Hunting the Fairy Tale

Chapter 56 - Water Sprites and Goopy Dingbats

And I mean it.

Paisley is all smiles now. "I'm not paying you to tutor me," she says cheekily. "Just add it to the sprite's bill."

"I'm not going to charge Ronja!"

I turn to Ronja and am surprised to find her watching us with a faintly amused smile. She is looking slightly less anxious at the prospect of potential help. "Thank you! Thank you!" she says, first to me and then to Paisley. Surely, she doesn't really think that Paisley is going to be helpful?!

"Where are we going to study? I vote for Funland, but I kinda think you'll be against that idea," Paisley suggests, grinning now, clearly delighted at the prospect of having some study buddies to keep from studying.

"You know me so well," I tell her, and Ronja gives an amused laugh.

"We could study at my house when Papa's wife is not there," she offers, looking a little nervous.

"Where do you live?" Paisley asks, her interest clearly peaked.

"33 Lakeside Meander, it's over by the-"

"Right around the corner from you, Alice! It's that road that runs along the side of the park where you walk your feather duster. Willow is in 25 Pine Valley Crescent," she tells Ronja.

"Oh! I think I've seen your house when I'm walking to bus stop."

"There's a bus stop?" I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Ronja lives so near me, but I'm even more thrilled to hear about a thing called a bus stop within walking distance from my home. Just imagine all the places I could go without being a nuisance to others! Why hasn't anybody told me about this wonder yet?

"Which one is number 33?" Paisley asks Ronja. "The one with the pink roof and those weird-ass green balls all over the front yard?"

She means the house with the Rose Terracotta roof and well-shaped topiaries neatly lining the driveway, but she's Paisley, so... 

"No, it is big white mausoleum next to that one," Ronja laughs, shaking her head.

Paisley gives her throaty laugh, clearly enjoying that description. "That place is grand! I've never been in there before!" she says in a way that would make anybody suspect that she usually goes creeping into people's homes without their knowledge and has already ticked most of the other houses off her list. "We definitely have to study there at least once."

"So, I suppose it would be most convenient if we studied at my home on other days, wouldn't it? It's the most central." Actually, I have no idea where Paisley lives, but she has so many possible ways to get to the Drakes' house. "I'll just clear it with Aunt Beth and-"

"Seriously, Alice," Paisley interrupts. "Clear it with Aunt Beth? She'll buy decorations and make snacks when she finds out that you're going to have your very own friends over for a party. Just hearing you call it your home will already have the woman baking a celebration cake."

I frown at Paisley; I'm really not sure I understand what she is trying to say. Of course, I need to ask Aunt Beth and Uncle Ryan's permission to have people over. 

"You do know what the word study means, right?" I've seen her English marks. Perhaps she cheats on her exams.

"What's in there?" she ignores me, giving a yawn and nodding at Ronja's lunch box lying lonely and forgotten next to her.

"Oh," Ronja says, picking it up and peeling off the lid. "Almond Kringler; it is Scandinavian dessert. Sometimes I bake when I am stressed. You can have if you like."

"I definitely like," Paisley grins, taking one of the triangularly cut pastries. It looks like a cross between a bar, a cookie, and a pastry and is covered with a sweet almond glaze. Paisley takes a bite and makes one of her happy sounds.