Karina and Nicole walked out of Crystalopolis School at the end of the school day. They were happy at what they had seen. Fairy folk of all kinds were included, and all seemed to work well together. Prince Jeremy had been taken home at noon when his class ended. The queen’s golden carriage was scheduled to return for the girls.
They waited by the curb and watched all the fairy folk children streaming out of the school and walking or flying home. Most were with those of their own kind, but there was a pleasant banter among the groups as well.
“I hope Katie gets here soon. Where do you think she is?” asked Karina.
Nicole shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. She keeps disappearing with that Colin.”
As Nicole was speaking, Karina noticed Katie with Colin just around the corner of the school. Her eyes bugged out at what she saw.
“OMG, Nicole. There’s Katie, and …and . . . Colin just kissed her!”
Nicole turned around to see and gasped. “And now she just kissed him back!”
“Brother, what does she think she’s doing? All day she has been goo-goo-eyed over Colin, but this is ridiculous,” added Karina in disgust.
Just then, Katie came running toward them, waving happily. Karina and Nicole just stood and waited quietly.
“There you are,” said Katie.
“I was hoping I wasn’t too late.” She beamed at them, with a wide smile and twinkling eyes.
At that moment, the queen’s carriage arrived, and the troll coachman jumped down from his perch and opened the door for them. Karina, Nicole, and Katie climbed into the carriage and sat down. Katie stuck her head out the window and waved vigorously to Colin, who was standing near the front of the school holding his firefly light ball and smiling broadly at Katie. Nicole and Karina each admitted to themselves that Colin was pretty cute, and he was very kind to show them all around. But that didn’t mean Katie should be kissing him.
“What were you thinking, Katie?” asked Karina. She sat straight up and looked directly at Katie.
“About what?” responded Katie. Her brown eyes were sparkling and her face was flushed.
“About kissing Colin!” said Karina. “You can’t get all mushy over a fairy boy.”
“Why not?” asked Katie. “I like him and he likes me.”
“Because he’s a fairy boy, not a human boy,” answered Karina.
Katie’s sparkling eyes flashed with anger. “So . . . you were all so high and mighty about fairness and mixing all the different kinds of fairy folk together, but then you don’t want a fairy boy to be my boyfriend? That sounds like prejudice to me!”
Nicole shook her head. “I guess it might seem that way, but Katie, we have to go back to our families in the human world. How can you be a fairy boy’s girlfriend?”
“Well, maybe I don’t want to go back,” retorted Katie. “Maybe I want to be a fairy too.” Her smile faded and she looked down, pouting.
