Sand and pebbles crunched beneath Meeshell’s bare feet as she followed the headmaster up the path. “Are you still resolute about hiding your true identity?” he asked.
“Yes.” She’d thought about this during her sea voyage. And she’d discussed it at length with her parents before leaving the Merworld. If her future was to live on land, and to be two-footed, then it was important for her to gain acceptance among the students as an equal. To not be treated differently. If the students and teachers knew she’d spent most of her life with a tail, they might not expect as much from her. She didn’t want that. She wanted the true experience. If everyone thought she was a human, they’d treat her as a human.
The trail rounded a corner and the beach disappeared from view. The headmaster folded his arms behind his back as they walked. He didn’t try to force conversation. She couldn’t tell if he agreed or disagreed with her decision to hide her true identity. They continued in silence, up the path and onto a cobbled road.
She’d just been getting used to the sandy terrain, but cobblestones were a totally different sensation. Her ankles twisted as she stepped into the ruts between the stones. How did people do this? Swimming came naturally to Merpeople—they didn’t need to be taught. But walking was so weird! “How long does it take someone to learn to walk?” she asked.
The headmaster turned, glancing at her from beneath his bushy brows. “Some start walking after nine months, but for others it can take more than a year.” More than a year? What had she gotten herself into?
They traversed a pretty wooden drawbridge, then stood at the entrance to the campus. An elegant archway loomed overhead, its face carved with the words: Welcome to Ever After High.
Meeshell’s skin got all tingly. It was as if she’d just discovered a new world. Certainly she’d seen parts of this world up close. She’d encountered many boats, both those run by fishermen, and huge cruise ships overflowing with land-dwellers. And she’d watched humans walking along the beach, swimming, sunning themselves. But to stand in their world… it felt like a dream.
The school was so much larger than she’d imagined. The stone buildings looked big enough to fit giants. Wide walkways wound between colorful gardens where everything was in bloom. The flowers were all unfamiliar to Meeshell, but they were beautiful. A unicorn fountain stood at the center of a pool, where white swans nibbled on water bugs between lily pads. But what struck her most was that there were mirrors everywhere she looked. On the trees, on the walls; one even hung from a tiny white cloud.
The campus was oddly quiet. She’d expected lots of people and activity. Her father had always described it that way. She looked around.
“The students are gathered in the Charmitorium for a School Spirit assembly,” the headmaster explained. “The cheerhexers are leading the assembly, to show support for our athletic teams.” Right on cue, a loud cheer rose from a nearby building. A dreamy, faraway look filled the headmaster’s eyes. “Back in my day, I played center on the basketball team. I held the record for most baskets of food dunked in a single game. Those wolves could never catch me. Ah, I remember those days as if they were yesterday.”
Meeshell tried to imagine a game like that, but her attention was diverted by a large brown rabbit sitting on a bench. Meeshell had seen rabbits before, hopping about on shore, but this one wore glasses. And was reading a book! And were those horns sprouting from his head? Then she squealed as something bumped into her foot. She stepped aside as three roundish creatures, covered in prickles like sea urchins, waddled past. They made funny snorting noises at her. She shielded her eyes with her hand and looked up at the sky as a large shape passed overhead. “Was that a dragon?” she asked.
“Indeed.”
Her father had told many stories about dragons. They terrified villagers and stole treasure. They reminded her of sharks.
“You have no reason to be concerned,” the headmaster explained. “All the Ever After High dragons are friendly. We don’t allow dangerous dragons here. There’s a protective spell to keep them away.”
That was a relief. It was bad enough encountering a shark, but having to worry about something swooping down from the sky seemed unbearable. Meeshell followed the headmaster up a wide stone stairway. As the headmaster approached, a pair of doors flew open. He and Meeshell stepped into the Administration Building.
A tree grew in the center of the building, its branches reaching into the corners and its trunk disappearing right through the ceiling. Birds nestled in the branches. A pink squirrel scurried around the trunk. There was a mirror on this tree, too.
Up a staircase Meeshell and the headmaster went, spiraling ’round and ’round until they reached the upper floor. They passed through another door and into a room, where a lady sat at a desk. She had extremely large ears and an oversized nose from which long, black hairs sprouted. The sign on her desk read:
The headmaster spoke to her. “Mrs. Trollworth, this is our newest student, Meeshell. Do you have her student file?”
“Does she have an appointment? She can’t be here without an appointment.” She tapped the sign with a stubby finger.
“There’s no need for an appointment. I just met her at the dock and now we need to find her new student file.”
“Yeah, okay, it’s here somewhere.” The troll lady shuffled through a very large stack of papers, tossing some over her shoulder onto another large stack. It was quite messy behind her desk. She found what looked like an old sandwich, took a bite, then tossed it aside. After riffling through another stack of papers she exclaimed, “Got it!” She handed over the file. Then she stared at Meeshell’s bare feet, which had picked up quite a bit of dirt during the walk. “You part troll?” she asked. Meeshell didn’t understand the question, until she noticed that the troll lady’s feet were also bare. Except hers were hairy, with gnarly yellow toenails.
“Oh. Too bad for you.” She plopped onto her chair and began to eat noisily from a bag of salted cockroach crisps.
“Right this way.” Headmaster Grimm escorted Meeshell into his office. A massive carved desk sat in the center of the room. The walls were covered with framed photos of various members of the Grimm family. But what really caught Meeshell’s attention was the elderly woman who was sitting on a cushion and floating about four feet off the ground. She looked very comfortable. Meeshell suddenly missed the sensation of floating—missed the way the water held and cradled her.
“Hello,” the woman said. Her voice was craggy with age, but kind. Snarled gray hair peeked out from a scarf she wore over her head. A pair of golden bangles hung from her earlobes.
“Meeshell, this is Professor Baba Yaga. She is the department head for Spells, Hexes, and General Witchery classes. Because you are not a witch, you will not likely find yourself in one of her classrooms. However, she volunteered to keep an eye on you during your stay here.”
“I have a keen interest in you. I was your father’s advisor when he attended this school. I remember him well.” She floated closer. “You have his eyes.”
Meeshell gulped. This professor knew her identity? She looked questioningly at the headmaster.
“You can’t hide the truth from Professor Yaga,” he said. “And she feels it is very important to monitor your health.”
“My health?”
“Yes,” Professor Yaga said. “Please, sit.” She motioned toward a chair. Meeshell sat. She went to tuck her tail beneath the chair, but then remembered the new legs. She crossed them at the ankles, imagining that they’d once again become a tail.
The headmaster walked behind his desk and sat in a chair so large, it looked like a throne. Professor Yaga pressed her fingertips together and floated a bit higher, looking down at Meeshell. “Your health is of my utmost concern. Leaving the water is not a simple feat. Your body is not used to gravity.”
“Oh.” Meeshell thought about this for a moment. “Is that why I feel heavier?”
“Exactly. You are used to the buoyancy of water. I noticed that when you walked in, you were a bit wobbly on your legs. I wouldn’t worry about that. You’re young and strong; you should adapt quickly.”
“Coral, the Sea Witch’s daughter, cast the spell, and she said that when she tried it on an eel, the eel’s new legs fell off. Do you think that might happen to me?”
“Let us hope not!” Professor Yaga gave Meeshell a very lengthy stare. “I’m wondering about your voice. Is that as loud as you can speak?”
“Yes, I’m having trouble. My voice feels… weak.”
“Ah, another effect of being out of water. Your vocal cords are used to both air and water, but not to air one hundred percent of the time. It’s having a negative effect on them.”
“Could the air damage my voice?” Meeshell asked, her brow furrowed.
Professor Yaga narrowed her eyes. “It is a possibility.” Then she gave the headmaster an odd look. Meeshell uncrossed her legs and sat up straight. Was it possible her voice wouldn’t be fine? This could be a very big deal because her story centered on her voice!
“I can see that you’re concerned.” Professor Yaga floated closer again, then patted Meeshell’s shoulder. “Let’s not panic. Perhaps all your voice needs is time to adjust. I will keep a close eye on you and check in with you often. But if anything changes, let me know right away.” And off she floated.
Once again, Meeshell’s hand flew to her throat. If this trip to Ever After High ruined her voice, the Sea Witch would be furious! And without a voice to trade, Meeshell’s story line would be ruined.
“I have the highest confidence in Professor Yaga,” Headmaster Grimm told her. “You are in extremely capable hands. When Faybelle Thorn cast an evil spell and it backfired, taking away Faybelle’s ability to fly, Professor Yaga guided her through the recovery process. And recover she did. That young fairy ignores the campus flying speed limit every chance she gets.” He cleared his throat, then opened Meeshell’s file. “Now, there is some business we must attend to. Because you wish to keep your identity a secret while you’re here, we think it would be best to give you a single room.”
Meeshell agreed that things might be easier if she had total privacy, but it felt like special treatment. “Do other students have single rooms?”
“No.”
“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.