Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School, #1)(19)

“You do this often?” I clutch Macho’s reins tighter.

“Often enough.” Jax uses only one hand to hold the reins. With the other, he pets Mighty’s head. “So where do you want to go?” He gets a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I know! We should have brought water balloons to drop on Jocelyn.”

“Maxine told you what happened in class?” We’re flying over the castle now, and I can’t help staring at the beautiful turrets and stone statues that sit atop each peak. I believe they’re gargoyles. Sensing my curiosity, Macho brings me closer. We fly by two ugly gray ones with nasty faces, and I can’t believe how long their claws are.

Macho bucks slightly, and I hold on tighter. “It’s okay, boy. They’re just statues,” I say, knowing he can understand me. He begins to pull away. I glance back at the creepy gargoyles one last time and…huh. That’s funny. I could have sworn the gargoyles’ heads were turned the other way—but that’s impossible.

“Jax, those gargoyles aren’t real, are they?” I ask as Macho catches up to him.

Jax laughs. “You’ve been reading too many fairy tales, Cobbler.”

It must have been my imagination. Then my eyes spot something lying on a flat roof. “My boots!” I will Macho to head back to the roof, and Jax follows. “Harlow zapped them off my feet during class and said I’d only find them when I could fly.”

“You’ve got good eyes,” Jax says, landing on the roof first and picking up the boots. I dismount from Macho and change my shoes, lacing up my boots quickly. Ahhh. That’s so much better. I stick the uniform ones in the satchel on Macho’s side. “So where do you want to fly to next?” Jax asks. “Any chance you want to see the woods?”

“I thought we weren’t allowed near them.”

“We’re not—technically—but we can fly close enough,” Jax says casually. “Might be your only chance to see a giant up close.” I don’t say anything. “Unless you’re too scared to go. I wouldn’t blame you. My roommate, Ollie, says when he was playing rugby out in the fields the other day, he saw smoke coming from the woods.” He shrugs.

I touch Macho. I don’t want him getting eaten. He neighs softly. “Then maybe we should avoid that area. Not that I’m scared.”

Jax gives me a look. “Liar! I can tell you’re lying because when you do, your nose scrunches up like a little rat.”

“I’m not scared!” I insist and jump on Macho again. “I just don’t see the need to get detention. It’s not like we’re going to see anything wicked going on in a flyby over the woods anyway.”

Macho startles me by taking off at top speed.

“Slow down,” I say as clouds blur by and the wind feels as cold as snow. “Slow down!” Macho ignores me and keeps racing. I can hear Jax behind us yelling, but between the wind and the low cloud cover, I can’t see or hear him. What am I going to do? My heart is racing. Visions of falling off pop into my mind. I hold on as he climbs higher above the clouds, where it’s so bright that I have to squint. Just when I think Macho has lost his mind, he dives and I actually scream at the speed we’re going. When he slows down, I realize we’re high above some dark green treetops. We’re at the edge of the Hollow Woods.

“Thank you for stopping, but why would you bring me somewhere you could get eaten?” I wait for my heartbeat to slow down.

“If you wanted to race, you could have just said so,” Jax scolds me when he finally catches up. “You could have been killed. You need to—”

“Talk to my Pegasus,” I say. “I did. He wouldn’t listen.”

“Pegasi always listen,” Jax says as if he doesn’t believe me.

“Well, mine didn’t and—hey, is that Headmistress Flora?” I point to a tiny figure in a robe that is walking quickly to the edge of the supposedly dangerous and spooky woods. The black-and-white-speckled hair and prim clothes definitely remind me of the woman I met yesterday. “What would she being doing out here?”

“That can’t be her.” Jax frowns. “She never leaves her office.”

“Oh, it’s her all right,” I say as she looks around—but not up—and then slips in between the trees. I feel my heart speed up like it’s a drum.

Gotcha.

If my headmistress is keeping secrets, I’m going to find out what they are. Maybe dirt on her is my early ticket to freedom.





CHAPTER 8


    Sweet Dreams


As soon as the key turns in my dorm-room door, my eyes fly open. Mother says I have the hearing of a bat.

I lie motionless as the door opens and Kayla tiptoes inside, choosing not to turn on the light and wake me up. Then she bangs into a coatrack.

“Ouch! Ouch!” Kayla yells at the top of her lungs. “Yowza!”

I turn on the oil lamp at the side of my bed and see Kayla hopping around on one foot. She’s still wearing our navy uniform, even though school has been over for hours. I am surprised she doesn’t change out of them as soon as classes are over. I do. Her wings shoot out, and soon she’s fluttering up and down, holding her aching toe.

“You okay?” I ask.

She holds her breath, then lets it go. “Sorry, roomie. I was trying not to wake you.”