Agatha begged. âYouâre witches. You have to know another way to take back a wishââ
âSo earnest!â Hester whirled and carved a box around Agathaâs face in the mirror with her lit finger. âJust look at that helpless, lost little soul. Still wearing black and searching for the old Agatha. . . . The Agatha who threw headless birds, farted in Evergirlsâ faces, and loved her precious Sophie more than life.â Hester met Agathaâs reflected eyes and grinned. âBut sheâs gone, princess.â
âThatâs not true,â Agatha retorted, but Reaperâs scratches seared her hand as if they were fresh.
âTo think we once wanted you in our coven,â Anadil said. âAnd now here you are, afraid of hurting your best friend over a boy .â
âNice to see you two havenât changed,â Agatha muttered, trundling for the door. âReminds me why we werenât friends.â
âIn the end, only one can make you happy,â Hester purred behind her. âThe question is, who ?â
Agatha turned to see the witches slide off their sinks and circle her like sharks.
âSophie or Tedros?â Hester mulled.
âTedros or Sophie?â Anadil stewed.
The two witches leaned against the sinks side by side. âThis requires plenty of thought,â said Hester, peering at Anadil. Their heads whipped back to Agatha.
âTEDROS,â they chorused.
Agathaâs heart skipped and she squelched it in shock. âBut thatâs wrong! I donât want a prince!â
Hester slid off the sink in one move. âListen to me, you bug-eyed tramp! Unless you kiss Tedros, the schools stay the way they are,â she hissed, suddenly looking like the dangerous witch Agatha knew. âKiss him, and everything is fixed. Prince with his Princess, Witch gone forever. Evers over here, Nevers over there. The School for Good and Evil back in time for me to be third-year Captain.â
Agatha crossed her arms. âI see. Iâm worried about my best friendâs life, and youâre worried about school. â
âDo you know what youâve done to this place, you waffling wench?â Hester snarled, black eyes storming. âDo you know what youâve put us through?â
She flung crumpled parchment at her from her pocket. Agatha unwrinkled a schedule, barely readable under all the graffiti.
âGirls, you stupid idiot! Everything at this school is about being a girl!â Hester screeched. âDo you know how hard Iâve tried to prove Iâm more than a girl and now I have to live in a castle full of them! You canât have a school without boys! Even we know that, and weâd rather kill ourselves than touch one!â
âWe did dance with them at Evilâs Ball,â Anadil correctedâ
âShut up,â Hester boomed, spinning back to Agatha. âNo one likes boys! Even girls who like boys canât stand boys! They smell, they talk too much, they mess up everything, and they always have their hands in their pants, but that doesnât mean we can go to school without them! Itâs like stymphs without bones! Itâs like witches without warts! Without boys, LIFE HAS NO POINT!â
Echoes shivered the mirror.
Agatha held up the schedule. âUm, and the teachers are okay with this?â
âWhy do you think they werenât at your Welcoming?â Hester grouched, settling a bit. âTheyâre as happy about this as we are. But they have no choice. Resist, and theyâll suffer the same fate as Princess Uma.â
Agatha saw the Animal Communication teacher wasnât on the schedule. âWhere is she?â
âThe Dean changed her class to Animal Hunting, since girls have to be self-sufficient and canât depend on boys for food. Part of the Five Rules ,â Anadil puffed, turning the sink faucet on to terrorize her rats. âUma refused to
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