Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School, #1)(34)

BREAKING NEWS:

Gargoyles Attack Fairy Tale Reform School on Royal Day!

by Beatrice Beez

The royal visit to FTRS ended in a near-disaster today when gargoyles broke into the school and placed Professor Harlow under a spell to do their bidding. “Gargoyles appeared in this crazy purple cloud. Everyone was shrieking. It was insane. Cool, but insane, dude!” said Ollie, a student. “I was scared,” another student, Maxine, told us. “I thought Harlow was going to destroy the princesses—and us along with them. She probably would have if Gilly didn’t break the spell.”

Gillian Cobbler, the village shoemaker’s daughter and a newcomer to FTRS, came to the rescue. Harlow was magically forced to throw swords at the princesses and capture students. She is said to have come out of the spell after young Gilly knocked her to the ground. The professor is resting comfortably in her chambers and regrets what happened. “Those gargoyles will pay,” she said in an official statement.

“Gilly’s quick thinking stopped the gargoyles from hurting us,” said Princess Rose, who was slightly injured in the attack. “Ella and I are grateful to this commoner for her heroic act.”

Sources tell us that Rose and Ella are none too pleased about FTRS’s lack of security. How were the gargoyles able to get on the school’s grounds? Who sent them? Were they responsible for all the incidents that occurred throughout the day? One of Madame Cleo’s tanks exploded during a dancing observation (no one was hurt, but they were quite wet), and a botany class turned ugly when a peony ant attacked.

We have to wonder: Could students be behind all these misdoings? “Is FTRS reforming students the way it claims to be?” asked a palace source privy to details inside the attack, “or are these dark doings happening because villains are running that place?”

It’s no wonder there is growing concern about security for the much-anticipated FTRS Ball that was officially announced on Royal Day. Plans were to hold the ball next week. “The dwarf squad and Snow White are going over everything that happened and will let us know whether it is safe for the royals—or the community, for that matter—to attend the anniversary ball,” said a palace source when asked for comment. “We’re also looking into whether FTRS is a safe place for Enchantasia’s troubled youth.”

Requests to speak to Headmistress Flora about this matter were denied.





CHAPTER 14


    Rotten Apple


“Ah, Miss Gillian. Come in, come in!”

For a moment, I’m pretty sure I must be in the wrong place.

The Evil Queen is smiling—cheerily—and waving me into her office.

I clutch the note given to me when I was released from the infirmary this morning.


Miss Gillian Cobbler—Please be so kind as to join me for a meeting in my office this morning at ten sharp!

Sincerely, Professor Harlow



I was sure Jax had left me the note as a joke, but the nurse said it was legit. “He checked on you twice while you were out cold,” said the gnome in the bright blue nurse scrubs whose badge said Natasha, Gnome Nurse Level 1. “Aldo kept watch over you too when your friends weren’t here.”

That was creepy.

“I don’t see a Kayla on the visitor sheet.” Natasha said when I asked about my roommate. “I only see Jax, Ollie, and Maxine. You didn’t wake up for days! That was some nasty bump you got on your head.”

“Maybe Kayla was admitted,” I wondered aloud. She had been acting odd in the gym. Kayla could have been ill.

Natasha shook her head, and her pointy hat nearly fell off. “No Kayla on my list, but you got a lot of get-well flowers.” She grinned and I noticed she only had four teeth. “You’re like a celebrity in this school! Saving the royal court like you did.”

I was only trying to rescue Jax. I wasn’t sure how my honesty would go over with Natasha so I kept quiet and looked at my flowers. The bouquets next to my bed were so big they could have been trees. The elaborate topiary shaped like a crown could only have come from the princesses, and the note attached confirmed it.


For your epic bravery—speedy recovery!

—the Royal Court



There was a small bouquet from my family and a few other hand-picked arrangements, one with squished flowers that I assumed Maxine picked with her less-than-dainty troll hands. My head felt too heavy to read all the note cards. Natasha said I was hit with a bunch of the steel swords that rained down from the sky. My arms and legs were nicked up too. “You’re lucky one didn’t lop your head off!” Natasha said as she changed my bandages one last time. “Professor Harlow lost her pinkie in the mess and had to charm it back on.”

? ? ?

Professor Harlow beckons me to her desk with her bandaged hand. While I’m in hospital clothes (a tee and baggy pants), my professor is back to wearing one of her form-fitting velvet gowns. Aldo leaves the Evil Queen’s shoulder and swoops across the room, startling me when he takes a perch on my arm. I wince as he sinks his claws into one of my bandages.

Professor Harlow chuckles—chuckles! “Aldo, I know you’re happy to see Miss Cobbler, but leave her be. She’s still recovering. How do you feel, child?”

“Okay.” I feel like I’ve dropped into a different land with this conversation.