Later that night, Robina was still awake, thinking. Sure, she could just Poof! Jaylinn into a school, but that would be just a tad little bit on the suspicious side. If she was going to get her new goddaughter (man, it gave her a thrill to think of that!) into a school, a good public school, she'd first have to convince Mr. Peterson that it was all his idea. 'Piece of cake...kinda...
The first thing to do would be track down a school, preferably one nearby. That was easy enough to handle. Okay, so not easy when you had to look up the current address for the house you were living in, then use a dreaded thing called a phone book to look up the addresses of schools in the area, but it was the best she could do. (And if she imagined chucking the stupid phone book out the window and setting it on fire with enough flames to level a small town, she was only human. Or, at least, had been human…)
She got lucky in the fact that there was only one school for Jaylinn's age and abilities near the house. Apparently, she was in a town called Dimmsdale. Deciding to be a bit tricky, she teleported herself to the school and, using her magic, found a student that would suit her needs entirely.
Trixie Tang.
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"Daddy! I can't find my pink shoes!" Trixie Tang threw aside clothes from her closet in hopes of revealing the missing pair of shoes. She couldn't know, obviously, that a fairy had made the shoes disappear and was even now working at keeping Trixie off the school bus.
"Now, Trixie, sweetie, they have to be somewhere." Her father poked his head in. "You're going to miss the bus if you don't hurry, dear. Maybe you could wear a different pair of shoes."
The glare Trixie sent would've brought almost anyone to their knees. "I can't just wear anything! I have a perfect image to maintain! Where did I put those shoes?"
Trixie heard a horn honk and looked out the window. The bus was waiting on her! Giving an aggravated growl, she began an even more frantic search. "Aha!" she cried triumphantly, pulling the shoes out of a corner in the back of her closet. She quickly put them on and rushed to the front door. Stopping to compose herself, she opened the door with her usual grace. And watched in horror as the bus pulled out of the drive way.
"DADDY!"
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A few moments later, Trixie was on her way to school with the new chauffeur, a young woman with brown hair and eyes (who just happened to call herself Robina), and her father, who was on the way to a meeting. Trixie was still fuming at the indignity of missing her morning performance, the driver announcing her, her saying hello to the "empty bus seats" and then sitting with the popular kids, like herself. She didn't realize she was going the wrong way until she noticed they were stopping.
"This isn't my school!"
"And this isn't my work!"
Robina popped open her door, and opened the back door casually. "So sorry, but I got lost. First day on the job you know. And the engine was making funny noises, so I thought I'd pull over. Maybe whoever lives here could give you directions while I see what was wrong."
Mr. Tang stormed out of the vehicle, heading straight for the front door of the Peterson residence. He was pretty sure he hadn't meant to leave the car, but his feet seemed to be propelling him along. Trixie trotted after, wondering how to salvage what was becoming the worst day of her life.
Mr. Peterson answered the door. It didn't take much for him to recognize Mr. Tang, seeing as how his wife (who was currently somewhere between China and Australia) had sent a fax just a few days ago to him about how she wanted him to "make friends" with the Tangs, to see if they were worth dealing with. Mr. Peterson had to admit it was the first time someone His wife was interested in had come to him.
"Um, hello. Sorry for the intrusion, but.. we got a little lost on our way to the middle school. New chauffeur doesn't know her directions yet." 'And will be fired shortly.' Mr. Tang added to himself. "Could you give us directions?"
"Of course, won't you come in? I must say, it's not everyday someone like the great Mr. Tang stops on my door."
"You recognize me, I see.."
Trixie rolled her eyes. When her father preened like this, there was no moving for the next twenty minutes. 'There goes a dramatic entrance…Everyone's gonna know I was late, and it'll be humiliating to walk into the middle of class. I hate today!' In the middle of her sulk, she noticed a young girl sitting at a table, apparently doning homework. With nothing else to do, she walked over. "Hello."
Jaylinn hardly looked up from her work. "Hi."
Trixie frowned. Nobody ever ignored her! "Perhaps you don't know this, but I'm Trixie Tang."
Jaylinn sighed, wondering where Robina had gone. Had she dreamed the fairy into existence last night? "That nice. I'm Jaylinn." Terran chose that moment to walk in, having snuck in after spending most of the night with Skye.
Trixie's preteen heart just about stopped. He's so dreamy…must be her brother. As Terran looked over his sister's work, Trixie fixed on her best killing smile. "Well, hello there."
Terran blinked a little sleepily, then started in surprise at the young girl before him. 'Two kids in two days? Man, I hope Jaylinn stays out of trouble.' "Uh, hi."
Trixie took his surprise to mean attraction. She batted her eyelashes in a way she had perfected. Terran just looked uncomfortable and brought his eyes back to his sister's paper. Trixie grinned. 'He's shy…Maybe if I show an interest in his sister, it'll give him an excuse to see me. "So, Jaylinn…what school do you go to?"
Jaylinn glanced at her father. The last thing she needed was trouble. "I don't." She went back to her assignment.
Trixie was many things, but not dumb. She heard the wistfulness in Jaylinn's voice. "Oh, but you don't know what your missing! Dimmsdale Middle School is simply one of the best schools ever. You have to come, it'll be so much fun! You and I may even become best friends!"
Jaylinn doubted that highly. "Sounds great, but Dad likes to home school me." She gave a weak smile, really wishing this girl would go away. She missed Robina.
Mr. Peterson was making a good amount of headway with Mr. Tang, but he hadn't missed the conversation between the two girls. Maybe leaving Jaylinn at home wasn't such a good idea. The Tang girl seemed to be more successful at making his daughter miserable than he was. Jaylinn may be getting used to his methods, so it was time to try a few new ones. As soon as he finished his dealings with Mr. Tang, he added, "You know, since you're here, would you mind taking Jaylinn with you? I've been meaning to enroll her in school, but was loathe to lose my little girl. Seeing your Trixie has shown me just what she was missing. And I'm sure my wife would be grateful that our girl is friends with such a fine young girl."
Within moments, it was agreed. Mr. Tan and Trixie left with Jaylinn and returned to the car.
"Welcome back Mr. Tang." Robina greeted. She held the door open and let the Tangs in. She winked at the awestruck Jaylinn. "Are you coming to the school with us miss?"
Jaylinn stared at her fairy-godparent-in-adult-human form. Then a grin broke out across her face and she gratefully climbed inside. Robina was real and now she was on her way to a real school!
