Chapter Five:
Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust

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     Laila Bjorgman had woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

     She wasn't too sure why, but it was probably (definitely) because she had stayed up late attempting (key word: attempting) to study for her chemistry test, resulting in a restless sleep with the Periodic table haunting her dreams. And yet, Laila felt as though she knew nothing. Nada. Zilch. Bupkis.

     It was a horrible feeling.

     Laila had felt it as she went to bed last night, and again when she ate breakfast, and then again when she had opened up the test and read the first question. (In all seriousness, who the hell put Chemistry first period? Horrific).

     She blinked tiredly. Deciding that her eyes needed a break from the eye-sore that was her chemistry test, Laila glanced up. To her left was Doug, confidently scribbling down the answers, and to her right was Evie, frantically searching through her bag for something. Laila frowned, deciding that watching Evie do whatever she was doing was going to be way more exciting than doing her test.

     "Looking for something?"

     Laila looked over at the sound of Mr. Deley's voice. He was staring at Evie displeasedly, holding something in his hand. It was a mirror about the size of his palm, with a fancy gold border on the outside. Wait... was that what Evie was looking for? Laila supposed that would make sense.

     "Thank you, Chad. It's gratifying to see someone still respects the honor code."

     Chad had an all-knowing, dickish smile plastered on his face. Laila scowled. Asshole. But a brief thought crossed her mind. So... Evie and Chad aren't a thing? Hm. Interesting.

     Anyway. Laila wasn't exactly sure what was going on... Hm. She thought about it. OK, so, Evie was looking for something, then Mr. Deley was like Hey look at me I've got a mirror in my hand and I'm annoyed! And then Evie was like Oh shit and Chad was smug and then Laila guessed that the mirror was Evie's... but why would Evie need a mirror for a test? And then it clicked. Magic mirror. Duh.

     She understood now.

     Evie raced to defend herself. "Mr. Deley, I—"

     Mr. Deley shook his head, effectively shushing Evie. He said, "It will be my recommendation that you are expelled."

     Laila sat up straight, a pissed off frown immediately overcoming her features. "The hell, Mr. Deley?" She said. "That's so unfair."

     Laila knew full well that if it had been Doug, hell even Chad, Mr. Deley wouldn't have gone to that extreme. He probably would've just given them a detention, and then the matter would've been forgotten. So this, what he was threatening to do to Evie, likely just because she was from the Isle... it infuriated her to no end.

     "Yeah, what Laila said. Obviously she wasn't cheating since she didn't have that... whatever it is..." Doug rose in support of Evie, too. Laila was grateful for his help.

     Evie bit her lip. "It's called a magic mir—"

     Doug turned to her. "You're not helping. Stop."

     Laila jumped in quickly, "Maybe... maybe she needed another pencil."

     Evie started to shake her head. "Actually, I was—"

     This time, it was Laila who turned to the blue haired girl. "Really, don't help." She faced the teacher. "Please." Please give her another chance.

     Evie smiled at Mr. Deley with hope. "Please."

     Mr. Deley sighed. "Well, if you can pass this test, I'll return your property and let the matter drop."

     Evie sighed in relief, Laila and Doug doing the same. Laila shot an encouraging smile over to Evie, who gratefully smiled back.

     The brunette turned away and went back to her test. She was almost certain she couldn't answer any more questions, but she was going to try and at least write some random things down. It would probably make no sense, but what was the harm in trying?

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Surprisingly, Mr. Deley marked the tests fairly quickly. By noon of the same day, he had sent out a notice that the tests could be picked up from outside of his office. Laila was quick, snagging hers before anyone else had the chance to see it. And she was glad she did.

     Not too long after, at lunch, Laila sat alone on a bench in the sun. She'd had to put her phone on do not disturb because her younger sister, Ingrid, was continuously spamming her with photos of her cat dressed up as Santa, despite the fact that Christmas was months away.

     As she poked at her jacket potato, there was the looming thought of the chemistry test in her backpack with a massive D- on it, along with the note, Stay back after class tomorrow. Yikes.

     Laila sighed. She contemplated going back to her dorm room to see her dog, Isak. It would likely make her feel better. Plus she really needed to take him on a walk. There was no way she'd be allowed to walk him on school grounds (Hell, Fairy Godmother didn't even know he lived in her room), but she could take him for a walk into town. Yeah, that would be nice, she thought.

     Before she knew what was happening, a white piece of paper with a B+ was in front of her face. Laila blinked. Then she realised it was a test, a Chemistry test... no, Evie's Chemistry test!

     Laila spun around with a joyful smile. "Yes, Evie! I knew you could do it."

     Evie smiled back, sliding onto the bench opposite Laila. The blue haired girl had just walked over from where she had momentarily sat with Doug, sharing the news with him. Then she had seen Laila, and just knew she had to tell her.

     "Thank you... for defending me," Evie said.

     "Mr. Deley's an ass. And it's no problem." Laila replied, continuing to smile.

     They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments. Then Evie turned to her, her eyes glistening with hesitant curiosity. "How'd you go in the test?"

     Laila made a face. "Ahh... not so great."

     Evie frowned slightly. "Oh. That sucks."

     She nodded. "Yeah."

     "Well..." Evie started shyly. "I mean... I could tutor you, if you want? I mean, I'm not that great at chem, but—"

     Laila cut her off, speaking without thinking. "You're amazing."

     Evie's cheeks held a light shade of pink. "So is that a yes?"

     Laila smiled at her. "That's totally a yes. I—"

     "There you are! I have been looking for you literally everywhere!"

     Laila turned away from Evie to see that Mal had started to march across the grass over to the duo. There was a stressed out expression plastered on her face and her strides were quick. Her hands were propped up on her hips. Laila raised her eyebrow, somewhat bewildered.

     "What's wrong?" Evie asked her, concerned.

     Mal dramatically slapped her hands on the wooden table. "Ben just asked me out on..." she paused, sighing loudly, "... a date."

     Evie nodded, a small smile making way onto her face. "We can handle this." She looked at Laila. "See ya, Laila."

     Laila smiled at the two, waving them goodbye.

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After Laila had interacted with Evie and Mal, she had begun to feel better than before. The very thought of her dreaded chemistry test had previously made her shudder, but now it was in the back of her mind, long forgotten.

     Feeling a lot happier, she had decided to take Isak for a walk into town after school. It didn't take long to walk there, only about fifteen minutes, but Laila was already beginning to get sweaty. She blamed the sweltering heat radiating down from the sun, but in reality, the real reason was a lot more plausible: she was just unfit.

     But it's fine, Laila had decided with a shrug, because when she goes back to Arendelle for the upcoming winter, she'd try to become fitter then. Try was the key word, since Laila knew for certain that probably wouldn't happen, especially since it would be Christmas. But, oh well.

     After dropping Isak off in her dorm and giving him a belly rub, Laila was headed to Mal and Evie's dorm. She wanted to see Mal before her date with Ben.

     With a small knock on their door, Laila entered the room. Mal and Evie looked up, and Laila smiled at them. The duo were standing in front of the full length mirror, and when Mal turned around, Laila said, "You look great, Mal."

     Mal smiled at her.

     A mere five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Laila, Evie and Mal all exchanged excited looks. Mal opened the door.

     "For the first time, I understand the difference between pretty and beautiful," Ben said in a trance. Laila let out an awww, and Mal chuckled. Ben added, "I hope you like bikes." And then they were off!

     Not too long after, with Mal on her date, Laila went back to her room. Lonnie was there, too, but after a little while she left and Laila was alone with Isak. But then there was a soft knock at her door.

     Laila stood up, waking a sleeping Isak, who immediately jumped up and started wagging his tail. Laila made a shh-ing noise, just in case it was a teacher behind the door. Isak yawned. Laila rolled her eyes, and proceeded to open the door.

     "Evie?"

     "Hey, Laila."

     Evie was at her door. Laila let her in.

     "What's up?"

     Evie shrugged. "Not a lot, just wanted to see what you were up to—OMG, is that a dog?"

     Laila's eyes widened. She'd totally forgotten about Isak being there. "Shit. Yeah. Look, I'm not supposed to have him at school, since Dude is the only dog allowed, or something, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Fairy Godmother...?" A hopeful gleam in her eyes.

     Evie crouched down to say hi to Isak, scratching him behind his ears. "Sure. But only if I get to come over and say hello to this cutie." She glanced up at Laila, sending her a smile. Glancing back down at Isak, she cooed, "Awww, who's the cutest doggy ever? You are! Yes, you are!"

     A smile made its way onto Laila's face.

     Laila had noticed that ever since she'd met Evie and the VKs she'd been smiling a lot more frequently. How interesting. Maybe she was making friends after all.

word count: 1747
11.06.2020