A Whole New World || J. JAFAR

Three - Bibbidi-Bobbidi - *eye roll*

ALI

I'm frozen.

How do I react to that?

Out of nowhere - or maybe it wasn't, I can't be certain - the intense eye contact between myself and him is broken by Fairy Godmother, who ducks in front of me protectively.

"Welcome to Auradon Prep."

His smile fades as his dark eyes drop from mine.

Ben nudges me softly and I lean toward him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Are you?" He whispers.

"Yeah..." I hesitate, gaze still drawn to Jay. "I think so."

We separate as FG continues introducing herself.

"I'm Fairy Godmother. Headmistress."

"The Fairy Godmother?" Purple girl, who seems to be the leader of their little group, asks, "As in 'Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo'?"

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi you know it!" FG grins.

"Yeah, I've always wondered what it felt like for Cinderella," She responds, "When you just appeared, out of nowhere," She chuckles, "With that... sparkly wand and warm smile... and that sparkly wand."

I raise my brow, but shake off my suspicions.

There's no proof that they're going to follow in the footsteps of their parents, but either way, they're bound to be more villain-y at the beginning. It's what they grew up around.

Nature vs nurture, and all that.

"That was a long time ago," FG smiles, "And as I always say, 'Don't focus on the the past or you'll miss the future!'"

I chuckle softly as she uses hand gestures to get her point across. Audrey shoots me a dirty look and I roll my eyes, turning back to the VKs.

"It's so good to finally meet you all," Ben smiles, his hands clasped in front of him as the three of us step up. I come to his side and smile welcomingly, "I'm Ali, and this is Ben. We're the ones behind all of this-"

"Prince Benjamin." Audrey corrects with a joyous grin. "Soon to be King."

I roll my eyes and fix a false smile onto my face. Not much longer, and then I can leave.

"You had me at Prince," The blue-haired girl swoons, stepping up to Ben, "My Mom's a Queen, which... makes me a Princess."

A smirk tugs at my lips, and I wink at Ben. "Sounds perfect for you, Ben."

"The Evil Queen has no royal status here," Audrey interrupts, glaring at the both of us scathingly, "And neither do you. Besides, he's already in a... committed relationship."

"This is Audrey," Ben smiles awkwardly.

"Princess Audrey," She corrects again, and then reaches across myself and FG to grasp Ben's hands. I offer my friend an apologetic smile as he grimaces and forces it into a smile. "His girlfriend. Right, Bennyboo?"

I mime the words to Audrey's question with a dramatic eyeroll and overeager smile which drops as soon as she stops talking.

Jay laughs, and my stomach twists.

"Ben, Audrey and Ali are going to show you all around," FG smiles, and gently lays her small hands on top of Audrey and Ben's. "And I'll see you all tomorrow." She flings their arms apart as if they were doors, "The doors of wisdom are never shut!"

I watch the VKs reaction and have to withhold a snicker at seeing their disapproval of her theatrics.

"But the library hours are from eight to eleven. And as you may have heard, I have a little thing about curfews," She smiles. The VKs laugh politely, and FG leads Doug and the rest of the band away.