A/N: I figured being quarantined was the best time to start posting a few of my work in progress pieces. Thankfully, the new stories already have at least four chapters completed so I'll roll them out every couple of days.

There WILL be references to abuse and neglect throughout this story. If that makes you uncomfortable, don't pass go or collect the $200 at the end of the chapter. I will add content warnings as needed. Cross-posted on AO3.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

The first day of classes at Auradon Prep for Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos was marked by their discovering they only had one class altogether. They found out the schedule had two of the four in each class until the very end of the day— when they were expected to take goodness lessons with the Fairy Godmother.

Evie and Carlos were placed into the advanced science class. Jay and Mal were put in the same Spanish class. Evie and Carlos got signed up (more like forced into) for French but were taking it at separate times since Fairy Godmother wanted to see how the De Vil boy handled classes with people that appeared his age. Carlos and Jay would take math together while Mal and Evie were in a dull sounding literature class.

Carlos had the interesting luck of being stuck in physical education with Mal. Evie would take it with Jay. They jokingly mentioned that the school was probably afraid to pair the boys together for that class but they were all exceptionally quick and athletic. The girls simply didn't look like they'd run if they had to.

No one could explain how Jay and Carlos landed themselves in advanced history since Dragon Hall didn't go into major detail about how spectacularly the villains had failed. The adults had an image to uphold and couldn't risk having the children of the Isle know about their weaknesses.

Their elective classes had yet to be chosen, replaced with a few days of extra testing during the block to ensure that Fairy Godmother had, in fact, placed the new students in the correct levels.

Mal and Evie were the only ones that gave a positive answer when asked how old they were. It left her uncertain about which grades to place everyone in since she didn't want the children to feel as though they were being set up for failure during their first week of classes.

Carlos proved to be the hardest to sort out since he was visibly younger than the others but outscored them on most of the placement tests. She didn't know enough about him to be able to risk loading him up with all upper-level courses.

The girls got ready in their room before meeting at Carlos and Jay's. Mal and Evie managed to seem calm as they walked down the hallway to find their acquaintances. They each had a feeling of dread that was lingering in the back of their mind.

They paused outside the doorway and exchanged a glance before Evie forced a smile and raised her fist to gently knock on the door.

"What do you want?" Jay called out. There was a sound of a struggle on the opposite side of the door that caused both girls to wrinkle their noses, easily recognizing Carlos' yelp of 'stop it' before one of them answered.

"Excuse me?" Mal spat out. Evie gave a low laugh at the effect Mal's tone of voice had. The door flung open and both boys stood in front of them. Jay had his arm around Carlos and the younger boy looked irritated.

"Let him go," She hissed out through gritted teeth. It only took her raising an eyebrow for him to do as he was told. "We are going to be late for breakfast at this rate." Her gaze settled on Jay first, seeking out any abnormalities that might stand out once they got to their first class. "Evie did you bring your concealer?"

Jay winced at Mal's gaze upon hearing that and took a step back, his head lowering since he knew what she was referencing.

"It's not that noticeable," He muttered and put a few strands of hair over his eye, causing it to completely cover the mark.

"Allow me," Evie sighed and stepped away from the doorway. The door closed behind her then she pulled her makeup kit from her bag. The blue-haired teen studied him for a moment. Her head tilted to the side while she thought over the best way to handle the situation at hand. "Can you sit?"

Jay went to grumble but a stern look from Evie caused him to think better of it, complying almost immediately after she narrowed her eyes at him. She got to work after that, giving a soft warning before brushing her makeup sponge over him. Evie worked carefully until the black eye was no longer visible and bit her lower lip once done.

"All set," The blue-haired teen whispered, growling softly when he went to touch his face. "Don't. It needs to set before you go about prodding it. Mal said we're supposed to be laying low, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Jay muttered. He brought up his hands defensively when the girls narrowed their eyes at him. "What? It's not like I asked Jafar for a parting gift."

Mal gave him a look that immediately earned a sheepish expression. "Okay. I mouthed off but the blow wasn't the worst of what our parents have done. He usually doesn't lay a hand on me."

"Jay," The hiss came from Evie. Carlos shrunk back behind her, his gaze focused on the ground. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck and winced when his fingers brushed over the mark his mother left.

"Carlos," Evie sighed and cautiously eyed him. "What was the whimper for?"

The younger teen shook his head and looked down at his feet, shrugging before he spoke. "It's n-nothing."

"Uh-huh," Evie crept closer to Carlos then looked toward where his hand was. "She wouldn't have tried anything knowing we were..." She exhaled. There was no hiding the disgust in her tone.

Carlos didn't answer. The silence earned weary looks from Mal and Jay now that Evie moved closer to the youngest of their group.

"At least she—" Carlos couldn't get the rest of the thought out. He opted for lifting his hand up so his hair could reveal the burn above the nape of his neck. "It's hidden, isn't it?"

No one said anything upon spotting the cigarette burn. Their parents were harsh in their own ways but Cruella seemed to be the most sadistic when it came to punishing her child. None of them would admit it out loud but it was partially why they were so protective of Carlos.

"Yeah," Mal sighed from beside him. "But quit playing with it. We don't have a lot of ointment and I am not feeling like stealing from the nurse this early on into our stay." They had a job to do but the need to fit in had quickly left the villain kids worrying about everything but getting the magic wand.

"Pat your hair back down," Evie added and rounded Carlos once more. She couldn't mask the look of concern that took over. "Is that the only one?"

Carlos didn't meet her gaze. He wished he could change the subject but all three of his friends - could he even call them that now? - had their eyes on him.

"M-m-most recent one," His ears went red when his stammer came out and he shrunk into himself as though he was expecting a blow for it. Carlos needed a few deep breaths before he was able to continue. "The others are m-mostly healed."

"Bloody hell," Jay grimaced. "She makes Jafar look tame." His expression faltered when Carlos didn't say anything in reply. "Can we head to breakfast now, Mal?" He asked with a slight frown, hoping the subject change would get Carlos to perk up a little.

He, Evie, and Carlos looked expectantly at the leader of their group. Breakfast was the one thing that got the boys up at a reasonable time since the small glimpses of food they got during the first day in Auradon left them curious about what the start of the school day would bring.

"No funny business," Mal narrowed her eyes at Jay. "We don't need to draw extra attention to ourselves." Of course, if they wanted to lay low, it might have helped if they all wore their uniforms but those had been scoffed at and quickly abandoned in their closets since Dragon Hall didn't have a dress code. "Best behaviors during classes. We will regroup at lunch."

"Aye, aye, Mal," Carlos offered a small smile. His words were accompanied by Jay saluting her and Evie rolling her eyes at the boys' antics.

The four left the bedroom after that, traveling close together with Mal at the lead, Carlos behind her, and Evie and Jay taking up the back. They had little trust in their new classmates and were thankful to have been up earlier than most. It meant there were only a handful of students in the cafeteria.

The villain kids stared blankly at the cafeteria once they arrived. Delectable scents caused their stomachs to rumble but they weren't sure of where to start, keeping to the doorway while they watched what the other students did.

"Do you need help?" An unfamiliar voice caused the four to flinch back, looking apprehensively at the owner. A teen a little shorter than Jay looked them over, his nose wrinkling at how the four had jumped when he spoke.

"I'm Aziz by the way," He added with a smile. "Son of Aladdin at your—"

"Check your pockets," Jay interrupted before Aziz finished his introduction. There was something about the stranger's stance that he recognized from his own behavior. The teen raised an eyebrow at him, needing to bite back a chuckle.

The villain kids took a moment to check their pockets, looking relieved that the few trinkets they carried on their person were still intact.

"He can't be trusted," Jay continued, eyeing him with a scowl.

"You're one to talk," Aziz added with a laugh. "Son of Jafar, right?" Mal, Evie, and Carlos watched him and Jay with mild interest.

"Takes a street rat to know a street rat," Jay shrugged. He was about to tack another insult on but Evie beat him to speaking.

"Aziz if you don't mind," She batted her eyelashes at him. "We could use an explanation about how this works. Enough of the referring to each other by who our parents are though. That's a practice the Isle doesn't carry. I'm Evie. You've met Jay and this is Mal and Carlos."

Mal glared daggers at him and Carlos nervously grasped his dog tail, fingers squishing the plush material that was attached to his belt loop.

"You mean breakfast?" Aziz quirked a brow. "Yeah. It's not so bad — Grab a plate then you're able to pick whatever you want. They've got an omelet station and a machine for making your own waffles. The fruit differs every day but it's always fresh."

He received four blank stares in reply and was surprised since Carlos was the only one to speak up.

"We can serve ourselves?" He asked, looking concerned when Aziz nodded. "The teachers don't tell us when to eat?"

"No," Aziz looked a little confused by the question but quickly masked it with a smile. "Breakfast is open from 6:30-8:30 to give students time to eat depending on their schedules. If they had one set time people would miss out since Tourney sometimes has AM practices that take up the majority of the morning. Lunch and dinner are a little stricter but the kitchen is always open after. You just get stuck with canned and boxed goods so it isn't always worth visiting."

"Let's eat then," Mal murmured. They were bordering on revealing more information about themselves than she wanted to give. Aziz had been nice enough. Jay said he couldn't be trusted though and she wasn't about to let any members of her crew get chummy with him.

"We appreciate your help, Aziz," Evie beamed and gave him a small curtsy. He gave a nod before running off to meet the group of boys he had abandoned to get a good look at the new kids.

She shrunk back behind Mal once he left, not feeling comfortable with grabbing food if Mal wasn't the first to do so.

The amount of food was overwhelming for a group of kids that were used to rationing and sometimes going days at a time without a proper meal. Fruit was what they loaded up on since they never had any fresh fruit on the Isle. They each watched how much they put on their plate, easily imagining their parents chastising them for wasting food. In the end, Evie and Mal had half a dish while Carlos and Jay had a full plate and murmured about already wanting seconds.

It was a good thing the teens weren't in the habit of allowing their eyes to handle the task of claiming food. Otherwise, they would have had more food than they knew what to do with. Their stomachs weren't used to proper food so minuscule amounts had been enough. They were able to finish their plates but the idea of lunch was laughable now that their stomachs were full.

"I don't think I'll need dinner," Carlos shook his head and pushed his empty plate away from himself. "Did you see that the oranges are actually orange? The rotten ones on the Isle f-finally make sense."

"And the juice," Evie grinned. "There were so many flavors."

"I'm just happy the coffee didn't have mud in it," Jay rolled his eyes. "It was missing crickets for extra flavoring."

The three's small smiles faltered once their gazes settled on Mal. She was scowling at her empty plate and wasn't as interested in the food as they were.

"We can't get used to the idea of eating what we want when we want to," She murmured. "They may not keep us over the —"

Mal snapped her jaw shut and clenched her teeth. The sudden action caused the others to take on a defensive posture, eyes narrowing the moment they spotted the intruder.

Aziz was back and had two friends with him. There was a blond boy that scowled at them and a brunette girl that had a huge smile.

"We have a class together," Aziz shrugged before giving Mal the chance to tell him to go away. "Well. Carlos and Evie that is. We apparently share a knack for science. Chad's in the class as well. Mal and Jay, you've got Spanish with Lonnie."

The girl that was with him gave Jay a friendly smile. "I figured I'd offer to help you get to class. It took me weeks to figure out the hallways when I first transferred to the school."

"Transferred?" Jay's question was lost to Mal growling at the girl. Surprisingly, Lonnie didn't shrink back.

"We can find the classes by ourselves," She glared at her. "Fairy Godmother gave us a map. We won't be needing assistance from any of you."

"What did I tell you?" The blond beside Aziz spoke up. He looked disgusted by Mal's outburst. "They aren't worth trying to befriend."

"Don't say that Chad," Lonnie scoffed and gently smacked his arm. "They're new and can probably use a friend or two."

"We already have friends," Mal's eyes flashed dangerously. "The four of us are enough. We don't have space for anyone else."

She was spared needing to drop her voice any lower since a bell went off. It was loud enough to make Carlos shudder.

"Great, now we're going to be late," Chad groaned. Jay could have sworn he heard him mutter something about it being the villain kids' fault. Nothing came out of it though since he and Mal arrived at their class on time and weren't called up to the teacher's desk over the ordeal.

"Miss…" The teacher pushed his glasses against the bridge of his nose and squinted at his attendance. His newest students didn't have surnames. "Mal?"

The class turned to look at her and Jay. Mal stared down at the book on her desk, unable to find what the board was referencing. His eyes narrowed and she gulped back the feeling of dread that was churning in her stomach.

"Here, sir," Mal answered. Her voice was far softer than usual. Dragon Hall taught its students that the teachers could not be trusted and usually didn't have their best interests at heart.

There was a pause as the teacher stared at his class list. The boy from the Isle was another three-letter name with no surname.

"Jay?" He finally sighed, earning a nod from the boy.

"Here, sir," Jay shrugged. Like Mal, he was playing polite. The first day of class did not seem like the most ideal time for testing limits.

"Did either of you get the summer assignment done?" The teacher asked, looking down at the two when they didn't immediately answer his question. Their fellow classmates were all staring.

"No sir," They said at the same time, looking equally concerned about it.

"They didn't send us anything past the date we were expected to leave the Isle," Mal offered a shrug. "If there was anything else, the pirates probably took it." The class erupted into laughter, assuming she was joking.

She neglected to mention how the week leading up to leaving was spent cooped up in Maleficent's castle with the others while their parents kept a watchful eye to make sure they didn't do anything that would bring shame to how they were raised. The worst part was barely being able to roam the Isle since Uma and Harry seemed to have a death wish for them all. Shrimpy's crew was pushing in on the section Mal protected and the last thing she could recall was Dizzy whimpering about how Harry kept saying she was next to join the pirates.

"There is no need to call me sir," The teacher sighed and shook his head, deciding not to address the part about the pirates. "You may call me Mr. Willerstein. Do either of you speak a language besides English?"

Mal shook her head. Jay made a face and wrinkled his nose. It took Mal's nudging him to get him to speak.

"A little bit of Arabic, sir," He mumbled. "Father wanted me to know Agrabah's native tongue. He thought there would eventually be a chance I'd visit."

"Again on the sir," Mr. Willerstein murmured. He raised an eyebrow when Jay and Mal looked down at their desks.

"It's a habit," Mal glared at him. "Sir and ma'am are a sign of respect on the Isle."

"Noted, but I will not be answering to señor once the expectation of speaking in Spanish comes about."

Jay and Mal shrugged in response then busied themselves with looking through the textbook on their desks. Thankfully, the class went by without their being picked on again.

Unfortunately, science didn't go as smoothly for Evie and Carlos. The teacher began the class with a pop quiz on a lesson from the week before and didn't allow students to use their books. That rule was in place for Carlos and Evie as a way of seeing just how prepared their schooling on the Isle had them.

He didn't give them the chance to look through the textbook before the quiz and seemed set on embarrassing them. Evie kept having to place her fingers over Carlos's wrist and gently squeeze to get him to stop growling each time the teacher called on one of them.

Lunch was a welcomed reprieve for the four children from the Isle. None of them ate anything but they used it as an excuse to stock up on snacks that wouldn't go bad if kept in their closets.

"C-Can we check out the library tonight?" Carlos asked, nervously eyeing Mal when he spoke. "See if there's a space we can claim for studying."

Jay scoffed at the use of 'studying.' The sound escaped and Carlos looked dejected. "He's got a point."

"I do?" Carlos couldn't mask his surprise at Jay agreeing with him. "N-No, I mean—" He trailed off and crossed his arms over his chest then spoke in a way that made him sound more certain of himself. "I do."

"We can't have the teachers thinking the Isle didn't teach us anything," Jay shrugged. "Not with the way the science teacher kept pressuring me and Mal."

"You too?" Evie grimaced. "He kept calling on me and Carlos."

"We aren't here to worry about grades," Mal's voice was a harsh whisper.

"What if they kick us out?" Carlos whimpered. The teachers seemed nicer than the adults on the Isle but their seriousness about learning left him doubting they would let them stay if they flunked their coursework.

"We can test the waters," Mal shrugged. "Give it a week of doing the minimum then adjust from there. Besides, if we do end up in the library it will be for scouting out the magic wand, not trying to prove our worth to the people that stuck us on the Isle in the first place. Is that understood?"

There was a moment of silence where Jay, Evie, and Carlos exchanged a look with each other before slowly nodding.

"That's what I thought," Mal smirked then rolled her eyes. "At least there's one last class on this day from Hades."

The others were silent, another nod happening just to show that they heard her. Carlos and Jay busied themselves with stuffing food into their bags. Evie studied her nails, searching for the smallest of imperfections. The argument that would come if any of them disagreed with Mal's plan wouldn't be worth it. Earning their parents' approval from getting the wand was something they all wanted and Mal could immediately shut them down just by pointing that out.

Their arrival at their last class was marked by the four standing in the doorway of the classroom, immediately on edge because there were no other students.

"It's a trap," Jay whispered. Fairy Godmother was not in the room yet and the four couldn't bring themselves to stepping foot in the large classroom. "The windows are too high up and this is the only door."

He gave the room another look, searching for an alternative way out in case Fairy Godmother's teaching style consisted of something similar to the teachers back on the Isle. A quick way out would guarantee the group was safe if they upset her.

"We take the middle row," Mal announced once her own appraisal of the room was through. "Close enough to the front but out of reach. Jay and I will take the seats by the aisle. Evie and Carlos that leaves you in the middle."

It took Mal and Jay entering the room first for the other two to follow. Carlos kept a vice-like grip around his dog tail. Had they been on the Isle, they would have been ambushed by now.

They were holding their breath by the time they got to their seats, a sigh escaping once they were seated and nothing happened.

"Good afternoon, class," Fairy Godmother appeared at the front of the classroom, having come through a hidden door between the chalkboards.

The teenagers didn't answer. Carlos jumped into Jay's lap, shaking despite the strong arms that wrapped around him. Evie looked like she swallowed a lemon and Mal looked unimpressed by the woman's entrance.

"We're safe, Los," Jay whispered and released Carlos. The younger teen's ears were bright red as he removed himself from Jay and settled back into his seat. He unhooked the dog tail from his pants and began to play with it.

"Welcome to Remedial Goodness. I'm Fairy Godmother," The only acknowledgment the woman earned was Mal tilting her head at how she didn't call their reactions out. "I hope the first day of classes went well for you all." None of the students answered. This caused her to take a deep breath then turn toward the chalkboard on her right. "We will be using today to define goodness. A closer look at the traits that separate good and evil."

"Wow, sounds fascinating," Mal gave an exasperated sigh. "Is that why this is the only class that meets every day of the week?"

Fairy Godmother decided to ignore Mal, noting the confused looks the four shared when she didn't say anything about the girl's sarcasm.

"That is only for this week. We still need a few more exams before your official schedule is set," She stated without looking at Mal. The purple-haired teen looked a little offended but was quiet besides that. "You will be seeing me Tuesdays and Thursdays once we get into a normal routine."

"How thrilling," Mal rolled her eyes. "Defining good and evil for today. What will next week be, giving candy to babies?"

"Mal, if I could please begin the lesson," Fairy Godmother spoke softly. Her tone was enough to make the four teens stare at her. They knew what Mal was doing — baiting the headmistress to try to get a reaction out of her. It wasn't anything new but Evie and Jay were a little shocked that she was laying on the sass so early on.

Mal waved her hand and pulled her sketchbook from her bag, beginning to doodle. Evie and Jay shifted their attention to the board and Carlos fidgeted with a stress ball he stole off another student.

"We will begin with defining goodness. Carlos, what do you believe goodness is?" Fairy Godmother looked expectantly at him.

The young teen looked alarmed and sat up straighter. "I-I d-d-don't…"

"Carlos," Evie exhaled from beside him. "Take a breath. Try again." Carlos did as he was told, taking two deep breaths before trying to answer again. A look of relief washed over when the teacher didn't chastise him.

"I don't know, ma'am," He looked down at his lap. "I- I guess it would be d-doing the opposite of evil."

"Precisely," Fairy Godmother nodded. "We will begin with a few scenarios." The teens remained silent as she turned away from them. A low scoff escaped from Jay and Mal once they spotted what was on the board.

You see a puppy on the street. Do you:

A. Kick it

B. Steal it

C. Drop it down a well

D. Return it to its owner

"That's easy," Jay shook his head. "B." Fairy Godmother made a face and shook her head.

"D," Mal rolled her eyes. "Return it to its owner." Fairy Godmother nodded then moved onto the next question. Mal gave the right answer every time.

"How are you doing this?" Carlos asked and gave her a confused glance.

"It's simple," Mal didn't look up from her drawings. "Just pick the answer that is the least amount of fun."

"Oh," Carlos shook his head. The next couple of minutes passed with Evie, Jay, and Carlos on the edge of their seats trying to answer Fairy Godmother's questions.

"We are nearing the end of the lesson," Fairy Godmother announced, surprised to get a groan from Carlos. "Our last section for today will be a brief overview of love. The word can be defined as 'an intense feeling of deep affection' or 'a strong affection for another arising out of personal or familial ties.'"

"I don't understand," Evie wrinkled her nose. "What does that have to do with goodness?"

"Having love in your heart allows you to do good," Fairy Godmother reassured her. "It gives you a capacity to treat others in a way you would want to be treated."

"I'm not buying it," Jay shook his head. "The Isle doesn't—" Mal growled under her breath. The sound caused him to trail off. "They didn't encourage love back at our old school is all."

"I am certain you have all experienced love in one way or another," Fairy Godmother nodded. "And I plan to get you to prove that. Your first homework assignment will be writing one page about what love means to you. A memory to go with it. We will share them with each other on Wednesday."

"You're kidding," Mal was the first to speak. Her breaking the silence after Fairy Godmother's announcement was made caused Carlos and Jay to laugh nervously.

Fairy Godmother looked at Mal, expression unchanging before she answered. "I don't joke about schoolwork. One page about what you think love is for Wednesday. We'll consider it an ice breaker."

"Right," Mal nodded. The others gave a nod as well. Evie held her breath, expecting Mal to challenge the teacher. Thankfully she didn't so they were spared finding out what would happen if she mouthed off.

"Is that all then? Mal gulped back the uneasy feeling that was taking over.

"I suppose it is," Fairy Godmother nodded. "Class dismissed. Please make sure you drop by the cafeteria for dinner."

"Yes ma'am," Evie nodded, grateful that Goodness Class was the last class of the day. Fairy Godmother missed the chance of saying anything else since the new students were already out of their seats. The four remained quiet until they were certain she hadn't followed them.

"This is bullshit, " Mal growled through gritted teeth.

"It's one page," Carlos mumbled. "It can wait until after we eat."

"Yeah, because we all plan on eating," Mal scoffed.

"Well, no," Carlos gave her a sheepish expression. "But I still want to see what dinner looks like. We don't need Ben asking why we weren't there and we can go to the library when we're done."

There was a beat of silence where Jay, Evie, and Mal gaped at Carlos. He sounded incredibly sure of himself and hadn't stammered during his explanation. They were slightly impressed — even Mal.

Mal wrinkled her nose then gave an exasperated sigh. "Sounds like a plan." The shocked look Carlos gave her caused Jay to burst out laughing.

"To dinner then," He announced with another laugh.

"To dinner," Evie and Carlos nodded. Mal rolled her eyes then led them to the cafeteria.

Unsurprisingly, none of the teens from the Isle had much of an appetite. They settled on grabbing juice and a couple of scones to look like they were eating something.

Mal was hyper-aware of feeling as though someone was watching them. They were new so someone was bound to be keeping an eye on them.

"That's all you are eating?" The scoff caused the four to flinch. Mal grimaced and bit back the insult that was threatening to fly from her lips. Ben and Audrey stood before them. She would have done anything to wipe the fake look of concern from Audrey's face.

"I don't see why that is any of your business," Mal let her teeth show. Her eyes flashed dangerously.

"We wanted to check in is all," Ben offered with a small smile. Hopefully, the expression would be enough to ease the tension between Mal and Audrey.

"No, you wanted to check in," Audrey rolled her eyes. "I was perfectly fine with the idea of staying at our table."

"Seriously though," Ben sighed. "It looks like you barely touched the food." Carlos cast a glance at Mal, sensing the danger that was threatening to appear. He nudged Evie and was grateful that she spoke up before Mal got the chance.

"We do not get a lot on the Isle," Evie shrugged. "Breakfast could have lasted us for three weeks. It's going to take some getting used to."

Ben and Audrey paled upon hearing that. It took a moment for either of them to speak up.

"What do you mean?" Audrey raised an eyebrow. It was the only other sign that she was concerned by what was said. "Auradon sends a shipment out every month."

"Of trash," Jay scoffed and shrugged his shoulders. A small smirk appeared when he spotted the way Ben's expression changed. "Mostly canned goods and rotten fruit." He gave a pause for dramatic effect. "Did you know bananas are actually yellow, not brown?"

"You forgot about the br-broken furniture and torn up b-books," Carlos added with a nod. "And oranges being orange."

Prince Ben did his best to maintain his composure. He was under the impression that the mainland sent fresh goods over. His gaze traveled from the boys to Evie and Mal. Evie's grim expression left him assuming they had to be telling the truth. It also explained why they all seemed so skinny compared to the rest of his classmates.

"This is the first time I am hearing of this," He winced internally at the annoyed looks he earned from the villain kids.

"Maybe if the kingdom checked in more often," Mal scowled. "We only ever see officials when it is time to update the royal portraits." Evie and Jay rolled their eyes at that. "And you're lacking in doing that. I had a little bit of fun defacing the most recent one of your parents."

"Is there anything else I should know?" Ben couldn't hide his concern, knowing he would have to call his parents to make sure the information was true. The most alarming thing was the way all four shook their heads in unison.

"No, nothing else," Evie and Mal said at the same time. Evie looked down at her lap and bit her lip to show she was done talking.

"Right, I—" Ben was relieved to feel Audrey's fingers in his. She ran her thumb over the back of his palm. "I plan to check in with my father on that."

None of the villain kids said anything in reply. They were silent until Ben left, holding their breath while they waited for someone to speak.

"What did he expect?" Mal growled lowly. Her eyes flashed green. "Sunshine and daisies? Those shits don't care about us."

"Easy Mal," Jay sighed. "They aren't worth getting angry at — We don't want to give them an excuse to ship us back this early on."

The rest of the meal was incredibly unappetizing after the run-in with Ben. The villain kids pocketed the little food that was on their plates then headed to the library.