↣ 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴

Rowan and the others had exited the limousine together.Ben had been acting strangely in the automobile, and Mal was strolling awkwardly beside him.

When Jane saw that everyone had exited the limo, she hurried over to Ben and eventually drew him away for the last touches before the cotillion.

With haste, Evie took hold of her arm and started to pull them away. "We need to talk."

Rowan nodded as did Mal. "Yeah!"

"No." Carlos voice stopped the three girls.

"No?"

"You guys are always going off in a huddle, whispering your girl talk stuff or whatever, and Jay and I are tired of it."

"I'm not." Jay commented as they laughed.

"We're your family, too." Carlos reminded them. Rowan didn't feel like she fit into this conversation and let go of Mal and Evie's hand. "You're included Rowan, We've been through a lot together. We're not stopping that now, okay? Everyone sit."

"I don't know how to start girl talk." Carlos spoke again, making them all laugh.

"Um, well...I'm a mess. I'm such a mess." Mal broke as she spoke. "mean, six months ago, I was, you know, stealing candy from babies, and now everybody wants me to be this Lady of the Court. And I have no idea how to keep up the act."

"Then don't." Carlos replied.

"See? This was dumb." Jay nodded, picking out grass from beneath him.

"We're always gonna be the kids from the Isle. I tried to forget it." Evie says looking down at the ground, hurt in her voice. "I really tried, but those are our roots. And we all did what we had to do to survive. But it made us who we are. And we're never gonna be like anybody else here. And that's okay. That's okay."

"Mal, if Ben doesn't love the real you, then he's not the one." Carlos said, Mal looked up at him with a slight nod.

"I'm gonna make some changes to your dress." Evie stated as she got up. "And if you're up for it-- only if you're up for it-- it will be waiting for you, okay?" Mal smiled at her before Evie rushed back to her dorm.

"This is just part of growing up, a little adventure, a little rebellion- was something my dad said to me when I was little." Rowan turned to Mal grabbing her hand. "You're just growing up Mal, but don't hide yourself just because everyone's telling you too." She hugged the purple haired girl before she left herself.

𐬽𐬼𐬽

In her room, Rowan examined herself in the mirror. She had on a light brown dress with long sleeves that hung off the shoulder and a light purple corset on top. Her crown rested atop her head, and she wore brown knee-high boots.

She fiddled with the lower section of her plaited hair while enclosing the picture of Harry Hook in her mind. She didn't know why, but she couldn't stop thinking about him.

"You look magnificent."  Turning, Rowan saw Ally, the famous Alice's daughter. who, in addition to her customary all-blue outfit, sported a black ribbon on top like her mother even though her hair was down this time.

"I appreciate it, Ally. You too look amazing." The youngster gave a strange little curtsy when the other girl complimented her.

Rowan pivoted to face the mirror once more. "What has entered that mind of yours?" The blonde girl sighed and sat back on her bed when Ally asked.  

"I'm not sure, it's been so busy, and now everything seems so calm, like we're waiting for this big storm to blow up and take everyone away again." With her head resting on her palm, she spoke.

"Well, I believe that neither the past nor the future are being thought about well. Simply stay in the here and now." As she sat down on the bed next to her, Ally said. "Just make the most of the evening."

"You are correct, as you know." Ally simply smiled and shrugged, Rowan said.

"I'm not as crazy as most." Ally says as the two girls both laughed loudly.

_________________

Author's notes

This was more of a filler chapter but I wanted to include the wonderland characters somewhere in my books. So Ally is here. Fun fact Alice in wonderland was my favourite story growing up and The Cheshire Cat is one of my favourite characters ever.

Shout out to my favourite people.norasnetflix RuffieRoseStories arsvenal kiesluverr KleeAlise11
wrensofvizla Minyoung_2000

Well that's all from me. I hope to see you in the next update