Page 26 of Switched

I roll my eyes. “That’s ridiculous! We can’t pretend it didn’t happen! We lost two RLWs to that evil troll.” I stand up and stare at the others. “Finding that trickster is way more important than picking out towels for the bathrooms. Students are just going to steal them anyway!” There are more gasps and Tessa narrows her eyes at me, but I don’t care. Jack stirred something inside me that I can’t deny anymore. I might be the only one who can help my sister.

Maxine tries to steer me away from the line of fire. “You’re cranky, and when I’m cranky, a snack always helps.” She offers me a plate of pink cookies, but I shake my head. Ollie walks over and pours me a glass of pink lemonade. That I take, gulping it loudly.

“Feel better?” Raza asks, surveying me unkindly. “Good. Now I understand you miss your sister. We miss the RLWs we lost too, but crying over them into a cloth napkin is so uncivilized!” She whips out an embroidered handkerchief. “If we must cry, it should be into one of these, which the club lovingly embroidered at our last meeting. The RLWs have spent a great deal of time hand-stitching handkerchiefs with the letters FTRS, and I think it’s done a lot to lift everyone’s mood. Just because we go to a reform school is no reason for our bathrooms to be anything but beautiful.”

The other members agree.

“We should all do our parts to make sure they aren’t stolen.” Raza looks directly at me with her beady goblin eyes.

“Raza? Can I just say, I love the fresh flowers we’ve added to the bathrooms,” Maxine gushes.

“Me too,” adds Ollie. “The flowers mask the fart smell in the boys’ bathrooms.”

Raza ignores his remark. “Tessa has been putting fresh flowers in the bathrooms for weeks. Millie and Maxine have been adding baskets of fresh potpourri. Ollie is tackling the boys’ rooms. Maxine even donated some jewelry for girls to liven up their bland school uniforms.” She crosses her arms and looks at me. “What have you been doing, Gilly?”

“Helping me,” a sweet voice says.

AG is standing in the doorway. She curtsies, and everyone rises fast to curtsy to the actual princess in our midst.

“Gilly’s been so busy helping me to settle in and understand my coursework that she hasn’t had much time for bathroom duty,” says AG, a small smile playing on her lips.

She’s making a joke! And I’m in on it. This AG might not be as shy as I think.

“Exactly,” I say solemnly. “I’ve become the princess’s unofficial school tour guide.”

“Is this the Royal Ladies-in-Waiting meeting?” AG asks, looking at the pink wallpaper, pink chandelier, and pink chairs, tablecloths, and curtains. “Or do you all just like to hang out in a very pink room?”

“Yes,” says Tessa. She looks at Raza so quickly I could blink and miss it. “But it’s a club for members who aspire to help royals, not actual royals. I don’t think you would like it much, being a royal and all.”

“Really? Raz invited me.” AG walks in farther. “Wow, there really is a lot of pink in here. Who decorated this room?”

“Me,” Tessa says fiercely. “It follows the RLW code. Pink is a princess’s favorite color.”

“Not all princesses,” AG points out. “I prefer blue.”

I am loving this.

Raza stammers. “Well, it’s a favorite of the princesses that we serve. Maybe your kingdom is different.”

“AG, you made it!” Rapunzel sweeps into the room in a lilac dress, carrying a basket of teacups. She gives her goddaughter a kiss on the cheek. Tessa looks like her head might explode. “Everyone, I take it you’ve met AG. She’s going to be joining the RLWs.”

Raza clears her throat. “Rapunzel? I thought the club was just for those who wanted to serve the royals. Can a royal serve herself?” Many RLWs nod.

“We let boys in this year, didn’t we?” Rapunzel replies, and Ollie waves to the room as a reminder. “I see no reason why royals can’t join us if their goal is to help change the kingdom. And AG knows what it means to make a change more than most of us.”

“No, I don’t!” AG blurts out. Her voice is frightened. “I haven’t changed one bit! Have I?”

Rapunzel touches AG’s hand. “I meant change as in moving, dear. You made a huge change when your family moved to a new kingdom, no?”

AG smiles with relief. “Right. Of course. I knew what you meant.” She looks down at her hands.

How strange. I glance at Maxine, who is busy trying to swat a fly away with her hand.

“But back to today’s task: we will focus on tea service.” Rapunzel gestures for us to take a seat at the long, pink table. She takes teacups out of her basket and places one in front of each girl. “How does one serve tea? Properly pour tea? And how does an RLW create the perfect garden party?”

Millie gasps. “Tell me we’re having a tea party! Tell me we’re having any kind of party.”

Collectively, the RLWs look at Rapunzel, who grins. “Yes. We are having a tea party!” The girls squeal. “One to welcome our newest Fairy Tale Reform School family, Prince Sebastian, Princess Beauty, and their daughter, our very own AG, who is now an official member of the RLWs!”