"I hate mac and cheese," Eric said with a frown. "Gimme." He hungrily grabbed a cup and dug in with his fingers.

Daley offered a cup to Taylor, who wrinkled her pretty nose and said, "No, thanks. I’m watching my carbs."

"Yeah, me too!" Daley gave Taylor a broad, bogus smile. Then the smile went away. "I’m gonna watch them go into your face. Eat!"

Taylor blinked liked she was afraid Daley might actually pound her in the face. She took a cup of yellow noodles, then looked around and frowned. "Eat with my fingers?"

"Yeah, sorry, the fine silverware was on the other plane," Daley muttered. She took the last cup and sat on the wing with the rest of them.

"Hey, I’ll eat yours if you don’t want it," Eric said, reaching toward her.

Taylor snatched the cup of macaroni away from Eric.

Everybody dug in with their fingers and wolfed the noodles down. Then they turned the little cups inside out to suck them dry, and licked their fingers until every last scrap of food was gone. Taylor kept looking around expectantly, like she was waiting for the next course to be served. Eventually it dawned on her that no other food was coming. Even the prom queen ate every speck of macaroni.

After a beat, Eric rubbed his stomach. "Ah, there’s nothing like a full belly," he said sarcastically. "And that was nothing like a full belly. Who wants seconds?"

Daley gulped. "Nobody. That’s all we get till tomorrow."

"But I’m starving here!" Eric protested.

"Naw, you’re hungry," Daley answered. "When the food runs out, then you’ll be starving."

Nathan shook his bushy mop of hair. "And when is that gonna be?"