#rebels 2015

Something unwonderful was up with Lizzie. I'd have to be Tweedle Dum not to be worried. When we first came to the land of Ever After, we only had each other.

Although it seems like nine lives ago, my last day in Wonderland feels fresh as yesterday. I was sleeping in my favorite tumtum tree. Then I woke up. I stretched. Then I fell asleep again. When I finally woke up to groom, something rudely knocked me off my branch. "What the hex?" I hissed. As I landed on my feet, Madeline Hatter, Bunny Blanc and Alistair Wonderland were there waiting.

Each of them looked ... sad. No surprise. For some time now, Wonderland's madness was out of balance. Alistair, who looked so much like his mom Alice, explained, "The Evil Queen's cursed Wonderland, and I figured out why. She's trying to take over our story. Nobody can stop the spell." He hung his head. "People from Ever After are here to rescue us."

"More like kicking us out," Bunny looked at her pocket watch. "We need to get to the rabbit hole soon or be trapped here forever after."

For the first time in my life, I lost my smile. "Wait! We have to get Lizzie." Nobody had heard from Lizzie in some time. Word was her mom went mad and locked Lizzie inside the palace.

We snuck into Card Castle. As the others distracted the guards, I teleported to Lizzie's room and quickly teleported us out to the croquet field. Moments later, Maddie came running towards us. "I lost Alistair and Bunny," she shouted.

"They'll have to catch up to us!" I said. We teleported to the exit.

Precious seconds slipped away. Maddie paced back and forth. Lizzie shuffled her deck of cards. I faded in and out of invisibility. Where are they? I wondered.

Then two figures sped towards us, but it wasn't Alistair and Bunny. It was the White Queen and the Mad Hatter. The White Queen informed us, "We must leave. Now!" Before we could argue, the rabbit hole sucked us up and spit us out into Ever After.

The PUV must have a love of pegasus-power, because it got us to Ogretown in the flap of a wing.

We all piled out, and I led us to the information booth at the center of town. An ogre tour guide greeted us. I told him we were students from Ever After High on a field trip to learn more about what things are like for ogres. The guide smiled. "Let me show you around."

At first, many of my classmates were on edge. But as we walked around, they eased up. Several ogres tipped hats and said "Good morning," as they passed.

"Everyone's so friendly," Apple told the tour guide. "Why don't we see many ogres around Book End?"

The tour guide thoughtfully plucked his hair on his chin. "Well, we've been told that too many ogres around that town make people nervous. You know, all those stories don't paint us in a good light. Believe it or not, most ogres just want to have a nice day, warm food and good friends."

We visited restaurants serving spellicious comfort food like deep-fried dire turkey, shops with hexquisite gem sculptures, and in the center of the town, a giant sculpture of an ogre. The tour guide looked up with pride. "The Hero of Ogretown. A long time ago, ogres did not have home to call our own. The Hero gathered everyone, and with his leadership, they built the village you are visiting today."

"So why do ogres attack villages?" Daring asked.

School was out, and the weekend has just begun. I sat outside of the Beanstalk Bakery with one of my best friends forever after, Cerise Hood. We were in the middle of a spelltacular conversation when a couple of locals approached the table next to us. "Lookit, you ain't welcome 'ere," the burliest local snarled.

I turned around. He stared down a small goblin I'd seen around school. I focused my eyes to magically see their true natures. The goblin shined with the light-yellow glow of gentleness. The burly local glowed with a dark cloud of insecurity. I cleared my throat. "He's with us."

"Den you ain't welcome 'ere neither," squeaked an impish local who radiated the chicken-yellow of cowardice.

"Students are always welcome in Book End," I explained, and nodded towards the goblin, whose eyes darted back and forth.

The burly one whipped his bulking head around. "Not no more, princess. Time to go."

"GO!" growled a voice from behind him. An ogre with the aqua-blue glow of protectiveness looked down menacingly. Almost instantly, the local bullies bolted away. The ogre turned to us and sweetly grinned.

A loud whistle blew as a thin-chinned security guard ran around the corner. "Did you just attack a local, ogre?"

Cerise stood up. "He didn't attack anyone. He's from Ever After High, just like us."

Some people are too quick to judge a book by its cover. Like the other day when I heard someone say, "Rosabella's at Ever After High to become the next Beauty. She has it so easy." Just because Beauty & The Beast was my mom's story doesn't mean that it's going to be mine. Ever After High is all about choice, now. Even though some people might think I flipped my crown, I'm going Rebel. It's just that reliving my legacy doesn't seem that important when compared to helping others.

Muse-ic class is one of the most popular classes at Ever After High. It's where people come to sing their true hearts out, or band together with magical instruments. Plus it's the class that my dad teaches.

As I walked down the hallway, I heard the most spelltacular singing voice. It was coming from the Muse-ic room. I opened the door, and there, all alone, was someone I'd never met before. She had coral-colored hair and a sea foam dress. She clammed up as soon as she saw me. "Sorry," she quickly scuttled away.

"Wait!" I called, and she stopped in her tracks. "I didn't mean to scare you. My name's Melody, and I'm the Pied Piper's daughter." I extended my hand.

She looked at it for a moment, and then shook it. "I am Meeshell Mermaid, the next Little Mermaid."

I grinned. "Well, Meeshell, your singing voice is once upon AMAZING! I'm into muse-ic, too." We talked about our favorite groups and influences. We shared songs from our MirrorPhones. Before long, I told her about my birthday remix problem and what I was looking for.

"Hmmm..." She sang as she rhythmically tapped her chin. "What do you suppose this missing ingredient could be?"

Lizzie lay on the croquet field, plucking petals off a freshly painted rose. Usually she's careful to protect her mad image as the ever angry Queen of Hearts, but not anymore. She'd lost her way. I knew what I had to do.

POOF! "Oh hey, Lizzie? Can we talk? Look, I don't want to argue."

"Me neither," she said, putting the rose down. "I just want to be happy."

"Lizzie, you know Daring's not going to make you happy," I said.

"This again? Daring cares about me!" Lizzie said.

"He only cares about himself!" I said. Why wasn't she listening to me?

"OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" Lizzie shouted. That's more like the Lizzie I know.

I smiled. "Let's have a girl's night out."

Immediately, Lizzie softened. "What were you thinking?"

When Lizzie floated on cloud nine into my room, I thought How non-strange. Lizzie's the next Queen of Hearts, and she's usually all "OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" Why was she twirling around the room like a ballerina? Curious.

"Can you keep a secret?" Lizzie uncharacteristically giggled. "I just had my first date!"

Curiouser. "A crown on a sleeve isn't in when the first ends and the final begins?"*

*Riddlish — "Since when does the Queen of Hearts go out on dates?"

"Since the most charming boy asked me out!" Lizzie gushed. "He's not like everyone else. He gets the real me."

"Hey, why aren't you answering in Riddlish?" I asked. When someone speaks the Wonderland riddle language, you answer with a riddle. It's just common courtesy.

"We live in Ever After now," Lizzie dreamily stared off, "We should try to fit in."

Curiouser and curiouser. "Lizzie, who asked you out?"

"Prince. Daring. Charming." Lizzie sighed.

"Daring Charming? Have you lost your madness?" I said.

"I certainly have not!" Lizzie said. "Daring's like me: Royally misunderstood." She crossed her arms and turned her back. "I think you should disappear."