Greenly couldn't stop smiling as she prepared for her date with Dexter. She wore an open black jacket over a short green dress and black high heels. Holly was putting the finishing touches on Greenly's hairdo. "Aaaand done!"
"Oh my fairy godmother!" Greeny gasped, admiring her reflection in the mirror. Holly had styled Greenly's hair into the perfect elegant updo. "Holly, you are a miracle worker! I could never get my hair to look this good!" She began putting on her green rhinestone earrings. "And now for the final touch!" Greenly delicately placed her green rhinestone encrusted tiara on her head.
"Oh, no. Poppy is the real miracle worker when it comes to hair." said Holly.
Greenly examined her reflection carefully. "You think we can pull off eyeshadow or would that be too much?" Greenly didn't get a response. She noticed her roommate looking a bit glum in the mirror. Looking over her shoulder, she still saw the glum on Holly's face. "You okay, roomie?"
Holly sighed. "Sorry, it's just...I really miss Poppy. I wish she could be a student here with me."
"I know it's hard being away from family. But only people who have a story are allowed here." said Holly. "Besides, Poppy works at the salon down in the village. So, it's not like she's miles away from you."
"Yeah, you're right." said Holly. "By the way, I've been thinking of joining the cheerleading squad."
"What?!" Greenly said in shock. "That sounds..."
"Dangerous?" Holly finished.
"More like a death wish!" Greenly replied. "Did you forget who the cheer captain is?"
Holly lowered her head. "I didn't..."
Faybelle Thorn was the cheer captain. Yes. That Faybelle Thorn, the future Dark Fairy who was royally proud of her evil legacy. Despite her fierce reputation, she did have other cheerleaders on her squad who were fairies like her. And they knew to respect Faybelle very well in order to be part of her inner circle.
"I don't know if Faybelle will even take non-fairies to join the squad." said Greenly.
"Maybe. But it wouldn't hurt to ask her." Holly said hopefully.
Greenly didn't look assured. "Unless she makes you prick your finger on a spindle. Besides, why would she of all people be into cheerleading anyway?" She shrugged. "Anyway, wish me luck on my date with destiny!" Greenly announced as she left her room. She could barely contain her joy as she ventured to the west balcony. It was going to be just her with the prince of her dreams. She opened the door, but it wouldn't open. Greenly sighed. "Holly, you locked the door again."
"Don't worry! Blondie gave me one of her hair pins to help me with my little door-locking problem." Holly reached into her pocket and took out one of Blondie's hair pins. But when Holly tried to pick the lock, nothing happened. "What the hex?!"
"What is it?!" asked Greenly, starting to worry.
"Blondie's pin isn't working!" Holly took out her mirror phone. "That's...impossible!" She called Blondie immediately. "Blondie! Greenly and I are trapped in our dorm and your pin didn't work!"
"Whaaat?!" Blondie hollered from Holly's phone. "That's just not right! Don't worry! I'll be right over!"
Holly hung up. "I just don't understand! How could Blondie's magic touch not work?!"
"Well, I'm not going to wait for Blondie!" said Greenly. "My prince is waiting for me!" She went to the balcony window and thankfully, it wasn't locked. The princess swung the doors open and saw the distance between her balcony and the ground. It was royally high. But did that stop the Powerhouse Princess? Of course not. Greenly turned to her roomie. "Holly, it's time to play your part!" She grinned.
Holly grinned as well.
Out on the balcony, Greenly smiled as she and Holly stood on the edge. In Holly's arms were the miles and miles of long hair. "I'm so glad I decided to let my hair grow out for a while."
"So, how long did it take for your hair to get this long?" asked Greenly.
"About a week." Holly answered. "So, ready to do this?" She began to squeal with excitement. "Say it! Say it!"
"Gladly." Greenly cleared her throat. "Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair! That I may climb thy auburn stair!"
Holly tossed her long hair over the balcony. Greenly looked over and sure enough, Holly's hair was just the right length to reach the ground safely. Greenly hugged Holly. "Thanks, roomie!"
"Good luck with Dexter!" said Holly, hugging back.
Greenly climbed down Holly's hair all the way down to the ground. "YES" Greenly dashed as fast as she could to the West Balcony on the other side of the school. Just then, she saw a rather disheveled figure shambling from out of the woods. When Greenly got a closer look, she gasped.
"Dave?!" Greenly shouted.
It was indeed Dave Quixote. He was known for his sloppy style, but not like this. He was covered in grass burrs and throny vines. In his hand he was holding a jar of glowing red rose petals. "Oh. Hi, Greenly!" Dave waved with a friendly smile.
"Dave! What happened to you?!"
"Oh, well, Amber wanted me to get her some petals from enchanted roses. But they're very rare and they only bloom in the most dark, remote part of the Dark Forest." Dave explained like this was a normal thing for him.
"And you actually went and got them?!" Greenly asked in shock and disbelief.
Dave nodded.
"Dave! Do you have any idea how dangerous the Dark Forest is at night?!" said Greenly. "You could have been killed!"
Maddie popped up right beside Greenly. "I'll say!"
"GAAAH!" Greenly jumped nearly a foot in the air. "Maddie?! Where the hex did you come from?!"
Maddie hummed in a thoughtful way, tapping her chin. "Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much-"
"No! No! No!" Greenly quickly dismissed. "I mean, what are you doing here?!"
"Oh! I was just harvesting some moonlight essence to make my dad's famous midnight tea!" said Maddie. "But wowie zowie! You look horrible, Dave!"
Dave shrugged. "It's okay. I'm a lot sturdier than I look."
Maddie put her hands on her hips. "Well, I say you need a quick cleanup, mister! I'll take you to my dorm!"
"Really? You'd do that for me?" Dave was rather surprised by Maddie's offer.
"Of course! Let's go!" Maddie took Dave's hand and walked with him back to school.
Just remembering that she had a prince waiting for her, Greenly took off, faster this time. Finally, she could see the balcony. But before she could call out to Dexter, a large white tiger jumped in Greenly's path. It was Jewel, Raoul's pet tiger. And standing with her was Raoul Sapphire himself.
"You!" Greenly gasped. "I should have known! You're the one who locked me and Holly in our room somehow!"
But wait. Greenly noticed something different about Raoul.
His eyes. His eyes were clear. As clear as crystal. Clear as the sky above the beanstalk. Clear as a baby's eyes. Raoul's eyes were no longer cold and sulky. "Greenly, I'm really sorry about what I did. But I had to." Even his voice had changed. His voice sounded so...innocent. "I can explain everything."
On the west balcony, Duchess Swan smiled to herself as she held her mirror pad that was recording. She got a good shot of Faybelle Thorn, who was flying just above the doorway holding a bucket of feathers. The dark fairy gave a thumbs up and a wicked smile to the camera. The girls admired their booby trap that was going to humiliate Greenly once and for all. They were the ones who sent Greenly those fake love letters from Dexter. And it was all about to pay off once Greenly walked through that door. The trap will activate once Greenly walks through the door and trips the wire that will launch the bucket of black swamp goop on her. Then Faybelle dumps the feathers on Greenly as a final touch.
The door opened and a girl's leg tripped the wire. The oil was hurled and splattered all over the victim. The girl screamed, her body saturated in inky black gunk.
"BRIAR?!" Duchess nearly dropped her mirror pad.
Yes. It was Briar Beauty who walked in. Not Greenly Pea.
Before either princess said another word, a cloud of feathers fell on top of Briar, causing the princess to scream again. Briar looked like a sad bird that was beginning to molt. "Duchess?!" Briar looked up and when she saw the dark fairy above her, Briar dipped her shoulders, scowling. "And Faybelle. I should have known..."
"Sorry, Briar. We were suppose to prank Greenly, not you." Faybelle said nonchalantly. She wasn't the slightest bit upset that their intended target didn't show up.
"Then why did you dump the feathers on her anyway?!" Duchess snapped.
Faybelle shrugged. "Well, Briar already ruined our trap and I didn't want our prank to be wasted." The dark fairy smiled seeing the angered look on her nemesis. Faybelle loved the beauty of her own chaos. "And I can't argue about the results."
Duchess blinked, considering her friend's words. She looked at Briar, who looked royally cheesed. "Well, when you put it that way." Duchess posted the video and it began to go viral. "Say hi to the MirrorNet, Briar!"
Seething, Briar stomped away in a feathery rage as Duchess smiled in triumph. "Serves her right." Duchess and Faybelle looked back at the footage and laughed together in spiteful joy. As the two mean girls laughed together, Greenly and Raoul were listening from below the balcony. Raoul put a finger to his lips, silently telling Greenly to be quiet. He took Greenly's hand and the two managed to slip back to the dorm undetected.
"So...it was Duchess and Faybelle all along?" Greenly said, heartbroken. "And Dexter didn't want to date me...?"
Raoul nodded.
"But...what about the cards that Dexter sent me?" Greenly mentioned.
"All part of Duchess' plan. She pulled all the strings and planted all the seeds." Raoul explained. "She knew about your crush on Dexter. So, when you got sick that day, she found a way to entertain herself. By putting on the sweet act, she persuaded Dexter to write the get well card and told him that she'll deliver it. Instead, she gave the card to Faybelle, who used a spell to copy Dexter's handwriting and make a different card, the card they made to trick you into thinking Dexter 'like' liked you. Then they made another card to lure you to the west balcony and into their trap."
Greenly was saved by Duchess' prank, but she was still hurt. Because those love letters from Dexter that she saved in a scrapbook were all fake. But maybe...just maybe...there's hope for them yet.
But that can wait. Right now, Greenly had to solve another mystery.
"So, how did you know about the prank?" asked Greenly. "And how did you get Briar of all people to come out to the balcony?"
"I was out a few nights ago at the Enchanted Lake. That's when I spotted them and overheard their plan. So, I waited until the night they were ready to strike. I lured Briar to the balcony by sending her a fake invitation from Apple saying that there was going to be a party there. Briar was the perfect patsy for the job. Duchess hates everyone with a happy ending in their story and Faybelle is Briar's natural enemy. That way, when Briar took the hit, those two will be satsified with no negative repercussions from them." Raoul explained everything so calm and casual, like he's concocted elaborate schemes before.
Greenly was speechless. The way Raoul anticipated everything and foiled Duchess and Faybelle's prank without them being angry about it?! It was ingenious.
As Raoul walked away, Greenly managed to find her voice. "Wait a minute!" She reached out and grabbed Raoul's arm. "Why did you even help me?!"
Raoul paused.
"I mean, you're a villain too! You're the son of Bluebeard for crying out loud! Your father was the enemy of all women! He trapped, tortured and killed all those innocent women! Literally treating them like pieces of meat!" She held his arm tighter. "So, why did you help me?! Why, man?! WHY?!"
Raoul was still for a moment. Then he tossed his head back and exhaled a deep, hard breath. He looked at Greenly and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He looked away.
"Dude, what is with you?" Greenly tried to look at Raoul directly, but Raoul wouldn't let her face him. Greenly even jumped around Raoul to see him face to face, but it was no use.
"Greenly," Raoul finally said, his back facing Greenly. "I...have to go." And he walked off, leaving Greenly stunned and perplexed.