A Not So Thankful Thanksgiving
Summary: Agatha hasn't ever really grasped the meaning of Thanksgiving - and with the School Master's riddle, including her struggle to survive in the School for Good and Evil, she doesn't really think she has much to be grateful for. But a few words can change everything...
[Takes place in the middle of the first book]
November 26, 6:00 a.m.
Agatha woke up with a start. She'd just had a particularly vivid dream where she and Sophie were erased by that deadly magic of the School Master's. She swallowed. For days, his riddle had plagued her thoughts until she could think of nothing else; in additional, Agatha felt almost exhausted by Sophie's antics as she tried to get Tedros to fall in love with her. Her head continued to throb as she thought of all the classwork assigned to her in her classes.
All in all, she felt throughly miserable.
Agatha couldn't get back to sleep. Instead, she crawled out of bed, squinting slightly and staring at the left to avoid looking at herself in one of the large mirrors. With a slight shudder, she managed to force herself to wear her uniform, a pink pinafore that made her head hurt more. At least all the flowers were off, thanks to her ripping them away every spare time she'd had. Not that I had a lot, she thought. Agatha glared at her hands, pasty white against all the pink surrounding her.
What was she supposed to do, anyway? She'd managed to finish all the homework yesterday before she had thrown herself into the large canopy bed. Agatha would've used the time to try to find ways to help Sophie with her prince, but today she just felt too tired. Everything was catching up to her so fast.
And so she pulled open the door and tiptoed out, trying to be as quiet as she could in her dark black shoes. The clumps echoed around the quest hallways and Agatha winced.
She walked quickly down the sloping towers towards the library, somewhere silent and safe where people wouldn't bother her. Agatha had already walked in and slouched onto a couch when she saw Beatrix and Reena hunched over something. They looked up to see her, eyes wide. Agatha felt a stab of annoyance as she saw their hair was as perfect as usual, eyes perfectly alert and clothes immaculately styled. She knew she had bags under her eye, and tried not to sniff her uniform to see if it was clean.
"Hello, Agatha," said Beatrix politely. She leaned over and murmured something in Reena's sad. The girl laughed, a tinkling noise that made Agatha move away.
"What?" she asked tightly. Beatriz's beautiful hair shone as she brushed it away, looking confused. "What did you say to her? If it's something about me, I'd like to hear it."
"Just surprised that you've lasted this long," she replied airily. Agatha tried not to show how much her words affected her. Beatrix was right. She was just a fake, trying desperately to survive in this School and get Sophie to escape with her.
Agatha changed the subject by saying. "What's that you're making?"
Beatrix looked down at the table she and Reena were huddled over another. "Oh, a Thanksgiving poster. We're asking people to sign it as they see it, so we can clearly see how grateful everyone is."
Agatha snorted. She had heard about the holiday from the villagers in Gavaldon, but she didn't care much for it. What would she be grateful for, anyway? "Good luck," said Agatha, eyeing them.
She was about to walk away when Reena nudged Beatrix. Avoiding her gaze, she said, "Would you like to sign our poster?"
Agatha tried not to roll her eyes as she shrugged. "I don't care," said Agatha bluntly. Eventually, though, she walked up, took a marker, and scrawled her name down, right below 'day.' Reena thanked her, but it was obvious both girls wanted her to leave. Agatha smiled as neutrally as she could., before she remembered who they were. She gave a rough nod and walked out, realizing only much later that there was nothing she could think of that she was grateful for. Everything was going so wrong.
They'd come to the School for Good and Evil only a few weeks ago; she'd been so sure she'd find a way to break the curse and escape with Sophie. But now, everything seemed hopeless, really. Between all her insane homework and classes which demanded she be good every second, there was the fact that Sophie was making an utter fool of herself. Agatha slouched into the dining hall, and saw that already a couple nymphs were working on the food.
•a•g•a•t•h•a•
The day seemed to drag on much longer than she thought it would've lasted. All their teachers seemed to have a special lesson completely focused around Thanksgiving, whether it be Sader's long speech about the history of Thanksgivings, or Dovey's quiz on what they would do if they were in any situations on a Thanksgiving day. Even Professor Anemone got into the act, telling everyone what perfect outfit they should wear and which colors would match during dinner. Agatha huddled her way through it all. As far as she was concerned, this was just another day that had no real significance.
Agatha didn't even bother trying to talk to Sophie during lunch: she was still staring at Tedros and thinking of other outfits she could wear. Finally, Sophie flounced towards her. "Agatha, you've been awfully quiet," said her friend.
"What, so I have to act like you all the time?" The words slipped out of her mouth before she could think.
Immediately, she felt horrible. Sophie's green eyes widened and she said, "What do you mean, act like me?" Agatha opened her mouth but couldn't think of anything. "Everything I'm doing is to help you get home," Sophie added, gesturing down at her floor length dress, yet another outfit she'd shaped out of her uniform.
Agatha couldn't seem to stop herself. It was like watching a snowball slowly roll down a hill. "And because you want Prince Pretty Boy," she shot back. Sophie stared at her, hands clenching up. She felt herself trying to salvage the situation and said, "Never mind, okay? It's just that - "
"That you're being rude and insensitive," cut in Sophie, walking away without another word. She felt even worse when she saw Sophie was headed towards Hester, Anadil, and Dot. Sophie was so mad at her that she would rather eat lunch with them. Once she was over, Hester gave Agatha a nasty look, presumably asking why she was sitting next to them.
Agatha stared down at her basket of food for the rest of lunch.
•a•g•a•t•h•a•
Later that day, she walked by a classroom to see almost every Evergirl giggling inside, pushing each other away to see the large poster. Agatha stared in disbelief through the window at the large poster, before girls moved in front of her and she lost the view.
The poster was positively disgusting. Everything Beatrix had said about the poster showing how thankful people were was completely fake. There was nothing with Thanksgiving Day besides the small words crammed in the middle. All the names of the Evergirl's were written in either hot pink, dark pink, or cotton candy pink. Her own name - in a pale gray - had been written over by Giselle. Besides all the names written in, there were rainbows and glitter strewn around. Hearts decorated the sides. Agatha gagged and moved away, trying to ignore the sinking feeling she had felt when she saw her own name written mostly over.
She kicked at a piece of parchment on the ground.
•a•g•a•t•h•a•
Agatha stared absentmindedly out of the window of her bedroom. The teachers had assigned no homework, and the headache pounding in her head had subsided mostly. Staring at the serene Blue Forest, with the azure blue flowers and glittering sky, a feeling close to peace. She brushed dirt off her arms, realizing later that over an hour had passed with her just gazing out of the window. She mentally berated herself for wasting her free time, when she could've been trying to think of other ways for Sophie to get her kiss from Tedros, when a thought occured to her.
It was fine that she just gave herself one day off from all the drama and uncertainty and fear, wasn't it?
She stomped towards the door and walked down to eat, that peaceful feeling still resting inside of her.
Agatha was walking back upstairs when she heard giggling. This wasn't unusual; she'd always seen a group of girls stealing looks at boys in the Groom Room, and girls were constantly staring at boys they liked. But this laughter was different... it was high pitched and hysterical. It was different from the innocent giggling when Evergirls were talking about boys... it was almost mocking, cruel. But she dismissed that thought: Evers were Good.
She turned the corner and saw Beatrix and almost twenty Evers grouped around something. "Now, girls, it's important not to look like this," emphasized Beatrix seriously. "Be thankful that you're better than that." An audible laugh came from Millicent, who quieted after a second. The look of mirth still remained on her face.
"What a witch, tricking Tedros and still walking around here like she belongs," said another girl who Agatha couldn't see. Like Millicent, she spoke quietly, as if afraid they would get in trouble.
Agatha stood there, wondering if she was seeing everything correctly. The girls were looking down at that hideous doll that Tedros had ripped through with arrows. Her skin burned red; that was almost two weeks ago! What were they doing looking at that?
Her finger glowed; she hid it behind her back. It was always lighting up these days when she was feeling upset. With an almost completely silent murmur, Agatha sent rain and lightning forking through the halls.
The girls scattered. Agatha watched them run away, before seeing the doll being washed away in the rain now filling the corridor. She realized her face was wet and wondered if it was the rain, or if it was something else.
Agatha stormed back to her room, her clumps echoing so loudly she wondered if the Nevers across the lake could hear them.
When she got back to her room, she collapsed onto her bed and felt for her fluffy pillows, wrapping her warm blankets around her. What had Agatha expected? From her very first meeting, Beatrix had shown how sharp and accusing she could be.
She wiped her face. This place was horrible; hearing what the Evergirls had said only strengthened her determination to get out of this place. Starting tomorrow, she needed help Sophie find stronger ways to get Tedros to fall in love with her.
Agatha peeked out of her door ten minutes later, making sure no one was out before darting towards the library. She quickly found a book and began flipping through the pages, words standing out to her: flaunt your assets; speak through actions, not words; and to parade other suitors. She almost laughed at the last one. Who would Sophie parade around, a random Never?
But the smile that almost found its way onto her face never quite made it - Agatha felt something close to sadness as she thought of the Evers again. She stared at the book, not really seeing the words.
•a•g•a•t•h•a•
Tedros stepped out of the Groom Room, tired but feeling good about his swordfight mere moments ago. He drifted through the School, trying to cool off. He thought he saw a flash of blonde hair more than once and rolled his eyes, not wanting to tell Beatrix to go away.
It was when he passed the library that he heard it - a small, almost nonexistent sniffle. Tedros hesitated, lingering near the door to the library. He was never one to express his feelings, preferring to just give someone an awkward pat on the shoulder if they felt upset or mad. But the emotion that was almost radiating from the library made him peek in.
He saw the sleeping turtle, and then past that -
He reeled back in shock.
The witch - Agatha - seemed to be huddled over a book. There was no one else in the library. He broke out in a sweat. What was she doing?
He made sure he was out of sight before stepping back, conflicting feelings inside him. On one hand, if someone felt bad, he felt naturally inclined to comfort them; but this was Agatha, the girl with the bug eyes and ugly scowl. So instead he hovered near the doorway and murmured a few words quietly. Then he hurried away, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. There was something odd seeing a girl who he'd branded as an Evil witch showing something more than hatred or disgust or indifference.
Agatha bit her lip as she stared down at the book. For some reason, she'd suddenly felt better. A surge of emotion had passed through her a few seconds ago - was it that she felt comforted? By what?
She smiled a little sadly, taking the book up to the sleeping turtle and seeing it being checked out by the enchanted quill. Whatever it was, it had given her enough strength to decide to talk to Sophie about the ideas the book had had tomorrow.
Agatha saw Beatrix as she was walking back to her room. For a second, Agatha considered yelling at her or something; but she instead slipped inside her room. Beatrix could be mean all her want; it didn't mean that she'd resort to the same methods. She simply didn't have the energy to confront her, either.
It may have not been the best day ever, but at least she had the strength now to survive another day in the School. Determination pulsed through her, stronger than before.
Sophie would get her kiss. They'd go back home. Everyone would be delighted to see them; everything would be perfect. And she did have a lot to be thankful for, didn't she? They were close to going home; she wouldn't be failing any of her classes any time soon; and she didn't really care about the Evergirls, anyway.
Again, she had that feeling of comfort. She couldn't help but have the feeling that someone wanted her to succeed: that someone was cheering her on. And though it seemed like a crazy thought, Agatha fell asleep feeling better than she had in a long time.
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This has just been a random idea floating around...
Happy Thanksgiving!