▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 ━︎━︎ 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐲 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 her chemistry class, her lips pursed as she concentrated on the test. She wasn't sure if she had studied enough for it and now she was regretting her choices. She let a soft sigh fall from her nose, pausing when she heard rummaging from the other side of Doug. Slowly she leaned forwards in slight irritation, staring at Evie with a raised brow as she watched the blue haired girl silently panic as she looked through her bag.

Mr. Deley paused his lesson, his eyes darting to Evie. "Looking for something?" He held up his hand and in it was Evie's magic mirror. Ilaria's eyes snapped to Chad who had a smug smirk on his face. "Thank you, Chad. It's gratifying to see someone still respects the honor code." Evie's eyes narrowed as she looked at Chad, her jaw clenching in slight anger. "It will be my recommendation that you are expelled."

Ilaria scoffed. "What? That's not fair. You can't do that. She made one mistake."

"Do I need to remind you Miss Marmoreal that you have made more mistakes here than anyone in the school."

Ilaria cocked her head. "And yet, I'm still here. Clearly she wasn't cheating since she didn't have the mirror. Perhaps she was looking for another pencil."

"Actually, I was―︎"

"Don't help." Ilaria quickly cut her off. She looked back at Mr. Deley. "Come on, Mr. Deley. Give her another chance."

Mr. Deley stared at Ilaria for a moment before looking back at Evie. "Well, if you can pass this test, I'll return your property and let the matter drop."

Evie nodded her head before turning to look at Ilaria. She mouthed 'thank you' and Ilaria only nodded in response before returning to her own test. Once she finished, she left the classroom and Doug wasn't too far behind her. She sighed. "Doug, I don't know if I passed this one."

Doug frowned. "Ilaria, you studied like hell for that test. We studied together. You've got this." Ilaria frowned. "Look, let's meet up at lunch, he'll have the tests graded by then and whatever you missed we can go over."

Ilaria looked at him and a gentle smile spread across her lips. "Really?"

Doug nodded. "Of course."

Ilaria nudged him in the side. "You're the best."

"I have another class so I'll see you at lunch." Ilaria nodded and watched him walk away before making her way to her room.

She sat on her bed, looking over all of her notes for chemistry and trying to remember if she had done everything correctly. Her eyes landed on one particular section and she let out a string of curses. She had missed one step. "Damnit. Every time." Slowly but surely time passed and when it was lunch time she got herself a tray of food before meeting Doug outside at one of the picnic tables. She brought her notebook with her as well as her newly graded test, placing both of them in front of Doug.

Doug reached forwards and grabbed her paper, flipping through it before spotting where her mistakes were. "Hey, a B is still good." Doug assured her. "You did everything else right but this one section and all you did was miss a step."

"I know." Ilaria sighed. "I went over my notes after class and realized my mistake. I just don't know why I keep forgetting to do that step. This is the only class that I really try in and that's because of you. If I can't do well in this one class, then what's the point of me even trying anymore?"

Doug frowned. "Hey, you did do well. You did really well. Don't be so harsh on yourself. It can be a hard subject."

Ilaria gave him a blank look. "Says the person who has passed every test he has ever took in his entire life."

Doug chuckled before his eyes went to something behind her. Ilaria opened her mouth to say something only to stop when she felt arms wrap around her shoulders, a test paper now in front of her face that had a bright red B+ over it. She recognized who it was immediately, looking up to see Evie smiling face. "For the first time it's like I'm more than just a pretty face."

Ilaria softly chuckled. "You've always been more than just a pretty face."

Evie took a seat beside her, their eyes meeting. "You were pretty great in there."

Ilaria felt her face begin to heat. "Well, I wasn't the only one."

Evie gave a soft chuckle before looking at her test paper. "I bet I can get an A on the next test without the mirror."

"Well, if you want, maybe we could get together and study for it so we can both get an A."

Evie smiled. "Yeah, let's get together."

"There you are!" They both turned their heads to see Mal approaching them. "I have been looking for you literally everywhere!"

Evie frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Yeah, Mal, you look like you're panicking." Ilaria commented.

"Ben just asked me out on . . ." a stressed sigh fell from her lips "a date."

Ilaria chuckled in amusement while Evie smiled. "We can handle this." Evie turned to Ilaria. "Bye."

"Have fun." Ilaria hummed, watching as Evie stood up and instantly began to coach Mal as they walked away.

Doug smiled. "It seems she's liking you more and more."

"I know." Ilaria nodded.

His smile fell. "Why don't you seem happy about this?"

Ilaria sighed. "I am happy about it, but I just. . . I don't know, I want her to like me because I do like her Doug, I really do. I'm just scared. I've never been in a relationship before."

Doug reached forwards and gently grasped her hand. "Hey, you've got this." He nudged her under the table with his foot. "When Mal and Ben leave for their date, go hang out with her."

"I just saw her, don't you think that's a little overbearing?"

"No." Doug shook his head. "Go."

"But what about―︎"

"You know what you did wrong, there's nothing else to talk about. Go!" A laugh escaped his lips as he lightly kicked her.

"Ow, that was my shin you idiot!" Ilaria yelled but a laugh escaped her lips. She stood up. "Fine. I'm going."

"Have fun!" Doug called and Ilaria just rolled her eyes at him but a small smile decorated his lips.

Ilaria went in search of Evie, but when she couldn't find her she gave up. She went to her room, sitting down on her bed and huffing to herself as she finally stood and began her homework for multiple classes that have been sitting there for weeks. She let music play softly in the background as she began doing the homework. It was quite boring and she really didn't want to do it, but she knew she needed to. A knock came on her door and a groan fell from her lips. She stood up, walking over to her door and pulling it open, ready to yell at whoever had interrupted her only to stop when she saw Evie.

"Evie," Ilaria breathed. "What are you doing here?"

Evie shrugged. "Well, since Mal just left for her date, I was thinking I would take you up on that offer." Ilaria stepped aside, allowing Evie to enter the room. Evie glanced around the room, humming to yourself. "Your room is very. . . red."

"Well, it is my favorite color." Ilaria commented.

Evie's eyes darted to the scattered papers on her desk. "Were you busy? Did I interrupt you?"

Ilaria shrugged. "Just catching up on some homework, nothing too serious." She took a seat on her bed, crossing her legs as she watched Evie examine the room. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Evie turned to look at her. "I was hoping you would work on the chemistry with me."

Ilaria nodded before getting up and grabbing her notebook and motioning for Evie to sit with her. Evie sat down beside her as Ilaria opened her notebook. She began to explain certain topics Evie was struggling with but the entire time Evie was just watching her as she talked. She enjoyed listening to her talk, her voice was sooth as silk and it brought Evie comfort. Ilaria could be mean, and she could be the villain she was born to be, but really she was a nice person and Evie was starting to see past the persona she always put on. It dawned on her in that moment that in a way Ilaria was just like her. She wanted someone to truly see who she was, she wanted someone to see through the mask that she always put on. Just as Ben and even Doug had. Evie was beginning to see through the cracks.

"Can we take a break?" Evie asked.

Ilaria gave a confused smile. "We just started."

"I know, but. . ." She sighed. "I didn't come here for chemistry. I just wanted to hang out with you. I guess I wanted to get to know you. Because I realize. . . I know nothing about you."

Ilaria stood, closing her notebook and placing it on her desk. She shrugged. "There's not much to know, I'm not that interesting of person."

"That's not true, you're a really interesting person. How does one that's from the Isle come to be best friends with the soon-to-be king?"

Ilaria managed a small smile. "I don't really know how it happened." She took a seat beside Evie. "Honestly, I like to believe that the real reason Ben decided his first proclamation was because of me. Because to him, I'm proof that the kids from the Isle aren't their parents." She pressed her palms flat against the bed. "I was always the mean kid, the girl from the Isle. Everyone knew who my mother was as soon as I introduce Mirana as my aunt. I have done things that have proved that to them. I've started fights, I defied authority, I did the opposite of what princesses were supposed to do because I didn't know any better. Mirana tried her best to teach me the proper ways, but she also always told me to stay true to who I was and to never let anyone change me because I wasn't who they wanted me to be."

Ilaria shook her head, a chuckle leaving her lips. "Ben saw through all of it. He was so determined to be my friend. I didn't have any at the time, Dude was the only thing that kept me company. But then he knocked on my door and he held out a tray of brownies and said 'You ate my cookie, which means we're officially friends now'. I was so mad. Angry even. I remember yelling at him and slamming the door in his face, but he showed up the next day to walk me to class." She looked down at her hands, a frown falling on her lips. "No matter how cruel I was to him, he kept coming back. It took me a long time to realize he actually cared about me. That he actually wanted to be my friend and it wasn't some cruel joke."

She turned her head to meet Evie's eyes. "Ben saved me from the person I would have become if he hadn't stepped in. I owe him everything. I would do anything for him. That's why I was so mad when I found out about the cookie and couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't lose him. I can't. He's the only person I have besides Doug and my aunt."

Evie reached forwards and grabbed Ilaria's hand. "And me. You have me now too. You're not a bad person Ilaria."

Ilaria squeezed her hand. "You aren't either, Evie."

Evie met her eyes and she felt her heart start racing in her chest. She'd read stories about people falling in love, but she'd never experienced it before. She was starting to believe this is what it felt like. Her entire body was screaming at her to pull Ilaria closer. She wanted to know what it felt like to kiss her, but she forced herself to stop those thoughts. She blinked, forcing herself to focus on the mission at hand. "Hey, are you going with anyone to the coronation?"

"I was going to go with Doug." Ilaria said. "We were going to be each others pity dates."

"Oh." Evie frowned. "Well, what if you didn't need a pity date?"

Ilaria stared at her, a small smile beginning to pull on her lips. "Evie, are you asking me to coronation?"

Evie nodded. "If the offer still stands. Of course, if you'd rather go with Doug―︎"

"No." Ilaria quickly cut her off. "No, I'd love to be your date."

Evie smiled. "Good. I can't wait."

Ilaria's smile brightened. "Me neither."