Page 32 of Switched

This is meant to be. I can feel it. The Rumpelstiltskin clues I need are finally within my reach.

CHAPTER 10

Read No Evil

I spend the majority of the afternoon alone in my room with Wilson, Peaches, and the book, which is still in my bag. I need to get it back to the library before anyone knows it’s missing. But if Helga realized it was gone, she would have come calling for it by now. I think.

Our dorm mirror, which Maxine bedazzled with jewels she’s found (not stolen, I hope), starts to glow yellow, then blue.

“Good afternoon, Fairy Tale Reform School!” Flora’s voice booms over the magical loudspeaker system. “Due to the weather, the magic carpet racing scrimmage has been canceled for today.” Groans can be heard throughout the girls’ dorms. “Dinner will be served at five o’clock in the cafeteria where we are testing out several recipes for Monday’s welcome tea for our new teachers. Please vote on your favorite dessert: Happily Brownie After Sundae or Tale as Old as Tapioca Pudding. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, and remember: ‘Be good’ is not a saying. It’s a way of life!”

I stare at my book bag again. Open the book, a voice inside me seems to shout.

Quack!

Peaches waddles over as if she hears my thoughts. Winston crawls from my desk to my bed and plops down on my right kneecap. They’re both staring at me suspiciously, and I didn’t even take the book out of my bag yet.

“Are you guys hungry?” I reach into my desk drawer and pull out some cheese for Winston and a quill for Peaches. She loves chomping on those. But neither of them move. Winston squeaks madly at Peaches, and Peaches quacks at Winston. Then she starts to cough.

“What did you eat now?” I cry, jumping up to find the ELF Cleaning Spray.

Peaches coughs up something small and gold. “It’s Jack’s mirror! And in one piece.” I pick it up. “When did you eat this again?” Peaches quacks madly and tries to steal the mirror back. I put it up high on my dresser and grab my book bag. The last thing I need is Peaches getting vindictive and eating the library book next. I sit down on my bed again and take the book out of the bag, preparing to open the first page.

Winston jumps on the book, and Peaches starts snapping at my fingers. Then she starts to cough again. I do not want the duck throwing up on the book!

“Guys, quit it, or you’re going back in the Magical Fairy Pets cages!” That makes them quiet. “I didn’t steal the book,” I add, guilt taking over me. “I borrowed it. And since it’s here, I might as well read it, right?” I turn to the first page and read the inscription:

The reader embarks on this history of Rumpelstiltskin at his or her own risk.

What does that mean?

I turn the page again, and my dorm room door bursts open.

“Gilly, want to have dinner with us?” Kayla asks cheerfully. “Mother is making fairy cakes, and her blueberry one tastes more like dessert than dinner, so I thought you’d like—Oh!” She spots the book, sees the name Rumpelstiltskin written in big, black letters, and begins to stutter. “Wh-where did you get that? Why do you have that? What are you doing?”

I try to hide the book, but Peaches nips me again and Winston starts chittering. “I borrowed it from the library.”

Kayla’s brow furrows. “Borrowed or stole?”

We stare at each other for a moment. “Kind of both,” I say meekly.

Kayla’s wings pop out of her back. “What if that book comes alive?” she says, panicking. “What if Rumpelstiltskin shows up in this room? What if…what if…the book is evil?” Her amber eyes widen.

I jump up and cover her mouth before Miri hears her. “I won’t let it do anything evil. Anna is in danger. I just need to figure out where she is so Jack and I can rescue her.”

Kayla cocks her head. “Do you mean Jack or Jax?”

“Jack.” I look away. “Jax and I aren’t talking.”

“And now you and Jack are teaming up?” Kayla asks. “Why? You barely know him.”

“He’s seen Anna.” Kayla’s mouth opens slightly. “Back when Stiltskin took his mom. He said she’s disenchanted with Stiltskin. Just like I hoped she’d become! Between what Jack’s seen and what I can find out in this book, maybe we have a chance of getting our families back and convincing all the other kids to leave him too.”

“So you thought you could figure this out with a book you’re not even allowed to take out?” she asks.

I look away again.

“And you were going to do all this without your friends’ help? Gilly, come on! You aren’t thinking straight! Don’t be foolish. This book could be full of lies. Do you even know who wrote it? A villain or a fairy? Or a royal? That changes everything. You heard what Beauty said in our library class—if you can’t trust the author of the book, you have to wonder whether you can trust the content inside it.”