Framed

Chapter 9 - That's the way...

I was face to face with Quentin Hearts.
I glared at him but he still refused to take his hand away so I licked it. (Gross, I know. It tasted worse.)
He pulled his hand away and looked at it, discusted.
"Should've moved your hand while you had the chance," I smirked and he wiped his hand on his trousers.
"Now Hearts, why am I in here?" I sighed and he rolled his eyes.
"Sereously, why are we in here? That's the fire bell out there," I indicated to the alarm that was still whirring outside the classroom.
"I know, there's no fire though. Michael set the alarm off for me."
"Okay..." I said and pushed my way past him to get out of that stupid classroom.
"Wait!" He yelled but I just ignored him and left.
I was wondering around for another 10 minutes or so before running directly into Ben.
"Holly! Thank Auradon you're okay!"
"Yeah I'm fine, Ben," I laughed and he grinned, pulling me in for a hug.

When we finally let go of each other, he cleared his throat and got down on one knee, I gasped. He's going to ask me.
"Holly-" he began before we were interrupted.
"Hey Be- Oh, were you busy? Sorry. Oh no, he's down on one knee.
I just ruined Bolly!"
I looked at Evie weirdly, she shifted uncomfortably.
"Bye," and she ran off.
I laughed and Ben stood up again.
"Well Ben, guess I'll see you around," and I left.
What? I couldn't let him ask me, not until all this Maleficant-drama is cleared up. I don't want my mother or myself to hurt him. It's the best way.

Time passed and I've been avoiding Ben with everything I've got.
Yeah, I feel terrible about it but I just can't hurt him again. He already thinks the real Mal's dead.
Chemistry just ended and I'm headed, along with Evie and Carlos, to the Tourney field to watch practise.
I can see all three of my Tourney friends zooming around the field, Ben scored goal after goal and I didn't take my eyes off him; especially because I could feel Quentin's almost-golden gaze upon me.
Being himself, he has managed to score a spot on the Tourney team and he keeps staring at me. I hate it.

He also keeps trying to force his baked goods on me, especially Jam Tarts (or Jelly Tarts if you're American) and Cookies.
It reminds me of the me-forcing-Ben-to-eat-a-love-cookie situation.
The more I think about it though, the more I doubt my suspicions. I mean, the more I refuse him, the sadder he seems to look.
No! Bad Mal!
You can't feel sympathy for him, he's a nutter. Or is he? He seems to have changed a bit.

After Tourney, all three boys came up to me, Evie, Lonnie, Jane, Carlos and Audrey (Doug is playing his trumpet with the rest of his nerdy friends).
Guess I won't be avoiding Ben this time.
The others all began to chat as a group and Ben came up to me.
My guess is that Ben asked then to leave us alone so we could talk.
"Hey Holly," he said and I turned my head, ignoring him.
"What did I do to make you angry at me?" His voice broke and my heart softnened. He thinks I'm angry at him?
"I'm not angry," I muttered and looked at him, he frowned.
"Sorry?"
"I'm not angry Ben!" I said loudly though not quite shouted and he jumped back, startled.
"Holly, will you come to the lake at 7 with me? So we can talk about our... problems, in the relationship we have, I mean."
I nodded and he left.

2 hours later, and Evie was caking all sorts of muck onto my face.
"Oh M, I hope you get back together," she said.
"Yeah, I wish we could too. But we can't," I replied and my voice cracked.
"Why not?"
"I don't want to hurt him again E," I said and looked into her eyes, I could see all my pain reflected in them.
Then, shocking me, she wrapped me in a hug and we stood there for ages, just letting all our emotions out. Until I checked my watch.

"Shoot," I yelled and Evie jumped off me.
"What is it Mal?" She asked, alarmed.
"I'm late!" I said and rushed out of the door, leaving it wide open.
I ran through the hallways, past a group of my friends, past Creepo Hearts and Into the woods where I could safely teleport to the Enchanted Lake without being spotted. So I did just that to discover that Ben was no-where in sight.

I wandered around a bit, afraid that Ben might be hiding and will jump out at me at any second but the scare never came. I kept moving until I came across a small feast in that little circle of marble that Ben and Mal had their first date on. There was a blanket covered in some food (including Strawberries. Definatley going to be eating them,) but no Ben.
Suddenly, my phone began to vibrate in my pocket so I answered.
"Hey E."
"M! Where are you?!"
"At the lake, why?"
"Because Ben just got here to pick you up!"
"Shoot!"
"You're shooting a lot of people today, aren't you?" She laughed and I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, and you're next if you do that again."
She stopped laughing.
"I'll tell him you're already there, talk to you later M- I mean, Holly." And she hung up.

I sat around, waiting for Ben to turn up. I ate a strawberry, or two, or all of them. Oops.
Eventually, Ben actually turned up and we talked about the problems in our relationship.
"What happened to the strawberries?" He asked and I blushed.
"What strawberries?" I got out and he grinned that cute smile.

"Holly," Ben cleared his throat and got up from where he was laying on the blanket, watching the stars beside me.
"Yeah?"
"Can we talk?"
"Sure," I got up and faced him, we stared into each other's eyes and he pulled me closer.
Then our lips connected.
His kisses were like fireworks, like he was pulsing life back into a dead body. It was very different from when I kissed him as Mal, they were just sparks.
We kissed for ages, his were soft, gentle. I'd missed this so much.

Eventually we broke apart, gasping for breath and I rested my forehead on his.
I could see his grinning, but then his smile became sad.
"Are you okay, Ben?"
He nodded.
"Yeah," he whispered. "You just reminded me of... someone I used to know."
I frowned. I didn't even consider that my kiss may have felt the same as Mal's.
"Mal," I whispered and he nodded.
I could see the pain in his eyes, it made my heart break.
"That's not the real one in there, is it?"
He shook his head and sighed.
"The real Mal's dead."
"Who do you think that is then?"
"I don't know," he responded.
"I think I do..." I said and ran off, ignoring his cries and shouts for me.to come back.

I ran deep into the woods next to the Enchanted Lake then teleported back to our dorm bathroom in Auradon.
When I got there, I went out of the bathroom to see Evie, staring at me wide eyed.
"What?"
"M, you need to be more careful!" She hissed, I raised my hands in defence.
"Okay, okay. Er, why?"
"Doug was just in here!"
I nodded.
"Oh, and someone left this in here for you."
She pointed to a small box laying on my bed - a baked goods box containing one baked good.

I read the note:

Dear Holly,
Please try this Jam (Jelly) Tart then come meet me in Chemistry Classroom 6R at 8. Thanks.
Q

For Auradon's sake, Quentin. Maybe he'll leave me alone if I eat his stupid tart.
What harm could it do? Except make me really hyper with all the sugar in it, I mean.
I lifted it to my lips and took a large bite.
Thoughts came rushing into my head, giving me a huge headache and for a brief second, I really wished I hadn't eaten that stupid tart. Only for a brief second though.
"I need to go, it's only 5 until 8," I said, rushing out. I had to see Quentin.

As soon as I opened the door to the Chemistry room, I saw Quentin just leaning casually against the back wall.
Suddenly to me, he was the hottest guy in the world. I didn't care though.
"Hey Holly," he said and I blushed.
"Hi Quentin."
"Did you eat the tart?" He asked and I nodded.
"Perfect," he grinned.
"Come here then and let me kiss you," I nodded and walked up to him, he grabbed me and started to attack my lips.
Unlike Ben's, his kisses were rough, passionate and for me, they felt like the difference between life and death.
Finally, we broke apart.

"Holly, do you love me?" He Asked.
"With all my heart."
"Will you be my girlfriend?"
"I would love too."
We kissed again, I hadn't even noticed that Ben had followed me in here.

Question of the Chapter!
What do you think Ben's going to do?

Comment below!