As The Poison Apple Falls (DISCONTINUED-ISH)

Chapter Ten

The five of us were walking together when Jane came up. Carlos, who I knew had a crush on Jane, turned a bit nervous.

"Hey, Jane," he started.

"Hey," she responded, smiling.

Evie then broke in asking who, between Jane and Lonnie who had walked up, wanted her available spot for Cotillion dress fitting. Lonnie took it and apologized to Jane. Evie and Lonnie walked away. Jay pulled Carlos aside.

"Mal?" Jane asked.

"Yes?"

"I hate to keep bugging you, but the decorating committee needs more answers. So as much as I'd hate to uh," Jane tried.

"Bug me?" Mal answered. "Yeah, it's alright, just I really need to get to class."

"Okay, well just nod if you like it. Chair swags, napkin design, table bunting, and you still haven't picked the party favors yet."

"Honestly, Jane, whatever you think-"

"I mean, we can do chains, key charms, pen toppers. I personally love the pen toppers, but-" Jane got cut off by Mals eyes turning green. I grabbed Mals arm and she calmed down. She looked at me and then turned back to Jane.

"I say pen toppers," Mal told her. Jane nodded and walked away smiling. Mal turned back to me.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I mean, it's just a lot. I'll tell you about it later because if I start talking now I'm not gonna finish and I'll be a mess and I really have to get to class." She breathed hard.

"Hey, M, it's okay. Take your time, and find me if anything happens or you need anything. And trust me, I get like that, too," I say.

"Really?"

"Yeah, my contacts just kind of hide it. I know it's a lot, but get to class. I know you dont want to be late." She smiled and hugged me, tears forming in her eyes.

"Thank you so much, Quinn. I actually really needed this even if it didn't seem like a lot." She speed walked off to class, and I walked back to the dorms. I decided that it was time to talk to Jay, so I headed to his dorm.

When I got to the boys dorm, Carlos was the only one in there. "Hey, Carlos. Where's Jay?" I asked him when I got there.

"Hey, Q! Jay's at fencing practice and wont be back for a bit." I sat down on the bed with Carlos. He closed his laptop, and we started talking. Dude curled up on my lap, and I scratched his head.

Mal suddenly burst through the door, gasping for air. She fumbled with the remote to turn off the TV when she saw herself on it. She kept pacing, and her eyes turned green again.

"Whoa," Carlos said, "Easy girl."

"What?! You think this is so easy? You don't have people trying to take a photo of you every time you open your mouth to say boo! I mean, not that I could even say boo, but you know what I-"

"I'm sorry," Carlos said.

"Carlos, don't you ever miss screaming at people and just making them run away from you?" Mal asked. I looked at him.

"You're thinking of my mother," he said and my heart sank. So it was really just me and Mal who missed the Isle. "And I was usually on the other end of that, so not really. Oh, hey! Did you bring it?"

Mal pulled out a gummy. "What is that?" I asked.

"Its gonna help me say everything I want to say to Jane," Carlos responded.

All of a sudden, Chad walked in, trying to be stealthy, and turned around. "What are you doing in my room, Chad?" Carlos asked him.

While Chad tried defending himself and Carlos kicked him out, I lifted up Dude and set him on the bed beside me as I stood up. "Mal? My potion?" Carlos asked.

"Oh, uh yeah. It's a truth gummy so take it or leave it. Hold on, though. Are you sure you want to take this? Because this is gonna make you say the truth all of the time, no matter what, and the only reason I'm asking is because if I took this right now, I would get sent back to the Isle. Which, it's not that it sounds super unappealing, but, you know..." Mal said. I grabbed her free hand and looked at her. She softened a bit.

"Yeah, I'll take my chances, I guess." Carlos was ready to take the gummy, but Dude jumped off of the bed and ate it. Oh no.

"Man, that thing was nasty! And you, you just gotta man up. And while you're at it, scratch my butt!" Dude said. I looked at him in disbelief. Mal started pulling me out of the room, so I grabbed my bag.

"You heard him," I said.

"Scratch his butt," finished Mal. We walked out of the room, leaving Carlos to deal with that... situation.

~back in the girls dorm~

Mal just came back from her date with Ben, and I could tell it didn't end well. She came in crying and hugged me. "Quinn, look, I dont belong here. I can't do this anymore. I'm going back to the Isle, and please don't try to stop me because I truly want to go back." She pulled away and tears streamed down her face. She walked away, choking back a sob, and started to pack her stuff up, her Isle stuff. I got up, shaking slightly. I know what I have to do, what will make me truly happy as well.

"Mal, can I come with you?" I asked as tears started to form in my eyes. She stopped what she was doing.

"Yeah, Quinn. We'll leave a note. Now, get to packing."

I followed the orders and packed up my stuff. We both changed back into our Isle clothes. I wore a plain black tshirt underneath of a red leather jacket. I had on black jeans, black combat boots, and a silver spiked belt. I still had on my normal jewlery. I let my hair down and realized how long it was. It went down to my lower back, straight and dark brown. I slung my backpack over my shoulder, and so did Mal. I remembered to grab the recipe my mom gave me for poison apples and stuffed it inside of my bag as Mal left a note. She tucked her spell book into her jacket, and we left on her new scooter.

When we reached the water where the bridge would normally appear, Mal took out her book. "Noble steed, proud and fair, you shall take us anywhere," she said. "Let's hope that worked." I grew worried for a moment that it wouldn't, but soon we were riding the scooter across the waves. Ugh, I just loved the sea out here. I always have. Soon, though, we reached land. Mal and I sped through the town, stopping only once, and it was go take down a poster of Mal and Ben. We rode until we were back home, at our hideout. We hopped off of the bike, took our helmets off, and Mal threw a rock at the sign. The door opened and we started walking up the steps.

I was finally home.