Sophie and Agatha shrieked as the bird sped around a tight corner. Agatha pulled her legs in to avoid losing a foot on a branch. Sophie swung to avoid the top of a tree. Finally the bird slowed as the trees thinned. In front of them loomed the School for Good and Evil, twin towers against the night sky. One was shimmering in shades of pink and blue, flowers blooming from the ground. It's twin was black and gray, the lawn covered in dead grass and hanging willows. Sophie shuddered. It was a castle fit for a witch. Lonely and ugly; Agatha would love it there.

But the skeletal bird sped past the Evil towers, gripping Sophie with its talons, with Agatha hanging onto a rib. Finally the bird stopped, hovering over the grounds of Good.

"Wait, what about Agatha?" Sophie asked, confused. The bird opened its claw and Sophie dropped to the ground.

Agatha watched her best friend fall into a field of flowers. The bird began to flap away.

"Wait, stop!" Agatha screamed as the bird carried her away. "Sophie!" Just before the bird crossed the fence that separated the schools from the forest, Agatha opened her fingers and followed Sophie to the ground.

Sophie blinked and opened her eyes. She looked around as she stood up. She was in a meadow of flowers. Beautiful girls like her were standing and looking around, as if they were blooming from the ground.

"Agatha?" Sophie called. Had the bird turned around and taken her to Evil? Was she okay?

"Sophie?" she heard someone call. Sophie turned. Agatha was standing up slowly. Sophie ran to her.

"Agatha! What happened? Why didn't the bird drop you in Evil?" she asked. Other girls around were giving Agatha looks. She clearly didn't belong there. Sophie quickly stepped away from her. "Um, talk to you later." Sophie said quickly. Sophie found her bags near where she had woken. She sighed in relief.

Fairies fluttered around them, herding them through the doors into the school. Sophie gasped in wonder. Huge letters on pillars spelled out EVER. Two symmetrical staircases spiraled upstairs, one labeled 'Charity', the other 'Purity'. Two halls on the right and left were named 'Honor' and 'Valor'. The fairies led them up the Honor staircase, where a teacher was handing out schedules. Sophie took hers happily.

Sophie of Woods Beyond

GOOD, 1st Year

Purity Tower 51

Session

Faculty

Beautification

Professor Emma Anemone

Princess Etiquette

Pollux

Animal Communication

Princess Uma

History of Heroism

Professor August Sader

Lunch

Good Deeds

Professor Clarissa Dovey

Surviving Fairy Tales

(Forest Group #3)

Yuba the Gnome

Next a nymph handed Sophie a pile of books:

The Privilege of Beauty

Winning Your Prince

The Recipe Book for Good Looks

Princess with a Purpose

Animal Speech 1: Barks, Neighs, and Chirps

Sophie smiled excitedly. This was what her whole life had been leading up to. She was finally going to learn how to be a princess!

Agatha was shocked. She dropped into the School for Good, found Sophie, and Sophie blew her off and now was avoiding her to preserve her reputation. Agatha had thought they were friends, but clearly she was wrong.

Blue-haired nymphs handed her her schedule, books, and uniform. The classes sounded dreadful, the books absolutely absurd, and the uniform! Bright pink, short pinafore with carnations on the sleeves. Just the sort of thing Sophie likes to wear, Agatha thought bitterly.

And Agatha was right. Sophie squealed in delight when she saw the uniform, and put it on immediately. She had never been happier.

A beautiful girl approached Sophie with full lips and eyes that matched her waist-length golden hair.

"Hi!" the girl said. "I'm Beatrix."

"I'm Sophie." Sophie said, holding up her schedule to prove it.

"Hey...I'm in Room 51 too!" said Beatrix. "I guess that means we're roommates."

"I guess so." Sophie smiled.

Agatha watched Sophie talk to a pretty girl, then smile and lead her upstairs.

She's not the only one who can make friends, Agatha thought. I'll show her I don't need her.