Daylight flecked across my pillow. I stirred and found myself in a bed with pink frilly sheets.
I shot up, spotting Sophie seated on a bed across the way. Agatha had just begun to wake up.
"Why are we still here?" I exclaimed. "If the wolves catch us, we'll be sent to the Doom Room again!"
Agatha was wide awake now, looking at Sophie. "Besides, you should be home writing that anonymous love poem to Tedr—"
"You didn't tell me there's a Ball." Sophie held up a glittering snowflake invitation, Agatha's name in pearls.
"Oh, who cares about a stupid Ball?" Agatha groaned. "We'll be long gone. Now make sure that poem talks about who he is as a person. His honor, his valor, his cour—"
Sophie was smelling the invitation now.
"Sophie, listen to me! The closer we get to the Ball, the more Tedros looks for a date! The more he looks for a date, the more he falls in love with someone else! The more he falls in love with someone else, the more he leaves us here to die! Got it?"
"But I want to be his date."
"YOU'RE NOT INVITED!"
Sophie pursed her lips.
"Sophie, Tedros has to kiss you now! Otherwise we'll never get home!"
"Honestly, do they even check invitations at a Ball?"
Agatha snatched the invitation. "Stupid me. I thought you wanted to stay alive!"
"But I can't miss the Ball!"
Agatha shoved her towards the door. I scrambled after them. "Use the Tunnel of Trees—"
"Marble hall, glittering gowns, waltzing under stars . . ."
"If a wolf catches you, just say you're lost—"
"A Ball, Aggie! A real Ball!"
Agatha kicked her out.
Sophie scowled back.
"My roommates will help me. They're true friends." She slammed the door on Agatha's shocked expression.
I gave her a look.
"What?" Sophie asked innocently.
Ten minutes later, Hester stamped her foot, nearly killing Anadil's rat. "HELP! YOU WANT ME TO HELP A NEVER KISS AN EVER! I'D RATHER STICK MY HEAD UP A HORSE'S—"
"Sophie, no villain ever finds love," Anadil said, hoping reason might save her rats. "To even look for it is to betray your own soul—"
"You want me to go home?" Sophie snapped, picking away tunnel leaves. "Then put a hex on Tedros so he asks me to the Ball."
"THE BALL!" Hester screeched. "HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE BALL?"
"A Never at a Ball?" said Dot.
"A Never waltzing!" said Anadil.
"A Never curtsying!" said Hester, and all three collapsed into howls.
"I'm going to that Ball," Sophie fumed.
"Presenting the Witch of Woods Beyond!" Hester cackled through tears.
By lunch, she wasn't laughing.
In the hall, Albemarle, a studious, spectacled woodpecker, was chipping my name just below Hester's on the Evil rankings board.
"One little love spell," I reminded her, "and then we're both gone forever."
Hester stomped away, reminding herself that Nevers kissing Evers couldn't be encouraged no matter how extreme the circumstances.
YOU ARE READING
Never After (School for Good and Evil x Reader)
FanfictionBOOK 1 OF SGE x READER SERIES *** "Is there a reason you're talking to me right now?" he asked. "Or are you just trying to get me out of the way?" I scowled, all nervousness falling away. "If I wanted to do that, you would have been long gone by now...
