A little lower, someone had paint-brushed the words:
Where dreams come true….LoL
A little lower, someone carved the letters with a knife:
Zzzzzz!
“Yeah, right,” Loki said, steering the wheel.
Snoring was so boring that students went back to school on weekends. School was just as boring, but it made them feel somewhat alive in this forgotten two-story town. Other students sought adventure outside the borders by attending the masquerade parties in abandoned houses on the weekends, but only a few came back.
Loki parked his Cadillac in the school’s busy parking lot, and sighed.
“It’s only one week before I turn sixteen, and I haven’t killed half the vampires I need to go back,” he talked to Carmen who played a song called ‘We’ll Make Heaven on a Place Called Earth’ for him.
“Shut up, Carmen. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life here. What am I going to do?” Loki snapped.
The Cadillac shook momentarily and grey foam spread out at the front. It was Carmen’s way of shrugging her shoulders at Loki’s question.
“Fix the stupid car!” Loki heard a student shout from the distance. The others laughed at him.
Slouched, Loki reached for his backpack and got out, now dressed in his only white shirt and blue jeans with holes in his pockets. It was frustrating that Charmwill forbade him from kicking any students’ butt in school, so he played nice most of the time, clinching his fist behind his back and imagining this was only a nightmare.
Although Charmwill Glimmer’s history class was fun, Loki was late again. Charmwill didn’t believe in history books; he claimed they had all been forged. So instead of teaching history, he read fairy tales to the students, and they loved it. It was only Loki who didn’t believe in fairy tales, especially true love’s kisses, which reminded him of frogs.
No one knew Charmwill was Loki’s guardian, disguised as a teacher to stay close and watch over him in his journey. But Charmwill wasn’t always helpful. Sometimes, he was a little tough on Loki; at least he didn’t embarrass him by wearing a cloak. Charmwill wore modern clothes that fit with his teacher disguise in the Ordinary World.
“Late again, Mr. Loki,” Charmwill said without raising his head from the Book of Beautiful Lies he was reading from. Most of the girls in class had their chin rested on their hands as they listened to Charmwill’s tales. Boys fidgeted or secretly flew paper planes at the daydreaming girls.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Glimmer,” Loki said.
Girls turned their heads at him. Loki pursed his lips. Although he liked many of them, it was better to treat them like the flu than to fall in love with one and end up finding out she was a demon.
“‘Sorry’ is the worst word in history, and it’s a lame excuse for losers, Mr. Blackstar,” Charmwill said. “Will that be your answer to my next exam?”
“With all due respect, sir, you don’t teach us history,” Loki shrugged. “All you teach us is fairy tales. They’re all boring, clichéd, and easy to predict.”
“Is that so?” Charmwill turned to Loki, staring at him from behind his glasses. “Can you tell me then what the pigeons did to Cinderella’s stepsisters in the end of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale?”
“There were pigeons in Cinderella’s tale?” Loki’s eyebrows furrowed. “Hmm…kissed her and turned into a Prince Charming?” Loki guessed.
“I know the answer, sir,” a noisy girl with bushy red hair raised her hand while looking at Loki. Her name was Pippi Luvbug. She had that hazy aura about her, too dreamy, too enthusiastic, and very annoying. Loki knew she had a crush on him, and had tried to avoid her repeatedly. “I know the answer,” she stretched her hand as if wanting to go to the bathroom, not answer a question.
“Please enlighten Mr. Blackstar for me, Miss Luvbug,” Charmwill rubbed his beard, proud of his enthusiastic student.
Pippi stood up, fixed her dress a little, and brushed her teeth with her forefinger before talking. “The pigeons picked out both of their eyes, sir,” she said happily.
“Awesome answer,” Charmwill said. “Thank you, Miss Luvbug. You can sit down now.”
Pippi winked at Loki before sitting down. He found it rather creepy that the girl who was so happy with pigeons pecking out people’s eyes, winked at him. Deep inside, Loki felt funny about the strange fact he’d missed in the Cinderella story.
So fairy tales aren’t all about kisses, frogs, and princes? Why didn’t anyone tell me about this awesome tale of pigeons pecking out eyes when I was a kid? Oh, that’s right; I can’t even remember being a kid.