Ever After High

by Suzanne Selfors

  StoryTeller2: Yes. Oops, I mean, maybe.

  Seashell: Since you know who I am, will you introduce yourself to me?

  Super-long pause.

  StoryTeller2: I gotta go. Good luck today.

  Meeshell frowned. It was so odd not to know who was on the other side of the conversation. Was this normal on land? Did people often hide their identities and talk to one another?

  A knock sounded on the door. “It’s just me,” a familiar voice called. Apple entered the room, as cheerful as ever. She wore a lovely red dress. A pair of bluebirds was tying a ribbon in her hair. “How’s your voice?” she asked.

  Meeshell hadn’t spoken a word since waking, so she didn’t know the answer. And she was a bit afraid to find out—partly because of what it might mean to her story, but also because she didn’t want to eat any more of those horrid pickled pepper lozenges. She put a hand protectively to her throat. “I… I’m not sure.” Then she smiled. Her voice sounded quite normal. What a relief! “I guess it’s better.”

  “It sounds spelltacular! Those lozenges must have done the trick.”

  Perhaps it had been the lozenges, or, as Professor Yaga had said, maybe her vocal cords had needed time to get used to being in the air 24/7. While Apple waited, Meeshell went into the bathroom and changed into one of her new outfits that her mom had sent. When she emerged, Apple laughed, but not in a mean way. “How come you’re wearing pajamas?”

  Meeshell looked down at the pants and top, both made from soft cotton and covered with little sea horse designs. She tried to play it cool. “Uh, well, we sometimes wear pajamas back home. Don’t you do that here?”

  “Only on Pajama Day.” Apple sat on Meeshell’s bed. The bluebirds had flown away, but a pair of yellow songbirds was running a comb through Apple’s hair. “But today isn’t Pajama Day. It’s Club Day. All the clubs on campus will have booths set up in the quad and they’ll be looking for new members. This is the perfect opportunity for you to find the perfect club. Or two. Or three. Go ahead and change, and I’ll go with you.”

  Meeshell appreciated how patient Apple was being with her, but she didn’t want to take advantage of her kindness. “Oh, you don’t have to keep being my Welcoming Committee. You must have more important things to do.”

  Apple laughed again. “Nothing is more important than doing my duty. And right now, that is to find you a club.” She held up her Welcoming Committee list. “It’s the last thing on the list.”

  “Oh, okay. Thanks.”

  Meeshell picked another outfit from her closet. This dress was similar to the one she’d worn the day before, with a scalloped texture and with ruffles along the hem that looked like waves. She held it up, and received an approving nod from Apple. Then she went back into the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection, but not in the way that Daring admired his. Rather, she felt as if she was looking at a stranger. Who are you? she asked herself. Who is this land-dweller, standing in a dorm room, with two feet, attending the most prestigious school in all the kingdoms? Her parents were expecting her to do her best, which meant getting good grades and making new friends. And if that wasn’t enough to cause one’s scales to tremble, she’d be trying to get those grades and friends while hiding her true identity as a mermaid. How would she pull this off? She leaned against the wall, her chest tight, her breathing quick. Suddenly, she felt as if she’d been tangled in a fisherman’s net!

  “Meeshell? You okay?” Apple asked gently from the other side of the door.

  “Yes. I’m almost ready.” Meeshell told herself to snap out of it. The good news was that her speaking voice was back to normal. Did that mean her singing voice was back, too? She’d have to find a safe, private place to give it a try. In the meantime, she should stop worrying so much and brave the day. It was all going to work out. She was going to live her destiny!

  After dressing, Meeshell arranged her pearl headband and chose a lovely statement necklace that sparkled with shells and coral. Then she grabbed her MirrorPad and sea horse purse, and followed Apple.

  Walking down one flight of stairs, then another and another, was much easier than it had been yesterday, which was a very good sign that she was getting used to her legs. And when she and Apple stepped into the quad, they were greeted by a chorus of “hellos,” which was a very good sign that the other students were getting used to Meeshell. Apple stopped at a coffee cart and got them each a mocha frappé, which Meeshell loved. “Can I have one of these every morning?”

  “Sure, if you want. The cart is from the Hocus Latte Café in the village. You can get all sorts of drinks there, too.”

  The world was full of so many new flavors. As she sipped the chocolaty goodness, birds sang in the branches above. A dragon glided over distant treetops. A boy and that rabbit she’d seen with the glasses walked past, both their noses stuck in books. The boy was quite handsome, and wearing a crown. Then she saw two more boys with crowns. Wow, there sure were a lot of princes at this school. Was one of them destined to be part of her story? Maybe the one who was currently staring at her?

  “Whassup, ladies?” he called. He had piercing green eyes and freckles. He was dressed in khaki shorts, a velvet jacket, and bow tie.

  Apple, once again, made the introductions. “Meeshell, this is Hopper Croakington II. Hopper, this is our newest student, Meeshell.”

  Hopper wagged his eyebrows at her. “Well, hello. You can be me shell anytime.” Meeshell wasn’t sure what that meant but she smiled politely. Was he trying to flirt with her? He leaned against a tree. “What brings you to—?” He turned suddenly. “Briar,” he whispered. Briar Beauty was walking across the quad. She waved at Apple and Meeshell, and at Hopper. A blush spread across his face and…

  Poof!

  Meeshell looked down at the ground. Where Hopper had once stood, there was now a green frog. The frog adjusted his little gold crown, looked up at her, and said, “Delighted to make your acquaintance. If you ever find yourself in need of companionship, I am a skilled conversationalist. Good day.” He bowed, then hurried away on his little bowlegged green legs.

  How odd. Meeshell was about to ask Apple what was up with this Hopper guy, when she saw another boy with a crown. She’d met him yesterday in the Castleteria. What was his name? Oh yes, Humphrey.

  He was carrying a stack of MirrorPads. He noticed her looking at him and stopped walking. His face turned red. He fiddled with his bow tie, waved, then backed into a hedge, landing on his rump. “I’m okay,” he called as he jumped to his feet. He collected all the MirrorPads. “Nothing cracked!” Then he hurried away.

  She hadn’t meant to stare at him. Poor guy. Was it possible that he and Meeshell were equally shy? And equally awkward?

  The far side of the quad was crowded with white tents. A sign was posted on each tent:

  PEGASUS-RIDING CLUB

  WAND-MAKING CLUB

  FAIRY CLUB

  Representatives for each club sat at tables that were piled with informational brochures. Apple and Meeshell walked between the tents, with Apple stopping to give Meeshell a brief description of each club. “And that’s the Oversleepers Anonymous Club.” Briar sat inside that tent, her chin resting in her hands.

  “There’s no shame in being sleepy,” Briar called out. “Join today and get a free pair of wide-awake glasses so you can fall asleep in class without being caught.” The glasses were lined up on the table. Each had a pair of eyes painted on the front—wide-awake eyes that blinked occasionally.

  Farrah was tending to the Fairy Club booth, which was covered in so much fairy dust, passersby started sneezing.

  Ashlynn and Maddie walked up. “Hi, Meeshell,” they both said.

  “Hi.”

  “Hey, you’re not whispering anymore,” Ashlynn noted with a smile.

  “My sore throat is gone.”

  “I’m helping Meeshell pick a club to join,” Apple explained. “Do you have any suggestions?”

  “I’m in the Forest
Club,” Ashlynn said. “We sweep the forest floor to keep it nice and tidy. If you joined, we could sweep together.”

  “I’m in the Wonderland Club,” Maddie said. “It’s supposed to be for people from Wonderland. But most people get to Wonderland by mistake, so it doesn’t seem fair to say just because you haven’t fallen down a rabbit hole, you can’t join. So we let anyone join. Do you speak Riddlish? That helps. It’s our club’s language.”

  “I really like the Library Club,” Apple said. “We don’t do much, just study together. It really helps me keep my grades up. Oh, and you could always join Daring’s fan club.” They’d stopped at the Daring Charming Fan Club tent. Five girls and one guy sat at a table covered in Daring Charming memorabilia. And right next to it was the Tech Club. Humphrey sat at a table covered in all sorts of gadgets. He looked away when Meeshell looked at him. Yep, she thought. Painfully shy. She wondered if there was a Shy Club they could both join.

  None of the suggested clubs sounded like the right fit to Meeshell. She was about to move to the next tent when a mirror on a nearby tree lit up. A girl with blond curls appeared in the mirror. Her curls bobbed as she talked. “Hello, fellow fairytales! Blondie Lockes here to give you the latest scoop. I’m happy to announce that we have a new student. She arrived by boat yesterday, from the faraway Kingdom by the Sea. Her name is Meeshell and she’s rooming with Farrah Goodfairy, and from what I’ve heard, they are getting along swimmingly. So please give her a big Ever After High welcome.” All the students who were hanging out in the quad turned toward Meeshell and clapped. Meeshell wasn’t sure what to do. She gave a little wave, then tried to disappear in the shadows beneath one of the tents. Blondie whispered to someone offscreen, then looked back into the camera. “In other news, it’s just been confirmed that our very own glee club, the Happily-Glees, are going to give an impromptu performance in the quad right now. They will be performing a brand-new song directed by our very own Melody Piper.”

  A glee club? Meeshell stepped out from the shadows. Maybe this could be the club she joined.

  Six singers gathered beneath an oak tree. A girl with a pair of headphones stood before them. “That’s Melody,” Apple whispered in Meeshell’s ear. Melody clearly loved music because she was adorned with musical notes—on her leather vest, her silver tights, and on her black leather booties. She took a pitch pipe from her pocket and blew a single note. Each of the singers hummed, trying to match the note. Melody shook her head, then blew on the pipe again. The singers hummed again. Melody’s shoulders slumped. No one had found the note. Meeshell frowned. That wasn’t a good sign.

  Melody raised her hands and the Happily-Glees began to sing.

  “Looking for my ever after

  Don’t wanna see my dreams get shattered

  Everybody says I have to, got to,

  Wait around just to be rescued.

  Not gonna sit alone in a tower.

  I’ll show the world my princess power.

  I’m standing up ’cause I am stronger.

  Listen to my heart; it’s getting louder.”

  It was… terrible. Not the song—the song itself was great. The lyrics were brilliant. But the singing was… well, it was like listening to a pod of elephant seals. Okay, maybe not that bad, but Meeshell was used to Mer-singing, the most beautiful singing in all the kingdoms. She winced, then tried to force a smile. Perhaps she was being overly critical. Perhaps this was considered good singing in the land-dwelling world. She glanced at Apple. The fairest-in-the-land princess was also trying very hard not to wince, but a tiny scowl had formed between her eyebrows. So it was true—they were terrible.

  One of the singers was clearly off-key, while another singer was way too loud. The harmony wasn’t working, and the choreography, well, it was just a mess.

  When the song finished, everyone smiled and politely applauded, then went on about their business. The singers ambled off and Melody lingered, her expression one of frustration. Apple tried to console her. “That was really… interesting,” Apple said.

  “It’s not supposed to sound like that,” Melody explained. “There were a lot of wrong notes.”

  Maddie giggled. “I thought it was tea-rriffic. In Wonderland, the wrong notes are always the right notes.”

  Melody sighed. “We really need more practice time. And we could really use new members.”

  Apple’s eyes lit up. “Hey, Meeshell is looking for a club to join.”

  Melody looked hopefully at Meeshell. “Do you sing?” she asked.

  Meeshell wanted to shout Yes! Yes, I sing! I love singing. But now that she’d heard these singers, she realized that if she sang with them, her voice would totally stand out. If she joined the Happily-Glees, surely someone would figure out her true identity, for her voice was even more famous than her tail. She sighed with disappointment. This was the one club she truly wanted to join, but she’d have to pass. “No,” she said. “I can’t carry a tune.”

  “That’s too bad. We really need a soloist. Your speaking voice is so pretty I would’ve bet you could sing beautifully. Well, see you all later.” Melody set her headphones back over her ears and headed toward the coffee cart.

  “Don’t fret,” Apple said. “Something will pop up. It always does.” At that, a mouse popped out of Maddie’s teacup hat and squeaked.

  “Tomorrow is Sports Day,” Ashlynn said. “Maybe you can try out for a team. I’m on the cheerhexing squad. Maybe you’d like to join?”

  “That’s a spelltacular idea,” Apple told her. “All the teams will be having tryouts, and my Welcoming Committee list says I’m supposed to get you signed up for at least one club or sports team. Tomorrow is a new day! We can still make this work!”

  Chapter 12

  Down the Drain

  It had been a long day. Meeshell felt a bit of a failure, having chosen no clubs. And while classes had gone okay, she’d been too shy to speak up in any of them. And during dinner, there’d been so many new faces and introductions, her head was swimming. When she got back to the dormitory, she overheard a conversation in the hallway. It was Apple and Briar.

  “I don’t think I’m right for the Welcoming Committee,” Apple said to Briar.

  “Why?”

  “I haven’t been able to help Meeshell find a club.”

  “Well, helping the new student find some sort of activity is really important, that’s true. And the Welcoming Committee does have a one hundred percent success rate.”

  “One hundred percent?” Apple gulped. “You mean, I could mess that up? That would be an epic fairy fail.”

  “You won’t mess it up. You’re Apple White. You can do anything you”—Briar paused for a huge yawn—“anything you set your mind to.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Apple said. “I’ll keep trying. Meeshell deserves to feel like she belongs. We all do.”

  Just as the conversation ended, Professor Yaga called Meeshell on her MirrorPad and was happy to hear that her speaking voice had returned to normal. And that her legs were working better and hadn’t fallen off, which was a real plus! “Remember, if you have any unusual symptoms or concerns, call me immediately. Otherwise, how are things going?”

  “Fine.” Her answer didn’t sound very convincing.

  “I hear homesickness in your voice. It might be worse for you than for others since you are hiding your true nature,” Professor Yaga said. Luckily, Meeshell was alone in her dorm room, which meant that no one overheard the conversation. “My advice to you is, whenever you are able, let your true self out. Otherwise, you’ll always feel like a fish out of water.” The MirrorPad screen went dark as the call ended.

  Yes, that’s exactly how she felt. What a perfect description. She wanted, very badly, to let her true self out. To see her tail again. That would make her feel better.

  She stepped into the bathroom. Unfortunately, there was no bathtub. The shower was pretty, however, made of pink tiles and a unicorn faucet. It would have to do. She locked the do
or and turned on the water. When she entered the shower, the change was immediate. Her legs disappeared and her beautiful tail took its rightful place. She leaned against the wall. It was an awkward space, difficult to get comfortable in since tails are not designed for long periods of standing. She showered as best she could, but got wedged a few times in the process. This wasn’t making her feel better. She turned off the water and watched it swirl down the drain.

  She dried her tail with a towel and as soon as the last droplet had evaporated, her legs reappeared. It was nice to know that she could bring her tail back whenever she wanted. She was grateful to Coral for that glitch in the spell. But still she felt anxious. With all her heart, she wanted to swim. Spending day after day not swimming was like asking a seagull to stop flying. Maybe she could find a way to swim without anyone seeing?

  After changing into her new pajamas, she sat on her bed, opened her MirrorPad, and searched for a campus map. Then she perused the map, looking for large bodies of water. There was Mirror Beach, near the boat dock, but that was too exposed. There was the unicorn fountain, where the swans swam, but that was smack in the middle of the quad. There was a swimming pool in the Grimmnasium, but someone might see her there. She was about to give up when she noticed a small lake at the far edge of campus. Enchanted Lake. That sounded perfect! According to the map, she could easily walk there.

  Farrah came back. She brought a late-night snack of toast and fairyberry jam, which she shared. Then she went to change into her pajamas. When she emerged from the bathroom she asked, “How did your day go?”

  “Pretty good,” Meeshell said.

  “I’m glad to hear that.” Then Farrah’s gaze fell upon a fat hextbook. “Ugh, I have to study for a test tomorrow in Magicology. It’s about the history of evil witches, my least favorite topic.” She lugged the hextbook onto her desk with a big thud. Then she sat and, using her wand as a highlighting pen, began to study.