Chapter Three:
Girls, Girls, Girls

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The afternoon came quickly, and before she knew it, Laila was at cheer practice. Great.

Audrey was being incredibly bossy, as per usual, and Laila was already sick of it. The daughter of Sleeping Beauty had a personality that screamed, I'm amazing and perfect at everything, and I know it!

Or maybe that was just Laila's interpretation. Either way, Audrey was being bossy and Laila was becoming bored. Her attention was no longer fixed on cheer practice, but rather the tourney practice that was happening at the same time. Don't get her wrong, she was not into boys— it was the game that interested her. How much fun would it be to run around and knock people over?

"Lailia!" Audrey's shrill voice broke through her wandering thoughts. "Are you even paying attention?"

"No," Laila answered honestly. She realised that the rest of the squad had started doing warm ups, and she was just standing there. Oh well.

Audrey let out a short exhale of frustration. "I was just reminding the rest of the squad that the big Tourney match is tomorrow. But you knew that, right?" With her eyebrows raised in aggravation, she swiftly crossed her arms.

"Oh, yeah," Laila said, even though she had totally forgotten about it. She didn't realise it was that close... she figured she had at least another week. "I know."

"Good." She turned back to the rest of the cheer squad. "And because the game is tomorrow, you all better be prepared to cheer at it like we do for all the other ones. Loud, vigorous and fierce. Do you understand?" A murmur of acceptance rose among the squad. "I said, do you understand me?" Then a chorus of "Yes!" and "Sure do!" rang out. Audrey smiled in victory.

A movement behind Audrey suddenly caught Laila's eye. Laila frowned, before she started laughing as she realised what she was seeing. Tourney practice had started, and they'd obviously let Jay and Carlos play, with Jay absolutely obliterating everyone, knocking over anyone who stood in his path. It was totally exhilarating!

Laila couldn't stay quiet any longer. Letting out a cheer, she shouted, "Yeah! Get 'em, Jay!" She knew it was only practice, but still.

Her excitement had distracted the other members of the squad, and in moments, they were all cheering, too. Well, except Audrey, who had taken to putting her hands on her hips and huffing in frustration, her victorious smile turning into an irritated frown. Laila wasn't sure if she was angry at Jay for snatching the attention of her squad, or for knocking over her boyfriend (... or perhaps some other reason?).

A shrill whistle sounded, Laila wincing at how loud it was. Her attention was snapped back to Audrey, who looked infuriated with the world.

"OK," Audrey started, trying to keep her anger under wraps. "We are going to run through the routine for tomorrow's game, and if anyone, and I mean anyone, mucks it up, then we're doing it again. From the start. Until it is perfect."

Oh, shoot her.

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     An hour later, she found herself sweaty and feeling worn out, but thank the lord, Audrey had finally caved and had ended the practice. Cheer practice non-stop for that long made Laila want to put a frog in Audrey's locker.

She began to make her way across the field and back to the bleachers, where she'd usually sit for five minutes or so, just to cool down, before making her way back to her dorm to see her dog, Isak, and to have a shower. But instead she was interrupted before she could make it to the bleachers.

"Hey, Laila!"

The girl in question rolled her eyes in annoyance as she heard Audrey call out to her. Turning around, a fake smile on her face, she sharply raised her eyebrows at the girl. "Yes, Audrey?"

"You better bring your A-game to tomorrow's match," Audrey said, her voice starting to become menacing. "Or I'll tell Fairy Godmother that you're slacking."

Laila narrowed her eyes at the girl, sarcasm lacing her tone, "Oooh, I'm so scared." Adjusting the position of her sports bag strap so it was more comfortable, Laila turned away from Audrey and sauntered off.

The light brown haired girl then collapsed on the bleachers with a pissed off frown. Why was Audrey so annoying? She took a swig of her drink bottle, sighing. All the more reason to put a frog —or five— in her locker.

She let her gaze wander. The sun was out, it's warm rays seeping through the clouds. A cool breeze wafted past her. Laila welcomed it, having been a little hot and sweaty after cheer practice. She watched as the other girls in her cheer team started to walk their separate ways, many winking at the boys on the Tourney field. Laila screwed up her nose. Ew.

With a mere glance to her left she saw Doug, oddly staring intently at the row of metal bleachers in front of him. She frowned. What the hell was he doing? Then, when she heard voices underneath the bleachers, she realised that Doug was straining his ears to listen in.

"Is everybody at home as pretty as you?"

It took Laila a moment, but she soon recognised that voice. Chad Charming.

"I like to think I'm the fairest of them all." Evie. "How many rooms in your castle?"

She overheard Chad laugh lightly. "Oh, too many to count."

Laila raised her eyebrows. Brag, much?

"You really nailed that chemistry problem today. You're gonna have all the nerds in love with you." And although she tried to stop it, she couldn't help but feel a little put off at Chad's words.

Laila couldn't listen to the conversation anymore. She physically couldn't, but she wasn't sure exactly why...? It was wrong to listen in on their conversation, she told herself, and tried to focus on something else... anything else... Tourney practice! Oh wait, that was just Jay and Ben, the rest had left... uh, okay... the sun! Damn, it's bright out here!

But there was one thing that Laila couldn't not overhear.

"Thanks, babe."

Babe. She slowly nodded, albeit sourly, as though she had just realised something. Oh, so are they a thing now? Laila told herself not to feel disgruntled, it's not like she was in love with Evie or anything. Yeah, she was cute, and yeah, Laila found her attractive... but if she and Chad were a thing, then she had no chance. And she wasn't gonna mope about it.

     (Besides, Laila did not have a crush on Evie. She was just... looking out for her.)

About to leave, she stood, before her eyes widened as she realised that Doug had slipped through the bleachers and had started talking to Evie.

She had two options: A, leave now and pretend she had never heard any of the conversation, or B, follow Doug and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

Laila went with option B.

"Are you stalking me?" Laila arrived into the conversation just as Evie rounded on Doug with a slightly pissed off frown.

"Technically..." Doug contemplated it, "yes."

Laila could've scoffed. "Definitely yes."

Doug shot Laila a half-hearted look of distaste. He then turned back to Evie. "I, too, have a fascination with fairy godmother's wand. Which is another reason I look forward to the coronation. Perhaps we could sit next to each other and discuss its attributes."

"Are you saying they use it in the coronation?"

"Yes. And asking you out."

All that Laila could think of when Evie simply chuckled coyly and walked away was... yikes.

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     Discussing boys was not Laila's strong suit. Neither was listening to Jane go on and on and on about her mom. Combine the two? Good lord...

"Mom said, 'If a boy can't see the beauty within, then he's not worth it.' Can you believe it? What world does she live in?" Dramatically flopping onto the nearby bed, Jane sighed. Laila looked at her funny.

Laila, Jane, Mal and Evie were in Mal and Evie's room. Evie, busy working away on her sowing, and Mal laying on her bed, sketching something that Laila couldn't see. Laila, on the other hand, was seated by the window, next to the full-length mirror.

Mal snickered in reply to Jane. "Auradon."

"Mal, do you like?" Laila glanced over at Evie as she spoke, despite the question not being directed her way. Evie held up a dark blue dress that she was in the middle of sewing.

Mal glanced up at her best friend. "Yeah. It's cute. It brings out your eyes."

"I know," Evie said, grinning to herself, and Laila smiled. It really did bring out her eyes.

Jane, ever the optimist, continued to complain. "I'll never get a boyfriend."

"You know you don't need a boyfriend, right?" Laila raised her eyebrow at Jane, who merely furrowed her eyebrows back in response.

The daughter of Maleficent added, "Boyfriends are overrated." Laila couldn't agree more.

Evie narrowed her eyes playfully at Mal. "And how would you know, Mal? You've never had one."

"It's 'cause I don't need one, E." Mal stopped sketching and stared pointedly at the blue-haired girl. "They're a waste of time."

"I agree with Mal," Laila said. "Boys suck. Girls, on the other hand..." She playfully winked at Evie, who either didn't notice or pretended not to, although her cheeks reddened ever so slightly... or maybe that was just the lighting? (OK, really, even if Evie and Chad were a thing, could you expect Laila not to flirt with Evie? She decided it was just part of her personality now... And anyway, there was a slight possibility that Evie and Chad weren't a thing, so. Not that Laila had a crush on Evie... she didn't. Nope. Nuh-uh. Not at all.)

All of a sudden, Evie's eyes widened in horror. "I forgot to do Chad's homework! Oh, no!"

OK, maybe they are a thing...

(Not that Laila had a crush on Evie!)

"And that is exactly what I mean."

Before anyone else could reply, a girl appeared at the open door, completely unannounced.

"Hey, guys! I'm Lonnie." Lonnie bounced into the room with a smile, one that Laila happily returned to her roommate, one of the few people she actually liked in the school. Evie and Mal stared at her blankly, before continuing with what they were doing before. "My mom's Mulan? No? Anyways, I love what you've done with Jane's hair. And I know you hate us, and, well, you're evil. But do you think you could do mine?"

Mal stared at Lonnie, eyes scrutinizing. "Why would I do that for you?"

Lonnie shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll pay you 50 dollars."

"Good answer. I need to buy more material," Evie said, snatching up the money that Lonnie was holding. Mal let out a breath, obviously not too happy about the situaton. "Let's see, I'm thinking, we lose the bangs, maybe some layers and some highlights."

Laila had no clue what Evie was talking about, but god, she could listen to the sound of her voice for hours.

"Yeah, yeah." Lonnie dismissed Evie's suggestions with the flick of her wrist. "I want it cool. Like Mal's."

Mal glanced up from her drawing, surprised. Now she was interested.

"Really?" Evie grimaced, scrutinising. "The split ends, too?"

Mal sent her a look of irritation. Evie simply shook the bag of money, coins rattling loudly, and Mal groaned, slamming her pencil down and sliding off the bed. Someone's kinda pissed, Laila thought.

The purple-haired girl sighed, grabbing her spell book and flicking to the right page. Sending a small smile to Lonnie, she started reading. "Okay... Beware, forswear, replace the old with cool hair."

Doing some random hand gestures that had no meaning to Laila, Lonnie was suddenly... different. Her hair was no longer a dark bob, but now it was longer, much longer, and lighter too. It was curly, too, in a way that looked super cool. Laila could never pull off curls, she thought, her hair only ever seemed to stay straight, or in waves... the curls literally just dropped almost the moment they appeared.

"I know. I know," Evie said, staring out sympathetic, but it turned into enthusiasm. "It looks like a mop on your head. You know what? Let's cut it off, layer it..."

Lonnie spun around hurriedly. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" She turned back to the mirror, admiring her hair. "I... love it."

"You do?" Evie stated, as if she couldn't believe anyone would love that. Laila thought it looked nice.

"It's just..." And Lonnie ripped her skirt. Jane's eyes flew open wide with absolute horror, whereas Mal's expression bore one a look of impressiveness. Laila let out a short laugh, surprised. "Now I'm cool."

Mal nodded, almost proud. "Like ice."

Laila looked at the purple-haired girl warily. "Don't even think about touching my hair, Mal."

Mal almost smiled, mouth twitching slightly. Almost. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Most likely feeling a little left out, Jane walked over to the mirror to stand next to Lonnie. Laila watched curiously from her spot at the window as Jane ripped her dress.

She looked at herself in the mirror with complete and utter horror, eyes filled with dread. "What did I just do? Mom's gonna kill me!"

Laila slapped her hand over her mouth, trying to conceal her giggle, her eyes alight with merriment. Evie dared to glance over at the girl, biting her lip as a small smile fought to make way on her face.

The brunette felt eyes on her, but when she turned to face Evie, the girl had already looked away.

word count: 2300
01.03.2020