13. the talk

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"I'll get these back to the gym

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"I'll get these back to the gym." Lonnie said as she carried the swords.

"Thanks."

"See you later." Lonnie said before walking away.

"Ben, there you are. Cotillion's tonight." Jane said before she pulled Ben away.

"Do you wanna cancel?" Ben asked as he looked at Mal.

"I can come back later, but like really—" Jane started.

"No, now's fine. Do whatever you need to do." Ben said before he walked away with Jane.

"We need to talk." Evie and Bella said before the three headed for the dorm.

"Yeah."

"No."

"No?"

"You three are always going off in a huddle, —whispering about your girl talk stuff or whatever—and Jay and I are tired of it." Carlos said.

"I'm not." Jay said before Carlos looked at him.

"We're your family, too. We've been through a lot together. We're not stopping that now, okay? Everyone sit. Come on. You too. I don't know how to start girl talk." Carlos said as Evie and Bella chuckled.

"What up?"

"Well, I'm a mess. I'm such a mess. Six months ago, I was stealing candy from babies and now everybody wants me to be this Lady of Court and I have no idea how to keep up the act." Mal sighed as Evie and Bella put their arms around her.

"Then don't."

"See? This was dumb." Jay said before he started to get up.

"Maybe it wasn't." Bella said as Jay sat back down.

"We're always gonna be the kids from the Isle. I tried to forget it. I really tried, but those are our roots and we all did what we had to do to survive, but it made us who we are and we're never gonna be like anybody else here; and that's okay." Evie said.

"—and we can't fake it." Carlos added.

"No."

"Yeah, I mean especially without my spell book." Mal said as she looked down.

"Mal, if Ben doesn't love the real you, then he's not the one." Carlos said.

"I like that." Bella said as Evie nodded.

"Give him a chance."

"I'm gonna make some changes to your dress and if you're up for it—only if you're up for it—it'll be waiting for you, okay?" Evie asked before she and Bella hugged Mal.

"Let's go." Bella mouthed to the three before they stood up.

"Come on, buddy."

"Wanna help me with M's dress?" Evie asked as she, Bella, and Carlos walked away.

"Sure."

"I'll see you guys later." Carlos said before he walked away.

"Bye, Carlos."

"Come to Cotillion tonight, alright? If Ben isn't smart enough to love you and you can't stand another day, I'll drive you back tomorrow myself, okay?" Jay said before Mal nodded.

"Girl talk. Crushed it." Dude said before Carlos chuckled

"Yeah, except when it comes to asking Bella out. Then I'm a total chicken." Carlos said with a slight sigh.

"I'm gonna paraphrase one of the bravest boys I know. If she doesn't like you, then she isn't the one for you." Dude said.

"You really are a man's best friend. Come on, let's go." Carlos said with a smile before they left.



"Jay, I need your help." Carlos said after he walked into their room.

"—with what?"

"—asking Bel to Cotillion."

"Dude, you and Bel have been head over heels for each other ever since we came here. She likes you. You like her. Just ask her." Jay said with a shrug.

"Okay, thanks." Carlos said before he headed for the door.

"You're doing the total opposite of what I said, aren't you?" Jay asked after he poked his head in the hallway.

"Complete total opposite!"



"Lonnie, Jane. Do you guys have a minute? I need help." Carlos said after he ran into them.

"You wanna ask Bel to be your girlfriend and date to Cotillion." Jane and Lonnie chorused before Carlos took a step back.

"How'd you know that?" Carlos asked.

"It's obvious that you both have crushes on each other. Just ask her. She'll say yes." Jane said.

"Yeah, and you kissed her earlier, so I don't understand why this is hard for you. You had the confidence to do that. I bet you have the confidence to ask her out." Lonnie said before Jane looked at her, then Carlos.

"Wait. When'd you kiss Bella?" Jane asked with a confused look before Carlos looked at Lonnie.

"Oh!—when we all went to the Waffle Hut." Lonnie said before Carlos looked at her again.

"So what you're saying is there was a Belos kiss and I missed it?" Jane asked before Carlos looked at her confusingly.

"Pretty much."

"What is that?" Carlos asked.

"Belos? It's the ship name that literally everyone at school uses to ship you and Bel." Lonnie explained.

"It sounds like a horrible disease. Anyway, I gotta go."

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