As Mom used to say, fake it till you make it.

(Well, actually she used to say, “Nurse it till you curse it,” but same thing.)

Between classes, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos strolled outside the school.

Mal wore a frilly pale green dress, with her hair in long blond tendrils, and she clutched a textbook from Fairies 101. She kept her head down and walked beside Evie, who was the epitome of fashion in her blue dress and blue box purse, both of her own making. Jay and Carlos led Dude, Carlos’s scruffy but adorable dog, on a leash. The friends climbed up steps onto a breezy open outdoor patio.

Fellow students, holding textbooks, were milling about, perching in the niches of the school’s stone wall, or sitting on a stone railing. They smiled at Mal and her friends. The VKs had come a long way since they had arrived in Auradon. They used to be looked down on for being the kids of terrible villains, but now the four were treated with respect. It helped that Mal was gearing up to be the lady of the court.

Jay nodded and pointed at a group of girls, who swooned.

“Why do you torture them?” Carlos asked. “Just pick someone to take to Cotillion already.”

“I’m going solo. That way, I can dance with all of them.” Jay squeezed Carlos’s shoulder and grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

“Ah, you’re the expert,” said Carlos. “Let’s say that you were going to ask someone….What’s the best way to go?”

“Listen.” Jay rested his hand on Carlos’s shoulder. “All you got to do…is look like me.” Jay howled with laughter.

“Oh, ha-ha.” Carlos rolled his eyes.

Evie chuckled, but Mal seemed lost in thought.

“Mal!” said Jane.

Mal snapped to attention.

Jane had appeared before Mal and her friends, clutching a tablet. Lonnie, daughter of Mulan, stood by her side, looking as chipper as ever. Lonnie’s long black hair stood out against her bright pink dress.

But Mal was in no mood to answer more Cotillion questions from Jane, who was helping plan the event.

Carlos unwittingly distracted Jane. “Hey, Jane,” he said nervously.

“Hey,” said Jane, smiling at him.

“Uh, I was wondering…if you…uh…liked the carrot cake last night,” he said.

“I had the pumpkin pie,” she said sweetly, a bit confused.

“Oh. Cool.” Carlos stared at her, unsure of what to say next to impress her.

Jay walked up behind him and gripped his shoulders. “Smooth,” he said in a low voice. Then he swiftly dragged Carlos and Dude away to their next class.

Mal braced herself for the barrage of questions. Lucky for her, Evie chimed in.

“I have an opening for a fitting at three! Who wants it?” Evie asked the girls.

“Me!” Lonnie leaped in front of Jane, then winced. “Sorry,” she added.

“Okay, so I’ll see you later,” Evie told Jane as she pulled Lonnie to the side to chat.

Mal was alone with Jane. She felt like a deer in headlights.

And Jane wasn’t slowing down. “Mal! I hate to keep bugging you, but the Cotillion decorating committee needs more answers. So as much as I hate to…uh…to…uh—”

“Bug me,” said Mal.

“Right.” Jane nodded.

“Yeah. Uh, no. Totally. I—I just have to get to class.” Mal jerked her thumb.

“You know what? Just nod if you like it.” Jane held up her tablet.

“Okay,” said Mal.

Jane used her stylus to sweep through an array of photos on the screen, one after another in a dizzying flurry. “Chair swags. Entry banner. Twinkle lights. Uh, let’s see. Napkin design. Table bunting…” Jane scrolled through even more photos.

Mal bobbed her head at each image.

“And you still haven’t picked the party favors yet,” Jane added.

“Jane, whatever you want to go with, I totally trust you—”

“I mean, we could do chains, key charms, pen toppers,” interrupted Jane, continuing to tap through images. “I kind of love the pen toppers,” she blurted out.

This was making Mal so anxious she could barely breathe.

“I mean, we could do all three if you want to…” continued Jane.

“You know—” Mal’s eyes suddenly flashed bright green. Then she took a breath, and her eyes returned to their normal shade of green. She smiled and rested a hand gently on Jane’s arm. “Pen toppers,” she said.

“Uh-huh?” asked Jane.

“Yeah,” said Mal. “Yeah.”

“Okay! You won’t regret it!” Jane beamed.

Evie and Lonnie walked back over to Jane and Mal.

“I can hardly wait to see what your wedding will look like!” Lonnie exclaimed.

“Oh yeah, me too,” said Mal with a vacant smile. She froze then, realizing what Lonnie had said. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah!” said Jane. “The Royal Cotillion is like getting engaged to be engaged to be engaged!”

“I knew it!” Evie clasped her hands together, delighted.

“Everyone knows it,” said Lonnie.

Mal’s eyes bugged out. “I didn’t know it!” she said. “How come nobody told me that? Is my entire life just planned out in front of me and no one was—”

Ben appeared at Mal’s side in his royal-blue suit. “Hi, Mal!”

“Hiiii, Ben,” Evie, Jane, and Lonnie said in singsong unison.

Mal glared at them. The whole engagement conversation had put her in an even worse mood.

Ben smiled, then moved to give Mal a kiss hello.

Jane grabbed him. “Oh, a quick moment!” She pulled Ben to the side.

Mal watched from a distance, then inched away.

“All right, the surprise is almost finished for Mal’s big night,” Jane told him once they were out of earshot. She held her tablet in front of him and showed him images of a stained glass window that had a young couple on it.

“Make sure her eyes are green,” Ben told Jane.

Behind Jane, Mal caught Ben’s attention and nodded sideways as if to say, Are you coming with me?

Ben called out to Mal that he’d catch up with her later before he turned his attention back to Jane.

“Which green should they use?” Jane asked. She showed a few rectangular pieces of green stained glass to Ben. The shades of green were all very similar.

“Uh…” Ben took them and smiled. He picked the darkest green. “This one.” He stared through it dreamily, clearly picturing his gift for Mal.

In the girls’ dorm room, Evie pinned the hem of Chad’s faux-fur-trimmed cape.

Chad Charming, the pampered son of Cinderella, admired himself in the tall mirror, from his shiny shoes to the top of his sandy hair. “Oooh! What about peacock feathers?” Chad asked. “I betcha nobody’s going to have those at Cotillion!”

Evie cleared her throat and let go of the hem. “You know what, Chad? When I look at you, all I can think of is…king.” She framed him with her hands as if capturing greatness, then stole a furtive glance at Doug, who sat at Evie’s worktable.

Doug, who looked every part the accountant in his owlish glasses, green bow tie, and long suspenders, had been tracking Evie’s fashion design business on his computer, tallying numbers. He swiveled around in his chair and winked at Evie.

Oblivious, Chad gasped and grinned at Evie’s words.

“And fake fur…Fake fur says it all,” Evie told Chad, shaking the cape’s trim.

Chad caressed the fake fur.

“Loud and clear,” said Doug with a nod and a smile.

Jay popped into the room for a second to shout, “In the amphitheater in five!”

“Amphitheater in five,” Chad said, mocking him. “Why did the coach make him captain instead of me? I’m obviously the better player.” He struck an arrogant pose and grinned. “King Chad, though. Don’t mind the sound of that….You know who else would like that?”

“Who?” asked Evie, feigning interest.

“Audrey,” said Chad.

“Hmmm, she would,” said Evie, playing along.

“Chad!” Jay yelled. “Let’s go!”

Chad frowned. “I’m coming!” He stepped off the fitting platform and made his way out of the room.

Evie carefully removed Chad’s cape as he exited. Then she dropped it on the fitting platform and walked up to Doug. They looked at each other and broke into laughter.

“Not a lot of there there,” they said in unison. Then they laughed again. Doug had said the same line to Evie about Chad when she had first shown interest in being Chad’s girlfriend much earlier. Her crush on Chad hadn’t lasted long: it turned out that vain and selfish guys weren’t Evie’s type. She was much more into the sweet and dapper Doug.

“Someone’s obviously having some serious trouble dealing with his breakup with Audrey,” Evie commented as she picked up a sketch showing a new dress with an intricate gold collar and belt.

Doug squinted his pale green eyes and peered through his glasses at his computer. “Hey, I’ve been doing the numbers.” He began to type rapidly.

“Yeah?” Evie marked up her dress design with a pencil.

“And after we collect from all the girls for their gowns and Chad’s cape…” Doug hit a few buttons.

“Uh-huh?” Evie set her paper down on the worktable and looked at Doug’s computer screen. Her jaw dropped at the number she saw, and she laughed. “No wonder people work! Wow…” She looked up at Doug. “What am I going to do with all that money?” She looked back at the computer.

Doug tapped a few keys.

“In a few years, you could buy that castle you’ve always wanted.” He looked at Evie with utmost earnestness. “That way, you wouldn’t need a prince.”

Evie took his hand and gazed into his eyes. “You’re right. I don’t. Because I have you.”

Evie loved her life in Auradon. It was everything she’d ever dreamed of.