Page 22 of The Broken Mirror
“How on earth did you get a message to her?” Bettina asks. She looks at Filomena. “I’m still understanding how all this Never After stuff works.”
“I’m pretty good at solving mysteries, you know,” Carter says.
Filomena laughs. Her dadisa mystery writer after all.
“I went to the portal we sent you off from, at the Hollywood sign. It turns out that if you don’t want to actually go through the portal, you’ll hear from an operator. I asked to get in touch with you, and the operator said the lastplace you were spotted was Wonderland’s castle. So I sent a message.”
“That’s why Beatrice and Byron got it. That makes sense.”
“‘Wonderland’s castle’?” Bettina asks. “As inAlice in Wonderland?”
Filomena wants to tell them all about her adventures, but she has only one thing on her mind right now. “What happened? Why are you sick?”
Her mother leans back on the pillows. She looks so pale to Filomena. So out of energy. Bettina is usually so vivacious, joking about her deadlines, dancing around the kitchen, poring over takeout menus. Now it looks like she hasn’t eaten in days. She looks so frail, it’s scary.
“It happened very suddenly, sweetie. One day I was feeling like my normal self, and the next day I just collapsed. We went to the doctor, but they aren’t sure what’s wrong yet.”
Filomena feels her dad pet her arm. “They think it might be cancer,” he says.
“Cancer?” Filomena buries her face into her mom’s side. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening, Mum.” She starts to cry.
“My lovely girl, it’s okay. Don’t cry. We’ll get through this. We can get through it together. I’m so lucky to have my support system here with me.” Bettina smiles at them.
“I’ll do anything to make you better, Mum. I’ll make you soup. I’ll learn how to make soup. I’ll find a cure. I’ll become a doctor. I’ll do anything!”
Filomena’s mom pats her head.
Suddenly Never After feels a thousand miles away. Nothing seems remotely as pressing as her mom’s health. Maybe none of it will be important in the end—not getting Princess Jeanne’s crown back, not helping Zera, nor defeating the ogres. This is Filomena’s home, and these are her parents.
Her puppy, Adelina Jefferson-Cho, jumps up on the bed with them, and Filomena snuggles into her soft fur. Filomena has fought ogres, she’s brandished swords, she’s run for her life, she’s rescued a prince from a curse. She’s capable of meeting challenges that seem totally impossible, facing obstacles most people would never believe.
She can save her mom.
CHAPTERTENFILOMENA’SPROMISE
If there’s one thing more shocking than the facts that Never After is a real place and Filomena is an actual princess, it’s that Filomena’s parents are making her go back to school now that she’s home. She begged and pleaded, explaining that school feels so pointless with Mum sick, but they refused.
“If you’re going off on all these quests and adventures in Never After, you have to go to school and learn. That’s the deal,” her mom had said before bed the previous night.
So despite everything—despite fighting Robin Hood andwearing gowns and hopping portals—here she is, back at the same old middle school.
Though, she must admit, school is significantly less dreadful now that the Fettucine Alfredos, her once bullies, are history. So far, no one’s made fun of her outfit (a combo of her purple combat boots and a purple dress), kids are actually saying hi to her in the hallways, and her books have yet to be knocked out of her hands. All in all, it’s not too bad, being back.
It’s almost the end of the day, and it’s actually been a pretty good one. Filomena answered some questions in class, she scored a basket during gym class (has her hand-eye coordination improved?), and a group of girls even told her they dig her purple look—a style tip Filomena carried over from Princess Jeanne’s castle.
Maggie Martin approaches her in the hallway before final period. “Hey, Filomena,” she says.
Filomena has her guard up. The last time she and her ex–best friend spoke, Maggie had made fun of Filomena for still caring about the Never After series. What a laugh. Little did Maggie know, her so-called friends the Pasta Posse wereliterally fromNever After.
“Hi, Maggie, how’s it going?”
“I’m good. You seem so different today. What’s going on with you?”
Filomena immediately feels self-conscious. “Different? How?”
“Like, just a different air about you. You nailed that book analysis in English class. That was sweet. Cool outfit by the way.”
Filomena smiles and shrugs. “Thanks.”
