I Was a Kid but I Wasn’t Clueless (Part 3);
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Chapter 3: Star Six Lunch Table Meeting.
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Chapter 3 Summry: Ben talks to his friends about his proclamation and a surprising alliance is formed. Trigger warnings: anger issues, mentions of cheating, dysfunctional families, implied inhumane conditions, manipulation, embarrassing situations involving the internet, possible swearing, implied anxiety, secret keeping, some of these interactions could be seen as bullying, questionable parenting, implied child abuse/neglect/ableism, etc. Let me know if I should add to the list or not. Also yes I know it's possible for Chad not to be adopted. It's just a headcanon of mine (He's related to his grandfather distantly and gets comments about how much he looks like him but it's not common knowledge and his own parents didn't know at first after adopting him, either). A lot of this chapter takes inspiration from the School of secrets web series but with some changes to fit the situation. I own nothing except my ocs and this au/fanfiction.
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Despite what many people liked to think or even outright claim, Ben was someone who liked to be prepared. Which is why he’d come prepared with everything that could possibly convince his friends that inviting the isle kids to Auradon was a good idea and brought with him to lunch in the hopes that it would at least give them enough pause to at least think about talking it over with him.
Fully prepared to fight to prove his point and to be disappointed, even if the young soon-to-be king didn’t want to be.
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The moment ‘the star six’ as Ben’s friend group was known as children sat down at their usual lunchtime spot at 12:00 PM sharp on Tuesday, he got to work.
Laying out the rough sketch of his proclamation with lists of pros, cons, and reasons why he wanted to do this and passing each of his friends their own lamented copies that he’d made and personalized to meet each of their learning needs. Even including the pictures of the isle kids. Trying to keep his voice neutral volume wise—loud enough for Jane to hear with her hearing issues but quiet enough that those at other tables wouldn’t hear—and showing no emotion just as his father had taught him. Doing his best not to fidget and barely touching ‘Chip’s Grilled Cheese’ (as Mrs. Potts called it on the menu) or the other food on his tray. Occasionally pausing to take a sip of his drink.
Barely pausing long enough for him to breathe because Ben knew if he did, he might lose his nerve.
It was 12:30 when he finished and even dared to look at his friends to gauge their reactions— not knowing what to expect.
Doug, Jane, and Lonnie all looked varying degrees of thoughtful.
Lonnie also looked angry and like she might cry, no doubt offended on the behalf of the isle kids and how unfair the whole situation was—just like Ben had expected. She had her phone out and on record so that she could listen to it later and write up an article in the school newspaper if it was needed.
Doug had started taking notes at some point during Ben’s not quite presentation and Jane had written down some questions in the way she did with the material for the Debate Club, which she was a benchwarmer for. Doug was biting down on his thumb in thought and Jane was wrinkling her nose and clenching her fists so tight that Ben was worried that she might accidentally hurt herself.
Audrey didn’t look happy in the slightest and neither did Chad but they weren’t outright arguing with him about it, and Chad was examining one of the photos closely which Ben would consider a win.
“So, uh, any questions or concerns?”
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By the time lunch ended at 1:00 PM, Ben had all five of his friends fully (or at the very least, reluctantly) on board with his proclamation and promising to back him on the matter and help prepare for the Isle Kids’ arrival.
He also had several loose pages of notebook paper to look over with suggestions his friends had made regarding how to get the isle kids settled in as quickly and smoothly as possible, as well as questions that he needed to find the answers or logical rebuttals to when he inevitably went public with his proclamation. Something all of his friends had agreed he would need (which was a surprise within itself considering just how rare it was for all five of them to agree on anything these days).
Doug had pointed out that he’d likely need to set up some kind of financial aid plan to help the kids in settling in and with things like health care and such, and had offered to help him draw up plans for it after school, since he was the best with numbers out of the group. Something Audrey said was a good idea since it would allow for the isle kids to get brought here quicker if he already had such things figured out when he went public with it and to which Chad had commented that it’d also make it seem like less of a plan based solely on emotion and not logistics. Adding that it would also look good to his parents and the other adults Ben would soon be working with if he had things planned out ahead of time, when he noticed the surprised looks the rest of the group was giving him.
Jane had a list of things her mom would probably have concerns over regarding the proclamation and mentioned that she’d take him more seriously if he had answers to the questions when he brought the whole idea up, and not after.
Lonnie pointed out that the kids would need somewhere to stay over the summer if they couldn’t go home and that finding them temporary foster placements during a school break would help them get adjusted to life in Auradon better than just throwing them face first into classes. To which Doug then chimed in that they might need screening for any learning disabilities and placement tests to figure out if they were where they were supposed to be education wise before they started at the school too, so that accommodations could be made. Preventing any embarrassment that might occur if the isle kids needed those things or weren’t where they were supposed to be. Something Jane agreed with, before adding that if there was documentation of any issues the kids had regarding trauma, disabilities, or past injuries that things would go smoother since it would make it harder for any teachers to discriminate against them on that front.
Ben hoped that that wouldn’t be necessary in the long run but knew that it was better to be safe than sorry.
Chad suggested they offer therapy if the kids wanted it and added that Ben and Jane should talk to “Aunt Fay” about making sure that the group shared every class with at least one member if possible. Shrugging and claiming that it’d probably be easier for them when asked why (Ben wondered if the blonde was talking from his own experience of suddenly attending classes with people he didn’t know after he was adopted but didn’t ask).
Audrey’s main suggestion (one that all his friends agreed with after she explained her reasoning for it) was that someone should take the isle kids shopping so that they had school appropriate clothes and school supplies. Pointing out that they might feel embarrassed if they weren’t able to bring anything like that from home, since the hand-me-downs they got from the barrage might not be in the best shape sometimes.
All of which Ben hadn’t thought of (or at least not that extensively) beforehand and thought were lovely suggestions. Ones he hadn’t expected but was happy to get.
Briefly, the brunette wondered what would have happened if he went with his first instinct— which was to keep the whole proclamation thing under wraps until he had his parents’ approval on it. Would he have had all of his friend’s full support on it? Would Audrey and Chad have taken it well?
Would he have thought of these things?
Ben of course, didn’t have an answer for these questions and likely never would but it was still interesting to think about.
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None of them knew it yet, but none of them would be able to get the isle off of their mind anytime soon in the weeks to come.
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Today was the day.
The day Ben was going to tell his parents of his first proclamation!
He had never been more nervous in his life, not even when he’d gotten grounded for a month after cutting up his dad’s favorite rose bush while trying to help tend to the garden or after he had to tell his dad that he’d yelled at the Council of sidekicks after being tasked to listen to their complaints not that long ago.
(The very thing that, along with his dreams of Mal, had made him think of his proclamation to begin with).
His parents weren’t going to like this.
In fact, Ben was sure they were absolutely going to despise this idea of his—but that wasn’t going to stop him from bringing the isle kids to Auradon, not when they needed help.
He steeled himself, trying not to fidget as Lummire took his measurements for his new suit.
(Truth be told, the young prince didn’t want to be anywhere near the man he’d come to consider an uncle after the conversation they had just had.
“Do you ever think about the Isle of the Lost, Lummire? I’ve heard there are children there my age sentenced to spend their lives under the dome because of things their parents did.”
“Mm. One can never overemphasize the importance of descending from GOOD STOCK. ”
The whole thing was making his skin crawl.
Good stock?
What did that even mean? ).
“Sleeve. Head.”
“How is it possible that you're gonna be crowned king next month? You're just a baby!” Ben’s dad looked so proud of him.
It just made Ben all the more nervous.
Belle rolled her eyes, smiling softly at him. “He’s turning sixteen, dear.”
Might as well just rip the Band-Aid off. “Hey pops—”
“Sixteen? That's far too young to be crowned king. I didn't make a good decision until I was at least forty two.”
“Uh, you decided to marry me at 28.”
“Ah, it was either you or a teapot.”
Ben, despite his nerves, couldn’t help but laugh at the look his mom shot his dad after his , admittedly terrible, joke.
“Kidding.”
“Mom, dad…” Ben tried to cut in—only to get cut off by Lumerie once again.
“Ah! Mmm-mm!”
Ben forced himself to continue, knowing that if he didn’t he would never tell them. “I've chosen my first official proclamation. I've decided that the children on the Isle of the Lost be given a chance…” He paused, looking out the window to the isle, where he knew the Badun Detective Agency and Mal were currently roaming around without hope. It wasn’t right. “—to live here in Auradon.”
Seeing his parents’ shocked faces, the fifteen year old made himself talk faster so he could at least finish what he had to say. “Every time I look out to the island, I feel like they've all been abandoned.”
“The children of our sworn enemies? Living amongst us?” Beast looked at Belle, no doubt silently asking the queen if she was hearing what he was hearing.
Ben’s stomach started to sink but he kept moving forward, as the Lewis Robinson always said to do: he wasn’t going to give up on this. He could be just as stubborn as his parents when he wanted to be. “We start out with a few at first, only the ones who need our help the most. I've already chosen them.”
“Have you?”
Belle elbowed Beast, giving him a look (something Ben was thankful for. He needed all the help he could get). “I gave you a second chance. Who are their parents?”
“Edgar Balthazar and Sarah Brown. Jasper Badun. The Ringmaster and Miss Atlantis.
Tareq Vizer of Agrabah and Maji of Agrabah. Helga Sinclair and Horace Badun. Yzma… and Hades.” Ben braced himself, forcing himself not to cover his ears despite knowing what was coming.
Lummire yelped.
“HADES? He’s one of the worst villains in the land!”
“Dad, come on, just hear me out here—”Ben pleaded, stepping forward; this time Lummire didn’t stop him as he quickly left the room.
“I won't hear of it. They are guilty of unspeakable crimes!”
Belle grabbed his arm, shooting him a look. Her silent way of saying ‘you need to control your temper’.
And Ben…
Well, he wasn’t proud of what he was about to do and silently hoped that the gods could forgive him for it.
“Dad, their children are innocent—”he frowned, widening his eyes just like Chad had taught him. Trying to look as distressed as possible (which wasn’t hard considering just how guilty and stressed and worried he was feeling). Giving them his best kicked puppy dog look—something he had sworn he’d never do, because he had hoped he never would. “Don’t you think they deserve a chance? A shot at a normal life? Dad?”
It was a miracle he managed to stop himself from wincing.
That would have given his whole ‘ruse’ away.
His dad stared at him for a long minute, before the anger drained out of him and he sighed. “I suppose their children are innocent.”
“Well.” Belle smiled, clearly satisfied with Beast’s answer. “Well done. Shall we?”
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Lonnie yelped as she nearly tripped off of the chair she was using to install the camera—almost getting her face caught in the frame, which would have been bad because the last thing she wanted was to have to try and edit her face out of the video again .
She shouldn’t have been doing this.
That she knew.
But she also knew that Ben was too trusting and that his proclamation wasn’t going to go over well with several of their peers, and she wanted him to be prepared for that.
And if that meant knocking some of their said peers off of their high horses to get her point across?
Well, she wasn’t exactly going to cry over it.
If they couldn’t be open about the possibility of isle kids coming here, then Lonnie wasn’t going to be tight lipped about the fact they were two faced jerks who didn’t think about others or the rules unless it affected him. It was a fair tradeoff, in her opinion.
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Chad sat on his bed at home, staring at the picture of Hades’ son that Ben planned to invite to Auradon. Trying desperately not to think of the fight he had just had with his parents or the disappointed look Fairy Godmother had given him after that video of the Lunchroom stalker going through his phone and the video she had titled ‘sub text’ had gone viral.
His parents hadn’t been happy.
FG hadn’t either.
And all three of them had made sure that he knew it.
And now he was stuck in his room, staring at the photo of one of the kids he was helping Ben bring over—something he likely wouldn’t have agreed to do if he’d found out about Ben’s proclamation along with everyone else and not beforehand.
He felt like their friendship was dying—(Just like his grandparents had)—and if that had happened it only would have been more proof of that fact. But it hadn’t.
Ben had wanted their opinions. Had wanted their help.
(He hadn’t asked for their help since middle school).
And Chad had agreed to help him, keeping what he truly thought to himself. Something he knew Audrey was probably also doing—the two of them had always been in sync with one another like that, after all—all because Ben had asked them to and had trusted them enough to tell them despite knowing they were going to fight him on it.
Their lack of fighting seemed to surprise him and the others.
(Chad tried not to think too hard about that).
Hades’ son. Hadie, was eight and he liked the color blue, puppies, and flowers.
Chad’s sister, Chloe, was eight and liked the color blue, puppies, and flowers.
Chad’s sister was safe in Auradon in a castle in Cinderellasburg and never wanted for anything other than better health (the one thing their parents couldn’t give her).
Hades’ son was trapped on the isle with monsters sleeping who knows where and probably wanting for more than he should. Probably always wanting for something, through no fault of his own.
(“Think about your sister, Chadwick, and the example you’re setting for her with this—” His father had said with a raised voice, pointing at the computer screen where the two videos were now paused.
His mother was crying and couldn’t look at him.
Aunt Fay had that stupid disappointed frown on her face that she always had.
Chloe was playing outside, with a chaperone to make sure she didn’t wander back inside and eavesdrop on their conversation.
“—actions have consequences, son, and those consequences don’t always affect just you. What if Chloe’s school mates find this when they’re older? What if they find it now —”
It was the only part of the scolding that had really stuck in Chad’s mind.
He hadn’t considered Chloe at all when he was leading those girls on to get help with his homework. Why would he have? She was eight and wasn’t involved in the situation at all. It wouldn’t affect her if she didn’t see it—
But… his dad made a good point.
It could affect her—Chad didn’t want it to affect her.
He didn’t want her to lose friends because of what he did and to miss out on things because of him.
And he most certainly didn’t want anyone treating her like he had treated those girls…
He had to make a change—but what if it was too late?
What if Chad had already doomed Chloe and didn’t even know it?).
Chloe was safe with parents and a big brother to protect her from everything but her sickly health.
But Hadie might not have that.
And it wasn’t right.
Under different circumstances, Chloe could have been Hadie.
And that wasn’t acceptable.
Chad hadn’t thought it was the moment he laid eyes on the picture in his hand the first time.
Maybe that was part of the reason why he was keeping his mouth shut about the whole thing.
Hadie deserved a chance at a life without fear.
Every child did.
Chad couldn’t erase how much of a dick he’d been to his friends and others or rewrite the narrative of what had happened with the girls he’d manipulated, but he could help Ben with this and he could try to be better.
So that’s what he was going to do.
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“SNIFFLES, WHERE’S MY BRUSH?!” Unity (or Bossy, as most people called her) shrieked from upstairs.
“HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW?!” Sniffles hollered, her voice sounding a bit farther away than Unity’s was—which likely meant she was in her room, which was the farthest away from the stairs and the kitchen.
The kitchen, where Doug was currently trying to revamp the isle kid financial aid plan and program Ben had come up with to account for some of the more recent information Ben had brought to his attention. Trying to figure out an average cost for what each vk would need with and without donations while also trying to revamp the summary Ben had written to remove any words or phrasing that could raise people’s heckles. The last thing Ben needed was to get yelled at, again , because of people’s misinterpreting his well-meaning words.
Unfortunately for Doug, his brother had insisted he come home and spend some time with his family that weekend so all of that was taking a bit longer than planned: It probably didn’t help that because the teen was home and supposed to be keeping things under wraps he’d had to resort to writing in code to prevent his more nosey cousins from getting word of what he was doing.
Most of them weren’t happy with Ben’s proclamation and Doug didn’t feel like getting in an argument with any of them (or worse, his uncles and aunts who were very vocal about their own opinions) over how involved he was in the whole thing or if he had known before Ben had even announced his proclamation what he was going to.
CRASH.
"Crashy-"
"It wasn't me this time! It was Bash and Cheerful!"
"Snitch!"
“CHEERFUL, WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT DOING CARTWHEELS IN THE HOUSE?!”
“BASH! NO PLAYING BALL IN THE HOUSE!”
"WHEEZY, HOW DID YOU GET ON THE ROOF?!"
“I AM NEVER GOING TO SCHOOL AGAIN!”
“Raphel, I know you’re embarrassed but you’ll never become a doctor if you stop going to school–”
“MY DISASTER OF AN ATTEMPT AT FLIRTING IS TRENDING! I CAN NEVER SHOW MY FACE AGAIN!”
Giggles snorted, Smiley laughed, and Joy cackled.
“Girls! No laughing at your cousin’s misery—”
“But daaaad, it’s true! That was an awful attempt—”
“And he is trending!”
“That’s no excuse!”
Doc the 2nd, Loverboy, and/or Raphel as he was known buried his face in his hands and ran out of the room. “I AM NEVER LEAVING THIS HOUSE AGAIN!”
Uncle Doc winced and ran after him to do damage control after shooting a glare at Uncle Happy. He would definitely be hearing about that later.
“Okay, so, from the top Shy. What do we say when we have to go up to the counter and make an order?”
“Uh, I, uh—we…”
Something shattered in the garden and Uncle Grumpy could be heard yelling. “SNAPPY! GROUCHY! GORDON! CRABBY! GRUMPY JR! MADISON! STOP FIGHTING THIS INSTANT—”
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
"Happy Jr, stop encouraging your cousins!"
Doug’s eye twitched.
‘You okay?’ Derek signed, frowning and tilting his head to the side. Momentarily ignoring their mother as she fussed over his hair and asked about his most recent date and when his next club event would be.
(She never remembered any of his club events… or maybe she just didn’t care. It was possible given that the two of them didn’t share many interests in common. That didn’t make it hurt any less, though).
“I’m fine.” Doug sighed and went back to what he was doing. Or tried too anyway. It was kind of hard with Nighty (or Creepy, as she had insisted lately), Sleepy Jr, and Snoozy snoring all around him and with Gus/Gesundheit, Snot, Sniffles, and Sneezy Jr sneezing every five seconds from all the around the house because the family never dusted and the pollen was getting worse.
All of it was too much and was making it oh so hard to focus—and that wasn’t even accounting for the racket his aunts were making as they ran around the house: some trying to break up fights, a couple talking to extended family and planning the next family reunion, and the rest doing who knows what who knows where.
Jane would probably be happy she missed it.
Gods knew their family could be a bit much.
Suddenly, his notebook was ripped from his hands—because in all the chaos he’d forgotten not one, not two, not even three, but six of his cousins, as he always did. And it just so happened that he’d gone and forgotten the nosiest of them all. Goopy (who was three months old), Babbles (who was one), Cranky (who was two), Dozy (who was three), Noisy (who was four), Nosey (who was seven), and Hap (who was seventeen).
“You still write in that code you and your friends came up with when you were six?” Hap snorted, looking at the paper with all of Doug’s work over with an amused grin.
“What is it?! what is it? I wanna see!” Noisy whined, tugging on Hap’s coat.
“I bet it’s about that horrible date he went on. I guess Uncle Dopey should have named him Clumsy.” Hap snickered—he was never going to let Doug live that stupid picnic date down, was he? It wasn’t fair.
Anyone could trip over a candle and start a fire. So why was it when Doug did it, it was oh so funny?
(Why was everything so much funnier or worse when Doug did it in his cousins’ minds?).
“So do I!” Nosey chimed in, holding up Babbles. “And Babbles does too!”
Doug tried to snatch back his notebook. “Well you aren’t going to, that’s private!”
“Not till you tell us what it is—” Hap teased, holding the notebook out of Doug’s reach—which was behind him since Doug was taller than him by quite a bit.
Doug’s mom didn’t intervene. Just sighing at the sight of them fighting, even though she had to have seen Hap start it.
Derek, on the other hand, had no problem intervening and yanked the notebook out of Hap’s hands almost immediately. Tossing it back to Doug with an apologetic look, hoping it wasn’t damaged by his actions.
Doug gave him a thankful look before weaving his way out of the room before his cousins could badger him any further.
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Jane, even weeks later, couldn’t help but wonder if her mother knew how bad the isle was.
Because from the way the background in the photos looked and the state of the children in them alone, Jane could just tell that the isle wasn’t exactly a nice place to be. It didn’t look clean. It didn’t look safe. The kids didn’t look healthy and happy .
And the fourteen year old just couldn’t stand the sight of any of it.
Or the thought that her mother may have known about this.
It was bad enough knowing that Ben's parents could have known, but her own mother? Who always preached about goodness and how they should strive to be as good as they can to others?
She didn't want to believe it… but Jane couldn't fully dismiss the possibility.
(And wasn't that heartbreaking, the fact that she couldn't discern whether her mother would actually have allowed something like this to happen knowingly?)
“Three rounds—”Jeremiah Darling, son of John Darling and Luna, broke her out of her chain of thought as he started their next practice season for the debate team—in which he was the captain for. “Topic: should the descendants of villains be allowed in Auradon?”
Jane nearly groaned at the question—ever since Ben had announced his first proclamation the school had been abuzz with everyone sharing their own opinions on it—some not very nicely, mind you—and it was driving her insane.
And of course, he just had to ask the question to her and Doug’s most annoying and vicious cousin, Unity, and her of all people.
Jane was beginning to become convinced that she was cursed. First that stupid quiz saying that she belonged on the isle of the lost and now this? What had she done to deserve this? She would have never have agreed to do this topic if she had known Unity was going to be the one she was debating against. Everyone knows that once Unity has her mind set on something she rarely changes it.
“Annnnd begin—” Jeremiah hit the bell and Unity didn’t hesitate even for a moment before launching into her speech on her stance, gesturing like a politician as she did. As if she was making a wonderful point and not discriminating against a ton of kids none of them had ever met, let alone been sure had existed until Ben had thought of it.
What a load of—
Jeremiah hit the bell again, gesturing for Jane to begin and of course, because it was Jane going against Unity she got tongue tied.
Ah biddity.
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Truth be told, Audrey wasn’t happy about Ben’s proclamation in the slightest.
She didn’t trust the vks and she didn’t want them here—not after what her grandmother had told her when she was growing whenever she bothered to ask about the isle.
But…she could overlook that for Ben.
Because she loved him and he had trusted her enough to lay out his proclamation, and ask for her help and her insight despite knowing there was a high possibility of her arguing with him over it. Something she couldn’t help but appreciate and feel relief over.
She could only imagine how hurt she’d have felt if she were to find out about the proclamation any other way. Because if she had found out about it some other way, that would have meant that Ben didn’t trust her enough to aid him in this type of thing.
It would have been a red flag—no not a red flag, a sign. A sign that their relationship was close to ending and that their near decade long friendship was damaged because of it—but it wasn’t. Because Ben had trusted her enough to ask for help.
(which though Audrey didn’t know it then, was a sign that their friendship could survive even if their romantic one didn’t).
Audrey could overlook her distrust and dislike of the idea of the vks coming here and put those feelings aside for Ben, the little boy who had helped her clean the mud off her dress after someone had pushed her into the mud in kindergarten and the young man who had stolen her heart.
She was going to help the vks settle in and help the proclamation strive.
For Ben.
And for everything he believed in.
And she was going to do a damn good job of it or her name wasn’t Princess Audrea Fae Rose of Auroria—event planner, drama club member, member of the ethics committee, and captain of the cheer squad.
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Doug grimaced as he watched the Lunchroom’s stalker’s video about his disastrous date with Skitten Jenkins.
Looks like he was never going to stop being single.
Why would anyone post this?
He jumped when he heard footsteps, quickly placing his phone face down on the table not wanting Ben to see the humiliating video that was quickly going viral and blowing up his feed. His friend had enough to worry about without his issues getting in the way of their plans.
(At least he had Doc 2 to confide in—he was still just as humiliated by his own video. Doug was pretty sure he’d uninstalled all of his socials after his went viral. At least his hadn’t been edited to have a laugh track over it like Doug’s had. Maybe he should have been named Lucky, instead of Doc 2).
Only when the band member looked up, it wasn’t Ben who was at the table. It was Audrey, in her cheer uniform, clearly having just got back from practice.
“Oh, uh hi Audrey.:” Doug couldn’t keep how awkward the situation was out of his voice. It had been awhile since he and Audrey had hung out one-on-one, and while he knew full well how he felt about Chad (though, recently, he was starting to doubt that since Chad was acting…nicer… for some reason), he wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about Audrey.
High school had made everything so complicated between their friends and he hated it.
What happened to the days where things were simple and he didn’t hate Chad’s guts or avoid being around Audrey because of some off kilter things she said that she would have never said back then?
“I thought Ben was going to—”
Audrey cut him off, scrolling on her phone. A small smile on her face. “Bennie boo has enough to worry about with the new kids arriving so soon.”
“Oh—”
“I told him I’d help him—and you—out with the welcoming committee.”
Doug blinked, a bit taken aback. He couldn’t remember the last time the princess included him in anything. “That’s nice of you. Okay, well—”
“Don’t worry—” that was starting to get annoying. Luckily Doug was used to being interrupted. “—I’ve already made a list of everything we need. Take this down…please.”
This was getting odder by the moment.
“Sure.” Doug got his pencil ready, feeling mildly suspicious, and Audrey continued. No trace of malice on her face or in her voice.
“We need a limousine to bring them here, something classy but not too extravagant or luxurious since we need to fit the budget and don’t want them to get overwhelmed. So budget classy.” A well thought out point and very thoughtful.
“–And I don’t know what they enjoy for snacks, since Ben can’t seem to find a record of what types of food exactly were sent to the isle by the council. Someone suggested frogs or newts—and I’m not one to judge but ew. I’m also not sure that that’s true and don’t want to offend them before they even get here.”
“So no Amphibians?”
After getting confirmation in the form of a nod, Doug jotted that down and then made a note to have a survey taken on the different types of snacks everyone liked so they had some idea of what to put in the limo.
“And of course, someone will have to show them the grounds and the dorms before their foster parents come to pick them up for spring break so we’ll have to make time for that. I was also thinking about having the marching band be there but Ben and I decided that might be a little too much. What do you think?”
“It would be…a bit overwhelming… to be met with a marching band if you weren’t expecting it. Especially during your first day in a new place, We should probably save that idea for a later date.” Doug replied after getting over his shock that she’d asked for his opinion.
It wasn’t often that people did.
Other than Ben and Jane, that was.
“Hmm, you’re probably right. Not to mention it would probably slow things down since Ben wants to get the doctor visits and shopping trip out of the way as soon as possible so they can settle in and enjoy their first week in Auradon without classes waying them down.” Audrey tapped something on her phone. “Oh and Doug?”
“Uh…yeah?”
“Rewatching that video over and over again won’t make it disappear. All it’s doing is stressing you out. You need to keep it out of sight and out of mind, and remember that everyone will forget about it when the next big embarrassing thing happens.” She gave him a sympathetic smile, taking him even further off guard. “It’s not forever and Skitten knows you’re sorry. It may be over with her but that doesn’t mean you’ve been erased from the dating pool completely, okay?”
“Okay…?”
Alright, that settled it. Doug was dreaming.
(He pinched himself after Audrey walked off with a determined pep to herself and found that he was not, in fact, dreaming).
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Fairy Godmother, or Fay Fae as those closest to her knew her as, wasn’t sure what to think.
Ben’s parents, the council of sidekicks, and the royal council—not to mention many staff members—thought the whole thing was going to end in disaster. But she couldn’t help but think otherwise.
Ben had clearly put a lot of thought into his proclamation, even including counterpoints to rebuff the arguments many tried to dissuade him with.
If she didn’t know better, she would almost think he’d had help.
But no, he had had to have done it all on his own. Because surely, otherwise, she would have heard rumors about what he was planning from a staff member if not Jane.
She couldn’t be prouder.
Even if she couldn’t help but feel anxious about the child of the man who had bullied her in highschool coming to Auradon and being under her care.
Since she was responsible for all of the children in the Auradon Preparatory Elementary, Middle, and High Schools (since the schools were connected and divided up into sections) and all.
Oh pixie sticks, Fay was not ready for this at all.
Why couldn’t she have chosen to work as the president at Auradon University instead?
College students were so much easier to handle.
