Ever After High: Next Top Villain: A School Story

  It made sense that Lizzie would be selected for General Villainy. Her mother was a notorious queen whose temperamental outbursts were legendary. But why me? Duchess thought. Have I done something wrong?

  Suddenly, Lizzie dove into a pile of socks. “There you are,” she said, pulling out a round, prickly lump. “You silly little thing. I’ve been looking for you for days.” The lump uncurled, then wiggled her nose. Her name was Shuffle, and she was Lizzie’s pet hedgehog. “It’s time to go to class,” Lizzie told her. Then she tucked the critter into her book bag.

  The hallway filled with the sounds of footsteps and chatter as girls headed out of the dormitory to their first classes of the day. Duchess left the window open so Pirouette could come and go as she pleased. Then she and Lizzie joined the stream of students.

  Despite the fact that they were opposites in many ways, Duchess was glad to have Lizzie by her side as they negotiated the crowded hallways of Ever After High. Lizzie might lack organizational skills, but she certainly didn’t lack confidence. “Out of the way!” she ordered, waving her scepter as if she’d already been crowned.

  They passed through the Common Room, ducking beneath the tree branches that grew inside the school. They grabbed brioches and orange juice from a Castleteria cart. All the students were talking about their class lists.

  “Why are you walking so fast?” Lizzie complained.

  “I want to get there early so I can tell Mr. Badwolf to transfer me to another class,” Duchess informed her.

  Lizzie swung her bag over her shoulder. “Can you do that? Headmaster Grimm makes all the class decisions. There must be some reason why he included you.” She took a bite of breakfast.

  “Putting me in General Villainy doesn’t make sense,” Duchess said, her brow furrowing beneath the pearl strand.

  Lizzie swallowed. “We have a saying in Wonderland: The rhythm of time brings the telling of rhyme.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means all answers will be revealed in time.”

  That was a nice thought, but the truth was, Duchess didn’t have time on her side. She had only these moments at Ever After High to do her best, to get perfect grades, and to live her life before her destiny caught up with her.

  They finished their breakfast. Then, just as they left their juice containers with the recycling fairy, Lizzie cried, “Oh no!” Her hedgehog had leaped from the book bag and was running as fast as her pudgy little legs could carry her, which wasn’t very fast. Because the courtyard was so crowded, the critter managed to disappear in the maze of feet. “Bad hedgehog!” Lizzie called. Then, in much the same way that Duchess transformed from a person into a swan, Lizzie transformed from a girl who’d been happily eating a brioche to an ill-tempered future ruler. “I hereby order someone to stop that hedgehog!” she hollered, waving her scepter. “Watch your feet or heads will roll!”

  “Looking for this?” a voice asked.

  Shuffle had curled into a ball and was lying in a pair of cupped hands.

  Strong hands.

  Duchess’s gaze traveled up a letterman’s jacket and rested on the most handsome face she’d ever seen.

  Her heart began to pirouette.

  Chapter 4

  A Charming Crush

  Duchess had learned, as had most everyone at Ever After High, to never look directly at Prince Daring Charming’s mouth when he smiled. How he got his teeth to glow so blindingly white was a Charming family secret. The shine was powerful enough to melt chocolate hearts.

  And real hearts.

  “You naughty hedgehog.” Lizzie plucked Shuffle from Daring’s hands and plopped her back into her book bag.

  Daring puffed out his chest. “No need to thank me. Rescuing fair damsels is what I do.”

  “I don’t need to be rescued,” Lizzie informed him. “I’m perfectly capable of catching my own hedgehog.” She squared her shoulders in a proper way, but Duchess could tell, from the softening expression on Lizzie’s face, that she was grateful. She just couldn’t admit it in public.

  Duchess pushed a strand of lavender hair from her eyes and gazed up at the face that was only an arm’s length away. Daring Charming. His name sounded like muse-ic. An entire chapter in her diary was dedicated to him. She thought he was one hundred percent perfect. Among the royal princes at Ever After High, Daring was the most handsome, the most swoon-worthy, the most amazing example of princeliness the world had ever seen. And she’d been smitten with him since… forever after.

  “Both our names begin with the letter D,” she said dreamily. Daring and Lizzie turned to stare at her. Oops. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

  A chorus of giggles arose from the edge of the courtyard, where Daring’s groupies had gathered to catch a morning glimpse of their favorite prince. They took pictures with their Mirror-Phones. Adoration clung to Daring like paint to a wall. Was every single girl at school in love with him?

  “Well, gotta go. Riddle you later,” Lizzie told him as she started walking again. Duchess followed. She couldn’t get away fast enough. Both our names begin with the letter D. How embarrassing.

  “Uh, hold on, Lizzie.” Daring darted in front of the girls, blocking their path. As he smiled, they both shielded their eyes. “I was wondering if you’d like to do something with me, but then I asked myself, why waste time wondering? Of course you’d like to do something with me. Who wouldn’t?” He winked. The groupies sighed in unison.

  “Do something?” Lizzie asked. “You mean like…” She smiled sweetly. “Chop off your head?”

  That was funny. Duchess tried to stifle her laugh by holding a hand over her mouth, but the honk escaped through her fingers.

  Daring glanced at her. “Did you just honk?”

  “Uh-huh.” Duchess’s cheeks began to heat up.

  He looked at her as if he’d never seen her before. “You look slightly familiar.”

  “I’m Duchess,” she said with a little wave. “Duchess Swan.” She’d introduced herself at least a dozen times already. They’d even had a class together.

  “I’m sure you’re enchanted to make my acquaintance,” he said. Then he turned his attention back to Lizzie. “So…” He leaned closer. He didn’t seem to notice that Lizzie was scowling at him. “We could go for an evening stroll. My face looks stellar in moonlight. But come to think of it, I look great in sunlight, too. Candlelight, lamplight, firelight—you really can’t make me look bad.” He ran a hand over his blond locks.

  Am I hearing things? Did he just ask her out? Duchess checked her ears, to make sure there weren’t any feathers stuck in them. What about me? She imagined Daring dancing a pas de deux, standing at her side, lifting her into the air with his strong arms. Twirling around and around on the dance floor.

  Lizzie’s hedgehog had once again escaped the book bag and was climbing up Lizzie’s arm. “I don’t want to take a stroll with you,” Lizzie said. “I get plenty of exercise on the Croquet Team.”

  Duchess’s mouth fell open. Lizzie turned him down? Was she mad?

  Shouts arose from the groupies. “I’ll go on a stroll.”

  “Take me strolling.”

  “No, take me!”

  Daring scratched his head in wonderment. “Did you say you don’t want to go? With me?”

  “That’s what I said,” Lizzie confirmed. She pried Shuffle off her arm and tucked her back into the bag.

  “But…” Daring looked about as confused as the Emperor had when he discovered he wasn’t wearing clothes. “Is that possible?”

  “Possible is as possible does,” Lizzie said in a very matter-of-fact manner.

  Duchess Swan was no expert on love, but she assumed, by the way Daring was gazing at Lizzie and by the way Lizzie kept looking past his shoulder as if she had someplace more exciting to go, that the crush was one-sided.

  Just like Duchess’s crush.

  “I’ll go on a stroll with you,” Duchess wanted to say, but the five-minute warning bell chimed.
She snapped out of her daze, remembering that she needed to talk to Mr. Badwolf. “Come on,” she told Lizzie. The two girls sidestepped Daring, then hurried across the cobblestones.

  “Out of the way!” Lizzie hollered at the groupies, who hastily scattered. “I hate getting angry so early in the morning,” she told Duchess. “I don’t know how my mother does it. She has at least fifty temper tantrums a day. I’ve only had a few, and I’m already exhausted.”

  Lizzie didn’t seem one bit happy that she’d been asked on a date by the royal hunk himself. How was that possible?

  Duchess wiped a crumb from the corner of her mouth. But the lingering sweetness of the brioche had become tainted by the bitterness of envy.

  Chapter 5

  The Cauldron Room

  Ever After High did not look like your typical campus. Perched on a bluff, the school itself was a hodgepodge of halls, rooms, and towers that rose high above the Village of Book End. Some of the towers were so tall that they pierced through the clouds. All the balconies provided breathtaking views of the surrounding forests, farmlands, and meadows. Trees were welcome to grow inside, and so they became part of the structure, supporting ceilings with their branches and cementing the foundation with their roots. It was a living building of sorts, filled to the brim with energy and magic. And stairs.

  Lots and lots of stairs.

  Duchess and Lizzie stood at the end of a hallway, in front of a narrow door with a sign that read, TO THE DUNGEON.

  “Ugh,” Lizzie said. “I hate dungeons.”

  “Me too,” Duchess said. The dungeon back home had a few ancient skeletons and smelled like rotten eggs. She’d gone down there once, on a dare from the cook’s boy. She never went again.

  It made perfect sense that a class specializing in villainy would be held in a dreary place. At least she wouldn’t have to spend more than a few minutes down there. She’d get Mr. Badwolf’s permission to transfer and be on her way.

  The stone stairs were steep and slippery. “Did I miss the hext about wearing hiking boots?” Lizzie grumbled as she clung to the wrought iron railing. Her red heels were not designed for this sort of terrain. Duchess’s shoes weren’t much better, but she wasn’t going to take them off and risk stepping on a spider, or something worse.

  Just above their heads, stone hands stuck out of the wall. Each hand held a lighted torch. The flames cast strange shadows. Cobwebs sparkled between the stones. Something darted in front of them. “Was that a rat?” Duchess cried.

  “A rat… a rat… a rat,” echoed down the stairs.

  “A rat the size of a cat,” Lizzie said. Shuffle squealed and burrowed deeper into Lizzie’s bag. “Oh my wand, there’s another one. Professor Piper needs to clean this place up.”

  They reached the bottom of the stairwell, only to find another set of stairs, this one even narrower and steeper than the last. Lizzie groaned. “You’d think that Headmaster Grimm could at least put an elevator in this place. Seriously. Don’t the villains deserve better?”

  There was some truth to that. Villains were just as welcome at Ever After High as the heroes. Both had equally important roles to play in fairytales. Without darkness, there couldn’t be light.

  “An elevator would be nice,” Duchess said as she brushed a cobweb from her nose. She couldn’t wait to be in the fresh air again. Neither her ballet side nor her swan side wanted to be underground. Dancers jump; birds fly. Dancers leap; birds soar. They do not tunnel!

  Another sign waited at the bottom of the second stairwell.

  “Cauldron room,” Duchess said, pointing. With Lizzie still in the lead, they hurried down the dimly lit corridor. Dampness glistened on the stone walls. Pairs of small red eyes glowed from the ceiling. The girls doubled their pace.

  The door to the cauldron room had been propped open by an empty cauldron.

  “It’s hot in here,” Lizzie complained as they stepped inside.

  The feather on Duchess’s headpiece immediately wilted. It was like stepping into a sauna. The source of the heat was a fire burning in a large stone hearth. Three cauldrons were suspended over the flames. The first bubbled with thick green swamp water. The second popped and sizzled with blood-red lava. The third swirled like a whirlpool of mud.

  Lizzie and Duchess both peeled off their jackets.

  “It’s much cooler over here,” a girl called. Her name was Ginger Breadhouse. She was sitting on a wooden stool, as were three other students. The remaining two stools were empty.

  The bell rang. Lizzie hurried across the stone floor and grabbed one of the stools. She set her book bag on the floor, then waved for Duchess to join her. But Duchess decided to stand by the door and wait for the teacher. No reason to get comfortable if she wasn’t staying.

  A deep clearing of a throat startled Duchess. Mr. Badwolf entered the room, a clipboard in his hands. He was immaculately dressed in a three-piece plaid suit, a pocket kerchief, and a bright red necktie. His gray hair hung in thick, luxurious waves. He sniffed the air, then looked at Duchess with his yellow canine eyes. Her heart fluttered for a moment. Wolves are hunters. If she turned into a swan at that very moment, would he pounce on her?

  But no pouncing occurred. Nor did he ask Duchess why she was standing alone by the door and not sitting with the others. He adjusted his tie, then strode across the room. “Welcome, future villains,” he said, his voice deep and growly. “I am your instructor, Mr. Badwolf.”

  “Excuse me,” Duchess said as she followed him. “But there’s been a mistake.” She held out her letter. “I’m listed in this class, but I’m not supposed to be here. My name is Duchess Swan.”

  “Yes, I know who you are,” he said, his pupils narrowing.

  “Oh, great. Well, then I’d like your permission to transfer to another class. Something more fitting.”

  “More fitting?” He raised his bushy eyebrows. “Are you not good enough for this class, Ms. Swan?”

  One of the students giggled.

  Duchess squared her shoulders. “Of course I’m good enough. I’m good enough to do anything,” she said proudly. “But I’m not evil. I mean, there’s no evil in my bloodline. So I don’t think I should be in a villain class.”

  “Is that what you think?” He took the parchment from her and wrote in big red letters: TRANSFER DENIED. Then he handed the parchment back.

  “But…”

  Mr. Badwolf growled. It wasn’t a ferocious, loud growl—rather it was soft, as if given as a warning. “Sit down, Ms. Swan.”

  Duchess gasped. Then, with angry footsteps, she marched over to the last stool and sat with a loud hmph.

  Lizzie whispered, “Bet you’re feeling a little bit evil now.”

  She was. She wanted to give Mr. Badwolf a piece of her mind. She wanted to tell him that not only was she good enough for this class, but also that she was better than this class and everyone in it!

  Mr. Badwolf stood with his feet wide apart, holding the clipboard behind his back. “Does anyone else have any personal issues they’d like to bring to my attention?” He was clearly being sarcastic, but Lizzie’s hand shot up anyway.

  “Yes, I have a whole list of issues. I would like this class to begin later. It’s soooo early and I need extra time in the morning to find everything because my playing-card army is back in Wonderland. I also think we need to have an elevator installed. I cannot be expected to hike up those stairs every day in my heels. And the rats are scaring my hedgehog. I’d like you to do something about that.” She folded her hands in her lap, waiting for his response.

  The big wall clock tick-tocked. The cauldrons bubbled. But none of the students said anything. They sat, waiting to see what Mr. Badwolf would do. Duchess figured that if he helped Lizzie with some of her requests, then surely he’d reconsider Duchess’s request for a transfer.

  He narrowed his eyes and glared at Lizzie. “If you are worried about rats, Ms. Hearts, then I suggest you and your hedgehog each get a rabies shot. I get mine every year.” He jangled
a tag that hung on a chain around his neck.

  The only boy in the class laughed. His name was Sparrow Hood. Lizzie shot him a nasty look. Then she said, “I have no intention of getting a rabies shot. I got all my shots back in Wonderland. I’ve been vaccinated for walrus warts, teapox, and March Hare madness.”

  Mr. Badwolf ignored her. He removed his pocket kerchief and brushed dust from the edge of his desk. Then he sat. “General Villainy is one of the most demanding classes at Ever After High. If you manage to get an A grade, you will join the ranks of students before you such as the Wicked Stepmother, the Billy Goats Gruff Troll, and myself, of course.” He smiled, revealing a row of sharp canine teeth.

  An A was the highest grade in each class. Duchess had a perfect score of A’s on her transcript.

  Mr. Badwolf continued. “Each of you has been hand-selected by the headmaster himself to attend this class because each of you has the honor of being the son or daughter of a confirmed villain or being closely related to someone evil.”

  Duchess’s hand shot up. “Um, excuse me, but—”

  His eyes flashed. “Interruptions are not allowed in my classroom,” he snarled.

  Her hand fell to her side. What a grouch.

  “As I was saying, each of you is here because you come from an evil bloodline. Or”—he looked at Duchess—“you have the capacity to be the first in your family to go bad.”

  Go bad?

  A chill ran up Duchess’s spine.

  Chapter 6

  Rebel Roll Call

  While the cauldrons provided a background melody of crackling and popping, Mr. Badwolf tapped his finger on the clipboard. His fingers were furry and his nails were long and black. They looked like claws. He seriously needed a mani-curse at the Tower Hair Salon. “Roll call. First up, Faybelle Thorn.”

  The girl sitting next to Duchess slid off her stool. “Here,” she said in a serious way. Duchess didn’t know this girl. In fact, she’d never seen her before. She was dressed in midnight-blue leggings and a shimmering tunic. “I am sooooooo happy to be here. I’ve been waiting for this class my entire life.” As she smiled at Mr. Badwolf, a pair of little iridescent wings unfurled from her back.