A Tale Gone Wrong

Chapter One: Delilah

I sat on my bed, a quilted cat themed comforter covering it, thinking of my life.

Yesterday, my adoptive mother told me-finally-that I had been accepted to the School for Good and Evil. My Flowerground ticket came in the mail two days before.

My life was about to change.

I dreamily stared at the emerald wall that was too bright and blaring, that gave me a headache on my worst days. At Aria, my kitten who was growling at a beetle. I smiled.

After I arrived at the school, everything would be different. I already found myself missing my adoptive parents' ugly bed.

There was only one catch.

I was the daughter of Rhian Mistral. Rhian Mistral. Why was I getting accepted to the School for Good?

"Lilah honey!" called my mom, Anna. "Time to go. You don't want to be late!" Sighing, I hopped off the bed. "C'mon, Aria."

Nobody in Foxwood wanted to be near me. They all knew of the magic I possessed, of the heritage that was mine. And it was all because of that d*mned Evelyn Sader.

She was more to blame than anybody else.

I scooped up my cat and walked outside, to where John Wylie was loading two pet crates into our rickety wood carriage. "Squired away Everest for you, Dee," he told me. "And that devil cat of yours." By "devil" he meant Chance. Chance was my only male cat and nine years old, like Jennica-she was another cat; they were not siblings.

Clara streaked outside, a gorgeous raven black cat. As I bent to hug her, handing Aria off to my mom, I thought, Why does anybody think of black cats as bad? They're sweet and funny.<i/>

Anna smiled at me. "My little girl. . . growing up so fast." I smiled. Here I was, thirteen years old, and getting to be, well . . . maybe, maybe a famous heroine one day! Although I couldn't shake the rotten feeling that it was a mistake.

Why would I be in Good? My real, true family was Evil. And I loved pranks and the color black and spiders were okay . . .

Dad caged Aria, Jennica wandered outside to see what was going on, and the neighbor girl, Luwynn, peeped out her small window to see what was going on.

I glared at her. Luwynn was eight and a total pain. She called me Evilgirl, stuck her tongue out at me in the market, and liked to whisper and gossip with her friends about why I was paying another visit to the principal. (Kids did weird crazy stuff and blamed it on me, or just plain made things up to get me in trouble. Everything failed.)

Luwynn yelled, "Hey Evilgirl! Are you gonna curse my teeth out today? Oh hey, I bet you're going to Evil School!" I gnashed my teeth. Luwynn had no idea.

"No, quite the opposite," I replied, shooting her a smile. "I'm going to the School for Good. Probably 'cause I put up with you." Luwynn opened her mouth and closed it; she darted to a different room. I could hear her voice yelling, "Mommy! Mommy Evilgirl swore at me!" I huffed. Luwynn made that up. Plus, she was referring to the teeth because her classmate Anton had yanked out his own tooth, then told their teacher that it had been wiggling around in his mouth and came out of its own accord. Luwynn still believed I had done it.

Anna caressed my hair as my dress shifted to my favorite outfit, from a tan short ruffled jazz dress to a loose jumper that was blue, but you couldn't see it because it was covered in monarch butterflies.

"Mom, where's Anne? Oh shoot, I have to go get her-" I made for the door, but Anna stopped me.

"No. I'll get her, sweetie." She smiled at me.

I watched her go, her hair, black and thin, bouncing against her back. My mom really was great.

Much better than my real one.

Chance meowed at me, yowling and scratching his crate. He hadn't gone outside in years, apart from vet visits, and he hated it.

Luwynn's mother came storming out their door, her eyes fixed on me. "You witch," she spat, blonde bun bobbing on her head. "You should be burned!"

I shrugged and said, "You forget who's just getting ready for school, and being a Good little girl." I flashed my Flowerground ticket at her.

She choked and leaped back, her brown eyes widening in terror. I smiled.

"Told you so."

My parents shuffled out the door, and John froze when he saw Mrs. Myocinta. "Edwina, leave our daughter alone." His eyes flashed with confusion and anger.

She snarled, "Your "daughter" swore at Luwynn!"

"Delilah did no such thing," hissed Anna, drawing herself up. I stared at her in surprise. "I was there with her, and she was being bothered by Luwynn."

They both snorted. Then I broke the tense, angry silence. "We should go. Mom, you have Anne?" She handed the turtle to me.

I wrapped Anne in the warmth of my hand, then placed her back in her tank and set her next to where my father would sit.

Jennica and Clara hopped in back and my mom ushered them into kennels, then I sat in the passenger seat as Dad plopped into his.

A piece of paper blew into my face. I smoothed it.

Cyah never, Evilgirl! hope you die. Ha hah! Lov, Luwynn

I showed it wordlessly to my dad. John shook his head, his eyes burning with frustration. An unspoken word passed between us. Brat.

Anna shut the door, then I stealthily flicked my finger and the note shot across the carriage, slipped through a hole in the wood. I heard Luwynn's shriek as it jammed up her nose.

I smirked and took Anne's cage into my lap. Both my parents chuckled as we rolled into motion. "Lilah, you're a genius," sniggered my dad.

"What'd you do to her?" asked Anna, a smile tugging at her lips.

In that instant, I never felt more loved.

~~~~~~

We stood at the train station, at the front of the line. "Flowerground tickets?" asked the moose clerk. I handed her mine.

"Tickets?" she asked my parents, eyebrows raised. Anna shook her head. "Oh."

The moose waved me ahead, and John crushed me in a big hug. "Stay safe." I assured him I would, then crossed with all my luggage in one pocket (benefits of magic), Clara's carrier floating above me, and Jennica and Everest trotting along beside me. Chance's carrier was in my right hand, and Aria had settled herself on my head.

I was shepherded into a line for the Rosalinda Line (for Evergirls only) and a girl behind me gasped. "How are you doing that?"

I turned to her. "Magic. How else?" She gazed at me in awe.

"I bet you have really cool fairy tale parents."

"Not really," I mumbled, but she barreled on.

"I'm Jasmine. Jasmine Ali. Who are you?" She had long black hair and black-brown eyes, with glasses. Wiry gray ones.

"I'm Delilah."

"Oh cool. Can I call you Liley?"

"Um...sure..." I answered, discombobulated.

"Great!" She beamed. "I really hate musicals. And I wanted to be a Never...oh well." I grinned.

"Same here."

That was the beginning of a really, really cool adventure.