▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐀 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎"𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐖that works." Ilaria disagreed, shaking her head as she looked at Doug. It was a rare sight to see outside of her room, but for once Ilaria was doing her homework. Science was the only time she turned her homework in on time, and that was because Doug always convinced her to do the homework with him. Ilaria was a smart girl despite what everyone thought, her aunt had taught her everything she knew. She wasn't the smartest kid in the class like Doug was, but she knew what she was talking about.

     Doug stared at her, a blank look on his face. "I just explained to you how that is exactly how that works." They were outside, Doug claiming Ilaria needed some sunlight, sitting on the bleachers as they discussed their homework.

     "Well, you're wrong." Ilaria confidently stated.

     Doug sighed. "Give me your paper." She handed it to him and he examined the problem, quickly nudging her side as he pointed to it. "You missed a variable."

     Ilaria huffed. "Damn." She redid the problem, and of course Doug was right. "I really thought I had that one." She fell silent when she heard an insufferable voice.

     "Is everyone at home as pretty as you?" Chad's voice came from under the bleachers.

     "See, I told you―︎" Doug started but Ilaria quickly shushed him.

     Evie smiled shyly. "I like to think I'm the fairest of them all." She stood there with him, and in that moment she realized how much she did not want to be here with him, but she had to go through with her plan. "How many rooms in your castle?"

     Chad shook his head, a smug smile on his face. "Too many to count." Evie began to inch forwards, closing her eyes and puckering her lips to kiss him only for Chad to quickly turn away. "You really nailed that chemistry problem today. You're gonna have all the nerds in love with you."

     Ilaria let out a silent scoff, sharing a look with Doug. "I'm not that smart." Evie dismissed.

     "Oh, come on." Chad smiled.

     "No, really, I'm not." Evie claimed. "But I'm really good at sewing and cooking and cleaning. You know, like your mother Cinderella. Without the ratty dress."

     Ilaria managed an amused smile. "She's laying it on thick."

     Evie pulled out her magic mirror, showing it to Chad. "See this? If I ask where something is, it tells me."

     "Are you kidding me?" Chad asked, not believing her.

     "No."

     Chad snatched it from her hand, asking the mirror, "Where's my cell phone?" He placed the mirror to his ear.

     "It won't work for you, silly." Evie smiled, beginning to understand what Ilaria meant about him not being 'a lot of there, there'.

     "No biggie." He kept that charming smile on his face, handing the mirror back. "My dad will just get me a new one."

     "Prince Charming," Evie noted with a smile.

     "Yeah."

     "And Cinderella."

     "Yeah."

     "Fairy Godmother." She kept the smile on her face. "Hey, I heard her wand is in some boring museum. Do they always leave it there?"

     He glanced at her lips and moved like he was going to kiss her only to quickly say, "I'd really like to talk, but. . ." He sighed dramatically, turning away from her. "I'm just swamped." He paused, turning his head to look at her. "Unless."

     Evie smiled again. "Unless. . ."

     He pulled his bag from his shoulder. "If you could knock all my homework out along with yours, then maybe we could get together sometime, hang."

     Evie took his bag from him. "Okay."

     Chad smiled successfully. "Thanks, babe."

    Evie nodded. "Yeah." He started to walk away and she gave him a soft bye.

     "I'm gonna say something." Ilaria said, placing her homework in her bag.

     "Ria, no."

     "It'll be fine." Ilaria dismissed him, taking a step down, and sitting, turning so that she was looking underneath the bleachers. "Hey, gorgeous." Evie snapped her gaze to Ilaria's. "I overheard your little conversation."

     "Are you stalking me?" Evie quickly asked.

     Ilaria chuckled, sliding between the bleachers and landing on her feet so that she was standing in front of Evie. "So, tell me, what is your obsession with Fairy Godmother's wand? My sweet friend Doug is obsessed is well."

     Doug peaked his head through the bleachers. "Hi." He slide between the bleachers, taking a stand beside Ilaria. "It's one of the reasons I look forwards to the coronation."

     Evie looked between them, taking a step closer. "Are you saying they use it in the coronation?"

     "They do," Ilaria confirmed. She smiled. "I'd love for you to be my date." She looked to Doug. "No offense, Doug." Doug waved her off.

     Evie felt a blush start to crawl on her neck, but she pushed it aside and took a step closer to Ilaria. A smile was on her face. "Maybe I'll take you up on that." And then she left.

     Doug looked at Ilaria with raised brows. "Looks like your plan is working."

     Ilaria watched Evie leave, a small frown on her face. "It seems I'm not the only one with a plan."

     "What do you mean?"

     Ilaria crossed her arms over her chest. "The VK's are up to something. I'm going to figure out what it is."

     Doug frowned. "Why do you think they're up to something?"

     Ilaria raised a brow at him. "Because they're from the Isle, it's basically in their blood to always be up to something." She turned to Doug. "We'll talk later." She began to walk away.

     "Wait, what about the rest of the homework?" Doug called, but she was already gone. He sighed and shook his head, grabbing his things and leaving as well. 

     The next day, Ilaria made her way to Mal and Evie's dorm. If she was going to ask them about it, she was going to do it how she always did things. Be upfront. She knocked on the door, that was cracked open, pushing her way inside. Her eyes locked onto Lonnie and Jane, her eyes narrowing when she saw their new hair Mal had done for them. Instantly she said, "Get out." Lonnie and Jane stared at her wide eyed before quickly scrambling out of the room. Ilaria shut the door behind them, turning to face Mal and Evie who had shared a look with each other.

     "You really are a cruel person, aren't you?" Mal asked, completely amused.

     Ilaria gave her a sweet smile. "It takes one to know one." That made Mal chuckle.

     Mal closed her spell book. "What's up?"

     "What are you four planning?" Ilaria asked, ripping the band aid off. Evie and Mal froze.

     Mal sat up, feigning confusion. "We're not planning anything."

     Ilaria rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb with me, Mal. I won't fall for your tricks." She let out a breath. "Look, I like you guys, truly I do. For once you make me look like a normal sane kid. But, I also know you're planning something, and it involves Fairy Godmother's wand. What is it?"

     "Ilaria, isn't it?" Mal asked, standing. "I seriously have no clue what you're talking about."

     Ilaria sighed. "Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll have to figure it out myself."

     Mal shared a look with Evie, and for once they were both scared they were going to be discovered. "Ilaria, just leave it alone."

     Ilaria looked at Mal, smirking. "So, you are planning something. I was completely bluffing, but now that you've admitted the truth, I'll go and have a little talk with Ben and―︎"

     Evie stood, walking towards her. "Please." She softly said. Ilaria stared at her, swallowing thickly. "We just got out. We can't go back. You understand that, don't you?"

     "No." Ilaria shook her head. "I don't. I want to go back."

     This made them both frown. Mal shook her head. "Why do you want to go back to the Isle so bad? You're free. Not everyone has people looking out for them like you."

     Ilaria stared at her for a moment. "Because I need to know the truth."

     Evie shared another look with Mal before looking back at Ilaria. "Ilaria. . . what happened to you? I mean, we all thought you were dead. News of your disappearance ran rapid on the Isle. Everyone thought. . ."

     "I was taken by my aunt." Ilaria answered. She clenched her jaw. "She said that this would be a good place for me. And it has. I love my aunt, truly I do, she means everything to me. But. . . at least on the Isle I wouldn't get called crazy or evil for having a personality. For simply being me. My mother is a part of who I am, so is my father. . . whoever he might be. Is it so wrong of me to want to know why I am the way that I am? Why my mother didn't fight harder for me? I am exactly like her according to everyone else, so why wasn't I good enough for her?"

     Evie's heart broke at her words. "Ilaria. . ." Gently, she reached out and grabbed her hands. "Your parents aren't who you are. You're your own person. You just have to find what makes you different from them. And for the record, you are nothing like your mother."

     Ilaria stared at her and her walls began to rebuild themselves as she looked at Evie and softly said, "You should take your own advice. You don't have to be like your parents, none of you do. And if whatever you're planning is a means to make your parents proud, you should take a second to think about the consequences and decide if all of it is really worth losing the chance to be who you want to be." She shook her head, pulling herself from Evie's grip.

As she left the room, Evie couldn't help but stare after her, Ilaria's words echoing in her hand and making her question everything she thought to be true.