The metal floors feel cold against my skin.
Slowly, I examine my surroundings.
When I feel a hand touch my arm, I whip around to stare at a tall, lovely redhead, her hair cut into an A-line at her shoulders. Her white summer dress is pretty, her smile even prettier. She looks like a Southern Belle.
I flatten my hair, trying to tame it after all the commotion.
“Are you alright?” she asks me.
“Where are we?” I say.
“I have no idea. I only just arrived a few minutes before you did. It must have been that letter.”
Before we can discuss our current situation any further, I hear someone clear their throat directly behind me.
While I had expected to find an alien species inspecting us like a science experiment, I did not expect to see a very handsome man dressed in a crisp white suit.
“You girls are late.” His voice is smooth and lovely. His blond hair is combed back perfectly, and his face is that of a prince.
I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
My mind is flatlining.
“Please, follow me. The Fairy Godmother hates to be off schedule,” he says, like we were talking about the weather, like this was something completely normal.
“Where are we? Where are all my things?” I stammer frantically.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about that. Everything will be explained in due time.”
He opens the door behind him.
It’s dark in there.
Are we going to a mental institution? Will men in white medical outfits seize us and place us in a padded room and shove pills down our throats?
Redhead shrugs and proceeds after him.
I stay behind for a moment, looking around the metal atrium. What choice do I have? I can’t stay here forever. I take a deep breath and follow them in.
The tunnel opens up into a room. It’s spacious and completely beautiful—jaw-dropping. I think I hear Redhead gasp, placing a hand over her mouth.
Everything is white and sky blue. The floors are glistening white marble with light blue glittering swirls throughout it.
The ceiling is vaulted with shimmering bits of glass, and the seating area is exquisite with blinding white couches and sapphire accents.
You can’t tell that we are in a spaceship hundreds of feet above ground. Who knows how far we have traveled by now.
The whole thing doesn’t look real. I take a shaky breath and try to count to ten in my mind.
“Welcome to Fairy Godmother Inc., ladies. I’m Pierce Charming. Please check in at the front desk,” Mr. Charming says in a sing-song voice. “Oh, and please make haste.”
He points to a large, U-shaped desk with a beautiful woman smiling at us.
She is wearing an all-white dress fit for a luncheon at a royal castle. Her golden hair bounces as she types, apparently doing her job with great enthusiasm. She has a creepy, Stepford-wife vibe.
She glances up at us with a stern look.
“Sign in here.” She points at a sparkling paper and pen.
Redhead signs her name first then passes me the paper.
I notice her name is Cherie. She dots the “i” with a heart.
I sign my name and notice five other names on the list.
I walk around a corner to see five lovely women sitting on white couches, looking just as nervous as I feel. Cherie nods at them and we take a seat.
“What is this place?” Cherie whispers.
I swallow and shrug, glancing around the beautiful sitting room. “This is getting weirder by the second,” I whisper back.
A snobby girl with perfect blond hair, a barbie body, and a pink sundress leans over, looking around at all of us.
“My name is Laura Rogers. I’m sure you heard of my brother. Luke Rogers? He’s the pitcher for the Red Sox,” the blonde barbie doll beams, looking way too smug.
Laura examines her manicure and walks around the room, listening to everyone’s praise.
“I don’t watch baseball, so boring,” I moan before my faulty filter kicks in. I feel Cherie shoot me a glance, then a grin, covering her smile with her hand.
Laura’s gaze pins me, and she takes her time to look me up and down. She raises a thin brow and walks over to me, lips pinched. She has very thin lips, I notice, that flatten out into a line.
“And who are you? A vampire? Madame Darkness?” she laughs lightly.
I resist an eye roll. “My name is Viola Spear, and I’m here out of pure curiosity,” I murmur. Not sure why I just gave her a bogus last name.
“Whatever,” she shoots back. “Aren’t we all?”
“Hi, I’m Destiny,” the girl sitting on the couch opposite me introduces herself. “This place gives me the creeps—too sterile.”
The girl next to Destiny, with short platinum hair, nods in agreement. She raises her hand.
“I’m April. I am a little nervous about this setup. I hope there is no audition or anything like that. I’m not good in front of crowds—like, I will have a panic attack.”
“We are in a documentary or movie set,” Laura chimes in, sounding annoyed by everyone’s incompetence.
A tall brunette laughs. “Let’s not forget how hot Mr. Charming is,” she whispers, loud enough for all of us to hear, and looks around the corner. “Oh, and I’m Ivy, a former Marine.”
We all murmur something about her exceptional service to our country.
The last girl, with caramel skin and a Cuban bun, is about to introduce herself when Mr. Charming comes in.
My heart pulses to life, like a drunken tap dancer who just pounded five Red Bulls.
He grins and places a hand in his white suit pants.
“Ladies, we are ready for you all to move into the arena, where all of your questions will be answered. We are a little bit behind schedule, so please, let’s not let the Fairy Godmother wait another second.”
I hear a muffled giggle to my left.
He glances at all of us. A severe look crosses his handsome features as he studies us.
“Please take this seriously. What you are about to see is real. You all were chosen for a reason by Fate’s hand.”
We all line up and follow Charming through a sliding glass door.
We walk into a large seating area, like a university lecture hall. I calm my pounding heart as I grab the back of a chair to steady myself.
The problem is…
The problem is that where a chalkboard and wall would be, right at the front of the room, behind the desk, is outer f-ing space.
I am looking at the big, black abyss that is our universe. Like someone cut the spaceship in half, and we are standing on the edge.
There are distant shooting stars, comets, and an enormous planet far off in the distance. You can see the atmosphere moving around it.
I slowly look up and see Charming walking down the pale marble stairs to the bottom level, where the large desk sits. Dear goodness, even a red shiny apple lays on top of it, like we are in grade school.
“Ladies!” Charming booms with his hands outstretched. “Please take a seat wherever you like.
“I know what you are seeing does not seem real, but you’ll find out soon enough that this room is the least of your worries. I say this from the deepest part of my heart. Welcome.”
We all shift in our seats uncomfortably. Blond Barbie has an overexcited smile plastered across her face.
“All right, I can see that all of you are ready to get started,” he says with a smile, and he holds out his arm toward the universe. “Ladies, may I present you to…the Fairy Godmother.”
Suddenly, a door opens, and a stunning woman walks through the archway.
