The dorm rooms at Auradon Prep were vastly different from the homes on the Isle of the lost. For starters, everything was nice, new, and clean. The beds looked so fluffy and Georgie wondered if she'd just sink to the floor in it. The room was well lit and most of the furniture and decorations were pink.

Evie took another step into the room and grinned. "This place is so amaz–"

"Gross," Mal said flatly. She looked around the room with distaste.

Evie quickly dropped her smile, not wanting Mal to notice how much she was enjoying everything so far. "I know, right? Amazingly gross."

"Not sure how I feel about all the pink," Georgie admitted. She was so used to everything in her home being red. "But I've always wanted to do this!"

"Do wh–"

Mal cut herself off as Georgiana flung herself at one of the three overstuffed beds in the room. She bounced around a few times before her body settled and she giggled.

"Oh, this is so much better than that stupid cot in the corner," she said, snuggling into the pillows, which were softer than she'd ever imagined. "Can't believe they've been keeping all this soft stuff away from the Isle."

Mal eyed one of the beds and contemplated jumping on it as well, but first, she walked over to the open curtains. "Ew. Ugh! I'm going to need some serious sunscreen.

"Yeah," Evie agreed.

Mal snapped the curtains shut, which made the room much darker. "That is much better."

|

After the girls had settled in, they wandered around until they found Carlos and Jay's room, where the boys were already getting comfortable. Carlos was playing a video game – something none of them had seen before – and was enjoying it. Jay, of course, already had a small stash of stolen goods. Georgie didn't know how he had had the time to get it all.

"Jay, what are you doing?" Mal asked as the girls walked over to look at the stack of stuff.

"It's called stealing."

"Okay, what's the point?" she asked.

"Well, Mal, it's like buying whatever I want, except it's free," he said, picking up a laptop.

Mal chuckled. "Okay. So, you could do that, or you could leave all of this here and pick it up when we take over the world."

"You sound just like your mom," Georgie muttered, sitting on Carlos' bed.

Mal placed a hand on her heart and smiled. "Thank you." Georgie grinned and rolled her eyes.

"You do it your way, and I'll do it mine," Jay said before Carlos called him over to try out the fighting video game.

Mal looked unimpressed at the boys. "Guys! Do I have to remind you what we're all here for?"

"Fairy Godmother, blah, blah, blah," Jay said, continuing to play. "Magic wand, blah, blah, blah."

"This is our one chance to prove ourselves to our parents," Mal snapped. "To prove that we are evil and vicious and ruthless and cruel. Yeah?"

"Yeah," the others agreed, minus Georgie, who stayed quiet.

"Evie, mirror me," Mal ordered.

Everyone then gathered around the table as Evie pulled out her magic mirror. "Mirror, mirror on the - in my hand, where is Fairy Godmother's wand... stand?"

"Does it have to rhyme?" Georgie asked with a frown.

A small image of the wand appeared on the screen. "There it is," Mal said, pointing at it.

"Zoom out," Georgie said. They couldn't tell where it was at.

"Magic mirror, not so close," Evie said. The mirror zoomed out so far that they could see the entire planet in it. "Closer. Closer. Closer."

"Can I go back to my game?" Carlos asked as it took forever for the mirror to actually show them where it was. "I'm on level three."

"Stop!" Mal suddenly said as the mirror showed the front of a building. "It's in a museum. Do we know where that is?"

Carlos quickly looked it up on the stolen laptop. "2.3 Miles from here."

Everyone got ready to leave, except Carlos, who went back to his game. Georgie chewed on her lip and hovered by the door.

"Do I have to come?" she asked, pouting.

Mal sighed. "George–"

"What good am I gonna do anyways? I'll just get in the way," she pointed out. "I'd rather just stay and call dibs on the biggest room once everyone gets over here."

"It'll be fine," Evie said, giving Mal a convincing smile.

After a few moments of thinking, Mal nodded firmly before finishing getting ready to leave. Before they got out the door, Jay gently touched Georgie's shoulder.

"Hey, once we have the wand, we won't let him get to you," he assured her, making her smile. "Promise."

|

Things clearly hadn't gone well for Georgie's friends. They hadn't been gone for a full hour before she could faintly hear a loud alarm sounding in the distance. It was only on for a few minutes before it shut off. She was very worried that they had gotten caught and would be sent back to the Island. So, she had to anxiously waited until they got back to the boy's room.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, everyone ran into the room, out of breath. Georgie jumped up off of Carlos' bed and asked what happened.

"Jay set off the security alarm," Mal said, glaring at the boy. "We were this close to getting the wand and getting out of this place. But no, he couldn't keep his greedy fingers to himself and now we have to go to school tomorrow."

"School?" Georgie asked, her face paling. "I can't go to school."

Her friends, though frustrated by the failed mission, gave her sympathetic looks, which would have surprised any of the Auradon kids if they saw it.

"Maybe you could talk to the teachers," Carlos suggested. "They might help."

Mal scoffed. "Please, they all hate us and our parents. If she goes to a teacher, I'm sure they'll laugh in her face and then everyone at school will know."

Georgie looked down at the ground and nervously fiddled with her hands. "What am I gonna do?"

Evie stepped up and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Just sit by one of us in each of your classes. We'll help you cheat."

Georgie nodded and took in a deep breath. "I think I'm gonna go see the library. Give myself a refresher."

"Want me to come with?" Evie asked.

She shook her head. "No, it's past curfew and I don't want you to get in trouble if I get caught. Besides, you'll need your beauty sleep to look flawless for the first day tomorrow. I'll be okay — I'll pick something easy."

|

"The L-Leon. No, The Li-uh. Fuck! So much for easy."

"Is someone here?"

Georgiana, who had been huddled on the floor in the back corner of the library, froze. Internally, she cursed herself out. It was definitely past the mandatory curfew all the students had, and she wasn't supposed to be in the library. She shouldn't have been making noise. Quickly, she turned off the lamp she was using and kept quiet, trying to not get caught.

"Caught ya."

Georgiana automatically stood as the Prince poked his head around the bookshelf in front of her. Ben had a smile on his face and didn't look angry to find her there, but she still tensed up, expecting some kind of punishment.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm supposed to be in bed but I just couldn't sleep so I thought–"

"Georgiana," Ben interrupted, walking closer. "It's perfectly fine. Everyone breaks curfew all the time. Though most of us don't spend our time in the library."

Her shoulders relaxed a little and she moved the book she was holding behind her back. "Still, I shouldn't have done it. I'll go back to my room."

"No, no," he said, sticking out an arm to stop her from running away. "Really. It's okay. I'm sorry I interrupted, but I thought I heard someone reading. What were you reading, anyway?"

Georgie slowly moved the book out, a little embarrassed, and showed him the cover. He grinned and grabbed the small book.

"The Lion King. It was my favorite book to read as a child."

Georgiana blushed as he mentioned that it was a children's book. "Lion. Duh," she whispered the word to herself, not paying attention to the Prince. But he heard her as he took a step closer.

"What?" He tilted his head and studied her face.

"What?" she repeated, straightening her back and acting as if she had said nothing. God, this was going horrible for her. If only she had brought Evie, who was much better at lying on the spot.

Ben cautiously looked between her and the children's book in his hand. "It kind of sounded like you were trying to pronounce the title."

Georgiana's face got even redder, and despite the little light, Ben still caught it.

"Can you... Do you know how to read?"

"Of course, I know how to read!" she snapped, grabbing the book from him. Ben put up his hands in defense and watched and Georgie studied the book in her hands and chewed on her lower lip. "I mean, I can read. Evie's been teaching me. I just... sometimes don't know some words."

Ben stared at the girl with his jaw dropped. This girl was his age and yet she didn't know how to read. He didn't think he'd ever been more shocked in his life.

"Don't look at me like that," she said, glaring. "I'm not stupid!"

"I don't think you're stupid," Ben hurriedly assured her. "I was just... surprised."

"Why?" she asked, scoffing. "You know who my dad is. Mr. It's not right for a woman to read–"

"Soon, she'll start thinking and getting ideas."

Georgiana looked up at Ben, surprised as he finished her father's quote. He shrugged sheepishly at her look. "My parents like to tell stories. I just never thought he'd treat his child that way."

"You thought wrong, Beasty," she muttered bitterly. Ben smiled from the little nickname. She avoided looking at him again and bent down to pick up the lamp and blanket she had been using. "I'm just gonna go."

"You know, I could help you," Ben said softly. Softer then she imagined he could've. Georgiana looked up at him through thick lashes, wondering if he was trying to play some kind of trick on her. "As I said, I love The Lion King. I could help with the words you don't know."

He gently grabbed the book back from her and sat on the carpeted floor. She skeptically and slowly lowered herself into the spot next to him. Ben scooted a little closer and opened the book to the first page.

"Look, if this is some stupid joke so that you can go brag about helping out the poor stupid villain kid who can't read, then save it," she snapped, gripping her blanket tight. "If you tell anyone that I can't read, I'll – uh." Georgiana paused, not really used to threatening people. Ben could clearly tell as he smiled in amusement. "I'll have Jay, uh, beat you up... or something."

"Georgiana, I promise not to tell anyone," he said, reaching to turn the lamp back on. Georgie could suddenly see his face much clearer, and she noticed how close they were sitting. "I just wanna help."

"Sorry for snapping at you," she quietly apologized. "People just don't really... help people on the Isle."

"It's alright," he assured her. "With a dad like mine, I'm used to short fuses."

Georgiana smiled at his joke and scooted a little closer so that she could see the book. Their knees touched and Ben rested the book on top of them. She nervously glanced at him before looking at the first page. She had only ever read in front of Evie and Gil. And Gil couldn't read either so that definitely wasn't as embarrassing as trying to read in front of the future king of Auradon.

"Every morning," she started slowly, taking time to think out the words, "as the sun peeks over the... hor- uh

"Horizon."

"Right. Horizon," she mumbled. "A giant rock hmm, forma-uh?"

"Formation."

"Formation," she repeated. "Sorry. That end sound is confusing. I should've known that."

Ben smiled softly at her. "Don't apologize. You're doing great."

Georgiana nodded and turned back to the book. "A giant rock formation catches the first rays of light. This is... Pride Rock."