Chapter 2 Fate Is Final
Fate Is Final
“Staring at your breakfast isn’t going to make it dessert, Barbie.”
Maybe not. But wouldn’t that be nice? I blink, realizing I’ve been staring at my bowl of pink puffed cereal for more than a few seconds, spoon floating halfway between the bowl and my mouth.
I was thinking about that dream from this morning again. Irritation rolls through me like thunder rudely interrupting a summer day. Anxiety, I’ve decided, is not for me. I’m going to banish it from my life immediately.
I take a hearty bite of cereal, the strawberry flavor instantly brightening my mood.
Robin and I have started our day together with breakfast in her office since as early as I can remember.
While other Swancrest students begin dorming only for the final few years of our schooling, for me, Swancrest has always been home.
My entire life has been contained within its hallowed halls—so many hours spent in this very room, playing, then studying, while Robin worked.
The fact that she eats her meals at her desk might be the ultimate sign that she has no sense of work-life balance (is there even such a thing?), but to me, it’s just another reason I’d do anything to not disappoint her.
Her entire life is devoted to others. Robin is the only person in Heartland born with magic—and she’s used it to make all our lives easier.
Her selflessness is why she has been blessed by the Fates with the most important of roles in Heartland: As Headmistress, she’s in charge of making sure all the students of Swancrest are prepared to receive their futures on Boxing Day.
It’s important work—the perfect balance of our land depends on everyone being trained for the role that the Fates determine they’re meant to have in our society.
Everyone has a purpose. It’s why Heartland runs so smoothly.
Robin’s work ethic has always inspired mine. The day I started school, I began studying in here, sitting in the heart-shaped chair in front of her, both of us working hard in companionable silence.
Now, she stares at me from across her desk, one arched brow raised.
Even though she wears pink as I do, the rest of her office is made up of different shades of wood, from light cedar to the rich mahogany of her stately furniture, interrupted only by the glow cast from the pink staff she funnels her magic through.
Robin softens. “Breakfast doesn’t become dessert…” She gives her closest approximation to a smile. “Unless you’re me, of course.”
The light from the staff leaning beside her glows brighter, and in a cloud of glitter, my bowl of cereal transforms into my favorite food—miniature heart-shaped donuts with pink frosting and sprinkles.
“Breaking your own rules?” I ask, and pop one of the miniature treats into my mouth.
Robin has rules that she always follows—and that she taught me.
One of them is that breakfast should be nutritious, to give me the energy I need to be my best that day, which is why my cereal is made with oats for energy and always accompanied by slices of strawberries.
“Not that I’m complaining, of course,” I say, speaking around a mouthful of dusted sugar.
Robin throws back her shoulders, straightening her already stick-straight posture. Her dark hair is immaculately swept back in an elegant chignon. “Well, it’s your last day of school. Tomorrow’s Boxing Day. That’s reason enough for celebration.”
At her words, the previously evicted anxiety comes back knocking.
I try to ignore it.
I’ve worked hard for this. I refuse to let some stupid nightmare ruin my excitement.
Still, Robin misses nothing. “Is something wrong, Barbie?”
“No,” I say quickly, because the dream I had obviously isn’t real. And I don’t want her to worry about me, when she already has so much to do before the culminating moment of our class’s entire journey at Swancrest.
She looks unconvinced, so I add, “It’s just… for a moment there, I was feeling a little… worried. About my Fate.” I throw in a laugh to show I recognize how ridiculous that is.
Robin just tilts her head at me. “Why would you… worry?” she asks, like the word is foreign on her tongue. That’s because it is.
People in Heartland don’t worry. Why would we, when there’s nothing to worry about?
The Fates tell us how to spend our lives, give us the tools to perform our roles, and guide us on how best to devote ourselves to Heartland so we always have everything we need in abundance.
The town itself is perfect: Light pink rivers run between pastel-hued homes and shops stacked high along the canals.
A pink mist of magic—created by Robin and her glowing staff—hugs our heart-shaped land’s edges and keeps us safe from all the dangers beyond, the ones my own mother died defending us from.
We don’t have to worry about the horrors my mom fought anymore. Here, thanks to Robin and the Fates, we’re protected. There’s nothing to fear. Nothing to stress over. As long as we stay put.
That’s the one rule we all live by: No one leaves Heartland.
But why would anyone want to leave paradise?
I shake my head. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said any—”
“Don’t be,” Robin says, her voice patient, if a bit clipped. “There’s no need to worry, though, Barbie, for the future has already been decided. Yours will be whatever it is meant to be. The Fates don’t make mistakes; remember that.”
“Right,” I say, my voice bright. I believe it. Of course I do.
She reaches across the desk to take my hand.
“You know… your mother would be so proud of you,” she says, and my eyes immediately prick.
I look away, trying to push the sadness down.
Robin’s grip tightens. “Really, she would. You work so hard. You study all the time. You have the best grades. You’re a great friend.
You help everyone around you. She would be so, so proud. ”
She releases her hold on my fingers, pushes back from her desk, and smooths the pants of her perfectly pressed pink suit.
“But, Barbie…” I meet her gaze, now flat and serious. “Don’t question destiny. That will only tempt it to change.” Robin claps her hands, brightening. “Now off to your final. You don’t want to be late.”
My heeled boots click against the stone castle floor, in sync with my best friend Callie’s stride. Sunny’s on the other side of me, book open in front of him as he reads out the pages we’re being tested on for our last final at Swancrest.
Celebration for the last day is everywhere. Lavender ribbons tied into giant bows hang across the lockers. Heart-shaped balloons pepper the ceilings, popping and releasing confetti in time with our steps.
“Why do we even need to take this test if the Fates already know what roles we’re getting?” Sunny groans, shutting the book with a loud thwack.
Callie’s brown eyes dart around as if the Fates could be watching us through those balloons. Her voice is quiet. “They could still… you know… be deciding…”
Sunny raises a brow at her. “Are you calling the Fates indecisive?”
Her eyes widen. “No, never! They’re just likely… flexible. You wouldn’t want to upset them and be… punished.”
Sunny gapes at her. “Now are you calling them cruel?”
Callie looks like she’s going to pass out.
I roll my eyes. “Leave her alone,” I say, winding an arm around my oldest friend and shooting Sunny a hard look. “You know she’s nervous.”
Sunny just grins wickedly. “We should all be, the way Callie’s talking. Punished?” He tuts his tongue.
My eyes narrow. “Well, if anyone should be punished, it’s you.”
Sunny only smiles wider, agreeing with me.
On top of regularly questioning the Fates, treating homework as a suggestion, and overall maintaining an impressive lack of discipline, Sunny also has a destructive hobby.
He likes to take things apart, see how they work. Put them back together again.
Sometimes… not quite back together. On purpose.
For instance, four years ago, Sunny turned Teacher’s desk into a soda machine that hurled cans whenever someone got an answer right. Which might have been a good incentive for focus, if they hadn’t all burst open simultaneously. It took a lot of pleading with Robin not to get him expelled.
Did that stop him?
Sunny lowers his voice conspiratorially. “You’ll never guess what Paige is about to walk into.”
The answer is: no. Definitely not.
I sigh. “Really, Sunny? It’s the last day of school.”
Paige is Callie’s roommate, and far from my favorite person at Swancrest. As children, I must have somehow entered into a one-sided competition with her, because she’s always treated everything as a duel between us.
She took a special sort of pleasure in being chosen as line leader or teacher’s helper and, later on, rubbing it in whenever she scored higher on tests or projects.
I thought she might warm up to me once she and Callie were placed together in the dorms, but in true Paige fashion, she’s remained stubbornly dedicated to her mission of winning this imagined contest, treating me frostily at best, wickedly at worst.
Bottom line: She sucks.
But even Paige deserves to enjoy the last day at Swancrest unscathed by Sunny’s idea of a prank.
Sunny looks unbothered. “Who cares that it’s the last day? And you know what? I hope the Fates are watching.” He shrugs. “Because then they’ll see how cool I am.”
Something explodes, just a few doors down.
“SUNNY!!!!” Paige’s shrill voice echoes through the hall.
Sunny purses his lips. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. Must have forgotten a screw or two or twenty…”
Teacher steps into the hallway, arms crossed over his checkered sweater vest, glaring daggers.
Sunny nods. “Yep. Right, then. I’ll escort myself to Robin’s office.” He turns.
“It’s Headmistress!” Teacher bellows at his back.
Sunny just looks over his shoulder. “No, no. We’re on a first-name basis now. I think it happened after… the fifteenth visit?”
Teacher just sighs. Sunny winks at us, then turns the corner, whistling.
“He is so getting the worst Fate,” Callie says.