First Dinner
“Dinner’s ready!”
When the kids heard Camila’s call, Luz jumped up from the couch eagerly. She waved her friends over to the dining room. The smells from the food that had just finished cooking were overwhelming, and Luz loved it. It had certainly been a while since she had eaten real, home-cooked human food. The other kids looked excited to try the food too, and even Hunter was starting to realize how hungry he really was.
As Luz and her friends sat down at the table, someone came out of the hallway. Vee slithered over, still in her basilisk form. She looked anxious, and was glancing back and forth from Camila and the kids. She hastily pulled out a chair, sitting on the edge like she was ready to get up at any moment.
Gus and Willow waved at her, smiling, and Vee gave a small wave back.
Camila walked over to the table and set down a big plate. It will piled with quesadillas. The golden brown, cheese filled tortillas were fresh out of the oven.
Camila pulled out a chair of her own and sat down.
“Go on, you guys can take as many as you want,” she told them with a kind smile.
Luz eagerly took one and placed it on her own plate, then grabbed the pepper shaker and sprinkled some of the seasoning on it. She took a big bite, savoring the taste of the warm food and the gooey cheese.
Vee grabbed one as well, hurriedly eating it. Then she stood up from her seat, muttered something about going to bed early, and left. Camila looked like she was going to invite her to stay, but thought better of it and let her go.
Following Luz’s example, Willow and Gus took a quesadilla too.
“Wow, this human food is actually really good,” Gus mumbled with his mouth full.
“Yes, it’s delicious, Mrs. Noceda,” Willow said graciously.
“No problem! And please, call me Camila.”
Amity and Hunter still hadn’t touched the food yet. They looked from Camila, to the other kids, then to Luz, then back again. They glanced at each other for a split second, then looked away. Luz was watching Hunter and Amity, and nodded to them reassuringly. Amity looked at her, then decided to grab one and take a bite.
“Woah, I’ve never tasted anything like it before,” Amity told Camila. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me, darling,” she replied warmly.
Hunter still hesitated, and Gus noticed this. He took a quesadilla from the platter and placed it on Hunter’s plate wordlessly, smiling at him. He looked at Gus, then down at the food on his plate with an odd look on his face, then hesitantly reached out and held it in his hand. He took a bite, watching Camila out of the side of his eye, and looked relieved when he saw that no one said told him to not eat it.
They sat quietly at the table for a couple moments.
“So, you kids seem to be very close,” Camila said, breaking the silence. “How did you all meet?”
The kids all looked around at each other, hiding their grins and trying not to laugh.
“I met Willow, Gus, and Amity at school,” Luz replied, choosing not to tell her mother all the details, since she doubted Camila would like to hear that her daughter almost got dissected when she snuck into a witch school for the first time.
“School?” Camila asked, confused.
“Oh yah,” Luz remembered she had forgotten to tell her that. “Eda enrolled me in this school in the Boiling Isles. It’s called Hexside.”
“Yah!” Gus nodded. “Luz, uh… came on a visit there one day, totally didn’t, uh.. sneak in.. and she met us! Oh, and Amity.”
Amity smiled awkwardly. She had not forgotten the day she first met Luz, when she had jumped on the lunch table, then almost got her killed. But it worked out nice in the end. Kind of. Amity also remembered her mother’s stern voice that afternoon when she came home without her badge, and the look on her teacher’s face when she disrupted class.
But after she had gotten over her rivalry with Luz, she had started to get to know her better over the next couple months, and then they started dating, and Amity was happy. She didn’t care what her mother thought anymore. But she just wished she knew if her dad— no. She shook that thought out of her head. He was probably fine. He was a capable adult. And there was nothing she could do about it now.
“We went on lots of adventures together,” Willow told Camila. “Luz is very energetic and fun to hang out with.”
“Willow was my first best friend on the Boiling Isles. And she is awesome and like, one of the most powerful witches I know,” Luz added.
The two smiled at each other.
“Don’t forget me,” Gus whispered, grinning.
“Gus is my best friend too!” Luz said to her mother. “I am very grateful to know all these amazing witches.”
“Aw, that’s great!” Camila clasped her hands together, very happy for her daughter. “Do you go to Hexside too, Hunter?”
“Uh..” he looked like he didn’t really know what to say to Camila. “Uhm.. no, not technically, but I have been there, and I.. uh.. l-lived there for a short while.”
Camila was a little surprised, but she hid it well. “Oh, okay.”
“I met Hunter when he almost k-“ Luz chimed in, but stopped suddenly, rethinking what she was going to say. “When he was still the…” she trailed off, glancing between her mother and Hunter.
“When I was still the Golden Guard,” Hunter finished quietly.
Camila didn’t know what that being the Golden Guard meant, but she could tell it was a sensitive subject to Hunter, so she didn’t pry.
“Yah, that..” Luz muttered. “I met him while he was on a mission. We teamed up temporarily.”
“I met Hunter while he was on a mission too,” Willow said. “He helped us in the end.” She smiled at him and he looked down at his lap, the tips of his ears blushing.
“Same,” Amity added.
“I gave him a sandwich!” Gus exclaimed.
“The Boiling Isles seems like an.. interesting place,” Camila said. “It must be hard for you kids to transition to the human realm so suddenly.”
“It is different,” Willow replied. “But I think we’ll adjust eventually.”
“And Luz told me all about this place,” Gus said. “And I read some teen magazines.”
“Hmm, we’ll don’t believe everything you read in those things,” Camila advised, chuckling.
“So you guys don’t nail wire to kids teeth?”
“No, that’s true.”
“Heh, strange,” Gus murmured under his breath. “I’ll have to write notes while I’m here to bring back to the HAS.”
“HAS?” Camilla asked.
“Human Appreciation Society. I’m the president of it at Hexside,” Gus responded proudly. “I’m sure that the members would love to hear about it all when we get ba…” he trailed off, looked down at his plate sadly. “If we get back,” he whispered.
“When,” Luz said. “We’ll find a way back. I know it.”
The rest of the kids nodded.
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Camila was cleaning the dishes in the sink as she stared out the kitchen window. The sun was setting, it would be dark soon. She hoped they would like the sleeping arrangements. She wanted to make them as comfortable as possible. They didn’t need anything else to worry about on top of everything they were dealing with.
She was worried, she admitted to herself. Those kids would need a lot of time and patience to heal. She could do that. She had noticed the changes in Vee during the weeks after Camila had found out she was a basilisk. Now that she knew she was safe and accepted, she was doing much better. She hoped it would work with the rest of the kids too.
Gus came up from behind her, startling her out of her thoughts. He stood beside Camila in front of the sink, then raised his hand and made a circle in the air with his finger. He traced a glowing blue light, and a plate started to levitate in the air. Then a sponge started to float too, and it began to scrub the plate. Nothing was even touching it. It was magic.
“Woah, thanks, Gus,” Camila said, and Gus grinned at her.
Suddenly, Amity walked up to her too. She smiled awkwardly at Camila, holding out a cup of tea to her. Camila took it, smiling back at her. She didn’t really care that the tea bag was hanging off the wrong side, it was the thought that mattered.
Camila knew that she loved these kids already, and would do anything to keep them safe.