[✔︎] 𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 ✫ DESCENDANTS ONE ¹

1: Curious

Maddie walked through the halls of Auradon Prep, her head hung low as she tried to hide in the crowd of people, avoiding a certain brunette who was dating her best friend. She fixed her headband that had a top hat sewn into it on her head.

She hoped to reach her next class without an interaction with Audrey —the daughter of Sleeping Beauty— the girl who had bullied her for years, and Chad Charming —the son of Prince Charming and Cinderella— who helped Audrey all those times, he followed her like a lost puppy. But of course fate would not allow her that.

"Maddie!" Audrey screeched, the people in the hallway making a gap for her, Chad and Ally to walk through.

Maddie sighed, running her fingers through her hair. Her brown locks had once reached just past her shoulders. But after she decided to straighten it, it had looked longer, something she'd done to fit in more.

So Audrey could stop telling her she was ugly, that she would never be perfect enough for Auradon. That she didn't belong in Auradon. She had begun to think Audrey was right, that she was in fact ugly, when in reality she was pretty.

She hated everything about herself. She would never be perfect. Audrey was here to make sure that point got across.

"Look it's the freak." Audrey said, chuckling as she knudged Chad and Ally to laugh along with her. Ally, who had once stuck up for Maddie as they were practically family, had changed drastically when they'd transferred to Auradon Prep, doing everything in her power to fit in. The two who had once been insperable, had been separated.

"She thinks she'll fit in?" Chad asked, circling around her like a vulture, shaking his head slightly. "No way. She'll always be the freak. Crazy. Insane. She'll never be stable. Always going off into dream worlds." Chad tutted under his breath, coming to a stop in front of Maddie. "No one would ever be your friend."

Maddie stayed silent, not bothering to answer the taunts they threw her way, that was what they wanted. Ally also remained silent, her arms crossed over her chest, tilting her head to the side causing her blonde locks streaked with blue to fall across her face.

"Poor innocent Maddie." Audrey cooed, a malicious grin spreading across her lips. "Little Hatter think she'll ever get anyone but Ben to talk to her? I thought you leaned your lesson when Ally left you, isn't that right Ally?"

Ally nodded her head slightly, and Audrey took it as an answer, grinning in satisfaction, happy Ally had agreed with her.

"Good. Now remember this," Audrey said, slinging an arm around her shoulder, "You'll never fit in. You'll never be a princess. You'll never get a happily ever after. You'll never get what you want. You don't belong in Auradon, you deserve to rot on the Isle of the Lost. And news flash: No one will ever like you."

With those parting words, Audrey snapped her fingers, signaling for Ally and Chad to follow her, walking to their next class.

Tears brimmed in Maddie's eyes as she scurried to her dorm room, not caring if she was late for class. She went into the bathroom. She took off the assortment of bracelets she wore on her wrists, setting them next to the sink. She didn't know what she was doing but soon she had inflicted an assortment of cuts on her wrists, tears falling down her face.

She couldn't hide how she felt forever, soon she would crack under the pressure Audrey was giving her, soon she would face her demons. But she wouldn't today.

Maddie no longer cared about going to class, knowing Audrey would be there. She laid on her bed, in the dorm she had once shared with Ally before Ally had befriended Audrey.

She looked up at the ceiling, looking at the paintings of places from her home. Her house she shared with her father. The rabbit hole that led there. The abandoned Queen of Hearts castle, all of it reminded her of home. All of it reminded her of who she was and who she would always be. Something she would soon to be proud of.

Maddie buried her face in her pillow, shifting in her bed to make herself comfortable, her mind drifting to Ben and what he might think of her repeated skipping of classes she shared with Audrey. Ben would obviously side with Audrey, it wouldn't matter what Maddie did, tears threatened to spill as she realized how little Ben knew. Audrey was the cause of all this and she knew he would never realize that, he was too trusting. But it hurt more that he trusted Audrey's judgement over hers, even if Maddie knew Audrey was just using him so she could be the Queen of Auradon, the highest royal status she could achieve.

Maddie didn't care that her mascara was staining her pillow, she didn't care that she would get an earful from Ben later if he noticed her absence, she didn't care about anything.

All she wanted was to sleep, and as she did, she was transported to another dream world, back to where she met the girl with the red hair whom she had not seen in awhile. And something deep inside her wanted to see that girl again, the one who made her feel better about herself, who had said nothing about her mental state. Who had seen her for her. something no one in Auradon seemed to notice. She was curious....

She wanted to see the little girl she'd met in a later dream. The one who made her life worth living, sending all the thoughts of self harm away with just one look.

She wanted to see the blonde she'd met in that dream. The one who made her feel true to herself, something she had wanted to achieve for ages, but had no idea how in the "perfect" society known as Auradon. But nothing was perfect, as she would soon learn from the blonde she had become comfortable calling her friend. One of few.