The Right Side of Wrong

Pleasant Goodbyes and Warm Welcomes

I ran straight for the dorm rooms. I didn't know where else to go. Only one thought was running through my head: I cracked.

I couldn't keep it together. Couldn't handle the pressures of being an Auradon girl... That was it.

I didn't breathe for the next hour. I couldn't. I could barely hiccup between sobs.

Lucky enough, Evie wasn't in the room when I got back. There was no way to hide from her in this state, and for some reason... I still didn't want her to know how upset I was. Maybe it was because I was sure she would be able to convince me to stay. And then I would end up in the same cycle again, wishing desperately to get away until I broke under all the pressure.

I threw on some pants and a plain tshirt. It wasn't very Isle-like, but I just needed to get onto the Isle undetected. After that, I would find something more suitable.

I packed up my bag with a few belongings and sat down with a pen and paper.

I debated who to write the letter to. There were some things that I needed all of them to know before I left. So, I figured, since Evie would be the first one to find it, I'd address it to her.

My writing was a scribbled mess, difficult to read even if I hadn't been crying. But I was able to get it all down on paper. I tried to tell myself that I was doing this for their good. They could all be so much happier. Ben especially...

My eyes slid down to the ring he had given me. I hadn't even taken it off since the whole fiasco with my mother. But I couldn't take it with me, no matter how much I wanted to. It wasn't mine anymore. I was giving Ben up and along with him went everything else.

It took me a few minutes to put it down, rolling it between my fingers. It was gorgeous, something so meaningful to our relationship that I never thought I'd be parted from it. But I couldn't waste time sitting here and pondering on a life where I could always wear this ring. That world was long lost.

As I stood and grabbed my stuff, the coat rack to the right of the door caught my attention again.

My old jacket still hadn't moved, the dragons sitting comfortably.

It burned that my mother had control over all of my old stuff, including this dumb jacket. If I stepped on the Isle wearing that, I would practically be waving a giant flag that said, "MALEFICENT'S BACK".

In my anger and my desire to wear something familiar back to my hometown, I threw the bag to the floor and grabbed the leather article once more. It had a faintly smoky set to it, something which helped clear my mind from the emotional afternoon. I laid it out across Evie's work table and grabbed some thread cutters.

It wasn't the best job I could have done. Threads hung down the back of the jacket and pieces of the dragon patch were torn as I ripped it off, but it felt so good.

I pulled the jacket over my arms and zipped it to the top.

Clearing the last of my sadness and worries from my eyes, I picked up the discarded bag and my motorcycle keys and left the room without so much as a look behind me.

~ ~ ~

Ben buried himself into his work. He was shaken from his argument with Mal earlier.

He shouldn't have freaked out on her, but he couldn't stop himself. He had done his best to be there for her for the past year, and she had been lying to him. She had been lying about using magic. Lying about doing her best. Lying about getting better...

Why hadn't she told him? If she was really upset, why didn't she just talk to him? He had made it clear that he would always support her, hadn't he?