Headmistress Flora feels the need to hand-deliver me to Madame Cleo’s detention the next day after classes, and I soon find myself standing in front of an oversized metal double door. I read the large plaque near the entrance: Warning! If doors are locked, do not magically open. Tank may be refilling or flooding!
“Where are we? The aquarium?” I joke.
“You could call it that,” Flora says, “but I wouldn’t. This is the entrance to Madame Cleo’s home, and she’s gracious enough to invite you in for detention.”
I look down at my plaid jumper and navy vest. “I’m not dressed for a swim.”
“A swimsuit won’t be necessary,” the Wicked Stepmother says cryptically. “You’ll start etiquette classes here later this week as well. You’ll see we keep students busy. It keeps you from getting bored and, shall we say, interested in less savory extracurricular activities.” She gives me a long, hard glance.
She means things like thieving, brawling with gargoyles, and spying on villains.
Flora turns on her heels and walks away. “Enjoy your afternoon, Miss Gillian.”
I pull on the double doors to see if they’re locked due to a water leak. Unfortunately, they open. When I slip inside, I feel the temperature drop significantly, along with the lighting. The spacious but dimly lit room has a two-story ceiling but no windows. Slurp! I hear the doors lock and seal behind me, and I wonder if I’ve been led into some sort of trap.
I look for another exit, and that’s when I see a giant fish tank shimmering in the darkness. Fish of every size and color swim by, dodging between bright coral and sea plants, and hiding among the giant rocks nestled inside. I put my face near the glass and peer into the tank, which seems to go back for miles. Aren’t we inside a castle?
The torches flicker and then the doors open. Several students run—or fly—inside. It’s mass chaos to get in before the final bell. When it tolls, the doors shut behind us, and with another slurp, I hear them seal shut again.
“Hey, sticky fingers.” Jax smiles. “How are you feeling?” He’s changed out of his uniform and is wearing an FTRS T-shirt and gym shorts that show his bandaged legs.
“Okay,” I say. I have no dirt on Flora that could spring me early, and I can’t tell anyone that the gargoyle statues around school came alive and attacked Jax and me. I am just super. “Yesterday was…weird, huh?”
Jax’s face is filled with shadows in the low light. “That’s one way to put it.”
“What do you think those things wanted?” I whisper. “Where’d they come from?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Jax says, twirling his book bag’s strap in his hands. “Look, we almost became gargoyle stew yesterday. You need to think like a thief. Stop worrying about what Flora’s doing, and worry more about yourself.”
Think like a thief. I always have…and now I’m stuck here unable to help my siblings. Is anyone making sure Hamish doesn’t eat glue and Felix doesn’t stay up all night by candlelight to read? Are they getting enough to eat?
A light in the aquarium grinds our conversation to a halt. I turn toward the tank and watch as a blur shoots toward the glass. Once the water stops moving, I see Madame Cleo, who until yesterday I’d only seen in that mirror frying up gargoyles. She is the most beautiful mermaid I’ve ever seen. Her purple hair is decorated with sea flowers and shells that match her shell top. Her skin and long, dark green fishtail shimmer brightly.
“Hello, darlings!” Madame Cleo’s voice echoes through the room. How does she do that? Other mermaids have to hold up cue cards in class to talk. I guess being the ultimate sea siren makes for powerful magic.
“Good afternoon, Madame Cleo,” we say in unison and either bow or curtsy.
Since I have little use for curtsies, mine is rusty. I bang into the girl next to me.
“Watch your step, clumsy.” The girl turns toward me, and I stare into the eyes of someone who is definitely half cat. Or maybe werewolf? Who can tell?
“She didn’t mean it, Gayle.” Jax wastes no time in moving us to a less hostile place on the floor.
Madame Cleo’s voice is like a song. “I’m disappointed you’re in detention, but if you’re here, you might as well learn something that will enhance your lives.” She claps her hands and a sparkly disco ball descends from the ceiling as music begins to play. “Today we will be concentrating on the dance of love. The Fire Step.”
The Fire Step is a complicated dance that is usually done at weddings. When Mother and Father thought they were getting an invite to Ella’s wedding (they didn’t, FYI), they practiced for a month and still couldn’t figure it out. I’ve never attempted it.
“First, let me take attendance for our headmistress.” Madame Cleo swims around the tank, playing with her pearl necklace. She looks right at Jax. “Jackson! Lovely to see you again.”
I snort. “Jackson?”
Jax’s face colors. “Not a word,” he says through gritted teeth.
“And Gillian.” Cleo smiles. “We meet again. Now where is Jocelyn?” Cleo asks and immediately people start to squirm. Helmut tries to squish himself behind a rock jutting out of the wall. “Jocey?” Madame’s voice goes up an octave. “Don’t be shy. You can’t get more detention in detention.”
There is a poof of purple smoke and Jocelyn materializes in the middle of the room. Dressed all in black from head to toe, she looks a lot like Harlow. “Good afternoon, Madame Cleo!” Jocelyn does a perfect curtsy. “Sorry I’m late. I was with my sister.”
Madame Cleo laughs, and her hair slowly turns from purple to turquoise. “I know when Harlow starts talking, it’s hard to get her to stop! Thank you both for the lovely coral arrangement for my birthday.”
“Of course!” Jocelyn says. “Harlow and I would never miss your special day. And I would never skip detention, especially when there are so many interesting people in here having such fascinating conversations.” She looks directly at me and Jax and grins.
Did she hear us talking about the gargoyles? How?
“It’s a pity you’re even here, Jocey, but since so many students saw you cast that spell on Maxine yesterday afternoon, I had no choice.”
I’d heard the news from Kayla this morning. At her evacuation station, Jocelyn got bored and cast a spell on Maxine that made her right ear as big as her head. She was in the infirmary recovering. I visited Maxine at lunch to check on her. “It’s okay,” she’d said when I asked what happened. “I’m used to Jocelyn picking on me.”
Well, I still don’t like it—and I don’t like Jocelyn either.
“It’s not true. I have no idea how that happened to Maxine.” Jocelyn shakes her head. “But like my sis, I take my lumps with dignity.”
“A proper lady!” Madame Cleo marvels. “Well then, shall we… Oh hi, class! When did you all get here?”
“Memory-loss spell,” Jax whispers. “Sometimes she forgets what she’s doing. Last week detention was only thirty minutes because she forgot what time we came in.”
“You were teaching the Fire Step, Madame Cleo,” Helmut says. Within seconds, his head snaps back. “Ouch! Who hit me?” I see Jocelyn smirk.
“The Fire Step! Yes, that’s right!” she says. The sound of a fast instrumental song floats through the room. Madame Cleo closes her eyes and sways back and forth. The fish around her do the same. “Done properly, the Fire Step can make all the difference between catching a prince and a prince’s footman. You don’t have many afternoons to master this dance. Royal Day is just days away.”
“Lucky us,” I mumble.
Jax looks amused. “What did the royals do to you? Steal your glass slipper?”
“Kind of.” Jax looks intrigued. “My dad’s a shoemaker, and the orders for the glass slippers he was making were handed over to Ella’s fairy godmother so she could conjure them up herself. That’s made a real dent in a family business that was barely making ends meet to begin with.” I sigh. “And yet my sister still idolizes those girls.”
“They took my father’s farm to build a summer castle for themselves,” Jax says. “I haven’t liked the royals since.”
“Typical.” I shake my head.
Cleo claps her hands and the sound echoes through the room. “Partner up!”
Jax holds out his hand. “Shall we?”
“I’m not a Fire Step kind of girl.” I stumble over my words. I’ve never danced with someone who isn’t my brother. And having your brothers dance on your feet doesn’t count.
“Gillian, darling,” Madame Cleo sings, but there is a hard tone to her voice. “Everyone must participate.”
My cheeks flush slightly. “Fine, but don’t step on my toes,” I tell Jax. “Do you even know how to—whoa.” Jax takes my hands and whirls me around the room. The whirling part I could do blindfolded, but the rest is a mystery.
“Just watch what I do,” he tells me as he double claps, then does a crisscross motion with his feet and changes direction all in a matter of seconds. He’s really good. When we get to the part in the dance where we switch partners, then switch back, Jax manages to take two, then return to me before I even do my first spin around.
“I didn’t realize you had use for the Fire Step on the farm,” I say over the music.
“There wasn’t,” Jax says. His violet eyes are practically purple in this light. “A lot of time in detention has made me an excellent dancer.”
“So I see.” I double clap, but on the wrong beat. Oops.
People glide around the room, switching directions. There’s a lot of clapping and slapping one’s heel and snapping of fingers at just the right moment, but I’m pretty sure I couldn’t master this dance even with a year’s worth of detention.
The only one partnerless is Jocelyn, not that she seems concerned. With a quick poof, a shadow appears in front of her, taking the outline of a boy. Madame Cleo looks over at Jocelyn curiously but doesn’t say anything. I guess being the Evil Queen’s sister means you can get away with a lot. Jocelyn takes the shadow’s nonexistent hands and begins to dance around the room. She bangs into me on her way by and I fall into Jax.
“Don’t let her rattle you,” Jax says.
Before I can say anything, we have to switch partners again and I’m with Helmut.
“You’re the new girl, right?” says Helmut, who looks more terrified than impressed. “I got caught breaking into the Enchantasia Market one too many times. I have a thing for the baker’s cinnamon rolls.” He blushes. “What are you in for?”
“Kind of the same thing,” I say, wincing as Helmut steps on both my feet. “Family’s got to eat, you know. I took what I needed to survive.”
“I thought cobblers just ate shoe leather,” Jocelyn says as she and her shadow dance by us.
I’ve had enough of this one. “I never have, but if you want to try eating leather, I’m happy to shove some down your throat.” Helmut gulps loudly.
Jocelyn smiles eerily. “Students who shoot their mouth off to me don’t last long.”
I stop dancing. “Are you threatening me?” Helmut slowly backs away. “I thought FTRS was all about reforming yourself.”
Jocelyn smiles evilly. “It is, but who’s to say who we’re reforming ourselves into next? Stop snooping around this school or believe me, thief, you’ll regret it.” I feel a chill go down my spine. “I have powers you can’t even dream of.”
“I’m not scared,” I say as Jax tugs on my arm to steer me away.
Jocelyn’s eyes narrow. “You will be when you see what I can do. Watch.” Her lips begin to move and a glow emits from her eyes. Jax shoves me out of the way, but he needn’t bother. I’m not the one Jocelyn is toying with. Gayle lets out an ear-piercing scream and her troll partner flies backward, hitting one of the torches on the wall, which falls and causes a small fire that short-circuits the music. Students see Jocelyn chanting and run for cover, but Helmut begins to wail and falls to the floor. Within seconds, most of my classmates are low to the ground, covering their ears. Her spell has affected everyone but Jax and me.
“Stop it!” I say, but Jocelyn ignores me. I turn to Jax. “We have to do something!” As I say the words, I can hear Jax’s earlier advice in my head. Just take care of yourself. But I can’t just stand here and watch others suffer because Jocelyn wants to teach me a lesson
“What is that sound?” Cleo cries, holding her ears. “Jocelyn, help me!”
The Sea Siren is seemingly blind to the fact Jocelyn is the one causing the noise. Kayla told me Cleo can’t handle loud sounds and it must be true. I watch as Cleo’s hair flashes pink, then purple, then green before she begins to scream so loudly that bubbles take over the tank and the floor actually begins to quake. Soon Cleo’s gentle demeanor is gone, and for a second I can see a flash of the sea siren she must have been. It’s pretty terrifying. And that’s before the tank begins to crack.
“She’ll drown us all!” an ogre says, pushing his way to the exit.
Jax beats him to it and I fear he’s abandoning us. Instead, he pulls out his pocket watch and zaps the lock. Students stream out of the room, Helmut helping Gayle to the door. In terror, a pixie flies by me and bangs into a wall. Jax scoops her up. All the while, Jocelyn continues to chant, a smug smile on her face.
When I look back, Madame Cleo has passed out and is floating in the middle of the tank. Enough is enough. I jump on Jocelyn’s back and try to knock her to the ground.
“Get off me!” Jocelyn yells, spinning around so fast I should fly off, but I have a great grip. (Father’s delivery horse, Lion’s Mane, is as wild as they come.) Jocelyn twists and bucks but I hang on. At least I’ve gotten her to stop chanting.
Suddenly we’re hit from the side and we fall to the floor. When I look up, Jax is holding the disco ball that was hanging from the ceiling.
“You’re going to regret this, thief.” Jocelyn holds her cheek, which is scratched and bleeding. “You too, farm boy. Those gargoyles are nothing compared to what you’ll see next.” Purple smoke rises around her and then she’s gone.
I’m still choking on the smoke when Jax gives me a hand and helps me up. “Now you owe me two favors.”
“I thought you didn’t like helping people,” I say in-between coughs.
Jax shrugs. “I figured keeping the whole class from drowning was more for my benefit than theirs. Fewer students in class mean more focus on me.” I shake my head.
Madame Cleo moans and we turn back to the tank. She’s starting to come to. I bang on it, knowing that’s the opposite of what you’re supposed to do to a fish tank, but I don’t know what else to do. “Madame Cleo? Are you okay?”
Cleo’s green eyes snap open like she’s in a trance. “Once a villain, always a villain,” she says in a monotone voice that sounds nothing like her own. “Evil is coming and it can’t be stopped. Enchantasia, beware…” Her mouth curves into a sinister smile. “Fairy Tale Reform School will burn.”
The hair on my arms stands up.
“She’s under some sort of spell.” Jax bangs harder on the glass. “Madame Cleo?”
Cleo’s eyes flutter wildly and then her body relaxes. “Darlings!” she smiles. “How good of you to come to detention. Is it just you two today?”
Jax and I look at each other. Did that really just happen?
“Uh, yeah,” Jax says.
“Great!” Madame Cleo smiles and pets a sea horse that swims by her. The thing is still trembling with fear from her recent outburst. “Then let’s dance, shall we?”