kids from the Isle come to Auradon, they smuggled her.” Belle turned to Anna. “She’s really sweet, and you’re going to love her. You won’t even know she was an isle kid.”
“Of course,” Anna told the Queen, giving her a smile. “My sister was judged, said she was evil, but I knew better. And I believe Evie isn’t like her mother.”
“I have to go now, but we will need to meet up. I’d like to know why you’re teaching here instead of Arendelle,” Belle said, giving the Princess a smile. They two hugged and the queen walked out of the classroom with one final smile to Evie.)
Evie waved goodbye, before looking around the classroom. Most of the kids were just staring at her, all of them curious. Ms. Anna turned to the class. “Okay kids, we have a new student joining us. Evie, would you like to introduce yourself?”
Evie looked at the teacher with wide eyes and turned to the other students. Some of the kids looked interested, others were still half-asleep.
“I-I’m Evie. I-I’m six,” Evie said, tapping her fingers against her dress. Evie looked at Ms. Anna, waiting for something else.
“Does anyone have any questions for Evie?” Ms. Anna asked the class, and a few kids raised their hands.
“Yes Rachel,” the teacher called, looking at a brunette girl. (The girl was the daughter of Princess Rapunzel and Prince Eugene.)
The girl turned to Evie. “Do you live with King Adam and Queen Belle?”
Evie nodded. “Yeah. They are taking care of me until my Mommy and Daddies can.”
A few more hands raised.
“Who’s your mommy?”
“You have more than one daddy?”
“Where are you from?”
“Do you want to play together during break?”
Evie looked at Ms. Anna, not sure who to answer first.
“One at a time,” the teacher said, turning to the class. “Chase, can you repeat your question?”
Chase Charming nodded his head. “Yeah, you have two daddies? How can you have more than one daddy? Who are they? Who’s your mommy?”
Evie looked at Ms. Anna, not sure what to say.
“Y-you don’t know them,” Evie said, a small frown on her face.
“Where are you from?” Chase questioned, his eyes narrowing.
Evie started to rock. “Th-the Isle,” she whispered, looking down.
The kids looked at each other. One student raised his hand.
“Yes?” Ms. Anna asked, pointing to the boy.
“Do you want to play with me during the break?” he asked, giving Evie a small smile. The little girl returned it and nodded her head.
“That’s really nice of you Doug. You can go back to your seat Evie,” Ms. Anna said, giving the girl a small smile. Evie went to sit next to Doug, who gave her a friendly smile. Evie returned it, happy to have a friend. Ms. Anna started the first lecture, while Evie tried to pay attention, but the other students would turn to look at her.
Evie bounced a ball, waiting for Doug who had gone to the restroom. The other boy didn’t speak too much, always shy, but he did talk to explain the game they were playing. Evie bounced the ball too hard and she wasn’t able to catch it when it bounced away. Evie didn’t want to lose the ball and lose Doug as a friend, so she ran after it, but someone stopped it.
Evie looked at the kid who stopped it with a smile on her face, but the smile left her face when she saw the kid in front of her.
Chase held the ball in his hands, glaring at Evie.
“I-I was playing with that,” Evie whispered, looking around for help. The other kids with Chase didn’t look any nicer. Aaron, son of King Arthur and Kacey, daughter of King Kuzko both glared at her.
“We don’t want Isle kids here,” Chase told her, throwing the ball away. He walked into Evie’s space, and the little girl flinched.
“You’re useless,” the Evil Queen snapped, stepping into Evie’s space. The woman gripped her hair and pulled her closer. “No one is going to want you!” She raised her hand and slapped the little girl. Evie cried out, tears streaming down her face. “Useless.”
Evie cried out, taking a step back. Chase laughed, a smirk on his face.
Chase stomped at Evie, and the little girl took off running. Chase laughed and hi-fived his friends.
Evie spend the rest of her break crying in the restroom.
"How was school?” Mal asked, smiling at the monitor. Evie, Mal, Jay and Carlos were having their daily video chat, a promise they made after she was discovered.
Evie gave her a smile. “It was fun. I made a friend.”
Carlos gave her smile. “Really? What’s their name?”
“His name is Doug and he sits next to me and he’s my best friend! He let me have half his sandwich and his mangos. Mama, I love mangos. They were better than apples!” Evie told her parents, feeling happy. After her day with the mean kids, Doug was sweet to her.
Other kids weren’t really mean, but they didn’t try to defend her when Chase made fun of her. Ms. Anna tried, and Doug would glare and hold her hand, but nothing stopped them from being mean about the Isle. And for the first time since finding her parents, Evie felt like she didn’t belong.
“And he’s being nice?” Jay asked, a look on his face.
Evie nodded her head. “Yeah, he’s really nice.”
“Do you like your teacher?” Mal asked, giving Evie a small smile.
Evie nodded her head. “Yeah. Ms. Anna is nice and funny. She said one of her best friends is a snowman and when it gets cold, Mr. Olaf can visit us. She said he is really funny. And her husband has a reindeer and her sister can make ice out of her hands!”
“We’re really glad you are having fun. We can’t wait to see you Friday, we are going to have so much fun,” Jay said, smiling softly. “ Bye baby.”
“Bye Princess,” Carlos told her, blowing her a kiss.
“We’ll talk to you tomorrow Blueberry.”
“Goodnight Mama, Papa, Daddy,” Evie smiled and waved as her parents logged off. The second the screen went black, Evie let her smile leave her face. She felt tears well up in her eyes.
She loved school. She loved learning. She liked Doug and Ms. Anna. She liked reading, but she was scared. She didn’t want to be scared, but she was.
“How do we find who those assholes are?” Uma questioned, grabbing her lunch to eat.
“Can I hook them?” Harry asked, her eyes wide and filled with excitement.
The teenagers had learned about the bullies at Evie’s school at her seventh (and first ever) birthday party, and they all wanted to cause some pain, even majority of the Auradon kids in the group. Belle and Adam had no idea of what was happening, Evie was really good of hiding her pain, something she learned from her time with her biological mother.
Doug told them that it was all talk, no one had touched Evie, but that didn’t stop the teenagers from wanting names and blood.
“Do we know anyone else who is in that class?” Lonnie questioned, leaning forward.
Uma, Gil and Harry looked curious, having just registered and didn’t know anyone in the school.
“Chad,” Jane said, perking up. She looked at the group. “Chase Charming is in the class. And we all know Chad is against Isle kids being here. There is a chance his brother may share his views.”
Mal felt a wave of anger hit her. She stood up, but was pulled down by Ben. “I know you want to hurt someone, but let someone else talk to him.” Jay opened his mouth, but Ben shook his head. “No, it should be an Auradon kid, he’d listen more.”
“I’ve got this,” Audrey said, standing up. The other teenagers followed her as she walked the halls with determination. (The Sea Three were following while holding plates of food. Oh how they loved Auradon food.)
Mal clenched her fist when she saw Chad walking towards their direction.
“Charming!” Audrey snapped, walking up to the blond boy and pushing him into the lockers. Mal felt Ben hold her back. Carlos grabbed her hand, giving her a smile. Jay was watching Audrey with heart eyes.
“Audrey?” Chad questioned, looking confused. “What’s going on?”
Mal’s eyes flashed green at the boy’s confusion. Chad tensed up, seeing the two angry girls in front of him. “I hear your brother is Evie’s class.”
“I, yeah, he’s mentioned her once or twice,” Chad said, paling.
Audrey reached over to Harry and grabbed his hook. She held it against Chad’s neck. “Well, he better not be bullying her. Because I know he shares your views, and I have no problem making a seven year old suffer.”
Chad nodded, pushing himself against the lockers. Audrey shot him one last glare, before taking a step back. Chad let out a breath.
Harry took a step forward. “Hello there,” he said, giving the Princess a grin.
Jay pushed the pirate away and pulling Audrey in for a kiss.
Mal turned to Chad, who looked scared. Mal let out a low growl. Chad took a step back, before running off.
“Let’s just hope this works,” Jay said, frowning.
“I wish I got to hurt him,” Gil muttered, the kind hearted kid for the first time.
Evie and Doug were giggled as they played tetherball. Evie jumped up when Doug hit the ball too hard, giggling when the winner was declared.
“Again?” Doug asked, turning to Evie, giving her a smile.
Evie shook her head. “Belle said she packed me cookies to share.”
“Do you want me to get them?” Doug questioned, turning to the building.
Evie nodded her head, watching as Doug ran to the building. Evie grabbed the ball and threw it, watching the rope wrap around the pole.
“Hey Isle trash!” she heard someone say, making her turn. She felt her heart rate quicken when she saw the three bullies walking towards her. Evie looked around, hoping someone would see her, but Doug was getting their snacks, and Ms. Anna was helping some other students.
“Leave me alone,” Evie said, her voice small and low.
Chase laughed. “We’d leave you alone if you went back to the Isle.”
He and Aaron walked up to Evie, each one of them grabbing an arm. Evie pulled against them, but their grip was strong. She was distracted by the boys, she didn’t see Kacey’s fist coming her way.
Mal was asleep, when her phone wouldn’t stop vibrating. With a groan, she grabbed it, before frowning at the caller ID.
“Belle?”
“Mal,” she heard the former queen breathe out. “Mal, can you, Jay and Carlos come to Evie’s school?”
“Is something wrong?” Mal asked, as she quickly grabbed a change of clothing, waking Uma in the process. (After Evie moved to Beast Castle, Mal was left with a single bedroom, which allowed Uma to have a roommate when she arrived at Auradon.)
“What is going on?” Uma asked, her voice filled with sleep. She glared at the soon-to-be Queen of Auradon.
“Something happened with Evie, we need you here as soon as you can, she’s going to need you,” Belle told her, and Mal tensed up.
Something happened.
Something happened to Evie.
Evie needed her.
Mal changed as quickly as she could. Uma had to stop her. “Mal, what’s going on?”
Mal’s eyes flitted to the door before back to the pirate in front of her. “Something happened to Evie, we, I have to go to the school,” she said in a daze.
“Go, get the boys, I’ll let the others know, we’ll meet you at the castle,” Uma told her, her voice soft.
Mal gave a small, numb nod, turning and heading out to get Jay and Carlos. The three were driven the Auradon Elementary and rushed to the office.
Mal felt a wave of anger when she saw her little girl. Evie was curled up in Belle’s lap, her split lip and her eye darkening. She had a few scratches on her neck and arms.
“Evie,” Carlos whispered, taking a step closer.
The little girl’s eyes snapped to the newcomers. Evie started to cry, moving off Belle’s lap and straight to Carlos, who held her close.
“What happened?” Mal questioned, her eyes flashing green. She looked at Belle and Adam, the Principal, Archie Hopper, stopping at the three other kids in the room, all with cuts on their own little bodies.
“She attacked us!” the little girl shouted, glaring at Evie, who was still crying in Carlos’s arms.
“I didn’t ask you,” Mal snapped, glaring at the little girl, who flinched. Mal turned Mr. Hopper. “What happened? Why is my little girl hurt?”
Evie whimpered, and Jay place a hand on Mal’s shoulder. “I’m angry too. I want to hurt all these kids too, but you’re scaring Evie.”
Mal closed her eyes and took a deep breath, nodding her head.
“What happened?” Mal questioned, her voice calmer.
The Principal looked at Mal, his eyes seeing into her soul, before nodding his head. “Chase, Kacey and Aaron came in with injuries, saying Evie attacked them.”
“Why would she attack them?”
“Because she’s an Isle kid, and they don’t deserve to be here,” the blond boy said, glaring at Evie, who was calming down, her breathing evening out and slowing down.
“Charming,” Mal spat out, turning her glare to the boy, who flinched. “You think Isle kids are bad? You haven’t met an Isle kid yet. You think Evie is bad? Why don’t you do to me what you did to her. You’ll meet a real Isle kid.”
Chase turned to Mr. Hopper in fear.
“Ms. Anna has reported you three multiple times and only has nice things to say about Evie. I do not know all my students as well I wish to, but I do know my teachers and I trust Ms. Anna,” the Principal said, his eyes on the three children.
“So what is going to happen?” Former King Adam asked, standing up.
“I think Evie should go home, she had a hard day, maybe be checked out by a doctor, but she won’t be punished for defending herself,” Mr. Hopper said, before turning to the other three kids. “You three, we are waiting for your parents and you will all be punished accordingly.”
Jay moved and grabbed Evie from Carlos’s arms, the girl whimpered in her sleep, but kept sleeping, her exhaustion taking over. Mal gave a nod, taking a step back and walking out of the room. The group went to Beast Castle, where more teenagers were waiting. Mal rubbed the girl’s back.
Belle and Adam had called their on-call nurse, wanting Evie to be checked over, not sure if she had any other injuries.
Mal smiled when she saw Ben, the pirates and their Auradon friends waiting. Audrey, Gil and Lonnie all rushed to Evie, the Princess turning to Mal with an angry look.
“Who did this?” Audrey questioned, her hand lightly touching Evie’s blackening eye.
“Chad’s brother and his two lackies,” Carlos said with anger.
“Mama,” Evie whispered in her sleep, and Jay passed the girl. Evie snuggled into Mal, whimpering at any pain it caused, but still sleeping.
“So what are we going to do?” Harry asked, swinging his hook with an angry smirk.
Ben looked at his parents. Adam smiled. “We some things to deal with” he said, as he and Belle walked away.
“So, what’s the plan? Do you sharks?” Uma asked, making Harry and Gil get excited.
“Do we?” Audrey asked, turning to Ben.
Mal smirked, as she rubbed her daughter’s back.
“We can find some,” Ben replied, his eyes on the little girl. Mal smiled, so glad that these people were Evie’s family.
Audrey held Evie’s hand as she took her to school. After the planning, the teenagers knew they couldn’t really hurt the small kids. But Audrey wasn’t going to back off. So she asked to drop Evie at school a few days later, after her black eye had healed a bit, and she wasn’t scared anymore.
She saw Chad’s brother and his friends glare at Evie, who wrapped her arms around Audrey. The kids had lost their break, and weren’t allowed anywhere near Evie. Principal Hopper didn’t believe in suspensions, because kids needed to learn and keeping them away from school wasn’t a real punishment and just harmed the child’s education.
Audrey had to admit, she had been punished in elementary school multiple times. She wasn’t a nice girl, and she was grateful she wasn’t that girl anymore. She turned to Evie, crouching down in front of the girl.
“Hey, you know you’re my brave little girl right?” Audrey asked, smiling at Evie.
The blue haired girl gave a small nod. “Yeah.
Mommy says I’m a dragon, her dragon.”
“The cutest dragon,” Audrey told the girl, tapping her nose. Evie scrunched her nose. “And nothing can hurt a dragon.”
“Princes kill dragons. Chase is a prince,” Evie whispered, looking down.
“Chase is no prince,” Audrey said, “A prince protects a princess, not hurts her.”
“I’m not a Princess,” Evie whispered, tears filling up her eyes.
Audrey placed her hand on Evie’s cheek, wiping any tears that fell. “Who said that? Chase? Chase doesn't know anything. Ben says you’re a Princess and Ben is a king . You’re Princess Evie.”
Evie leaned into Audrey. “I love you,” Evie said, kissed the older Princess’s cheek. Audrey couldn't help but smile, being the first one that was not her parent to get an I love you from the girl.
“I love you too Blueberry,” Audrey said, standing up. She placed her hand on the girl’s back and pushed her forward. “Why don’t you go show them dragons have no fear.”
Evie nodded and walked to her desk. Doug quickly stood up and pulled her chair out. Audrey couldn’t help but smile as Doug made sure Evie was comfortable. She turned to the other three kids and walked up to them. She leaned forward.
“Hi, I’m Princess Audrey, King Ben’s best friend,” she said, giving the three kids a smile, “and I’m Evie’s Aunt. And I know all about you three. How you don’t like Isle kids. And you know what I don’t like, I don’t like bullies. I don’t like seeing Evie cry. And she cried. So I’d watch my back if I were you. Because I will make your life a living hell.”
Chase, Kacey and Aaron looked at Audrey with fear in their eyes. Audrey gave them an innocent smile and walked out of the room, giving Evie and Doug a wave goodbye.
Mal was putting her books in her locker when she heard Ben’s voice. He was hanging out with the Isle boys, talking about Tourney. She was about to walk up to them, when she saw Chad walk up to Audrey and glare at her. Mal and Ben made eye contact and started to walk towards the two royal teenagers.
“What did you say to my brother?” He snapped, getting into Audrey’s space.
“What he needed to hear since you didn’t,” Audrey told him, not backing away.
“What is happening here?” Ben asked, using his King voice, as he put himself between the two. Mal moved to Audrey’s side. Carlos, Jay, Gil and Harry stood near them.
“She threatened my brother!” Chad said, pointing to Audrey.
Mal frowned at her and Audrey just shrugged. “I wanted to make sure they stopped bullying Evie.” A smile appeared on Mal’s face.
“Your little brother beat up a girl,” Ben told him, looking at Chad with a frown.
“I’m not happy about that, but Chase didn’t touch her,” Chad said, frowning.
“He held her in place while his friend did the beating,” Jay told him, taking a step forward, Carlos and Gil held him back.
“Look, my mom and dad spoke to him. So did I, but he’s just a kid,” Chad tried to tell them, shaking his head.
“But Isle kids should be treated as adults,” Jane said, walking to the group with Uma. A smile appeared on Carlos’s face.
“They were raised by villains!”
“And these bullies were raised by heroes,” Ben whispered, taking a step forward. “If heroes can be evil, villains can be good.”
Chad didn’t respond. He turned and walked away.
“You threatened three eight year olds?” Jay asked, walking to his girlfriend.
Audrey shrugged. “Evie is your kid, that makes her important to me. And I take care of those I love.”
Jay pulled her in for a kiss.
“I really want to use my hook,” Harry whispered, frowning.
Gil and Uma both rubbed his back.
Mal just stared at Audrey, a new found respect. Audrey looked at her with a smile.
Mal, Jay, Carlos, Ben, Audrey and Jane all looked at the monitor, as Mal called Evie. They all smiled when Evie’s face popped up on the monitor.
“Hi!” Evie greeted, a grin on her face. Mal couldn’t help but feel happy. It was the first big smile on Evie’s face since the incident.
“Hi baby, how was school?” Mal asked, her eyes on the little girl.
Evie’s eyes lit up, “It was great! Dougie and I made a volcano and we shared our lunch. Ms. Anna let us sing and read and she taught us math.”
“And the other kids?”
“No one was mean to me, thanks to Aunt Audrey,” Evie said, her eyes shifting to the Princess.
Mal smiled, “I’m glad.”
Evie started to speak of other aspects of her day and Mal just watched her with a smile on her face.
Ben wrapped his arms around Mal, placing his chin on her shoulder. Jane leaned into Carlos. Jay and Audrey were both holding hands and listening tentatively.
Mal relaxed, knowing that no matter what happens in the future, Evie had a great support system. They all had one.