Watch and Learn

Chapter 11

The scene opened to Jay and Coach Jenkins sitting on the bleachers, having what looks to be a pleasant conversation.

"I could really use a tough guy like you. The team's a bunch of princes, if you know what I mean."

"Hey!"

"Chad, you are a prince," Kitty said, rolling her eyes.

"See! Nothing wrong with being a prince!" Chad nodded, not understanding his sister's comment.

"You're telling me! It's all "after you, old chum. Oh, pardon me, did I bump into you?' Where I come from it's 'prepare to die, sucker!' As my father says, 'the only way to win is to make sure everyone else loses!'" Jay said, motioning with his hands to emphasize his point.

"On the Isle, that's basically a motto for all of us," Mal said, looking over at Dizzy. The young girl, who was staring at the screen with rapt fascination, was never one to abide by that. It was one of the reasons why Mal was so happy that Dizzy was off the Isle.

At least for now.

Meanwhile, some of the girls were drooling over the way Jay's arm muscles flexed as he was talking.

"Jay! Jay, Jay, Jay!" Coach Jenkins exclaimed, trying to get the boy to calm down.

"You rip—!"

"Not sure I want to know the end of that saying," Aladdin said, looking slightly disturbed.

"Let me explain a team. Uh, it's like a family," Coach Jenkins cut off Jay before he could build up steam and sitting him back down on the bleachers.

"You do not want to be at my house at dinner time," Jay told the coach.

"True, very true," Carlos nodded.

"It's not a pretty sight," Evie sighed.

"Though with the food shortage, it never is," Dizzy added

King Beast choked on the bite of food he had taken, having heard the young girl's words. "Food shortage?" He asked after clearing out his airway.

"Well yeah," Dizzy said, looking confused at all the shocked looks on the adults and most of the children's faces. "We're twenty years into a garbage strike so we pretty much have to get what we can. I know it's been happening since before I was born, Uma and Harry won't stop ranting about it every time they stop by the shop."

"But you guys get food right?" Ben asked, looking at Dizzy in shock that quickly grew to horror as he remembered the scene of Carlos and Jay fighting over the candy. "You're not literally eating our garbage?"

Mal couldn't help but sigh at the sight of Ben, who always saw the good in everything, deflate at the idea of the people of the Isle eating garbage.

"Mom," Kitty whispered to Cinderella. "Can we invite Dizzy and the others to the castle for dinner sometime?"

Cinderella paused for a moment before a small smile graced her features. "It's like you read my mind. Let me work it out with your father."

Maybe she could arrange for Chad to be visiting his grandfather that evening? Normally she would never stoop to such a thing but watching how her son was treating the children of the Isle, it would be better if he wasn't at the dinner.

"Okay, okay, um...you know how a body has a lot of different parts? The legs, elbows, ears? But they all need each other. Well that's what a team is, different players who work together to win. Make any sense?"

"Like Mal, Carlos, Evie and myself," Jay said with a chuckle. "Mal's the leader, Carlos is our tech wizard, Evie's the mom and I'm the muscle."

"You're more than that Jay," Evie told him. "You're our morale builder!"