Chapter Eighteen: New Students
After Spring Fairest, Bunny, Alister, and Darling spent practically every minute together. Lots of people asked Darling how they knew each other, but she never said anything. People also asked Bunny and Alister, but they also kept their mouths' shut. Of course, nobody quite knew what was going to happen to Bunny and Alister. They claimed they couldn't go back because no one knew where the well was, but the Wonderland kids, demigods, and Darling, Raven, Apple, Ashlynn, Hunter, Holly, Cerise, and Daring all knew that wasn't true. Still, the headmaster bought it. Now, all that mattered was that Bunny and Alister were able to become students at Ever After High.
"How about this?" Darling asked, showing Bunny a frilly pink dress. "No - too princessy." She tossed it onto the bed - where it joined another pile of clothes.
"Darling, you need to calm down," Alister said, taking her arm and leading her to the bed.
"Alister's right - just take some deep breaths," Lizzie said. The Wonderland kids and Darling were in the room Bunny was temporarily sharing with Maddie and Kitty. Because all her's and Alister's stuff was in Wonderland, they'd gone shopping for clothes and other things from them soon after they arrived.
Darling sighed. "I'm sorry guys, but this is really important. If headmaster Grimm doesn't let you stay, who knows what you'll do?"
"He will," Kitty said confidently. "If he doesn't, everyone will be furious at him for refusing to take in two Fairytale kids who can't get back home."
Darling nodded. "I guess I should just see how this plays out." She hesitated for a second before getting up and going to the closet. She pulled out a knee-length white dress. It had long sleeves with lace at the ends and along the bottom. She also took out a pale pink button-up vest and a midnight blue tie to match the heels and gloves she took out.
Bunny grinned. "Perfect."
Bunny and Alister stood outside the Headmaster's door with their friends, nervous. Alister hadn't wanted to worry Darling, but he was terrified. When they knocked and the headmaster said, "Come in," their friends gave them nervous-but-trying-to-be-brave smiles. They nodded and walked inside.
"Ms. Blanc. Mr. Wonderland," The headmaster greeted them. "Please sit."
Alister and Bunny sat down in the chairs in front of her desk. Bunny reached under the desk for Alister's hand, and he took it, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Now, first tell me why you're here?" Headmaster Grimm asked.
"Well, as you know, we found the Storybook of Legends and decided to try and bring it to Ever After. We followed the river we found the book in and found the well. We basically jumped and came here. We can't get back - and have no family here - so we thought we could stay at the school," Bunny said, and her confident voice didn't match her slightly shaking hand.
"Why should I believe you had the Storybook of Legends?" Grimm asked.
"If you ask me, it's logical to believe the Cheshire Cat stole it. In fact, ask Kitty to come in here or something and confirm it," Bunny said.
"Why can't I ask the Cheshire Cat?"
"Have you ever tried to tell the Cheshire Cat what to do?" Bunny said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, what about grades?" the Headmaster asked.
"As you know, we have school only one day in Wonderland," Alister said, speaking for the first time. "Bunny and I both passed all our classes these past few years. I think, before that, we still got good grades - even though we failed a class here and there. But last year Bunny and I passed with flying colors."
"The school smelled like paint and feathers for a week," Bunny added.
"Who would you room with?" Headmaster Grimm asked.
"I heard that Sparrow Hood lived in a treehouse in the forest. If you moved him to a normal room, we could become roommates," Alister suggested.
"Ms. Blanc?"
"Put me with whoever. I don't care," she said, shrugging.
The headmaster glanced down at his notes. "Well, Faybelle Thorn is by herself. You will be with her."
Bunny nodded, but Alister saw her nose twitch - a sign that she was scared. Why would she be-? Oh. Faybelle was the daughter of the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty. Of course Bunny was scared. Alister looked the Headmaster in the eyes and tried to see if he was doing this on purpose, but Grimm gave away nothing.
"Now, would you be a Royal or a Rebel?"
"Rebel," they said at the same time.
Headmaster Grimm nodded and jotted something else down on his notepad.
"Now - one last question - why should I trust you?"
Alister saw Bunny struggle for an answer, so he quickly answered with one of the best things to answer questions with - another question.
"Why shouldn't you? As far as I can see, we've done nothing to make you doubt us. We risked our lives in that board game to save Ever After from the curse, and climbed up a mountain in the middle of a storm to unclog the well."
The hadmaster seemed to be thinking hard. Bunny and Alister both held their breath, waiting for an answer. Finally, he said, "You've answered all the questions well. Bunny Blanc and Alister Wonderland, you are now students at Ever After High." He handed them each an envelope. "This contains information for you - including your room and locker."
Alister had a hard time keeping the huge smile off his face. "Thank you sir," he said breathlessly. Bunny just nodded, not even making an effort to hide her happiness.
The two of them got up and walked towards the door.
The wait was excruciating. That fact was clear in Maddie's mind. Not knowing if Bunny and Alister would become students or...well, she didn't know what would happen if they didn't.
They were all handling it differently. Lizzie was pacing. Darling was staring at the door. Kitty was sitting in a chair, hugging her knees to her chest. Maddie turned away from the door and walked down the hallway, trying to clear her mind.
When she reached the end, she looked up and stopped in her tracks. The figure of a shadow was standing on the wall opposite to her. She glanced back, but no one else seemed to notice it. Slowly, she turned back to it. Before Ever After, Maddie had lived in Wonderland for thirteen years, and yet she'd never seen anything like this.
Maddie frowned to herself, and she and the shadow looked at each other in silence. The spell was broken by the sound of a door opening. Maddie turned and saw Bunny and Alister exiting the office, and raced back to them.
"We're in!" Bunny squealed. The hallway was filled with their cheers of joy.
"Let's celebrate!" Darling exclaimed. The others nodded, and the six of them walked to the castleteria.
When they entered, Eve saw them first and asked, "Are you in?"
They all nodded, too happy to speak, and Raven, Dexter, Apple, Cerise, Daring, Briar, Hopper, and the demigods cheered, causing the few people in the castleteria who were having a late breakfast to stare. They didn't seem to notice, though, and soon all of them sat down at a table, talking happily.
Izzy was the first one to leave, taking Amanda's arm and demanding they study for the upcoming test. Then, the others slowly left until only the Wonderland kids and Darling were left.
"What do you say we pack up all your stuff?" Darling said to Bunny and Alister. "I can't wait to surprise Sparrow and Faybelle with their new roommates."
Kitty laughed. "They are gonna be so mad. It'll be hilarious."
They left the castleteria and went up to Alister's temporary room with Hunter and Dexter. Dex was the only one there at the moment.
"Uh, should I be asking what's happening?" he said as the six teenagers walked in.
"Alister and Bunny are students now. We're moving Alister's stuff to his room," Lizzie explained. "Do you have any boxes?"
"Yeah, in my closet. They're from the last time I went to the bookstore," Dexter said, then sat bolt upright. "I, uh, I can get them."
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly. This is our job."
"I can do it Lizzie," Maddie said. She knew that Dexter had a picture of Raven in her closet, and he probably didn't want anyone to know. She walked over and pulled out some cardboard boxes. They all started packing the few things Alister had and took them to his room.
Next, they went through the same procedure with Bunny's things. They wanted to be ready to surprise Faybelle the moment she got home, so they pushed some of her stuff to the other side and started getting the side of the room ready.
Faybelle had painted all the walls black, so they asked the demigods to help them. Zoe and Eve made Bunny's side a glittery white-pink color. They moved her bed in - piece by piece. Luckily, Bunny, Alister, and Darling were quick when it came to that because of working on the Mad Hatter's tea shop. The bed was made of a smooth brown wood and they gave it white, pink, and mint sheets. They made a shelf out of the same wood and put Bunny's pictures on it. They brought in a closet made out of the same wood and put her clothes in it. So far, so normal.
But then they added their Wonderland touch. They splattered quick-drying paint on the brown wood. They hung up paper cutouts of bunnies and clocks on the walls. They scattered rainbow-colored pillows everywhere on her side and put in a thick lavender rug. Maddie scattered glow in the dark stars on the roof on her side, making them form the outline of a bunny. It looked like the opposite of Faybelle's side, and Bunny loved it.
"It's perfect!" she exclaimed, flopping down on the bed. The teens had been working for hours - Bunny and Alister had gone to the headmaster's office at ten and now it was eight. They'd agreed to work on Alister's tomorrow, so he could move in with Sparrow.
"Wait till Faybelle gets here," Kitty said wickedly. They all laughed and talked happily. When Bunny threw a pillow at Alister, a playful pillow fight broke out between the friends. They laughed and were having so much fun they didn't hear when the door creaked open.
"What. Is. Happening," A voice said in a deadly whisper from behind them. They turned and Bunny grinned when she saw who was talking.
"Hi Faybelle!" she exclaimed.
Faybelle looked at Bunny's side of the room in horror.
"What did you do to my room?"
"It's not just your room anymore," Kitty said gleefully.
Darling nodded. "Bunny and Alister became students today. The two of you are roommates now."
"And you're not a real student until you attend and Ever After food fight!" Lizzie exclaimed.
"You have those," Alister said, shocked.
Maddie nodded. "Every Saturday. Speaking of which, there should be one happening at dinner today."
"Let's go!" Bunny exclaimed. The six friends took off down the hallway, leaving Faybelle behind them - still horror struck and wondering what events in her life had led to this moment.
This is really just a scene I always thought was missing. I hope I did a good job, but I'm not in high school so I have no idea how this stuff works. And I never joined a school in the middle of a year either. If I did anything wrong, let me know and I can fix it.
-Creator of Magic