"Hey, Grets?" Greta turned to her friend, her black and orange curls swaying around her face as the train to Ever After High rolled through a tunnel.
"I keep telling you, you have to stop calling me that, Greta."
"Okay, Ingrid," Ingrid tucked a green and gold strand of hair behind her ear. "But aren't you nervous?"
"No, our plan is going to work. We're even roommates, so we won't have to worry about slipping up in front of a stranger when either of us is tired."
"Ah, no, I meant about your first day away from home?"
"Oh, not really. I mean, I really like the idea of getting away from that little village, and I'm going to get to see my brother a lot more-" Ingrid dropped the candy box she had held as she and Greta exchanged frightened looks.
"This is going to be an epic fairy-fail." When the girls stepped through the gates of Ever After High, Hans was waiting for his sister, just as the girls had hopped.
"Hey, sis!" The taller boy spread his arms out wide to hug his sister. Ingrid looked to Greta worriedly and saw her nod quickly. Ingrid put on her best smile and ran to hug the brunet boy.
"Hello!" She smiled stunningly up at him, and the boy quickly turned red. When she let go, Greta quickly grabbed him by the collar of his blue button down shirt and dragged him away.
"Okay, new rule: no hitting on, dating, or kissing her. From now on, she's your little sister, Greta." Hans looked down at his sister like she was crazy. "Oh, and call me Ingrid."
"Wait, you mean the name of you imaginary friend from when we were little?" Greta rolled her eyes.
"You mean the name of the girl you just got a massive hug from? Why yes, that is her name." Hans stared over her shoulder at the emerald eyed girl behind her who was popping peppermints into her mouth. "But we're switching places, so you're gonna call her Greta and not hit on her, okay?" Hans nodded.
"But, can I at least talk to her?" He looked down at his sister. "I'm allowed to talk to my sister, aren't I?" He smirked, and Greta punched him. "Owch!"
"Go show your sister around, idiot." Hans smiled and gestured for Ingrid to follow him.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Ingrid smiled up at him, an extra bounce in her step as she followed him towards the school. She turned to Greta, who was on her way to their dorm room.
"I'll see you in our room, Ingrid." Greta smiled at her friend, who had finally got their switched names right.
"You know it, Greta." As Ingrid walked into the school with Hans, the first thing she noticed was the tension.
On one side of the hallway stood a beautiful girl with long purple and black hair, her purple eyes full of laughter as she talked to a shorter, manic blue-haired girl. The blue-haired girl's watch rang until it broke, and she then pulled a tea set and table from her teacup-shaped hat. Ingrid giggled, and pointed them out to her 'brother'.
"Who are they?"
"The taller one is Raven Queen, the Evil Queen's daughter. Her friend is Madeline Hatter, the Mad Hatter's kid. They're two of the students that are rebelling against the Storybook of Legends, at they get a lot of crap from the other students here." Ingrid's brow furrowed as she felt a pang of sympathy. "If your life back home was anything like Greta said, you should probably stay away from them if you don't want to deal with any of that again." Ingrid guiltily shifted closer to Hans, and away from the Rebels. "Over there are the Royals," Hans pointed towards a group of girls in intricate dresses. "Their leader is Apple White, she can be nice, but she's pretty self-centered if you ask me. She and her friends are dead set in believing that the Rebels are not only going to fail to change their destinies, but that they're selfishly trying to ruin the Royals' happy endings." As Apple flipped her hair behind her and shot the rebels on the other side of the hall a glare. "They're mostly too absorbed in themselves to notice your switch, but you should watch out for Blondie Lockes, she's pretty nosey." As if on cue, a blonde girl in a yellow dress with blue spoons on it popped up with a mirror tablet.
"So Hans, who's your new friend?" Ingrid watched as Hans supressed his annoyance.
"She's my little sister, Greta. She just got accepted to Ever After High."
"So Greta," Blondie said, turning to Ingrid with an almost predatory look on her face, "What do you think of the Royals vs. Rebels conflict?"
"Um... I think-" Luckily, the bell for first period rang and Blondie rushed off in a huff over not getting a story. Ingrid looked down at Greta's schedule.
"Beast training and care. Who's that with, big brother?" She looked up at Hans, who sighed. Okay, definitely can't have her calling me that.
"Can you just call me Hans? It'd sound kind of suspicious if you call me that constantly." She nodded. "And that's outside near the enchanted forrest." Once Hans walked her out to her class, he quickly ran inside to get to his own.
Ingrid walked up to a small group of people, who were surrounding a large bear with a blue waistcoat. Among the crowd was a green-eyes girl in glass slippers who sat conspicuously close to a boy with a half-shaved head and a green button-down shirt. Ingrid sat by a wooden girl in a purple dress, and waved with a small smile when she looked at her.
"Class, today we have a new student," the bear growled. He gestured with one paw for Ingrid to rise. "Why don't you introduce yourself to everyone?" Ingrid rose and shyly stuck her hands in her pockets.
"Um, my name is..." she quickly popped a caramel into her mouth and chewed. "My name is Greta."
AN: Is the mixed-up name thing confusing yet? Oh just wait...(muwah ha ha!)