The School for Good and Evil #2: A World without Princes by Soman Chainani

She had a long, pointy nose, a strong jaw, and close-set blue eyes. Her neck was longer than a normal girl’s, and her cropped blouse revealed perfect stomach muscles that rippled beneath her pale, freckled skin. The girl smiled ethereally, looked into their eyes, and unleashed a deep-voiced squawk that made Sophie and Agatha jump. Then she blew them a kiss, replaced her veil, and shuffled out of the hall.
    All the girls watched her in dumb silence until the mob started pushing towards Sophie and Agatha again and Beatrix blew her whistle—
    â€œWhat was that ?” Agatha said to Kiko as she crankily signed an autograph.
    â€œHer name is Yara,” Kiko whispered. “No one knows how she got in! Doesn’t speak, doesn’t eat, far as we can tell, and disappears all the time. Probably has nowhere to live, poor thing. But the Dean lets her stay out of the goodness of her heart. Some people think she’s half stymph.”
    Agatha frowned, thinking of the bony, carnivorous birds that hated Nevers. “How can someone be half stym—”
    She lost her train of thought, because Sophie had culled the girls all to herself, smiling imperiously, signing autographs, and kissing cheeks, as if she’d finally found her way home.
    â€œCan I help you fight boys?” Arachne hollered.
    â€œCan I be your Vice Captain?” yelled Giselle.
    â€œCan I be your Vice-Vice Captain?” echoed Flavia.
    â€œSit with my group for lunch!” Millicent called.
    â€œNo, sit with us!” Mona countered—
    â€œHow glorious it is to have fans again,” Sophie said, ignoring Agatha’s horrified look and dotting an autograph with hearts. “Here I am trying to get home where no one wants me, and instead stumble upon paradise, where everyone does.”
    â€œIf you’re miserable with Beatrix, don’t worry,” Kiko said, noticing Agatha’s glum face. “You can always stay with m—”
    Agatha turned to her, and Kiko suddenly understood. “You aren’t staying, are you?” she rasped.
    The crowd went silent around her.
    â€œNow tell me about this school play,” Sophie said loudly to Reena. “Have you cast the lead par—”
    She stopped, for all the students had followed Agatha’s gaze out the window. Across the bay, fog brewed thicker around the grisly red castle.
    â€œIf we stay, we’re starting war,” Agatha said to the girls. “All of you would be in danger.”
    She turned to Sophie. “You heard the professors. We can fix what I’ve done without anyone dying. Not you. Not Tedros. Not anyone here. We wish for each other, and we can forget this school ever happened.” She touched her friend’s shoulder. “It’s Evil if we stay, Sophie. And you’re not Evil.”
    Sophie slowly gazed up at a sea of blameless girls, who would no doubt die at the hands of Tedros and his red hoods. Only Agatha had forgotten the Dean’s warning. They could go home as long as both of them meant their wish. But Agatha couldn’t mean a wish for her friend. Agatha couldn’t forget this school.
    Because Sophie knew she wasn’t enough for Agatha anymore.
    Agatha wanted a prince.
    â€œWe’ll hide in the Blue Forest and come up with a plan,” Agatha said to her quietly, anxious to get out before the Dean returned. “Maybe we can Mogrify into the Boys’ school.”
    Crestfallen, Sophie said nothing—
    Until she met her own eyes in the painting on the wall.
    Atop the castle in her crystal crown, she looked just like someone she knew, with the same waterfall blond hair, emerald eyes, and ivory skin. Someone who too had lost her happy ending to a boy. Someone who had died all alone because of it.
    â€œYou are too beautiful for this world, Sophie.”
    It was the last thing her mother had ever said.
    She wanted me to find it , Sophie thought, eyes welling, this world where she