Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School, #1)(16)

“Jocelyn,” Harlow says in a light tone. “Let her finish. And no name-calling,” she adds. “That’s my job. Go on, Maxine.”

“I keep wondering when the war will finally be over.” Maxine side-eyes Jocelyn, one eye rolling in its socket. “When no more lives will be lost.”

“Never!” Jocelyn jumps in. “We should let trolls and goblins all kill each other. Who needs either of them?”

Poor Maxine looks like she’s going to cry, and I snap. Who does Jocelyn think she is? “We could say the same thing about your family,” I speak up. “A lot of people think the Evil Queen should have been banished after what she did to Snow White. Who wants your family in Enchantasia either?” Jocelyn stares at me darkly, and I feel a deep pinch sink into my right arm.

“Ouch!” How’d she do that?

“Temper, temper, Miss Gillian,” Professor Harlow tsks, but she sounds pleased. “You wouldn’t want me to give your first detention for telling lies, would you? Excellent sharing, Jocelyn.” Jocelyn smiles smugly and I roll my eyes.

Squawk! Aldo the crow swoops in and lands on my desk. Squawk! It’s like he’s reporting me for eye-rolling, which is just plain insane, and yet…

Professor Harlow puts out her hand, and Aldo flies back onto her shoulder. The two stare at me disapprovingly. Harlow’s eyes travel down to my lace-up boots. “What are those?” she asks. “Those shoes are not proper uniform attire. Surely, the shoemaker’s daughter can afford shoes at least.”

“They hurt my feet,” I say. And they’re ugly.

Harlow snaps her fingers, and my favorite boots are gone and the ugly black school shoes are on my feet. What the…? “Too bad. You can have your old boots back when you learn how to fly like Aldo. Now, Miss Maxine, let’s talk about being a troll. Do you feel ashamed to be such a creature?”

“What?” Maxine cries. “That’s such a mean thing to say, Professor.”

“I was just joking, darling,” the Evil Queen says. “I wanted to see where your emotions were, and now we know, don’t we? You’re ashamed of being a troll.”

Thump.

We all look up. I’m thankful for the distraction.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Professor Harlow looks up at the ceiling in annoyance, but ignores the sounds. “Maxine, tell me your darkest moment being a troll.” Her eyes flash green. “Actually, why don’t you all recall your darkest moment in a thousand-word essay that must be finished before the end of the class. Start now.” She snaps her fingers and the torches brighten. She uses the opportunity to go to the mirror behind her desk. I watch her examine her face and then reach for one of the purple bottles on her desk. She begins applying lotion to her cheeks.

Thump! Thump! Thump! THUMPThump! Thump!

The Evil Queen’s hand slips, and lotion gets all over the bodice of her dress. She emits a low growl. “What is that racket? Miri!” she yells. Aldo flies off Professor Harlow’s shoulder and dives over people’s heads. “Miri! Where are you?”

The mirror in front of Harlow begins to glow green, then orange, then purple. “Harlow, we’ve been over this,” a voice inside the mirror says with a sigh. “Only Headmistress Flora can demand my appearance.”

“Well, I’m demanding it anyway,” Professor Harlow seethes. “What is that God-awful noise interrupting my group’s therapy session?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t dismissed class already,” Miri says, sounding anything but nervous at Harlow’s tone. “Didn’t you get the memo from Flora this morning?”

“What memo?” Harlow yells over the continuing banging, which only seems to grow louder by the minute. Harlow’s head whips around to the class. “Write!”

We all look down at our papers. I grab a quill and my ink.

“Psst.” I look over at Maxine. She offers me a quill. “Use this.”

I hold mine up. “Thanks, but mine works fine.”

“Oops!” I hear Miri sing. “I was supposed to give you the memo. Just like you were supposed to tell me about the meeting in Flora’s office yesterday.”

Maxine shakes her head and her lazy eye does a quick bounce. Her thick-rimmed glasses match the color of her light brown hair. “Use this. There’s a message in it from a friend.” She passes the quill over as Harlow and Miri argue. “Write with it. You’ll see.”

What does she mean the quill has a message in it? I look at it, wondering if there is a secret compartment, but I don’t see one. I dip the quill in the ink and nothing happens. Then I try putting the quill to paper. That’s when things get weird. I know what I want to write, but instead, different words come out.


Hey G! It’s me! K! Cool quill, huh? Sorry I didn’t warn you about Jocelyn. I’m not feeling great. Going to skip the next class and lie down for a while. Can you give me some peace and quiet? I’ll give you the grand tour of FTRS later! I promise!

After the words appear, the ink slowly disappears again, leaving a blank page.

That. Is. So. Cool. I write her back.


Feel better! We’ll hang out later. —G

The words appear, then disappear. Amazing. “Psst.” I pass Maxine the quill. She grabs it when Harlow isn’t looking.