The Forgotten Fairytales (20 page)

After what seemed like hours, tea ended and Danielle stood at the door with April as everyone greeted her, congratulating her on the title. My arms crossed over my chest as Alvin passed me with a wink. God, I wanted to strangle someone.

“Never saw that coming.” My attention snapped beside me to Finn. “She looks happy.”

“She looks terrified.”

“Eh, she’ll be fine,” Finn shrugged. How could he be so casual about Danielle’s schemes? This had to be a joke or torture. “Didn’t you say she wanted friends? Well, now she has some.”

“Not these friends.” I motioned to Jen as she fingered one of April’s curls. “They’re selfish, evil—” I stopped myself, by the look of doubt of Finn’s face, knowing he didn’t believe these girls were as bad as they were. He’d been brainwashed, but not me. And I wouldn’t stand for their game.

“Danielle’s selfish and a lot to handle, but she wouldn’t intentionally hurt someone.”

Finally I broke my stare from April and turned to Finn, bewildered by how stupid and ignorant he was. Not only did she drug or poison her boyfriend, but she had it out for me from the second I walked into this hell of a school. “She started the rumors.”

His eyes filled with pity, not the good kind. “Danielle hates controversy.”

“That’s her cover. Seriously, Finn, who else would’ve done this to me?”

“Lots of people. Wolf is at the top of my list.”

My jaw dropped. “No, he’d never do this. Not to me.”

“He’s a villain, Norah,” Finn said. “He’s capable of anything. He acts without thinking.”

I wrinkled my nose, disgusted by Finn’s judgment. Wolf and I were more alike than he knew and I’d never turn my back on him. Wolf wanted to keep what happened between us a secret. We made out, end of story. It wasn’t news worthy, though somehow I guessed it was, since it turned into a mess of rumors and lies. And even if he did act without thinking, why the hell would a guy start a rumor and then risk expulsion.

“T-there you are!” Pearl appeared beside him. She gazed into his eyes with such adoration, I almost felt bad—
almost
. “Isn’t t-this exciting? Your-r little sister.”

My gaze stayed heavy on Finn. “Say, how’d you get your voice back again?” She fingered the shell necklace dangling into her cleavage. After ignoring me, I pushed further. “Let me guess, Danielle helped?” Probably using something wicked like with James and the pills. Speaking of which, where was James?

Jen and Claire appeared at Pearl’s side. The thick gold chain around Jen’s neck gleamed under the light of the massive chandelier and her eyes were coated in thick, dark eye shadow.

“You should seriously do yourself a favor and burn your wardrobe.” Claire stuck her hand on her hip and elongated her neck, as if that’d somehow make her more than bite size.

“That’s funny, I don’t remember asking for the opinion of someone who still shops in the toddler section.” I said.

Yeah, she definitely did not want to mess with me now.

Pearl laced her thin, pale arm in Finn’s. “Ready to go?” she asked him, then turned to the rest of us. “F-finn and I are rehearsing a routine f-for the ball”

“You two make such a cute couple. Totally meant to be,” Claire said.

The tips of my ears heated as Pearl bounced on her heels in excitement. Finn didn’t say a word, nor did he reject their new title as a pair. Instead when he said good-bye, he took my hand a planted a kiss on top—much like James had done. The edge of a folded piece of paper jabbed into my palm. As he pulled his hand away, I curled my thumb over the paper and slipped it into my pocket.

When I got back to my room, something was not right. Starting with the fact that none of my belongings were there. I poked my head into the closet where Danielle was surrounded by shoes—wedges, stilettos, flats, even a pair of crispy white Keds. In front of her were her famous glass stilettos. They weren’t full of diamonds or even shaped amazingly, but there was something so pure and innocent about the shoe as it sat on her hand.

“Where’s all my stuff?”

“It’s been moved. You’re rooming on the fifth floor now, alone,” Danielle said. “April will be staying here. Did you see the shoes she had on tonight? Lovely. You know what I love about shoes? They transform you. One single pair can turn you from geek to chic in seconds. Suddenly, you have a confidence you weren’t sure existed.”

“Is that what happened to you?”

She nodded slowly, her eyes feverish on the glass slipper. “These shoes changed my life. I’m never going back, Norah.” Her attention meandered to me, those pale eyes like tiny daggers. “I’d take the whole world down before I went back to the hellish life I had.”

My throat tensed. “What does this have to do with me and my sister?”

She set the shoe back in its rightful spot. “April doesn’t have an ounce of princess in her. You know that, I know that, even Madrina knows. But she’s a princess, nevertheless, and you want to know why? Because
I
made her one. I’m not an idiot, Norah. I know about your sister’s sickness. Despite her hatred for you, you’d do whatever it takes to keep her safe. But I also know April. She’d easily betray you. So you can either cooperate with me or you can watch your sister fall into a pit so deep that even you won’t be able to save her.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No.” She smiled. “It’s a promise.”

She stood up and walked to the exit of the closet. On the floor was a bag, she picked it up and swung it over her shoulder. “Leave the key on the nightstand.”

And with that, Danielle left me alone, my mind swirling as if I were plastered against the inside of a gravitron ride at a carnival.

“
W
hat a bitch!” Kate held her books to her chest as we walked to class the following day. “She really is the devil’s daughter.”

“It’s amazing what people do for revenge.” I scratched at my neck. Thanks to Kate’s potion, the marks were gone but my skin still felt irritated and dry. At least I didn’t have to wear a scarf anymore. “Oh, and to add to the drama that was yesterday, Finn slipped this note into my hand.”

I handed her the tiny fortune cookie-sized paper that read
Don’t be sorry. I’m not.

“You think he means the fight?” Kate asked.

I shrugged. “Who knows. He made it clear Pearl and him were a couple. Not that I care.” After he accused Wolf of spreading the rumors and said Danielle wasn’t an evil manipulative bitch, I questioned his thought process.

We stopped in front of the classroom. On the wall was a colorful poster advertising the annual Christmas ball.

Kate groaned and tore it down, crumbling it into a wad. “Traditions here blow.” She tossed it into the wastebasket. “See you at lunch?” I nodded and turned into the room. “Hey, Norah?” I stopped and looked back at my friend. “I’m really sorry. I wish I could help.”

“You already are.”

Giving into Danielle wasn’t something I wanted. But I also couldn’t chance April’s stability. If I was the reason she hurt herself again, I’d never be able to live with myself. As a little security blanket, I stole the pills from Danielle’s medicine cabinet and replaced them with my allergy medicine. I was determined to find out what they were, but I wasn’t sure I felt comfortable talking to Kate about it.

Listening to the gossip of the other princesses, I knew Danielle and April did everything together—eat, drink, shop and their classes were all the same. We had two together:
Dining and Etiquette
, which April sucked at as much as me, and Dance. She was paired with the blond boy from tea.

I yawned all through my classes. The bed in my new room was horrible. It had to be made for someone who enjoyed sleeping in the woods, which I did not. The mattress was lumpy and rock-like and the comforter scratched me. The walls were made of stone, lacking life and color. And it was cold. Very, very cold.

Finally lunch came around. I grabbed a coffee from the line and plopped on the chair, letting my head fall into my hands. All day people had stared at me as if I was a weird science experiment.

“You look like crap.” I peeked through my fingers as Desiree sat in front of me chewing a granola bar. Today her eyes were honey and green. “Oh, and I heard the news. Everyone’s talking about Princess April.”

“Ugh, please, not you too.”

“Does that mean you and I are done?” she asked. “Cause if it does, I may have to light someone on fire. Or cast a wicked spell. Haven’t done that in, like, forever.”

I raised a brow. “Who are you? I don’t think we’ve ever talked about it.”

“That’s because I don’t like to brag.” She sat up straight and flipped her hair back. “It’s not easy being Your Heart’s Desire.”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“Of course you have. No story is complete without a desire. And I fulfill them.” She sat up, proud, happy of her talents.

“How are you a villain?” I asked. “You create happy endings.”

“Wrong.” She pointed her half-eaten granola at me. “Happy Endings don’t come cheap and they all come with a cost. The books don’t show all the endings and they sure as hell don’t show you what the heroine sacrificed to get what she wanted. Those darling, are the lost fairy tales.”

I pushed my coffee aside. “Wait, there’s such thing as Lost Fairy tales?”

Desiree nodded, with one blink her eyes darkened—brown and sapphire. “Once a new version is created, usually one with a happier ending, they lock the old story away so no one knows the truth. Take Little Briar Rose. Originally it wasn’t a kiss that awoke her, but the prince raping her. How screwed up is that?”

Excitement seared through me. I had to know the real stories. It was as if everything I had ever known was a lie. Somewhere in this castle were books upon books of stories no one remembered. Stories forgotten because their endings weren’t as perfect as one wished. Because they were dark and sinister. I had to find those books.

“Every story comes from another story. If the truth got out so many people could be ruined.”

“Where can I read them?”

“Oh, you can’t.” Desiree bit into her granola bar. “They’re locked away. Hidden forever.”

“But wouldn’t the truth get out one way or another? These people are based off characters that were written already. They’re living a lie.”

Desiree shrugged. “Once a story is rewritten, the past evaporates. Well, unless the past is brought to life again.”

Danielle, April, and Pearl walked in. And just like that, my heart shattered into a million pieces. “Can my desire be to disappear? Because I don’t think I can handle watching my sister ruin her life.”

Desiree crumbled the wrapper between her fingers. “She’s okay, her desires are really budding.”

“What?”

“I see the desires within people, they all have a certain glow around their heart—lust, love, money, fame, adventure, pain. Danielle, she’s surrounded by this deep crimson, which is power. Pearl’s is tinged blue for love. April’s is a soft yellow, usually for friendship. When it comes down to true attraction, the color is different and almost always matches the person they are attracted to as long as that person is attracted back. Finn’s heart is surrounded by this weird pinkish-purple color.”

Not this again. “I told you, I don’t care about him that way.”

“That doesn’t stop him from liking you, and before you get all argumentative, I know it’s you because Wolf’s is the same.”

My heart swarmed at the sound of Wolf’s name. I’d do just about anything to see him and tell him about all the craziness.

My forehead hit the edge of the table. “Any other fantabulous news you want to share with me? Because I’m all about it today. Not only am I under house arrest, Wolf is avoiding me, Danielle is out for revenge, and my sister is only a princess because stupid Danielle wants to manipulate me. Oh, and that whole rumor thing about me being some kind of sex freak sporting an STD. What next? A long lost evil twin?”

Instead of sitting through lunch I went to the library to read. Finding a nice, secluded spot, I reached in my bag and a small book fell out. The one Donny gave me. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about it. When I opened it, a bright golden light extended from the pages into the air. My first instinct was to close the book. Instead, I waved my hand through the glittering light. So weird. The inscription on the following page was how to conjure light.