Not Your Average Fairy Tale (Not Your Average Fairy Tale #1) (3 page)

Ash

The lights were dim in the massive auditorium. I sat near the back, arms folded, legs propped up on the seat in front of me.

Everyone in the audience laughed at Master Time’s lame joke, but all I could do was glare at Lady Shenelle and the rest of the council sitting on the stage. They thought they were so funny, turning me into a fairy.

"So, you gonna tell me who you're apprenticing?"

I glanced at Sam in the seat next to me. His strawberry blond hair spiked all over his head and he seemed comfortable in his nice dark suit. I looked down at the black dress shirt I wore. My red tie hung loosely over the armrest of my chair. Not a fan of formal wear. And if I wore a white shirt, people would be able to see my wings. "I like keeping you in suspense," I said.

He punched me in the arm. "You're such a liar. Just tell me. Quit being a pain in the–"

"Shhhh!"

Sam tensed and looked around.

Misty sat a few chairs away, her attention focused on us. Her green eyes blazed, and the look on her face would have scared the meat off a pizza.

Sam and I both turned back toward the stage.

"We will now read the new apprentices for this year. Lady Shenelle, will you do the honors?" Master Time sat down.

Lady Shenelle glided slowly across the stage to the podium. Her hair was pink, curled all the way down her back. For once she wasn't wearing a tutu, but a sleek purple dress that went to her ankles.

My heart began to pound. No way I was going to be sitting here when she announced my name. I stood, ignoring Sam's muttering, and made my way through the aisle and out the door.

Once in the hallway, I made sure I was alone. I leaned against the wall, listening to Shenelle's voice float through the building.

She read my name along with the rest of my graduating class. I heard the cheers when Shenelle singled me out. My friends catcalled and a few girls chanted my name. Nothing unusual.

Yet.

I braced myself as she announced who I was apprenticing, and wasn't disappointed by the crowd’s reaction.

Instead of applause, everyone went silent. Like, deathly silent. It took a moment for the realization to kick in, and then I heard the first laugh. A few more quiet snickers. Some whistling, and a swear word or two, probably from Sam, reached my ears.

I was glad I wasn't in there. Everyone would have been looking at me by now, thinking it was some kind of joke. And I wouldn't have been able to tell them it wasn't.

Not wanting to stick around for the honorary banquet, I headed out the door and ran to my dorm. I'd face Shenelle's wrath later. And probably Misty's, but I didn't care. I wanted nothing more than to be alone.

***

I read her name for the third time.

Kendall Corrigan. What kind of name was that anyway? Every Kendall I had met was a guy. It was a guy name. A girl with a guy name. Why couldn't I have gotten a Brittany or Katie or something?

I sat on my bed, flipping through the bright purple folder full of notes and all the details of my apprenticeship.

The pink paper felt heavy in my hands, and when I got too close, a floral smell assaulted my nose. There were pages and pages about Kendall. Her favorite color, what music she liked, what her favorite food was. I had a lot of reading to do if I wanted to "get to know her" and help her make her wishes.

"Here you are," a voice said, pulling me out of my current nightmare.

"Hey, Sam." I shoved the pink papers under my pillow before he could see or smell them.

"So …?" He stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets. His red shirt made his hair stand out even more than normal, and I had to smile. Everyone always told him it was the wrong color for him, but he never listened. Sam was Sam.

"What?" I asked.

He shifted his weight and motioned toward my back. "How are the wings?"

I cursed under my breath and sent a pillow flying toward his head. He dodged it easily. "Leave me alone."

"I know who you're apprenticing, Ash. It's not a secret. They announced it last night after you ran out the door. You should have seen Shenelle's face when they called your name and you didn't stand up." He chuckled. "She was pissed."

"Good." I stood, feeling a pull in the middle of my back. I flinched from the painful twinge. I had figured out a way to take care of them. Rope was a wonderful invention. I'd put up with the pain of them being tied down until my apprenticeship was over.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"There was nothing to tell."

His eyes narrowed, but he kept his cool. "So, have you tried flying?"

"Seriously? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Nope." He sat down on his bed and took off his shoes. "You were 'asleep' last night, so I thought I'd torment you today."

"Lucky me."

He stood, throwing his shoes in the closet. "How was your first assignment? I assume you've done it already?"

I nodded and thought of my first conversation with Kendall. She thought I was crazy. "It was … great," I said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What? She seemed … nice."

I couldn't look at him. I knew I wasn't supposed to talk to my assignment at our first meeting. Everyone did. The rules of every assignment, no matter who you were apprenticing, were the same. Observe, and leave. I just, well, didn't exactly follow them.

"Ash …" he said.

I avoided his eyes and pulled my papers out, pretending they were interesting. "I only talked to her for a second."

To my surprise, he laughed. "Seriously? You're going to get in so much trouble."

I shrugged. "I was curious."

"That doesn't matter! If Shenelle finds out …" He trailed off.

"She's not going to."

He chuckled. "If you say so, captain," he said, saluting me. "So … was she hot? I assume it's a
she
."

"Dude! Is that all you think about?" She
was
cute, but I wasn't about to admit it. She was just a stupid girl who would make three stupid wishes. Just like every other girl in history.

He grinned. "So it
is
a she or you wouldn't have freaked out like that."

I stuffed my papers back into the folder and closed it. I sighed. "I don’t get why they gave me this apprenticeship. I shouldn't have to do this. They know I'm top of the class. I'm supposed to be a sandman."

"Maybe you have fairy blood and they want you to get in touch with your roots." He smiled. "Or your feminine side."

"There's nothing feminine about me, idiot."

He shrugged. "Roots, then. You could be part fairy, you know."

I sighed. We'd had this conversation so many times I'd lost count. "Unlikely. A fairy left me here. It doesn't mean she was my mother."

"Maybe you're an elf, like me. Studly, good looking, gets all the girls." He frowned. "Wait. Since
you
get all the girls, you must not be the same thing as me."

"True," I said.

"You're seriously the most conceited person in the world. Besides me, of course. It's why we get along so well. We're like twins from different mothers."

I laughed. "You've got that right."

I was a tad jealous of Sam. He at least knew who his parents were. His father was an elf. His mother, a human. It didn't happen very often anymore, but when it did, people like me (and Sam) were born.

Half and half.

We didn't keep any obvious physical characteristics like pointy ears or wings, but most of us had some small trait from our magical parent. Sam had bright green elf eyes, and sirens were known for their violet ones. We looked and acted human, we just had magic in our blood. So, like all magical creatures, we were brought here. To The Academy of Magical Beings.

I wasn’t a fan of the name, but it fit. It was a sanctuary of sorts. For weirdos like Sam and me. No humans could find us, and we could develop our own powers and study to be in a certain field: sandman, time-keeper, fairy, whatever. Hundreds of positions existed for people like us, and for other creatures that happened to live in our world as well.

Most people knew what "half" they were. My father was human. I had no idea who, or what my mother was. I used to lie awake, dreaming about her, trying to remember what she looked like and who she was. I'd always hoped she'd come back. Not anymore, though. I'd given up on her a long time ago.

"What are you going to do about your apprenticeship?" Sam asked.

I glanced at him, forgetting my unpleasant thoughts. I never talked about my past. Ever. "I can't get out of it. I won't graduate if I don't do it." I frowned, and realized I was pacing.

“You've already worn a hole in the rug. Knock it off!" Sam pushed me into the desk chair and I slid across the room, rolling to a stop near the desk.

"I can't help it. I'm stressing out! Seriously, I'm going to get gray hair before I'm eighteen!"

He laughed like it was true. "Maybe Logan could talk to Lady Shenelle."

I thought of my mentor. My friend. Except he’d let this happen to me. "You know Sam, that's a great idea."

Grabbing my stupid apprenticeship letter, I headed off to see my oldest friend at the Academy. The Sandman.

***

I passed quite a few people in the courtyard. Fairies snickered when they saw me, and I suppressed the urge to yell or make rude gestures. Bad enough I was the only male fairy on campus, but now everyone knew it. Even so, when I smiled at the group, the girls turned red and giggled even more.

“Hey, fairy boy!”

I stopped walking. My temper was already brewing and I hadn't even seen him yet.

I turned.

Dax wore a smug grin, standing near his little friends. When I say little, I mean

satyrs. You know, the goat men.

"Hello, Dax," I muttered under my breath.

"I heard about your assignment, Ash. Looks like I got something you didn't, for once."

I made a fist, but didn’t punch him in the face. Not that I hadn't ever done it before. I felt like doing it every time I saw him.

He'd had it out for me for years. I'm not sure why.

Dax and I, we had very different lives. Opinions. Friends. Whatever. We didn't agree on anything, and never would. I watched him laugh, his black hair nearly falling past his ears. His eyes were a dark gold, and I wondered, again, who his parents were.

Like me, Dax didn't know where he came from. No one had any idea what kind of power he possessed. Some rumors were that his father was a djinn; an evil spirit from the desert. Also known as a genie. Not all of them were evil, I guess. But they weren't fond of being bound to a human for eternity, and often made it a point to take it out on everyone they met.

Most of the council thought Dax was nothing more than an elf or part fairy. A few even thought he might be an elemental spirit.

I was betting on a djinn.

"Still hanging around your little friends?" I asked, motioning toward the satyrs. A few of them scowled, and some of the elves in the group laughed. Dax's right hand man, er … goat, bared his teeth at me. He was darker than most satyrs, and shorter too. His little goat feet stuck out from underneath his oversized pants. I tried not to laugh.

“Gerald,” I said, nodding. "Nice to see you again."

His eyes narrowed, and Dax folded his arms with a chuckle. For some reason he enjoyed our banter.

“You gonna show us your wings? Wait, let me guess. They're pink with little flowers on them.” Dax said. The others in the group laughed, but avoided my eyes.

“You’re pretty funny,” I said.

“How does it feel to be on the lower end of things now? I never thought the great Ash Summerland would want to be a fairy when he grew up,” Gerald taunted.

I smiled, taking in his horns and all three feet of him. “You sure you want to talk about being on the 'lower' end of things?”

He glared at me. A few people stifled laughs.

“Shut up,” he said.

“I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you get your little legs on home before I decide to try out my new magic on you?" I smiled and patted him on the head. He flinched away. "I've always wanted a pet goat," I said.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Gerald said, backing up a few steps. He bumped into Dax, who still had his arms folded, watching me.

“Wouldn’t I?” I rubbed my hands together.

Gerald pointed at me as he backed away. “You better watch yourself, fairy boy.”

“Take your own advice,” I said. “I think it'd be fun to take you on walks every day. I could even get you a cute little leash with your name on it. Maybe in bright pink! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

"Enough, you two," Dax said.

I shook my head, still laughing at Gerald’s furious face. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have better things to do."

I turned away, smiling to myself. Saytrs hated being called short. It bruised their huge egos and hurt their pride.