Faybelle Thorn/Diary

## Cheer Up

Every fairytale is important, and no role is better than another. That's what they teach us at Ever After High ... Oh, come on, don't make me laugh! The only thing separating a classic fairytale from a royal fairy fail is how evilly-ever-awesome the villain is. And I'm destined to be the evillest-ever-awesome there ever was upon a time.

My mom was the Dark Fairy from *Sleeping Beauty*. Yeah, the one who just happened to NOT be invited to the party. That means that I'm going to curse Briar Beauty into her century-long sleep, and live in infamy forever after! "*But wait, what about the Evil Queen?*" people ask. And I'm like, "*HEL-LO! Raven Queen doesn't even want to follow her destiny.*" Don't ask me why. Being bad is, like, the BEST! For some reason, though, she feels the need to go all Rebel. Whatever-after! It just means that the slot for the #1 villain is open game. And even though I usually cheer from the sidelines, I'm playing this game to win. Go Faybelle! Go Faybelle! Go! Go! Go Faybelle!

## Chapter 1

My plan was coming together perfectly. As each piece fell into place on the Grimmnastics field, I rapped my fingers together in gleeful anticipation. "*This tower is like nothing they've seen before!*" I shouted to the skies.

"*Well, who would even think to try something so dangerous?*" asked Holly O'Hair, just reaching the top, looking like the Rapunzel she's destined to be.

"*Holly, if we're going to win this year's cheerhexing finals, we need to be bold!*" I said.

Some people think that cheerhexers just root for the home team during bookball games, but we're so much more than that. We're athletes, acrobats and performers. Each year, the best squads from all over compete at the annual Cheerhexing Finals. Ever After High has not won in years. As captain, it's my job to make sure we take home the trophy, and the key to winning is the most impressive move in cheerhexing history: The Tower. I lost count of how many times the squad attempted the move, as again, each cheerhexer stood on another's shoulder.

The Tower swayed uneasily in the wind. "*How much longer?*" called Farrah Goodfairy from the bottom.

"*Until you get it right!*" I shouted through my megaphone. "*Okay Holly, let down your hair!*" A golden braid fell to the ground. "*Hunter, you're up!*"

"*Hurry!*" shouted Nina Thumbell, who struggled to hold Holly on her tiny shoulders.

The Huntsman's son looked nervous as he tugged at the braid, and climbed as quickly as he could. The Tower leaned precariously forward. "*GO, TEAM, GO!*" I urged them on. Hunter flipped to the top.

"*GO EVER AFTER HIGH!*" they cheered in unison, followed quickly by "*AHHHHHHHHHHH!*" as the entire tower came tumbling down.

They needed motivation! "*Close isn't going to win, guys! We need to nail that dismount.*"

"*What we?*" Farrah groaned. "*You're just shouting while we do all the work!*"

Oh my Grimm, my spirit squad has no spirit! "*Gee Farrah, since you're the next Fairy Godmother, maybe I can just wish for a victory! The rest of practice is canceled!*" Everyone cheered. Now they decide to have spirit? "*We'll start over tomorrow at sunrise.*" Everyone groaned.

## Chapter 2

Okay, I admit it: I was probably too hard on my squad. Even when they sounded more like cheerwhiners than cheerhexers, if we were going to win, we had to stick together. I was up all night planning a whole new approach for the routine, and couldn't wait to share it with them.

There was only one problem. At sunrise the next morning, nobody showed. I grumbled, snatched up my pom-poms, and started practicing on my own. The best way a captain can motivate her team is by being better than them, and I was determined to remotivate them as soon as they showed up. Which they never did.

The next time I saw them, they were in for it! But rather than waste time looking for them, I cheered a spell of finding: "*Locomotive! Evocation! Take me to my squad's location!*"

**POOF**

In an instant, I was in a common room, where every member of my squad was gathered. They were having a secret meeting and didn't invite me! It was like my destiny was already playing out. They're lucky I didn't cast a sleep spell on them! Quickly, I shook it off and went into motivating-captain mode. "*Let's go, team go! Wooo!*" I ran out of the room, hexpecting them to follow me. But when they didn't, I slowly walked back in. "*Okay, what the hex?*"

"*Someone could have been seriously hurt,*" Hunter spoke up.

I rolled my eyes. "*Sometimes I doubt your commitment to win.*"

Holly stood up. "*We want to win just as bad as you. It's just that ...*"

Nina stood next to her. It was almost cute how even at full-grown size, Thumbelina's daughter was still a head shorter than everyone else. "*You've been a real cheer-villain, Faybelle. We're over it.*"

"*You can either resign as captain, and we'll compete without you,*" Farrah said.

"*Or we quit,*" said Nina, crossing her arms. "*And you won't have a squad to boss around.*"

They gave me until sunrise to decide. And they call me evil? Sheesh!

## Chapter 3

Ever since I was little, I loved cheerhexing. It actually worried my mother. "*What Dark Fairy ever gave three cheers about anything?*" she would ask. I was determined to show her that I might be peppy, but I also loved being a villain.

I was in spellementary school at the time. One day, our teacher was yelling. She did that a lot, even if we hadn't done anything wrong. I figured, if I was going to get yelled at anyway, I might as well make it worth my while. So, one day I volunteered to do a cheer. "*Ready? OKAY! Onesie, twosie, counting sheep! Drowsy teacher, go to sleep!*" The teacher's head dropped on her desk, and she started snoring loudly.

Everyone ran outside to play. Eventually another teacher found us. It didn't take long to discover what I had done, and they sent me to the office. When Mom came to pick me up, she couldn't contain her smile. Even though she promised that she would punish me for cursing in class, she whispered to me, "*I'm fairy proud of you.*"

After that, mom encouraged me to be a cheerhexer. She realized that it made me a better Dark Fairy. "*Don't ever lose sight of your evilness,*" she said. "*The moment cheerhexing becomes more important than your destiny, I'm pulling you right out.*" I happily agreed. Soon, I became the youngest squad captain in Ever After history.

So, as you can imagine, it broke my dark heart to think this might be the end of that chapter.

## Chapter 4

Needing time to myself, I flew to an empty Princessology tower and screamed at the top of my lungs. "*I can't believe they would do this to me at a time like this'**!*****" With all my fury, I kicked a pile of pillows.**

"*OUCH!*" shouted a muffled voice from the pillows. Oh no! I hadn't meant to hurt anyone. I may be evil, but I'm not mean. I cleared away some pillows. It was Briar! I love Briar! She's my best frenemy forever after!

"*Faybelle? What are you doing?*" She rubbed her head.

"*I'm so sorry, Briar. One of those days, you know?*" I told her all about the failed routine and the squad wanting to kick me out.

She nodded and put her hand on my shoulder. "*Do you know why everyone likes Apple?*"

"*Apple White?*" Even her name left a bitter taste in my mouth. "*Because she's the fairest one of them all?*" I made sure to sound as sarcastic as possible and roll my eyes.

"*Noooo,*" Briar rolled her eyes back. I almost forgot that Apple's her BFFA. "*Apple doesn't ask anyone to do anything she wouldn't herself.*"

"*But I'm a villain,*" I said.

"*Fay, just because you're my villain doesn't mean you have to be everyone's villain,"* Briar said. "*Do you understand what I'm trying to say?*"

I did. For the first time today, I smiled. "*Thanks, Briar. You're the best frenemy a fairy could wish for. I'm so happy I get to curse you.*"

"*Um ... you're welcome?*" she said, scratching her head.

## Chapter 5

At dawn the next morning, the squad had already gathered on the field. That's the squad that I knew: dedicated and ready to seize the day. They stood up as I walked closer. I took a deep breath. "*Hey guys, I've thought about what you said. I've made a decision.*"

"*So we should turn in our uniforms?*" Nina asked.

"*We know you're not going to quit,*" said Farrah.

"*You're right,*" I said, and quickly added, "*and neither are you.*" I chose my next words carefully. "*Fellow cheerhexers, I know you're angry. It's not because I pushed you too hard. It's because I didn't listen to you. A good captain listens to her team. All of you are great cheerhexers, and if we're going to win, we need to be on the same page.*"

They looked at each other, first in confusion, but then they smiled.

"*Hunter's the strongest,*" Holly said.

"*Then he should be at the bottom of the Tower,*" I added. "*Who else?*"

"*I'm the smallest. And I can shrink,*" said Nina.

"*We'll move Nina to the top and change the routine's name to Thumbelina's Treetop,*" I said. We bounced ideas back and forth, and everyone got wicked hexcited. Finally, we decided to try the routine. Hunter stood strong at the bottom, followed by Holly. Since Farrah and I both had wings, we were next. We flapped our wings, making the Treetop lighter. Finally, Nina took hold of Holly's braid, leaned back, shrunk down to Thumbelina-size and catapulted herself to the top. We nailed it on our first attempt!

We practiced hard all week, and when it was time for finals, we pulled it off perfectly! The cheerhexing trophy was back at Ever After High where it belonged! Best of all, thanks to Briar, I learned something very important: if I let other people talk, they'll think their opinions matter, and they'll be more likely to do what I want them to do ... or something like that.