Ever Never After | The School for Good and Evil Fanfiction

Chapter 14: Breaking Hearts

Consciousness flowed back to Alma in a dizzying stream, swimming with memories of last night's chaotic events. She rubbed her head, easing away the manageable throbbing, and sat up, finding herself in the School Master's bed—without the School Master. She had no idea what time it was, for the only window was outside the chamber, and she found the School Master standing in front of it, looking out at an overcast sky. Alma stretched and yawned, but he didn't turn around.

"Good morning," she said.

"Good afternoon," he replied.

"Afternoon?" Alma repeated. "What's for lunch? I'm starving."

"Lunch was three hours ago. We have another three hours until supper."

"Oh," Alma said. "Well, could you conjure me something small?"

Alma waited for a response, but the School Master was silent.

"Hello?" she said, approaching him. "Do I need to go ask Dot for some chocolate?"

"I told you last night," the School Master said, oddly calm. "You're forbidden from visiting the other castle."

"Then how can I get food now?" Alma said. She stood next to him, but he continued gazing out the window, fixated on something she couldn't see. "Are you okay?"

"I'll summon the fairies," he said. "What is it you want?"

The School Master didn't join Alma at the table when the fairies delivered her meal—he'd returned to the window. Alma ate while trying to understand the mysterious man who'd lived alone in a tower for two hundred years. Was he depressed? Was he having another midlife crisis? Was it because the Storian had gone temporarily dormant again and he had nothing new to read? Or did he just enjoy staring out the window?

"Hey," Alma said. "Are you all right? You're kind of weirding me out. More than usual."

"My apologies for making you uncomfortable," the School Master said, his tone no less detached. "I have a lot on my mind."

"Oh," Alma said. "I get it, I think." She scooped a spoonful of strawberry soufflé into her mouth. "Why were you spying on me again last night?"

"To ensure you wouldn't get yourself into more trouble."

"Ah, and how did that go?"

The School Master respired. "Well, had you decided not to almost give yourself alcohol poisoning voluntarily, I wouldn't have had to intervene, and you could've pretended I wasn't there at all."

"Ha, you know I'd never do that," Alma said. "I'm a rebel."

"You need to take this more seriously," the School Master said, his voice slightly harder.

"Take what more seriously?"

The School Master turned around, his blue eyes intense. "Preparing for the change that your fairy tale will bring, if it will bring such a change at all. What if the Storian decides not to give the new system a chance? What if, Alma?"

Alma put her spoon down. "It's my fairy tale, not the Pen's."

"And yet it is the Pen that has the final word," the School Master said, prowling toward her. "How can we be so complacent to think that we can change its mind after thousands of years?"

"Okay, personally, I'd be bored of Good and Evil after five minutes," Alma said. "I don't think the Storian would've decided to write about me if it wasn't getting bored too. There's no way in hell my story's going to end with this shitty status quo still in place. I'd sooner turn into a villain and burn down the Woods."