"Since you had brunch with the King and Queen, it'll be better if you started with table manners first." Audrey said as her thumbs danced over her phone. Mal raised an eyebrow. "So, why are we practicing table manners here ?" Mal gestured to the location they were in - the Enchanted Lake. The two were sitting on the grass, near the crystal clear lake, where the trees seemed to be glistening under the hot sun. It was a particularly warm day today, and although Mal, at this time would be in bed fanning herself, she decided she would learn from Audrey today.

"Is there a problem?" Audrey asked innocently.

"This is the same location where Ben and I had our first date." Mal muttered, wondering if Audrey had possibly known. "Oh really?" Audrey giggled - a bit too suspicious. Mal rolled her eyes as Audrey returned to her texting.

Mal wondered when Ben would be back. She had not seen him in ages. She knew that Ben was just away on a business trip, he was the king after all. But she felt insecure without him around, she was afraid that without him, she would crumble and fall back to evil again. Even without her mother's influence, she was still pressured by peers in school. Not everyone was happy that she and the other Villain kids were here - even after the coronation. She looked warily at Audrey. Despite her niceness, Audrey still treated Mal like she was evil, and she constantly referred to her as a 'VK'.

"Ah! I forgot something!" Audrey sang as she clapped her hands twice. Jay appeared from behind a large stone pillar with a wicked smile, dressed in Ben's school uniform. Wait-

"JAY? What are you doing here?" Mal's eyes widened as Jay took out a mirror from Ben's vest pocket and admired himself, adjusting his collar. Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "Don't worry M. I'll return the suit. And besides, it's so nice of me to help you." He calmly replied, throwing a flirtatious wink in Audrey's direction.

"YOU STOLE HIS CLOTHES?" Mal yelled in disbelief, standing up. Audrey stood up as well. "He's here to help us!" She said, excited. Mal rolled her eyes. Obviously Audrey would drag Jay into this, and Jay had told the gang that he was starting to work towards his goal of being nice.

"Audrey actually wanted me to steal Mr Beast's clothes, but it was too heavily guarded. Oh, and by the way Mal - thanks for the magazine. I looked really good." Jay smirked.

Mal sighed and sat back down. She didn't want to stop Audrey now, or she might quit teaching her. Audrey turned to Jay. "Okay, I totes know that you're a VK and all, but if you wanna be nice, I need you to act as Ben for this lesson. You got it, pumpkin?" Jay stuck one of his hands into Ben's pants' pocket, whipping out a golden watch. "Of course." He replied with a smirk, before wearing it around his wrist.

Mal pinched the bridge of her nose with frustration.

"Hey Mal, I'm Ben. King of Auradon. I may look human, but in my soul, I... was born a beast." Jay flirted in a dramatic manner. Mal let out a huge groan. "Ben does not talk like that." Mal said matter-of-factly. "Ah-ah, Maaaaaal." Audrey interrupted, crossing her arms and glaring at her. Jay gave Mal a knowing look.

"Ugh, fine." Mal immediately changed into her sweet expression. "Hi, Ben. I missed you." She gestured to the food spread on a picnic blanket. "Picnic?" She flashed Jay a smile. Jay sat down opposite her. "Since I'm a king, I don't deserve to be eating such a low, inexpensive meal in such a -" Jay gestured with his hands wildly. "commoner's place. But since you insisted so much to have a 'picnic', then thank you." Mal gritted her teeth.

"Oh My Auradon. Totally forgot my purse! You two have fun, I gotta go. I think I left it in the car..." Audrey bit her lip worriedly as she ran off.

"How about some strawberries?"

"If you want me to eat them, rinse it again. I don't want to be eating filthy strawberries."

"Okay, that's fine. Um... Cake?"

"Are you trying to fatten me?"

Mal slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"So, how's your day? Of course, I was busy with king work, and I nearly forgot all about you... But anyways, your hair looks great." Jay grinned. A flash of hurt crossed her features until Jay realised it. Shoot. "M-Mal, I didn't mean.." Jay stuttered a little. Mal cleared her throat as she sat up straighter. "It's okay.. I guess you're right. Maybe he might forget all about me."

"Mal," Jay's face was a mix of surprise and concern. "Easy. You're way overthinking." Mal threw her hands up in despair. "I don't know! I just... falling in love is strange, you know. And, when we were still at the Isle.." Her voice trailed off. Feeling the awkward tension, Jay cleared his throat. "Mal, I may not know about this love stuff that much, but I saw the way he looked at you, and it looked different. Don't worry so much, you're creeping me out."

He held his palm up, near to her face. He snapped his fingers. "Snap out of it." He smirked when Mal giggled.

As Jay wolfed down the food (he was probably only excited to have free food while doing this); Audrey taught her to eat her strawberries with her pinky lifted up, or when she was drinking orange juice, she could not be slurping.

Mal felt irritated. Not only was Audrey scolding her of having peanut butter on her cheek and for not immediately grabbing a paper towel to dab the stain, but Jay was wolfing down all the food right in front of her! Aside from that, Ben never commented her for having poor manners for eating.

"I can't do this." Mal stood up and left, her mind buzzing with unsure. "Mal, wait!" Audrey paused mid-rant and stood up, watching her leave.

"She wasn't that bad at table manners. I'm surprised. You should let her down easy, this is tough for her." Jay said as he stood up as well, stuffing more truffles into his already full mouth.

"Ugh! This is already tough for me! It took patience to not comment on her horrible leather wardrobe choices!" Audrey said angrily. Jay rolled his eyes. What a diva.

Audrey simply took the last truffle from his jammy hands and popped it into her mouth.