𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 𝑰𝑺 𝑨 𝑾𝑰𝑺𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟔

The group split up almost as soon as they arrived back at Auradon Prep. Mal and Evie hurried off to their dorm and Jay and Carlos shuffled off to theirs, leaving Delphina alone in the atrium of the dorm building. Sighing, Delphina made her way to the stairs when her stomach growled obnoxiously and she winced.

She still hadn't eaten. She had slept through lunch and dinner and there was no time to grab a snack before Mal had hauled her out of bed and to the museum for their miserably-failed theft attempt.

Delphina thought for a moment before shrugging. She'd scrounged for food in strange kitchens before. She could do it again. She retraced the trail Audrey had led her through to the cafeteria, then walked into the kitchen from there.

Like everything in Auradon, the kitchen was spotless and unlike anything she had ever seen in her life. The metal tables and refrigerator seemed to reflect everything in the room and the pots and pans were hung up with such precision that Delphina almost felt like she was trespassing in some sort of sacred area.

Her stomach growled again and Delphina snapped out of her trance, making a beeline for the nearest cabinet and cursing when all she saw were bowls and smaller pans. Delphina bent down to check the bottom cabinet, only to find the same thing. Delphina groaned with a slight whine when a voice sounded behind her.

"Check the cabinets near the fridge." Delphina yelped at the sudden presence, jumping up and hitting her head on the counter above in the process. She turned to see Ben, who was fighting back a laugh at her reaction, standing at the entrance of the kitchen. "Are you OK?" He asked, trying to subdue his laugh.

Delphina shot him an annoyed look, rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah," She muttered bitterly. "I'm fine." Ben stepped into the kitchen fully, calming himself.

"Sorry about scaring you." He sighed, making his way over to the fridge. "But all the good stuff is around the fridge." He pulled open one of the fridge doors and carefully removed a tray of mini chocolate cake towers. Delphina joined him at the fridge and her eyes caught on a strange-looking box of fruit.

Curious, she reached forward and picked up the box, examining it. They looked like strawberries, but they were white instead of red. The fruit on the Isle may have been so covered in mold you could barely see through the fuzz, but Delphina knew at the very least that strawberries were supposed to be red.

"Do the people in Auradon usually eat unripened fruit?" She asked Ben curiously. He chuckled and shook his head, plucking a berry from its container.

"No, no. These aren't strawberries. They're pineberries." His explanation had Delphina raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

"What's the difference?" She asked as Ben bit into the white fruit, seemingly savoring the taste. He finished it off before tossing the stem into the trash can behind him.

"Well, they're really rare. They taste like pineapple, but a little sourer. Here," He pushed the box toward her a little. "Try one." Delphina gazed at the box for a moment before giving Ben a puzzled look.

"What's a pineapple?"

~~~

Pineapples were amazing. That was the first conclusion Delphina came to after Ben had fished the fruit out of the fridge and urged her to eat one. The second was that pineberries were also amazing. And bananas. Especially when they were actually yellow. The third was that chocolate mini-tower cakes were the greatest creation to bless the earth.

Ben watched, amused, as Delphina piled all of the fruits into a bowl and strategically placed several mini-tower cakes on a plate to carry back to her room. "So how many fruits did you have on the Isle, exactly?" Ben asked as she continued piecing together the arrangement.