Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School, #1)(47)
Alva’s face may be bruised, her once beautiful hair may be singed, but her gaze doesn’t falter as she stares at me, the thief who just beat her.
“This is far from over,” she whispers and then with a poof, she’s gone.
Happily Ever After Scrolls
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BREAKING NEWS:
Enchantasia on High Alert! Alva Seen at FTRS!
by Beatrice Beez
Saturday’s Fairy Tale Reform School ball ended in near disaster when the Wicked One herself, Alva, was said to be spotted in the school. “One minute everyone was dancing to our single, ‘Gnome the One You’re With,’ and the next people were running for their lives,” said Herbert Hughes, Gnome-More’s lead singer, who broke his arm fleeing.
The school’s ballroom floor did crack in half, but rumors of a wolf man have not been confirmed. “As soon as someone said Alva was there, everyone ran!” said Margo Menny, a troll from Galvington who had used her vacation money to see the princesses and instead left with one shoe and a broken handbag. “That wicked fairy is even more dangerous than Gottie!”
Sources tell Happily Ever After Scrolls that Gottie and Alva may be the same person, but we cannot confirm this news as of yet. All we know right now is that the dwarf squad is asking the community to be vigilant. “Lock your doors and if you see something unusual, say something,” said Pete, chief of the Dwarf Police Squad.
While Headmistress Flora has yet to comment on what really happened at the ball, the royal court is preparing for battle. “If this truly is the work of Alva, we will bring her to justice,” said Princess Snow.
The same goes for Professor Harlow, who was found to be working with Alva and is currently being held in the FTRS dungeons. The professor’s younger sister, Jocelyn, was questioned and released.
Stay tuned to Happily Ever After Scrolls for updates on the search for Alva!
Pegasus Postal Service Flying Letters Since The Troll War!
FROM: Anna Cobbler (2 Boot Way) TO: Gillian Cobbler (Fairy Tale Reform School*) *Letter checked for suspicious content Gilly,
I don’t understand you! When Mother and Father got word you were being released, I couldn’t wait to go with them to pick you up. Han, Hamish, Trixie, and Felix were decorating for your welcome home party. How could you stay and let all of us down? Everyone was in tears when we came home without you.
Do you have any idea how hard things have been without you? Money is tighter than ever. Father lost business when people found out his daughter had been hauled off to FTRS. Mother took on a second job as a seamstress, but there’s still not enough to get by. I thought we could hold on ’til your return, but I have no idea when that will be. And the only way I can talk to you is by scroll now that Enchantasia is on lockdown because of Alva. Thanks Gilly—for nothing.
Anna
Pegasus Postal Service Flying Letters Since The Troll War!
FROM: Gillian Cobbler (Fairy Tale Reform School*) *Letter checked for suspicious content TO: Anna Cobbler (2 Boot Way) Anna Banana,
Please don’t be mad at me. Being stuck at FTRS has made me see that doing the easy thing is not always the right thing. It kills me to hear how hard life has been for you guys, but be strong. There has to be another way to get food. Ask Gnome-olia if you can work one afternoon after school and take home stale bread. Or talk to Combing the Sea about helping sell their Rapunzel line. You’re a natural salesperson! You even had me wanting her shampoo. Help Father think up an even cooler shoe than a glass slipper. Then everyone will be begging for his foot apparel!
In here, I’ve learned stealing can’t be a career. That’s why I have to stick around FTRS for a while. To learn what I’m good at so I can have a job to help you all when I get out. I was as selfish as a pixie before FTRS, but I promise next time you see me, you’re going to be proud. That’s something I want more than anything in this world.
Love, Gilly Bean
CHAPTER 19
The End or the Beginning?
It took almost a week for the FTRS crew to clean up the mess left behind by Alva. It took another for the students to be allowed to leave their dorm rooms unaccompanied by a teacher, which was tough since there wasn’t enough staff left to cover the students. Harlow was in the dungeons. Madame Cleo was on a month-long spiritual retreat near the Enchanted Sea. Professor Wolfington had disappeared. Most of the students I knew still didn’t understand what had happened. They were rattled. And they hadn’t had to fight Sleeping Beauty’s tormentor.
It was time to get some answers, and there was only one person still around to give them: Headmistress Flora.
The day we were allowed to roam the halls freely again, we made a beeline for Flora’s office. Painters and workers were still hanging new art, painting walls, and cleaning rugs. The area of the school near the ballroom was off-limits due to debris and unstable ground. For now, we were being schooled in the main building. Headmistress Flora insisted life get back to normal as quickly as possible.
But we all knew things were anything but normal.
“Come in,” the Wicked Stepmother says when we knock on her door. “I was going to have Miri call you down so I could talk to you myself. Please, have a seat.”