I'm A Big Bad Tiger

Girl Talk

We arrive back at Auradon Prep. Madeline and Tyler Hightopp suddenly hug me.

"Where have you been?" Maddy hugs me too tight.

"Mad, I can't breathe!" I push her away. "I went home to the Isle to rescue Ben. Don't tell a soul."

"We won't." Tyler smiles at me.

"We'll see you later." Maddy drags Tyler away.

"Do you think we should give Mal girl talk?" Evie whispers to me.

"She needs it." I whisper to her. We walk over to Mal and walk away with her.

"We need to talk." Evie tells Mal.

"Yeah." Mal holds my hand tight.

"No." We turn around to see Carlos stopping us with Jay.

"No?" Evie sounds confused.

"Carlos-" I start.

"You guys are always going off in a huddle, whispering you girl talk stuff or...whatever and Jay and I are tired of it." Carlos looks at me. I shake my head.

"I'm not." Jay raises his hand in the air.

"I don't think this is the best time to stop girl talk." I tell Carlos. He ignores me.

"We're your family too." Carlos tells Mal. "We've been through a lot. Together. We're not stopping that now. K." Mal nods. "Everyone sit." Carlos sits down. "Com on. Sit." We all sit down. "You too." He tells Dude. I stay standing.

"Papa, I'll meet you on the Tourney field after we're done. We won't be long." I hug him and I watch papa run away. "Don't kill anyone because you miss the Isle!" I sit down in between Jay and Carlos. We all look awkwardly at each other.

"I don't know how to start girl talk." Carlos admits.

"What up?" Jay says making me and Evie chuckle. Me and Jay hold hands.

"Well...I'm a mess I'm such a mess. I mean, six months ago I was...you know...stealing candy from babies and now, everyone wants me to be this Lady of the Court and I have no idea how to keep up the act." Mal tells us.

Carlos shrugs. "Then don't." I gently smack him.

"Take this seriously." I whisper.

"See? This was dumb." Jay let's go of my hand and stands up.

"Maybe it wasn't." Evie sits him down again. "We're always going to be the kids form the Isle. I tired to forget it, I really tried. But those were our roots. And we did what we had to do to survive. But it made us who we are. And we're never gonna be like anyone else here. And that's ok. That's ok."

"And we can't fake it." Carlos looks at me.

"No." Evie tells him.

"Yeah, especially without my spell book." Poor Mal.

"Mal, if Ben doesn't love the real you, then he's not the one." Carlos tells her. I nod.

"I like that." Evie looks at me.

"Give him a chance." Carlos smiles at her.

"Mal, if he even dares to break your heart, I will break his face and make his death look like an accident. If he's gonna mess with you, he's gotta deal with us and he better pray and run. If he does break your heart, come tell me. I will walk over to him and go full on Little Mix on him. I will tell him A, B, C, D, E, F, U." I snap my fingers in a Z formation. "He will get bitch slapped." Mal smiles at me. "Show him that you're better than this Lady of the Court because you are. We will always be bad kids. Why would one place change us? Nothing ever should. If we're gonna act this way, we might as well switch bodies. This isn't us. I'm an adopted, half burnt face girl with big ambitions." I look at Carlos. "You're the son of Cruella De Vil, But you don't have to act anything like her." I lock eyes with Jay. "You're the best thief around, Jay, but you love me and I love you. You're my one true love and I know you well enough to know that the Jay that has been walking around isn't the Jay I love." I look at Evie. "Villains come in all shapes and sizes and you are by far the most unique of them all. You are such a beautiful woman and you do not have to worry about what your mother would do in situations because, Evie, you are your own unique person." And finally, I look at Mal. "You don't need Ben for happiness but if you really love him, he's all yours. Just remember that we're your friends and we will support you in anything." I look at the rest of them. "We need to show Auradon the true us. We're better than what we appear to be. Us women are more than just a pretty face so show that to Ben. We will always be Islers and love shouldn't change us. I tried to forget who I truly was but we are all part Isle and part Auradon. Evil runs through our veins and good pumps through our hearts. I'm part human, part tiger, part Isle, part Auradon, part evil, part good."

"What about us?" Carlos asks me.

"We are all better than what Auradon wants us to be. Do us a favour and let's be ourselves." I smile.

"You're right, kitten." Jay sighs.

"I'm gonna make some changes to your dress. And if you're up to, only if you're up to it, it'll be ready for you." Evie hugs Mal. "Let's go." She mouths to us. The rest of us stand up but I sit back down.

"Mal, we'll always be here for you. No matter where we are, no matter what time of the day it is, we love you." I hug her. "Making memories with you is our favourite thing to do."

Jay sits down with us. "Come to cotillion tonight. If Ben doesn't love and can't stand another day, I'll drive you back tomorrow myself." Mal and Jay smile at each other. Jay looks at me. "I'll see you at practise." He kisses my cheek and leaves.

"Are you up for cotillion?" I ask Mal. She nods. "Come to my dorm. I have my first customer soon so I can do you after I've done her." I help Mal stand up and we walk to the Tourney field. "Papa!" Papa runs to us. "Me and my papa will always protect you."

"Thanks, Shakira." Mal holds my hand. We walk to my dorm and I start on my customers.