Not Your Average Fairy Tale (Not Your Average Fairy Tale #1)

by Chantele Sedgwick

  My eyes burned, my face tingled, and I coughed and sputtered. Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room amid laughter and jests.

  Once I felt fresh air cooling my face, I collapsed in a heap on the grass. "What did he do to me?" I cried.

  "Um …" Sam started.

  I looked up to see him gaping at me.

  "You, uh, sort of have a girl face."

  "What?" I scrambled to my feet and ran over to one of many the fountains scattered across the campus.

  Sure enough, I looked just like a girl. Sinna, to be exact.

  "I'm going to kill him," I muttered.

  "You could be twins. You both have hot faces, and your body’s skinny enough to pass for a chick. But, of course there would be a couple of problems in the chest area–"

  "Stop. Right. There," I said.

  Misty appeared next to my reflection. "Let's get you to Lady Shenelle. That was just wrong. Not to mention forbidden. Dax is going to be in so much trouble."

  I heard Sam making a choking sound, and turned as he covered his mouth, obviously trying not to laugh. "Oh, come on, Ash. It's funny. There aren't any male fairies, yet here you are. He just wanted to make your assignment genuine."

  "Shut up." I touched my new face and scowled at my reflection. "Let's get out of here before I go in there and rip Dax to pieces."

  "With your compact? Or your purse?" Sam said. He snorted and nearly fell on the ground he was laughing so hard.

  "Come on," Misty said, rolling her eyes. She pulled me to my feet and we set off to Shenelle's office.

  After several attempts to get my face back, Shenelle finally succeeded. I was in her office for nearly three hours.

  Shenelle looked exhausted, but when it was time for me to leave, she was back to her chipper self and said, "Don't forget your paper on Human High School Life tomorrow. It's due before noon."

  "Can't wait," I muttered.

  One thing was for sure. After the night's events, I would definitely get Dax back. And I was never going near Sinna again.

  Chapter 8

  Kendall

  The next morning I found Ellie sitting at the kitchen table, munching on a banana.

  Bananas were the worst food ever. I don't know how anyone could eat a mushy fruit.

  "Want some?" Ellie said, sticking it in my face.

  I tried not to throw up. "Sick!" I said, pushing it away. I chuckled as I searched the cupboard for something to eat.

  "What's up with you?" She chomped the last bit and got up to throw the peel away. "You're all, I don't know. Happy."

  I shrugged and grabbed a yogurt out of the fridge. "Not really."

  "Yes you are. You're not as … mopyish."

  "Mopyish?"

  She grinned. "What's going on?"

  "Nothing, El." I bit back a smile.

  "You sure?" Her eyes swept over my face, not settling on my scar at all.

  "I'm fine." I reached a hand up to touch my cheek. My face was still tender. I wondered if it would always be that way. "Can I ask you a question?"

  "Sure."

  "How does my scar look today?" I leaned towards her, pulling my turtleneck down a bit.

  "Which one?"

  "The one I got in the accident."

  She raised an eyebrow and looked me over again. "I don't see anything."

  "Oh.” I frowned. “You remember the accident, don't you?"

  "Of course I do."

  "Then why can't you see my scar? This, right here?" I pointed to my cheek, and she frowned.

  "Oh. That. I can see it. It’s faded a lot," she said.

  "Yeah. I guess it has." I looked at the clock. "Shoot! I'm going to be late again." I smiled at her. "So are you."

  We walked to school together, and I said goodbye to Ellie as she headed to her first class. Walking down the hall, I thought about the party on Friday night Tessa had invited me to. I hadn't been to a party in … I wasn't sure how long. And the fact that no one would be looking at my scar made me a little more excited.

  As I approached my locker, I noticed a bunch of balloons tied to the door. There were about ten of them, all different colors. Tessa was already waiting for me, a huge smile on her face.

  "What's all this?" I asked.

  She shrugged and handed me a card with my name on it. I opened it and read the typed inscription inside.

  I'd be floating on air if you go to prom with me.

  "Oh," I said, more to myself than to Tessa. Who would ask me to prom? I wouldn’t be a senior until next year. "When is prom?"

  "April 22nd," Tessa said.

  "Huh." The same day as my birthday.

  "Who's it from?" she asked.

  "It doesn't say."

  I studied the card a minute before stuffing it in my notebook. I opened the locker, fighting against the balloons to get the books for my next class.

  "Where were you yesterday? I tried calling you, like, five times," she said.

  I didn't look at her. "I was busy."

  "Doing what?"

  I hesitated, and went with half of the truth. "I was with Ellie. My mom was working and I left my phone in my room all night. We had a girls’ night." I really did watch a movie with her. After I hung out with a fairy, but who would believe that?

  "Oh."

  "Sorry I didn't call you back," I said.

  "No big deal. See you in math. I have to run by Scott's locker. He said he has something for me." She smiled and took off down the hall.

  I started walking the other way, only to be stopped by Cameron.

  "Kendall! Hey," he said. "I was wondering what you were doing tonight." He shifted his weight and leaned against the lockers. "I need some help with my math homework, and was wondering if you could, you know, help me. Tonight. If you want."

  "Oh. I mean, sure."

  "I can order a pizza." He smiled. "And bring some licorice."

  "Chocolate?"

  "Only the best."

  I smiled at that. I was surprised he remembered I loved licorice. "You're awesome. We can study at my place if you want. Come over around seven?"

  "I'll see you then."

  I watched him walk away, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.

  "Cameron seems like a tool."

  I jumped at Ash's voice, propelling myself into a locker. "Ow!"

  Ash laughed. "Sorry."

  "What are you doing here?" I hissed. I rubbed my elbow, trying to get my funny bone to stop tingling.

  "Just thought I'd drop by and see how your high school experience is going." He glanced around the hallway. Posters and banners lined the walls. "Looks pretty amazing," he said. The sarcasm wasn't subtle.

  "Hey, don't knock my school," I said. "We may have a bee for our mascot, but we're awesome." I started walking, and unfortunately, he followed.

  "Oh yeah? What the heck can a bee do? Besides sting you." He pinched my arm.

  "Ouch! Will you knock it off?" I hit his hand away.

  "See? Bees are just annoying."

  "Like fairies?"

  A few people looked at me funny as we made our way down the hallway. That's when I remembered no one could see Ash but me.

  I slapped myself in the forehead. "I'm such an idiot," I said.

  "You said it, not me."

  Before anyone else could give me a weird look, I grabbed his arm, pulling him into an empty classroom. I shut the door behind him and folded my arms.

  "Alone at last," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

  I sighed. "Really, Ash. What are you doing here?"

  "I'm offended you're not excited to see me here. In your natural habitat. Or whatever."

  "It's not that I don't want you here," I started. Actually, I was getting used to his company. He always seemed to put me in a better mood. Not that I would never admit it to him.

  "Then what's wrong? Can't a guy get an education without someone making a big deal about it?"

  I chuckled, and he grinned.

  "There it is," he sai
d.

  "What?"

  He reached a finger out, touching the edge of my mouth. "You smiled. It's pretty. You should do it more often."

  "I'll try." My voice shook and I cleared my throat. He watched me, his eyes searching mine.

  He finally broke the silence. "So, you never said why you don't want me here."

  I ignored the butterflies flapping away in my stomach and tried to concentrate on something besides Ash's silver eyes. "Maybe the small fact that no one can see you but me."

  "You have a point." He frowned.

  I put a hand on his arm, feeling the muscle tense. "You're not mad, are you?"

  "Why would I be mad?" He covered my hand with his and leaned closer. "I'm a guy, remember? We don't analyze everything a girl says to us. It's way too complicated. We just nod and say okay."

  "Oh." I gulped, suddenly nervous. The way he was looking at me made my heart beat faster and I felt goosebumps break out over my skin.

  He smiled and gave my hand a squeeze. "Then we forget about it two minutes later."

  Of course. Typical guy. "Right." I pulled my hand away and cleared my throat.

  "I'll see you later, then," he said. His eyes swept over me and he looked like he wanted to say something else, but vanished instead.

  Alone, I shook my head, trying to clear all the thoughts swimming around in it. I was starting to feel a little too comfortable with Ash, and knew if I didn't keep my emotions under control, things would get complicated. I wondered what the dating rules were in Fairy Godmother Land. I'd have to ask him. Or not. I'd only known him for what … a week?

  Tessa stood right outside the door when I left the classroom. "What were you doing in there?"

  "Oh, um, just giving myself a pep talk."

  She eyed me warily. "I heard you talking to someone."

  "Really?"

  "Well, not exactly. I guess I just heard your voice." She hesitated. "Look, if you need to tell me something, I'm here. You're acting kind of weird lately. Someone said you were talking to yourself in the hallway too."

  "Ash," I hissed.

  "What?"

  "Nothing." I grabbed her arm, pulling her toward our class. "Come on we're going to be late."

  "Will you please tell me what's going on?"

  "Maybe later."

  Or maybe not.

  All I could think about, was Cameron coming over later. What was I going to wear?

  For some reason my thoughts drifted to Ash, and I realized something.

  Cameron and Ash. In the same house together.

  Ash had better behave himself.

  Chapter 9

  Ash

  I had been in a great mood since lunch. Sam had mentioned Dax was on probation for messing with my face. I pictured him scrubbing toilets or doing the dishes in the cafeteria all day. That would be awesome. I had no idea what he was actually doing, but I knew he wouldn't bother me for a while. It also meant the nightmares would stop.

  Ever since he’d started apprenticing the Sandman, he'd been ruthless. Now I wouldn't have to dread going to sleep at night. At least until he was off probation.

  I shook the bad thoughts out of my head and focused on the positive points of the day. Following Kendall around at school. Making her blush. I could get used to this.

  As soon as I appeared in Kendall's room, something hit me in the shoulder. "Hey, watch where you're throwing things!"

  Kendall spun around, her eyes taking in the high-heeled shoe near my feet. "Sorry," she muttered, going back to whatever she was doing.

  I almost fainted. She was actually cleaning her room. "What's the occasion?"

  She ignored me and kept flinging things around.

  "Do you clean stuff when you're in a bad mood?" I said.

  She stopped throwing clothes into her closet and glared at me. Her eyebrows were cute when she scrunched them up like that. If you could call eyebrows cute.

  "I am not in a bad mood," she said, and chucked another shoe in my direction. She watched to see where it went and looked disappointed when it didn't hit me. I laughed and walked over to sit on her bed.

  She seemed pretty determined to ignore me, but I saw her peek in my direction from the corner of her eye a few times.

  "Seriously, Kendall. What are you doing exactly?" I asked. It was weird. I could actually see the floor.

  "What does it look like I'm doing?"

  I took a deep breath and considered her for a moment. "Well, it looks like you're on a cleaning rampage." I bit back a smile. "May I ask why you're changing this rather fascinating side of you?"

  She shot me an icy glare. "I'm not that messy."

  "Sure you aren't." I looked down, my eyes widening. "Hey! I didn't know the floor was white!"

  Her face reddened. "Shut up." The corner of her mouth turned up, and I could have sworn she was trying not to laugh.

  "Want to see something cool?" I pulled my wand out and watched as every piece of clothing lifted off the floor and hung in mid-air. I'd been experimenting with my magic, and was surprised how easily things worked for me.

  "Show off."

  "Not done yet." I flicked my wand and sent the clothes swirling into a little tornado above her. "Sweet. I didn't know I could do that." I honestly didn't. I'd never been able to control the air before. Weird.

  Her eyes widened, watching them spin around her head. "Knock it off! You're making me dizzy!"

  I laughed and let them fall to the floor.

  "Great. Now it looks worse than before," she said.

  "It looks the same to me."

  "Funny."

  "So, what's going on tonight then? You seem excited about something. Or nervous."

  "Cameron's coming over," she said. "He asked me to help him with his math. Didn't you hear me talking to him in the hall today?"

  "Oh, right. The tool."

  "He's not a tool," she said, frowning.

  I shrugged. "Whatever." I did see her talking to Cameron, but didn't hear the whole conversation. I was too busy checking out, er … watching some of the other girls standing around in the hallway. I thought Kendall was prettier, though.

  Especially with her hair down. Her red shirt with dark jeans, showing off her curves. Not to mention her eyes. A person could drown in them.

  I shook my head. She was my assignment. Not a date. "You mean Cameron, the guy you're pining for? The guy who sat on me at the movies? Your true love? Didn't he ignore you for, like, three months or something? What kind of a true love is that?"

  She made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. "Don't even start with me," she said. "I'm not in the mood."

  I loved it when she got mad. Her cheeks got all red and she got a fiery look in her eyes.

  "Relax. I'm just joking around."

  She threw up her hands. "I can't find my shirt!"

  "What's wrong with the one you have on?"

  She groaned in frustration and went back to digging through the clothes scattered on the floor. "It's not cute enough!"

  "Girls," I muttered.

  Her head shot up and she glared at me once again. She searched for a few more seconds and then stood. "Oh, forget it."

  The doorbell rang, and she froze, giving me a strange look before barreling out of the room.

  I sighed and muttered a spell. Clothes flew in every direction, putting themselves into drawers and hanging themselves up in the closet.

  "She owes me," I muttered.

  Glancing around the pink room, I shivered, and after a moment’s hesitation, I turned her bedspread, bean bag, and curtains a light blue. Much better than all that blasted pink.

  I smiled at my work and followed Kendall. I couldn't wait to see her face when she saw it.

  "Hey, Kendall." The deep voice resonated up the stairs, and I looked over the railing. Kendall played nervously with her hair, while a tall, blond kid stood in the doorway.

  His shoulders were broad, his smile uncomfortable. He held a bouquet of red roses in his hand.

>   "Nice try," I whispered. "She likes daisies." I actually knew that, since I'd been reading her file.

  "Hi," she said.

  "Can I come in? We're studying here, aren't we?"

  "Oh! Yes, sorry about that." She ushered him inside, her cheeks red. She shut the door, and he handed her a card.

  "So, you left the balloons on my locker?"

  He blushed. "Yeah."

  I frowned. I wasn't sure what to think about Cameron yet, but I definitely didn't like the way Kendall was looking at him.

  "Thanks. For the roses too. You didn't have to do that."

  "I know, but I did anyway. It feels like I haven't talked to you in forever. I'm not sure why." He put his hands in his pockets. "Um ... I ordered pizza before I came. It should be delivered anytime."

  "Sounds good. We can study in here."

  The pizza came shortly after that. It smelled so good. Pepperoni. My favorite. I watched them eat, proud of Kendall for eating more than half a piece. Maybe human girls were different, but where I came from, girls ate the least amount of food possible. I was a big fan of food, so when Kendall picked up her second piece, I wanted to cheer. When Cameron went for his seventh piece though, it made me want to puke.

  Pig. I didn't even eat that much. My limit was five.

  I looked at that last piece of pizza, and my stomach growled. When they went back in the living room, I couldn't help myself. I ate it.

  It was so boring, watching them study. Cameron was such a dud. Dumb as a post. Dull as one, too.

  Really. Most of the math problems she had to help him with were easy enough for Sam to do. And that was saying something. Not that Sam was stupid, just lacking in the math department.

  They lay on the floor, munching on brown licorice, with their math books spread out in front of them. It was then that I noticed how close Cameron was to her. Their legs were almost touching, and if he moved a fraction of an inch, he'd be leaning on her shoulder.

  "So, are you going to say yes?" he asked.

  Kendall looked over at him, a small smile on her face. "Prom?" she asked.

  He nodded, giving her a sly grin. "Of course. I've been wanting to take you to a dance forever, and after everything that happened around Homecoming …" He stopped. "I'm sorry I didn't take you. That was stupid. I should have called, or made it up to you."