Hunting the Fairy Tale

Chapter 56 - Water Sprites and Goopy Dingbats

Willow

I am hoping to start a brand-new tradition here, one where people introduce strangers to each other, and then they politely acknowledge each other's existence. I know it is a groundbreakingly unique idea, but so far, Ronja is embracing it. Paisley is still just sullenly glaring at her, though.

"Yeah, sure... We'll see," she grunts, but I think there's a softening to her features because Ronja is in the kind of state where only a heartless person can glare at her and mean it. If there's one thing that I've learned beyond any doubt this past week, it's that Paisley is not heartless. What she said might not have been strictly polite, but I'll accept it as an acknowledgement of Ronja's existence.

"What's up, Wisteria? You look like you're about to die. I don't get along well with dead people... they're no fun," Paisley says after a minute of awkward silence. I half expect Ronja to take to her feet again and run off, but she doesn't; she looks from Paisley to me, chewing her lip, and then she makes up her mind to speak.

"I need Willow to help me. I will pay for tutor classes," Ronja says. Apparently, she doesn't have a problem with her rather strange name change. Perhaps she is too distressed to care, flitting anxious eyes back and forth between us.

"You want to learn how to be a tutor?" Paisley asks, and I'm about to give her a stern look when I realise she's not mocking the girl; that is really what she thinks Ronja meant.

"No, I need tutor."

"Oh! Well, you had me at pay," Paisley shrugs, taking the crumpled piece of paper Ronja is trying to hand me. "Oh, shit! You're gonna fail English!" she chortles as if she's sharing a fun fact. I do give her a stern look now, but I might as well be looking at the tree behind her. She lets me take the sheet, and I can now understand Ronja's despair. It is her mock test from the English periods we had just before break time, and it does not look good at all.

"No," I say, grabbing her hand when she gives a soft gasp, Paisley's thoughtful words making her sag even more. "You're not going to fail! Of course, I'll help you!"

"How much?" Paisley wants to know, still stuck on the whole payment idea, and it's my turn to just ignore her.

"I was actually hoping to talk to you about an arrangement because I'd really love it if we could study together for some of our subjects. I need your help too, probably more than you need mine."

I'm glad to see Ronja's face perk up at my words.

"Hey, Velma! When were you going to ask me to study with you? What am I? Chopped liver?"

"Velma?" I ask, giving Paisley a confused look. "Why am I Velma now? What happened to Alice? I liked Alice. I'm used to Alice. I'm never going to remember my name if you keep on changing it at random!"

Paisley laughs at me, and then she thinks it over for a bit, scratching her head.

"No, you're right, Jake is Velma, except," she pauses, lifting her hands with her index fingers extended, measuring a section of air between them. It seems that she is trying to be accurate, moving them closer together and further apart, squinting with concentration. "He has a-"

"Are you also failing English?!" I ask her, hurriedly interrupting her explanation. I am suddenly quite certain about what new dimension of weirdness she is about to lead us into, and I definitely do not want to go on that journey! I know that she is doing ridiculously well in most of her subjects. Apparently, my level of surprise when I found out was: "Super insulting, Alice!"

"No, but I can also be helpful."

"Neither of us takes Business Studies, Geography, IT or Accounting," I point out, and then I see Paisley's face fall and realise that she really needs to be included and that I'm dangerously close to actually hurting her feelings. "But, I would definitely appreciate your insights into Maths... and if you promise to actually study, I'd really love to study with you. It will be fun."