This Is It | Wattys 2016

Prologue: Summer

Mal found herself looking up at the perfect late-summer weather, which wasn't too hot and wasn't too cold. Auradon was like that, somehow; the days were always perfect. It was mid-August, and the trees were whispering in the distance, speaking words that Mal couldn't quite hear.

Loudly, Dude barked as he ran around on the croquet field, where Mal was sitting comfortably on a blue-checked picnic blanket, waiting for her turn eventually. Her friend's plates and bottles of water were strewn out all over the blanket, but most of the food had been thrown out, save for a half-eaten, ripped apart bag of chips.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Carlos, running after him, laughing all the while.

Jay and Evie were on her left, holding croquet mallets but not actually playing the game.

And what did it matter? It wasn't like anyone was going to come and yell at them.

The school had been cleared out for the summer, letting all the children of Auradon leave to go home. However, since they chose to never go back to the Isle after so many incidents there, their home was here, and they were the only few left on campus.

The first summer had been vaguely awkward, she remembered, because the princesses all talked about going home, and how much they'd miss each other, and how they couldn't wait to see their parents again.

For that reason, Summer always made Mal think of home. Think of her mom, who Auradon guards had captured and put into an exhibit into the school first, then the museum when that was perceived as less than secure, along with rehabilitation for the day her mom might someday be human again. Her mother, Maleficent, on display as some sort of toy, had made her skin crawl.

She refused to go back after that. 

Their junior year went by in a blur, as the four had to study even harder than everyone else for their EXAMU, which would place them into one of four universities in Auradon. It had been difficult, especially for Mal, who had to conform and follow all of the rules so she could get into the elite Auradon University-- known more commonly as "the academy"-- along with Ben. Online, Mal had been looking at Auradon University and receiving regular messages on her phone from them about important dates.

  Mal considered herself vaguely different from the mischievous, evil-is-the-only-way type of girl that she was when she came to Auradon Prep over two years ago. Perhaps the kindness of Ben and all the citizens of Auradon had softened her heart over the years, turning her into a compassionate and kind girl who no longer found the occasional magic prank all that funny. Mal had become more serious after all that had happened to her-- all those journeys and long trips, watching Ben train and sober into becoming king let Mal realize and find her real self-- not the person she was pretending to be, and most definitely not the person she was when she lived in her mother's shadow.

Mal was maturing, and coming into adulthood. It was hard to believe this would be their last year at Auradon Prep. She'd sobered up and honed in on her goals: to be with Ben until the very end, to make art, to make people smile instead of frown. Mal was less curious now, and definitely less quick to make a negative judgement about a person, doing her best to keep an open mind. Mal also was wiser because of it, and found herself less interested in the young and reckless acts she used to be--leave those to Carlos and Jay-- and was more interested in helping others, and making herself happy. Maybe it was because of Mal's brighter lifestyle and outlook she no longer drew the curtains shut and shunned the sunlight, but baked in it's warmth.

 As Mal realized who she really was all along, she found that her art classes were slowly becoming less of a new, sparkly joy and more a period of reflection, a period for Mal to find herself.