Janessa's view

It's been nearly a month since Mom and Dad found out about Serene going to the Isle. They've kept true to their word, not allowing Serene anywhere but school and home unless they're with her. My little sister doesn't even look any of us in the eye anymore, and doesn't engage at school either. Her grades are slipping, and she's been so mean to our group that even I told them to just give her space until she calms down. Lucy and Brietta stubbornly keep trying to talk to her, but she ices them out.

Serene is miserable, and furious. And I can't say I blame her. I don't think she was being very smart, travelling to the Isle with a kid who sends me daily glares and has been put in detention multiple times for fights and the like, but I think Mom overreacted. From what I heard about Mom's childhood, I think she should know better than to try to suppress Serene. After all, when our grandma tried that, Mom nearly helped overthrow Auradon!

I have to admit, though. That night still gives me nightmares. Mom looked so terrified, it makes me nervous just remembering it. I've never once seen her control drop for even a second. But for that moment, just being near her made my skin crawl. She was every bit the uncontrolled monster that people have described her as, in the press and news and all that.

Whatever was in that letter, I never want to see it. I don't want to know what was written. If it scared my mother badly enough to lose control like that, it must have been awful.

I'm not stupid. I can connect the dots. If Aunt Endora, the most powerful fairy alive, couldn't find my sister, she probably told my parents there was a possibility that Serene was dead. Even thinking it makes me want to throw up, but if my parents actually thought that they had lost one of their kids, I understand the freak-out. But once they knew Serene was fine, they should've talked to her about it instead of flying off of the handle. They should've gotten her side of the story instead of assuming the worst about Blake.

I guess being a parent is something I'll have to understand someday, because right now it doesn't make a whole bunch of sense.

The only good news is, Serene's grounding only lasted until Isla's coronation. And that's tomorrow.

So hopefully all of this will be over soon.

Serene's view

Today is the day of Coronation.

I've been preparing for this day ever since my mother said she couldn't trust me.

No. I've been preparing for this day my whole life.

Blake and I have been talking to each other in History class every chance we get. Fairy Godmother moved us on opposite sides of the room, but she doesn't know that I don't need to be close to Blake to talk to him. He's been passing messages between Maleficent, Pitch, and I, quite successfully, I might add. I've gotten enough strength that I can sometimes talk to the three of them on the Isle for about a minute before it slips away.

I know exactly what I'm doing. For once, I don't have doubts about the choices I've made. I'm glad Aunt Endora caught onto me. I'm glad my family showed their true colors before I was lied to any longer.

My parents aren't good. My sister isn't good. Nobody is. Not everybody deserves what they've been given, not everybody deserves to be free while others suffer.

Maleficent finally revealed my final test.

And Auradon will never see it coming. 

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But some readers might... mwahahahaaaaa...

You DONT have to read what's below, it's just me rambling. :)

Bear with me: I just finished watching "Barbie: Princess Adventure". Anyone who reads my stuff knows I love Barbie, have since I was little. I GREW UP with Barbie, she was my biggest role model since my family watched her movies so often. Thing is, the newer movies STINK. Spy Squad was the STUPIDEST thing I've ever seen, closely followed by Video Game Hero. 

BUT.

Princess Adventure was different. It was... well, not GREAT, but it was GOOD. It was a step in the right direction. Back towards the classics. It felt better than the other ones. It was a decent film, with fun songs, ("This Is My Moment"---LOVE IT) and likable characters. The plot was a little iffy towards the end---why was the bad guy trying to take the throne? We literally know nothing about him---but other than that, I liked it! Amelia was sweet, Barbie was fun, and I REALLY wanted Ken to just say he liked Barbie. 

Final thing, I promise: This movie DIDN'T feel like a cheap knockoff of "Princess and the Pauper". They've done the switching-places bit a lot now, (The original, "Princess and the Popstar", "Rock 'n Royals", and now "Princess Adventure") but the switching-places thing actually felt okay for once. They didn't pull it off successfully, which was what made it better, because it was realistic (c'mon, people, nobody would pull that off successfully with Julian's tutoring), but it showed more into Amelia's character about wanting to be herself, and Barbie wanting to stay true to who she was even when the world was watching. 

It wasn't perfect... but I'm intrigued, Mattel. You've gotten me back on your side, at least for the moment.