Music history class

Mal had a pretty easy schedule this term, thanks to Queen Leah. She had Children's Lit, the second half of Algebra II, Governmental history (this class covered how the countries and domains were ruled before they formed the United States of Auradon), diplomacy and etiquette, and music history class.

She was actually interested in just about every class but the math class. But once she finished this one, she was all set, she had been forced to take senior level math by Queen Leah, and well it was sort of easy, so she kept at it at Agrabah Academy.

On the first day of classes, spring semester, Mal worked her way through her schedule. Ben had a shortened day, he was off campus as soon as lunch was over, and not back in his room until after dinner. He slowly had to build up time in his office. It still amazed Mal that he would have time to go to college, heck to finish his senior year. But no matter what she would be there for him. Help him. She loved him and helping him, actually was fun to her.

After a boring morning at Math, Diplomacy and etiquette, and Children's lit she was ready for Governmental history and then an easy class to end the day Music history. At lunch Mal and her friends, including Harriet and Freddie, met up and discussed their morning classes. Mal and Ben had different lunches all week, and that bothered them both, but they would have breakfast. And time after he returned at night.

"So how are your morning classes?" Evie asked Mal.

"Ok, Easy really. It's really just filling in classes. I have all my cores for this year done, and math all set for next year, along with my electives set for the rest of my time here, thanks to last spring." Mal smiled, as Audrey walked by. They still weren't sure about where she stood, so they stepped carefully around her. No one knew what Aurora did to her or what happened to Queen Leah after the whole phone account hacking, so they tried their best to just avoid Audrey.

"I know. And that's great. I am ahead too, when I sat down with my guidance counselor, she and I went over what my mother taught me, they didn't do that at Dragon Hall, they just stuck me in classes."
"Classes are kind of more by age back there. Here, its ability, and that's kind of neat." Freddie added.
"I know and there are choices." Harriet said. "I mean lots of choices."
"We can pick things we like. We are good at, are interested in." Carlos agreed.
"Yes." Evie agreed. "Mal, do you really like the political science stuff, or are you doing it for Ben?"
"I honestly love it. I watched my mother make up rules to run the isle, and she ruled through fear, I never got that. Here, the rules, 99% of them make sense. I like learning about how it works. That's why I took Governmental history, to see where the rules started out. Ok, I will admit I took diplomacy and etiquette because of Ben. I felt I needed to do and say the right thing. Belle told me not to worry about it, but I figured, I had the time here, so why not. Besides, now that I will be traveling with Ben next summer, it will really come in handy."
"I could have helped you." Evie added.
"I know, but what the heck, I get credits for it here, and I have you to help me study."
"True." Evie stated.

"How are you about Ben not having your lunch?" Jay asked.
"It's fine. I see him at Breakfast, and he said he would come see me as soon as he gets back to school. And I have subcommittee meetings I am part of once a week too."
"How many subcommittees?" Evie asked.
"3. The school committee, sidekicks, and student government."

"Really, student government is a committee?" Harriet asked. "I didn't see that on the list."
"Well sort of….it's just me and Ben. It's his secretary's idea. That way we have one night a week alone in his office." Harriet nodded, she understood now.

"I like her." Evie giggled.
"Yeah, Sara Beth is pretty nice. She doesn't like all the crap he and I have been through, and when he told her, his and my schedules, she added this new committee to his calendar."
"So what night is student government committee night?"
"Tuesdays."
"So you have Tuesday for Student Government, we have our Wednesday meetings." Evie admitted, not sure Freddie and Harriet knew about magic class.
"Yes, and every other week on Thursdays it switches between the other two committees. First and third week is sidekicks. 2nd and 4th is School committees. SO I have Mondays and Fridays free."

"Yes, well I hate to say it but we were picked for the dance committee again. Spring Fling."
"That's ok. It was fun doing the winter Ball. Who else?"
"Me and Audrey." Harriet said.
"OK, we can work with that. I….I have an idea."
"Well we have a startup meeting tonight, but we would love to hear it." Evie pointed out.
"You know how it is up to the guys every dance to ask?" Mal said looking at the boys.
"Yes."
"Well how about this dance, the girls do the asking." The boys smiled broadly, and seemed eager to comply.
"Mal, that's brilliant. I bet we girls can come up with great asks."
"I am sure. Ok, don't tell anyone yet, I have to run it by the committee first."
"Sounds great, I am sure we can get Audrey to love it." Harriet said.
They would have gone on, but the bell rang. So they headed off to class.

Mal's last class of the day was Music History, she walked in to find Audrey and Chad. Mal just shook her head. She took an empty seat by the window.

"Good afternoon class. My name is Mr. Cogsworth. Welcome to Music History. In here we will talk about the different types of music and what region they come from. There were different instruments that were popular during certain times in history, as well as styles of music. We will start with a brief one-week refresher course about the different types of instruments and what families they are in."

Mal walked out of music history wondering if she needed to change. Not because of Chad and Audrey, but because she really had no idea if this was a class for her. She had the credits, so that wasn't the issue, it was that they had to have five classes. She would go see her councilor by the end of the week, if she decided this wasn't the class for her.

Mal texted Evie to ask where the dance committee was meeting, she was told the library. So Mal headed into the library. She arrived to find Audrey and Harriet already waiting. "Hi, I should have just walked with you Audrey, I forgot Evie said we were on the committee together."
"Next time." She said nicely.

"For sure. I guess we are only missing Evie."
"I am here." Evie said coming into the library. "Good we are all here. Shall we choose a chairwoman?"
"Who was chairwoman for the Winter ball?" Audrey asked

"Melody." Evie answered. "Would you like it Audrey?" Evie tried going the easiest route.

"If…if you don't mind?" Audrey asked.

"No, not at all. I have so many other things to do." Mal said.

"This is my first school committee." Harriet admitted.

"Fine with me." Evie said.

"Ok, then I will do it. So any ideas?" Audrey asked.

"Not for the dance itself, but I had a thought earlier today." Mal said

"Ok." Audrey said, she was really trying to work with the others.

"Every dance the boys go through this huge ordeal and the big ask. What if we change it up?"
"How do you mean?" Audrey asked, intrigued.

"This dance, the girls have to ask the boys." Mal said with confidence.

"I like it." Harriet said. "This is modern times, why can't the girls ask the boys?"
"Yes, a great idea." Evie said with Harriet, hoping Audrey wouldn't think they didn't already know Mal was going to suggest it.
"I guess so, why not." Audrey agreed, thinking it over and over. "Ok, so we can start spreading the word now, so the boys know what's up." Audrey put in. "How about a theme?"
"No idea." Mal said.

"Me either." Agreed Evie.

"A masquerade?" Harriet asked.

"MMM, no we do that one sometimes in the fall. But maybe instead of a fancy dress up ball we can change it up." Audrey said, not totally shooting Harriet's suggestion down. "What about reverse party?"
"What is that?" Mal asks hoping it isn't what she thinks it is.

"Well I would go as Maleficent, and Mal would be either my mom or grandmother."
"NO." Evie, Mal and Harriet said together. Mal was just worried she wanted the girls to dress as boys and the boys as girls, this was much worse.

"Not a good idea at all Audrey." Mal continued. "First off, that would make Carlos a dog. And more importantly not all the kids here have an opposite."

"Oh, right, I guess I didn't think."
"Could you picture Ben dressed as Gaston?" Harriet asked Mal. Mal almost fell on the floor laughing.

"Harriet you would have to be Peter Pan." Evie pointed out. "I wouldn't mind being Snow. She'd get a kick out of it."

"I didn't think of that either, we can't have guys dressed as girls and girls as boys, never mind." Audrey laughed. "Do we really need a theme?"
"I don't think so." Evie said. "Maybe we could go with just a color idea."
"Sure. Suggestions?"
"Silver and gold?" Harriet suggested.
"OK. Do able, any others?"
"Black and white?" Mal suggested.

"Again do able. My only thing is neither are very springy." Audrey countered politely.
"Good point." Evie agreed.

"What about this, theme enchanted garden, and everyone can wear pastel colors?" Mal tried, as it had just come to her mind.

"I like it." Harriet said

"Oh, that could be fun." Evie said.

"OK, I like it. Your photo booth was a hit, I say we do that again." Audrey said. "How about instead of a band we hire a DJ. Then there will be no down time with music. Even if the DJ isn't at the booth, he'll still play music. There are some out there that have games and other things to do."
"I like it." Mal agreed. The others nodded in agreement.

"I will get some names of DJ's in the area. We can try them out." Audrey added. Mal was thrilled at how helpful she was being.
"What else do we need?" Harriet asked

"A date. We have to tell Fairy Godmother when we want it. It's usually mid April." Audrey said, pulling out her phone to pull up the calendar ap. "Friday the 21st?"

"Sure." They all agreed.

"Ok, great first meeting." Audrey said. "Same time in two weeks?"
"Yes. Till March, then we'll need to go weekly I think." Evie added.

"Mondays and Fridays work best for me I have other committee meetings on the other days."
"Me too." Added Harriet. She was on the committee's for magical creatures and servants. They met the hour after Mal's committees met.

"Mondays it is, see you in two weeks." They all headed in different directions.

Mal went back to her room, and was doing her homework when she received a text from Belle. "Call me when you are free." So Mal called her.

"Hello, I didn't think you'd be free yet."
"It's Monday, so I am free after class basically. I have Mondays and Friday's free after last period."
"Oh, good. I wanted to talk to you, can you come up to the castle?"
"Sure, be right there." Mal closed her book, left Evie a note, then popped away to the castle.

Mal found Belle in her library. She was pulling a few books off the shelf. "Mal, thanks for coming over."
"Anytime. So what's up?"
"I wanted to talk to you about the mother daughter tea."
"Sure." She said sitting on one of the couches, wondering why she didn't just call her. "I have to admit I am pretty nervous, especially after New Years Eve."
"So were we, but…Aurora called me and she is cancelling it." Mal let out a huge sigh of relief. "I take it your relieved." She joked.

"I am not going to lie, I am. It has nothing to do with you or Snow, honestly. It's just being around Queen Leah."
"I understand. There is another reason I asked to see you…Ben."
"Ben?"
"I am worried about you two, with his busy schedule. He has meetings or committees every day. He is involved in some new student government committee too." Mal laughed, now she knew why Belle wanted to see her, she was checking in to make sure Ben and she were still ok. Belle gave her an odd look, so Mal filled her in.
"There is no student government committee, that is a slotted time every week in Ben's schedule for he and I. Sara Beth did that."

"That makes me feel better. So how was your first day?"
"Good.I like all my classes, except Music History. And it's not because Chad and Audrey are in it either. Mr. Cogsworth, well, he made it all seem so boring, and well, I am already behind. I don't know musical instruments. It's not exactly something they had a lot of on the isle."
"I can help you Mal."
"Thanks, but I might just switch out of it. Choir is that period, and if Audrey isn't in it, I won't feel bad about beating her out of a solo or anything like that."
"That is nice of you to think of her, after all she has put you and Ben through."

"I think she might finally be coming around. Which reminds me, I got asked to be on the spring fling dance committee."
"You and Evie?"
"Yes, and Harriet and Audrey. She was actually pretty nice today."
"So what are the plans? Maybe I can help."
"Sure. WE are doing enchanted garden for a theme, color scheme pastels. DJ for music. And we are going to make it girls ask boys." Belle looked at Mal. Mal thought Belle didn't like the idea. "You don't like that idea?"
"I do, but now I think I understand why Audrey was so nice."
"She was actually nice to me in class, before the first meeting, she was nice the whole meeting, what does girls asking boys have to do with it?"
"Mal, its is basically understood, that you say yes to the first person who asks you."
"Really? I had no idea."
"Yes. It is possible that Audrey could try and beat you to ask Ben first."
"But we are dating, she can't ask someone else's boyfriend, can she?"
"Most kids wouldn't dream of it, but it's possible." Mal thought maybe just this Once, Belle might be over reacting, but she was still going to make sure that never happened.
"Well I will just beat her to the punch. I will do the whole fancy 'ask' in front of everyone, but just ask him early in the morning to cover myself."
"He will know you are going to ask him, and if Audrey beats you too it he will refuse and say you already asked, but I just thought you might like to know that. Any ideas on the whole big ask thing?"
"I do actually. I loved what he did for our one-year anniversary, with the whole messages from different people. But I plan to change it up. I am going to give him a huge box filled with labeled items to be opened at certain times. Different things. Not sure what yet. Hardest part of all this is I do not see him anywhere during the day except breakfast, Meeting days around 4:00, otherwise it's after dinner."

"You are welcome up here every night for dinner if that helps."
"Thank you. I don't want to impose."

"You know perfectly well you are always welcome here, as are Evie, Jay and Carlos." She smiled at Mal, who returned the smile. "Can you pop a box over to his room at midnight?"
"Belle that's prefect. I can send it the first day that you can ask for dates to the dance, that way I have already started asking him, before he can see Audrey that day. Curfew will keep her in her room."
"Better still, we can have him stay here that night for whatever reason, and someone here can give him the box."
"I like that better. The dance is the 21st of April, so there is a 14 day before limit to ask. Anyone can go to the dance, you don't need a date, but still."
"No problem we will have the box delivered at Midnight. I am glad I can help."
"Yes, thank you."
"So what ideas do you have?"
"A few pictures, notes. Cookies. Not sure what else yet."
"You have time. I do like the idea though."
"Thank you."

"Now, today, you will stay for dinner." Belle insisted looking at the clock seeing it was almost 6:00. "I'll just ring Mrs. Potts to add another plate."

As Belle rang Mrs. Potts, Mal got a text from Aziz. She excused herself and went to her room to call him back. "Belle I'll be in my room, AZ just texted, he wants me to call him. My guess a Gwen issue." Mal laughed, Belle nodded.

In her room, Mal called AZ over face time. She fixed her hair and was looking for cleaner clothes while she waited for the call to connect. "Hey Lilac."
"What's up Turban head?"
"I need your help?"
"What did you screw up with Gwen now?" She laughed.

"Nothing. Ok, so it's choir related."
"I can't compete anymore for AA, you know that."
"NO, this isn't about competing, as this is my last competition after the awards, Seniors who have taken the class, participate in a senior show case. We didn't have any seniors last year at AA, or that came from AP so you didn't see that. Anyway, we can put together a medley of our songs that we have performed over the years."
"Ok, not seeing what you need me for, Az." Mal said. Ben stuck his head in and she waved him over. "I am waiting."
"Right, so Maestro allows us leeway. Cause it isn't about competition. Anyway, I wanted to include our duet in it, as well as the trio we did with Gwen. But it has to be a secret."
"Why if it isn't a competition, what does it matter." Mal looked at Ben he shrugged. "I guess, but I still need to tell Ben."
"Yeah sure. But well you'll need to come rehearse. When are you free?"
"Some Mondays, and Fridays. Or after 7:00 on Tuesdays."
"Ok. Mondays will work. Thanks Lilac."
"Sure, Hey, I might be taking choir here, cause I am not into music history."
"That won't matter."
"Ok. Later Turban boy."
"Later lavender." Mal hung up and Ben broke out laughing, "Turban boy. If Jasmine heard you call him that…"
"Oh please, she already has. I got the same reaction calling him that as I did from your father when I call you Benny Bear." She came over and into his arms. "Hi Benny Boo."
"Hi Mal. I am guessing your day went ok, except for Cogsworth class?"
"Yes, Audrey and Chad were in that class"
"So your quitting because of them." He asked angrily.

"If you would let me finish." She looked at him, and he knew she was right, he had cut her off. Ben nodded. "Thank you. I was going to say, they are in the class, and actually we sat together. I might leave the class, because I don't know enough about music, I mean the whole first class was about wood wind instruments, I couldn't identify any of them. Not exactly something we have on the isle."
"Oh, that makes sense."
"I was chosen to be on the spring fling committee, along with Evie, Harriet and Audrey. We made Audrey chairwoman."
"A wise choice."
"Well the rest of us are super busy really. Harriet and I have council work. And Evie has her dresses and her work for Madame as well."
"So what's the theme?"
"Enchanted garden, color scheme pastels. Oh and it's a reverse ask."
"A what?"
"Girls will be doing the big asks." Ben made a face. "What?"
"You know it's understood…"

"You say yes to first person who asks, I know. Your mom and I already have it under control. The dance is April 21st, so asking can start on the 7th. You WILL be sleeping here the 6th to the 7th. Audrey won't reach you before me, because you won't be telling anyone you are staying here for the night until it's too late."
"You are something. Oh, I was sent to get you for dinner." He finished hearing a knock on her door. He opened it to find Mrs. Potts. "My fault, we were talking."
"Well it's getting cold you too." She teased and left. Mal took Ben's arm, her clean, less isle styled clothing left on the bed.