18

To say Margot was thriving may not have been accurate under other people's criteria, but anyone who knew her would easily say she was the best she'd ever been. Aside her comrades from the Isle and Belle, there were three others who noticed this big change. Obviously, Ben had, and was aching at the fact that he had to give her some space until Audrey calmed down. The other two were Fairy Godmother's children, Jane and Oliver.

Jane had continued tutoring Margot in etiquette, though she did ask that they do their lessons somewhere private so Audrey wouldn't bully her as well, and Oliver felt the need to pay attention to the girl his best friend seemed to have fallen for. Jane had even asked him to help with their tutoring once the Etiquette class reached its ballroom dancing unit. After asking Ben's permission to dance with the girl he liked, Oliver was glad to accept in order to keep a close eye on the Isle girl.

"Honestly, Ben, she's beautiful, obviously, but she hasn't really given me any clue to her personality. I always thought you'd be into someone more spunky, like that Mal girl." Oliver said upon returning from one such lesson.

Ben snorted. "You're just saying that cuz you have the hots for Mal. And, Margot's got a personality that's even more beautiful than her looks, you know? It takes a while to break her walls down, but she's got a really pure, good heart, and when she gets excited about something, she just lights up. She might not express herself loudly, but the way her eyes light up is so..."

"Ok, there Romeo. Settle down. And, I don't have the hots for Mal, I just don't trust her." Oliver chuckled.

"Yeah, sure. Don't even try to pretend you're as bigoted as Audrey."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Hey, I'm not saying she's a bad person. Actually, from the impression I've gotten of her, she's not, but Audrey wasn't wrong when she said villains probably don't teach their kids good values. I wouldn't be surprised if they were given some plot by their parents to bust them out of the Isle."

"C'mon, don't say that, Ol. Margot wouldn't do that." Ben sighed exasperately as he pulled out his homework.

"I didn't say it was all of them! It was pretty clear Margot hasn't been close to the other until now, so it's just them I'm worried about. And Mal is clearly the ringleader. Even if she is a good person deep down." Oliver clarified, throwing a ball up and down from his bed.

Ben paused, then grinned. "You wanna help her?"

"The fuck? Why would I help her break their parents out?" Oliver rebuffed, scoffing.

"No, you wanna help her become a good person. You really do have the hots for her, huh?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I'd never help someone who doesn't wanna be helped."

"But if she did..." Ben trailed off suggestively.

Oliver rolled his eyes again, covering his lightly flushed cheeks with his hand. "Yeah, yeah. I mean, the most I've been able to do is force her into taking art class, but she seemed kinda grumpy about that. If she doesn't wanna find her place here, then I can't help her."

"You're worried she's not interested in you either, huh?" Ben laughed when he saw Oliver's expression. "Hey, you're not the only one who can read people. We've been best friends since we were in diapers, have a little faith in me."

"Shut up, man." Oliver scoffed, but he was smiling, and both boys knew there was no hiding anything from the other.

Meanwhile, in Mal and Evie's room, the VK girls were having a similar conversation.

"So, Gogo, the rumours going around are that you and Ben are the next power couple." Evie wiggled her brows suggestively. "Anyone who's seen you two in the library knows you have chemistry."

Margot sighed, giving her friend an exasperated look. "Eve, no. I could never do that to Audrey, besides, I'm no princess, much less a queen-to-be. I could never handle that."

Mal smacked her gum, chiming in. "Notice she didn't deny having feelings for him, though."

"Stop it, Mal, it's not happening." Margot couldn't stop the small grin from reaching her face though, along with an almost imperceptible blush. "Let's talk about you and Oliver instead."

"What? Mal and Oliver? Ooh, this sounds juicy." Evie chimed in eagerly.

"What on earth are you even talking about?" Mal rolled her eyes.

Margot shrugged with a mischievous spark in her eyes. "Oh, well, I just could picture the two of you together. Besides, he's talked about you when helping Jane tutor me once or twice. He was really happy he was able to get you to take that art class. Said he thought you 'deserved to find your own place here too'. It just seemed a little romantic to me."

"No. Way." Evie stared at Mal with a wide smile on her face, while the latter looked away, trying to pretend she was uninterested in the conversation. "I can totally see it too. He's definitely powerful enough for you to actually respect him, and for such a sweet-looking guy, he's got a lot of... like, power, in the way he acts, you know?"

"I know! He can be so nice, then so intimidating the next moment. I would not want to get in a fight with him, ever." Margot agreed. "He's definitely not the type to hold back when he really cares about something, either."

Unbeknownst to either of them, Mal was lost in thought thinking of that one time he'd threatened her to protect his sister. He had definitely seemed more than serious enough to peak her interest that day, but she'd never admit it, hence why she flipped the conversation onto Evie. "I think E's the only one out of the three of us who has an actual dating prospect. How are things with Doug?"

The blue-haired girl blushed prettily, glancing at both her friends nervously. "He's really nice, and he's been helping me a lot with school, but I'm still kinda into Chad."

"Doug's totally whipped." Mal snorted. "If you're gonna date someone, at least choose the one who treats you properly. Chad isn't worth your effort."

"I think it's very sweet you have such a wholesome relationship with Doug." Margot chimed in. "And, I think I would agree with Mal, Chad has seemed kinda fake and, well, not quite there intellectually the few times I've spoken with him, so I'd be careful."

"Guys." Evie complained, looking at them imploringly. Both girls held their hands up in defeat.

"Fine. But I'm destroying him if he ever hurts you." Mal made clear, the look in her eyes only proving how serious she was. "After I mess Audrey up, of course."