Mirror, Mirror (Book 2)

Chapter 31: The New Rules

Heading over to the Banquet Hall, the mysterious chef served the kids blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes, helpings of scrambled eggs, and sausage patties.

Light, happy chatter filled the cafeteria as sounds of scraping forks and singing knives banged on the plates; for beverages, the children were given glasses of Sunny D orange juice.

As Harriet joined Oliver at his usual table, she notices that the boy has everything: blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, two bacon strips, a strawberry toaster strudel, and two sausage patties.

While Oliver carefully eats his breakfast, Harriet gasped, "how come you get so much food?"

Oliver looked at his tray then shrugged, "I have no idea."

"Does this happen a lot?" she inquired.

"I think so, but maybe others have large portions, too."

Harriet looks down at her small breakfast and shakes her head.

"You're lucky," she chuckled. "The chef in the kitchen must have liked you."

Oliver frowned a little. "I guess, but I don't know why the chef cares about me."

Either he treated the cook with respect or not, Oliver never understood why the chef would make all this effort to give him a feast fit for a king.

But still, the chef did like him. 

Turning to Harriet, Oliver humbly offers his food to her.

She looked at him carefully. "Really?"

Oliver nods as he picks up a bacon strip, one of his sausage patties, and toaster strudel then places it on Harriet's orange tray.

"Here you go," says Oliver kindly.

"Thanks," Harriet smiled.

Cutting her meat with a fork and knife, Harriet ate her sausage, while Oliver consumes his blueberry pancakes.

"So what do you do for fun?" asked Harriet suddenly.

"Well, I read books and watch television," Oliver replied.

"That sounds. . . nice," Harriet noted.

Oliver laughed, "I know it sounds boring, but books can be fun."

"You like to tell stories."

"Yeah," he smirked. "Pretty dumb ones."

"No, they're creative," Harriet says, munching on her bacon strip. "You should try writing a novel sometime."

"Thanks," Oliver smiled. "I can add it to the list of everyday heroes I want to be."

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

His smile grew wider. "A doctor."

"How come?"

"I like helping people," Oliver answered, "and I also want to learn more about medicine." 

Harriet giggled, "well, I want to be the president of the United States."

Oliver bites into his scrambled eggs. "That's pretty cool."

"I know," Harriet agreed. "it's kind of rare that women get to be presidents. I mean, you have female politicians and governors, but not a woman who represents an entire American nation."

"I think being the first female president is a sign of empowerment," Oliver said, swallowing his eggs.

"That way, you can tell women not only be ashamed of their gender but how people view them."