Defending the Mask

Mocking Gratitude

She can't help her smile as she looks up to find Doug cuffing Roy on the back of his head.

Ass.

She shakes her head at the banter that follows.

It had been months.

Months since they first sat in this place.

Months since they'd all started eating together.

Months.

She swallows her groan.

Months that somehow felt like years.

She takes another bite of toast, savoring the buttery warmth as it melts in her mouth.

It was a sensation she'd never get over. One she had begun to look forward to nearly as much as the flavor of strawberries.

Who knew bread wasn't supposed to be hard? Who knew fruits and vegetables all tasted different, not at all like the sour mash they got on the Isle.

The mold thing she knew.

The older the food, the more mold.

The more mold, the more likely you were to get sick.

That was a basic understanding. Something they all learned early on.

If it tastes too much like bad dirt, don't eat it.

But here-

There was so much food here.

Good food.

Food that was so much better than it was on the Isle.

Truth be told, the guilt that this was their new norm was something that still twisted her stomach in knots.

Guilt at the Howler amount of food piled on the buffet line.

And mother-damn-it if it wasn't a buffet.

It almost made her sick to think about.

How many kids were starving on the Isle?

Going to bed with an ache that they couldn't fill in their bellies?

So hungry that they threw up that acrid liquid that occasionally crawled up the back of her throat.

She clenches her teeth.

Fuck.

It sucked.

She takes another bite as the table laughs at something she hadn't been paying attention to.

Her eyes settle on Ben's smile, his hazel-green eyes warm with affection as he jokes with the table.

She got Ben joining them.

He was the one who sum-

No, not summoned.

He was the one who invited them to Auradon.

It would've been awkward if he hadn't at least tried to sit with them.

Even if she did find it uncomfortable, concerning, and nerve-wracking.

At first.

Her eyes bounce to Jay, remembering his words during their initiation into his shadow court.

She was dating the future king so going back to the Isle wasn't a good idea.

She bites back a groan of disgust.

Okay, maybe she was a bit paranoid.

Her thoughts automatically drift to T.

It was almost embarrassing now that she knew him.