Page 17 of Switched

“Girls! What have I told you about interrupting me?” Flora ushers them out, but their high-pitched squeals have sent most of the pets into a tizzy. “Gillian, can you please help Allison Grace with her magical fairy pet ceremony? I’ll be back soon.”

Allison Grace stares mournfully at the cages in front of her.

“Hey,” I say with a smile. “Don’t worry. You’ll get matched with the perfect pet. Look at mine.” Wilson peeks out of my pocket. AG reaches out to pet him. “We didn’t get along good at first, but now we’re a team, just like you’ll be with your pet. Let’s think about what you can tell these guys to help find your match. It’s like Flora says: What do you like, dislike, like to do with friends?”

AG’s eyes dart around the room. “I haven’t really had many friends up until now. I guess Raz is my friend. She’s my godmother.”

“Raz as in Rapunzel?” Tessa’s mouth gapes.

AG nods. “I’ve spent some time around her and the other members of the royal court, but I haven’t really been anywhere except other castles.”

“Woe is me,” snorts Raza as her bat flies onto her shoulder. “You’re a princess. Your whole life is games and ball gowns.” I give her a look to shut her up again.

“Not really.” AG stares at her shoes again. “My parents are pretty protective. Up until now, I’ve been with them all the time.”

“Well, your mother let you join a class, so she must be loosening the reins,” Jax says. “I grew up in a castle, but I found ways to make it work. What kind of things did you like to do in your ivory tower?”

AG’s porcelain face softens. “Like my mother, I read a lot. Not just stories, but travel books too—I’ve always wanted to see other kingdoms. I’m a decent seamstress, and I like to make accessories out of stuff lying around the castle, like this.” She points to the flower in her hair. “I made it from leftover fabric.”

“Ooh…” Kayla and Maxine reach for the flower glued to a glittery headband.

“I’m a little tired of the ‘I’m a princess, I’ve been locked away, love me’ routine,” I hear Tessa say to whoever will listen, including her pet rat. “The princess title has been wasted on that one.”

“Are we supposed to bow down to her because she graced us with her presence at FTRS instead of going to RA?” Raza adds. “She’s not an actual princess like we follow in the RLWs, so I don’t think she should be given special privileges.”

“Please let her get a heinous pet,” begs Tessa, and a few girls giggle. “Like a snake or a spider or something so not princess perfect!” They all laugh.

I cough loudly so they hear me.

AG touches my arm. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.” I side-eye the RLWs watching me. “Back to you, what else can you tell your pet? Do you have any secret talents?”

“Being a wallflower,” Tessa whispers, and others giggle. What is with those girls? I hate how jealous they are of AG.

“Well…” AG hesitates, trying to ignore the girls. “When I sing, I can make pumpkins grow.” The color in her face deepens.

“Impossible!” Tessa says. “We’ve been working on that skill in botany all year, and none of us have mastered it.” Girls around her nod. “My voice is the most beautiful in the school, and I can’t do it.”

“Beautiful if you’re listening underwater,” Jocelyn mumbles.

“I’ve done it before.” AG sounds suddenly unsure. “Maybe it was beginner’s luck.”

Everyone is talking over each other now, and Ollie runs outside and grabs a pumpkin from our vegetable patch. “Here!” He sets the small green-and-orange pumpkin on the desk in front of her. “Try it on this one.”

AG backs away. “I don’t know.”

Anna used to be shy like this. Maybe if I had helped her become more confident, she wouldn’t have been so unsure of herself all the time. We have to toughen this girl up if she’s going to survive here. “You can do it!” I say. “Try it!”

AG takes a deep breath. “My pumpkins always liked the song ‘My Prince Will Wait for Me.’”

“Is she kidding me?” Raza whispers.

“Please let her get a snake!” Tessa says again.

AG starts singing. Her voice is buttery and light, like a fine violin. Even the pets grow quiet. The little pumpkin starts to grow larger and larger until it gets so big that it threatens to break the desk.

When she’s done, we all cheer. AG curtsies. Tessa’s and Raza’s mouths are hanging open. A fly zooms into Raza’s mouth, and she starts to cough. Soon the cages in front of us begin to glow and glitter. We wait and watch with interest to see what comes out, but nothing appears out of the darkness.