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

Agatha begged. “You’re witches. You have to know another way to take back a wish—”
    â€œSo earnest!” Hester whirled and carved a box around Agatha’s face in the mirror with her lit finger. “Just look at that helpless, lost little soul. Still wearing black and searching for the old Agatha. . . . The Agatha who threw headless birds, farted in Evergirls’ faces, and loved her precious Sophie more than life.” Hester met Agatha’s reflected eyes and grinned. “But she’s gone, princess.”
    â€œThat’s not true,” Agatha retorted, but Reaper’s scratches seared her hand as if they were fresh.
    â€œTo think we once wanted you in our coven,” Anadil said. “And now here you are, afraid of hurting your best friend over a boy .”
    â€œNice to see you two haven’t changed,” Agatha muttered, trundling for the door. “Reminds me why we weren’t friends.”
    â€œIn the end, only one can make you happy,” Hester purred behind her. “The question is, who ?”
    Agatha turned to see the witches slide off their sinks and circle her like sharks.
    â€œSophie or Tedros?” Hester mulled.
    â€œTedros or Sophie?” Anadil stewed.
    The two witches leaned against the sinks side by side. “This requires plenty of thought,” said Hester, peering at Anadil. Their heads whipped back to Agatha.
    â€œTEDROS,” they chorused.
    Agatha’s heart skipped and she squelched it in shock. “But that’s wrong! I don’t want a prince!”
    Hester slid off the sink in one move. “Listen to me, you bug-eyed tramp! Unless you kiss Tedros, the schools stay the way they are,” she hissed, suddenly looking like the dangerous witch Agatha knew. “Kiss 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.”
    Agatha crossed her arms. “I see. I’m worried about my best friend’s life, and you’re worried about school. ”
    â€œDo you know what you’ve done to this place, you waffling wench?” Hester snarled, black eyes storming. “Do you know what you’ve put us through?”
    She flung crumpled parchment at her from her pocket. Agatha unwrinkled a schedule, barely readable under all the graffiti.

    â€œGirls, you stupid idiot! Everything at this school is about being a girl!” Hester screeched. “Do you know how hard I’ve tried to prove I’m more than a girl and now I have to live in a castle full of them! You can’t have a school without boys! Even we know that, and we’d rather kill ourselves than touch one!”
    â€œWe did dance with them at Evil’s Ball,” Anadil corrected—
    â€œShut up,” Hester boomed, spinning back to Agatha. “No one likes boys! Even girls who like boys can’t stand boys! They smell, they talk too much, they mess up everything, and they always have their hands in their pants, but that doesn’t mean we can go to school without them! It’s like stymphs without bones! It’s like witches without warts! Without boys, LIFE HAS NO POINT!”
    Echoes shivered the mirror.
    Agatha held up the schedule. “Um, and the teachers are okay with this?”
    â€œWhy do you think they weren’t at your Welcoming?” Hester grouched, settling a bit. “They’re as happy about this as we are. But they have no choice. Resist, and they’ll suffer the same fate as Princess Uma.”
    Agatha saw the Animal Communication teacher wasn’t on the schedule. “Where is she?”
    â€œThe Dean changed her class to Animal Hunting, since girls have to be self-sufficient and can’t depend on boys for food. Part of the Five Rules ,” Anadil puffed, turning the sink faucet on to terrorize her rats. “Uma refused to