“If I get my own room, won’t that make other students suspicious?” Her throat felt tickly as she spoke. “I want to be treated like everyone else.”
“Very well.” He leaned forward and hollered, “Mrs. Trollworth!”
The troll lady poked her large head into his office. “What?”
“Meeshell needs a roommate assignment.”
The troll lady disappeared, followed by more sounds of papers being flung about, then she stuck her head back in. “There’s an empty bed in room twelve-C.”
“Twelve-C?” he asked.
“Yeah. Farrah Goodfairy.”
“I see.” He stroked his chin for a moment. “Farrah Goodfairy is not royalty. Will that matter to you?”
Meeshell shrugged. “Should it?”
At her school in the Merkingdom, most of Meeshell’s classmates were not princes or princesses. In fact, none of her closest friends from her old school were royalty. Things like that simply didn’t matter to her.
“It has long been a tradition, here at Ever After High, to house royals together. It makes sense, based on their shared school curriculums and traditions. But lately we’ve been embracing diversification. I think Farrah might be a good match for you. She’s very intelligent and exceptionally friendly.” He wrote something into Meeshell’s file. “Very well. Twelve-C it is. Now that we have that matter settled, a member of the Welcoming Committee should be here shortly to show you around.”
And at that very moment, a girl stepped into the office. She smiled so brightly at Meeshell that, for a moment, all of Meeshell’s worries faded away.
Chapter 5
An Apple a Day
Headmaster Grimm stood and a wide grin spread across his face. Whoever this girl was, she was very well liked. “Well, this is a lovely surprise. What can I do for you?” he asked.
“She doesn’t have an appointment!” the troll lady hollered from the other room.
The girl called out to the ornery receptionist, “It’s okay, Mrs. Trollworth. I didn’t make an appointment because I’m not here to see the headmaster.” She turned and smiled again at Meeshell. “Briar Beauty usually greets new students, since she’s head of the Ever After High Welcoming Committee, but she couldn’t leave the Spirit assembly, so she sent me. I’ve applied to be a member of the committee. You’re my first official new student.” The girl’s cheeks were round and dimpled, and her blue eyes twinkled. They actually twinkled. She held out her hand. “I’m Apple. Apple White.”
“Hi.” Meeshell shyly reached out and shook her hand. “I’m… Meeshell.”
“No last name?” Apple asked. Meeshell shook her head. “Oh, how enchanting! One name, just like Cinderella. Well, Meeshell, I’m fairy, fairy happy to meet you.”
“Are you…?” Meeshell’s voice was barely a whisper. She knew that she’d be meeting all sorts of well-known students, but this girl was related to the most famous woman in the entire fairytale world! “Are you Snow White’s daughter?”
“Yes, but don’t let that sway your opinion of me. Seriously, my mom is wonderful, but in most ways she’s just like everyone else’s mom. She checks in on me all the time, wanting to know if I’m getting enough sleep, if I’m flossing, and if I’m eating healthy. And she always wants to know if I have a boyfriend.” She giggled. “I’m much too busy studying to worry about that sort of thing.” She reached into a book bag and pulled out a red apple. “This is a little welcome gift for you. Don’t worry, it’s not a poisoned apple.” Apple giggled again. “I don’t poison apples; I just eat poisoned apples. At least, I’m supposed to, one day.”
Meeshell took the apple. It certainly was beautiful. She’d eaten apples, but only the golden kind. There was a place near her home where an ancient apple tree grew close to shore, its branches hanging out over the water. She and her friends would wait for the fruit to fall, then sit on the beach and eat their fill. But she’d never tasted a red apple.
“Go on, give it a try. It’s a hybrid, grown special in my kingdom. Mom ships crates of them to me.”
Meeshell took a bite. She was surprised by the combination of tart and sweet. “Yum,” she said. She wiped a bit of juice that dribbled down her chin.
“I know, isn’t it the best?” Apple took another one out of her bag and set it onto the headmaster’s desk. “Headmaster Grimm, what is Meeshell’s dorm assignment?” she asked.
“She shall be rooming with Ms. Goodfairy,” he said.
Apple clapped her hands. “Oh, you’ll love Farrah! She’s a spelltacular girl, and a hexcellent student! Come on, let’s go. I have so much to show you. Good-bye, Headmaster Grimm. Charm you later!”
The headmaster grabbed Meeshell’s bag and handed it to her. “Good-bye, Ms. White and Ms.… ahem… Meeshell. Remember, Professor Yaga will act as your advisor, should you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
Apple placed another apple onto Mrs. Trolworth’s desk. “I don’t like apples!” the troll lady bellowed, reaching for a handful of cockroach crisps.
“Oh, Mrs. Trollworth, haven’t you heard the saying—an apple a day keeps the doctor away?” Apple asked sweetly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mrs. Trollworth asked grumpily.
“It means apples are good for you.”
As they left, Mrs. Trollworth called, “Hey, this one doesn’t have any worms in it. Next time you bring me an apple, I want one with worms!”
When Apple led Meeshell down the stairs, her red skirt flounced with her excited footsteps. “I like your yellow dress. It’s very… old-fashioned,” she said diplomatically. “But what happened to your shoes?”
“Um, well, I came by boat and…” Meeshell wasn’t sure what to say.
“Oh dear.” Apple gasped. “Did a giant squid take them? That happened to my aunt once. She took a cruise to the North Pole and a giant squid ate the whole boat. Luckily, he spat out my aunt, but he kept her shoes. Isn’t that mean?” Meeshell didn’t respond. She’d met a few giant squids and they were the opposite of mean. In fact, they were the shyest creatures in the ocean. But she knew that legends often portrayed them as dangerous beasts. The very last thing giant squids wanted to do was to attack anyone or anything. They preferred napping and weaving. And they certainly didn’t eat boats or shoes. “I’ll help you get a new pair. We have the best shoe store in the village.”
“Thanks,” Meeshell said.
“So, how come you’re whispering?”
“There’s something wrong with my voice.” Meeshell felt her cheeks burn. Apple must think she was so strange, with her whispery voice.
But Apple just gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m royally sorry to hear that. If it gets worse I can pick up some throat lozenges at the infirmary. The pickled pepper lozenges taste terrible, but they work great.”
The doors to the Administration Building flew open and the girls stepped outside. The campus was still quiet. “Since this is my first official Welcome Committee assignment, I need to check my list,” Apple explained. She pulled a little piece of paper from her pocket. “Let’s see, first I meet you, then I’m supposed to take you to the bookstore to get supplies. It’s right over there.”
As they walked across the quad, Apple chatted happily. “I remember my first day at school. I was super hexcited because I’d requested Raven Queen for my roommate and I got her. I spent most of the morning decorating our room. She didn’t like it, not at first. And I think she was shocked that the girl she’s supposed to poison was her roommate and wanted to be her friend. It took her a while to get used to me but now we’re BFFAs. That’s best friends forever after.” She smiled at Meeshell. “You’ll make friends right away. In fact, that’s one of the things on my list. Look.” She pointed to the list and read. “‘Help the New Student Make Friends.’ Everyone here is really nice. Well, not everyone. There are some villains, but a fairytale wouldn’t be a fairytale without villains.” She stopped in her tracks and raised her eyebrow. “Are you a villain?”
r /> Meeshell shook her head.
“I didn’t think so. I’m a fairy good judge of people and you don’t strike me as a villain. What is your story? Oh, wait, never mind that right now because here’s the bookstore.”
Hoping to avoid more conversation about her “story,” Meeshell darted into the bookstore. It was a crowded place, with floor-to-ceiling shelves. Besides books, there were all sorts of things to buy, each adorned with the Ever After High emblem—water bottles, socks, and hoodies to name a few. There was an entire section dedicated to Daring Charming. Meeshell had read a lot about Prince Charming, but she wasn’t familiar with his son. Daring’s handsome face adorned T-shirts, book bags, and key chains.
“Daring’s got a whole fan club,” Apple explained. “We dated for a while but, right now, I’m way too busy for romance. What about you? Do you have a boyfriend back home?”
Meeshell shook her head. She had friends, lots of friends, but never a real boyfriend. There’d been that one time, when Splash, a boy she went to school with, had held her hand. And had kissed her cheek in the moonlight. But she didn’t feel anything deeper than friendship for him.
Apple picked up a Daring Charming water bottle. “I figure there will always be boys to date. But we only get to go to this school for a short time, and I want to make the most of my education while I’m here.” She set the bottle aside, then walked up to the counter. The cashier had green hair and pointed ears. “Hi, Birch. This is Meeshell, a new student. She needs to pick up a MirrorPad.”
“Welcome to Ever After High,” he said. Then he handed Meeshell a black square thing.
“What is this?” Meeshell asked.
“You don’t know?” Though Apple sounded surprised, she didn’t seem to judge Meeshell, which was a huge relief. “Well, here at Ever After High, we have a Mirror Network. That’s the fastest way to communicate. With this MirrorPad, you can watch the latest MirrorCasts, communicate with other students, get your class thronework assignments, send hexts to your family, basically everything. Yesterday my mom sent a photo of our family cat. Isn’t she cute?” She pulled out her own MirrorPad, touched the screen, and a snow-white cat appeared, wearing a cute jeweled red collar. Meeshell suddenly missed Finbert. “Oh look, I have a MirrorMail from Ashlynn. She wants to meet up for lunch.”
“Wow,” Meeshell said, amazed by the technology. The Merkingdom didn’t have anything like this. If she wanted to meet up with her Merfriends, she used the conch shell to call them, and then they’d meet at their favorite kelp grotto.
“Thanks, Birch,” Apple said.
“No problem.”
Outside the bookstore, Apple and Meeshell sat on a wooden bench. “Okay, now that we have your MirrorPad, let’s look at your class schedule.” Apple opened Meeshell’s MirrorPad, touched the screen a few times, and a schedule appeared.
Student: First Name: Meeshell.
Last Name: Withheld.
Apple pursed her lips and glanced at Meeshell. “Why does it say ‘withheld’?”
“Uh, some kind of mistake?” Meeshell suggested.
“Well, you definitely have a full schedule and, oh look, you’re in Princessology. I didn’t know you were a royal. But where’s your crown?” Apple touched her own crown.
Meeshell didn’t normally wear a crown. Instead, she preferred a pearl headband, which she’d tucked into her small bag, along with a few of her very special belongings.
Apple looked concerned. “Oh dear. Did that giant squid take your crown, too? We’ll be sure to get you a new one. We can probably order it and have it delivered. What kingdom are you from?”
Even though she’d had those three days on the ship to ponder all the potential questions, Meeshell hadn’t quite worked out all the details of her alias. She’d been distracted by her new legs, and the great effort it took getting used to them. “I’m from very far away. Across the ocean. You’ve never heard of it, I’m sure.”
“I took Geografairy last year and aced it. We had to study all the kingdoms. Let me guess.” Apple scrunched up her face as she thought deeply. “Since you came across the ocean, is it… is it the Kingdom by the Sea?”
Meeshell nodded. She felt bad about starting her friendship with a lie but if she told Apple where she came from, then Apple would immediately know she was a mermaid. As warm of a welcome she was getting from Apple, Meeshell still believed that, in the long run, it would be best if everyone at Ever After High thought she was just a normal, two-footed princess.
Apple placed a hand on Meeshell’s shoulder. “This is probably your first time being away from home. We all get homesick at first. But it will pass, I promise. You’ll start to feel as if this is your second home in no time. And one of the best ways to fight homesickness is to make new friends.” Meeshell was speechless. This very nice student, whom she’d just met, was being so kind. Would everyone be like this? Apple glanced at her list. “It says here that I’m supposed to get you signed up for at least one club or sports team. What are your interests?”
Meeshell wasn’t sure what to say. Back home, she really loved riding manta rays. In fact, she was a champion, having won first place in her age group in the manta ray race. She also loved combing the seafloor for treasures. While the Sea Witch collected voices, Meeshell collected shells of all shapes and sizes. And she was really good at sea languages, having mastered Porpoise and Dolphin. But none of those interests seemed right for Ever After High. “Well, I’m not really sure what my interests are,” she said. Then she coughed. Her throat felt so scratchy.
“Oooh, we need to get you those lozenges.”
Sounds arose in the distance. The doors to the Charmitorium flew open and students began to emerge. “Oh look, the assembly is over. It’s time for lunch. Come on, let’s get you something to eat and you can meet some of the other students. And then I can cross one more thing off the list: help the new student make friends.”
Chapter 6
Tea Trouble
Apple was taking her Welcoming Committee role very seriously: Each time she and Meeshell passed something she’d say, “Welcome to the drinking fountain.” “Welcome to the wishing well.” “Welcome to the exterior hallway of the Student Union Building.” She certainly seemed very nice, and her desire to make Meeshell feel at home at Ever After High seemed genuine. Her warm smile put Meeshell at ease. But it was a bit unnerving for Meeshell to think that one day Apple would be poisoned by an apple and lie in a coma, waiting for true love’s kiss. The truth was, many of Ever After High’s students, including Meeshell, had stories that would require sacrifice and courage.
“Welcome to the Castleteria!” Apple exclaimed, throwing her arms wide.
The Castleteria bustled with activity as hungry students hurried in from the assembly, eager to grab lunch. There was so much commotion, and so many people, Meeshell wished she were a hermit crab and could disappear into a shell. Some of the students cast curious glances at Meeshell’s old dress. One student, a human-sized fairy with blond hair and iridescent wings, flew up to her and said with a sneer, “I didn’t realize that today was Wear Your Grandmother’s Old Dress Day.” Then she flew off. Meeshell felt her cheeks go red for the second time that day.
“Don’t mind her,” Apple said. “Her name is Faybelle and she never says anything nice. Besides, wearing old clothing is called being retro and it’s very in style right now.”
Lots of students said hello to Apple, who in turn introduced Meeshell, but the names and faces came so quickly, Meeshell was certain she wouldn’t remember a single one. Her gaze darted around the dining hall. Large trees grew along the walls, their branches reaching high above tables that were arranged in tidy rows. The kitchen area was its own vast room. Another tree grew in the center, copper pans hanging from its branches. Cauldrons bubbled on dragon-fire hearths and baskets overflowed with colorful vegetables and fruits. Students grabbed trays and lined up at a long counter to choose from a wide array of foods. Apple handed Meeshell a tray. Meeshell tried to forget
the mean fairy’s comment but as she looked around, it was quite obvious that her dress wasn’t in fashion.
A hunchbacked woman stood behind the counter. She held a ladle that overflowed with something gray and gooey. A box labeled LUMPS sat at her elbow. Apple whispered in Meeshell’s ear, “That’s porridge. Hagatha serves it all day long. Blondie Lockes likes it a lot but I suggest you avoid it. It’s the worst.” When they reached the woman, Apple introduced them. “Hagatha, this is our new student, Meeshell. Meeshell, Hagatha is our Castleteria cook.”
“Got any food allergies?” Hagatha asked, wiping her hand on her greasy apron. Meeshell shook her head. “Got any special dietary needs?”
Meeshell hadn’t noticed any sea-lettuce salads or barnacle stew in the food choices, but she didn’t want to make special requests. She needed to eat the same things the other two-footed people ate. But there was one thing she couldn’t stomach. “I don’t eat fish.”
Hagatha grunted. “I don’t blame ya. Fish are slimy things. I don’t eat them neither.” Slimy wasn’t a word Meeshell would use to describe the ocean’s most beautiful creatures. Her eyes widened as Hagatha dumped a ladle of porridge into a bowl, then set the bowl onto Meeshell’s tray. The porridge jiggled a bit, as if it were going to jump out of the bowl, but then it settled into a mound.
“This will make it taste better,” Apple said as she grabbed a honey bear. The bear giggled as she picked it up and squeezed.
Because Meeshell was obviously overwhelmed and a bit confused, Apple helpfully selected a few more items for Meeshell’s tray—a cucumber sandwich, a miniature thronecake, and a glass of fairyberry iced tea. Then she led her to a table. “Everyone, I want you to meet our newest student, Meeshell. She’s a princess from the Kingdom by the Sea.”
One by one she was introduced. “This is Ashlynn Ella, daughter of Cinderella. She works at the Glass Slipper, which is the best shoe store in all the kingdoms. And she speaks to animals, which comes in handy if you get stuck in a tower and you need a griffin to come and rescue you.”