The Never

Miro, Harpin, and the two other girls who were going to be staying in their room stepped back, admiring their work. The rest of the kids didn’t know any magic yet, but Miro and Harpin knew just enough that they morph the room to their will, with a little help using brooms and mops. Now, instead of a rickety old attic, it looked like a prestigious suite, used by princesses. 

The beds had been fixed into four-posters with white sheets, a fireplace had been added, the floor was now made of polished wood, the walls had been painted white and decorated with tapestries and paintings depicting animals such as crows and rats and dragons. They had also added a desk, and turned the unstable door into a polished wooden masterpiece. Most of the kids had their luggage dropped into the river with them when they fell, but Miro’s mother had had hers delivered. A dark brown wooden chest was sitting in front of the foot of Miro’s bed.

Miro turned to the other girls. There was Harpin, obviously, and this year’s reader. Miro had been right at the assembly. The black-haired, green-eyed girl was named Layette, and was still not totally sure what was going on, but enjoyed the prospects of the school very much. And there was another girl, in a white dress, white, ghost-like skin, and wispy white hair with dark, almost black eyes. She didn’t talk, and the place where a name would be on the top of her schedule had been crossed out with an X. So Miro, Harpin, and Layette called her that. Miro sat down on her bed and opened her envelope, excited to see what classes her and her friends shared.

Miromaximus Grimhilde, Never:

Breakfast- 7:30-8:15

Fairytale History- 8:30-9:30

Beasts- 9:45-10:45

Lunch- 11:00-12:00

Potions and Curses- 12:15-1:15

Break- 1:15-2:15

Combat- 2:30-3:30

Dorm Time

Dinner- 5:00-6:30

In Dorms by 7:45

Lights Out at 9:00

She smiled when she saw combat. As Bartholomew-son-of

-Hercules had seen at the school gathering, Miro was very good at fighting. Comparing her schedule to the others, she saw she had combat with all three of them, history with X, and Potions and Curses with Harpin.

Soon after, the clock struck five, and Miro and her friends left for dinner. The dining hall was on the middle of the bridge, the entrance to it on the side of the walking area, with the actual hall on a small rock ledge that stretched all the way down to the river that went in between the two schools. 

Walking into the hall, Miro could see which half was for who. On one side, round tables with white, pink, or blue tablecloths were laden with crystal silverware and glasses, topped with white flowers in crystal vases in the middle of each table. On the other side, rotting wooden picnic tables were out of place in the marble room, with no silverware or anything else on them. In the middle, there was also a thin lining of white tables with basic silverware on them, but no one took those. They were too close to the other side. 

Miro sat, recoiling at the disgusting table, with Harpin on one side, X on the other, and Layette across from her. No one else dared sit at their table, though every other Evil student wanted to. Miromaximus was the daughter of the Evil Queen, and that made her the most popular girl in the school. Harpin, Layette, and X were her chosen entourage, and no one else would be allowed in without earning their place in the Queen’s court.

Then, as lunch time officially began, food appeared. On the Good side, golden plates of fine cake and desserts appeared. On Miro’s side, a grimy paper bag popped into existence. She opened it. Inside was a moldy sandwich. A sandwich, for dinner. She sighed, picked up the bag, and dropped it on the ground. The other girls did the same, kicking them away. 

This was going to be a long school year.