19

Margot continued to avoid the library for a few days, instead spending her nights either practicing etiquette and dancing with the Fairy Godmother siblings, or practicing her harp with at least one of the VKs keeping her company. She even stayed after class to ask Belle for book recommendations, since she had almost finished the Lord of the Rings and was eager for a new read, much to the queen's delight.

However, no matter how much she enjoyed spending time with her new friends and now mentor, Margot couldn't stop itching to go to the library and hoping she'd run into Ben. He had become one of her closest friends so quickly and was one of the few she'd actually opened up to, other than the VK girls and Belle, of all people.

In order to deal with her traitorous heart and mind, Margot decided the best thing to do would be to make herself even more busy. Hence, why she decided to ask for Jane for advice on what to do with what little free time she had while they met up during lunch period.

"Hey, Jane. I've been thinking..."

"Yeah, Margot?" Jane replied as she looked up from the work Margot had been helping her with for Fairy Godmother.

"I just... I feel like I could be doing more with my time. Do you have any ideas of something I could do? Preferably outside of the castle?" Margot wondered hopefully, her silver eyes desperate.

Jane got the feeling there was more to it than boredom, but due to her shy character, said nothing of it. "Outside the castle, huh? I guess the best way to do that would be with the Volunteer Society. Oliver is one of the heads, so I'm sure he'd be happy to take you on their outings. Today, they're going to the dog rescue centre to help out there." Jane paused nervously. "If you'd be interested in that, that is."

Margot smiled. "Dog rescue, as in like Carlos's dog?"

Jane nodded quickly. "Yeah, you'd be helping feed and take care of them, maybe play with them a bit. Most of them have been rescued from the street or given up by their previous owners, so the shelter needs help taking care of them."

"That sounds really nice, actually. I'll ask Oliver about it when he gets here for my dance lesson." Margot approved, giving Jane a sweet smile.

The two girls got back to working on the final decor for the coronation and had just about finished their work for the day when Oliver arrived.

"Hey Oliver." Margot greeted, almost nervous. After all, the boy was a little aloof around people he was unsure of, and Margot was definitely one of them.

"Hey Ol!" Jane greeted much more brightly.

"Hey. What's up with you guys?" The boy asked, focusing more on his sister.

"We've just about finished the banner design for the coronation. Now, we just need Mom's stamp of approval before ordering them." Jane grinned, relieved that such a large portion of the planning was now done thanks to Margot's help.

"That's great!" The look of approval he sent to the curly-haired girl eased her nerves greatly, to the point where she was confident enough to ask about his club.

"Jane was also telling me about the Volunteer Society, cuz I wanted to get out of the building every once in a while, and I was wondering if I could come to the dog shelter today with you?"

Oliver stayed silent a few moments, and watched as the hope in Margot's eyes started to fade. However, he wasn't silent because he wanted to reject her, just because he knew that Ben often came on these outings and wasn't sure the prince was willing to see her quite yet, since he was so paranoid about Audrey coming after her again. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders. Ben had to stop being afraid of his ex anyways. "Yeah, sure. We have more than enough room in the car, and the shelter could always use an extra hand." Oliver eyed her carefully. "I didn't think you'd be into this stuff, though, to be honest."

Margot didn't react beyond a slightly sheepish smile. "Well, I didn't really ever have the opportunity for stuff like this before, so I'm more than open to new experiences."

"Fair enough. Meet us at the front of the school at 4 then." Oliver agreed, smiling good-naturedly. He made a mental note to at least warn Ben beforehand so he wouldn't be forcing his friend into a completely unwanted situation.

The dance lesson went as smoothly as usual, the two teenagers got into frame while Jane called out corrections, and there were only a few trips during one of the harder moves. Though, Margot did accidentally kick Oliver's shin once (very gently!).

They started with the slow waltz before moving to the Viennese, the two most common court dances to know, before moving on to common line dances done at balls. These last ones, Margot had become rather good at, and was no longer embarrassed about having to perform them in class.

"So, Margot, why did you suddenly wanna leave school?" Oliver wondered, his bright blue eyes as scrutinizing as always.

The girl suddenly felt as though he was peering into her soul, learning every single little secret she'd ever had, and had to look away as she answered. "I guess... I was just feeling a little restless. I wanted to take advantage of all the opportunities here, but I haven't really done that yet, so I decided I should start on that." It wasn't technically a lie, but that hadn't exactly been her main motivation.

"So, it has nothing to do with that fact that you and Ben are avoiding each other?" Bingo. Right on the nose. Margot wondered if his ability to read people had to with his powers, or if she was just that obvious.

"I didn't realize he was avoiding me too." Margot said quietly, unsure why that upset her since it was such a hypocritical feeling.

"Yeah, that's cuz you're both amazing at avoiding each other. Honestly, I think Audrey is the one you should be avoiding, but it seems both you and Ben are too scared of what she'll do to you if you stay friends." Oliver sighed, leading her into the next figure of the dance.

Margot matched his sigh, feeling her cheeks turn pink knowing Ben was trying to protect her. "It's not just that I'm scared of what she'll do to me. It's not like it's the first time I've been hit. It's that, even though I know now that she wasn't really my friend, I do still care about her and feel bad for her, so I don't wanna make her feel worse."

Oliver looked down at her, seeing the sincerity in her gaze, and thought to himself, I see what you mean about her being beautiful inside and out, Ben. You two would make a nauseatingly good couple.

When the bell rang, the two girls said goodbye the protective boy, before heading to Belle's Book Club together.

Audrey was already sitting, though no longer in her place next to Belle which had been taken by Roze, Rapunzel's daughter, instead. The brunette was glaring hatefully at the two girls as they walked in, which made Jane squeak in fear and hurry to her seat and made Margot's heart pang. She really had thought they'd been friends.

Shockingly, Roze patted the seat next to her, and Margot gladly sat there.

"You know, most of us are on your side. Even the people who hate the Isle know Audrey was in the wrong, but she's got a lot of power here so no one will speak up." Roze whispered to her.

Margot smiled sadly. "There's no need to pick sides, she's just hurt and lashing out badly. But I really appreciate it, anways."

"You're a good person, Margot. Despite how evil your mom was."