The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer Read Free Book Online Page B

there. And I don’t have a very good vocabulary—and I’m worthless without spell-check.”
    Mrs. Peters took off her glasses and massaged her eyes. Conner was still a challenging student to get through to.
    “Having something worth telling and a passion to tell it are what make you a good writer,” Mrs. Peters said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read novels or articles that used complicated words and witty wordplay to cover up the fact that they had absolutely no story to tell. A good story should be enjoyed; sometimes simplicity can go a long way.”
    Conner still wasn’t sold on the idea. “I just don’t know if it’s for me.”
    “You don’t have to decide right now,” Mrs. Peters said. “I’m only asking you to think about it. I would hate it if somebody with your imagination graduated and didn’t do ‘something cool’ with it.”
    She locked eyes with him and another rare, small smile appeared on her face.
    “I have two loves in my career: reprimanding and encouraging,” Mrs. Peters went on. “Thank you for letting me encourage today. I don’t get many opportunities.”
    “No problem,” Conner said. “It’s nice to be in the other category for a change.”
    Mrs. Peters put her glasses back on and handed Conner his stack of papers. He figured their meeting was over now and headed to the door, relieved not to be in tears like his principal’s prior guest.
    “I am so proud of you, Conner,” Mrs. Peters said just as he reached for the door handle. “You’ve come a long way from napping in my class.”
    All Conner could do was smirk sweetly at her. If you had told him a year and a half ago that one day Mrs. Peters would become one of his greatest supporters (or refer to him by his first name), he would have never believed it.
    Conner mulled things over as he walked home. His thoughts soared into the realm of possibilities and sank into the realm of uncertainty. Had Mrs. Peters gone mad or was he, Conner Bailey , actually capable of becoming a writer one day? Could he actually make a career out of writing about the experiences he and his sister had had in the fairy-tale world?
    Would anyone want to read his stories about Trollbella and Trix, or the Evil Queen and the Big Bad Wolf Pack, or Jack and Goldilocks? Would those people mind if he wrote about them? If he ever saw her again, would Goldilocks beat the living daylights out of him for writing about the love triangle between her, Jack, and Red Riding Hood?
    Conner figured people had been writing the same stories about them for centuries; surely they wouldn’t mind if he gave the world little updates here and there.
    But what about Alex? She had as much ownership over their experiences as he did; would it bother her if he started sharing them with the world?
    Alex had always been the one with a future, not him. Planning had always been her specialty; Conner always expected she would grow up to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or president.Unfortunately, he hadn’t given his own future very much thought, so any prospect seemed like a stretch.
    Conner realized he wanted to get Alex’s input on all of this. But as he reached their house, he came to a halt. There was something there he didn’t expect to see.
    “What’s Bob doing here?” Conner asked himself, recognizing the car parked outside their home.
    The front door flew open before Conner could open it himself. Alex was standing on the other side, wide-eyed and white-faced.
    “Finally!” she said in relief.
    “What’s going on?” Conner asked. “Why is Bob here?”
    “He wanted to talk to us before Mom got home,” Alex said. “He knows that we know and said he wanted to ask us something. I’m pretty sure I know what it is.”
    “What?” Conner asked, completely oblivious.
    “Just get inside,” Alex told him. “I think there’s about to be a major development.”



THE PROPOSAL
    Alex and Conner hadn’t looked like identical twins since they were four years old. It