After another fiasco where Duchess and Lizzie had gotten in a fight about Lizzie's garden door, Melody practically flew to the Castleteria. She grabbed a bowl of soup and looked for a place to sit. Unlike Raven, Melody didn't have a clique really. While Apple White was kind of leader the Royals, those who were promised their happy endings like herself and Briar Beauty, Raven sort of stuck with commoners, such as Cedar Wood or Maddie. Melody, trying to be like her mother, did her best to hate everyone. Apple was her story enemy, Briar was too loud, Blondie Locks was too whiny, Daring Charming was to self absorbed, Lizzie was too loud, Kitty Cheshire was too confusing, and Cedar just didn't know how to keep her mouth shut! But, since she had no one else to sit with and sitting alone would put her along side with Cerise Hood, she sauntered over to where Raven was sitting with Maddie and Cedar. Everyone gasped and began to whisper, when they saw her go by. One girl hid behind a pillar, one started crying, and a third fainted. Melody grinned her evil grin. That's just the kind of reaction her mother would be proud of! She plunked down next to Raven.
"Today's your lucky day, Rave." She said. "I'm sitting by you and your..." She gave Cedar and Maddie a look that clearly showed they were below her. "...little friends." Cedar blushed a deep orange brown and Maddie tilted her head. Raven sighed and dipped her spoon into her bowl to flick out a leaf, but her spoon hit something hard amid the carrots and potatoes.
"Heads up. It's stone soup again." She told them. Cedar groaned and picked up her soup to fish out the stone. Melody and Raven did the same and they all dumped it onto their napkins. Then they heard a loud crunch.
"Maddie!" Raven cried, stifling giggles. "You aren't supposed to eat the stone!" Maddie grinned, bits of dust and rock in between her teeth.
"Why not? Its yummy!" Raven shook her head, but was smiling. Melody noticed that. Raven always shook her head at her, but she never smiled. Maybe she found what Maddie had done funny. She never thought that the evil things that Melody and her mother had done were very funny. For some reason, Melody felt jealous of Maddie. Jealous that she had made her sister laugh and smile in the way that Melody never could or would. Unless she tried.
"Raven, can I-?" She started to say, but Cedar beat her.
"Eating stones is weird and gross." She said. Then she blushed again."Sorry! I didn't want to say that! But I like you!" Then she sighed. "Phew! I'm glad that's true." Cedar had a tendency to blurt out the truth, whether she wanted to or not. Her nose didn't grow when she was lying, but that didn't mean she could.
Maddie smiled at her friend. "Two birds can fly in the air and have a cup of tea." She said. The other three girls looked at each other, Raven and Cedar grinning.
"Riddleish alert!" They all three said. Maddie's big eyes widened.
"Oh! I meant to say, 'I like you too.'" she told Cedar. Melody remembered the first time she had heard Maddie talk in Riddleish. Maddie had told her that Raven looked just like her, but instead said, "The crow and the frog convert in Wonderland!". Melody had been so confused! It had also been the first and the last time Raven had actually laughed at something Melody had done, and all it was, was a funny face. Melody crossed her arms bitterly.
"Well, I mean it when I say that gross. And weird! I mean, how would you even eat a stone? It's a stone!" Raven gave Melody a look.
"Melody, calm down. Maddie didn't know and it was pretty impressive, and funny. Lighten up." Melody looked down at her soup to try and hide her red cheeks. She had irritated Raven again. What would mother say? Then she remembered. Why not ask her mother? Headmaster Grimm would surely allow her to visit her mother, as long as she lied and said she hadn't visited her mother. Or better yet, so that she wouldn't be watched, she could just hack into the Mirror Prison. Hacking into things was something she was taught before she could talk for badness sakes! So she got up and ran down to her dorm, ignoring all the looks she received. She needed her mother's advice and she needed it bad.