Misfits

by Jen Calonita

  “Devin! Raina! Sasha! My dear princesses, are you okay?” Olivina slowly sits up, looking very groggy. She falls backward again, and Raina catches her. “What happened?” she asks, looking horrified. “Was that the witch from Hansel and Gretel’s tale?” The royal court awakens and heads straight for their fairy godmother, taking her from Raina.

  “How did she get in here?” Olivina asks. “Is everyone okay? Why are there jewels all over the floor… Oh.”

  “She tried to steal from us,” Ella says shakily. “She could have hurt the students. Or you!”

  Olivina shakes her head. “This is why we can’t leave our gates open to nonroyal guests,” she says, sounding teary. Ella comforts her. Olivina looks at Snow. “I think it’s for the best that our nonroyal guests leave. For their safety and ours.”

  Snow nods sadly. “Yes, Fairy Godmother. I’ll see to it that everyone is escorted safely out the school gates.”

  My heart starts to thump wildly. A bad feeling is slowly taking hold of me. I’m in trouble. I pull Sasha aside. “The commoners were my idea.”

  Sasha’s eyes widen. “Then that means…she let a witch in to teach you a lesson? Brynn was right. You were set up. We have to get you out of here.” Sasha grabs my arm. “We all need to find someplace to hide—and fast.”

  “We’ll help you, Snow,” Raina says, dragging Heath along with her.

  I want to yell out to my friends that my initial gut feeling might have been right, but I can’t. Anastasia and I make eye contact for a split second before the Dwarf Police Squad ushers her out. Someone puts their hand on my arm.

  “Are you okay, Ms. Nile?”

  I look up. Professor Pierce is looking at me intently.

  “I’m fine,” I say. “I just need air.”

  He nods, his smile kind. “You’re going to be fine, Devin. You’re a resourceful young lady. Everything is going to be okay.”

  Before I can ask what he means by that a group of commoners passes in between us, and the professor is gone.

  “So good news, right?” Logan says, seeming happy. “The witch is gone, and Olivina seems fine. It wasn’t a test. Brynn must have heard her wrong earlier.”

  I smile at Logan, not wanting to alarm him, but I think he’s wrong. I look at Sasha. I know she’s thinking what I’m thinking. A thousand thoughts cross my mind, and I try to figure out which ones I should pay attention to. The witch said She promised I could keep the wand. The she has to be Olivina. But why would Olivina have struck a bargain with a villain? Why does she want to put me in my place? Doesn’t she want me to fit in? Nothing makes sense. All I know is I feel as though I’m in danger. And now my friends might be too.

  The royal court helps Olivina step up to the podium. “My beloved royals and students,” she says, sounding weak. “Tonight is a perfect example of why we cannot open our doors to just anyone. I know we want to be more accepting, but in these scary times, we can’t allow royals to mingle with commoners. That witch came in here and tried to destroy us. The rules we have here, and the things I’m teaching you, are for your own protection. I hope you see that now.”

  “We do!” Clarissa sobs as Matilda blows her nose into a handkerchief.

  “She’s so right,” I hear another princess say. “We can’t let commoners in RA ever again.”

  “Commoners aren’t the problem,” Sasha says angrily as the girls walk away. “Olivina is, and it’s time the world knows.” Logan and I look at her. “Look, I’ve been gathering information for a while, since before that sketchy dragon incident. With what happened tonight, I think I finally have enough evidence to expose her in the Enchantasia Insider. And with what Brynn heard tonight and everything we’ve seen happen here, I think we have an ironclad case against the fairy godmother: she’s trying to control Enchantasia. We have to stop her. I think that’s what the princess who lived in our room before us was trying to do before she disappeared.”

  “Tara?” I ask, and Sasha nods. I feel a flutter of hope in my stomach. “Do you really think it’ll be enough to convince everyone?” I ask breathlessly.

  Sasha nods firmly. “But she’s not going to be happy about it. Devin, I think we’re going to have to leave school before she can retaliate. I’ll need to send word to my sister and have her talk to Snow as well. We’re going to need backup. We have to get to the royal court first.”

  “Who is Tara?” Logan cries. “Sasha writes for the Enchantasia Insider? What’s happening?”

  “Sasha is going to stop Olivina, and we’re going to break out of Royal Academy,” I say and throw my arms around him. Sasha does the same.

  “Three cheers for Olivina!” a prince shouts. “Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!”

  The entire room echoes the chorus until they’re so loud that the floor is shaking. The royal court is applauding, and everyone is cheering, including Sasha, Logan, and me, but for very different reasons.

  Then, with a poof, we disappear.

  Chapter 20

  No Looking Back

  Poof! We land in Olivina’s private quarters.

  “What’s going on? Where are we? Is this another test?” Logan panics.

  Raina comes rushing over to help us up, and I’m so surprised that I fall back down. “What are you doing here?” I ask.

  “I’m so sorry,” she says hurriedly, her eyes wild. “I was only trying to help! I thought if Heath and I could tell Olivina what Brynn overheard, we could clear everything up.”

  I back away, shaking my head. I feel my heart tighten. No. We were so close to getting out of here. To exposing her. But now Raina’s exposed us first.

  “I wanted to defend you so you didn’t get another strike. I was trying to protect you! I didn’t know she… I was trying to fix things.” She starts to sob.

  “Raina, what did you do?” Sasha whispers.

  “She told me everything, of course,” Olivina says, her face coming into the light. She has Heath held firmly by one arm. “A pity, really. She did the right thing. Well, the right thing for me, at least.”

  “I was just trying to help Snow,” Heath tells me. “I didn’t know we were headed here.”

  “Now Snow has no idea where her two darling siblings are, poor thing,” Olivina tsks. “What will I be forced to tell her? How can I break it to her that her siblings went astray?”

  “We didn’t!” Raina cries. “I was trying to set things right.”

  “Isn’t that what those in the wrong always say?” Olivina says with pity. “I’m sure Devin didn’t think sharing what she learned about my conversation with Hazel would cause any harm to her friends, or that her actions in the tower would cause Ella to stand up against me. Just like Sasha didn’t think I knew she was sneaking around trying to learn what I was up to.” Olivina shakes her head. “If only you two could have kept your noses clean. Then poor Heath, Logan, and Raina wouldn’t be in the same predicament you two are.” Raina cries harder.

  An uncomfortable feeling creeps over me, the same feeling I get when I sense danger in the woods. “This has always been about you, hasn’t it? It’s never been about what we need. It’s about what we can do for you.”

  “I wanted you to learn to be a proper princess,” Olivina insists. “That’s my job!”

  Sasha butts in. “No, you want us to be incapable of doing anything on our own. You don’t let the princesses learn how to do anything for themselves, and you keep the princes busy with protecting the princesses. Then, when anything important happens, we only have one option… Wait for your help.” Her eyes widen. “Help you give to royals when it suits you the most. Well, I’m not my sister. I don’t just sit around and wait!” Sasha is shaking with fury. “You keep the royal court in line by making sure they always need you to help them make decisions. My sister thinks she can’t function without you. That’s how you always make sure you’re the one who saves the day.”

/>   “You insolent children!” Olivina is fuming. “You know nothing about what it takes to run a kingdom. I made the royal court! Ella was a dirty little commoner, crying by the fireplace, before she met me. I lifted her up and helped her stop being so weak. Guided her on how to help her people and run a kingdom. I taught her everything she knows. And your sister,” she spits out, turning to Heath and Raina. “She was so naive that she took a comb from a wicked old crone without a second thought. If it wasn’t for me directing that witless prince, she’d still be asleep.

  “And that’s to say nothing of Princess Rose,” she adds, sneering at Sasha. “But we all know how useless she is without me going into it. The royal court would be nothing without me. I pull the strings. I make the plays. Enchantasia is mine!” She clutches the back of a chair and pants with anger.

  The five of us stand in complete shock, staring at the beloved fairy godmother.

  “You’re a puppet master, and we’re the puppets,” I say in realization. “What kind of school is this?”

  Olivina sighs deeply and throws up her hands, then pulls a black wand out of her robe pocket. Her expression changes.

  “Clever, clever children. I’m impressed you figured me out. I foresaw some of you having great power and being strong rulers.” She glances my way. “I thought we could be allies, but you’re just a bunch of meddling troublemakers. Even you, Raina! Running to me for everything! Well, now that you know the truth, I’ll have to clean up your mess.”

  “You won’t get away with this,” I say, my voice barely more than a whisper.

  Olivina’s eyes flash. “Watch me.” She begins to wave the wand in the air, and I know what’s coming. There’s nowhere to run.

  “Wait! You can’t just get rid of us!” Raina is frantic as Heath pushes her behind him. “My sister will wonder where we are. The royal court will send out a search party. They won’t stop till they find us.”

  Olivina smiles wickedly. “I know. And who do you think they will trust to lead the search for a group of beloved first-year students?” Her face darkens into an evil smile. “Enjoy your banishment.”

  “No!” Raina shouts.

  But it’s too late. Olivina points her wand toward us and… Poof!

  This time, I land hard on a patch of dirt. The world is dark and quiet, except for the soft rustling of leaves and the cry of a wolf in the distance. We must be in a forest. I reach in my skirt pocket and pull out Lily. She sticks out her tongue at me so I know she’s thankfully fine.

  Dizzily, I slowly sit up and see the others.

  “This can’t be happening!” Raina cries. “We’ve been banished!”

  “Because of you!” Sasha shouts. “You had to run to Olivina behind our backs. We were going to expose her!”

  “I was trying to save you!” Raina shouts.

  “You were trying to save yourself!” Sasha argues.

  “Now we’re in the middle of nowhere, and Olivina is going to see to it that no one finds us.” Logan pulls himself into a ball. “Except maybe—Achoo!—dragons!”

  “How long have you all known Olivina is evil?” Heath cries. “Why did no one tell me?”

  “Because you were too busy flirting with princesses!” Raina snaps.

  As the group argues, Lily climbs up the front of my dress and plucks at the neckline. It takes me a minute to figure out what she’s trying to tell me. Then I remember: the note Anastasia gave me! It seems like a lifetime ago that I stashed it down my front. I unroll it and look at the handwriting. It’s familiar.

  All is not lost. If anything, it’s just the beginning. But to get through it, you need to be ready for anything.

  This is Professor Pierce’s handwriting. I’m sure of it! I remember it clearly from the magical chalkboard. It’s nice advice, but what does it mean? And more importantly, did he know we’d get banished?

  “Now we’re alone in some spooky woods without food, water, or a sensible pair of shoes!” Raina is shouting. “No one will ever find us! She’ll say a villain took us. She’s made us outcasts!”

  How do you stop the most powerful fairy godmother there ever was?

  How do you prove she’s actually evil and controlling everything we’ve ever known to be true in Enchantasia?

  I look back at Professor Pierce’s note. I guess we need to be ready for anything, whatever that means. It would be great to have some help though. Like from someone who’s fought the system and won. Wait. Ready for anything. Where have I seen that phrase before? I know!

  “Get up,” I tell the others excitedly. “We have to get moving before the sun comes up. We don’t want her to be able to see where we’re going.”

  Sasha is the first standing. “Where are we going?”

  The others gather around as I walk into the shadows of the trees. The sunflower meadows shouldn’t be too far a walk from here. I smile giddily, thinking of who I’m finally going to meet. My idol. “We’re going to find Red Riding Hood.”

  For more Jen Calonita check out the

  Fairy Tale Reform School series

  Flunked

  On sale now!

  Acknowledgments

  Kate Prosswimmer, you are the most willing, generous partner an author could ever ask for! I’m so thankful you embarked on this new journey with me and cannot imagine this story coming to life the way it did without your help. (Devin is lucky to have such a fierce middle name!)

  Like the Royal Academy kids, I, too, am lucky to be part of an amazing team. Steve Geck, Kathryn Lynch, Beth Oleniczak, Margaret Coffee, Stephanie Graham, Stefani Sloma, Valerie Pierce, and Elizabeth Boyer—I’ve never met a group so dedicated to their authors and their books. Thank you for all you’ve done for my books. I’m also so grateful to have Michael Heath back to design another incredible fairy tale book cover. I love how you’ve brought RA and Devin to life!

  Aubrey Poole and Alex Yeadon, your touch is on everything fairy tale I do! Thanks for all your help along the way.

  Daniel Mandel, thank you for being an incredible agent and sounding board. And three cheers for my amazing friends and family who are always there to offer advice and lend a helping hand: Kieran Scott, Elizabeth Eulberg, Courtney Sheinmel, Jennifer Smith, Katie Sise, Rose Brock, AnnMarie Gagliano, Lisa Gagliano, Joanie Cook, Elpida Argenziano, Christi Lennon, Marcy Miller, Kristen Marino, Lynn and Nick Calonita, and Nicole Neary.

  On a fateful day this past December, I had the privilege of meeting Brynn Haun and her family when they visited New York. This incredibly strong fifteen-year-old graciously gave me permission to use her name in this series. Brynn is no longer with us, but I am honored her name will live on in these books, and I pray this character will do her memory justice.

  To my family, Mike, Tyler, Dylan, Jack, and newest pirate/jedi Ben—home is only home because of all of you in it. Thank you for allowing me to do what I love every single day.

  Book 1

  Chapter 1

  Picky

  Sometimes spying on low-level royals can be so boring.

  They’re easy to spot the minute they leave their precious royal world behind. With their pricy clothes, made-up faces, and clouds of perfume wafting behind them, girls like that stick out like sore thumbs when they get dropped off in town in their flashy carriages.

  So far this afternoon, I’ve tailed this bunch from the Gnome-olia Bakery (where they made fun of the gnome serving them their rhubarb cupcakes) to the One Enchanted Evening dress shop (where they scoffed at having dresses spun out of cotton even though there is a silk shortage). Neither shop was a good place for me to steal some loot from them.

  But at Combing the Sea, which is overflowing with the most exotic trinkets money can buy, a person could easily be distracted by glittery things…and accidentally “lose” something. There are racks upon racks of fancy hats and veils, and tables piled high with velvet and silk purses and
scarves—everything a princess-in-training might need if she doesn’t have a fairy godmother to whip it up for her.

  But the jewelry and tiaras are what these royals are desperate to get their hands on.

  And they haven’t even noticed me following them at all. Ha!

  On the other hand, Neil, the shop owner, has. Trolls are good at sniffing out trouble, and he knows my reputation.

  “Need help with something, Gilly?” he asks, eyeing me warily as he polishes the jewelry counter for the fourth time.

  “Just looking.” I make eye contact so he knows I’m not scared of him. What can he do? So far, I’m just a twelve-year-old potential customer. I can’t get kicked out for browsing, can I?

  To blend in, I grab a ruby tiara and plop it on my head. I giggle when I see myself in the mirror. Me, the shoemaker’s oldest daughter, the tomboy with the frizzy brown hair and freckles, in a tiara! One of the royals turns around and frowns. Uh-oh. One look at my overalls and she’ll know I can’t even afford to buy hair ribbons in this place. I’ve learned that when I’m stealing goods, it’s best if my mark barely notices I’m here. I put the mark at ease so she isn’t suspicious, then disappear like fairy dust so she can’t even remember the color of my hair. Later, when she’s filling out a Dwarf Police Squad report, she won’t recall anything out of the ordinary about her day.

  I smile, which catches the blond off guard. “Where did you find that amazing boa?” I pretend to look through silk throws on the table in front of me. “I’ve been looking for one just like it. Not that it would look that good on me. It looks gorgeous on you.”

  Gag.

  “Doesn’t it?” Blondie grins and turns back to the full-length mirror. “It was the last one though, and I’m definitely taking it. Sorry.” She smiles thinly. Blondie doesn’t look sorry. I won’t be either when her hair clip is mine.

  “Oh well.” I sigh. “I’ll have to find something else to get. Thanks!”