40

"I can't tell if you look more uptight than usual or less." This was Roze's way of greeting Margot at their next practice session.

"You know, you and Kalea are kinda similar. I think you'd get along." Margot replied, trying to relax her face.

"Maybe. It'd be pretty cool to learn how to surf, now that I think about it." Roze pondered. "But first, how's the solo coming?"

"It's fine. Not coming as fast as I'd like." Of course, the reason for that was the slump she'd been in for the first couple days after quitting her job, but Margot wasn't about to forgive herself fully for that.

"Have you been learning Beauty and the Beast like I told you to?"

Margot's silence was enough of an answer.

"Mar, you promised." Roze said pointedly as she set up her cello.

"Yeah, I will, I'm just focusing on my actual exam songs."

Roze sighed exaggeratedly. "Fine."

Their practice session that day was much more successful than the previous one, though they made mistakes here and there (mostly Margot, who huffed almost silently at every trip of her fingers).

"You're way too hard on yourself. You should relax. Come surfing with me and Kalea." Roze suggested.

"Are you actually gonna do that?"

"Yeah, I'm always up for an adventure and unlike you, I'm ok with being bad at something too, so I won't get frustrated when I suck." Roze said cheekily.

"Oh, haha." Margot replied, though her cheeks were pink with embarrassment. "I'm not that bad."

"You kinda are. Hate to break it to you."

Margot's lips pursed as she nodded. "Fair enough. I'm working on it. Ish. Not really. I will work on it eventually."

Roze snorted. "Good luck."

The orchestra pieces and their duet were smooth, though not perfect, by the end of the two hours, and Roze insisted on grabbing lunch together to force the girl to stop working and properly socialize for once. Jane was quite chirpy when the two girls joined her picnic table, followed by Evie who had coincidentally decided to grab food at the same time and Doug (of course).

"Wow, Margot's actually socializing for once. I'm speechless." Evie teased.

"Hey, you know how busy I am." Margot defended with a bashful smile.

Jane rolled her eyes goodnaturedly. "Yeah, so are the rest of us." Though her princess curls were perfect and her clothes impeccable, Margot knew better than anyone how stressed the Fairy Godmother's daughter was.

"Well, compared to you guys, I feel lazy complaining, but senior year is hitting me hard." Roze said, her usual smile turned into a frown.

"Don't worry, Gogo's the only one who isn't struggling with that." Evie replied, grinning teasingly. "The rest of us are with you on this one, though."

Margot blushed gently, offering a sheepish smile. "I just genuinely like school..?"

Evie patted her head twice, smoothing down the perky curls. "We know, Gogo."

It wasn't long before Margot became clearly restless, tapping her finger on the table incessantly as her eyes stared intensely at the castle, ready to go back to work. To her credit, she did her best to engage in the conversation, but the others could tell she was getting anxious.

"If you're that stressed, Gogo, you can go back to work now." Evie offered.

"Yeah, you're almost making me stressed." Roze teased.

"Why don't you just do your work here for a bit?" Jane suggested helpfully.

Margot smiled relievedly. "Thanks, guys. Sorry I'm such a downer, I've just got a few tests this afternoon and tomorrow, and we're going to set the final dates of everything for the program tomorrow."

"Oh, yay, congrats!" Evie said, clapping her hands.

Margot thanked her as she pulled out her papers. "If anyone wants help with the history midterm, that's what I'm gonna start with."

"Ooh, me please!" Roze said, scooching closer.

Margot placed her notes between the two of them and started explaining what they were supposed to know for their exam. It wasn't long before her very detailed cue cards made an appearance and all the girls joined in to help quiz them.

"Ooh! This is an easy one. What year did King Adam and Queen Belle form the United States of Auradon?" Evie asked.

"1995." Margot replied immediately.

Every question directed towards her, Margot was able to answer immediately. She didn't even notice when Evie asked an unrelated question until it had already been answered.

"Who's your favourite person?"

"Ben."

"Awwww!" Roze and Jane said in unison. "That's so cute!" Roze squealed.

"Huh?" Realization dawned on Margot as she thought back on the question. "Hey, we're supposed to be studying History right now! That's completely unrelated!"

"I mean, if you really think about it... Ben will be part of History." Evie said with a teasing grin. "You could be too, you know?"

"Yeah, you need a new job, don't you?" Roze added.

Jane quickly caught on. "And Ben needs a Queen."

Margot's cheeks burned red as she wished for some sort of escape from this conversation, but her body didn't carry her away as much as she begged it to. "No, he does not, and I am not a Queen. Now, back to History."

Roze leaned in, a calm smirk on her face. "And yet you could be."

"No, I could not." Margot replied, trying to dampen her blush without success.

"Gogo's the Queen of denial, you won't be able to prove to her that she's worthy of Ben no matter how much you try." Evie said with an exaggerated sigh.

"Don't start with this again, Eve." Margot sighed, but that fervent hope she just couldn't quite quench burned almost painfully in her chest.

"Does she think she's fooling anyone?" Roze asked rhetorically.

"Only herself." Evie shook her head ashamedly. "Just admit it, you know it's true."

Margot didn't notice as Evie and Jane's eyes widened, staring at something over her shoulder.

"I've told you before Evie, it doesn't matter whether I'm in love with Ben or not, we won't date, and I will never become Queen, so stop trying to push it." Margot said defeatedly. "It's not happening, ok? So, can we please just go back to studying?"

"Um, I think you may wanna..." Evie pointed behind Margot and the curly-haired girl swivelled in her seat, seeing Ben standing there awkwardly.

"Uhh, sorry if I'm interrupting."

Margot froze in horror, staring at Ben's eyes which refused to look at her, instead only looking at Evie. She felt a rock drop in her stomach as she noticed the pain and resignation in his eyes, making her feel sick with guilt.

"I'll, uh, see you at the meeting, Margot."

All the girls stayed in silence as he walked away, turning to stare at Margot who remained frozen in place, a single tear falling down her cheek as she watched him leave.

"I'm an awful, awful person."