Not That Evil

Chapter Twenty Two

  That night, we met in Carlos and Jay's room again, discussing the final plans for stealing the wand. But something about it seemed wrong this time. After all this time, we'd been convinced our parents were leading us in the right direction. However, now being around all these people who were kind and caring, I was beginning to question if being evil was really the right thing to do.

"Okay, we all know what this looks like." Mal pointed to the plans she had drawn herself. "So it'll be up on the dais, under the beast's spell jar, and we'll be coming in from here." She pointed to a large set of doors. "Hera and I will be in the very front. You all will be up on the balcony."
"Okay," I sighed. Mal seemed to know everything.
"Carlos?" Carlos snapped his head up and looked at all of us.
"Okay, so I'll find our limo, so we can break the barrier, and, uh, get back on the island with the wand."
"Perfect. Evie?"
"Yeah?" Mal held up something that looked like perfume in a bottle and handed it to the blue-haired girl.
"You will use this to take out the driver. Two sprays, and he'll be out like a light."
"Okay."
"M?" She looked at me with eyes that seemed to hold something more than just determination to steal the wand. "You want to break Ben's love spell?"
"Yeah. You know, for after. I don't... I've just been thinking, you know, when the villains finally do invade Auradon, and begin to loot, and kick everyone out of their castles, and imprison their leaders, and destroy all that is good and beautiful, Ben still being in love with me just seems a little extra... cruel." Mal sighed and waved her hand, shooing us away. I lingered in the doorway for a minute, looking at Carlos. He smiled lightly at me, then I walked away and into my dorm room, while Evie went into her's, and Mal went into the kitchen to make Ben's anti-love potion. I quickly collapsed into bed and fell asleep, not bothering to change my clothes.

I woke up to the sun streaming into my red eyes. I rolled out of bed and flopped on the ground. There was a knock on my door, and I opened it to see Evie standing there, holding a makeup kit and a brush.
"Evie, are you all right? You seem... distressed."
"Today is family day, and Jon's probably going to want you to meet the king and queen. You need to look your best for them."
"Evie, isn't what I normally wear fine?"
"Nope! Now, let's get you changed and your hair and makeup done." Evie set down her things and began rummaging through my dresser and closet. She pulled out a red crop top that came off the shoulders, and a leather skirt that jutted out from my hips. She threw them at me and I raced to put the clothes on. After that, Evie pulled out a pair of knee high, heeled boots, and I pulled them onto my feet. Evie grabbed my arm and sat me down. She curled my hair, then put a headband between my bangs and the main part of my hair. She then slapped makeup on my face, then stepped back, allowing me to look in the mirror. I smiled wide, even though a part of me was worried I would smear the makeup.
"Wow Evie... I look... like a girl. Thank you so much."
"Anytime, H. Now, let's get out there and meet some people." She looped her arm through mine and giggled, leading me outside to the courtyard. Everything was brightly decorated and looked nice. I sighed and looked around at all the people. My eyes turned into slits, however, when I saw Aria and Audrey talking to each other.
They're more evil than we are... This is disgusting.
"Hera!"
"Mal!" I looked over at the purple-haired girl and followed her over to where Jon and his family were standing. As the king and queen saw Mal and I walk over, their expressions fell into ones of confusion and fear. I put on a fake smile and walked into Jon's arms.
"Mal?" His mother asked.
"Hera?" His father asked.
"Uh, I want to introduce you to my parents," both of them said to their respective girls. I smiled at Belle and the Beast, greeting them warmly.
"Hello," I smiled sweetly. "I'm Hera, from the island."
"Ben and I were thinking they could join us for lunch."
"Of course."
"Any friends of Jon and Ben's."
"Um, we actually came with our friends..."
"Well, you should invite them."
"Yes, because... the more the merrier."
"Yeah, I'll go grab them," I smiled, then walked over to Evie, Carlos, and Jay.
"Hey, the king and queen invited us to eat lunch with them. Would you three like to join Mal and I?"
"Sure," Evie sighed, clearly dreaming of being with royalty for even an hour. Carlos and Jay merely nodded, and I walked back to the group.
"They said they'd love to join us," I smiled as Jon took my hand. I resisted the urge to pull away.
"How about a game of croquet before lunch?" The queen suggested.
"Oh, I've never played before."
"It's easy. You'll be great at it, I promise." I walked over Jon taught me how to play, touching me a little more than I would have liked, but I pretended it was fine. The game seemed to be going fine, until I hit a ball out of bounds. I giggled and raced over to get it, but I almost crashed into someone. I looked up to see a beautiful woman with red hair, and a man with black locks standing beside her.
"I'm so sorry! I was so focused on getting the ball that I didn't notice I was about to crash into someone."
"That's quite all right, dear," the red-haired woman smiled. She looked at me in confusion. "Now, have we met?"
"No, I'm new here. I'm sort of a... transfer student."
"Oh, I see."
"Mom! Dad!" I looked over to see, of all people, Aria racing over to where we were standing. The pieces clicked into place and a shudder ran down my spine.
"Hello, Aria darling." Aria hugged her parents, then turned around. When she spotted me, her expression fell to one of disgust.
"Mom, dad, I don't think you want to be talking to this girl, unless you want your head chopped off and hung on a wall as a prize."
"What do you mean, Aria?"
"This girl is Hera, the daughter of the Queen of Hearts." Ariel shrunk back and looked at me in shock.
"What are you doing here?" Her husband snapped. "Your kind doesn't belong here."
"N-no. We're not all that bad."
"I'm so thankful we haven't sent Melody here," Ariel sighed. I kept my anger down and looked at them with kind eyes. Carlos walked over and looked at me.
"Hera, is everything all right?"
"Uh, Carlos, this is Aria, Ariel and Prince Eric." He looked at them and smiled, but they seemed angry at him.
"Stay away from our daughter, you two."
"Please, we're not that evil."
"All of you are raised the same. You're all more evil than anyone else. That's why your parents were put on the isle, that's why you were raised there, and that's why you're going to be stuck there as soon as the coronation is over."
"I thought your people were supposed to be caring and kind. You're even more evil than my mother!" There was a loud commotion from our right, and when I looked over, I saw Evie spray Audrey's grandmother with the knock-out spray, causing her to collapse. I gasped and grabbed Carlos' arm. Aria looked at me with a snobby expression.
"See what my parents mean? You will never change. You're villains: born to be evil and lose in life. You can't ever change. Give up, Hera, and go join Aline."
Her words stung as she and her parents walked away, leaving me clinging to Carlos.