Child

(Tuesday Afternoon, July 17th)

Ben walks towards the red-lit sign, which has the capital letters GHS going down, the acronym across reading General Health Store. He places his thumbs in his pockets, awkwardly smiling when the brown-haired guy behind the register notices him, "Ben. How can I help you today?" His half smiles, "Appetite suppressants or sleeping aids?"

"Uh. Neither," Ben ruffles his hair. "I'm a little… well, broke right now."

"You're kidding," he disbelieves.

Ben leans on the white counter, "Did you get my application?"

"Sorry. I thought that was a joke," he informs, before his blue eyes scan him. "Aren't royals supposed to get a salary or something?"

"Uh, yeah," Ben glances down at his folded arms. "My, uh, account is going through some things. Until it's sorted out, I'm stuck with my newer one, which has a lot less money."

"So, there's a thousand dollars sitting somewhere, and no one's allowed to use it?"

Ben takes a moment, "Try thirteen thousand." His mouth gapes, and Ben seethes, "Yeah. It's definitely not the best thing that's happened to me. I've never really had to worry about money before, you know, but now..."

"You're just one of us," he jokes.

"Noah," Ben sighs. "I don't know how long it will take for this to be settled, and, honestly, minimum wage sounds really great right now." He wets his lips, "If you could just read my application or have me fill out a new one—"

"You're hired."

"What?" Ben's brows furrow.

"If you're good enough to run the country, which I think you've been doing a fairly good job by the way, I think you can stock some boxes."

"You're not even going to think about my English problem?" Ben unsurely asks.

"You don't remember yet?" he concerns, and Ben lifts a shoulder. "If you don't mind, what did your doctor say?"

Ben glances down, "He's been focused on other problems of mine." before he wets his lips. "Honestly, I get the feeling he would just say it's stress or something stupid like that."

"Well, you have enough of it."

Ben half laughs, "Yeah. So… the job?"

"English shouldn't be a problem," Noah reassures, before he searches the counters for a weird looking phone. He holds it up, "This is a scanner. You scan the UPC to find where we have it in the store. A number with dashes will show up. That tells you which wall or shelves, the section, and the place in that section. It costs a lot of money and we only have one, so if I hand it to you, you can't lose it."

"I won't," Ben promises.

Noah sets the scanner down, "So." before he faces him. "Full or part time?"

"How many hours are those again?"

"Five to twenty for part-time. Twenty to forty for full-time," he informs. "Part-time shifts are ten A.M. to three P.M. and three P.M. to eight P.M. for one to four times a week. Full-time is from open to close for two to four days a week."

Ben bites his bottom lip, "I'm going to need part-time, then. I know I said full-time in the application, but I won't be of use to you if I have to wake up that early."

He offers a surprised look, "What time do you sleep?"

His eyes shift, "In the morning."

"How does school work with that?" he questions.

"It doesn't," Ben frowns. "I take a lot of classes, so teachers think I'm in someone else's class if I'm not in theirs. The ones who do know don't care so long as I keep my grades up."

"So, afternoon shift?"

"Four times a week, if I can," he affirms.

Noah nods, "Well, you have your choice of hours. People think family businesses don't hire anyone else."

"You're a family business," Ben recalls, and he feels his heart speed up. Sure, he's jumped through all the hoops just for being king, but they're allowed to fire him for anything: for being a hybrid, for his illnesses, or for his political and social stances.

"It's really nothing to worry about," he informs. "Just because you wouldn't be part of the family doesn't mean you would be any less part of the team."

Ben gulps, "Right." before he clears his throat. "So, uh, Sunday to Wednesday?"

He smiles, "Sounds good." before he nods over to a stool. "Sit down. If we get you in the computer, then you can start this next week." Ben doesn't move, and he raises an eyebrow, "Unless, you're busy. We can do it when you're not."

"No," Ben quickly dismisses, before he uneasily smiles. "I'm not busy at all."

When Ben walks towards his room, he notices Mal's is open. He halts. She can't be home yet, but what if she is? What is he supposed to say? Ben wets his lips and slowly steps forward, before he sighs at the sight of his mother standing over the terrarium. Of course, Mal wouldn't be home yet. Her stay at the hospital had been extended at least a week. His mother takes notice of him, and he questions, "What are you doing in here?" His mother gives him a look, before he watches her put the meat into the lizard-dragon's tank. "Right. I've forgotten that."

"Yes, well," his mother wipes her hands on her yellow dress, before she clasps them and faces him. "I thought Mal would like us to keep her mother alive, despite everything she's put her through."

"Yes," Ben uncomfortably frowns.

She steps forward, "Do I need to worry? You don't seem to be recovering well from that, uh, fall you had last spring."

Ben's eyes pierce at her. She knows very well that he blames his father for that so-called accident, but because he never touched him, his intimidation was innocent. "Dr. Roberts would point out how much stress I have in my life, and you know I have more than he knows."

"You can't blame your father for everything," she tiredly expresses.

"Because, having my account frozen, when I get a lot of my own medicine and food is no stress at all," Ben sternly counters.

"Ben," she tries to reason, stepping forward.

"It doesn't matter," he faces her. "I have a part-time job at the health store now."

"We're going to get your money back," she insists.

"No, we're not," Ben exasperates. "It's going to stay frozen, until I relinquish it to him."

"Ben," she tries again.

"Question is," Ben continues, "is if I transfer my salary to my new account, will he try to take control of that as well."

"You know very well he couldn't," she persists.

"He thinks the crown is his," Ben evenly replies. "He would try."

"He isn't going to try anything," her voice raises. "He wouldn't make a scene like that after he publicly handed the crown down to you."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

When Ben turns around, Belle shouts, "Would you quit acting like a child?" and Ben halts, staring at the hallway wall. "You're king. This money is yours. If you don't in the least transfer your salary to your new account, don't you dare blame Adam. You're adult enough to have your own separate account, so if you don't put your income into it, that's on you."

Ben strides away from the room, down the hall, and through the door connecting the wings. It's not his father's food if Evie's already made something out of it. His father probably hasn't cared for them at all. It's more likely that Evie used her own money to buy their food than his father did. If he eats something from the East Wing's kitchen, it will be Evie he owes. He might not even owe her. She'd give that food up willingly, as always. He walks into the kitchen, and she smiles at him, "Ben."

He opens the fridge, "Who's hamburger is this?"

She frowns, "It was Jays."

"Is there a pan?" Ben asks, before Evie sets one out for him and he squeezes the raw roll of meat into it.

"You're upset," she notices, but he merely uses the turner to break the meat into fourths. "Ben. What happened."

"Nothing," he dismisses. "I just think that if I put my income to my new account, my father will somehow mess that one up too." He shakes his head and searches the cupboards, "She says I'm acting like a child." before grabbing the peanut butter and a newly cleaned spoon.

"Talk about getting mom-zoned," Carlos comments.

Evie gives him a look, "Carlos. Can you go?"

"Yeah, yeah," Carlos walks over to the fridge, taking out a covered plate. "I just wanted the peanut butter cookies." He catches Ben eating out of the jar, "You can keep that." Ben stops, and Carlos peeks around him, "I thought you didn't like cooked meat."

"Damn it," Ben remembers, moving back to the stove and flipping the burgers.

Evie raises her eyebrows at Carlos, and he shakes his head, "Okay. I'm going."

After he leaves, Ben comments, "I got that job. If I'm working to get this money, I don't want my father to think he needs to take it from me."

"It's yours," Evie frowns. "You don't need to take any risks you don't want to."

"I was going to become king after high school," Ben's voice crackles. "Maybe, if I wait until then, then it will be safer."

"Yeah," Evie solemnly agrees.

Tears fall to his face, "She called me a child. She thinks I'm… just being hard."

"She's just older than you," Evie reminds him. "Older people say things like that when they don't understand something. But you know your father, and if you're afraid he's going to take over this new account too, then you have every right to not risk that." He sobs, and she places a hand on his shoulder, "Look. Maybe it's just because she doesn't have her own money and you do. She can't stand you just giving all of that money up." She leans forward, "Ben. This might not even be about you."

"But it's how she thinks of me," Ben whispers. "I'm a child. I'm her child."

"Ben," Evie sighs.

"What does he have that I don't?" he interrupts. "I mean, everything that he's done… then again, he's always so well… He acts so good around her."

"Ben," Evie starts to confess, before his sad eyes meet her and she lets the breath escape. "Maybe it's a good thing she doesn't feel what you feel. What would you do, if she did?"

Ben eyes down, "You didn't tell Mal?"

Evie hesitates, "I didn't say anything, but I'm pretty sure she knows."

Ben takes the burning meat off from the heat, "Great."

"We can give those to Carlos and Dude," she informs, but he keeps silent. "Look, Ben. I know it must hurt to see your mother with someone who's hurt you, but she made her choice a long time ago and if she can't stand by you now…" Ben eyes over her, as she struggles to continue, "There's someone better for you. You can choose who your family is."

Ben shakes his head, "Maybe that's how things work on the Isle, but here most royals stay with their families their entire lives." He grabs the jar of peanut butter, "And because I'm my father's only child, I will be here until he dies and I get the castle."

"Ben," Evie suggests, "you can change things."

His frown deepens, "I fail to see how." before he scoops the peanut butter and eats it.