Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School, #1)(35)

Maybe she’s happier in her office than in her classroom. This room is brighter with all the torches and mirrors of every size and shape along one lavender wall. There is an inviting purple velvet armchair near her fireplace, which has a mantel full of self-help books above it, and on the other wall is a vanity table with lots of bottles and beauty products. I notice the gold mirror she keeps in a glass case has been moved to her office, along with Aldo’s jeweled cage. The Evil Queen sits behind her desk, peering at me fondly.

So weird.

“I’m sorry I’ve asked you to come straight from the infirmary,” Harlow says, “but this matter could not wait.” She smiles, her deep purple lips curving up in the corners of her heavily made-up face. “I brought you here this morning so I could personally thank you.”

I almost fall out of my chair, which, I should add, is so low I have to look up at Harlow’s desk. I wonder if she has it set that way on purpose. “Come again?”

“Not only did you save the princesses, but you also saved me from once again becoming the Evil Queen.” Harlow gives me a rare smile. “My sister would be an orphan right now if you hadn’t stopped me from hurting anyone on Royal Day, and for that, I thank you.”

As with Natasha, now might not be the time to bring up how I was only trying to save Jax. Everyone else was just a happy coincidence. “You’re welcome?” I question. I’ve never heard the professor thank anyone for anything before.

“That’s why I brought you here right from recovery. I wanted to be the first to commend you for your selfless act of bravery. We’d be reading a very different type of scroll this week if you had not broken the bewitchment I was under.”

I lean forward intrigued. Natasha saved some of the old scrolls for me to read when I woke up. She said it would be easier for me to understand what had happened the last few days if I read it myself. “Do you know who cast the spell or sent the gargoyles? Why were so many events sabotaged on Royal Day? Do you think Gottie is behind this? Mr. Harding did go missing and so did his family…”

Harlow’s face darkens. “I see no point in playing guessing games, Miss Cobbler,” she snaps. “Rest assured, Headmistress Flora is working with the staff to figure out who is behind these acts and who could have bewitched someone as powerful as me.”

That’s another thing I didn’t think of. Who could put a spell on the Evil Queen?

Harlow twirls a long, gold amulet that hangs from her neck. “That is why Headmistress Flora is not at our meeting today. She, Cleo, and Wolfington have asked me to speak on their behalf.”

“Speak on their behalf?” I suddenly feel uneasy.

Squawk! Aldo seconds my confusion.

The Wicked Stepmother is the one who runs this school. She’s the one who sent my enrollment notice and escorted me to detention. If I have to deal with someone here, I want it to be her.

“You’re not in trouble, Miss Cobbler.” Harlow adjusts her tiara, which has been slightly tilted since I walked in. “On the contrary. I have good news to share. While you have only served two weeks—three if you count the almost week you’ve been in the infirmary—of your required stay here, your bravery shows you’re more reformed than any of us realized. Only someone who is truly thinking of others could have done what you did. Therefore, Flora and I would like to offer you an early release from the program.”

I feel like someone just pulled my chair out from under me. I jump up. “Seriously?”

“You get to go home,” my professor translates. “Immediately.”

This doesn’t make any sense. “But Headmistress Flora said—”

“I know what Flora said.” Harlow’s voice tightens. “You’ve flunked out of Fairy Tale Reform School, so to speak, and that’s a good thing!” She laughs, but it sounds fake. “I’ve already sent a scroll to your parents letting them know they can pick you up.”

My heart starts to speed up. I’m going home? Today?

“Unfortunately, your parents are out of town for a few days at a shoemakers’ convention, but they said they will come straight home and should be here by Friday afternoon.”

“The day of the FTRS Ball?” I question. Natasha filled me in on the ball’s will-they-or-won’t-they-let-the-school-have-it gossip.

Professor Harlow’s smile widens. “Why, yes. I didn’t think you’d care about something as silly as a ball when you could go home to Hamish, Han, Trixie, Felix, and Anna.”

I squirm. I don’t like that she knows their names, but I’m desperate to see them. “So you mean they’re still having the FTRS Ball even after everything that happened?” I ask. “But what about security? The Happily Ever After Scroll this morning said—”

“I know what the scroll said!” Harlow’s voice booms, and the torches in her room dim. Aldo rushes into his cage and I watch the look on my professor’s face twist into something sinister. But then just as quickly the room brightens and the Evil Queen is smiling her awkward smile. “I just mean, we are well aware of the scroll exaggerations. A ball is happening, and I will be releasing a statement later today telling all of Enchantasia they have nothing to fear in attending. Really, Miss Cobbler. You’ve done enough to help our school and me.” Harlow offers Aldo a small treat and he nips it out of her hand. “Go home to your family and enjoy your life.”