CHAPTER 7

Let’s Be Real

Dexter and Cerise teamed up again—this time to cook a delicious meal, complete with stew and another of Red’s wildberry pies to celebrate their bravery. As usual, Cerise served giant portions of the food, and, as usual, she ate her share with wolflike appetite and gusto. She was too hungry for manners, and she didn’t care. She had already finished two bowls of stew while Dexter was still working on his first. It just felt so good to be safe and inside, eating a hexcellent meal with a good friend. I think there’s a reason I wasn’t destined to be a princess, Cerise decided. I don’t want to rule a kingdom and make all the important decisions a royal has to make. That attention isn’t for me. I just want some space to run and a good meal to share with a friend. That makes me happy.

“You were so cool,” Dexter told her. “The way you made that scary growling noise even though you were just as scared as I was, and then the way you charged, full-on—”

“Right into some baby deer,” Cerise added with a laugh.

Dexter started laughing, too, and that made Cerise laugh even harder. When she finally stopped giggling and looked over at Dexter, she noticed he had a strange look on his face.

“Dexter, what’s wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?” Cerise said, confused. “Oh no. Do I have stew all over my face?” She wiped her mouth with a napkin.

Dexter shook his head and didn’t say a word. He simply pointed at Cerise’s head. Cerise immediately knew what was wrong. Her hands flew up to her ears in a flash. While she was laughing, her hood had fallen off! After all her hard work trying to hide it, her secret was out.

“Cerise… are you… part-wolf?” Dexter asked.

Cerise looked away and hesitated for a moment. Then finally she nodded. “Yes. I’ve been keeping a secret from you,” Cerise said quietly. “Actually, it’s a secret I’ve been keeping from almost everybody.” She took out her locket and showed Dexter her family picture. “My mom, Red Riding Hood, married the Big Bad Wolf.” She paused for a moment, waiting for Dexter to respond. He looked so surprised, and she wasn’t sure how he would react—or if he’d be able to keep her secret.

At last, Dexter spoke. “Are you telling me… that Mr. Badwolf is… your dad?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Cerise said shyly.

A big grin spread slowly across Dexter’s face. “So… what’s it like having your dad be a teacher at school?” he teased.

“Pretty great, actually,” Cerise replied as she gave him a playful push. She was so relieved he’d taken the news well. It was the biggest secret of her life, and yet, she felt like she could trust him. They were good friends, and she knew he was there for her. “Only my fairy closest friends know,” she continued in a quiet voice. “And I’m hoping to keep it that way. At least for a little while longer.”

Dexter nodded seriously. “You don’t have to worry. Your secret is safe with me,” he assured her.

Cerise nodded gratefully. “I thought it would be. Thanks, Dex.”

Then Cerise told him everything that had happened after she left the castle. She told him about the family of wolf pups she had come across that made her fairy homesick. And then the human family picnic that made her homesick, too. She told him how wonderful it was just to let loose and run as fast as she could, and she told him about playing bookball and how great it was to feel athletic and strong. Last, but not least, she told him about going to the library. He was surprised that Cerise had made time to stop by the library. He couldn’t wait to hear more! “What was the library like? Did it have better books than this library? Do you think we can go check it out now?” he asked all at once.

“Calm down,” Cerise replied with a laugh. “It was a really cool library. I read the Beauty and the Beast story, and it made me realize that Beauty and the Beast isn’t about princes, princesses, or castles. It’s about learning to be happy just being yourself.”

Dexter smiled. “Well, you should be pretty happy being yourself,” he told her. “You’re smart, you’re brave, you can run like the wind, you can be super scary when you need to be, and you make the best pie in the entire world! You’re a Hood and a Badwolf. That’s awesome.” Dexter paused and pulled out a gift from under the table. “And even though I don’t think you should have to hide who you are, here’s a new hood that I made for you while you were in the village.”

“That’s really nice of you, Dex. Thanks,” Cerise said as she admired his handiwork. “And you shouldn’t be shy—or embarrassed—about who you are. Look at how you owned this whole ‘beast’ thing. You totally rocked it.”

Dexter awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and gave Cerise an appreciative smile.

“How did you fix that lantern so quickly anyway?” Cerise asked. “And not only fix it, but make it better?”

Dexter blushed. “It was nothing. I learned from reading some books about lamps and light fixtures in the library,” he said.

“See? You were a natural at fixing that lantern. That’s a real gift.”

Dexter reached across the table to get some salt, and knocked over the salt and pepper with his huge paws. But instead of getting upset, this time Dexter just laughed it off.

“I’ve decided not to be so hard on myself anymore,” Dexter told her. “I guess I’ll never get the hang of being the Beast, but I’ll be the best kind of beast I can be.”

Then it was Dexter’s turn to tell Cerise about what happened while she was gone. He told her all about the fairy wonderful dream he had where he wasn’t the least bit nervous about being the Beast, and he wasn’t the least bit clumsy or awkward. He told Cerise how in his dream Raven had said he was perfect just the way he was. “It was the best dream ever,” he said. “I never wanted to wake up.”

Cerise nodded. “Dream-Raven was right! You don’t need to be the perfect Beast. You just need to be you. Being a princess isn’t for me, either. I just want to be me: a Hood with a little bit of Badwolf. I want to be outside, running, racing, swimming”—she got a mischievous look on her face—“and occasionally howling at the moon.”

Dexter looked at Cerise thoughtfully. “You know, Cerise, you’re right,” he said. “Like you said, I’m not meant to be the Beast. You’re not meant to be Beauty. Look how hard we tried to change, and we couldn’t. But did Ever After fall apart? No. I’m kind of a klutz. I bumped into a lot of stuff. I knocked things over—”

“That’s true. All the broken vases in this castle are proof,” Cerise said with a little laugh.

“—and you were unhappy cooped up in the castle,” Dexter continued, “so you went on an adventure outside! What was wrong with us just being ourselves? Was it terrible? Was it awful? No, we did just fine.”

“I think you’re right. We are pretty great when we’re just ourselves. I say we stop trying to be Beauty and the Beast, and just be Cerise and Dexter.”

Dexter smiled. “Agreed. Anyway, we had fun when we were just being us! We make a pretty good team.”

Suddenly, Cerise noticed there was a vase filled with spelltacular roses on the table. She touched one of the buds lightly. “Where did these flowers come from?” she asked.

“Oh, I picked those,” Dexter said. He held up his paws and laughed. “One advantage of these thick, furry paws—I can pick roses without getting hurt by thorns! Do you like them?”

“I love them. When I was reading about Beauty and the Beast, I noticed that Beauty and I had a few things in common after all. Turns out, we both love roses. Thanks, Dex.” Cerise gave her friend a warm hug.

BOOMF! Almost immediately, Dexter and Cerise found themselves transported back to Ever After High. They both landed by the lockers. Cerise looked around in a bit of a daze. The first person she spotted was Raven.

Raven rushed over to Cerise’s side. “Cerise! You’re back!” she exclaimed. “Well, what happened?” Raven spotted Cerise’s hood slipping, so she quickly helped her friend cover up her ears with a worried look. Within minutes, Dexter and Cerise were surrounded by students, all eager to hear about the latest fairytale twist.

“Tell us all about your adventure, Cerise!” Cedar Wood cried.

“Dex!” Hunter Huntsman shouted. “Where were you, buddy?”

“Yes! Was it wonderlandiful? Did you have tea? I can’t wait to hear all about it!” Madeline Hatter said.

“Hexcuse me, hexcuse me, reporter coming through!” Blondie Lockes shouted. She was running down the hallway with her cameraman rushing behind her. As Blondie spoke, the camera was aimed at Cerise and Dexter.

“I just received word that Cerise Hood and Dexter Charming have returned from their adventure in the wrong fairytale,” Blondie said. “Now, this is a scoop if I ever heard one! Welcome back, you two! Can you tell us a little bit about your trip? Cerise, what was your new fairytale like?”

Cerise was thrown off by the attention and pulled her hood tighter around her ears. Exchanging a look with Dexter, she remembered everything they’d learned together. Sometimes, she needed to deal with some hextra attention, and that was fine. Clearing her throat, Cerise answered: “Well, um, we landed in this ginormous castle with a staff and a closetful of dresses—”

“That sounds perfect,” Apple White squealed, her blond curls bouncing as she nodded.

“Well, it wasn’t perfect for everyone,” Cerise admitted. “And it was not the fairytale for me. If Dexter hadn’t been there to help me through it, I might not have passed my hexam.”

“How did Dexter help you?” Cedar asked. “What was Dexter like as a beast?”

“Was he all, ROAR?” Hunter Huntsman asked with a laugh.

Cerise hesitated for a moment and glanced nervously at Dexter as she wondered how much he was going to say. Would he keep his promise and not share her secret? But Dexter rubbed his head and looked around the school in confusion.

“Zoom in on Dexter,” Blondie instructed. The cameraman did as he was told.

“Oh hex, I think I hit my head on the way back,” Dexter said. “I don’t remember a thing about our trip.” But then he noticed Raven smiling at him. A vague, fuzzy memory washed over him. Something about being proud of who he was and Raven thinking he was great.… Where did he hear that? Was it Cerise who said it to him? He couldn’t remember. But he knew that with Raven smiling at him the way she was right now, he had a chance, and he wasn’t about to blow it. Dexter walked over to Raven and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Raven, would you like to go to a movie with me sometime?” Dexter asked.

It took everything Cerise had not to jump up and applaud. Yay, Dex! she cheered to herself.

Raven didn’t hesitate. “Sure, Dex,” she said. “I’d love to!”

For a moment the old Dexter came back. “You would?” He gasped. “Are you sure?” Then he took a moment to compose himself. “I mean… you would! Great, that’s just great! I’ll… I’ll send you a hext later and we’ll pick a day.” Raven smiled again and nodded.

“Oh my wand, this is just hexcellent!” Blondie cheered. She turned to her cameraman. “You got that all on tape, didn’t you? Please tell me you did.”

“Don’t worry; I got it all.” The cameraman nodded.

After exchanging a few more words with Raven, Dexter went over to where Cerise was sitting.

“Great job on the movie invite, Dex,” Cerise whispered. “I don’t think Daring Charming himself could have been any smoother.”

Dexter grinned ruefully and rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks—but you know, I wasn’t kidding when I said I didn’t remember anything,” Dexter told her. “What exactly happened when we were together?”

Cerise smiled and gave a little shrug. “Not too much, Dex. We just learned a little bit about each other. And ourselves. And it was pretty spelltacular.”