8

When she returned to her room, Margot noticed the door to Mal and Evie's room was open, so she decided to risk poking her head in.

"Mom said, 'If a boy can't see the beauty within, then he's not worth it.' Can you believe it? What world does she live in?" Jane was complaining as she examined herself in the mirror. Margot blinked in shock at the sudden change in tone from shy to loud and frustrated, not to mention the change from her short, nerdy bob to beautiful princess curls.

"Auradon." Mal replied in a deadpan, before nodding to the new girl in the room. "Hey, Gogo."

"Hey, Mal. How was the rest of your day? I noticed your artwork on the lockers." The symbol was indeed very familiar to Margot, who had seen it all over the Isle her entire life.

"Pretty meh. Bennyboo is clearly trying way too hard though to make us fit in." Mal scoffed.

The casual answer helped Margot relax from feeling like she was in enemy territory, or maybe that was the fact that Jane was even further from Mal situation-wise than she was and yet was still able to be in the room comfortably.

"Mal, do you like?" Evie said from her seat in from of a sewing machine, holding up a blue fabric.

"Yeah. It's cute. It brings out your eyes."

"I know." Evie smiled coquettishly.

"I'll never get a boyfriend." Jane despaired, still picking at her appearance.

"Boyfriends are overrated." Mal scoffed.

"And how would you know, Mal? You've never had one." Evie retorted, smiling sweetly.

"There's no point in getting a boyfriend just for the sake of having a boyfriend, though. That's just a waste of your time." Margot commented quietly, looking at her own horrendous reflection in the mirror. Her face was still skinny, pale, and bruised, and her hair, despite being clean, was still a knotted mess. She could only bear to look at herself for half a second, and that was despite not caring about how badly her clothes fit and didn't match.

"Exactly." Mal agreed, nodding approvingly. "I don't need one, E. They're a waste of time."

Suddenly, Evie gasped. "I forgot to do Chad's homework! Oh, no! Oh, no, no, no."

"And that is exactly what I mean." Mal pointed out.

Raising a hand awkwardly, Margot asked, "Uh, why exactly is she doing some guy's homework? We just got here."

"Believe me, I wanna know just as much as you do." Mal rolled her eyes.

Then, another head poked its way into the room. "Hey, guys! I'm Lonnie. My mom's Mulan? No? Anyways, I love what you've done with Jane's hair. And I know you hate us, and, well, you're evil. But do you think you could do mine?" Margot felt her lips begging to frown at her closed-minded words said in such an upbeat, naive tone, but decided the girl was probably as unaware as she sounded. Not to mention, Margot had the least power in the room, so she wasn't planning on upsetting anyone.

"Why would I do that for you?" Mal asked disinterestedly.

"I'll pay you 50 dollars." Lonnie suggested.

"Good answer. I need to buy more material. Let's see, I'm thinking, we lose the bangs, maybe some layers and some highlights." Evie grabbed the bag of money swiftly.

"Yeah, yeah. I want it cool. Like Mal's." Lonnie waved off Evie's suggestions, and turned to Mal eagerly.

"Really?" Mal asked.

"The split ends too?" Evie added doubtfully, before glancing at Margot. "Speaking of dead ends, Gogo, you desperately need a haircut."

"I don't have money to pay Mal with." Margot reminded her.

Mal, at this point, had turned her attention to Lonnie. "Beware, forswear, replace the old with cool hair."

Suddenly, Lonnie's hair grew out into cool curls, just like she'd asked for.

Evie pursed her lips. "I know. I know. It looks like a mop on your head. You know what? Let's cut it off, layer it..."

"No, no, no, no, no, no! I love it." Lonnie disagreed vehemently.

"You do?" Evie did not approve.

"It's just..." Lonnie reached down and ripped her skirt. "Now I'm cool."

"Like ice." Mal said.

Jane then ripped her own skirt, before freaking out. "What did I just do? Mom's gonna kill me!"

Margot was genuinely confused. What exactly was cool about a ripped skirt? She supposed they were just trying to get as similar to Mal as possible.

After those two girls left, there seemed to be a steady stream of girls coming to get their hair done by Mal, each bringing money to fund Evie's clothes-making. Margot noticed that the price seemed to be getting more and more expensive with each new customer.

"Hey, Gogo, I'm sure Mal wouldn't make you pay to get your hair done, you're one of us." Evie told her, eyeing Margot's hair distastefully.

Feeling nerves settle in her stomach, Margot shook her head. "I don't care about my hair, really." The girl was bad at lying, everyone knew it, so no one thought she was telling the truth, but Mal wasn't interested in anyone pushing her for the truth. It's not as if the purple-haired girl wanted to hear an angsty conversation about hair after having to fix seven girls' hairdos in one evening.

Eventually, after Evie had suggested it again a third time, Margot decided to tell them goodnight and went to the library to read more of the Lord of the Rings. There were still a few hours before the library closed, and she wanted to finish the first book already.

It wasn't very surprising that Ben was there, doing more paperwork, and somehow, Margot had no fear in asking to sit at his table. Noting how his mother had made her feel similarly comfortable, she decided it must be a family trait.

"How are you liking the book?" Ben asked, smiling.

Margot hummed, pondering the question. "I really like the way he writes his characters, Frodo especially. I like Frodo and Sam a lot."

"I was always a big fan of Aragorn. And Merry and Pippin. What makes you like those two?" Ben wondered, barely holding himself back from going on a rant about how good it was.

The question felt vulnerable, but Margot couldn't very well ignore his question. "I guess I relate to them, in a way. They feel very relevant to me."

"Why is that?" After a second, noticing how hesitant her expression was, Ben added, "Don't force yourself to tell me."

Margot smiled weakly. "I guess because Frodo is already aware of his fate right from the beginning, and because Sam is aware of his place as Frodo's subordinate."

"You know... uh..." Ben started awkwardly, though Margot could see him trying to be genuine. "You don't have to see yourself as someone's subordinate here. As students, we're all equal. And, I'm not gonna send you back to the Isle, you don't have a set fate. You can choose what you do after we graduate." Ben gradually gained confidence as he spoke, before becoming quiet again. "Sorry if I'm overstepping."

Margot shook her head. "Don't worry, I appreciate it."

The conversation ended shortly, and they ended up just working and reading in silence until 11 when the library closed. Margot started noticing that perhaps, like Sam, her place could be somewhere that gives her purpose rather than pain (and hopefully be less dangerous than going to Mount Doom), instead of feeling Frodo's constant looming sense of unavoidable fate. Maybe it was possible for her to make herself a home, however small, here in Auradon.