ROYALTY; DESCENDANTS

NINE

Mal looks up sees that it is Ruby and not Audrey standing in the doorway. "Ruby Queen you scared the shit out of me" 

Ruby lets out a laugh that was contagious, making the other VKs laugh as well. 

"What are you guys baking?" Ruby asks looking at the dough in the bowl and the spellbook placed on the counter. 

"Cookies" Carlos blurted out gaining looks from his friends. "What? She can help us bake them. She cooked cookies and brownies all the time on the Isle" 

"Those had one ingredient that changed the whole dessert. But, I'll help you guys if you want." 

Evie tells Ruby what ingredients they already added to the bowl, not telling her about the added ingredients for the love spell. Ruby washes her hands and helps finish the cookie dough. Ruby never really hung out with the other VKs like this. Sure, they lived together on the Isle but she never hung out with them. Her mom pushed her to go hang out with the other kids but Ruby was too busy hanging out with Uma or getting high. The teens spent the rest of the night baking the cookies, laughing at jokes, and telling stories. Ruby felt a little lighter after that night. 

"Goodnight guys," Ruby says taking a bite out of the sandwich she made. They ended up making two batches of cookies one spelled and the other not. The Core Four gave Ruby some of the non-spelled ones. 

"Night Queen" the other VKs replied in response before they all go to their separate dorms. 

The next morning, Ruby is once again wakened up by Violet and Amber. They pick out her outfit and get her some breakfast which Ruby thanks them for. They also remind her about the tourney game that happening today and let her know that classes are canceled. 

After finishing some homework, Ruby heads down to the tourney fields before the game starts. Her red outfit stood out against the sea of blue and gold. She notices the dark blue and purple from Evie and Mal and sits next to them. The game started and Ruby watched as everyone cheered when their respective team scored. Ruby wasn't really interested as she didn't know the rules and Carlos nor Jay were playing. The game was tied with only 47 seconds left. Jay and Carlos were finally allowed to go in. Ruby, Mal, and Evie cheered the loudest as they saw their friends go into the game. 

"The coach is bringing in that hothead Jay from the Isle and that little guy Carlos who can barely hold a shield," the commenter said through the speakers. 

Ruby watches as Jay gets the ball and drives from one end to the field to the other. Jay passes the ball to Carlos who hits it with the shield making it fly through the air. Jay runs, catches it, and then passes it to Ben who scores the winning goal. Ruby has never experienced something so loud as she hears the deafening cheer of the Auradon school. 

Suddenly, all the cheering stops as Prince Ben grabs a microphone. 

"There's something I'd like to say" Prince Ben announces. "Give me an M!" he says and makes a weird M-shaped pose with his arms. The rest of the crowd except the VKs follow along. 

"Give me an A!" "Give me an L!" 

"What does that spell?" 

"Mal!" the crowd answers. 

Prince Ben smiles, "I love you, Mal. Did I mention that?" 

Ruby's eyes immediately find Audrey with the cheerleaders. She notices the tears that swell up in her eyes before she runs off towards the school. Without really noticing, Ruby runs after her. 

Ruby finds the pink princess sitting on the steps of the entrance of the school. Her knees were up to her as she cried into them. Ruby's shadow blocked the sun making Audrey look up, her face had tears falling down them yet her makeup was still in place. 

"Are you okay?" Ruby asks, her voice almost a whisper. 

"Does it look like I'm okay Ruby?" 

"Now I know you're not okay. You called me by my first name" 

"Go away flea. Is that better?" 

"No," Ruby says sitting down next to the princess. "I made cookies last night, they're really good. They'll cheer you up." 

Ruby shakes the small bag of cookies tempting Audrey. 

"Fine, but I can only have half. I still need to look good for cheer" 

"I'll split it with you" Ruby grabs a cookie from the bag and splits it in half. She gives half to Audrey who breaks off a piece and eats it while Ruby bites from the cookie itself. 

Audrey finishes her piece before she speaks, "These are amazing" 

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah. Hey Ruby?" Audrey says making Ruby look at her. 

The two girls make eye contact. A warm feeling washes over them as they stare no, admire each other. 

"Have you always had those gold flecks in your eyes?" Audrey and Ruby say to one another at the same time.