Page 1 of Switched

CHAPTER 1

Read It and Weep

Who tells a kid to keep out of the library?

As I tap my foot impatiently in the foyer of Fairy Tale Reform School’s new library services wing, that’s exactly what Headmistress Flora is telling me to do. At least, that’s how I interpret the glare she’s sending me from across the hall as I huff, sigh, and yawn while she’s talking to Happily Ever After Scrolls.

Sparkle! Flash!

The reporter covering the library dedication is waving his wand at Headmistress Flora and Princess Ella like he’s granting wishes, which I know he’s not. What is he doing anyway? And when is Headmistress Flora finally going to cut the blue satin ribbon and open the door?

“Lovely smiles! Just lovely!” the reporter says as he jumps around like the Pied Piper, shaking a large wand that looks like a fallen tree trunk. Flora and her stepdaughter don’t seem to mind the fuss. They’re standing patiently (Grrr…) and smiling brightly in front of the library’s oversize stained glass doors.

A library, I should add, that has been dangled in front of us in Miri the Magic Mirror’s daily announcements for months. All Miri does anymore is talk about the library. It has rare books that can unlock more than just stories! Books that have a mind of their own! Biographies that contain villains’ darkest secrets and potions! Mysterious works gathered from the far reaches of the kingdoms that will teach us things we’ve never even heard of! And the chance to gain knowledge about Enchantasia’s history and all its fairy-tale heroes, villains, and creatures!

Truthfully, I’ve never been inside a library. Enchantasia Village had a tiny library annex, but the books were ancient and mostly nursery rhymes or trade books about hot cross buns or shoe leathers. Riveting stuff. I can’t imagine what the FTRS library will look like. Headmistress Flora and the ELF Construction Company have kept the project top secret. Ollie and I tried to get a sneak peek one night, but Wolfington somehow sensed us coming and sent us back to bed.

The trumpets sound, and a court jester steps forward. “‘And now a few words from Princess Ella about the new library,’” he reads from a scroll.

Fairy be. How long is this ceremony going to take? My fairy pet, Wilson, the world’s cleverest mouse, sticks his tiny, pink nose out of my blue jumper pocket and squeaks in annoyance. (Technically, fairy pets aren’t allowed to leave the classroom, but I’ve never been a strict rule follower. Neither is Maxine, who houses her duck, Peaches, in our dorm room. The pair have become unlikely friends, like Maxine and me. Who knew an ogre and a human could be so tight?)

“I know,” I tell Wilson. “I wish they’d quit with the speeches already. I am dying to get into the library too.” Wilson nods his little mouse head as if he understands me.

Ollie clears his throat, and I glare down at him. He’s super-short for a pirate.

“Acting impatient is very unbecoming of an RLW,” he says, adjusting his bright-pink Royal Ladies-in-Waiting sash, the same one I’m begrudgingly wearing over my jumper. “Dedicating Fairy Tale Reform School’s first library is a very big deal.” He motions to the hundred or so classmates assembled in the hallway. The entire teaching staff is here too, along with the royal court, reporters, and some fancy folks from the village. “Headmistress Flora wants to make sure it is presented perfectly, since the royal court was gracious enough to give us such an extravagant present.”

I roll my eyes. “You know Rapunzel can’t hear you being a fancy-schmancy, perfect RLW right now, right?”

“An RLW is always polite.” Ollie puffs out his chest, making the writing on his sash easier to read. (Ollie magically crossed out the word Ladies and wrote Lads next to the pirate skull and crossbones he drew. He’s RLW’s first male member.) His dark eyes are playful as he shakes his head. “Green does not look good on you, Gilly.”

My jaw drops. “You think I’m jealous? I am not jealous!”

“Yeah!” Maxine comes to my aid. “Gilly just wants to get in there to find books about Rumpelstiltskin.”

Ollie and I slap our hands over Maxine’s drooling mouth. I wipe my hand off on my jumper.

“Sorry.” Maxine’s muddy-gray cheeks turn red. “I forgot no one is supposed to know that.”

It’s true. We want to find that little monster. Not only did he trick Flora into giving up control of FTRS, but he also conned a group of kids in the village into joining his Stiltskin Squad by promising them they’d run the kingdom, and he convinced some FTRS students to go with him too. Including my younger sister Anna! I know the royal court is looking for him, but no one knows where he is or what he’s plotting. All I know is that it can’t be good, and I don’t want Anna with him when things go bad.

Sparkle! Flash!

The reporter is back at it, wanding the royal court this time. I can’t take it anymore.

“What in the name of fairy is that thing anyway?” I grouse.

“It’s a Magic 2000,” says Jax. As a prince, he’s used to long and boring ceremonies. He also doesn’t mind ironing his school uniform (mine is wrinkly) and taming his curly, blond hair (my brown hair with the purple skunk stripe is wild today). His normally pale skin has bronzed, thanks to all the Pegasus flying we’ve been doing, patrolling the FTRS grounds for signs of Rump. So far, we’ve found none. “The royal court gave one to HEAS so they can start taking magical pictures. You should see them.” His violet eyes widen. “It’s like looking in a mirror! Pete and the Dwarf Police Squad have requested one too. Something about wanting magical pictures to use in Wanted scrolls.”

“No scroll is going to find the Rump,” says Jocelyn. The Evil Queen’s younger sister has arrived fashionably late. She’s the only one at our school who gets away with not wearing a uniform. (She wears a blue sash around her moon-and-stars skirt to support the school colors.) She pushes her long, black hair off her pale, almost-white neck. “I told you. When he’s ready to destroy the kingdom, he’ll pop up.”

“That’s comforting,” says Kayla, her fairy wings fluttering in agitation.

She has more reason than most to get antsy about Stiltskin, who turned her mother and sisters into trees because…well, actually, we don’t know why. Kayla’s mom says they have very little memory of why he cursed them. Which is yet another roadblock we’ve faced in finding the little beast.

Kayla’s amber eyes lock on the HEAS reporter. “That trickster convinced all those kids who went with him that the only way to stop evil is to work by his side!” Her nostrils flare. “They have no clue they’re unknowingly helping him try to take over Enchantasia.”

“I know!” says a goblin in front of us, listening in to our not-so-quiet conversation. “My roommate, Simeon, was all, like, This guy listens to me! He wants to keep us safe, give me gold, and make me rich.” The goblin snorts. “Like Rumpelstiltskin would ever give up any of the gold he makes.” The goblin laughs. “Those kids who left with him were so dumb.”