It had been a long day. Meeshell felt a bit of a failure, having chosen no clubs. And while classes had gone okay, she’d been too shy to speak up in any of them. And during dinner, there’d been so many new faces and introductions, her head was swimming. When she got back to the dormitory, she overheard a conversation in the hallway. It was Apple and Briar.
“I don’t think I’m right for the Welcoming Committee,” Apple said to Briar.
“I haven’t been able to help Meeshell find a club.”
“Well, helping the new student find some sort of activity is really important, that’s true. And the Welcoming Committee does have a one hundred percent success rate.”
“One hundred percent?” Apple gulped. “You mean, I could mess that up? That would be an epic fairy fail.”
“You won’t mess it up. You’re Apple White. You can do anything you”—Briar paused for a huge yawn—“anything you set your mind to.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Apple said. “I’ll keep trying. Meeshell deserves to feel like she belongs. We all do.”
Just as the conversation ended, Professor Yaga called Meeshell on her MirrorPad and was happy to hear that her speaking voice had returned to normal. And that her legs were working better and hadn’t fallen off, which was a real plus! “Remember, if you have any unusual symptoms or concerns, call me immediately. Otherwise, how are things going?”
“Fine.” Her answer didn’t sound very convincing.
“I hear homesickness in your voice. It might be worse for you than for others since you are hiding your true nature,” Professor Yaga said. Luckily, Meeshell was alone in her dorm room, which meant that no one overheard the conversation. “My advice to you is, whenever you are able, let your true self out. Otherwise, you’ll always feel like a fish out of water.” The MirrorPad screen went dark as the call ended.
Yes, that’s exactly how she felt. What a perfect description. She wanted, very badly, to let her true self out. To see her tail again. That would make her feel better.
She stepped into the bathroom. Unfortunately, there was no bathtub. The shower was pretty, however, made of pink tiles and a unicorn faucet. It would have to do. She locked the door and turned on the water. When she entered the shower, the change was immediate. Her legs disappeared and her beautiful tail took its rightful place. She leaned against the wall. It was an awkward space, difficult to get comfortable in since tails are not designed for long periods of standing. She showered as best she could, but got wedged a few times in the process. This wasn’t making her feel better. She turned off the water and watched it swirl down the drain.
She dried her tail with a towel and as soon as the last droplet had evaporated, her legs reappeared. It was nice to know that she could bring her tail back whenever she wanted. She was grateful to Coral for that glitch in the spell. But still she felt anxious. With all her heart, she wanted to swim. Spending day after day not swimming was like asking a seagull to stop flying. Maybe she could find a way to swim without anyone seeing?
After changing into her new pajamas, she sat on her bed, opened her MirrorPad, and searched for a campus map. Then she perused the map, looking for large bodies of water. There was Mirror Beach, near the boat dock, but that was too exposed. There was the unicorn fountain, where the swans swam, but that was smack in the middle of the quad. There was a swimming pool in the Grimmnasium, but someone might see her there. She was about to give up when she noticed a small lake at the far edge of campus. Enchanted Lake. That sounded perfect! According to the map, she could easily walk there.
Farrah came back. She brought a late-night snack of toast and fairyberry jam, which she shared. Then she went to change into her pajamas. When she emerged from the bathroom she asked, “How did your day go?”
“Pretty good,” Meeshell said.
“I’m glad to hear that.” Then Farrah’s gaze fell upon a fat hextbook. “Ugh, I have to study for a test tomorrow in Magicology. It’s about the history of evil witches, my least favorite topic.” She lugged the hextbook onto her desk with a big thud. Then she sat and, using her wand as a highlighting pen, began to study.
Just then, Meeshell’s MirrorPad chimed.
StoryTeller2: Hi.
Seashell: Hi.
StoryTeller2: How did Club Day go? Did you join anything?
Seashell: No. I didn’t find anything that seemed right for me.
StoryTeller2: Yeah, I get that. When I first came to school, I couldn’t find the right club, either, so I started my own.
Seashell: Really? You can do that?
StoryTeller2: Sure.
Seashell: Which club did you start?
Long pause.
Every time she tried to find out any details about the mysterious StoryTeller2, he or she stopped chatting. Why?
As the chat box closed, the Ever After High campus map reappeared on the MirrorPad screen. StoryTeller2 wasn’t the only one who needed to do something. Meeshell looked out the window.
She needed to swim!