Genius School

My Own Fairy Tale

        I slammed the door in his face and ran back into my apartment.  There had to be a weapon... Fireplace poker.  Kitchen knives.  I hurried to the kitchen to get a knife and tripped over the phone cord.  PHONE!!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A GENIUS, JENNIFER!!! CALL FOR HELP!!!  I must have hit my head harder than I thought in the gym if I hadn't thought of calling for help first.  On the table with the land line— I hadn't seen one in years— was a piece of paper with phone numbers.  I punched in the first one, Queen Titania, and hoped she would answer.  

"Hello, dearie.  Is everything okay?  Why are you calling?"

"The man in the suit— Charlotte— In the hall— HELP!"  I was having another panic attack.  I needed to stay awake!  If I collapsed now, I would lose my chance to save my best friend.  If the man knew I wasn't able to talk to him, he could kill Charlotte.  I couldn't let that happen. If I was truly a princess, then I wouldn't be the damsel-in-distress kind from fairy tales, even though my life was one. It was my story to write as I wanted, and right then I decided to write my panic attacks out.

"Dearie, are you okay? Help will be there in a few seconds, but is there anything you can do in the meantime? Talk to him, dearie. Find out what he wants. Just keep him distracted so he doesn't hurt your friend." I was glad she could read minds.

I walked to the door, but didn't open it. "You said you wanted to talk? Well, I'm listening. Say whatever you want from out there, but let my friend come in here with me." I could still feel the panic ready to rise up, but I wouldn't let it. I was going to write my own story.

"Well, well. Look who's a brave little princess now. You grew some wings and think that makes you special? Just a minute ago you were running for your life, and now you're trying to negotiate? With me, of all people? We'd expected more from you," he mocked.

"Who's we? Are there more people working with you, or did you switch to the royal we?"

"It's nice to see you can be rude at a time like this. Keep it up and your friend loses a finger. I know you want her behind that magic-resistant door of yours, but that's not happening. After all, I doubt that the castle guards sneaking up behind me are going to shoot me when I could easily kill her."

I gulped. This was very bad for Charlotte. As worried as I was for her, I still had time to think about what he'd said. My door is magic-resistant? What's that even mean? As soon as I wondered that, I found out.

"Jennifer, whatever you do, don't open that door! He's planning on killing you, but he needs magic to do it! Your door blocks spells!" That was Prince Richard! I didn't have time to worry about him as I heard Charlotte shouting through her gag.

"Mm mrr mnds MMM mm!" I interpreted that to mean "Get your hands OFF me!"

"I'm a friend!" Prince Richard protested. "Jennifer, tell your friend to stop struggling when I'm trying to rescue her!"

"Charlotte, go with Richie. He's trying to help you. Please go and don't get hurt!" How was I so calm when a minute ago I was ready to collapse? Maybe it was magic. Strange how that's a logical explanation now...

"This will not stop us! The Unseelie will bring our princess home!" The man in the suit was yelling and giving away all sorts of useful information. I hope someone's writing this all down...

"Jennifer? Are you here?" Charlotte called from from the bedroom of my apartment. "Your boyfriend is magical, in case you were wondering. He pointed at this spot on the floor and it turned into a giant swirly vortex! He told me to jump into it, which I only did because it was better than getting fried by the other magical person out in the hall, and I fell through the ceiling onto this bed. Is it yours? It's fluffy."

Despite everything that was going on, I smiled. It was good to have my friend back. Listening to her babble felt so natural. I had one question, though...

"Did you just call Richard my boyfriend?" Both of us started cracking up at that. We were probably slightly hysterical.

"You mean he's NOT your boyfriend? That's such a pity. I totally ship it! Oh, what am I saying? I've been so confused since I got here. Where is here, anyway?" She's been confused? Charlotte's never confused.

"Well, I don't know our geographic location, if that's what you're asking, but I do know that we are in the land of the Seelie fae, in their castle. Basically, the Seelie and the Unseelie hate each other and I'm an Unseelie princess, but now I'm Seelie because my mom was seeking asylum here. I don't know much more than that. Oh, and I'm supposed to have magic powers and be able to fly, but I haven't figured out how to use my wings yet. That about sums it up."

"Um. Well. Well, um, wow. That's... wow," Charlotte stuttered. "It's not every day a girl learns her best friend is a fairy, is it?"

I smiled. The world just felt happier when Charlotte was around. My smile disappeared, however, when a heard the commotion going on outside my apartment. The man had been taken away, hopefully to a jail cell or dungeon, but that wasn't what caused the commotion. A castle guard (I was just assuming, because I didn't know much about the castle yet) had found Prince Richard in a storage room with a knife in his stomach.

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As soon as I heard the guard, I ran into the hall. I might have had to hide while the man was being subdued, but nothing could stop me from going out now when one of my friends was in mortal danger. I'd known Richard for less than a day, yet I still considered him my friend.

"Princess! Good, you're here. You're the only one who can save him. Come with me," the guard directed briskly. He pointed at the floor and it opened up, revealing the vortex Charlotte had described. The guard dragged me through and we landed in what looked like a hospital. Richard was lying in a bed attached to an IV, a heart monitor, and what looked like a unicorn horn.

"Go on, Princess. Heal him!" the guard urged.

"How?" I asked, practically screaming. I had only had two friends and one of them was about to die.

"You're the only fae with that power. I can't tell you how to use it, but I can give you some advice. Let your heart guide you and you can do no harm that you don't mean; powers are a way to act on emotions. I used my ability to freeze time for the prince so that his condition won't deteriorate, but I can't hold it for much longer."

I was much calmer now that I knew Richard wouldn't die right then. "I'll try." My voice sounded confident as I spoke and I hoped that confidence would help me heal the prince. Stepping forward, I took his hand. "Richard? How are you? I know that's a dumb question, but doctors always ask it. I guess I'm a doctor of sorts now. I'm supposed to try to heal you."

I shut my eyes, but could still see. Letting instinct guide me, I squeezed his hand. Richard began to glow, but the same instinct that was telling me what to do told me that this was a good thing. I squeezed harder, and he glowed more. Suddenly, the glow faded, and he sat up.

"Wow, that hurt. It feels like I just got stabbed! Oh wait, I did," Richard chuckled. "Hey, Jennifer, who's behind you?"

I looked over my shoulder. The hazy silhouette from earlier was back.