Free Descendants Junior Novel by Disney Book Group Page B

yanked out her mirror. “Mirror, mirror, in my hand, who’s the biggest jerk in the land?” She held the mirror up to Chad.
    “What? Come on!” said Chad, slapping the mirror away.
    Jay grabbed Chad. “Hey! Watch it!” said Jay. They started to tussle. Evie leaped in and squirted Chad with the atomizer. He fell to the ground immediately. The garden broke into
pandemonium. Mal and her three friends ran out of the garden.
    “Guys!” Ben called after them. He looked around at the chaos. His plan was falling to pieces. Chad finally came to.
    “I feared something like this would happen,” said Beast.
    “This isn’t their fault!” said Ben.
    “No, Son,” said Beast solemnly, “it’s yours.” He and Belle walked away from their son.
    Ben straightened to bear the full weight of the disaster.
    Ben took off after Mal and her friends. When lunch rolled around, he finally found them outside at a picnic table. None of them spoke. A ring of empty tables surrounded them,
and beyond that sat the others in their cliques, staring them down.
    “Hey, guys! How is everyone?” asked Ben.
    They didn’t respond.
    “Hey, listen, forget about today,” he said. “It was nothing. Forget about it. Let it go.” He rested his hands on Mal’s shoulders.
    Mal kept staring straight ahead, not acknowledging him.
    “Tomorrow after the coronation, I promise everything will be okay,” said Ben.
    Mal and her three friends looked glum.
    “I have to go,” Ben said. “I’ll see you guys later.” He walked away.
    Doug strolled up to the table. “Hey, listen, Evie, I want to talk—”
    “Doug!” shouted Chad from another table.
    “It’s my fault. I’m so sorry—” Evie whispered to Doug.
    “Doug!” Chad barked again.
    “Doug…” Evie said.
    “I’m sorry, I can’t,” said Doug. He joined Chad at his table.
    Evie pushed her food tray away huffily.
    Audrey strolled past with Jane. Audrey talked loudly enough for Mal and her friends to hear. “How long does she think that’s going to last? She’s just the bad-girl
infatuation.” Audrey shot them a cruel smile.
    “Yeah,” said Jane. “I mean, he’s never going to make a villain a queen.”
    Most of the girls laughed, and Audrey and Jane walked off.
    Mal glowered and flipped through her spell book, waving her finger.
“Beware, forswear, undo Jane’s hair.”
    Jane screamed as her short bob replaced the long wavy brown locks. Jane’s friends backed away, pointing and laughing at her hairdo. Jane looked mortified.
    Lonnie stroked her own hair, making sure it was still long and glamorous.
    “There’s a lot more where that came from,” Mal told the girls.
    “Excuse me, who do you think you are?” asked Audrey, hand on her hip.
    “Do I look like I’m kidding?” Mal asked.
    When the girls kept on staring at her, she opened her spell book again.
    The girls and their friends took off.
    Mal was angry. She spun around to her friends. “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” she said, slamming her book shut. “Let’s grab that wand and blow this
Popsicle stand.”
    Evie, Jay, and Carlos looked at Mal and nodded in quiet understanding. They got up from the picnic table and walked fiercely back toward the school in their usual Isle of the Lost gang
formation. Their focus was back. It was nearly coronation time—their big moment to steal the wand. The four were rotten to the core after all.

O PERATION WAND-JACKING IS OFFICIALLY A GO. THEY WANT EVIL? WE’LL SHOW THESE SUCKERS EVIL.
    AURADON PREP KIDS WILL GET WHAT’S COMING TO THEM. MALEFICENT’S DAUGHTER IS BACK.
    Ben’s coronation at the cathedral was a grand event like no other.
    The cloudless blue sky smiled down upon limos snaking their way up to the entrance of the cathedral. The cathedral steps were lined with a royal-blue carpet, brimming with honored guests. Blue
and gold flags rustled in the fair breeze. Snow White, the anchorwoman, stood on a platform facing a TV cameraman.
    “At last!”